Do I need to update my website?

That’s like asking – Do you need to change the oil in your car?

The answer is, your car will run for a while, dirt will accumulate, the filter will clog and the oil will no longer lubricate the pistons as they move up and down. You may notice smoke, clanking sounds, poor gas mileage and lower than desirable performance. Eventually the engine will overheat and fail. A similar occurrence will happen if you do not keep your website up to date.

There are many security threats, malware and malicious software floating around the web. Most of these threats are not visible and can be overlooked for a while until things start failing. Fixing something that is broken requires much more time, energy and money than some simple steps of preventative maintenance.

A site can get hacked if it doesn’t remain up to date and doesn’t have the necessary security in place. This can happen to any website at any time. On average 30,000 are hacked a day. There are bots that are constantly browsing the internet looking for old versions of WordPress or plugins that have known security issues and will take advantage of those gaps. When these malicious bots find your site and exploit the security inadequacy it can be hard to recover. You may get blacklisted by Google, ads injected in your pages, url redirecting to unfavorable websites, or malware may be injected which can then be passed on to others.

If you are lucky, you may have a back up of the website and database. That would allow you to take the necessary precautions and update to the most current versions of WordPress and plugins. If you don’t have a backup it is important to remain calm, let your viewers know on social media, contact your host and start repairing the issue.

The answer is yes I need to update my website, but I don’t have to do it all alone. The team at Prime Concepts knows what it takes to keep your website secure. Sign up for our monthly maintenance package to start taking vital steps to fight off hack attacks. We complete monthly back-ups which minimizes loss as well as monitor updates to your site for added protection against the hack attempts.