WordPress is an open-source platform developed and maintained by a worldwide community of developers available for free. Whenever these developers come up with new features or bug fixes or security updates, WordPress releases an update. In this article, let’s look at the top four reasons why you should always keep your WordPress updated.
1. Security
Improving the security of your website is one of the primary reasons to keep your WordPress updated at all times.
Being open-source, hackers and other online miscreants keep trying to find loopholes in the platform and exploit them. However, the active community of users and developers work tirelessly to report weaknesses, if any, and resolve them. These solutions are then made available to all WordPress users via updates. If your WordPress site is not updated, then it carries a risk of being open to cyber-attacks, data theft, etc.
Nothing is completely hacker-proof. However, updating your WordPress is a good way of ensuring the security of your website to a great extent.
2. Website Speed
Updating WordPress ensures that all the functions of your website work optimally. This has a direct effect on the speed of your site. There is no denying the fact that a slow website can cause a loss of customers and brand image. Further, many search engines rank faster loading websites higher in their search results.
The developer community constantly tries to make WordPress faster and all such fixes are made available via updates. Therefore, updating WordPress can certainly affect the overall speed of your website.
3. Fixing Bugs
While major WordPress releases are usually bug-free, there are times when some bugs slip through the net. These bugs get reported by the active users and developer community who create fixes and release minor updates to tackle them. (Major releases are usually the ones having a V.V version number, whereas a minor release has a V.V.V version number.) Updating your WordPress regularly ensures that your website works in a bug-free environment.
4. Compatibility
Most plugin and theme developers ensure that their tools are compatible with the latest WordPress version. So, if you are running an older WP version, then they might not work in the manner they ideally should. Keeping your WP updated ensures that all your tools (plugins, themes, etc.) work well.
You must also remember that plugins and themes need to be updated regularly too. There are times when a WordPress update breaks a plugin either because it is not updated or it does not follow best practices. Hence, always check that your plugins and themes are working properly after a WP update.
I hope that this article clears your doubts about why you should keep your WordPress updated. Before signing off, I would like to add that while updating your WordPress can help you keep your site secure and perform optimally, the choice of the web host is equally important. Most WordPress Hosting service providers offer automatic updates, managed hosting, database management and optimization, and a plethora of other features to help you get the best out of the most used CMS platform – WordPress.
Do share your experience in updating WordPress in the comments below.