Blog Posts > Why We're NOT Fans of WordPress
Why We're NOT Fans of WordPress
WordPress is undeniably popular. After all, it's the platform behind over 40% of all websites on the internet! Some of its commonly touted benefits include:
- It's a free CMS (Content Management System), though many site owners choose to hire developers for the technical setup.
- There are thousands of free and paid Wordpress themes (layout designs) and plugins (feature add-ons) to choose from.
- Developers can quickly and easily create attractive and robust WordPress sites.
- It enables small business owners to add and update content themselves.
- WordPress sites can expand in functionality as a business grows.
"WordPress is undeniably popular. However, we think it's the wrong website solution for most small business websites."
Despite it's attractive features, we believe that WordPress is NOT the best fit for many small business owners. Here's why:
- Hacking, malware, and security issues are serious concerns for WordPress sites.
- The WordPress learning curve might deter already-overwhelmed business owners.
- An ongoing time commitment is required to keep the WordPress core, themes, and plugins updated.
- Technical proficiency is necessary to find and address conflicts or bugs that can crash a WordPress site. (Now, when this happens, it's often possible to rollback or revert to the WordPress site's previous state. But that requires that the site owner be diligent about making regular site backups and storing them in a secure location. And even with that, exercising the rollback option has a chance of introducing new issues. Plus, any errors that caused the offending conflict or crash must be identified and resolved before any future updates can be completed.)
Consider these big concerns:
Security
WordPress sites are prime targets for hacking attempts. Here at Joe Web, we commonly record THOUSANDS of HACKING attempts that occur DAILY across our 40+ test sites. (Fortunately, since we don't build sites on the WordPress platform, none of these hack attempts have ever been successful.)
Wordfence (one of the many WordPress security plugins) says that they alone blocked more than 90 billion malicious WordPress login attempts in 2020. In addition, Wordfence identifies thousands of WordPress vulnerabilities each year that had to be resolved (nearly 5,000 just in 2023 alone).
To get an idea of the serious security concerns that come with WordPress sites, check out this title of one of their 2021 blog posts: "1.6 Million WordPress Sites Hit With 13.7 Million Attacks In 36 Hours From 16,000 IPs."
Time Commitment, Learning Curve, and Technical Knowledge
Updates can conflict with the WordPress core, themes, other plugins, or customizations, potentially causing some elements of the site to stop working or, worse, crashing the entire site.
As a result, it is recommended that WordPress owners check for and complete weekly core, theme, and plugin updates. Unfortunately, many WordPress site owners neglect updates for years, greatly increasing their security risk.
With static sites, updates can be offloaded to a local website developer for a small fee or completed by the site owner themselves after learning just a handful of common HTML tags.
Optimization Challenges
The ability to optimize WordPress sites for things such as search engine friendliness and 'page loading speed' can be complex and limited, depending on the theme chosen for the site.
On the other hand, static HTML or file-based PHP sites offer limitless site design, speed, and SEO flexibility and options.
Summary
If you're tech-savvy, enjoy digging in and learning the WordPress system, and plan to update and manage your site often, then the WordPress platform could be ideal. And you'll have no difficulty finding lots of developers who'll be happy to accommodate.
But if you prefer a hands-off approach, entrusting your website to experienced web developers for whom technology and marketing are passions, then contact us at Joe Web site design. Hiring us to build you a static HTML site that's attractive, fast-loading, search engine optimized, and responds appropriately to mobile, tablet, or desktop devices is our specialty. And, we believe, the best website solution for a majority of small businesses.
What's the difference between database-driven platforms (like WordPress) and static HTML?
With database-driven websites, most pages share hard-coded templates. Then, when a certain page has to be served to the visitor, everything that is specific to that page gets pulled from a database.
Static HTML sites, on the other hand, have the pictures, wording, and everything else coded right into the page. Since there is no database involved, static HTML sites tend to have fewer security issues and allow for maximum design flexibility and optimization options. And, with less code in each page, we find that these pages have a leg-up when it comes to page-load speed and optimal search engine ranking placement.
Contact Joe Web site design in Asheville
At Joe Web Site Design, we make the web design process easy and stress-free. Our team is friendly, supportive, and dedicated to helping your business succeed online.
To learn more about us and discuss your website needs and goals, call us today at 828-551-9761.
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