I know Wordpress is popular but the most popular thing isn't always the best thing. That's certainly the case if you're looking to create a website with Wordpress. Wordpress was originally created as a blogging platform but matured into more of a catch all CMS (Content Management System). Now you'll find people creating blogs, websites, and even online stores using Wordpress but let me give you ten reasons that's not good idea.
1. Wordpress is difficult to install.
Wordpress was designed to be self-hosted. That means you'll have to find a server to host your Wordpress installation. It also means you'll need to be familiar enough with computers, software, and hosting to deploy a hosting environment. Sure you'll be able to find steps to do this online but they different from provider to provider and that won't change the fact you'll have to manage a couple of different bills. One for your hosting and another for your domain. You'll have to figure out how to connect those as well.
2. You'll have to know how to code if you want something original.
If you can figure out how to get Wordpress installed on to a server you'll still need to know how to write code in PHP, HTML, and CSS if you want to customize the look and feel. There are a number of websites where you can purchase themes for your Wordpress website, but each of those themes still need to be installed and configured. That process is technical and complicated. The average small business owner just doesn't have the time to acquire the skills necessary to create a website with Wordpress.
3. You'll be spending a lot of time on forums looking for "the right plug-in".
The reasons Wordpress is popular have to do with it's openness. However, strengths are also weaknesses at times. For example, since anyone can create a plug-in for Wordpress there are tens of thousands of plug-ins out there that do all types of things. But since many of these plug-ins require regular maintenance, and often times require their own hosting the creators stop maintaining them. If you have one on your website and it stops working it can bring down your whole system.
4. If something goes wrong you won't have anywhere to go for support.
When you do find yourself having a problem with Wordpress there's nobody you can call to get your problems fixed short of hiring a so called expert. These experts don't work for Wordpress, they're just people selling their skills on the web. It's possible you'll find someone to help you that's honest but they're still going to cost you money.
5. Your plug-ins and Wordpress version will need constant updates.
Anyone that's ever had a Wordpress website can attest to the fact it requires updates. Wordpress itself comes out with frequent updates but once you put some plug-ins in the mix you're almost always requiring an update. This costs more time and of course if something goes wrong during the update, good luck getting help.
6. Plug-ins will randomly stop working and your site along with it.
I was recently editing a site that was using Wordpress. When I went to make a post on the site the whole server would lock up. I spent hours diagnosing the problem. Eventually I had to give the problem to someone who knew more than me. Eventually they found one of the plug-ins stopped working and it disabled the ability to make new posts. Heaven forbid this happens to someone with limited technical knowledge and resources.
7. Your comments box will get bombarded with spam.
Your Wordpress install will have comments built-in and that seems great. That is, until the comment spam rolls in. There are so many bots designed to spam the comments section on a Wordpress website virtually every site gets bombarded with constant spam. You can slow this down by installing a plug-in, until the guy who made that plug-in decides to get a day job and stops supporting it. Hopefully at that point the out of date plug-in won't bring down your site.
8. If you forget your username and password good luck ever getting access to your site again.
This is one of my favorites because it's so obvious. When you use Wordpress, it's self-hosted so if you change your username and password to something you'll forget, you'll likely never get back in and be able to update your site. There's nobody to call or email. Maybe you think to yourself, I'll just use the same password I use on every other site so I won't forget. If you do that and someone hacks one service they'll have access to all your services including your Wordpress account.
9. On your own when it comes to hosting and backup.
Since Wordpress is self hosted you won't automatically have a backup if something fails. That means you'll have to spend more time and money purchasing additional server resources and configuring regular back ups. If you use a website builder like WebStarts they already have systems and people in place to take care of it for you.
10. Security risks and vulnerabilities.
Security risks and vulnerabilities are a huge problem with Wordpress. Because Wordpress is open-source and it's generally self-hosted that means it's innately insecure. Any web developer has access to the code, the infrastructure, the configuration. It's simply made available to the whole world. There's nothing to ensure your Wordpress won't get hacked. These are just a few of the problems you'll run into while using Wordpress. So the next time you see some wanna be techie proclaiming it's virtues on a form, you'll know the true risks of using a product with no central backing or support.