One of the most common questions that our developers get is, “why don’t you use WordPress?” While WordPress is one the largest Content Management System (CMS) out there on the market, it is also known for common issues such as security breaches and template problems. 

A CMS is what makes the website what it is and holds all of a website’s data in one singular spot without having to custom code everything that needs to be implemented for the website to work properly. 

Our Omaha website developers won’t get into the nitty-gritty of a CMS, but understand that just because it’s a popular CMS on the market, it may not be worth the investment.

We would like to say that we are not completely dissing WordPress or any other CMS out there. We understand that it is cheap and allows for a number of companies to sell their products and services cheaper. WordPress has grown exponentially since its beginning era of being a blogger website. 

As one of the leading website development companies in Omaha, Neb., we do understand that WordPress is a cheaper option for companies. A number of our clients do have WordPress websites and we do support and update their websites, but we rather all our clients have an ExpressionEngine website! 

With that being said, why would our developers and company prefer ExpressionEngine over WordPress? 

WordPress vs ExpressionEngine 

There are several reasons why our website developers Omaha at Omaha Media Group prefer ExpressionEngine (EE) over WordPress. From its ability to customize an entire website with custom coding available to its security set in place. 

Security is one of the top priorities when it comes to a website. This is because a website not only holds the information about the company, but all of its consumers as well. EE has a 10 years track record of being one of the most secure CMS’ out there with double authentication security. 

It can basically be described as holding up two pieces of paper. There is the front piece which is the front end of the website and the back piece which is the backend of the website. The security measures set in place by EE is so strong that it is nearly (we say nearly because it could happen) impossible to hack into an EE site. 

Why else? We love to customize websites. Yes, we are here to say that you can customize a WordPress website, but it is not as simple. It can take a considerable amount of time and energy just for it to still break at the end. 

At Omaha Media Group, the running joke is that our Omaha website developers can take a piece of paper and code it into a customized website! Yeah, custom HTML 5 with the ability to add any plugins needed while keeping the website secure just sounds a lot better in sales meetings. (Sorry, not sorry!) 

Why else do our developers love EE? The ability to easily and effectively implement plugins to the website is great! While any website can be slowed down by a plugin (we will get to that in a bit) EE has the ability to still run at Google’s recommended speeds with their plugins. 

Now, what are our five reasons why a company should stop using a WordPress website ASAP? 

1. Security breaches 

It is no secret that WordPress is known for security breaches. While WordPress is the largest out there, it is prone to hacks and security issues. This is because WordPress is an open source platform that relies on plugins for websites, which in return, allows for easily hacking into plugins because no one is monitoring these plugins. 

It has been recorded that WordPress is the CMS that is easily and widely hacked. 

2. Plugins 

Those plugins that we spoke about above are great, but since so many different website developers and companies hold the rights to the plugins and templates, which allow for so many others to use, it can be the place to hack. Not only that, but plugins need constant updates and maintenance to continue to do the single job they are installed to do.

How is this possible? Some plugins are constantly changing and new updates need to be installed! For a company that does not have a website developer or staff member dedicated to website and plugin maintenance, a WordPress website can easily start to crash. 

This is not only wreaking havoc on the website, but SEO can be affected and leads and sales can be lost in the process of getting the website back up and running. 

3. SEO 

A common missed point on a website is the SEO factor. How easily can the website be optimized, if at all. Some templates will play nice with SEO, and our Omaha website developers have noticed that the new website templates are easier to work with than the older ones. 

Back to plugins, there are 65 common plugins that slow down a company’s website, and because of this, this can hurt SEO ranking factors in Google! This is because Google expects a company’s website to load in half a second! Yup, half a second to load a website’s main page, blog or other ranking content. 

With that in mind, a consumer expects a website to load in less than two seconds. With an old template or plugins, this can cause a website to slow way down and hurt your SEO. 

While a company can optimize its blogging content, landing pages and services, it is not as easy as other CMS’ out there. This is due to the fact that a company picks a single template and cannot really customize a template to fit their needs without adding those plugins. 

4. Updates and more updates 

While WordPress is free, it can be a costly website! With constant updates to plugins, templates and maintenance of the website, it might not be worth the “free” template at the end of the day. These templates do transition out, and a new template has to take its place. This means a website running on an old template is now even more susceptible to hacks and security breaches! Without a team of website developers Omaha to help with these updates and transition smoothly into the new template, it can be difficult to maintain the website. 

At the end of the day, Omaha Media Group does understand that a number of companies turn to WordPress with smaller budgets in mind and just about everyone knows the backend of a Wordpress website, but it is important to remember that maintenance, updates and security breaches could be more costly at the end of the road. 

This is why it is important to invest in your company’s website for the longevity of your company! For more information on ExpressionEngine and how we can transition your old website, contact us today!