Why WordPress? The Benefits of WordPress & Whether It’s Right for You
Georgie Cunningham Client Relationship Manager
Published
The Beatles. Birthday cake. Woolacombe beach. Just because something is popular, doesn’t mean it’s overrated – and that’s exactly why, as a web development agency, we specialise in WordPress.
While we work with lots of different content management systems (CMS), such as Kirby, Craft CMS, Decap CMS and Shopify, WordPress is easily the CMS we find ourselves recommending the most to our clients.
In this blog we’re going to dig into why that is, some of the biggest WordPress benefits, and whether it’s the best option for your next website.
Obligatory Housekeeping
1. What we mean by WordPress
Before we begin, a quick bit of housekeeping. In this blog we’re talking about the open-source CMS that powers 43.4% of the web and is installed on a web hosting server which can be downloaded from WordPress.org. We aren’t referring to WordPress.com, the WordPress hosted version that is better suited to personal blogs.
2. Common misconceptions
That leads us neatly into the next thing we need to clear up – common misconceptions. Ones like:
“Isn’t WordPress just for blogs?”
Nope. As above, more than 40% of the websites on the internet are built with WordPress as a CMS.
“Isn’t it only for smaller sites?”
Nada. Some of the world’s biggest and most recognisable brands, with some of the world’s biggest content requirements, use WordPress. Think TechCrunch, NASA, Rolling Stone.
“Isn’t it insecure?”
Negative. Like any CMS, security depends on how it’s built and maintained. Like any agency worth their salt, we follow best practices and keep everything up to date.
What are the benefits of WordPress?
1. Content management
When you invest in a new website the absolute last thing you want is for it to be uneditable. You shouldn’t have to pay a web developer every time you want a tiny change made to your site.
WordPress allows us to create content managed websites – that means the content (text, images etc) is stored and managed within a database. And that means you can update and publish content without knowing how to code. We can also create intuitive pagebuilders within WordPress, meaning non-developers can use the blocks we’ve built to create new pages and content across the site.
This gives you more autonomy over your site and content.
2. Intuitive and easy to use
Not only is a content managed site usable without knowing how to code, it’s easy to do. The WordPress interface is intuitive and with a bit of guidance, it’s simple for the average layperson to learn how to make updates or create new pages.
When we build WordPress websites, we always provide a free training session after the site goes live so that we can teach you how to do this. In our experience, even the biggest technophobe out there is able to get to grips with WordPress.
3. Customisable
As a creative agency also specialising in brand, website design is important to us. There’s no reason why a website can’t be secure, functional, but also beautifully on-brand, nice to look at, and simple to navigate.
With WordPress we can create completely bespoke designs, with no templates and no limitations. That gives us full control over how a brand is presented online.
Case in point: Shapu Knives, one of our favourite WordPress websites to date, which showcases the bold and beautiful branding we created.
4. Speed
From a development perspective, WordPress is efficient to use. The speed with which we can create a website is cut by almost a third using the visual builders we use on our sites.
This means we can create cost-effective packages for lots of our clients – something that’s important to us as a small business passionate about supporting other small businesses.
5. Compatibility
WordPress works on almost any web server, and doesn’t have compatibility issues with different browsers. This means most people won’t have any issues accessing your website, no matter where in the world they are or what device they’re using.
It also gives you full control over where your website is hosted. You’re not locked into a single provider, so it’s easy to scale or improve your site’s performance without rebuilding it.
6. SEO Ready
WordPress as a CMS lends itself to a lot of the basic SEO essentials, like clean code, quick loading times, and well-structured content. It also has popular plugins like Yoast or Rankmath that make it easy for you to create optimised content for search.
7. Plugins & Integrations
Speaking of plugins, thousands of developers are always working on new plugins and new ways to expand the functionality of WordPress. That’s why WordPress is an awesome option both for small marketing one-pagers to large shops using custom API integrations for stock management.
The huge suite of plugins and integrations available for WordPress means no matter what your site needs to do, we can probably achieve it. For example, the e-commerce site we created for Honey Source was facilitated through a WooCommerce plugin.
We also created a website for Elite Cottages – a site showcasing holiday rentals throughout the UK – using WordPress. In this case, we built a custom search functionality with many additional filters. This site also had to manage multiple API integrations from other cottage providers such as Sykes, and maintain complex tracking, so that if someone booked, Elite Cottages would get a proportion for driving the booking. All of this was possible using WordPress plugins and API integrations.
For another project, Northern Devon Futures, we used WordPress to enable multi-user functionality, giving different audiences (the public vs board members) different access levels for viewing or uploading content, which required them signing into the site.
“As a web developer, I like the versatility of WordPress. I’ve tried multiple platforms and websites built in different code bases, and hard coded from scratch, and WordPress is the best all-rounder I have used. I can do almost anything a client needs without being overly complicated.”
- Tye, our web developer who works on the majority of web projects Roots takes on
When we wouldn’t recommend WordPress
While we’re pretty clearly big advocates for WordPress, and even consider ourselves WordPress specialists, that doesn’t mean we always recommend it. And that’s because it’s not right for every project.
For example, a pure e-commerce site requiring complex product logic might be better suited for Shopify. Or highly interactive, front-end apps might need a headless or JavaScript based solution in order to feel more dynamic, update in real time, or manage data complexly.
Even our own website isn’t built in WordPress – it’s hard-coded, acting as a showcase of our more bespoke, custom development abilities. Having web developers in-house, content managed elements weren’t a priority for us.
At the point of proposal, our dev team will review your requirements and decide the most appropriate system based on your preferences and the technical functionality the site needs.
Is WordPress right for you?
Maybe. But we won’t know for sure until we know more about what you’re actually looking for. We’re a friendly bunch, and we love building websites that don’t cause you problems. If you’d like to have a quick chat about a current, or a brand new website, you can give us a bell here.
WordPress: The FAQs
Is WordPress secure?
Yes, as long as it’s built and maintained properly. We follow best practices around plugin use, security patches, and hosting setup to make sure every WordPress site we launch is safe and stable.
Can I edit the website myself once it’s built?
Absolutely. We build all our WordPress sites with content editors in mind, so your team can easily update text, swap images, or publish new pages — without needing a developer.
Will my site be fast on WordPress?
It can be and it should be. Performance depends on how the site is built and hosted. We optimise every WordPress build for speed, SEO and smooth user experience.
What about hosting? Do I need a specific provider?
Nope, WordPress works with most major web hosts, which means you’re free to choose the right provider for your needs, and even switch in future without starting from scratch.
Here at Roots we host all our sites on our own server. Our hosting is fast and secure and we offer WordPress and plugin updates as part of the service.
Are there any limitations with WordPress?
For most marketing websites, no. But if you’re building a highly interactive site or something that requires real-time data, we might recommend a headless or JavaScript-based solution instead.