The world of web technology is buzzing over an exciting transition into the latest version of a common programming language. PHP (or Hypertext Preprocessor) is one of the most prevalent server-side scripting languages used across the web. In short, it allows developers to “call” a server in order to create dynamic components on a web page. If you have a One Firefly site, PHP is a major ingredient of it’s build.

Why PHP7?

PHP7 is the latest and greatest version of PHP. In fact, usage statistics show that some version of PHP is used in over 80% or 240+ million websites. Since the release of PHP5 almost 15 years ago, PHP7 is said to be one of the most significant upgrades. From speed to security, let’s take a look at a few of the major benefits below:

Need For Speed

One of the most notable enhancements of PHP7 is it’s increased performance, particularly for eCommerce and CMS (Content Management System) based sites. Compared to PHP’s last major update, PHP7 is able to call a server twice as fast while using 50% less memory consumption. What does this mean for your website? Faster load times and the ability to serve a large volume of visitors using minimal resources. Take a look at the graph below for a comparison of PHP5.6 vs PHP7 on a typical CMS like Wordpress.

Added Security

Aside from the performance boost from an upgrade to PHP7, users can rest assured knowing that their website is well protected. As with a release of any software, new PHP branches have a life cycle of support for about 2 years after launch with a third occasionally added. During this time, security issues and bugs are fixed and patches released on a regular basis. This brings PHP’s last major release, 5.6 to end of life support come 2019. An upgrade to version 7 is a necessity in order to ensure that your website is safe from vulnerabilities.

Google Cares

Finally, it’s no secret that website performance is a key indicator of rankings in Google search results. In July 2018, Google expanded upon its 2010 algorithm update to include that now both mobile and desktop search results will be impacted by website speed. In short, everything else equal, a website that loads faster will always rank higher than its competitor. Make sure your website leads the pack with an upgrade to PHP7.

Have any questions about whether your website is up to date? Feel free to reach out to a member of our web team at (954) 921-2393.