A website that launches successfully does not stay maintenance-free forever. Plugins and themes need regular updates, and skipping them creates security gaps over time. A single outdated plugin is a common way small business websites get hacked. Most owners only discover the problem once their site is already flagged by Google. Or worse, redirecting visitors somewhere it shouldn't. By then, the damage to both trust and search rankings is already done.
Regular maintenance catches these issues long before they become visible problems. Updates get tested and applied on a schedule, not left to pile up indefinitely. Backups run automatically, so a worst-case scenario never means starting from zero. Uptime gets monitored, catching outages fast rather than after a customer complains. That ongoing attention is what actually keeps a website functioning the way it did on launch day. Months and years later, it still shows.