There are a million ways to create a website, and WordPress is just one of those ways. Yet many people just choose WordPress because that’s what everyone is using or because they don’t know about the other options. The problem is that WordPress may not always be the right tool for the job.

Using the right tool for the job helps you complete the job quicker and with less risk of injury. This article explains why this holds true for building websites as well.

WordPress isn’t always the right choice

I make a living providing WordPress tech support, yet I wouldn’t recommend WordPress if…

You want the simplest option possible for a website. Despite WordPress’ ease of use, it’s not quite so easy to setup. You need to purchase hosting and a domain name, sometimes from separate vendors. Then you need to choose a theme, from a huge number of providers, and then install and configure the theme. You need a certain level of tech-savviness just to be able to do this, and some web development experience to do this well.

You want a maintenance-free website. WordPress releases an average of 3 major updates each year. In between they have about 3 minor updates containing security and bug fixes. On top of that, your plugins and themes may be updated frequently as well.

Oh, don’t forget the website backups, server administration, fighting hackers and more. WordPress is definitely not the choice for a “launch it and forget it” type website.

You want to design your site, but you don’t know coding.

Can I move this section above this?
Can I change the font and color?
Can I have a different layout for just this page?
Can I increase the size of my header / logo?

The answer to all of the above is: not unless you know how to edit the template code, even for the new-fangled drag-and-drop builder themes. Sorry!

To WordPress, or not to WordPress?

At the end, it boils down to your requirements. If ease of setup and customization, and maintenance-free are important to you – WordPress may not be the right choice. But for everything else, you won’t go wrong with WordPress. Just like with anything worth doing, expect to spend some time learning and growing with WordPress. Having a reliable WordPress support team doesn’t hurt as well.