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Should you choose WordPress for developing your website? Is it a good idea?

Why do many people around the world choose WordPress to develop their websites? WordPress is everywhere you see. Some statistics say more than a third of all existing websites live, are built on WordPress. However, there are several other CMS like Joomla, Drupal, etc.

Then the drag and drop models like Wix and Squarespace which help you make websites like how one would dress up a mannequin. There is Shopify too and we will talk about it as well. And you can also develop static websites with a combination of plain Html, CSS and JavaScript.

So, if you wish to develop a website, should you choose WordPress to achieve your objectives or should you look elsewhere? We hope you’ll find your answer if you read this one.

This article wouldn’t focus on application-based web projects like the ones developed on flutter or asp.net

What is WordPress?

WordPress is a free, open-source platform for creating websites. In terms of technology, WordPress is a content management system (CMS) written in PHP that uses a MySQL database. Today, it is the easiest and powerful blogging and website-building tool available. Several types of websites can be built with it.

Whether for blogging, e-commerce, or portfolios, WordPress is a versatile CMS. A great solution for both large and small websites, it is designed with usability and flexibility in mind.

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) for websites. The backend of the website and the frontend are both powered by WordPress. More than 65 million websites are hosted by the company, making it the largest in the world.

A few of the reasons why it has attracted users are that it is easy to set up and customize. It has a drag-and-drop function for plugins, the WordPress login is free, and it is a free website builder with a lot of customization options.

In just a few clicks, WordPress can turn your web design idea or good web development team into a stunning web presence. WordPress makes creating a website from beginning to end easy and fast.

Why choose WordPress?

Let’s have look at the advantages you get, if you choose WordPress. These are some of the reasons why hundreds of websites go live every day and their owners choose WordPress to develop them.

No Licensing fee

It is a free platform. You can use open-source software for whatever purpose you want, whether it is commercial or otherwise. Adapt it to your needs. The WordPress CMS lets you customize almost any aspect of it by looking under the hood. Many choose WordPress because if this.

Large Developer base and community to solve problems

New WordPress sites go live every hour, and the number is growing exponentially. Since WordPress has such a large user base, its developers aren’t planning to stop developing it anytime soon. Therefore, you will always be able to add new features to your site with the help of this CMS. Moreover, there is a strong developer community in the WordPress ecosystem. You can access thousands of plugins for free at WordPress.org, for instance.

Furthermore, there is a vibrant community of users of the platform, not just developers. Searching for WordPress-based communities will reveal thousands of them. That means if you ever have a question about any aspect of using the CMS, you’ll be able to contact someone.

So, developers choose WordPress and then owners choose WordPress; it is a chain reaction that follows. This is similar to “Intel” and “AMD” processor wars before the advent of the AMD Ryzen processors.

Good for Brand Sites, Blogs, eCommerce, forums and many more

A blogging platform such as WordPress might be familiar to you. That is technically true, but the way the CMS is built also means it can be used for a variety of different projects.

In addition, WordPress is intended to be used for virtually every kind of project you can imagine, including growing your business, creating virtual classrooms, creating forums and running social media pages. You can even create an online store using WordPress and the WooCommerce plugin for small businesses.

Easy to adapt to and develop

Even if you’ve never worked with a CMS or built a website before, WordPress is incredibly simple to use. Getting started is as simple as selecting a theme, installing a couple of plugins, and then creating pages and other content.

In any case, WordPress is one of the best platforms because you can customize it in so many ways. After you get the hang of it, you can start using more advanced functionality to gain full control over how your site looks.

WordPress has plenty to offer web developers of all skill levels. By using it, you can iterate quickly, which is much more efficient than starting from scratch.

Scalable

Running a website can be very challenging, especially when it comes to scaling. Your CMS will experience a greater strain as more content is published and traffic increases.

To scale your website and to keep it always fast, you need a quality host. CMSs, however, play a crucial role as well. As an example, WordPress powers some of the most popular websites, so scaling should not be a problem. In addition to the maintenance necessary, you should also expect to see good results.

