4 Biggest Reasons to Never Use WordPress Again

If your client or boss insist on using WordPress, send them this article. If you are considering using WordPress in your next project or are a current WordPress user, please keep and open mind and read on.

WordPress is a free and open-source content management system originally created as a blog publishing system. Nowadays it supports other web content such as forums, online stores and membership sites. The reason it is so popular is because it is free, this allows content creators to save money while still publishing content. Another reason is because of its massive selection of plugins, which allows the user to add almost any kind of function to their website. However, as great as it may sound, WordPress may do your business more harm than good. In this article we will explore why you shouldn't use WordPress to publish your website. 

Main reasons NOT to use WordPress

1. WordPress generally bulky and slow

WordPress is great for its wide array of plugins. However, its biggest strength is also its greatest weakness. Since WordPress is open-source and most plugins are developed by individuals, many times bugs might not be fixed and may oftentimes cause conflict with other themes or plugins. Furthermore, adding plugins will slow your website down even more.

While it’s true that WordPress can be optimized to perform quickly by an experienced individual, it’s still an extra step that requires extra resources which can be avoided by using more modern tools.

2. Costly and lengthy development time

In our opinion, creating a website with WordPress is a slow and painful process compared to using something like Wix, Webflow, or Shopify. It takes us 2-4 weeks to create an average no-code site, but 2-3 months to create a WordPress website with the same set of requirements. Lengthy development time also means costly development.

3. Constant updates 

WordPress is renowned for its constant updates to bring new features and functions to users. However, these constant updates will often cause your website to stop working. The reason is because many open-source plugins may not work with the updated version of WordPress and vice-versa. You will find yourself spending a lot of time trying to repair your website every update. 

Some people may choose to avoid the hassle of resolving conflicts between plugins during every update by simply not updating, but this opens your website up for the next issue:

4. Vulnerability to hacking 

WordPress has thousands of plugins to choose from, however these plugins are not made by security experts and vulnerabilities in these plugins can be exploited by hackers. If a hacker finds a vulnerability before a patch is released, everyone who installed the plugin is at risk.

Being the most popular CMS in the world, WordPress is the target for a lot of hacking groups. From their perspective, the sheer volume alone provides ample incentives for them to learn how to attack vulnerable WordPress sites first. This is also why WordPress itself and many plugins update almost weekly.

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Despite these very critical flaws, an overwhelming majority of people still choose to use WordPress. In our opinion, most of these reasons are not well-founded. Here are some reasons why people still use WordPress and what we have to say about them. 

What people say about WordPress that we think isn't completely true

1. It's easy to use 

That speaking is relative. Compared to using Node.js or React, WordPress is indeed easy. However, compared to modern website builders like Webflow, WordPress is hard to use and takes time to learn, especially when you want to integrate plugins to your website.

First off, the backend has way too many options, some of which can completely cripple your site if set incorrectly. 

Additionally, installing WordPress is not trivial, although many hosting providers made it easy by offering WordPress hosting and one-click WordPress install services.

As previously mentioned, there are constant updates and conflicts between plugins. Many of these problems require technical knowledge to repair and are definitely not easily fixable by a novice user. 

2. Cheaper hosting 

Some small businesses choose WordPress because of its lower monthly cost when it comes to hosting.

While this is true, they could end up losing more resources on repairing, maintaining, and developing the website. Not to mention that other CMS (content management system), such as Wix have free hosting plans as well. And they are more stable and more easy to use. 

3. Better SEO 

There isn't sufficient evidence to suggest that WordPress websites are inherently more SEO friendly. Moreover, other CMS also have novice SEO tools and functions and even advanced SEO settings for websites. To search engines like Google, the tool that built the website could only indirectly affect ranking by influencing ranking factors such as site load speed.

4. More themes to choose from 

While WordPress does have more than 11,000 themes to choose from, most site builders such as (Webflow or Wix) have more than enough theme options for regular businesses to choose from. With minimal customization, the average user will not be able to recognize a theme.

