When you’re in the back end of your WordPress, you’ve probably noticed a message informing you about available plugins or engine updates. Have you ever wondered why there are so many updates? Should you update WordPress to the latest version every time? What could happen to your website if you don’t?
In this article, we’ll explain why it’s important to always use the latest version of WordPress.
What are WordPress updates? Top 6 reasons – Why is it important to update WordPress regularly?
We live in a technological world where updates are crucial for high performance and security. This applies to phone software, applications and computers. It is no different with CMS systems – not only WordPress but also e-commerce (online shops) and others.
Software must be regularly tested to ensure the best possible productivity and avoid any security holes. Any detected errors are fixed and a new update is released that is free from them.
Similar to updating a smartphone or computer, WordPress updates bring new features to the user, reduce the number of problems encountered, and generally maintain a positive experience.
Importantly, along with updating the CMS engine, plugins are also tested and updated to be fully compatible with new versions of WordPress.
- Updates enhance security
- WordPress update = new features
- Fixing bugs
- Compatibility and updating – what do you need to know about it?
- WordPress updates improve website speed and performance
- Regular WordPress updates mean lower costs
- Preparing WordPress for an Update
- How often should you update your WordPress CMS?
- WordPress Update Summary
1. Updates enhance security
First of all, updates strengthen WordPress security. This is the most important reason why you should take care of regularity in this aspect.
Despite numerous warnings and reports of attacks on the network, many website owners still attach little importance to the security of their websites. Unfortunately, this is a big mistake, because hackers are not a fictional movie, but a scourge of modern times. The scale of the problem is really big, as evidenced by, among others, Wordfence data from 2023.
Total infections declined slightly compared to the last 2 years, with malicious files found on roughly 1.1 million total sites over the course of the year. We did see a large increase in July compared to the rest of the year, which correlates with the disclosure of several Critical vulnerabilities impacting over a million sites.
Impressive, isn’t it?
As you can see, websites are exposed to various types of attacks every day. At this point, you are probably asking yourself – is my website at risk too? Of course, it is! And it makes no difference whether you own a simple business card or a dynamic online store. No CMS system or plugin is perfect, and all software loopholes are exploited by hackers every day.
So how do you secure your website? Keep WordPress and its plugins updated regularly! And although this never gives 100% certainty, it reduces the risk to a minimum.
What are the consequences of a WordPress site being hacked?
There are many consequences of a site being hacked. Both large brands and small, local businesses have experienced this. The most common effects include:
- a drop in search engine position – Google doesn’t like infected and “unhealthy” sites that are dangerous to users, which is why it lowers its positions in its rankings. As a result, there is less traffic on your site, fewer leads are generated, and fewer transactions are made
- registration on a so-called spam list (blacklist) – if the hack allowed hacker bots to send automatic “advertising” mailings (i.e. simply SPAM), then email servers (including the mighty Gmail) will add your domain and/or IP address to exclusion lists… Your messages will then stop reaching their recipients, and in the best case scenario, they will get stuck in the junk mail folder
- a drop in brand credibility – when running an online business, you are responsible for the data of your customers and users. If third parties intercept them as a result of the attack, customers will lose trust in you, and what’s more – it may have legal consequences
- loss of the website – this is the worst-case scenario when hackers simply delete your website or take away your access to it
It doesn’t sound encouraging, does it? Especially when you also take into account the repair of the above effects, which can take weeks, months or even years! Removing the consequences of the attack is usually also a big burden on the company’s wallet…
2. WordPress update = new features
New standards appear on the Internet all the time. Creators also have new ideas from time to time and want to develop their products to adapt them to the requirements of the market and customers. Updating WordPress means not only greater security but also newer and better technology for your site! For example, WordPress 3.8 introduced the new MP6 administration interface, and version 5.0 is the beginning of the Gutenberg content editor.
Along with updates, in addition to fixing security holes, completely new, previously unavailable functions also appear. Errors that do not represent an increased risk of an attack on our site are also corrected but may cause unforeseen problems with our site’s operation or cause difficulties in using the CMS.
Sometimes they often concern poorly perceptible issues such as displaying the site on specific browsers or their configurations. It often happens that due to better-optimised code or the lack of certain errors in templates or plugins – the entire page loads faster.
It must be remembered that faster operation of our site is a very desirable state – thus our users are more satisfied, and also … the Google algorithm ‘likes’ us more, which also bases the visibility of pages in high positions on indicators regarding the speed of the site.
Updates are therefore a carrier of multi-track benefits for us, which may only seemingly seem small in terms of functionality. A good webmaster notices them at every step and if we want to maintain high results for our website in search results and maintain traffic indicators at a satisfactory level – updates are also our very good companion.
