Shorter, non-techy answer – Updating & maintaining your website is important for functionality, security, and performance, i.e. performing at its best.
Think of it like your car. You get it serviced regularly so it runs well and is reliable. If you skip a service or two (maybe even more) your car still might keep going for you, but if it doesn’t, it’s almost always at the worst possible time and can cause immeasurable damage and avoidable costs.
For many businesses, your website is a vital, if not the most important element of your business. Are you willing to risk it breaking down?
Nerdy answer – WordPress is built on what is called open source technology where the source code used to create it is freely available for the public to view, edit, and redistribute. For this reason, regular updates are required in order to improve functionality, resolve any bug fixes, and help to secure any vulnerabilities to possible security and hacking threats.
Furthermore, your database (where all your site’s information & settings are stored) can build up a collection of unneeded data over time such as post revisions, spam comments, trash, transient options, orphaned metadata, and so on. So maintaining & optimising your database means faster backups, easier restorations, and improved speed & performance. Essentially it’s like giving your website a spring clean.
Finally, shit happens (excuse the french!). With great hosting and a solid setup, your website crashing or getting hacked is unlikely, but it can and has happened. Being on a maintenance plan minimises your risk and in the unlikely event that it does happen, our backup system will ensure that everything is restored with minimal damage.