In addition, they even have better UI and are more user-friendly across the board for easier theme customization. 

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However, there are still some valid reasons why one might use WordPress. Let's talk about them now. 

Good reasons to maybe consider WordPress

1. Sale of restricted products 

Many website builders have guidelines for selling restricted products on their websites (such as chemicals, pharmaceutical products) however, since WordPress is open-source, one can sell whatever product they want on their website. This is a great way for companies that produce or distribute sensitive items to sell their products. 

2. Complicated web applications 

Many CMS have a lot of functions and plugins to choose from, but only a few, including WordPress, are open-source. Which means if you want to build your own custom web application, WordPress could be your best option. Although I kind of doubt the average non-software business could benefit from a complicated web-based solution. If you are unsure which tools may solve your problems, please feel free to schedule a consulation call with us!

3. Old or custom payment gateways 

Custom or old payment gateways (or any gateway that isn't common) are not available on other website builders, so if you have a custom payment gateway that you'd like to use, WordPress is your friend. It should be noted however, that Shopify and Wix accept crypto payment gateways now.

4. Old customer base 

The last reason is if your WordPress website is very popular and you have many registered users. Getting everybody to register again on a new website might be even harder than repairing your website after every update. Although, it may still be worth it because maintenance costs and the risk of your site going down due to a plugin conflict or attack may add up significantly over time.

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Final words

In conclusion, we think that WordPress is not a good option for the vast majority of users out there. For most users, especially novice users, other website building platforms provide a much better solution and do not come with as much, or any of the drawbacks. We recommend Webflow or Wix for static websites. You can check out our respective guides here and here. Or Shopify for e-commerce sites. You can check out our guide here.

如果你客人或老闆決意使用 WordPress ，你可以轉發此文給他們。如果你認為你的網站應該使用 WordPress 的話，請抱著開放的心繼續閱讀 😊。

WordPress 是一個免費的開源內容管理系統，最初的用途是作為博客發布系統。 如今，它支持其他網絡內容，例如論壇、在線商店和會員網站。 它如此受歡迎是因為WordPress是免費的，這讓用家可以在發佈內容的同時節省資金。 另一個原因是因為它有大量的插件可供選擇，用戶可以在他們的網站添加幾乎任何類型的功能。 但是，儘管聽起來很棒，WordPress 可能弊大於利。 在本文中，我們將探討為什麼您不應該使用 WordPress 來發布您的網站。 

不使用WordPress的主要原因

1. 慢 

WordPress 有多於 54000 款插件。 但是，它最大的優勢也是它最大的弱點。 由於 WordPress 是開源 CMS，大多數插件都是由個人開發的。因此，開發家經常無法修復程式錯誤。這經常會導致主題與插件發生衝突。 此外，添加插件會進一步降低您的網站速度。

雖然用家可以把網站優化及提升速度，但是該用家需要對 WordPress 擁有資深認識。加上，這個步驟需要投放更多時間及資源，如果選用其他網站架構工具便可省卻不必要的資源及力氣。

2. 開發時間及成本效益欠佳

我們認為，相比於使用 Wix、Webflow 或 Shopify 等工具，使用 WordPress 創建網站是一個緩慢而痛苦的過程。 創建一個普通的 no-code 網站需要 2-4 週的時間，但創建具有相同要求的 WordPress 網站需要 2-3 個月的時間。 漫長的開發時間也意味著昂貴的開發成本。

3. 不斷需要手動更新 

WordPress 經常更新，為用戶帶來新功能。 但是，這些不斷的更新通常會導致您的網站停止運作。 這是因為很多開源插件無法與 WordPress 更新後的版本共同運作。您會發現每次更新後都會花費大量時間修復您的網站。 

為了避免經常修復網站中的插件衝突產生的麻煩，有用家直接選擇不更新網站。但這樣會為網站帶來以下的問題：

4. 黑客攻擊 

WordPress 有數千個插件可供選擇，但這些插件不是由安全專家製作的，這些插件中的漏洞可能會被黑客利用。 如果黑客在補丁發布之前發現漏洞，所有安裝插件的人都處於危險之中。 

