If you are looking to update WordPress PHP version then you come on the right place in this talk we will discuss why we need to Update PHP version of your website if you are not running the latest version of PHP may increase your site load time and the research shows that any website that takes up to 5 to 6 seconds to load the website may abandon 53% of people that visit your site and that’s a huge number of visitors you are losing.
Update WordPress PHP version to the most recent is a proven way to decrease website load time and fewer chances for hackers to attack your website.
Let’s move to learn how to update WordPress PHP versions to the most recent.
Table of Contents
PHP and WordPress
As we all know that WordPress was built on PHP, a server-side scripting language and it’s the version set at the server level by your hosting company. Since the very first version of WordPress, it’s undergone several updates and PHP also launched several updates. It means that if you are running the most recent version of WordPress on the older version of PHP then you’re running on the high risk.
Benefits of update PHP Version
Followings are the main benefits that can be avail by update WordPress PHP Version:
Improved Security
PHP and WordPress both are the open-source languages that’s why both are famous and it’s the target of hackers. To prevent your website from hackers you have to update WordPress PHP. It’s no mean that the older version of PHP lacks security features but it’s not secure as compared to the most recent version.
Improved Speed
if you are worried about slow speed issues and tried a lot of techniques to improve the speed of your website. Update WordPress PHP version and check the load time of your website, its tested method updating PHP version to the most recent will improve the load speed.
Improved SEO
As we all know that to rank high in Google you must have less load time site and update WordPress PHP version lessen the load time so updating PHP version can improve your ranking on Google.
Things to Do Before Update PHP Version
Before starting the procedure I will recommend some important aspects that can help us if we have any issue regarding updating the PHP version so that we can revert our website in the working state.
Create Backup of your Website
Before updating anything we are advised to create a backup of the website so that if you face any problem during the update process we are able to get our website back. There are a lot of WordPress plugins that help you create a backup of your website but I will recommend you install UpdraftPlus because its easy to use complete, and comprehensive backup plugin.
Update WordPress themes and plugins
Make sure your WordPress, themes, and plugins are up to date to the most recent versions, to do that login to your dashboard navigate to the updates and see if there is any update that needs to be done.
Check PHP Compatibility
Updating WordPress and themes is not a guarantee that everything will smoothly, PHP latest version might have an issue with the installed themes and plugins, install the PHP Compatibility Checker Plugin to check your theme and plugin issue if there is any compatibility issue with the theme or plugin resolve this issue before updating the PHP version.
Update PHP Version
You are now ready to update the WordPress PHP version, you have done all the precautions, got a backup of your website, and scanned the compatibility issues.
Update PHP Version Using cPanel
As we discussed above PHP version is set at the server level to log in to your cPanel and navigate to the “ Select PHP Version” tab.
Click on it and it will redirect you to another page, you will see your Website current version, select the most recent 7.3 for your website.
At the end select “Set as Current” for your website. Congrats you have done the job.
Contact host provider to Update PHP Version
All the hosting providers are not offering the feature to update PHP version if your cPanel doesn’t have this option or have any issue in updating PHP version contact to the support to help you. Personally, I am using the A2 Hosting company and they allow me to update PHP versions myself.
Conclusion
Currently, we are living in the tech world and it’s continuously changing, there is always a new update for everything. Get regular updates of the WordPress, Themes, and plugins which can help to run your website smooth, fast, and securely. For additional queries and issues regarding themes or plugins, our professionals will get back to you with the best solution.
