Introduction
In website development, choosing the right platform is key for digital agencies aiming to deliver exceptional online experiences. WordPress has garnered widespread popularity, thanks to its extensive ecosystem, user-friendly interface, affordability, and SEO-friendly features. However, as with any platform, WordPress also has its share of pros and cons. At WLA, we exclusively work in WordPress, so our team tends to think the advantages far outweigh any limitations, but the considerations might be different for your agency.
Pros
Vast Ecosystem
While there are other platforms available for building websites, such as Joomla and Drupal, these are smaller and more specialized platforms. WordPress stands out with its extensive ecosystem. When it comes to websites developed in WordPress, one cannot overlook the advantages offered by it. Imagine, 43% of all websites on the internet are built with WordPress. You have access to a diverse array of almost 70,000 plugins, tools, and thousands of themes, all at your fingertips. Whether you’re looking to enhance functionality or optimize performance, WordPress has you covered.
Furthermore, the widespread acceptance of WordPress means that you have a vast pool of affordable and talented WordPress development service providers to rely on. Consider the scenario that your current WordPress developer becomes unavailable; finding a competent replacement is relatively cheap and easy too.
With WordPress, you can reach almost any level of customization. Is your agency tasked with creating an e-commerce website for a client? With WordPress, you can integrate a plugin that enables seamless online transactions and a smooth and secure purchasing experience for customers.
While there are many paid services, WordPress at its core is an open-source platform, which means that the possibilities are virtually limitless. Its supportive community continuously contributes new plugins, tools, and themes, ensuring that digital agencies deliver cutting-edge solutions to their clients.
Ease of use
While there are other platforms that emphasize ease of use even more than WordPress, such as Wix or Squarespace, these types of platforms are often more limited in customizability. WordPress is notable for being both easy-to-use and rich with features and customizability, benefiting both clients and development agencies. Let’s explore why this is so valuable for digital agencies.
This simplicity allows clients to quickly understand and provide feedback on various aspects of the website, such as design, content, and functionality. They can easily browse through the website’s pages, test different features, and share their thoughts and suggestions with the agency. This helps development agencies meet deadlines and deliver projects quickly. The flexibility of WordPress makes it a good choice for small agencies working on a tight budget and schedule.
The popularity and user-friendly nature of WordPress have led to a significant pool of developers capable of working within the platform. As WordPress is not overly complicated to learn, many developers are well-versed in its details.
Most clients even with limited technical backgrounds are capable of managing and updating their websites without assistance. They can add or edit content from any computer with internet access and a browser, without any additional software. This gives them control over their online presence.
Affordability
One of the key advantages of websites developed in WordPress lies in their affordability. First of all, WordPress as a platform is a free open-source product and it doesn’t have any license fee. Upgrades are also free. Contrary to popular belief, WordPress websites can be remarkably cost-effective. Whether you’re a large corporation or a one-person company, there’s a WordPress solution that suits your budget.
You have likely spent time thinking about the price of websites and compared different systems and agencies that offer web services. Estimating the cost to build a website–and then how to price it–can be challenging. We have collected more information about features of design and functionality that drive up the cost of a WordPress website in another blog post.
SEO friendly
When I asked WLA’s Marketing Manager Olivier about the biggest advantage of WordPress in terms of marketing, he highlighted that WordPress is a great solution for SEO-friendly websites. Its streamlined code and lack of excessive HTML make it well-suited for search engine ranking. Plugins like Yoast allow you to customize each page and post for optimal search engine performance. See a detailed review of these plugins on our blog.
With WordPress, it’s straightforward to add new content. According to Olivier, adding new content is one of the most significant variables for search engine success.
Cons
Large E-Commerce Stores
When it comes to creating impressive websites, WordPress provides many options. However, if you’re working on a large e-commerce store with a lot of products, there might be some limitations. Customizing the website and adding advanced features could be challenging, especially if your agency doesn’t have the expertise for it.
Let’s take the example of e-commerce stores. In theory, it’s just 3 clicks, activating the plugin, payment, and shipping. Coding an e-commerce shop is not all that hard. Especially for a moderate number of products, WordPress is a perfect solution.
However, when dealing with a large e-commerce store that offers a wide range of products, it can be challenging to grasp and implement the business aspects effectively.
As WLA’s CEO Einar puts it, “It is very customizable and there are no theoretical limitations to it, but there are practical limitations.”
Business decisions like sales tax, shipping prices, package sizes, discounts, and inventory management can vary significantly based on the nature of the products or services being sold. It requires a considerable amount of time and effort to work closely with clients, asking for every tiny detail about their business requirements. While this thorough approach is necessary, it’s important to acknowledge that it may not always be the most efficient or effective use of time for digital agencies.
Hence, for smaller businesses, with tight budgets, it can be more beneficial and affordable to use a marketplace like Amazon than to build a very complex shop in WordPress. For further information, visit our previous blog about the best practices for e-commerce websites.
By being transparent with your clients about potential constraints like this and offering alternatives and solutions that meet their unique needs and budget, you can navigate these limitations effectively.
Security
While other CMS platforms prioritize security as well, WordPress has faced unique challenges due to its extensive ecosystem of themes and plugins. According to Sucuri, in 2018, WordPress was the target of 90% of all hacking attempts on content management systems (CMS). Other CMSs didn’t even reach the 5% mark. The wide availability of third-party extensions can increase the risk of vulnerabilities if not carefully managed. Hence, the popularity of websites developed in WordPress also creates a risk: malicious actors are always looking to exploit its vulnerabilities.
WordPress, being a secure platform, still faces challenges due to its themes and plugins. 92.81% of vulnerabilities in WordPress were due to plugins, while 6.61% were due to themes. Outdated or poorly coded extensions can become potential entry points for hackers, leaving websites susceptible to brute force attacks, cross-site scripting, SQL injections, and more. Furthermore, malware infections and DDoS attacks pose additional threats that digital agencies must proactively address.
To ensure the protection of your clients, you must remain vigilant and prioritize website security. By regularly updating WordPress installations, implementing robust security measures, and carefully selecting reputable themes and plugins, you can fortify your client’s online presence. For more security tips you can see this article previously published on our blog.
