PHP is a widely-used programming language powering 79% of all websites1. The most popular platforms such as WordPress, Magento, WooCommerce, Drupal, Joomla and many more all run on PHP.
Support for PHP versions 7.0 and below ended on 31st December 2018 meaning there are no further security patches being released for these versions and you should upgrade immediately. 55.8%1 of all websites are still running PHP 5, a staggering number.
The reason a lot of website have not updated is because there are often compatibility issues moving to the latest version of PHP. Upgrading is now something that you shouldn’t see as optional but necessary.
Besides, there are so many benefits to upgrading especially in terms of performance. When tested with WordPress + WooCommerce, PHP 7.3 can handle 278% more requests than PHP 5.62, meaning big performance improvements which help with conversions and SEO.
All websites we have developed in the last year are running on at least PHP 7.1 and everyone on a maintenance plan with us will already have been upgraded to a secure version of PHP.
So please speak to your developers to ensure you are running at least PHP 7.1, and if not, please put plans in place to upgrade immediately. If you would like us to take a look at if your site is running a secure version of PHP, get in touch.
Sources:
1. Usage statistics and market share of PHP version 5 for websites
2. PHP Benchmarks
