- Your website could break, and not be fixable.
- You could have plugin incompatibilities and lose functionality.
- Your site could run 50% to 70% slower.
- You could lose sales and new customers if your site goes down.
- Your website will get so old, you will have to rebuild it.
With regular updating, you will know that your website is running smoothly and you will have:
1) Improved Speed and Functionality
New versions of WordPress mean new features and enhanced features. For improved functionality of the CMS, it essential to update your website. Furthermore, WordPress support forms assume you are using the latest version. If you want support or guidance, you must update your website first.
2) Fixed Bugs in CMS
As with any CMS or software, there is the potential for bugs. As bugs are identified, the WordPress developers fix the bugs and resolve the issues. If you are using an outdated version, you may be fighting bugs that have already been fixed.
3) Improved Performance
Today, you have three seconds to engage a prospect or customer. Speed is essential for engagement as well as search engine optimization. WordPress developers continue to make performance improvements to make WordPress run faster.
4) Improved Security
As the most popular CMS system, WordPress is a target for hackers and malicious code distributors. If you are not using the latest version of WordPress, your website is vulnerable and could easily be hacked. Hackers know how to search for older versions of WordPress and specifically attack vulnerable sites.
5) Plugin Compatibility Changes every month
Plugin and theme developers often coordinate their updates with WordPress versions. Usually, these updates are coordinated and introduce the latest enhancements and features. However, we do not live in a perfect world and sometimes an update breaks the plugins or theme on your website. This can be extremely frustrating and therefore make website backups essential.
It is best practice to keep your plugins, themes, and WordPress version up-to-date. Always make a full backup of your website and database before doing any updates. When you log into WordPress, look for the updates page on your dashboard and install the recent updates. If you do not log into WordPress often, we recommend you contacting your website manager or consider the following options:
- Turn on automatic updates
- Set-up email notifications for updates
- Hire someone else to maintain the website.
With the risk of incompatible plugins, it is best to manually install the updates or hire someone to manually install the updates. That way you can create a backup of your website in case of issues. If an update breaks your website, you will know which update broke it and how to resolve the issue. If the updates go on autopilot, the website could break and take you by surprise. It is best to know if your website breaks and what caused the issue.
If you want some FREE advice or have questions, email us at info@zddesignagency.com and we will help.
