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Good websites are not just about how they look. Here are the habits that make sites easier to maintain, faster, safer, easier to find on Google and usable by everyone.
Most website problems I'm hired to fix aren't caused by hard technical challenges. They come from skipped basics: no backups, no version control, a slow homepage, a form that doesn't work on phones, or a password saved in plain text.
Here are the best practices I follow on every project, big or small. None of them need expensive tools.
You'll read your code far more often than you write it, and so will the next developer. Readable code is cheaper to fix and safer to change.
Use descriptive names. $totalWithVat beats $t2. isOverdue() beats check().
Keep functions small and focused on one job.
Follow a style guide and let a tool format your code automatically (for example Laravel Pint or PHP-CS-Fixer for PHP, Prettier for JavaScript).
Delete dead code. Git remembers it if you ever need it back.
Comment the "why", not the "what". The code shows what it does. A comment should explain a decision that isn't obvious.
Put every project in Git, even a one-page site. It gives you an undo button, a history of every change and a safe way to work with others.
Commit small, focused changes with clear messages.
Use branches for new features, and merge when they're ready.
Never commit secrets. Keep passwords and API keys in a .env file that's listed in .gitignore.
Deploy from Git instead of uploading files one by one through FTP, so the live site always matches a known version.
You don't need 100% test coverage. You need tests for the parts that would hurt if they broke: checkout, login, payments, the contact form, anything that calculates money.
Automated tests (Pest or PHPUnit for PHP, Vitest or Jest for JavaScript) catch mistakes before your customers do.
Run tests before every deploy. A free GitHub Actions workflow can do it automatically on every push.
Test by hand on real devices, especially a mid-range Android phone on mobile data. That's how many of your visitors browse.
Keep software updated: PHP, your framework, your CMS, plugins and Composer or npm packages.
Never trust user input. Validate it on the server, use prepared statements for SQL and escape output in HTML.
Hash passwords with password_hash() or your framework's built-in auth. Never store them in plain text.
Use HTTPS everywhere. Free certificates from Let's Encrypt are available on most hosts.
Turn off debug mode in production so error pages don't leak secrets.
Give each account the least access it needs, including database users and staff logins.
For PHP sites, our guide to recent PHP vulnerabilities and how to secure your site goes step by step.
A slow site loses visitors and sales, and Google notices. Most speed wins are simple:
Compress and resize images. A 5 MB phone photo used as a 400px thumbnail is the most common problem I see. Use WebP or AVIF where you can.
Lazy-load images below the fold with loading="lazy".
Load less JavaScript. Every plugin and tracking script costs time on a slow phone.
Cache: page caching, database query caching and browser caching headers.
Fix slow database queries, add indexes to columns you search by, and watch out for loading data inside loops.
Measure with PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse, and focus on Core Web Vitals.
Accessibility means people with disabilities, older users and anyone on a small screen or in bright sunlight can use your site. It also tends to improve SEO.
Use real HTML elements: <button> for buttons, <a> for links, headings in order.
Give every image meaningful alt text, or an empty alt="" if it's decorative.
Label every form field properly.
Make sure text has enough color contrast.
Check that you can use the whole site with only a keyboard.
One clear <h1> per page and a logical heading structure.
A unique title and meta description for every page. Our free SEO & Social Preview checks their length and shows how they'll look.
Clean, readable URLs like /services/web-design.
A sitemap.xml and a sensible robots.txt.
Mobile-friendly design and fast loading.
Structured data (schema.org) for businesses, products, articles and FAQs.
A backup you've never restored is a hope, not a plan.
Back up both the files and the database.
Follow the 3-2-1 idea: three copies, on two different kinds of storage, with one off-site.
Automate it daily, and keep several days or weeks of history.
Restore a backup to a test site every few months to prove it works.
Documentation doesn't have to be long. A good README answers:
What this project is and who it's for.
How to install and run it locally.
How to deploy it.
Where the important settings live, and who to call if something breaks.
For client work, hand over a short document with logins (shared safely, for example through a password manager), hosting and domain renewal dates, and how to update content. Clients remember the developer who made the handover easy.
Launch day is the start. Set a monthly routine: update software, check backups, review analytics and error logs, and fix one thing that annoys users. Small, steady improvements beat a big redesign every three years.
Best practices aren't about perfection. They're habits that save you from 3 a.m. emergencies and make clients trust you. Start with Git, backups and security updates, then add the rest one at a time. If you're just starting out, our guide for new web developers is a good next read.
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