Your WordPress website is not something you can safely set and forget. It might look fine on the surface, but behind the scenes, things start to slide the longer it goes without updates.
I hear the same sentence far too often
“It was working fine until…”
Most of the time, the cause is not sudden or mysterious. It is months or years of missed updates quietly building up in the background.
Why “Set and Forget” Does Not Work for WordPress
WordPress websites are living systems. They rely on regular updates to stay secure, compatible, and functional.
When a site is left untouched, WordPress core updates are missed, plugin and theme updates pile up, and hosting environments continue to change. Eventually, something breaks.
PHP Versions and Why They Matter More Than You Think
PHP is the programming language your WordPress site runs on. Hosting providers regularly retire older PHP versions because they are no longer safe.
Once a PHP version reaches end of life, it stops receiving security patches. This leaves your site exposed to known vulnerabilities that are actively exploited.
On top of that, when a host upgrades PHP, outdated plugins or themes may stop working altogether. This is a very common reason for broken sites, white screens, or missing functionality.
Security Risks Multiply Over Time
Every update you skip is a missed security fix.
Outdated plugins are the most common entry point for hacked WordPress sites. Once compromised, your site can start sending spam, redirect visitors to unsafe pages, or even get blacklisted by search engines.
Cleaning up a hacked site is almost always more expensive and stressful than maintaining it properly.
Performance and User Experience Slowly Decline
An unmaintained site often becomes slower and less reliable over time.
Pages take longer to load.
Forms stop sending.
Bookings or payments fail quietly.
You may not notice immediately, but your visitors do, and they will leave.
Why Delaying Updates Increases the Risk of Breakage
Many people avoid updates because they are worried something will break. Ironically, skipping updates is what makes breakage more likely.
Regular updates are smaller and easier to manage. Leaving updates for long periods means everything changes at once, which dramatically increases the chance of problems.
How Often You Should Be Updating Your WordPress Site
This includes reviewing core, plugin, and theme updates, checking PHP compatibility, taking backups before updates, and testing key pages afterwards.
At an absolute minimum, your WordPress site should be checked monthly.
For business websites, ongoing maintenance is the safest option.
The Real Cost of Waiting Until Something Goes Wrong
Most people reach out only once their site is already broken, hacked, or offline.
At that point, the work is no longer routine maintenance. It becomes emergency repair, which is more time consuming and more expensive.
Regular care is calm and predictable. Emergency recovery is neither.
Need Help Keeping Your Site Updated?
If managing updates is not something you want to think about, I offer ongoing WordPress maintenance so your site is checked, updated, and looked after regularly.
If you prefer a once off option, I also offer ad hoc site checks. These are ideal if your site has not been updated in a while and you want a clear picture of its health, including update status, PHP compatibility, and security risks.
Either way, the goal is the same.
To keep your website secure, stable, and working properly.
If you are not sure which option suits you best, get in touch and we can talk it through.