It's 2014, WordPress is NOT Just a Blogging Platform

I can’t believe that in 2014 there are still people out there using scare tactics to try to keep people from creating business websites with WordPress.  And the number one scare tactic they use?

WordPress is a blog platform that has limited functionality.

I say “Hogwash”.

These so called experts that are warning businesses away from WordPress are short-sighted and might I suggest, stuck somewhere in 2007.  Perhaps they haven’t seen Time.com lately?  Or Sony Music, Van Heusen , Island Hotels and oh yeah, Sweden’s official website.  All built with WordPress.

WordPress might have started out as simply a blogging platform, but it’s become a website platform.  And a darned good one. Is it still built to make building a blog easy?  Absolutely. It also makes adding fresh content, pages and functionality easy as well.

It’s not that some of the points in the scare tactics article I linked to aren’t valid, but they also aren’t reasons not to build your business website with WordPress.  Let’s talk about them.

• Let’s start with that old functionality thing.  I think I’ve already debunked that one by showing you big businesses that obviously have found plenty of functionality in WordPress.  That said, if you’re a WordPress novice and are expecting to get those type of results out of the box, it’s not going to happen.  Yes, in many cases you will probably need a WordPress developer to create something like that for you.  But how does that differ from hiring someone to create an html website for you?  A truly professional website, in most cases, has always required hiring someone to build it for you.  Or put lots of time in to learn how to do it yourself.  So saying that needing to hire someone to get a high functioning WordPress website is a non-issue because getting a high functioning website is going to require hiring someone anyway.
• Maintenance, Plugin Credibility and Compatibility.  It’s true, using WordPress for your business website does require ongoing maintenance. And how is that any different from years and years of paying a Webmaster to keep your website running?  Oh yeah, you don’t have to contact your maintenance person to add copy to your website, or to even add a page or product.  And as far as those plugins are concerned?  If you’ve hired out the build of your WordPress website, any developer worth their salt is going to use plugins that they know are reliable, updated regularly and are time tested.  Does that mean you’ll never run into a plugin compatibility problem? Maybe not, but it’s not the end of the world, especially if you have someone capable handling your maintenance.
• Security.  Look, the whole reason you need maintenance for WordPress is because they are constantly monitoring it for security issues and updating the software to keep it secure.  Good WordPress developers know how to implement additional security measures as well. Security shouldn’t be any more of an issue than any other website if it is built well and maintained properly.

The truth is, if you’re looking to use WordPress to cheap out on your business website then sure, you may run into issues.  But cheaping out on any website build is asking for trouble isn’t it?  Choose WordPress because it’s the smart choice for today’s connected society, allowing for easily updating content and taking advantage of what gets the attention of search engines in 2014.  Understand that creating a great business website requires an investment, both in building and maintenance no matter what format you choose. But please don’t let anyone scare you with half-truths and keep you from creating an effective, beautiful and functional business website on WordPress.