It’s not quite Halloween yet, but I still want to get to the bottom of some of the most popular WordPress myths with you. Stories you’ve read or heard at some point – rumors that in most cases aren’t true! Maybe these are keeping you from using WordPress or lead to wrong decisions regarding your online business. To prevent this from happening, I have collected the 7 most popular WordPress myths in this post and will go through them for you.
True or false? Which of these myths do you believe?
WordPress Myth No. 1
“WordPress is not as easy to use as Squarespace or Wix and you need to have technical knowledge to get it to work.”
This is probably one of the most popular misconceptions about WordPress. Many people think that it is super complicated to set up a self-hosted WordPress website, while in fact it isn’t! Even though hosted systems like Squarespace or Wix seem to be an easier solution at first, you will end up with higher bills and less flexibility.
If this myth stops you from taking action and finally starting that website, I have written an in-depth article on how to setup a WordPress site in less than 30 minutes – without any prior knowledge, coding skills or being super tech savvy. Check it out!
Closely related to myth number one is this one:
WordPress Myth No. 2
“You need to hire a web designer to build a beautiful website with WordPress.”
Wrong! WordPress is a great platform for beginners, because it makes it so easy to DIY your website. You can start with an easy customizable theme, use a page builder like Elementor to create landing pages and whole websites and then grow with it. There is no need to hire a professional web designer from the beginning, if you don’t have a big budget.
WordPress Myth No. 3
“WordPress is a security risk for your site.”
While it is true that malware in outdated plugins or themes can be a security threat for your site, just using WordPress isn’t generally spoken a risk. If you use a security plugin, make regular updates and have a strong password in place, you can secure your site easily.
Recommended Article: 11 Plugins that help you Make Money, Get more Traffic and Secure your Site
WordPress Myth No. 4
“Multipurpose Themes are the best solution for every WordPress site.”
Sometimes using one of those one-fits-all multipurpose themes can be tempting. For a one time fee of 50$ you get all the customization options, 10,000+ different ways to make you site look good and even some premium plugins on top! Sounds like a great deal?
Let me explain why in most cases it isn’t:
1. Bundled Plugins that you don’t own a license for (and which won’t get updated) can slow down your site and put it in a real security threat.
2. In 99.9% of all cases you don’t need 10.000+ layout options. You need one, or maybe two. You only use 10% of all options included, but also pay for the remaining 90%.
3. Niche themes are often way easier to customize for non-experts. Imagine you have all those options and want to change color x for widget y. Even with my WordPress experience of mroe than five years I often have problems finding the right options in these huge themes.
Do yourself a favor and spend some more time looking for a WordPress theme that meets your needs. There are so many niche themes around – for fashion bloggers, for business coaches, for beauty salons, for (almost) every type of website. It will make your life a lot easier and your WordPress site less bloated.
Get an easy to use Theme for your WordPress site
WordPress Myth No. 5
“Installing Plugins will slow down your WordPress site.”
Okay, I have written above that plugins can slow down your site, so it is true, right? Not in all cases. Just installing a plugin won’t do any harm to your website. It’s about the quality of those plugins. Whenever you download a new one, check the reviews, check how many downloads it has and if it has been updated recently.
Also make sure to deactivate plugins that you don’t use because having too many unused plugins can really slow down your site.
WordPress Myth No. 6
“WordPress.com and WordPress.org is the same – right?”
Wrong! Even if they sound quite similar and under the hood use the same tools, there is a big difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. In short: WordPress is a software that allows you to publish blog posts and manage your content without coding knowledge or being a tech pro. The only thing you need to make it work is web hosting and a domain. This is why it’s called a self-hosted website.
With WordPress.com, they host the site for you, but at the same time strip away your flexibility and freedom to choose design and plugins, unless you are willing to pay a lot more than normal hosting costs.
If you want to know some more reasons why you should opt for the open-source version, WordPress.org, read the recommended article below:
Recommended Article: WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com vs. Squarespace – What is the difference?
WordPress Myth No. 7
“WordPress is just a blogging platform, it’s not suited for businesses or online shops.”
When WordPress was first published in 2003 it was mainly a blogging software, that’s true. But throughtout the years and thanks to the huge, worldwide community it grew into something much bigger: a fully functional CMS (= Content Management System). Today, WordPress is a great tool for starting a blog, but it’s also the perfect solution if you want to build an easy to manage website for your business. Did you also know that 22% of the 1 million most popular sites are powered with Woocommerce?
This is a myth that is definitely not true and you should look into WordPress if you plan on starting an online business or need a website for your shop!