Nearly every website in the world runs on a content management system (CMS). And just like every computer, CMS’ require updates. Many website managers ignore the importance of keeping up with these because they can be time-intensive and require a financial investment, but staying current with the latest version of your CMS is the best way to ensure that your site is as secure, feature-rich, and supported as possible. Explore the many reasons why a CMS upgrade should be on your plan this year, and every year.
Upgrading your CMS for security reasons
Far and away the best reason to upgrade anything is to ensure you are the most secure. You see these kinds of upgrade requests all the time, on your computer and your phone, even on smart devices like printers and watches. Your CMS is no different. In fact, it actually is more vulnerable as it is connected to the web at all times and manages crucial data points for your business. Security patches are released frequently, and it’s important that you install hot fixes as well as run the latest version to ensure your site is protected.
Upgrading your CMS to leverage innovative features
Technology is always evolving. Your website is not a static entity; it is your virtual storefront and gateway to your customers. As new technologies emerge, the demand for these services grow, and the patience to wait for their implementation goes down. Upgrades aren’t always the perfect catchall solution for every technology jump, especially when you factor in training time, but they do allow for a more immediate transition when it aligns with your business needs.
Depending on your CMS, new features an upgrade may include:
- Key new features
- Enhancements of existing features
- More platform stability
- Improved CMS usability
- Changes to better adhere to legislation or conformance regulations
- Improved security
Budgeting for annual CMS upgrades
Understanding that this is, at least, an annual charge will help to build business processes allowing for this crucial website maintenance. It is possible for extra charges to come as updates get more complex, but it is always cheaper to be proactive vs. reactive. It will cost a lot more, in both money and customer image, to fix a hack from a known vulnerability than to upgrade and have it plugged before it becomes a public-facing problem.
Ready to upgrade?
Kentico 11 Upgrade
As of January 2018, Kentico is on version 11. Kentico CMS clients using the email functionality should upgrade immediately to take advantage of their new drag and drop email builder. They also improved the marketing reporting to be able to pinpoint analytics down to individual content blocks. In addition, Kentico 11 has done significant data organization upgrades to make it easier to be in compliance with GDPR, which will soon be mandatory for companies in the EU. If you are on a Kentico version other than 11, it’s a smart idea to upgrade now. You can always check for the most recent upgrade features on the Kentico version page.
Sitefinity 10 upgrade
Version 9 brought major upgrades to how Sitefinity interacted with Google Analytics, crucial to staying relevant in online search. They also addressed performance issues with images, again for SEO as well as site speed and findability. Version 10 focused more on the backend, adding functionality to the system health check and built-in site warm up, while adding to the cache control policy management support. 10.1 added more internal personalization with content lists, automated & integrated personalized reporting, and personalization for web nurturing. The most current release, 10.2, furthered the personalization with built-in A/B testing functionality. They also keep growing their SEO internal tools with SEO fields for MVC and OpenGraph. We recommend visiting Sitefinity’s version page to keep up-to-date.
If you are ready to upgrade your existing Kentico or Sitefinity website, contact a team member at ZAG Interactive.