Dealing with WordPress Updates

WordPress is a favoured content management system that delivers maximum flexibility in creating and managing websites. However, as technology advances, it’s crucial to keep your site up-to-date to ensure optimal user experience. The process of updating WordPress especially for business owners and webmasters can be quite intimidating. In this guide, we provide a comprehensive tutorial on how to navigate WordPress updates in a few easy steps.

Step 1: Backup Your Website

It is critical to safeguard your website’s content, database, and files before applying any significant updates. Taking backup ensures the website’s safety, so you can restore your website to its original states in case anything goes wrong. WordPress offers various plug-ins like UpdraftPlus, BackWPup, and WordPress Backup to Dropbox to back up your site automatically.

Step 2: Update WordPress Core

It’s essential to update WordPress’s core regularly since it enhances new features and patches security vulnerabilities. Following these simple steps will ensure your website functions appropriately and is protected from cyber threats.

• Login to your WordPress dashboard
• Click on “Dashboard”
• Select “Update Now”
• Wait for the update process to complete

Step 3: Update Themes

Themes add attraction and visual appeal to your website, thus need regular updating to function correctly and keep up with the latest WordPress versions. Follow these steps to update your WordPress themes:

• Go to “Appearance” from your dashboard
• Select “Themes”
• Select the theme you want to update
• Click on “Update”

Step 4: Update Plugins

Plugins enhance the functionality of your website, but they need frequent updates to improve their efficiency and security. Here are two alternative ways to update your WordPress plugins:

• Go to “Plugins” from your dashboard
• Select “Installed Plugins”
• Select the plugins you want to update
• Click on “Update Plugins”
• Select “Updates” in your WordPress dashboard
• Choose the desired plugins you wish to update
• Click “Update Plugins”

Step 5: Check for Broken Links

Broken links negatively affect your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) performance, which can hurt your ranking. Use plug-ins like broken link checker, link checker or Google Analytics to detect broken links and fix them immediately.

Step 6: Optimize Website Load Time

Users tend to be impatient when dealing with a slow website, leading to high bounce rates that adversely affect your SEO. Optimize your website’s loading speed by:

• Compressing your images
• Minimizing HTTP requests
• Optimizing your JavaScript and CSS files
• Using a caching plugin
• Enabling Gzip Compression

Step 7: Incorporate Security Measures

Cyber attacks are prevalent in WordPress, with hackers looking to exploit any vulnerability. Failure to incorporate security measures can result in your website becoming compromised or hacked. Here are a few tips:

• Install security plug-ins e.g. All in one WP security and firewall
• Use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption
• Use strong passwords
• Limit login attempts
• Keep WordPress updated

Conclusion

The process of updating a website using WordPress can be daunting, but by following the outlined steps, you can update your website smoothly, keeping it secure and functioning correctly. Take backup before making significant updates, check for broken links regularly, optimize website load time, and incorporate security measures. Once you have the WordPress updates under your belt, you can focus on creating great content for your website visitors!