In some circles, WordPress misconceptions have lead to the platform acquiring a bit of an undeservedly poor reputation. Stack overflow developers ranked wordpress one of their most hated technologies. Nevertheless, we feel that the concerns of these developers may be misguided, as WordPress is actually one of the most versatile website creation tools, powering nearly 28% of the entire internet.

The strengths of WordPress lie largely in it’s open source nature having been built on a robust PHP foundation. Another of the core benefits of WordPress is it’s highly engaged community of plugin and theme developers, the likes of whom support the platform and also provide a wealth of easy to follow documentation.

As a highly accessible Content Management System (CMS), WordPress is both easy to use and highly customisable. Once initially configured, it is simple enough for updates and changes to your website to be made by almost any member of your team, even the less technical ones.

POPULAR WORDPRESS MISCONCEPTIONS

1) “WORDPRESS WEBSITES ARE JUST FOR BLOGS!”

The misconception that WordPress is a tool only to be utilised for blogging has been around since the platform’s launch back in 2003.

This viewpoint likely stemmed from the fact that wordpress.com (the online, freemium service) empowers anybody and everybody to start their own blog. However, wordpress.org (the free, downloadable and open-source CMS and what we’re referring to as WordPress in this article) unfortunately receives much of the hate as well.

Throughout the years, WordPress has been continuously developed, with a vast amount of updates being released. Many highly creative and prominent websites such as High Focus Records, Sony Music and Disney are all built using the platform, proving that WordPress can be utilised to create truly amazing websites.

2) “WORDPRESS WEBSITES ARE ALL GENERIC, MESSY, OR TEMPLATED”

Admittedly, there are a large portion of generic, templated WordPress websites out there. However, the previously cited examples of Sony and Disney demonstrate that it is more than possible to create bespoke websites with the platform.

Everything can be customised with WordPress. If you have the know-how or know somebody that does, almost anything is possible. The extent of customisation ends only where you see fit and is not just limited to the theme you’re using, as all of the site files are editable.

3) ‘WORDPRESS WEBSITES ARE BAD FOR SEO’

A common misconception is that WordPress websites are detrimental to SEO (search engine optimisation) and therefore perform poorly in Google’s search results. This is actually completely incorrect as WordPress combined with some easy to install plugins such as Yoast SEO, allow for full control of the website meta information.

4) ‘WORDPRESS WEBSITES ARE INSECURE AND LIKELY TO GET HACKED’

Despite persistent stories of WordPress security attacks which have been reported on by the BBC as well as other news sources, WordPress remains a very secure CMS. Have a read through this article by WPengine to learn more about this particular misconception.

The security of your website can of course be further improved with various improvements such as an SSL Certificate, secure password usage and Captcha plugins.

5) “WITH A WORDPRESS WEBSITE, I WON’T BE ABLE TO USE MY DOMAIN NAME”

No need for a long-winded answer to this one! You can indeed use your domain name with your WordPress website, however if you’re using wordpress.com (and not wordpress.org), then you’ll have to upgrade from a free subscription to use your own domain name.

Thanks for reading this article! We hope that some light has been shed on the aforementioned misconceptions. WordPress is a fantastic CMS and whilst there are rare exceptions where another platform or even a bespoke system is required, most of the time WordPress can more than handle your requirements.

We’re interested in what you have to say about this topic too so please engage with us in the comments below or via our social media platforms (links to these in our website footer)!