11 Common WordPress Myths Explained and Dispelled

Don’t let these WordPress Myths hold you back, this post will explain and dispel 11 common WP myths that may deter you.

Image by Kevin Phillips from Pixabay

WordPress is the world leader in the CMS domain with a market share of 65%. The content management system is free and easy to use and flexible enough to create any type of website, but there are some common WordPress myths that hold people back. 

Owing to its robust features like easy-to-customize plugins and themes, SEO-friendliness, security, and versatility, WordPress has evolved into a powerful website builder and a robust content management system (CMS). 

However, the CMS still has several misconceptions floating about that make it seem less adequate than other platforms. This makes it tricky for businesses and webmasters to decide whether or not they should migrate from Joomla, Wix, or Drupal to WordPress.

In this post, we have attempted to bust these WordPress myths so that you can make an informed decision. 

1. WordPress Is for Bloggers Only

This is one of the most common WordPress myths you’ll hear people talk about. This misconception prevails probably because WordPress started as a blogging platform and continues to be one. The features and functionalities were tailored to meet the needs of the blogging community. 

However, since its inception in 2003, WordPress has evolved into a power-packed CMS that powers 42% of all websites. 

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As a core platform, WordPress is quite flexible with a wide range of plugins that enable you to add any form of functionality to your website. In fact, because of its striking CMS features, most webmasters are moving from Joomla, Wix, and Squarespace to WordPress. 

For instance, WordPress offers custom post types, pages, widgets, add-ons, and plugins that enable businesses to build any type of website. The powerful and advanced CMS can be used to create impressive business sites, ecommerce stores, portfolio sites, forums, knowledge bases, educational institutes, and much more. 

No wonder, it powers top websites like Time, CNN, eBay, OptinMonster, TechCrunch, The New York Times, Sony Music, and others. 

2. WordPress Isn’t Meant for Ecommerce 

Another prevalent myth about WordPress is that it doesn’t support ecommerce. True, WordPress doesn’t come with default shopping cart features but the CMS offers several plugins that allow ecommerce owners to build fully functional stores. 

WooCommerce, in fact, is the most popular WordPress ecommerce plugin and the biggest ecommerce platform globally, even bigger than Shopify and Magento. 28% of the top 1 million websites use WooCommerce. 

The platform offers advanced features for online stores and an SEO-friendly interface that makes building an ecommerce store as easy as a pie. Here are a few ecommerce websites that are powered by WordPress. 

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So, whether you sell physical products or digital downloads, you can confidently rely on WordPress for all your website building needs. 

3. WordPress Isn’t Safe

Speaking of security, which software is completely safe?

Data shows how hackers have exploited the smallest vulnerabilities in a system or network to perform unauthorized actions. Attackers have been focusing on common enterprise applications and open source frameworks that most businesses use within their networks.

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Brute force attacks and malware are common all over the web, not only on WordPress. 

Being the most popular CMS, WordPress tends to be the prime target for hackers. But the CMS is fully capable of protecting websites from such attacks with the vast variety of security features and plugins it offers. 

The hacks aren’t due to vulnerabilities in the latest core software. Most sites get hacked because of preventable issues like not updating passwords and plugins. 

Check out this 2019 Website Threat Research Report by Sucuri. It clearly shows that 49% of WordPress installations were outdated at the point of the attack. 

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WordPress is incredibly safe for all types of websites, including the ones that deal with sensitive data. The frequent WordPress updates can tackle the latest threats. Each update comes with better and tougher security features 

Secondly, specialized security plugins like iThemes Security, Sucuri, and Wordfence help in bolstering the security of WP-based websites. Also, WordPress is designed by an adept team that’s committed to making the CMS as secure as possible. 

All said and done, the security of your WP site begins with you! So, remember to keep themes and plugins updated at all times and take regular and full site backups. 

4. WordPress Plugins Aren’t Reliable 

Just because you may have downloaded an unreliable plugin from a shady website doesn’t mean all the WordPress plugins are dodgy. Firstly, avoid plugins from vendors or websites you cannot trust. This will greatly reduce the chances of downloading plugins with bugs, outdated and inefficient code, and security issues. 

Secondly, if you have downloaded the plugin from a reliable website and face a plugin conflict, WordPress offers enough support. If the plugin is displaying an error, just follow the guidelines shared in their support section. 

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5. WordPress Websites Are Slow 

Websites are no longer built with a series of HTML pages, graphics, and CSS files strung together. New technologies have enabled us to build websites of varying sizes and functionalities. 

So, all this is bound to impact website speed? 

False. 

Site speed is more to do with using a cheap hosting service or downloading poorly-coded plugins. Most economical hosting services host a huge number of websites on the same server, leading to poor website performance and user experience. 

Also, poorly-coded plugins tend to add junk or unnecessary code to critical website files like the header.php. So, junk objects load before the website content, negatively impacting the website speed. Such plugins also pose security threats to the site.  

So, for WordPress speed optimization, it’s important to use a reliable WordPress hosting service and reputable plugins. 

