WordPress websites are remarkable things: flexible, powerful and endlessly expandable. The WordPress backbone code powers many millions of websites all around the world, from simple 1-page brochure websites to huge e-commerce online stores. This is all achieved thanks to the tireless efforts of a large number of enthusiastic coders who continually add their creative energy to the WordPress mix, updating the core code and expanding its capabilities. At time of writing, the current version is WordPress 4.2.2 (now I’m showing my age!)
Now, here are the reasons:
Reason to Update #1: Improves Website Security
There is a downside to the open nature of the WordPress project: coders with an unpleasant agenda can exploit the openness of the code to find ways to hack into websites run on WordPress (this is a problem with every software system ever devised – it’s more of a human-nature problem than a software problem!) Usually this won’t affect the operation of the hacked website, and indeed the owners of the site may not even notice anything. However, the company hosting most definitely will notice, especially if the hacked site starts sending out loads of spam!
Thankfully, when the particular vulnerability exploited by the hackers is identified, it is closed off and an updated version of WordPress is made available for everyone to download and use. The hackers will no longer be able to exploit the same trick in the newly-updated version of WordPress, and websites around the world can be updated at the click of a button to protect themselves – problem solved!
Lesson Keep your site up-to-date to ensure it’s always protected!
Reason to Update #2: Improves Your Site’s Performance
Updates to the WordPress core are not only about security – WordPress developers and coders are happy chaps (and ladies) who enjoy creating and improving things. They like to add their own ideas and build upon the successes of the past. Despite the popular image of coders as lone tech-heads, they are actually very creative people and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think of them as artistic engineers.
All of that means that along with all the hard-headed security improvements, there will be other more subtle improvements to the performance of the code as a whole – this means that your website will tick along just that much smoother after the update. It’s like bringing your car to a mechanic who is always tweaking and improving your vehicle’s engine – for free! Where else in the world would you get that?
Lesson Keeping your site up-to-date to improves performance!
Reason to Update #3: Improves User-Experience (UX)
Website technology, like everything else, improves over time. This is true for the front-end functionality of a website as well as the behind-the-scenes code. People find better and better ways of doing things, and they tell others about those improvements. With WordPress, each time a new version is released to the public, all of the improvements made by people all over the world are made available. It’s like having a team of designers and user-experience gurus working for your around the clock, totally for free, continually making your website better and better for the end-user.
And what do you have to do to take advantage of all that hard work? Easy: just update your WordPress version! This is a simple 1-click process done through the Content Management System that is a part of every WordPress website. One click is all you need and you get all the improvements as they are made: better menus, better responsive layouts, better SEO, better everything! Who could ask for more?
Lesson Keep your site up-to-date to improve UX!
To learn more about updating your WordPress website, give us a call on +353 (0)1 525 2209 or contact us at info@patrickcaseydesign.com. We’ll give you a no-obligation consultation on all aspects of WordPress websites and how to keep them updated. Call now!