Most mods have an update checker integrated that will tell you when an update is available.
You can also use the Twitch/Curse launcher to create a custom pack with the mods you want and it will AFAIK also notify you and make downloading easier.
As I need to use the Gradle Shadow plugin I have a second build artifact (armorplus-1.11.2-10.4.0.1-shadow.jar). The main artifact (armorplus-1.11.2-10.4.0.1.jar) is obfuscated but armorplus-1.11.2-10.4.0.1-shadow.jar isn't making it not work (as Minecraft is obfuscated and the method names are wrong then)