It’s been a few days since the official end of life (EOL) for Drupal 7 (Jan 5, 2025).  If you’re still operating on this outdated platform, you should know that sticking with Drupal 7 after this date will expose your website to significant risks. While Drupal 7 has served numerous organizations well over the years, it's time to say goodbye to the robust but aging platform. So, what will happen now after January 2025? Let’s look at the risks your business might face if you choose to stay with your Drupal 7 website.

We once wrote a guide on “How to convince your team to migrate your Drupal 7 site to Drupal 10.” If you’re the one playing the role of the persuader, this article is a must-read!

1. Security: old code, new threats

Security is one of the most significant reasons why organizations choose Drupal over other CMSes. Now that Drupal 7 has reached EOL, your site will no longer receive security patches from the Drupal community, leaving it vulnerable to attacks. Your website now becomes an easy target for hackers.
Without these critical updates, your website could be exposed to:

• Data breaches
• Malware attacks
• Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities
• SQL injection risks

As you may already know, the consequences of a security breach can not only damage your reputation but it can also lead to legal and financial implications. The risk is even higher if your website handles sensitive customer information, such as payment or personal information.

2. Compatibility with new technologies: The struggle is real

For any software to evolve, it is imperative that it catches up with other technologies it depends on so that your current website functionalities work at their best. If you’re still sticking with Drupal 7, you will fall behind on the latest web technologies and standards. Technologies like HTTP/2, PHP 8, and modern JavaScript frameworks are rapidly advancing. While Drupal 7 supports PHP 8.3, this compatibility is more of a temporary fix than a true optimization. Many contributed modules for Drupal 7 may not fully support PHP 8+, leading to potential compatibility issues.

If you remain on Drupal 7, you'll face compatibility issues with third-party tools and integrations like:

• Payment gateways
• Marketing automation platforms
• SEO tools
• Analytics services

In the future, Drupal 7 will become increasingly incompatible with these tools, making it more difficult to maintain an effective, modern online presence.

3. Performance Issues: Speed bumps ahead

Site speed is extremely important for both user experience and SEO. A D7 website’s performance cannot keep up with newer platforms. Drupal 7 updates didn’t focus much on performance improvements. Without future updates, your site could slow down a lot as traffic increases.
This could lead to:

• Longer load times
• Higher bounce rates
• Reduced conversion rates
• Negative impact on SEO rankings

Website performance impacts user engagement and with Google’s focus on Core Web Vitals (Website performance metrics for user experience), your site's slow performance could damage your search engine visibility.

4. Never-ending Maintenance bills

Since its release on Jan 5th, 2011, Drupal 7 has always been a reliable platform. But like any software, as it ages, the cost of maintaining it will continue to rise. If your website remains on Drupal 7, you’ll likely face higher maintenance costs over time. Why?

Custom development work and troubleshooting become more frequent due to the lack of community support and updates. 
Hiring specialized developers familiar with outdated Drupal 7 modules will prove to be more expensive
Custom fixes for security vulnerabilities
Continuous workarounds for compatibility issues with third-party services

As the number of Drupal 7 experts shrinks, maintaining your website will become harder and more costly.

5. The Downtime drama you don’t need

As you know, Drupal 7 will no longer receive updates or support, which means downtime becomes a real risk. Without patches or fixes, your website might experience more frequent crashes or errors. If your site gets hacked, the recovery could be a lot longer without the support of the Drupal community or regular security updates, adding even more drama to the situation.

Without official support you’ll have to rely on your own resources or on third-party developers who may not have the necessary expertise to resolve urgent issues quickly. This could lead to a longer downtime, which directly affects user experience, sales, and your brand credibility.

6. SEO and UX taking a backseat

This is a known fact - search engines and your users are demanding better experiences. Staying with Drupal 7 could put your SEO and user experience at risk. How? That’s because Drupal 7 lacks many modern features required for SEO, such as:

• Advanced schema markup
• Optimized content delivery (CDN support)
• Enhanced image management and responsive design
• Integration with modern analytics platforms

Without these features, your website may not rank well in search results. It also might not be able to provide an optimal experience for your users. This could lead to a decline in both organic traffic and customer retention.

7. Innovation on vacation

Innovation is not just a buzzword these days. It is crucial if you want your brand to stay current and thrive in this competitive market. Drupal 7’s limitations make it difficult to integrate with the latest trends and innovations in web design and digital marketing. For example, AI-powered personalization, advanced analytics, and chatbots are becoming essential features for businesses looking to stay ahead of the competition.

Migrating to Drupal 10 opens the door to these innovations. You can offer your users seamless, personalized experiences while improving conversion rates.

8. The Migration dilemma

Drupal 7’s EOL is a wake-up call. The longer you wait to migrate, the more difficult and costly the process will become. The longer you stay on the outdated D7, the more data, content, and features you’ll accumulate. And when it's time to migrate, all of this needs to be transferred. This makes the process more complex and requires more resources.

As more organizations move to the latest versions of Drupal, the migration tools, modules, and expertise available for Drupal 7 become more limited. This could result in additional challenges during your migration.

9. Damaged reputation

How can sticking with Drupal 7 after its end of life harm your company’s reputation, you ask? You customers and users increasingly expect you to be up-to-date with modern technologies. And an outdated, insecure website can give the impression that your business is out of touch.

A dated website could signal to users that you don’t prioritize security, innovation, or user experience, which could push potential customers to competitors who have migrated to more modern platforms.

Final thoughts

The risks of staying with Drupal 7 after its EOL in January 2025 are far too great to ignore. You are putting your website (and business) at a serious disadvantage by caring less about the security vulnerabilities, performance issues and missed opportunities for growth. Upgrading to the latest version of Drupal is essential. Start planning your migration today. Specbee is a certified Drupal Migration Partner which means we know how to make sure your D7 website takes the best route to the latest version. You can also bag 1-year support and maintenance with your Drupal migration for FREE if you act fast. Let’s talk soon!