WordPress is the most popular CMS on the planet. Because of that, a lot of myths and misconceptions constantly circulate, interfering with your ability to determine whether it’s the right CMS for your website. Here are ten WordPress myths – and the reality behind them.
1. WordPress Is Just a Blogging Platform
One of the most common WordPress myths is that it’s only for blogs and not for larger enterprise websites. The idea that WordPress is only for blogs and not for large websites circulates widely. There’s some truth behind it; WordPress started out primarily as a blogging site. However, like 12+ years ago, the software evolved, and it now works well for all websites. It is still one of the best blogging platforms out there, especially if you’re serious about blogging. But it works for websites, too.
All you have to do is take the time to understand it and what it can do. Many large brands use it as a CMS to manage huge volumes of content, and nobody has to be tech-savvy to use it. Thinking of it as nothing more than a blogging platform limits what you can do.
2. It’s Free, So It Can’t Be Any Good
Installing WordPress on your site costs nothing. You can also blog for free on WordPress.org (or pay WordPress.com like other web hosts). Because of that, some people think it is obviously not very good. People don’t do their best work for free, right?
In fact, WordPress is free, open-source software. This means that anyone can read and scrutinize the code, and thousands of developers contribute to it —which they’re willing to do for free because nobody is doing that much work individually. Open-source code is also often superior because it has so many eyes on it that tough bugs are more easily found. WordPress follows the best programming practices.
3. It’s Not Secure
This is one of the myths commonly spread by developers of proprietary software about WordPress. WordPress, being open source, is said to be less secure. In fact, being open source makes it more secure, as so many people have studied the code.
WordPress is no less secure than any other CMS; however, you still have to follow best practices. Use strong passwords, back up your site, and use a security plugin to increase protection. Enable a web application firewall. And, of course, make sure your site is properly secured with SSL enabled.
You should be careful with plug-ins. The vast majority are safe and secure, but only install plug-ins that have a good reputation, as they may be a way to insert malware into your site and cause problems for you and your customers.
4. WordPress Has No Tech Support
This myth ties into the WordPress myths about cost and support. Because it’s free, there aren’t paid tech support personnel waiting to take your call when something goes wrong. The truth is that yes, WordPress has no support center.
Instead, there’s the WordPress Codex, which is a robust FAQ system that covers most of the problems that can occur. You can also get peer support through the WordPress support systems. Because so many people use WordPress, you can pretty much guarantee that somebody, somewhere, has experienced your precise issue or has an answer to your specific question. You can also look at blogs, YouTube channels, and all kinds of other sources of help.
There’s no requirement for a support team for open-source software that is this popular. However, given it is the most popular CMS on the market gives it the largest talent pool in the world including our team at Ndevr.
5. WordPress Is Not Designed for eCommerce
This circles back to the “WordPress is just for blogs” myth. It might even get to “WordPress isn’t designed for business.” It’s true that the very beginning of WordPress was for individual bloggers. It doesn’t come with any eCommerce features or, for that matter, any easy way to monetize.
However, because WordPress is open-source, lots of people have made an effort to fix it. A wide variety of WordPress plugins, such as Woo, add eCommerce functionality to WordPress. You can pick one that fits your specific needs. There are also plugins that let you accept online payments (such as tips) without turning it into a store.
So, while technically, WordPress is not designed for eCommerce, it can easily be updated, with no tech knowledge, to support whatever kind of eCommerce you want, whether it’s digital downloads, physical goods orders, or both.
6. WordPress Sites Look Like WordPress
The argument here is that all sites made with WordPress look very similar. In fact, this is true of a number of other website providers that produce very templated sites. This is not true of WordPress.
You can install one of thousands and thousands of themes, some free, some paid. You can hire somebody to make a custom theme for you, or you can attempt it yourself using a page builder plugin. Most themes are customizable.
While an expert will still be able to tell you have a WordPress site, it won’t necessarily look anything like another site in your industry. You can include your logo, build it to match your brand colors, and easily make it look exactly the way you want it to look.
7. WordPress Is for Small Sites
This is another one of the WordPress myths that tends to be perpetuated by developers who don’t use WordPress. This is another myth that tends to be perpetuated by developers who don’t use WordPress. In order to sell their service, they try to get people to “graduate” from WordPress to something “better.”
Self-hosted WordPress is fully scalable. Hosting through WordPress.com might well be better for smaller businesses and individuals, but once you have the money to self-host, you can scale it just the same as any other CMS.
You can improve its performance with plugins, optimization, improving your configuration, etc. As your site grows, you can increase server resources and bandwidth, and WordPress will use all of those resources. Watch out for bad plugins that can slow your site down and for plugins that rely on another site being up to function properly.
However, the speed of your WordPress site depends a lot more on the quality of your web host, which can easily be upgraded.
8. Plugins Are Too Dangerous
Most WordPress customization happens through plugins. There are more than 60,000 free plugins for WordPress and thousands more that cost money. In fact, the most dangerous thing about plugins is working out which one to use.
Installing too many plugins can start to slow down your site, and some plugins may not play well with each other. But without plugins, you won’t get the site you want. You shouldn’t install more than 50 or so (most sites need far fewer).
A couple of things are a problem, though. First of all, you should only install plugins from reputable vendors with good reviews. Let developers and testers take the risk of untested plugins.
Second, if you have deactivated a plugin because you are not using it and never plan on using it again, you should uninstall it, just in case. Deactivated plugins can sometimes create a vulnerability.
But as long as you are careful which plugins you choose, they won’t endanger your site.
9. WordPress Is On the Way Out
There are two sides to this myth.
The first is that because it’s free software, people will eventually get tired of maintaining it, and it will disappear. This is often a problem with open-source software from small teams. However, WordPress is so established and has so many contributors that the chances of it disappearing or going unsupported from lack of interest are essentially zero. There will always be somebody working on it.
The second is that WordPress has been around for so long that it’s outdated and you should look for something newer and shinier. However, WordPress is regularly updated and kept current and secure. What WordPress was twenty years ago is different from what it is now, and in twenty years, it will likely be even more different. Given how many sites use WordPress, it’s always going to be updated.
WordPress may be older, but sometimes the new and shiny is not better than what went before.
10. It’s Hard to Use
This myth tends to circulate alongside expensive WordPress courses. In fact, anyone with any background can learn to do some pretty good stuff with WordPress. Uploading a new page requires no skill whatsoever. Designing themes with a page builder is more about your graphic design skills than your ability to code.
You need no coding skills to use WordPress. You do need some skill to design a theme from scratch or if you want to write your own plug-ins, which gives you more control. But all most users need is basic knowledge of HTML and CSS.
And if all somebody is doing is adding content, they only need to know how to use the intuitive built-in text editor.
Forget WordPress Myths. We Got You Covered!
WordPress is the most popular CMS for a reason, and listening to myths about it will only hold you back. If you are thinking about designing a WordPress site and want expert help to migrate it from your old system, design a completely custom site, choose plug-ins, etc., we can help. Contact Ndevr, an expert WordPress development agency, for the help you need to make your WordPress site perfect.
