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Your Website: Updating Platform vs. Updating Design
The Sprocket Report
Whether you need a new website design is certainly worthy of discussion and we’re happy to discuss it. But whether you need to update your website platform is not open to debate.
Hackers, Welcome!
Obviously, the older the website platform, the longer hackers have had to break into it. And don’t think you’re too small to bother with, because we’ve seen sites with barely any traffic still fall victim. Popular platforms actively shore up vulnerabilities as they become known to keep the bad guys out, but if you haven’t updated to the improved version, your outdated software is still susceptible.
Bugs and Breaks
Mistakes happen. A typo in code or a wayward link can cause all sorts of havoc in a web platform’s software and the error may not get caught right away. You need to keep up with the patches and fixes to keep errors from affecting your site’s visitors.
A Bridge Too Far
Staying abreast of updates lets your site make small incremental improvements. The bigger the jump between your old version and the new, the greater the chance of things breaking. Your web tech will probably have to walk through the incremental versions anyway, so you might as well do it right from the beginning.
The Better Experience
New versions bring improvements in important ways like greater mobile responsiveness and faster loading speed. Website visitors are increasingly picky about their online experiences and are quick to move on from websites that don’t meet their expectations.
Cool New Tools
In addition to avoiding problems, don’t discount the advantages an upgrade will give you. Enhanced functionality and more options could help your website work smarter for both you and your visitors.
Staying in Control
You may be aware that some platforms, such as WordPress, automatically update core files. What you may not be aware of is that your themes and plugins, the extras added when you originally built your site, do NOT automatically update. When the various components of your website get out of sync, they stop working together. It’s far better to act before things break.
To quote the immortal Ferris Bueller: “Life moves pretty fast.” And that was twenty years before the first iPhone was released! Today, life moves faster than ever. If you aren’t keeping up on your web platform, you’re not only missing out, you could be in big trouble. We’re happy to help get your site up-to-date. Just give us a call.
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Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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