Why Regular WordPress Website Updates Matter
WordPress is a great platform for building a new website. It’s reliable and low cost, but with that low cost comes a responsibility: keeping your website and hosting protected by running your WordPress website updates regularly.
What Open Source Means for Your Website
WordPress is an ‘open source’ platform, which means pretty much anyone can build things for it. That’s why there’s such a huge variety of themes, plugins, templates and drag and drop builders to choose from. The flip side is that all those options can turn into a bit of a minefield when it comes to knowing which plugins are legit. Always check that the plugins you choose have been updated recently and have good reviews. Users are usually quick to comment if a plugin causes conflicts with other plugins or creates issues.
Why So Many Websites Aren’t Kept Up to Date
So many of the websites I jump on to help with haven’t been kept up to date. Usually it’s because:
- They don’t know how to run their website updates
- They don’t know how to fix their website if it breaks during an update
- They aren’t aware of the security risks of an out of date website
- They know out of date plugins could be an issue, but don’t think ‘hacking’ will happen to them
- And then there are always a few who just don’t think it’s important…
A Real Example: 18 Months Without Updates
Just this week I logged into a client’s website and found they hadn’t run their updates in 18 months. Some plugins update themselves automatically when a security vulnerability is found, and that can cause conflicts with older plugins that haven’t been touched. That’s exactly what happened here. One of the plugins threw a critical error while I was running a backup before the updates. Luckily I was able to fix it then and there, which meant less time offline for my client.
The Security Risks of an Out of Date Website
The other big issue with WordPress websites that haven’t been updated is that they can be left wide open to security vulnerabilities. Because WordPress is open source, hackers can also use those weaknesses to cause damage, from malware and viruses to redirecting your visitors to unsavoury sites!
What’s Included in Our Monthly WordPress Maintenance
I run website updates monthly for my clients (or sooner if a major security update is released). This includes:
- Website backup
- Theme updates
- Plugin updates
- Security scan
- A quick check of the website to make sure everything is working as it should
If an update causes a conflict, we’ll either roll back to the backup or fix the conflict. Up to 15 minutes of this is included in our monthly website update fee. If you’d prefer ad-hoc website work, we’re also happy to run updates at our hourly rate.
Hand Over Your Website Maintenance
If you’re keen to hand your WordPress maintenance over to someone who knows what they’re doing, contact us today!