另外，作為全球使用率最高的 CMS，WordPress 成為了不少黑客的攻擊對象。對於黑客們來說，為了曠闊他們的攻擊目標，他們會優先攻擊最大群的使用者，亦則是 WordPress。

使用WordPress的謬誤

儘管存在這些嚴重的缺陷，許多人仍然因為種種原因選擇使用 WordPress。 可惜這些理由大多並沒有充分的根據。 以下是人們仍然使用 WordPress 的一些原因，以及為什麼它們根本不是好的原因。 

謬誤1：使用方便 

這並不是真相。相比起其他現時普遍的網站架構工具來說， WordPress 其實很難使用並且需要時間來學習。想添加插件更為複雜和困難。

首先，後端程式有太多選項，如果選錯，用家可以意外破壞網站的運作。再加上，安裝 WordPress 並不簡單，但是亦有其他網站託管公司提供 “一鍵安裝 WordPress” 的安裝及託管服務。

如前所述，插件之間想想產生衝突。 其中許多問題需要技術知識來修復。對於新手用戶來說，問題絕對不容易修復。 

謬誤2：便宜 

為了節省資金，有些小企業會選擇使用WordPress，因為WordPress的託管月費比其他服務供應商低。雖然WordPress比其他CMS便宜，修復、維護和開發網站所花費的成本和時間會增加您的成本。再加上其他網站架構平台，例如 Wix 也有免費的託管計劃。 而且它們更穩定，更易於使用。 

謬誤3：更好的SEO 

市場上並沒有足夠的證據表明 WordPress 網站本質上有更好的SEO。 所有現代的網站架構平台都配備 SEO 優化功能及設置。 

謬誤4：更多主題可供選擇 

雖然 WordPress 確實有超過 11,000 個主題可供選擇，但大多數 CMS（如 Webflow 或 Wix）對於正常的企業來說已經有多於足夠的選項可供選擇。只要花少許時間的編輯網站，正常瀏覽家就不能辨別出您的網站有否使用主題。

此外，它們甚至擁有更好的用戶界面，並且全面更加易於使用，有助於用家更快速編輯主題。

使用WordPress的合理理由

但是，使用 WordPress 其實也有其他相對合理的原因。 現在我們討論一下： 

1. 銷售受限產品 

許多網站架構工具都有在其網站上限制可售賣的商品（如化學品、藥品）。但是，由於 WordPress 是開源的，用家可以在其網站上銷售他們任何產品。 對於生產或銷售敏感物品的公司來說，WordPress 是一個可貴的工具。 

2. 功能繁多的網絡應用程式 

雖然大部分的網站架構工具有很多功能和插件可供選擇，但數量都比不上 WordPress 。而且 WordPress 是開源的。 如果您想構建自己的應用程式，WordPress 可能是最好的出路。 

3. 舊或定制的支付網關 

其他 CMS 上不可用定制或舊的支付網關（或任何不常見的網關）。如果您想使用定制的支付網關，WordPress 是您的朋友。 可是，大部分的網店平台其實已經支持大部分的支付網關（Wix 及 Shopify 現在也接受加密貨幣支付） 

4. 舊客戶群 

最後一個原因是，如果您的 WordPress 網站非常受歡迎並且您有很多註冊用戶，讓每個人在新網站上重新註冊可能非常困難。但是，網站維護成本以及發生問題的風險能長期積累，可能盡快以最新的技術以建立網站能為您的公司長期節省成本。

結論

我們認為 WordPress 對於絕大多數用戶來說並不是一個好的選擇。 對於大多數用戶，尤其是新手用戶，其他 CMS 提供更好的解決方案，並且沒有那麼多缺點。 對於靜態網站，我們建議使用 Webflow 或 Wix。 您可以在此處和此處查看我們的指南。 我們建議使用 Shopify 創建電子商務網站。 您可以在此處查看我們的指南。