Importance of website updates.

The Importance of scheduled Updates

WordPress is the leading open-source platform used for building content-rich websites. WordPress itself accounts for over 42% of websites currently published on the internet which in hand comes with an increased threat of attack over other platforms. Some statistics show that 90% of hacked websites are in fact WordPress websites.

As WordPress websites are made up of open-source software along with multiple third-party plugins and a MySQL database there are multiple access points for hackers to compromise a site. There are processes which can be put in place to reduce these threats which include the installation of premium security plugins and regular updates.

Should I be worried that my website is built in WordPress?

In short, NO! The reason WordPress is the most popular content management system is because of the flexibility and potential it offers. Therefore, the functionality opportunity and customisation of having a WordPress website should massively outweigh the potential of an attack. All that said, ensuring your WordPress website is kept up to date on regular basis is extremely important to minimise any threats.

How often should your WordPress website be updated?

Updating your WordPress website is an important maintenance task that helps keep your site secure, functional, and up-to-date with the latest features and improvements.

As a general rule, it’s recommended that you update your WordPress website regularly, at least once a month or whenever there is a new security patch or update available. This includes updating WordPress core, themes, and plugins to their latest versions.

However, before updating your site, it’s important to take a backup of your website, so that in case anything goes wrong, you can restore your site to its previous state.

In addition to regular updates, it’s also important to monitor your site regularly for any issues, such as broken links, slow page loading times, or plugin conflicts. Keeping your site updated and well-maintained can help prevent potential issues from arising and ensure that your site is functioning properly for your users.

Failing to upgrade won’t always mean there will be problems with your existing website, however, there will be a slightly higher risk of security vulnerabilities and functionality issues.

What’s Involved in an update?

Each time we update a website we include a full manual backup, WordPress software and plugin updates and general styling and functionality testing. This helps to maximise security and performance as well as to give us regular backup points in the event of us needing to roll back to previous versions.

How much does it cost?

Costs may vary from client to client, below is approximate price brackets:

Small websites – £120 – £180

Medium websites – £120 – £240

Larger websites – £180 – £240

In the event of plugin conflicts, if such issues cannot be rectified within the costs stated above, we will notify the client before proceeding any further.

If you wish for us to arrange for scheduled upgrades, please let us know and we can confirm costs and occurrence. Get in touch today!