What WordPress is good at
- Publishing a lot of written content, like a blog or a news site, with many people editing.
- A huge choice of themes and plugins, and many people who know how to use them.
- Starting cheaply with a theme, if you or someone you trust will keep it updated.
Where WordPress sites go wrong
None of that is unavoidable. A well-run WordPress site, with few plugins, current updates and good hosting, can be fast and safe. The problem is that most small business sites aren’t run that way after launch.
- Plugins fall behind. In our October audits, 12 of 23 WordPress sites we checked ran a plugin version with a published security flaw. Each plugin is software from a different author, updated on its own schedule.
- Servers fall behind. WordPress runs on PHP, and many hosts still run PHP versions that no longer get security fixes.
- Speed. Page builders and stacks of plugins add a lot of code. Most of the slow sites in our report were WordPress sites built that way.
- Logins. Many WordPress sites hand out their admin usernames to anyone who asks; 8 of 66 sites in our report did.
What a custom site is
A custom site is coded for one business, without a theme or page builder. There’s no plugin layer to keep updated and much less code sent to each visitor, so it’s usually faster and has far fewer ways in. The trade-off is that changes go through whoever built it, so pick a builder who answers quickly, or ask for the parts you want to edit yourself (menus, specials, events) to be editable.
How to choose
- Choose WordPress if you publish a lot, have someone to keep it updated, and are comfortable with plugins.
- Choose custom if you want speed and security without the upkeep, need features a theme doesn’t do well (booking, payments, portals), and would rather text a change than log in.
- Either way, own your domain and hosting accounts, and ask who keeps the site updated after launch and what that costs.
Written by Nikita Huttenlocher, founder and lead engineer at Huttenlocher Technologies, a web design and software company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.