Why Keeping Your WordPress Website Up To Date Is Important

Did you know that keeping your WordPress website up to date is one of the most important things you can do for your business? Just like any other piece of software, WordPress is regularly updated with security patches and new features. If you don't keep your site up to date, you could be leaving yourself vulnerable to attacks from hackers, or missing out on valuable new features.

All websites are only secure if they are maintained and kept up to date. WordPress websites are no exception. The number of WordPress websites in 2022 is 835 million with 14.7% of the world's top sites being powered by the platform. Because WordPress powers so many websites, it is a prime target for attacks. However, there are easy ways to boost the security of your WordPress website.

1. WordPress typically release major upgrades two or three times a year and minor releases happen when required. Making sure you are running the latest version of WordPress will help to protect yourself against security vulnerabilities. You can check what number the latest version of WordPress is here. If you aren't sure which version of WordPress your website is running on, log in to the WordPress admin dashboard and you should see the WordPress version displayed at the bottom right-hand side of the screen.

2. If you notice your website is starting to load slower this can be caused because your website is running on old versions of WordPress, plugins and your theme. As plugins are managed by third-party developers, it is good practice to check your plugins at least every month and while you are logged in we recommend carrying out a routine check on WordPress and your theme too. Not only will carrying out the updates routinely improve the speed and efficiency of your website it will also improve security and give you access to any new features that have been released in the updates.

3. Before carrying out any update, it is best practice to back up your website. That way, if anything goes wrong during the update process, you can always revert back to a previous version of your site and keep downtime to a minimum. If you do experience any issues when updating your website, this can be caused by a conflict between versions you are running. We are experienced in troubleshooting WordPress update issues so if you face a problem when updating your website, you can reach out to us and we can support you with the next steps of what to do to get your WordPress website updated.

Jessica Rayson is the Operations & Finance Director of Accentuate and a contributing editor to publications on business development.