WordPress is open source software with a massive community of contributors working tirelessly to improve it. This kind of development input is important to keeping WordPress fast and secure, but it also provides for many updates throughout the course of a year. Just like any piece of software, updating it is not only important, but necessary to ensure a functioning, high performing website. Let’s look at the key reasons why it is important to update WordPress.
Security
Security is the primary reason you should keep your WordPress site up to date; updates often feature security enhancements that prevent sites from being exploited. Since WordPress is open source, it benefits from a community of developers and security experts who are constantly testing every version of the software and properly reporting security fixes. Failing to update the latest version of WordPress can make your site an easy target for hackers and malicious code distributors.
Bug Fixes
Although every major release of WordPress goes through a rigorous testing process, sometimes smaller bugs slip through the cracks. This may or may not affect your website, but it is always a good idea to update WordPress in order to reduce any issues caused by bugs.
Speed
Web technology is constantly changing and WordPress developers are always searching for ways to make WordPress run faster and more efficiently. By keeping your WordPress site up to date you will provide not only a better user experience, but improve your site’s search engine rankings.
New Features
Every major release of WordPress includes new features tailored to improve the user experience. Past improvements include the ability to easily include embeds in text and video widgets, a redesigned plugin directory, and inline link editing via the visual post editor. Updating WordPress will only improve your ability to add new content to your site.
So, What’s Next?
It is now more important than ever to keep your site up to date. Always backup database and your site before updating WordPress and don’t neglect updates. The longer you wait to update to the next version of WordPress, the more you put your site at risk to be exploited by hackers or experience significant issues or bugs if your site is multiple versions behind the latest release.