11 Things To Do When You Inherit A WordPress Website
January 28th, 2018 | by Ravi Chahar || 5 Comments |
Have you ever thought to inherit a website? It’s like taking over a running website whose owner is not in the situation to run that website.
During such situation, there are many things you should take care of. Have you ever bought a website? This is just like that.
There are many things to do when you inherit a WordPress website. From the security to the SEO of the website, you should take care of everything.
In this article, you will learn the things which are necessary when you take over any website.
What Should You Do After Inheriting A WordPress Website
This is a sensitive issue. When you take over any running website then you have to look at the full website. From the content of the website to the SEO score.
I am going to mention some necessary things you should do.
#1. Collect The Account Details
You should collect all the password including the web hosting account username and password, domain management account details, WordPress login details, FTP account details etc.
How would you handle the website if you won’t have the details of the accounts? It’s important to keep the details somewhere safe.
#2. Change All The Passwords
Now you’re the owner of this new website and you have to choose the login details according to you. So, it’s important to change all the details of the accounts.
Change admin username and password, change the details of the FTP account. It would be great if you also change the password of the web hosting account.
The most vulnerable account is the FTP account which requires a strong password and username. And if you don’t want to use it then delete FTP account.
#3. Check Users’ Permissions
On a WordPress website, it’s important to provide the appropriate users’ permissions.
Permissions to upload the images, permissions to handle the files and folders of the WordPress directory. Sometimes, if you keep the old permissions then there may be some security issues.
You should change the permissions according to the new WordPress user. You won’t want to provide an access to any old user.
#4. Check SEO Settings
SEO is one of the most important aspects of a website. You should check all the SEO settings including the proper permalink structures to the SEO plugin.
If the posts on the website have lower SEO score then you should update those posts. Now, you’re going to build that blog from a new phase.
#5. Scan The Website for Any Malware
Nowadays, 70% of the websites are getting hacked every year. So, it’s necessary to take a step forward to check the availability of any malware or virus on your website.
There are many free or paid services which can help you to scan your website. How to know if your website has been hacked or not? Do you know?
But here, you just have to scan the website.
#6. Check The Analytics Tools
One of the things to do when you inherit a WordPress website is to check whether there is an analytics tool present or not.
If not then you should install Google Analytics. And if it’s already there then you should check the working of the code.
#7. Delete Unnecessary Things
When you inherit a WordPress website then it is possible that many unused plugins and themes would be there.
So, what are you waiting for? Just delete all those extra themes and plugins. Update them to the latest versions and improve the security of the website.
This step is very important because most of the time, these extra themes and plugins are considered as the back door for the hackers.
#8. Note Down Every Single Detail About The Site
When you get the website then it’s important to write some notes about it. Before you change anything, just make sure that you have the details of all the old settings.
Sometimes, you may have to revert those all. Those notes can be helpful during such situations. Keep the record of account settings, user details, no. of subscribers etc.
#9. Backup The Website
How can you forget about the backup? This is one of the most important things to do when you inherit a WordPress website.
Create a backup of all the files and folders and the website and the database. You should be ready for all the possible hard times.
#10. Check The Sitemap And The Robots.txt file
For every WordPress website, the sitemap and the robots.txt file is really important. How would Google come to know about your website without a sitemap?
Which are the files to get crawled by the Google bots? The robots.txt file takes care of everything. So make sure that you check both of the things.
#11. Improve The Website
The final step is to improve the website by taking care of everything. From the content generation to the promotion of the website.
You should know the ways to promote your website to get 100000 visitors. Try to maintain the quality of the older content.
Make sure that you have installed the latest themes. There are many theme providers like:-
And if you don’t have any good web hosting then you should move that website from your old web hosting to the new one.
BlueHost, InmotinHosting, WP Engine are the web hostings you should choose.
Do You Now Know About the Things To Do When You Inherit A WordPress Website
Sometimes, people don’t even think about such things. They make the mistake to keep all the old accounts.
What if any old user accesses your website?
To get rid of such things, you should always start that website from a new phase. With new accounts, new SEO settings, new security methods.
Learn all the things to do when you inherit a WordPress website. Are you now ready to run a new website?
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5 comments
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Well, this is a good post right here.
Personally, I really do not like the idea of buying a website. I’d rather you build it yourself from scratch. I plan to keep my blog for a long time. Selling it is out of the picture.
Hey Isaac,
It’s the matter of personal choice. There are many people who buy and sell the websites. And the things they should remember are mentioned in this article.
Building from the scratch is what you should do.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Enjoy the day.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
I often thought of what things to do when inheriting a website. People ask to buy mine and no way will I give that up lol. But I can see the benefit to purchase one that has good value….
It is like purchasing a home. One needs to have a check list before even looking. Once we see what we want, we have to make sure all systems are in good working order.
It is so true…when purchasing a website, there will always be something we forget and will have to deal with in the long run. This list is so helpful.
Thanks!
-Donna
Hey Donna,
Just a few days ago, someone offered me a token of money for my site. But as you have said, I am also not going to give up.
You can purchase a website which has some value. But the thing is what should be done after that?
The list mentioned above can help.
Thanks for taking the time to drop some input.
Have a nice day.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Well written. When you inherit a WordPress website, you have effectively inherit a unique property that has enormous value. This property is a business that will feed you for as long as you have. Selling it is not the best option.
Moreover, the tips you outlined on what to do when you inherit the site are incredibly great. Very since I setup my site, I have been tweaking it looking for ways to enhance it. Thanks so much for sharing.