Website Maintenance Audit: 89 Sites Reveal Critical Update Risks
When was the last time you ran a website maintenance audit for your business site?
We recently reviewed 89 websites across various industries, and the results didn’t surprise us, but they may surprise you as a business owner. Outdated plugins, themes, and WordPress versions aren’t just a “to-do list” item; they’re an open door to hackers, performance issues, and unexpected downtime.
This report breaks down exactly what we found, the most common vulnerabilities, and why keeping your site updated is essential for protecting your brand and customers.
Headline Stats from Our Website Maintenance Audit
- 57.3% of websites are not on a maintenance plan.
- 52.8% of websites have at least one known vulnerability.
- 63.9% of all sites audited require plugin updates.
- 41.6% require theme updates.
- 15.7% need a WordPress core update.
- Average vulnerabilities per affected site: 4.3.
- 21% of sites had more than 10 plugins out of date.
- Over 80% of the sites audited used Elementor as their primary page builder, with only a small percentage using alternatives like Divi or WPBakery.
Why This Matters for Your Business
Your website is often the first point of contact for customers. When it’s running outdated software:
- Hackers can exploit known vulnerabilities in plugins and themes.
- Performance may slow, frustrating users and affecting SEO.
- Certain updates can fix bugs, improve security, and add new features you’re missing out on.
Keeping your site maintained is proactive protection, not just a tech task.
Our audit found a 100% protection rate for sites on a maintenance plan, none had vulnerabilities. This isn’t a coincidence; it’s proof that regular updates and proactive care drastically reduce your risk of security breaches and downtime.
Update Types Found in the Audit
During the audit, we tracked which components were most frequently outdated:
- Plugins: The most common update needed — often the source of vulnerabilities.
- Themes: Outdated themes can leave security gaps even if plugins are current.
- WordPress Core: Missing a core update can leave your entire site exposed.
Top 15 Most Common Vulnerable Plugins
Across the 89 sites, we identified vulnerabilities in popular tools that many businesses rely on.
These were the top offenders:
Page builders and form plugins dominated the list, with Elementor appearing in the majority of vulnerability cases — unsurprising given its huge adoption rate in our sample set. Not many of the sites we audited used other page builders as we focused largely on sites with Elementor in the audit.
Vulnerabilities by Category
We classified vulnerabilities into categories to better understand where risks come from:
- Page Builders (e.g., Elementor, WPBakery, Divi)
- SEO Tools (e.g., Yoast SEO)
- Security Plugins (e.g., Wordfence, iThemes Security)
- Forms (e.g., Contact Form 7, WPForms)
- Other Functionality (e.g., analytics, caching, redirects)
Given Elementor’s dominance in the sites audited, page builder vulnerabilities were by far the most common.
Key Insights from the Website Maintenance Audit
- Sites on maintenance plans were significantly less likely to have vulnerabilities
- The majority of vulnerabilities came from high-use plugins like page builders and forms — meaning if exploited, the impact could be severe.
- Sites with more than 10 outdated plugins showed 3× higher average vulnerabilities than sites with fewer updates needed.
- Elementor’s popularity means that keeping it (and its add-ons) updated is crucial for a large portion of business websites.
Key Insight: Not a single website on a maintenance plan had any vulnerabilities. Every single vulnerability we found came from sites that weren’t maintained regularly.
What This Means for Your Business
If your website is left without regular updates, you’re essentially leaving the back door unlocked.
Even one outdated plugin with a known vulnerability can lead to:
- Website hacking and malware infections
- Data theft or loss
- Downtime and lost business opportunities
- Reputation damage
Next Steps: Keep Your Website Secure
The safest, most cost-effective way to manage updates is with a professional maintenance plan.
With a plan in place, your site is:
- Updated regularly for plugins, themes, and core
- Backed up daily for quick recovery if anything goes wrong
- Monitored for security threats
- Kept optimised for speed and performance
Explore our Website Maintenance Plans and get complete peace of mind knowing your website is protected, updated, and performing at its best, we look after all updates so you can focus on your business.
