WordPress websites are not set and go system. Once your site is launched, it requires ongoing maintenance and frequent updating. Much like the software on your computer, regular plugin, theme and software updates are released to fix security issues, make improvements, fix bugs, etc. but they’re not as easy to adopt. Without a qualified WordPress expert team or a developer overseeing these updates, a website owner faces numerous issues from plugin incompatibility and theme breaks to security risks.
In this scenario, you may think not updating your website is the better choice – think again. Failing to keep your website updated puts you at risk for security issues and hacking and the popularity of WordPress means it’s now one of the top platforms targeted by hackers and spammers. According to reports by Sucuri on infected websites, more than 75 percent of those infected sites were built on the WordPress platform and the No.1 cause of infection was outdated software and plugins.
What is the RISK?
- Plugin incompatibility
- Theme breaks
- Plugin security vulnerabilities
One of the advantages of WordPress is that it’s open source, so developers are contributing and creating new plugins and improvements all the time. The downside, however, is that a plugin created by one development team may not work well when paired with a plugin written by another developer. This is called plugin incompatibility — updating one plugin may cause another to break or malfunction.
An even worse issue occurs when a single plugin update causes something to break in the WordPress theme. When this happens, it can cause the entire site to break and stop functioning. This is a common occurrence when a plugin is overhauled as in the main functionality and coding of the plugin have been altered.
As for security, when a vulnerability is found in the version of a plugin or theme being used on your site, a developer can take quick action to limit any exposure.
A vulnerability means that a hacker could gain access to your website through that plugin or theme. With more than 49,000 WordPress plugins available in the official directory, vulnerabilities can go undetected and cause system compromises for years. With a development team or developer handling the maintenance of your website, you can prevent malfunctioning systems and security issues, and ultimately avoid large development costs down the line.
Contact WordPromise today to discuss your website.
