Once a website is built it’s easy to believe that you’ve ticked the box and don’t need to worry about it until something in your business changes which means you need to update text or images. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Your content and images aren’t the only things that go out of date, there are also elements that quickly go out of date without making a visible difference to the website. This includes things such as your WordPress version, plugins, contact form security and your hosting platform. By allowing your website to become out of date you’re increasing the risk of future issues, such as having your website hacked, increased spam or slower loading.
That’s exactly why we’ve launched a new service, Hosting Plus, that supports business owners to keep the less visible elements of their website, the bits under the bonnet, up to date and working as they should. It’s essentially a service plan for your website that ensures that it stays functional and up to date!
What’s Covered By Hosting Plus?
Hosting Plus is an add-on to our regular hosting service that goes beyond keeping your website live and visible and helps to keep your website up-to-date and secure. Hosting Plus includes;
- WordPress Updates
- WordPress Plugin Updates
- PHP Version Updates
- Google ReCAPTCHA Updates
- Contact Form Checks
- Broken Links & Images Audit
- Mobile & Desktop Browser Testing
- Advisories Report
WordPress Updates
In 2022 alone, WordPress has released 6 version updates that range from fixing security issues to adding new features to improve the usability and performance of your website. We keep your WordPress version up to date, ensuring that you’re able to benefit from the latest features and that you’re protected against security weaknesses.
WordPress Plugin Updates
To ensure that plugins function correctly, developers have to regularly update them to work with the latest WordPress version updates. The most common method of hacking a WordPress website is through poorly maintained plugins, with estimates that 92% of hacks occur via plugins. Off the back of the core updates, plugin developers then have to go and release their own updates to make sure their plugins are kept secure and functional alongside their new features. Hosting Plus will ensure that your plugins are kept up-to-date and work as the developers intended.
Google ReCAPTCHA Updates
Whilst your contact form is a great way to enable potential customers to get in touch, they can also be exploited by spammers who use bots to send nuisance messages. Every business owner will have received spam through their contact form at one point or another. Fortunately, you can protect your contact form by installing a CAPTCHA, which prevents bots from submitting messages. However, spammers are always working to find ways around CAPTCHAs which means that the security methods need to be continually updated to stay ahead and keep contact forms secure.
Other Important Checks & Recommendations
As well as checking the key elements of your website, we move on to further checks, such as ensuring there are no broken links or images, that your contact form is functioning correctly, that your website appears correctly across major browsers and we’ll put together a list of any recommendations that fall outside of Hosting Plus.
Find Out If Hosting Plus Is Right For You
If you’d like any more information on Hosting Plus, or would like to discuss upgrading your current hosting with a member of our team, please contact us via our contact form or call us on 01788 288 800.
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