How Often Should I Update WordPress?

The short version

WordPress, your theme, and your plugins all release updates regularly. For a business site, a good rhythm is to review and apply updates at least monthly — and to apply security updates promptly, since those often patch holes attackers are already looking for.

Why "just turn on auto-updates" isn't the whole answer

Updating matters, but every so often an update to one plugin quietly breaks another — and you don't want to discover that on your live site. The safe approach isn't "update everything the second it appears." It's to test updates on a staging copy first, apply them in the right order, and keep a fresh backup in case something needs rolling back. Done that way, updating is routine instead of a gamble.

What happens if you don't

A site that's rarely updated slowly drifts out of date and becomes an easier target. The large majority of hacked WordPress sites were simply running old software with a known, patchable hole. Staying current is the single most effective thing you can do to keep a WordPress site safe — which is exactly the kind of steady, behind-the-scenes work a care plan takes off your plate.