Easily optimizable for Search Engines

The purpose of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to make sure your site gets the traffic it deserves from places like Google, Bing, etc. You can do many things to improve the search engine optimization of your site. Depending on the platform you use, optimizing your content for search engine results can either be easy or difficult.

Many powerful SEO plugins are available for WordPress, including Yoast SEO, All in One SEO Pack, Rank Math and more.

Security

It is impossible to guarantee the security of a CMS or website. Every day, new threats appear on the Internet, so an online safety platform is essential. To ensure that your business runs smoothly, WordPress should always be updated. As well as the CMS itself, you can also use add-on components like themes and plugins.

It is always possible to update your WordPress version, and being up to date ensures you’re ahead of everyone else. You may consider using a web host who takes security seriously when it comes to the security of your website.

Besides enforcing strong passwords and implementing Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), you can also take several additional measures to secure your site. It might all be for nothing if you use a platform that isn’t secure by default and that’s where WordPress comes good.

Why not choose WordPress

It is important to know at least some of the reasons why you should not choose WordPress.

It Takes Lots of Plugins to Get Additional Features

The WordPress platform requires you to add many plugins if you want to add features. Plug-ins can either be free or cost money.

The more the number of plugins, the heavier the website becomes. Too many plugins can make your website slow and conflicts may arise internally.

Too frequent updates

Plugins, themes, and even the WordPress platform are required to be updated regularly. This is too tedious and not updating these aspects makes your website slow, creates conflicts and may make your websites vulnerable.

Prone to breaking

The fact that WordPress is open and is highly customizable, makes it prone to vulnerabilities when tweaks and changes create conflicts between the interdependent functions.

Not good for Static websites

The biggest disadvantage of WordPress is that it was created for blogging. If you are making a static website, you won’t find an advantage over static sites like Joomla, Drupal, etc. It is slower as opposed to static platforms.

A major target for attacks

Since, it is the most distributed free CMS, unless measures are taken for protection, attacks are also larger in number. Most attackers choose WordPress to attack, as vulnerabilities, if any can be found in a plethora of websites on the web. It is like the “Android OS” of the Web development world.

Before you choose WordPress, please have a look at the other popular options on the radar

Joomla

The Joomla content management system (CMS) is an open-source project. Powerful websites and applications can be created using it. With its intuitive interface, you can utilize all the features and functionality to their fullest potential.

PHP is the language used to create Joomla, while MySQL is the database used to store the data. Through the web hosting control panel, it can be set up with a one-click installation process.

Joomla’s design architecture is Model-View-Controller (MVC). Using the MVC pattern, when Joomla processes a request, it first analyzes the URL to determine which component will handle the request. Components use the model to store their data. Also, the Model should update the database whenever and wherever necessary.

Producing the output is the responsibility of the view. To obtain the required information, it can get in touch with the model. The component returns control to the Joomla framework once the view has produced its output so that the template can be executed.

Drupal

A free, open-source content management system (CMS), Drupal has a large, supportive community. Thousands of organizations and individuals around the globe use it to create and maintain their websites. Many top businesses and government organizations leverage Drupal every day, so you probably don’t know it exists.

The Drupal software is released as open-source software using the GNU Public License. As a result, it offers benefits not found in proprietary software, including cost, flexibility, freedom, security, and accountability. Those who wish to customize and extend Drupal are free to do so.

The Drupal platform can also be used to create powerful websites.

In Drupal, modern object-oriented programming patterns are followed, as well as best practices for PHP, HTML 5, and YAML. Modular and theme add-ons allow you to extend functionality and gain complete control of the look.

Wix

With Wix, you can design and publish an online portfolio, blog, or store with the ease of drag and drop. When it comes to site building, Wix is a cool proposition. In comparison to Squarespace and WordPress.com, the platform holds its own.

Wix is a platform that allows you to create a site quickly and easily. You can browse themes in seconds after signing up with your Facebook or Gmail account. Several categories of templates are available on Wix, according to industry categories.

Although Wix templates cater to business niches, the eCommerce features are pretty basic. Tools for management of shipping options and tax rules, as well as multiple payment gateways, are there to get you started.

Squarespace

Professional websites can be created with Squarespace. Even though it may take a bit of time to adjust, this product provides the highest quality designs and features available on the market. For those who are passionate about design or have some technical skills, Squarespace is a good option.

