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Why You Need Maintenance for WordPress

By Heshy Friedman

WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS). In fact, it runs over 25 percent of all websites! The popularity of WordPress is based on several factors, including the ease of use in editing and updating website content. WordPress also has a large number of important plugins that can be easily installed and configured, allowing many complex features to be easily controlled. There is also a large online WordPress community, with many forums available for both novices and web developers to work on or to troubleshoot more complex procedures.

With this popularity comes vulnerability. WordPress is one of the most vulnerable website systems out there, particularly due to its popularity. Hackers, spammers, and malware parasites are particularly aggressive in attacking WordPress websites, because they understand its code base and know there are many websites that run it. When a new hack or exploit is revealed, the WordPress development team works on an update to patch the problem and further secure it. Furthermore, many WordPress plugins contain vulnerabilities that can be exploited, and the popular plugins are updated regularly to fix and patch any problems, bugs, or exploits.

For this reason, WordPress websites need to be updated routinely. Our monthly maintenance contract includes updating WordPress websites and plugins on a regular basis, and inspecting and testing the site health. Outdated WordPress versions and plugins call for trouble, since hackers will scan for outdated sites, because they know they will be easier to hack, and because it is less likely for that site owners will notice their outdated sites. Outdated plugins can also interfere with other plugins or the core WordPress version, leading to additional website problems.

If you have a WordPress website, make sure you have someone checking for updates and applying them at least once a month. Whether you do it on your own or have us do it for you, it’s something that really needs to be done. If you don’t update, it’s usually only a matter of time before it will be found and exploited by the undesirable elements of the dark Internet netherworld.