With the internet age truly in effect, there’s hardly a business, small or large, that does not have an online presence. Having a professional, well developed and regularly maintained website has become an integral part of any organization’s fundamental needs. Citing this need as an opportunity, several web development applications and website management systems have been developed that aim to simplify website designing and enable common business users, with limited technical web development knowledge, to create and manage their own websites. A prime example of such applications is WordPress, one of the most popular website development and content management systems (CMS) on the internet.
Since web development is a specialized field, that not only requires expertise in various languages but also a sound understanding of different risks associated with a website, therefore, it is not practical for every business user to become an expert web developer before establishing his own website. WordPress, naturally, resolves this problem. There are literally millions of websites developed and hosted on WordPress and there’s no indication of any decline either, since, the need to have an online presence for businesses will only increase with time. There are, however, certain disadvantages and risks associated with WordPress CMS that you, as a business owner, should carefully analyze before falling for the convenience of this platform.
WordPress CMS – How Safe Is It?
There is no denying the fact that WordPress makes it much easier for common users to develop, manage and maintain their business websites. But one of the most significant threats faced by any website, developed using WordPress, is data security. The usual practice for most WordPress users is to get ready to use WordPress themes developed for different types of websites by developers all around the world. These themes can be easily downloaded and activated within minutes to set up your website. But this is also where the problem begins. Many WordPress themes are loosely coded and are prone to bots and hacker attacks. WordPress, to its credit, does tighten up its general platform security regularly with frequent updates and also educates its users on website security. But because all these hackers have one common target in the form of WordPress, they usually come up with loop holes that can be manipulated to gain access to user data. This is much more costly in case of information based service businesses where user data and information is the organization’s major asset. The same holds true for the huge range of highly convenient, but vulnerable, WordPress plugins.
It’s Very Convenient, or Is It?
One of the major advantages of WordPress is its ease of use and the overall convenience in content management. It should, however, be noted that although the basic WordPress platform is quite simple to operate, but the more specific theme options and widgets do require some basic to intermediate level of Html/PHP knowledge, since most themes and plugins have their own unique settings. As an ordinary business user, with no coding knowledge, you may come across absolutely stunning WordPress themes that seem perfect for your business website only to find out that their internal setup is much more complex and time talking than the basic WordPress platform. So it is not entirely accurate to call WordPress a layman’s platform if you want to build a bit more complex websites.
Keep An Eye on the Future!
It is every businessman’s dream to take his company from a basic setup and see it grow into a global enterprise. The primary objective of every business is to make profits and grow into a bigger and better organization. The same goes for the company’s website as well. The larger the organization, the better and more comprehensive its website should be. This is where the WordPress CMS has a few limitations. While it is fine to have a WordPress website for your company if you aim to be a single man business for your whole life, but if you intend to expand, like most businesses, then WordPress is not the ideal platform for you. Some of the basic reasons for that are issues with scalability, professional outlook and customization.
An ideal website has a strong base in its coding that always has room for future growth and expansion. Websites coded with future expansion in mind, can easily be grown into larger and much more manageable entities when the need arises. For example, a website developed for a small business, that expects to attract a few hundred visitors per month, may face performance issues if it later grows into a major website that gets daily traffic in thousands.
Are You Sending out the Right Signals?
The other reason is more related to the overall image of your brand. Everybody knows that WordPress is a cheap solution for non-technical business users who are looking to get less complex and basic level websites. When a potential customer finds out that your company website, your most important and effective customer interaction point, is developed on a low investment platform, it doesn’t always send out the right messages about the seriousness of your business and the image of your brand.
Html Site Builders – A Secure Alternative
In comparison, a more professional, secure and easily scalable option for developing your company website is the user friendly Html site builders. There are certain short term and long term advantages that Html site builders hold over WordPress CMS.
First of all, unlike WordPress, you can always be in control of your website’s security. Site builders usually come with drag and drop options that seem easy on the eye, but behind the scene they make sure that your website’s code has no loop holes. In case you do encounter a security threat or a loop hole in your website code, which is rare, you can always get it completely secured with a one-time effort by consulting an expert developer. Whereas in WordPress, you are never completely secure since so many hackers around the world are continuously looking for entry points in the basic code.
Your Future and Brand Image, Both Secure!
Another benefit, which is long term, is the room for expansion in websites developed using html site builders. Since most html site builders lay a solid coding foundation in websites developed through them, therefore, you can always be confident of your website’s performance even when its traffic grows into much higher numbers. The code will always be flexible and scalable to accommodate much larger traffic inflows.
Using a site builder will also add to your brand’s image, since the html code will be written by the site builder itself, and will give confidence to your customers and visitors in the standing, stature and seriousness of your business.
To make it easier for you to do decide, we can simply conclude that, although, the basic WordPress CMS itself is a highly convenient, user friendly and cheap platform, but it lacks the reliability, professional outlook and future perspective that serious businesses need. Therefore, you may very well use WordPress CMS for running your personal blog or as a short term solution for your website, but for a more credible answer to the potential online challenges that your organization is likely to face, and as a long term solution for your company’s website, that is reliable, professional and secure, html site builders offer a much more viable option.
