Is your WordPress version old, and are you wondering if it can hurt your rankings? Yes, indirectly. An outdated WordPress version does not lower your rankings by itself, but it leaves known security holes open, and a hacked site can lose traffic, show warnings in Google, or get spam pages added to it. This post shows you how that happens and what to do about it. So, let’s start.
What does “outdated WordPress” actually mean?
WordPress core is the main software that runs your site. Its developers fix security bugs and publish a new version. If your site still runs an older version, those fixes are missing. Anyone can look up the bugs that were fixed, so attackers know exactly what to try on your old version.
Plugins and themes are separate from core and have their own updates. This post focuses on core, but the same logic applies to them.
Does an outdated WordPress version hurt SEO directly?
We could not find any statement in Google’s documentation saying that the WordPress version number is a ranking factor. So we will not tell you that updating gives a ranking boost. The risk is indirect, and it is real.
Google’s Security Issues report help page explains that Search Console tells you when Google finds your site was hacked. It lists hacked content such as malware, code injection (for example malicious redirects), content injection (spammy text or links) and URL injection (spam pages created by an attacker). Affected pages can show a warning label in search results, and browsers may show a warning page before a visitor reaches you.
How does an old WordPress version lead to lost traffic?
- Spam pages on your domain. Attackers add pages full of unrelated links. They can drag down the quality of your site and bury your real pages.
- Redirects. Visitors from Google get sent to another site. You see traffic arrive but nobody stays.
- Warnings in search and in the browser. People leave before reading anything.
- Downtime and slow recovery. Cleaning a hacked site takes days, and Google’s review of a security issue can take days or weeks according to its help page.
What did we see on our own sites?
We ran into this on two of the sites we work on. When we checked them, both were running an outdated WordPress core that had more than 30 known security flaws. We are not claiming either site was hacked. The point is that the doors were open, and nobody had noticed because the sites looked fine from the front.
That is the trap. A site can look and rank normally right up to the day it is compromised. Updating is cheap insurance. Cleaning up afterwards is not.
How to check your WordPress version and update safely?
- Take a backup first. The WordPress.org Updating WordPress guide says to back up before you start, so you can restore if something breaks.
- Open Dashboard, then Updates. It shows your version and whether a newer one exists.
- Click Update Now. This one-click update works on most hosts.
- Clear your cache. The same guide says to clear the cache after updating so visitors see the new version.
- Check the front of the site and your forms. Open the homepage, one post, and a contact form.
- Update plugins and themes next. Do it one at a time if your site is large, so you know what caused a problem.
If one-click fails, WordPress.org documents a manual update and says you can also restore your backup. Per that guide, WordPress has applied minor and security updates automatically in the background since version 3.7 on most sites, but major releases still need you to click.
How to stop falling behind again?
- Leave automatic minor and security updates switched on.
- Look at the Updates screen once a week. Put it in your calendar.
- Delete plugins and themes you do not use, not just deactivate them.
- Keep a recent backup stored away from the web server.
- Open the Security Issues report in Search Console now and then. Our post on finding invisible keywords in Google Search Console shows you around that tool.
What are the common mistakes?
- Updating with no backup.
- Updating core and ten plugins at once, then not knowing which one broke the site.
- Trusting that “the site looks fine” means it is safe.
- Hiding the version number and thinking that fixes the problem. It does not close the holes.
- Skipping the cache clear and thinking the update failed.
Does updating also help speed?
Sometimes, but do not count on it. On startupindiatoday.com, our mobile PageSpeed score went from 74 to 94 and LCP from 6.2 s to 2.7 s after we turned off a preloader and scroll animations, not after a WordPress update. Read that story in our post on preloaders and Core Web Vitals. Updates keep you safe. Speed is a different job. For reference, web.dev lists the good Core Web Vitals thresholds as LCP up to 2.5 s, INP up to 200 ms and CLS up to 0.1.
Where we are less sure
- We have no data showing that a site’s rankings rose after a WordPress update alone.
- We did not measure how often old versions get hacked. We only know the known flaws existed.
- Google’s help pages describe warnings and review times in general. Your own case may differ.
Our opinion: update core as soon as a security release is out, and treat it as maintenance, not as an SEO tactic. The reason is simple. The cost of an update is a few minutes and a backup. The cost of a hack is lost trust, lost traffic and days of cleanup.
FAQ
Is the WordPress version a Google ranking factor?
We found nothing in Google’s documentation that says so. The risk comes from hacks and the warnings that follow, as described in the Security Issues report help page.
Will updating WordPress break my site?
It can, mostly through old plugins or themes. That is why WordPress.org recommends a backup before updating, and why you should check the site right after.
How do I know if Google thinks my site is hacked?
Open the Security Issues report in Search Console. It shows an issue count, or a green check mark when there are none, according to Google’s help page.
Quick checklist
- Backup taken
- Core updated
- Plugins and themes updated
- Cache cleared
- Homepage, one post and a form tested
- Search Console Security Issues report shows no issues
- Automatic security updates still on