WordPress uses top-notch technology, the best web standards, and semantic XHTML to ensure super-fast setup and access. It also uses good coding practices, ensuring that the website is SEO-friendly from the time it’s launched. 

6. WordPress Is Free. What’s the Catch! 

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This quote surely doesn’t apply to WordPress. The CMS has always been free for all. That’s probably why people often believe that its features are too good to be true. 

The fact is, WordPress doesn’t belong to a person or a company. It was developed by thousands of developers who have contributed to building this CMS. Though you may find it tough to believe, the code behind this platform is developer-friendly, secure, and free. 

WP is free in terms of liberty ((read usage rights) and the service WordPress.com will offer you a free subdomain e.g. yourname.wordpress.com and free hosting. This is why WordPress is immensely popular among webmasters across the globe and way ahead of other CMS like Joomla and Drupal. 

Another version of this myth is that because WordPress isn’t owned by a single company or person and no one pays to use it, it lacks adequate support. This is a false belief. WordPress has a great community of support reps, website developers, designers, translators, and bloggers who are willing to support the members of the community. 

The community has also built WordPress Codex which is an online manual for navigating WordPress. Plus, the content management system boasts of an active and effective support forum where members share their knowledge and concerns. 

7. All WP Websites Look Similar 

People using the same default WordPress themes, you will naturally find all the sites looking similar. But they aren’t aware that WordPress’s repository offers thousands of free WP themes. These can be customized as per one’s requirements. 

Recently, a revolutionary page builder, Elementor, has changed the way designing is done. It is a free WordPress drag-and-drop editor that allows you to create stunning websites quickly and easily. 

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Moreover, with premium WordPress theme shops like StudioPress, CSSIgniter, and Themify you can change colors, layout, and add your logo to design a unique professional-looking website in no time.

Thus, your WordPress website will look exactly how you want it to look, stunning and one-of-a-kind!

8. WP Cannot Handle Large Websites with High Traffic

The most common question we come across in the comments section is, ‘Will my WordPress site perform when the traffic grows?’ or ‘Will my site come crashing down in case of a traffic spike?’ The fact is, WordPress is scalable and being successfully used by small-scale businesses and big multinational companies.

Here are some factors that make WordPress scalable. 

• WordPress is stable and designed to perform smoothly in low or high traffic.
• The CMS is highly customizable. So, it can be shaped to meet the requirements of complex sites. 
• The platform offers many plugins for meeting the demands of a high-traffic site. For instance, webmasters often add caching functionality to boost the site speed and improve the search feature.

If at all your site performance crumbles in high traffic, it’s the web hosting to be blamed, not WordPress. WordPress themes and plugins make it effortless for businesses of all sizes to construct a website and scale it as per their needs. 

For instance, if you notice that your visitors are clamoring to the membership page, WordPress offers several membership plugins that can convert a part of your website into a community. 

9. WordPress SEO Plugins Guarantee a High Google Ranking

Regardless of the industry, every business is fighting to get maximum attention from their audience. This is why they adopt SEO strategies that help a website rank higher in Google’s search results. 

WordPress offers many SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, Schema, and Broken Link Checker, that support website owners in their efforts to rank higher. The platform also automatically generates title tags and meta descriptions for all the web pages. 

However, this doesn’t mean merely downloading the SEO plugins will suffice. Ranking higher in the SERPs requires a robust strategy that considers all the factors affecting a site’s SEO. Only a search professional or an SEO agency can keep a track of these factors and take the necessary steps to boost your rankings. 

10. WordPress Isn’t Future-Proof

This is a false belief, considering that WordPress uses the latest tools, technologies, updates, and web standards to support the needs of bloggers, developers, and webmasters. 

WordPress is primed for the future. It takes on the latest technologies like jQuery, backbone.js, Flash, CSS3, various APIs, and responsive allowing webmasters to transform your site the way you want. 

11. It Takes a Genius to Manage WordPress

Building any website and managing the technical aspects (not just WordPress)  can be an overwhelming experience for beginners. But managing WordPress doesn’t take a genius as long as you learn the ropes through proper planning and training. 

A plugin called ManageWP can help keep a track of all the WordPress installations from a single dashboard. Besides, it’s advisable to pay attention to the following aspects of website management. 

• Check the server health – Get a good host and check if the site is running at all times.
• Check the security and manage spam – This can be handled using plugins. 
• Running backups – This can be done through plugins or by opting for a good hosting plan.
• Update the themes and plugins regularly
• Test the functionality and broken links
• Improve site speed and SEO

Summing Up

WordPress started as a pure blogging tool but has now emerged as a powerful content management system because of the robust features it offers. No wonder, the platform is being used and preferred by most webmasters and businesses across the globe. 

Though this leading CMS had been around for nearly 2 decades, several myths float around it, are making it tough for people to decide in its favor. We hope the information shared in this post will have busted those false WordPress myths. 

So, go ahead and use WordPress to build a stunning and successful website. Let us know if you have any other questions or concerns regarding this versatile CMS.