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WordPress for Your Corporate Website? Think Twice.
July 11, 2013

WordPress for Your Corporate Website? Think Twice.

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Version 3.X - server edition through wordpress.org

Modules Used

  • Over 20 plugins

Overall Satisfaction

  • WordPress is the defacto standard for building small websites of say 20-30 pages.
  • Easily integrate all or most of the functionality you need - using plugins.
  • Speed up performance with caching through a separate module.
  • Integrates with various content-delivery networks.
  • For larger sites - say over 20 pages - a WordPress install can and will quickly get out of control.
  • High learning curve for WordPress development. The WordPress system selects which template to render a page based on a complex decision tree that is internal to the product. To be an effective developer, you need to know PHP, MySQL, Javascript, and be willing to spend much time in the WordPress codex mastering the specifics of the product.
  • Integration with third-party products depends on plugins which may suddenly stop working. Each individual plugin comes with its own CSS style sheet and styling the plugins to look like a seamless part of your brand takes a very long time.
  • Caching is not built into the product but occurs through a third-party plugin. You have to toggle caching on and off to see what is really going on with your site.
  • Performance can be an issue - particularly if you are running a large site and/or simply need/want to deliver a lot of assets on smart phones and tablets. There is no content-delivery network built into WordPress and integrating with a third-party CDN takes technical skill.
  • WordPress does not come out of the box with a granular permission system suitable for business. This makes setting up groups of users with differential access to various parts of your corporate or enterprise website relatively difficult.
  • Security is always a concern with a WordPress site.
  • Saved money vs. a high-cost CMS.
  • Supports non-technical users who need to add routinized content to the website.
  • Low cost fairly flexible tool set.
While the cost is low the amount of work and complexity in building a website that can generate leads is enormous and not for the faint of heart. There are far better solutions on the market today.

OpenSource tools sound great until you have a problem with them and try to find support. You have to go to five people to answer even the most basic question and four of the answers you get will be dead wrong.
Don't get me wrong, WordPress is a great solution for bloggers and other folks who need a very simple website. But if you are a company on a growth trajectory, plan on spending a lot of time customizing WordPress to turn it into a CMS and styling each plugin you rely upon. The amount of time spent here can and will be daunting.

Product Usage

  • Develop a website for our own use or clients.
  • Enable non-technical content contributors to add / change content.
  • Make sure that all content on the website is optimized for findability.
  • Make content visible through social media.
  • Support lead generation efforts.
  • Support outbound email marketing and lead nurturing.
  • Support the ecommerce needs of our clients.

Evaluation and Selection

Expression Engine by Ellis Labs.
Drupal (Open Source).
Joomla - which did not have a stable product.
HubSpot - which says it has a CMS but does not.

Implementation

WordPress is not a great solution if you have:

1) A larger site with performance / availability requirements.
2) Multiple types of content you want to share - each with its own underlying data structure.
3) Multiple sites you need to manage.

For very small sites where these needs are not paramount, WordPress is a decent solution.
  • Implemented in-house

Training

  • Self-taught
The product is easy to learn without training but it takes an investment of well over 100 hours to become a competent - not proficient - WordPress developer.

Configuration

To make WordPress work as more of a content management system. WordPress was really designed as a blogging system and this shows in the product.

Support

Customer support is OK so long as you are willing to navigate through a bunch of people who say they are experts in WordPress but really are not. There are multiple blogs and other places you can go to to get advice.
Not Sure - Don't even know where to get support for WordPress.

Usability

Getting the most out of WordPress requires a skilled developer.
Non technical users find adding content to WordPress more complex than it needs to be.

Reliability

Availability really depends on the hosting company. Most companies - ourselves included - host on a virtual server and if that virtual server is shared, availability can range from excellent to crummy - in a single day.
WordPress is a resource hog. It just is. Performance is not crisp especially for sites with a lot of design assets.

Integration

  • Optify.
  • WuFoo.
  • CloudFlare.
  • Salesforce.
  • Marketo.
  • Pardot.
Depth of integration was deep.

Integration is always possible - its simply a question of whether you have a developer who is knowledgeable enough to get it going.

Vendor Relationship

There is no "vendor" with WordPress as this is Open Source software.
No special terms - the software is free.