If you haven’t heard of WordPress, you’ve presumably been living under a rock somewhere. It’s the most popular CMS (or content management system) in the world, serving as the foundation for everything from hobbyist blogs to major business websites. It’s so dominant that it holds the position of default recommendation for most people. Not sure what to use? Go with WordPress.
So the question that must be asked is this: does it warrant that position, or was it simply in the right place at the right time, ultimately becoming a trendsetter through fortune? Before we can come up with a useful answer, we need to look at the pros and cons of choosing WordPress to underpin your website — so let’s get to it (after an important preamble):
What are your needs?
Before we delve into the positives and negatives, we need to get something firmly established: not only is there no perfect CMS, but there’s also no CMS that will serve the needs of every website owner. You may look at a system that’s spectacular across the board, but realise that it’s missing that one feature you really need and have to compromise by using a system that’s generally inferior but can fulfill that specific requirement.
Here’s the main takeaway of this part: regardless of the conclusions, we reach from this piece, you’ll need to decide for yourself if WordPress is right for you. Don’t simply go by my assertions, as things just aren’t that simple. It would be easier if they were, of course! Now that we’ve covered that, we can move on to the assessment.
The pros of WordPress
In a nutshell, here’s what makes WordPress such a solid choice:
- It’s essentially free. WordPress is 100% free to use with no caveats. You do need to pay for hosting, any monetized plugins you want, and any development you require to get everything set up, but those costs are unavoidable — and taking the WordPress route gives you the freedom to choose which services you use.
- It’s extremely flexible. WP might be best known for its astonishing range of plugins, most of which are either free or very cheap to buy. And since it’s an open-source system, if you find something you can’t achieve with an existing plugin, you can either develop it yourself or hire a WordPress developer to do it for you.
- It has huge support. Due to its design and immense popularity, there’s a great number of WordPress developers worldwide, as well as a vast community of users ranging from hobbyist bloggers to business owners. Quite simply, this means that there’s always a way to get assistance if you run into issues.
- It’s fairly secure. It gets criticised sometimes for its security on the basis that it’s hacked more than any other CMS, but that’s hardly surprising since it’s the most widely-used CMS by a wide margin. In truth, a WordPress installation that’s kept updated and maintained sensibly is respectably secure (being attacked so frequently ensures that vulnerabilities get flagged up and patched just as frequently).
The cons of WordPress
It isn’t flawless, naturally, so here’s what’s bad about WordPress:
- It isn’t very intuitive. The UI of WordPress isn’t daunting, necessarily — it doesn’t have a horribly dated design like some systems do — but it certainly isn’t easy for beginners to use. A reluctance to deal with complex systems is why slick hosted solutions like Wix (or Shopify for eCommerce) have caught on with some users. If you’re absolutely determined to avoid anything technical, then it might not be for you.
- It can get bloated. Plugins are key for turning WordPress into a powerhouse, but every added plugin adds weight to an installation. Not only does security become an issue with numerous plugins given system-wide permissions, but so does performance. To keep loading times down and response times up, you need to be very careful with plugins.
Why it’s almost always viable
So, having looked at the pros and cons of using WordPress for your website, what’s the verdict? Is it something you should seriously consider? Well, to put it very simply, yes. WordPress is almost always a viable option. It might have a learning curve for new users, but there are so many guides and supportive communities out there that it’s really not a big issue.
It integrates with pretty much anything — even Shopify works with WordPress, and the likes of Dokan make it possible for retailers to run multichannel retail enterprises across eBay, Amazon etc.
And it doesn’t really matter what type of site you’re going for. Want to make a blog? It was designed for that. A business homepage? It’s certainly sufficiently customisable. An eCommerce store? Use a free retail plugin like WooCommerce, choose a high-performance host, and you’ll be able to compete with stores using expensive hosted solutions. You can also choose various other eCommerce solutions with WordPress.
WordPress isn’t a perfect system, but perfect systems don’t exist, so that isn’t a mark against it. Being free, secure, flexible, and ably backed by vast quantities of resources and supporters, it’s about as safe a CMS option as you’ll find. If you choose to use it, it’s very unlikely that you’ll regret it.
I’m new to this, I stumbled upon it, I have found It positively useful and it has aided me out loads.
I am hoping to contribute & assist other users like its helped me.
Great job.
Thank you for your words, I am really glad this helped you.
This is a very comprehensive article that covers some good information. I think wordpress is the best tool out there for developers and it’s the one I’ve always used in my work – thanks
Glad you found it useful, WordPress really is the best in my biased opinion. 😁
I have to say I’ve used plenty of platforms over the years, but WordPress is by far my favourite. It does everything you need it to, and while it doesn’t have the same level of functionality as others, it’s amazing nonetheless.
Wow, this post is good, my sister is analyzing these things, thus I am going to tell her about this.
I’m not sure where you are getting your information, but great topic.
I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more.
Thanks for excellent info I was looking for this info for my mission.
Awesome post, keep up the great work!
Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your articles?
I mean, what you say is important and all. However think of if you added some great visuals or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and videos,
this site could definitely be one of the greatest in its niche. Very good blog!
Do you have a comment issue on this website; I also am a blogger, and I was curious about your situation; many of us have created some nice procedures and we are looking to exchange strategies with others, be sure to shoot me an e-mail if interested. Cheers!
I like the valuable info you provide in your articles.
I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently.
I’m quite certain I will learn many new stuff right here!
Best of luck for the next!
You can certainly see your enthusiasm in the work you write.
The world hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. Always go after your heart.
So glad I found this, cheers for that!
Just what I needed to decide, thanks a lot!
I am so gonna try WordPress after this, really appreciate your time writing this article!
Nice wording and all but I will still stick by HTML
Totally agree!
