One of the biggest mistakes that many new website owners make is neglecting to maintain their WordPress websites. Regular maintenance is key to keeping your site safe and secure. It will also keep your website loading quickly, ranking high on search engines and providing your readers with a positive user experience. Your website is one of your most important business marketing assets and it needs to be taken care of regularly.
Let’s explore some of the benefits of updating your WordPress website and discuss some basic steps you can take to keep your site well-maintained and running smoothly.
The Benefits of Updating Your WordPress Website
Keeps Your Site Secure
WordPress releases periodic updates that fix bugs and other security issues on their platform. Websites that don’t update to the latest version are leaving themselves vulnerable to hackers and spammers. Because WordPress is open source software and updates are made public, people with bad intentions can take advantage of those websites that have not yet updated to the latest version.
Improves the User Experience
WordPress updates fix bugs and release new features that improve the overall experience for your website visitors. An outdated version of WordPress can cause compatibility issues, slow page loading times and front-end errors that make using your website more of a pain than a pleasure.
Gives You the Best New Features
Not only do the WordPress updates fix potential security issues, they also include new features that can help improve the use and functionality of your website. Often these updates make using the back end of WordPress easier and more intuitive, both of which can save you time.
Ways to Properly Maintain Your Website
Perform your WordPress core, plugin and theme updates regularly.
Keeping up on the minor and major updates can help you avoid a big headache down the road. I recommend checking for new updates once a week to make sure you have the latest and greatest features and the optimal security capabilities.
Do a complete backup of your website often… and before performing any updates.
Backup often! Regular backups of your website will save you in the event that your website breaks. If you decide to update your website yourself, always make sure to do a complete backup of your site first.
Other tips for maintaining your WordPress website:
- Deleting unused plugins.
- Install a security plugin.
- Moderate and respond to comments.
- Perform a front-end scan of your website.
- Sort through your drafts.
- Empty the trash.
- Check your site speed.
Let ACA Web Consulting Help
Although not every website owner will need help performing these regular WordPress updates, there are some potential issues that you should consider before updating your website on your own. It is not impossible for your site to break after an update! Typically this happens because of a compatibility issue with one of your plugins. If you have concerns about maintaining your website yourself, ask us about our website consulting services.
A website that is not updated regularly leaves you vulnerable to security threats and a poor user experience, both of which are not good for business. If you need assistance with WordPress maintenance, contact ACA Web Consulting today.
