WordPress or Custom CMS?

The website is the most important marketing tool of your company. Virtually everyone who has come into contact with digital marketing knows that a good website is working 24 hours a day, and could be a machine for generating conversions, getting leads, mailing list subscriptions and in most cases now generate sales of products or services. A website is an essential tool in just about any internet marketing strategy.

 It is mainly thanks to these factors that when ordering the new website, we pay attention to the appearance and functionality. However, it is worth taking a closer look at one more key aspect - the CMS site will be based on. Leaving aside extreme situations, in most cases two options are considered (we do not discuss building regular non-CMS website): 

WordPress and Custom CMS.

What is a CMS anyway?

CMS is a "Content Management System", i.e. a system for managing the content of a website. It is needed for the daily operation of the website - including for updating texts, publishing new ones, handling forms, or managing additional website functionalities. CMS allows the owner of the website to manage it independently and on an ongoing basis, without the need to know a programming language, or help from digital agency.

Currently, most websites are implemented on the basis of WordPress, an open source system developed by programmers from around the world. An alternative is the custom CMS system, i.e. tailor-made, prepared by the company creating the website, based on its own programming solutions. So what to choose?

WordPress is an open source system and you don't need to have a lot of skills to set up a website on it. It is mainly thanks to the fact that the system has become so popular, also due to SEO agencies, which put "back-end" pages on it.

WordPress is an open source system and you don't need to have a lot of skills to set up a website on it. It is mainly thanks to the fact that the system has become so popular, also due to SEO agencies, which put "back-end" pages on it.

The huge popularity of WordPress has also greatly influenced hacking tools that are more profitable to create and run for this particular system. It should be taken into account that neglecting to update the system itself or plugins may end up serious security issues such as embedded code and disappearing pages or resources!

WordPress, has the following advantages:

1. popularity and universality of use, a proven solution provided it is well implemented, 
2. ease of use, the admin panel is very intuitive and many CMS systems follow the standards in WordPress, 
3. a wide range of compatible plugins extending the functionality of the website, 
4. easy implementation of responsiveness, i.e. adapting the website to loading on any device.

Indeed, this open source platform offers all of these features. The question is, are they always advantages? What if you look at them from the perspective of website security or operational stability? What if the website is to be equipped with specific functionalities? Then there are a number of doubts and concerns to be addressed.

On the other hand, many myths have arisen around the custom CMS, and because of that they may have become more neglected:

Myth # 1: Custom CMS'es are much more expensive.
Fact: Correct implementation of a website based on WordPress - taking into account customer expectations and diligence - will take almost as much as the implementation of a custom CMS.

Myth # 2: WordPress websites are as safe as those based on the custom CMS.
Fact: The universality of WordPress works like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it makes for an easy implementation. On the other hand, it makes the system much more vulnerable to attacks, especially if it is not updated regularly.

An investment in a custom CMS system significantly reduces the risk of such a situation - especially if it has been prepared by experts.

Myth # 3: A website on WordPress can be freely expanded, even creating very advanced functionality.
 Fact: Personalization requires a good technical background that the popular open-source platform may not provide.

The three most important advantages of the original CMS are:

1. fast loading of the website - the CMS will be lighter, free of unnecessary plugins and perfectly optimized for the website's requirements, which will translate into better user experience and, at the same time, the effectiveness of SEO activities, 
2. full adjustment to the client's expectations - the administration panel will be made so that you give maximum convenience to the website and have all the necessary (and only such) options "at hand", 
3. no need to update and closed code - the system will work well, without the risk of hacking attacks, even though you will not require frequent updates.

Whichever solution you choose, it's important to make an informed decision. Much more important than just choosing a CMS is the right approach to implementation and taking care of the preparation of the structure, clarifying the functionality. WordPress and the original CMS can successfully prove themselves in the implementation of this function in promoting the brand, company and customer acquisition.