WordPress has quickly become the go-to solution for creating web sites and blogs on the internet today. However, is this a massive trend that is getting out of control? Does every site you create need to have a full WordPress installation behind it, along with a custom theme and premium plugins?
For anyone that is currently running a number of WordPress sites, it’s definitely something that you can relate with. This is especially true if you wanted to create a quick website with only a few pages or one that you aren’t going to load up with a lot of content and update often. Web site hosting and site creation platforms like Duda are making it easy for businesses and brands to get online, without the need to learn and fidget around with WordPress. And this actually makes good sense, as many brands just want to ‘get online and make sales’.
I personally run a lot of WordPress sites and love how it’s been able to transform my business for the better, but it might not always be the best solution for others out there. A perfect example of this is when I created a social media resource site that went on to generate over $800,000 profit in just four months. The crazy thing about that site is that it was 100% HTML! It was also actually the last site I created by hand before getting active with WordPress.
What I’m getting at, is that there are plenty of ways to create websites and WordPress might not always be the best solution. Here are a few reasons why.
WordPress Can Be Overwhelming
As simple as WordPress might be to existing bloggers and users of the platform, to someone brand new it can definitely be overwhelming. This is especially true if you don’t have a web hosting provider that has one-click installs. The idea of downloading software, creating a database and just looking at the manual set up process is enough to quickly turn someone away.
Many local businesses and brands will hire a web developer to get their sites online. More often than not, WordPress is used as the platform of choice for getting that done. However, when it comes to the management and updating of the site, if this is something the business wants to do, they are going to need to learn WordPress.
Again, keep in mind — in this scenario, the business ‘simply wants to be online’ and not ‘be a web designer’.
WordPress is Free, but Can Also Be Costly
As we all know, the WordPress CMS is free to download and use to create your site. However, who wants to just use WordPress and the bare bones it comes with? With this in mind, there might be quite a few hidden costs that arise as you continue to develop your site. This is especially true if you decide to go with a free web hosting service, which I never recommend! Not only would you have no ownership over your content, it would also just look extremely unprofessional in the process.
After going live with your hosted version of a WordPress site, many people will find they need a premium or custom theme to make sure they stand out from the crowd. They may also soon find that that need to hire a programmer or designer to make simple customizations, simply because they don’t know how to use the platform or do simple coding. Throw premium WordPress plugins into the mix and you can rack up these costs even more.
While these costs are usually quite minimal, they are often unexpected to site owners and bloggers who thought they were going to get by with a ‘free’ site builder and CMS solution.
Better Options in Site Building for Professionals
Don’t get more wrong, WordPress is great and it’s completely changed the way content creation and websites are made on the internet today. However, it’s not for everyone. This can easily be seen through all of the online advertisements and television commercials for competing hosting and site design solutions that offer simple drag-and-drop solutions. Most businesses and brands want to get online with a site of their own, then move into the focus of content promotion and growing their business. While there are some pages that every site should have, these are still quite easy to create and add to a site without the need of a full WordPress installation driving your site. That’s where many of these other solutions are far superior to WordPress and trying to run everything on your own.
To back up this statement even more, we can take a look at a few case studies from Dada that show the many different ways a transition from a WordPress type of platform to a service-based site builder can improve not only on-site experience but also how fast a site ranks and can increase user engagement and conversions as well.
- WebAct cut site development by 50% after switching from WordPress to Duda’s responsive website builder.
- Conscious Commerce brought down website costs from $3,000 to $300 per site and reduced development time by 75 percent.
- The Gladly increased total number of Reserve a Table clicks by 70 percent between August and September 2014 with the simple addition of a Notification Bar personalization rule.
Each of the case studies and improvements made to the site was possible through the use of a solution that had everything in place, without the need to download software, and to purchase additional themes or plugins. While there are similar case studies and methods to improve a site’s performance with WordPress, for most brands and professionals, the requirement for learning a new platform isn’t possible.
Before creating your next website, be sure to consider your options outside of WordPress. As great as it may seem, it might not always be the best option around.
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