Five Minute Fixes: Checking Your WordPress Site Health

When you’re setting up a new WordPress site, there are plenty of tools to help you make sure your site is up to scratch. And the WordPress Health Check Page is the easiest way to check your site’s health.

To check your WordPress site’s health,  log into your WordPress admin area. Then click ”Tools” in the left hand menu. Then click “Site Health”.

The first time you check this page, it can be a bit daunting. However, here are some of the most common issues you will come across on your site, and how to fix them.

Screenshot of a Site Health check for a WordPress site.

We recommend that you update PHP

Updating your version of PHP helps secure your website and optimise your site speed. You can change your PHP version through “Change PHP Version” in your Hosting Control Panel. To find out how to do this, read my previous post “Five Minute Fixes: Updating Your PHP Version”.

It is worth noting that although 7.4 is now the recommended version of PHP, not all plugins will be compatible with this. If the plugin is essential to your site, you should check with the plugin developer to see if it will be upgraded, or if there is another plugin that will do the job. 

Your site does not currently use HTTPS

Having your users connect to your site through HTTPS  helps to keep your site secure. If you have one of our Hosting packages or Managed WordPress packages,  you’ll already have access to free SSL certificates through Let’s Encrypt. You can activate these certificates through  “SSL/TLS” in your Hosting Control Panel. If you’re unsure how to do this please read my article “Five MInute Fixes: Activating Your Free SSL Certificate”. 

Once you’ve installed your SSL certificate, the warning will still be there. You will also need to use a plugin such as Really Simple SSL or Better Search Replace to make all the connections to your site secure and fix the warning.

If you get any other warning in your Site Health Check, or if need any further advice, feel free to contact our Support Team.