Before we go onto the how, let’s talk about why it’s important to update WordPress plugins. WordPress is free to use and the developers who made it continue to come up with new releases and versions of the site to keep it up to date, improve performance and fix bugs. The additional plugins that you can install onto your WordPress website are also made by developers who similarly look to improve and enhance their creations as time goes on in order to keep them secure and enhance them.
This is why it’s so important to update your WordPress site! If you don’t then you are not only risking your website security but missing out on exciting new features and improvements that will keep your website fresh and updated!
So to summarise, the 3 main reasons you need to keep your WordPress website and plugins updated:
1. Security
Due to the fact that WordPress is hugely popular and is open source, this makes it a huge target for potential hackers and data thieves! It’s not just the WordPress website itself that can be vulnerable to hackers but the plugins that are installed onto your site
2. New features
If you are using an older version of WordPress then you’re missing out on new developments that have been made, an example of this is when WordPress 4.1 introduced inline image editing or when WordPress 4.2 came with faster plugin updates. We’re currently at WordPress 5.3 with major releases, however sources such as Search Engine Journal have confirmed WordPress is also currently testing an automatic plugin and theme update feature that it hopes to release in core with WordPress 5.5!
3. Speed
Since website speed is a huge determining factor in SEO and how well your WordPress site ranks, it’s important to keep your website as speedy as possible! Ensuring that both your core website and plugins are kept updated is definitely a determining factor if you are looking to improve the speed of your website
How to Keep Your WordPress Site Updated
Luckily, this part is easy as long as you keep on top of it! If you login to your WordPress website you will see a dashboard option which will highlight the number of updates that are available. Clicking on the updates option under Dashboard will take you to the updates page which you can update WordPress core, plugins and themes from.
This handy built-in update notification system will make your life a whole lot easier and ensure you keep on top of the updates! You can even install and activate a plugin called ‘WP Updates Notifier plugin’ which will send you an email when a plugin is due an update, and from WordPress 5.5 you will be able turn on automatic updates for individual plugins.
If you are still left feeling confused about how to update your WordPress site and plugins yourself then feel free to give us a call on 01925 563 960. For our expert in-house developers updating plugins is a piece of cake and they would be happy to help!