Great post, thank you for sharing this information.
Hey, I found you on top of Google and thought it was a good idea to say hi! Thank you for clarifying my concerns. Have a great day!
Love your stuff, just a shame you don’t post very often. Can you start posting new content every week? I would love that!
Thank you for sharing this information, a great blog post!
I love your blog, carry on the awesome job!
Great content, thanks for helping me to make a decision.
I used to love Squarespace but since I changed my website to WordPress, I would never go back!
WordPress offers unlimited possibilities, great designs, useful widgets to use, countless plugins for anything you need. WordPress isn’t perfect, but it’s the closest one to perfection!
Very helpful blog post. You just saved me lots of time searching for what type of web designer I should search for. Cheers!
Nice article – Personally, I believe that WordPress is the go-to solution for website design. It’s really easy to use, but you’re spot on – there are some cons too but if you keep plugins, theme and core WordPress version up to date and backed up, you will avoid unnecessary stress!
Great article, thanks for this.
Thanks for your help, I was looking for some clarity about WordPress and came across your article. Carry on writing, love your stuff!
Great blog post, keep up the awesome writing.
Fair enough, but I still prefer Joomla.
I know there is a lot of people who thinks that the biggest Con of WordPress is security, but honestly, those same people are the ones who use the same password for everything, use the same nickname as their username, never do updates of plugins etc. I have never had issues so I would say that is a myth. Will you write something about this topic, please? Thank you!
Awesome post!
I don’t like WordPress but my clients love it so I have to use it.
I had a few issues with WordPress but it turned out to be due to updates. Once I updated some plugins, all sorted.
Thank you, really useful!
I’ll give WordPress a go. Thank you.
I love the way you explain stuff. Thanks for helping me to decide.
Thank you for sharing this information.
I tell you what, this really helped me to decide! Nice one, thank you!
I’ve never tried any other CMS but I love WordPress so don’t really need to try.
Perfect, just what I was looking for. Cheers!
Why am I under the impression that you are besotted by wordpress?
Nice one, keep up the good writing!
Please help me, my web designer disappeared and all I have now is WordPress logins. Can you drop me an e-mail? Thank you so much!
Spot on!
I think you’re right, WordPress is here to stay!
Why using WordPress when you can hire a web designer for £300 to do it all for you? haha!
Love it! Continue writing great articles, I added your website to my favourites. Thanks!
To be honest, I don’t really care about the pros and cons. I had 5 websites done since I opened my business and the only website that really helped to boost my sales, is built using WordPress. That’s all I need to know!
One day something else will take over WordPress and you will feel like us who refuse to try it. When you do something for so long, it’s really hard to adapt to new platforms. You’ll understand one day.
Please can you write about WooCommerce? I have an e-commerce website and would love to see your views about it. Cheers!
I love your blog, bookmarked!
I gave up fully bespoke websites a few years ago and I tell you what, the best thing I’ve ever done! WordPress saves me so much time and my clients have really good results so I’ll stick by it!
All the websites on your portfolio look great, are they all built using WordPress? Please send me an e-mail, I might need your help. Thank you mate!
Thank you for this great article! Keep up the amazing work you have been doing!!!
Hi there, I am also a freelance web designer and I love your website! Can you send me an e-mail with tips to grow my freelance business? That would be much appreciated!
It’s like everything, innit? Good and bad. But at least WordPress is easy to use.
Yes, finally someone who agrees with me, wish you could talk with my colleagues and tell them why WordPress is the best! I’ll show them this. Thank you!
Great article, keep up the good work!
Great blog post but I would love to see one like this about Joomla. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this info, very useful pal.
Great post! If you need a freelance wordpress designer drop me an e-mail!
I guess it depends, if you are good with it, it’s worth it. If you are not very good using WordPress, then it’s sh*t.
I wish I could get used to WordPress but I’ve been building websites since the 90’s using just HTML, I’m struggling now to keep up with times, to be honest. I guess I’ll leave it up to you young lads. Good to learn more about WordPress here though, thank you!
Love how you explain things, very clear. Great article, thank you for helping me out!
Sorted, I’ll tell my designer to build the website using WordPress, you convinced me.
Thanks mate, very helpful info. I guess I’ll be going for WordPress then.
Yep… totally agree! There are loads of pros and cons of using WordPress but it is still the best, by far!
Great blog post, thanks dude!
Awesome, this post helped me make my mind up. WordPress it is!
No doubt, I mean 455,000,000 people can’t be wrong! WordPress is by far the best CMS. This is the percentage of CMS used on the entire web – WordPress=35%, Joomla=2.6%, Drupal=1.7%, Squarespace=1.5%, Wix=1.3%. Stats don’t lie! I am very passionate about WordPress so thank you so much for this post!
WordPress all the way! Awesome article.
I can’t believe people still go for website designers that build websites from scratch with code. Takes so much longer, it’s so much more expensive, and it doesn’t have half of the capabilities that WordPress has with its massive community of plugin developers. I mean, a web designer can be a great web designer, but how the hell they will excel in website security, website performance, design, e-commerce, all at once? Isn’t it better to just design a website and know precisely what plugins to install on a website, each plugin developed by experts in their area?
Yep, spot on! WordPress is the best!
Opinions… WordPress is pretty dull. Have you tried Drupal? Sure, WordPress is better for your clients to make changes, but it can be a bit limited if you are building a website for a multi-national company.
Great blog post! You know what’s the best thing about WordPress? How easy it is to use. I had a website done by a bespoke custom html web designer and bloody hell, I couldn’t even change my name on the text!
I hate WordPress but I have to admit, it’s the best…
WordPress FTW!
Totally agree, WordPress is the best!
I love your blog, keep up the great work!
Great content, thanks for sharing!