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Why You Should Avoid WordPress.com Web Hosting

In the hustle and bustle of modern life, a website is crucial to the success of any business. It is often the first port of call for prospective customers looking to find out more about your brand, so ensuring yours is as aesthetically pleasing and as functional as possible is essential.

However, building a modern and functional website can be a time-consuming process. There are many platforms out there designed to help you create and host a website, and WordPress is arguably the most famous of them all. Since its launch in 2003, the company has grown to become one of the most used tools in the world, powering 35% of the internet with over 1.3 billion websites utilising it!

Of course, while the WordPress name will be a familiar name to lots of web users, many people mistakenly believe WordPress.com, WordPress.org and WordPress are the same thing. While they are all part of the same parent company and can help you to build a website, there are a number of differences between each of them.

WordPress.org is known as a self-hosted WordPress solution and allows users to download the WordPress software themselves for free, giving them a choice of hosting providers and allowing for easy installation to their website. While this is relatively straightforward, it does mean that users are responsible for everything from the website build to any updates and upgrades and requires more technical knowledge.

WordPress.com, on the other hand, is the commercial side of the software that gives businesses a one-stop-service. It is a managed WordPress solution, which sees an external party take care of the installation and upgrades. By using this format, you do not need to download and install the software onto your website, you can simply log in to WordPress.com and manage your site, with all updates, security upgrades and backups occurring automatically. While it is free to use, just like WordPress.org, to maximise the performance and enjoy all of the options available, then users will need to subscribe to their premium services.

While there can be no denying the benefits that WordPress can provide, if you are serious about ensuring your website stands out from the crowd, then there are a number of limitations that you should be aware of.

Top reasons you should avoid WordPress.com

With so much competition, ensuring your website and digital presence are ahead of your competitors is essential. While WordPress.com can give you a usable site, there are a number of constraints that can hold you back, including:

1. Lack of customisation

One of the most significant issues of using WordPress.com is the lack of customisation that it offers to businesses. In this digitally-led world, it is essential your website is able to stand out from the crowd and give consumers the confidence that your brand is different from the rest.

With WordPress.com, while you can adapt and change the main body of the page, you are not able to edit the HTML source or gain access to WordPress PHP files. Not only does this limit the customisation options you have available to you, but it also prevents you from being able to add JavaScript and CSS links to your website. This lack of customisation means you are entirely reliant on the widgets that WordPress offers.

2. Limited plugins and themes

Another significant drawback of utilising WordPress.com to host your company’s website is that you are incredibly limited on the plugins and themes that you can incorporate. These plugins and themes are one of the biggest attractions of self-hosting your WordPress, with there being no limit on the number you would like to install to your website.

Alongside there being no limit, self-hosting WordPress from wordpress.org also allows you to install themes and plugins from any source. This ensures that you are able to completely customise your site aesthetically, while ensuring it provides your visitors will all of the functionality that you desire.

There is still a wide range of themes and plugins available to WordPress.com users; however, these are more basic in comparison. Many of these are free, but the premium options do require additional payment. As each theme and plugin is different, and most are locked for editing, it can be a very time-consuming process to find the right solution in terms of functionality and design.

3. Costly

If you do want to begin utilising custom CSS on your website, then you will need to pay to gain this ability. Once you have found the theme that you want to feature for your site, you will then need to purchase one of the various customisation packages that WordPress has available. This will depend on the level of design that you require and the size of your website.

Despite being simple to use at a basic level, to incorporate the level of customisation to make your website appear as professional as possible requires in-depth knowledge of the platform. Unless you have the in-depth knowledge necessary to carry out these changes yourself or keep your site online when things break, you will likely need to hire a WordPress developer. This only adds further costs to your overall budget.

These additional expenses, when combined with the overall costs to host your website, can make it a very expensive solution to your website needs – especially when you also take into account the lack of functionality and customisation you receive.

4. Confusing interface

Another important factor to consider is that the WordPress interface can be very confusing and complex to use. It is a platform that has been designed for coders, which means that for most clients, it can be incredibly frustrating and leaves users wasting a lot of their time trying to make simple changes and updates to their site.

Many WordPress.com users also get confused between the two different dashboards that they are faced with, the web hosting dashboard and their website specific dashboard. This only adds to the complexity of updating and refreshing your site, and the time taken to upgrade your site can often put businesses off from making the necessary changes to keep ahead of the pack.

Looking for a better web hosting option?

Are you looking for a better solution for your website hosting? Here at Stone Digital, we know how frustrating WordPress.com can be. We regularly face requests from clients looking to customise their site or are confused about adding a plugin but are being held back by the limitations of the platform.

Our highly experienced team knows exactly what it takes to ensure your brand is able to stand out from the competition. Our mission is to give your company a beautiful and functional website that has been fully optimised for SEO and functionality. By focusing on User Experience, we guarantee your website will not only enjoy more visitors, but higher conversion rates too.

So if you are looking for a more cost-effective, flexible and easier to use web hosting agreement, Stone Digital is here for you. We will work with you to ensure you can enjoy the best solution for your brand, allowing you to enjoy a beautiful and functional website built around your needs.

Want to find out how we can help you? Get in touch with our team today!

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