The number of outdated PHP versions indicates that many website operators either don’t know that their scripting language isn’t up-to-date or are afraid of an update. If you are not sure which PHP version is running on your server, you can check it in the hosting provider’s control centre. You will usually find a section for PHP settings there and the respective version will be displayed for all domains. PHP 7.1 or higher is currently recommended. Compared to PHP 5.6, dynamic websites load more than 100% faster.
A few clicks is all it takes to upgrade your version of PHP via your hosting provider. However, due to a lack of backward compatibility, errors may occur on the website. Operators with little programming experience and ready-made applications may then face a problem that they can only solve with an expert’s help. If you replace PHP 5.6 with the current version 7.2, you should always check the new version in a test environment before going live with it.