3. Fixing bugs
Although each major release of WordPress undergoes detailed testing, it is not always possible to eliminate 100% of irregularities. That is why, for each major version of the system, from time to time, smaller versions appear (marked with consecutive numbers – e.g. 6.5.5) that fix these errors. For example, WordPress 6.5.3 fixed 12 core bugs and 9 in the Block Editor detected in version 6.5.2.
4. Compatibility and updating – what do you need to know about it?
Updates are often a system of communicating vessels. It is known that there are plugins that are based on the functioning of others. It is worth taking a look at such a ‘combine’ as WooCommerce – it is the basis for many e-commerce incarnations of WordPress.
Many websites selling various things use WooCommerce and cannot imagine working on completely different tools. It often happens that updating WooCommerce entails the need to update the extensions that work with it. Sometimes it also happens that updating plugins can even entail the need to make the entire template up to date.
It may also be the case that the next version of the template or plugins will require updating the entire WordPress installation that is on the server. Then we have no choice but to start the whole process.
That is why it often happens that the update causes unforeseen problems – either the page stops loading at all, reporting errors, or some elements stop displaying correctly. Not paying attention to compatibility between plugins, themes, and ‘the whole’ WordPress is the most common cause of pages crashing after the “update” button is pressed.
It’s also worth paying attention to other nuances that may concern updates and compatibility of various communicating vessels.
One of the points in the system is also our server/hosting provider. Disabling support for older versions of PHP can be quite a big problem when our CMS in the current version does not support the newer PHP. Such a collision can result in temporary unavailability of the service we create – until we make sure that all points are not compatible with each other.
It may also turn out that this rule works the other way around and after installing a new version of the WordPress CMS, our hosting will no longer meet the requirements set by the software due to the inability to support the required technologies. This is also a very common problem among our clients who ask us for help in bringing their services to an operational state.
5. WordPress updates improve website speed and performance
With each release, WordPress specialists do their best to speed up its operation. Each new version of the system includes several performance improvements that make websites based on this CMS run faster and more efficiently.
6. Regular WordPress updates mean lower costs
Absurd? The answer is: no! Current WordPress updates significantly reduce the costs of running a website. The reason is simple – spending time updating the site is cheaper than completely rebuilding the site after a hack. Not to mention how much work will have to be put into rebuilding lost positions in Google or gaining damaged trust among customers…
What to look for when updating?
A CMS is not just a website, but an entire advanced content management system. Therefore, you should be especially careful before installing an update. Remember to always make a backup of the entire website first. Hasty installation of an ‘erroneous’ update can affect the operation of the entire system! What’s more, you can lose important data as a result!
Regular website updates are in the hands of professionals. We’ll take care of it for you!
Although updating your WordPress site has huge benefits, it’s not without its problems. If you don’t have time for it or you’re afraid that something might go wrong, leave it to the specialists.
At ePresence, we take care of our clients’ websites every day. We constantly monitor their availability, updates, and security. We have the right tools, knowledge, and experience to do this, so you can be sure that your website won’t disappear or break down overnight.
Check out what we can do for you!
Preparing WordPress for an Update
When updating WordPress, it is crucial to ensure the security of your site, as un-updated pages can be vulnerable to hacking and bugs.
Before starting the update, you should back up your site and check the compatibility of your plugins with the new version of WordPress. It is also important to update your site’s theme and its plugins.
Before installing a new update, you should also check the technical requirements of the new version of WordPress, which may require changes to your server, such as an update to the PHP or MySQL version.
How often should you update your WordPress CMS?
There is no “magic” date when you should do it, but leaving your site on an old version is like, let’s allow ourselves a comparison, forgetting to water your plants – sooner or later, problems will arise. Over time, WordPress introduces new things and plugins are improved, so it’s worth checking if you haven’t missed an important update.
It’s also a good idea to be patient – after a new version is released, wait a few days before updating. This gives time to catch and fix small bugs and allows plugin creators to adapt to the changes.
Monitor the messages visible in the WordPress panel to know when new updates are available (which, unless you’ve disabled this feature, will probably install themselves). Similarly, it’s worth checking the updates of themes and plugins, even those that are disabled (they are still installed in your CMS).
WordPress Update Summary
Updating WordPress is an essential step in keeping your website secure, efficient, and modern. Regular updates provide protection against cyber threats and bring new features that improve both search engine visibility and user experience.
Remember, always back up and check plugin compatibility before updating. There is no set update schedule, but new versions should not be ignored; instead, watch the notifications in your WordPress dashboard and give yourself time to make thoughtful updates to avoid errors and ensure smooth integration with new tools.
It is also worth remembering to update your themes and plugins, even the inactive ones, to keep the whole system running smoothly.
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