WordPress makes 37% of all websites on the internet. In spite of its phenomenal success, many people are still wary of using WordPress to build their websites. Why? Because of a wide variety of myths regarding WordPress. You might have come across a few of the common myths like WordPress is just for bloggers and not for building enterprise-level websites, WordPress is unsecure, there is no tech support for WordPress. By believing in these myths, you lose the opportunity to build your website on a powerful platform that is behind names such as TED blog, BBC America, Microsoft news, to name a few. Many times the issues in WordPress are blown out of proportion, and it is good to hire WordPress developers from a top WordPress development company to get the real perspective.
12 Common WordPress myths
The myths associated with WordPress can lead you to falsely believe that WordPress is not the kind of solution you are looking for. In this blog, we have debunked some of the most common myths associated with WordPress.
1. WordPress is just a blogging tool
One of the biggest myths regarding WordPress is that people mistake it as just a blogging tool. WordPress is a full-fledged website builder that can be used to build a wide range of websites. Currently, WordPress powers around 455 million websites on the internet and a huge number of these websites are more than just blogs.
Businesses use WordPress to build corporate sites, ecommerce sites, podcast websites, dropshipping websites, online marketplaces, to name a few. Many academic institutions, governments and even Fortune 500 companies use WordPress to build their websites.
2. WordPress is not secure.
Many people have this misconception that WordPress is not secure. In fact, one of the major reasons for the popularity of WordPress is that it provides highly secure websites. Understand that WordPress is open-source software, meaning that anyone can study the code and find security loopholes. In spite of this fact, WordPress has a robust security mechanism that protects the website from malware and brute force attacks. WordPress is extremely flexible software, and its security can be strengthened further by taking a few extra steps. The extra steps include using strong passwords and using some security best practices.
3. WordPress does not support ecommerce
Another common myth associated with WordPress is that it does not support ecommerce. This myth prevails because WordPress does not come with a default shopping cart feature. Please note that there are plenty of WordPress plugins that add ecommerce functionality to WordPress. The most popular is WooCommerce, a technology that powers around 4 out of 10 ecommerce websites across the world. Whether its physical products or digital ones, you will be able to do that with ease using the WordPress plugins available.
4. There is very limited support available for WordPress
Many users think that there is very limited support available for people who choose WordPress to build their website. There are a lot of free resources available that provide support to people using WordPress. WordPress.org is the official website that has a very active support forum. The users can resolve their queries here for free and get help from the active community of WordPress users.
WPBeginner is another free online resource site that has a lot of WordPress tutorials and guides. You can also search for the YouTube channel of WPBeginner to get video instructions. Apart from the free resources, one can even avail of the services of WordPress businesses that offer paid WordPress support.
5. WordPress is free, so it must be low quality.
Another common myth that people have regarding WordPress is that as it is free software, it must be of low quality. Many people have this question: why would the developers provide anything for free?
WordPress adheres to the best programming practices, and the code that powers WordPress is rock solid and developer-friendly. WordPress has a decent publishing system and an easy to use interface. These are the reasons why WordPress is an immensely popular CMS software. You can gauge the quality of WordPress by the fact that some of the largest companies like Microsoft, Adobe and CNN.
6. All WordPress sites look similar.
A common myth regarding WordPress is that all WordPress sites look similar. The developers can control the visual appearance of a WordPress site through the thousands of free as well as paid WordPress themes available out there. The WordPress themes have a lot of customization options, allowing the developers to change the layout, the colours and customize the website according to their requirements.
Apart from the themes, there are countless WordPress page builder plugins that allow the developers to build a website using a simple drag and drop interface without any programming skills.
A WordPress website will look exactly the way you want it to look if you put in enough effort.
7. WordPress maintenance is difficult.
One needs to consider two separate entities when it comes to the maintenance of a WordPress website.
- The core WordPress software
- Plugins and themes
WordPress consistently updates its core software, fixing minor bugs and security loopholes. The themes and plugins get updated based on the support they receive from the developers releasing them. Some popular plugins may get updates every few weeks, while others might not see an update for months.
The amount of maintenance required for a WordPress site will depend a lot on the types of themes and plugins that one implements. For instance, a plugin like WooCommerce that has a large user base can require frequent maintenance.
You can cut the maintenance required for your WordPress website by eliminating the unnecessary plugins. This way, you will not only save time but will also avoid software conflicts as well.
8. WordPress websites are too cheap/expensive.
Many people think that building and maintaining a WordPress website is cheap, while others think that it is expensive. The truth is that how cheap or expensive your WordPress website depends a lot on your project requirements. While WordPress is free, it is possible to build a website that is specific to your needs by adding a lot of premium plugins, making it expensive. Add enterprise-grade web hosting, and the cost goes further up. Others might build a WordPress website for nearly free if theri project requirements do not demand the use of expensive plugins.
You can use WordPress to build either a massive ecommerce website or a simple landing page. There is no single way to do things in WordPress, and hence it is difficult to classify WordPress as cheap or expensive, it’s all about what you choose to do with WordPress.
9. WordPress is not well suited for large (high traffic) sites.
WordPress powers high traffic websites like The New York Times, Techcrunch and WPBeginner with ease. As WordPress is a self-hosted platform, the developers need to scale up their server resources as their website grows. You can read the free resources on WordPress to know how to take control of WordPress performance. In case you do not want to deal with the technical side of things, then you can choose to use the best WordPress hosting that takes care of the technical part for you.
10. Too many plugins slow down your website.
Many users think that using too many WordPress plugins can slow down the site speed. The speed of the website depends on the quality of the plugins used and not on the quantity. This is why it is necessary to use high-quality plugins, as even a single wrong plugin can affect the site load speed and, eventually, the performance of the site. One way to avoid plugins slowing your site speed is to regularly check for plugins and find the ones responsible for slowing down your site speed. Once you find such plugins, you can either update such plugins or simply delete them.
11. WordPress is too difficult to use
Many people have this misconception that WordPress is a complex tool to use. WordPress is a simple to use tool as its functions are labeled appropriately, and it has simple configurations. Managing a website takes up a lot of time, and by choosing WordPress, you can ensure that you are always able to do what you want to do without spending too much time searching for features. You can find what you are looking for easily through the menu options. In case you need help with WordPress, there are a lot of resources available.
12. WordPress does not work well on mobile devices.
In case the theme layout is not mobile responsive, then the site won’t work well with mobile devices. This does not mean that all WordPress sites do not work well with mobile devices. You need to choose a proper mobile responsive theme to ensure the top-notch performance of the WordPress website on mobile. You can find many WordPress optimizations that can lead to a better mobile experience. One such feature is the built-in layout editor that adapts the content according to the dimensions of the device.
WordPress myths debunked
While going through these myths, we can see that WordPress is different for everyone. Everyone who has ever worked with WordPress will have a different perceptions.
You can use it to build a single-page website and also an ecommerce website that handles thousands of transactions every minute. WordPress is a technology that can build powerful websites and it is best to try the technology yourself and steer clear of the myths surrounding the technology.
Read more: 9 Reasons to Power Your Next Website Project with WordPress
