Why Not To Use Wordpress

First, let's start with what this post is not. This post is not to bash WordPress. We love WordPress at Woodmont Interactive and have created numerous websites with it. We will likely continue to do so in the future. However, WordPress isn't the right tool for every situation, and WordPress has some significant drawbacks. Many owners are unaware of these drawbacks, and especially for small businesses, there may be better alternatives.

A Brief History of WordPress

Before examining some reasons not to use WordPress, it is helpful to look back at the program itself and review a brief history of its development.

The Beginning

Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little created WordPress on May 27, 2003. This is an ice age ago by internet standards. Still, at the time, they were primarily concerned with creating an easier way to publish blog content online. Sic Parvis Magna - greatness from small beginnings. Matt and Mike had problems with the open-source blogging platform b2. So, they created a fork and called it WordPress, making many improvements.

Plugins

Three significant changes, however, would transform WordPress from a simple blogging platform to a full-blown behemoth. The first was the introduction of the plugin system in 2004. Plugins allow developers to create separate pieces of code that run within the WordPress platform. Plugin developers can build additional functionality. For example, plugins enable the insertion of forms into WordPress pages or the implementation of spam filters on comments.

Pages

The second significant change came in 2005 with the addition of Pages. This concept allows users to create static pages, such as an About page or Contact page, that serve more "static" type content or content that, from the WordPress documentation, is "not associated with a date and time".

These are distinct from blog pages and help users organize their content in a way that makes sense to most readers.

Themes

The last major update that solidified WordPress's transition from a blogging platform to a content management system was the introduction of themes. Themes are specific styles and layouts that can be applied to a WordPress site to change its look and feel.

Each of these three innovations — plugins, pages, and themes — is powerful and wonderful in many ways. However, it is in these exact innovations that we begin to see some cracks coming through on why not to use WordPress for your site. But first...

What Makes WordPress Great

Themes, pages, and plugins - these are all semi-technical reasons for what makes WordPress great, but what brings it together is the fact that WordPress is a database-driven site that allows users to create all of these things code-free.

This makes it very easy for a first timer to bring together the design and content without having to code a real site. It also makes it much easier to update the site, as all you need to do is log in to your WordPress backend and then create a new blog post or page.

OK, so this all sounds great. What could be wrong with WordPress that you wouldn't want to use it?

Let's start by examining what your website truly needs.

An Examination of Your Web Needs

Let's examine the typical small business and the type of site they are looking to create, and then compare it to what WordPress offers to see if it aligns with our needs.

Here is a typical scenario:

You have a landscaping business. This business generates leads through its websites. When visitors come to your site, they want to see the services you offer. They also want to see your contact information so they can get in touch with you. They likely want to see some examples of the type of work you have done, so they have a good idea of the quality of work you can perform.

The total pages on your landscaping website is 5. One for the homepage, one for the contact page, one for your services, one for examples of your work, and one for testimonials from happy clients.

Technically, none of these things needs the power of WordPress. There is no blog here that you are continually updating. The pages don't need that many updates. This brings us to the first problem with WordPress.

Problem 1. WordPress is Overkill for most situations.

Although WordPress offers many features, most businesses don't require all of them. In our hypothetical above, a landscaping business would hardly use any of the main features WordPress provides. WordPress' primary purpose, that is to be a blog, is not even used in this scenario. That is the crazy part. That in most small business website situations, you are using the tertiary features of WordPress - pages, plugins, and themes - but not the "core" reason that WordPress was created in the first place.

New, there is nothing inherently wrong with this. WordPress has some great "non-core" functions that can bring a lot of power to your website. These features, however, aren't the primary purpose of WordPress, and if you aren't using WordPress as its primary intended purpose, you are, by definition, going to have to code your website that you don't need. This introduces complexity and brings us to the second problem with WordPress.

Problem 2. WordPress is bloated.

This is just undeniable. Because over the years, numerous developers have contributed code to WordPress, the platform isn't as efficient or effective when running on a server as some other solutions. Again, WordPress is powerful, and this is not really to knock WordPress. Still, the fact remains that it is generally a slower and more resource-intensive piece of software.

If you need something set up quickly and are considering solutions, you might be tempted to overlook this. After all, you want something up quickly. However, this can be detrimental to your business over the long term. For one, hosting costs will be higher. In fact, in our example above, if you were to create those five pages of the landscaping business and turn them into static pages instead of database-driven WordPress pages, you can find places that will host those pages for you completely free. Netlify is one such place. Even on WordPress.com, the cheapest plan as of this writing is $48 / year. That may not seem like a lot, but as we all know in business, every little bit counts.

Additionally, that speed can also harm you in other ways. For example, let's say you are running pay-per-click (PPC) ads. When someone clicks on your ad on Google, they are taken to your landing page. If this page loads too slowly, you will lose some clicks from individuals who are not patient enough to wait for the page to load. This will be a relatively small percentage, but one of those could have been a sale.

Similarly, when Google ranks search results, some of its ranking algorithm is based on mobile page load speed. A higher page load time will lower your rankings in search, and that is something you do not want for your business. Organic search is an effective way to generate additional business.

Problem 3. The Plugin System Can Get Expensive

Plugins are great. They add a lot of functionality that you don't need to program yourself. However, plugin developers, rightly, want to get paid, and sometimes their plugins get expensive.

And sometimes, these expensive plugins are used for fairly basic functionality. One of the things that has always mystified me is the fact that WordPress cannot add forms out of the box. Forms have been a staple of the internet since its inception. Of course, you can add simple forms to WordPress for free, but if you want any customization at all, it will cost you. And sometimes, it can be quite expensive.

Many of the plugins for WordPress are this way, and although many are easy to install, placing code on a static website can be equally simple.

Problem 4. Themes Can Be Difficult to Modify

Again, one of the sources of WordPress's appeal —the theme system —can also be one of its greatest downfalls. When you find a theme library online, so many of the themes look beautiful.

The problem arises, however, when you attempt to install the theme on your website. Often, these same themes have a steep learning curve, making it difficult to modify them as you want. And, getting your site to look as beautiful as these themes can be quite a challenge, even when the theme is already "set up" for you.

Many companies and individuals find this learning curve so steep that they end up hiring a developer or web designer to fix these issues for them.

So What Are The Solutions

As with most answers, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the problems presented above. It depends on your use case. Again, this post is meant to bash WordPress in any way. WordPress can be a great solution. Especially if you need a blog and don't have a lot of coding skills, and want to roll a solution on your own.

However, suppose you need a static site that doesn't require database support. In that case, you may be better off using a static site generator like Hugo or Pelican. We use Pelican for Woodmont Interactive. These solutions can address many of the issues with WordPress - they are not bloated, you don't need to pay for any plugins, and the resulting pages are very fast because they are static sites that require minimal server power to serve.

No matter what you choose, if you ever need a hand getting things together, we are here to help. Good luck with your business!