---
title: Monthly Website Maintenance Audit Standard
type: article
created: '2026-04-05'
updated: '2026-04-05'
source_docs:
- raw/2026-02-11-mid-week-call-w-melissa-121722403.md
tags:
- website-maintenance
- seo
- analytics
- ga4
- gtm
- wordpress
- audit
- process
layer: 2
client_source: null
industry_context: null
transferable: true
---

# Monthly Website Maintenance Audit Standard

## Overview

Asymmetric runs a standardized monthly audit across all managed client websites. The goal is to ensure every site stays clean, fast, technically sound, and fully instrumented — catching drift before it becomes a problem. As of early 2026, this process is running across all active clients and represents the first time every managed site has been simultaneously clean and optimized.

The audit is split into two components: a **Website Audit** and an **Analytics Audit**.

---

## Website Audit

### Site Health
- Verify image alt text coverage (target: 100%; acceptable threshold: 99%+)
- Identify and fix broken links, crawl errors, and warnings
- Update all WordPress plugins and themes to current versions

### Performance
- Compress (smush) all unoptimized images
- Verify Cloudflare configuration is active and correctly set
- Confirm security headers are properly configured
- Validate server/hosting location settings

### Forms
- Review all Gravity Forms entries for activity
- Flag low-performing forms (e.g., single-digit entries) for potential removal or redesign
- Confirm all active forms are submitting and routing correctly

---

## Analytics Audit

### GA4
- Confirm active tracking across all key pages
- Review active users, sessions, and conversion events for anomalies or growth signals
- Verify conversion event configuration is intact

### Google Tag Manager
- Audit all tags and triggers for accuracy
- Remove or disable unused/stale tags and triggers
- Confirm GTM container is publishing correctly

### Google Search Console
- Check for crawl errors or manual actions
- Review top queries and top pages for unexpected changes
- Monitor click-through trends

---

## Example: Adavacare Monthly Audit

The Adavacare audit (run April 2026) illustrates the standard output:

| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Image alt text coverage | 99% |
| Plugins/themes | All updated |
| Images compressed | ✓ |
| Cloudflare/security headers | Verified |
| GA4 active users (period over period) | 1,200 → 3,600 |
| GTM tags/triggers | Cleaned up unused items |
| Form performance | One low-entry form flagged for removal |

---

## Origin: Didion Cleanup as Forcing Function

The formalization of this standard was partly driven by the [[wiki/clients/didion/_index|Didion]] site cleanup, which surfaced the scale of technical debt that accumulates without regular maintenance:

- **1,400 images** had no alt text
- **1,500 images** had never been compressed
- **~190 errors and ~2,000 warnings** were present in the backend
- Kinsta (the host) had been sending error notifications for weeks

That one-time remediation took significant effort. The monthly audit standard exists to prevent that level of debt from building up again. See [[wiki/clients/didion/_index|Didion]] for the hosting proposal context tied to this cleanup.

---

## Delivery & Reporting

- Audit results are posted to Slack as a structured update after each monthly run
- Each update includes a checklist of completed checks and any flagged items requiring client or team action
- Clients on managed hosting agreements receive this as part of their ongoing service

---

## Applicability

This process applies to all clients on managed website agreements. Current clients running under this standard include:

- [[wiki/clients/adavacare/_index|Adavacare]]
- [[wiki/clients/didion/_index|Didion]] (pending hosting agreement)
- Others as onboarded

---

## Related

- [[wiki/knowledge/website/image-optimization-and-alt-text.md|Image Optimization & Alt Text]]
- [[wiki/knowledge/analytics/ga4-audit-checklist.md|GA4 Audit Checklist]]
- [[wiki/knowledge/analytics/gtm-tag-hygiene.md|GTM Tag Hygiene]]
- [[wiki/clients/didion/_index|Didion Client Page]]
- [[wiki/clients/adavacare/_index|Adavacare Client Page]]