Squarespace features tools that support bloggers, small business owners, and creatives. Google Suite and PayPal integrations are available, as well as SEO tools, e-commerce features, and social media integration. Squarespace doesn’t require any coding skills, but a little technical confidence will help.

Shopify

Shopify is not meant for Brand websites. It is an eCommerce platform that allows merchants to list their products and sell them online.

Shopify lets merchants choose themes and then give them access to an online site builder, enabling them to quickly customize hundreds of different elements, such as site colors, social media icons, buttons colors, and so much more. Additionally, Shopify gives you access to reports and statistics, such as live visitors, funnel rates, abandoned cart statistics, and most popular products.

Shopify is great for people who don’t want to deal with HTML, WordPress, Hosting, SSL Certificates, plugins or the other annoyances that come with building stores with other methods.

Is WordPress is better than any other CMS?

WordPress is an open-source, self-hosted, free content management system. What this means is that you don’t need to purchase a license to use WordPress for your website. If you are using an open-source CMS like WordPress, you are free to use the software for whatever purpose.

You can either re-host your website on your own or rent space for your site. WordPress gives you a free theme and unlimited storage space. Though, if you are developing a WordPress website it is also beneficial to use a professional WP developer who can help you more professionally.

In our view, WordPress is not any better than any of its contemporaries, but it has certain aspects attached to it which makes it more usable than others. Apart from the aforementioned advantages, the following aspects make it a preferred choice.

Ever-evolving platform with the environment of plugins and themes also evolving at the same time. The compatibility between older versions of plugins with newer platforms is always a challenge in any platform. However, WordPress is better at managing it for longer durations.

Solutions to most problems can be found very easily, due to the large community of developers and forums present on the web.

In most cases, a fully functional and aesthetically pleasing website can be developed without investing into paid plugins or themes. This is not true for all other platforms. The only costs you incur in such cases are the hosting charges and the cost of domain.

Easier for noobs – it is easier to understand WordPress for anyone without web development knowledge. This is not as easy as working with Wix, Squarespace or Shopify but simpler than any other CMS platform.

SEO for eCommerce – The one aspect where WordPress platform with WooCommerce is better than others is SEO. It can be developed in detail with plugins and in our experience, is more effective than builder platforms like Wix, Shopify, etc. However, it is simpler than Magento wherein a lot of tweaks are required for proper functioning.

Even if you don’t choose WordPress, you will always be aware of the platform, as most news and updates in the development community are around it.

Cost of running a WordPress website

There is no doubt that WordPress has great benefits for small entrepreneurs who just want to have a website and don’t have time to design and develop a website on a custom-made platform. But a WordPress-powered site will incur expenses.

Most of the WordPress-powered sites are out of reach for a low-cost budget with a sub-$500 site design fee and $30 – $60 monthly WordPress hosting fee. For advanced functions and customizations, you may need to purchase certain plugins, however, there are a plethora of free plugins to make your site work.

Conclusion

Individuals choose WordPress, as it is an attractive option for individuals who would like to develop personally as well as organizations who would get it managed through agencies (continuity with WordPress is easier due to a large number of developers). It is not the only option out there, but it is a good and time-tested option, which is evolving faster than most of its contemporaries.

Before you develop (whether on WordPress or on any other CMS or even a builder), please go through our article – “Who is your website made for?”.

Note: We are not here to promote WordPress as a platform or punch down any other. This article is our point of view evolving out of what we have seen over the last few years. We believe that with continuous evolution and development of technology, the builder platforms (like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, etc.,) will conquer the website development world. However, we are a few years away from there (Shopify is already there for eCommerce).

Till such a time comes, or some other CMS becomes bigger and better – this is the reality, at least ours. We at 7 Peaks Digital Marketing (7PDM) develop websites on WordPress and Shopify (for eCommerce only). We used to develop websites on Joomla and Drupal, however, the demand for those platforms has shrunk from our clients and we find it more convenient to develop on WordPress because of the aforementioned reasons.

Issac Karayahabitin

Digital Explorer, Author and a wanderer

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