{"id":284,"date":"2016-04-29T16:15:30","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T13:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/?p=284"},"modified":"2023-10-27T23:50:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T20:50:31","slug":"update-wordpress-safely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/update-wordpress-safely\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Update WordPress Safely (And Why You Should)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Why would I update WordPress? I like my site the way it is now!<\/em>” – you’re thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, your site might be safe for now<\/em>, but there are lots of monsters under the bed just waiting to attack it in the future. \ud83d\udc79 That’s why updating WordPress safely should be one of the top ten WordPress commandments for anyone using the web’s most popular content management system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Let’s first take a deeper dive into what updating WordPress really means<\/em><\/a> though. Then we’ll show you seven practical steps you can follow to update WordPress<\/a> sooner, rather than later.<\/p>\n\n\n

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What does “update WordPress” actually entail? \ud83e\udd14<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You’re probably already aware of this, but your WordPress site isn’t just a standalone solid object. Yes, it exist as “a” website, but underneath the hood, there are a lot of moving parts that make it do what it does. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s similar to a car in that respect. And just like a car requires periodic maintenance of its various components, so too does your WordPress installation. In short, when we talk about updating WordPress, we’re not just talking about one update, but several. Among them are the following:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Security<\/strong> \ud83d\udd12<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Due in part to its massive popularity, the WordPress platform is faced with lots of daily attacks from unscrupulous actors. With each WordPress update<\/a>, a number of vulnerabilities are fixed and various security holes are patched. This effectively makes it harder for hackers to break into your site. The benefits of this don’t require a deeper explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n

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New features and functionalities<\/strong> \ud83c\udd95<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Whether it’s completely new stuff, or just making the old stuff work better, WordPress updates bring a lot of improvements. They will not only ease your work as a website owner, but will also improve your site visitors’ experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Speed<\/strong> \ud83c\udfce\ufe0f<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Each new release comes with optimizations geared at making your website faster<\/a>. So, unless you want your site to be eating the dust of your competitors, then you need to stay on top of your update game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is true whether you run a blog<\/a> or a regular website, but it’s arguably even more important if you have an ecommerce setup<\/a>. Research by Google has shown that modern buyers are quite the impatient bunch – even a mere two seconds can increase your bounce rate<\/a> by 32% [1]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Compatibility with modern tools and technology<\/strong> \ud83d\udcbb<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Technology evolves so fast that it’s hard to keep up … but WordPress somehow does. And some modern plugins require you to be using the latest version of the WordPress core<\/a> in order for them to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re still not convinced that the update is essential, this resource<\/a> will give you even more reasons why you shouldn’t wait any longer.<\/p>\n\n\n

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How to update my WordPress site safely? \ud83e\udded<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Okay, so the good news is that updating WordPress is actually easier than you might think. It only takes a few minutes once you get the hang of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the steps you should follow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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