Keeping your website secure and up to date is critical—but that doesn’t mean you should set everything to update automatically. Whether it’s a plugin, a theme, or your server’s operating system, automatic updates can introduce new problems, break your site without warning, or even lock you (and your customers) out.
For small business owners, that kind of disruption isn’t just frustrating—it can be costly.
What Can Go Wrong
Plugin and Theme Auto-Updates
- A plugin update conflicts with another plugin or your theme
- A theme update wipes out custom design or layout changes
- A new version introduces bugs that break forms, shopping carts, or contact features
Server or OS Auto-Updates
- Critical services like PHP or MySQL restart without warning
- Compatibility issues arise with WordPress or plugins
- Security updates break file permissions or introduce errors like 500 Internal Server Errors
In short, automatic updates apply new code to your live site with no testing—and no safety net.
The Real Cost of Downtime
If your site goes down, even for a short time, you risk losing leads and sales, damaging customer trust, and wasting hours—or even days—trying to troubleshoot and recover.
Even worse, many auto-updates fail silently. You may not realize your site is broken until a customer tells you.
A Better Way: Controlled, Safe Updates
Backup First
Always take a full backup of your site and database before making any changes. This ensures you can roll back quickly if anything goes wrong.
Test Updates in a Safe Environment
Use a staging site or a local copy of your website to test updates before applying them live. This helps catch issues before they affect your customers.
Schedule During Off-Hours
Run updates during times of low traffic. That way, if something does break, it won’t disrupt your busiest hours or most important sales windows.
Monitor Your Site
Keep an eye on uptime, error logs, and functionality after each update. Monitoring helps you catch and respond to problems before they spiral.
Review Server-Level Changes
If you manage your own server through a provider like DigitalOcean or AWS, make sure system updates don’t install without your approval.
Set up alerts for available patches, and always check compatibility with your current WordPress setup before applying them.
Bottom Line
Automatic updates sound helpful, but they can leave your website exposed to unexpected problems. Whether it’s a plugin, a theme, or the operating system running your server, updates should never be a surprise.
With a little planning, you can keep your site secure, stable, and running smoothly—without the risk of breaking things behind the scenes.
Your website is a vital part of your business. Treat updates like they matter—because they do.