WordPress updates – Why Keeping Your WordPress Website Up-To-Date Is So 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.

Keeping your WordPress website stable is controlled by a number of factors, which include the version of PHP your server is running on, whether your theme and plugins are up-to-date and also whether you have the correct licenses connected to your website to enable updates. Although it appears easy in the plugin section of WordPress to simply click update, it's important to know how to quickly resolve any issues caused by an update if they occur.

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 releases 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.

If you have a WordPress website, you should have a login to be able to access the dashboard of WordPress. Once logged in on the left-hand side there is a tab called 'Updates' which will give you an overview of any updates your website requires. 

If you do not see the 'Updates' tab in your dashboard, the most common reason for this is that your access has been restricted by the role type you have been assigned. Your user role needs to be set to be an administrator which can be changed by your website developer.  We always encourage clients to have administrator access so that as a company you are in control and know whether your website is being maintained. 

Hosting is where you pay for your website files to be stored on a server whereas website maintenance is where your website is updated on a monthly basis. For this reason, It is more common for website hosting not to include the maintenance of a website so it is important to check what you are paying for.

Accentuate is a website design and development agency that specialises in WordPress hosting and maintenance. If you have a question or query relating to the maintenance of your website then please get in touch and we will be happy to advise.