I’ve been building with WordPress since around 2012 and have seen a lot of trends come and go. One thing has become clear from the many codeless applications of WordPress I’ve seen: unless you’re running a simple blog, if you don’t know any code, stay away from this platform. That may sound strange coming from a WordPress developer, but stay with me here.
WordPress blazed the trail of self-publishing back in the days where that was not an easy thing to do. It started as a blogging platform and has evolved into a full-fledged Content Management System (CMS) over the years.
That is, if you can code.
There is no such thing as a codeless WordPress website. Here’s why.
Building a WordPress website can only ever truly be codeless for the user of a theme; a theme coded by a developer.
Since WordPress started as a blogging platform, it does this one thing really well, right out of the box. You can choose from thousands of ready-to-use themes and start posting articles immediately. No code required. If you’re just running a blog, it’s a great purpose-built solution.
Every other function of a website built in WordPress is a later development: stores? client booking? member dashboard? All functionality that developed beyond the initial intended function of WordPress.
When developers build a theme, they anticipate that it will be used for many different users with different business needs. The developers, then, must plan for every possible scenario or feature they can think of that you might want or need before they then code it.
Let me reiterate: Every possible scenario they can think of. This is an important point.
How a “codeless” WordPress website could be hurting your business.
This is the harsh truth: no “codeless” theme was built for you. It doesn’t cater to your needs.
In all likelihood, you’ll only be using a handful of the features of the theme.
That’s fine, you might say to yourself, it’s designed to be adaptable.
What you likely don’t realise is that your users will have to load ALL of the features coded into this theme, every time they visit your website, even though they’re invisible and you’re not using them. Every line of code and every byte of data that needs to load for your user will add a fraction of a second to the load time for the page. Add enough of them and you start to notice it.
Do you know how long it takes your potential customer to stop waiting for your page to load? Count to 2. If your website hasn’t loaded yet, you’ve lost a customer. In 2 seconds. This is so well established in user data that search engines will deprioritise your website in their rankings if you exceed this load time.
And what happens when the developer of the theme did not think of your specific needs? (Pro tip: they don’t know who you are, so this is an inevitability.)
Enter plugins. If you are not familiar with coding, you can end up with an over-the-top workaround that’s a pain in the ass to set up, maintain, and update, because you have to rely on other off-the-shelf solutions in the form of plugins, which likely means more excess functionality to hide, that still loads for your users.
This is where things get compounded and you end up with technical debt. You are reliant on the developer of the theme to maintain their code, AND also on the developer of every plugin, each with its own security vulnerabilities. The more popular the theme or plugin, the more likely it is that a vulnerability will be exploited. And every time you need an update to your website, you run the risk of something breaking and requiring a new band aid solution, adding to the pile.
Eventually you find yourself with a behemoth of bloat that loses search ranking for being so slow. In a few extreme cases that I’ve personally seen, these sites can get shut down by the hosting provider for using too many resources. These websites have a short lifespan.
But I hired a professional to build my website in a WordPress theme. Surely they know how to avoid this?
Maybe. If you hired a developer, or one of us unicorn designer/developers who have both training and experience in the design world and a deep understanding of the code, they should.
But did you ask them about their coding experience when you hired them? And did you pay a rate that reflects both the design AND development?
There are a LOT of people breaking into the web development industry without any coding experience or ability and selling codeless drag and drop websites as bespoke services on the cheap. These are usually designers, copywriters, or marketers who purchased off-the-shelf solutions for about 50 quid and priced the entire website only according to the value they added in their own professional sphere, or what they thought would be a competitive price. “Website in a Day” packages (which is another article in itself) are a good indicator of a professional who has fallen into this trap.
While there are some bad actors out there, the people selling these solutions are often well-meaning people who are quality professionals in their field who have just inherited the (broken) conventional “wisdom” of the industry. And then they’ve sold the one solution they’re familiar with to multiple clients just like you. Their preferred theme doesn’t quite fit your business? Too bad, you’re stuck with unnecessary bloat that slows down your website because your designer isn’t able to make the changes to the code that you need.
So why would you use WordPress?
WordPress is one of the original mainstream content management systems and was the best option for getting yourself online for a long time. This is how they got to such a huge market share. According to W3techs, the WordPress market share among websites that use a CMS is at 62.5%. This is great for WordPress and its amazing open source community (that’s open source code), making it a powerhouse in the hands of a good developer.
That commanding presence, though, has also made it a popular choice for developers looking to sell a codeless-for-the-user theme and make their money on volume of sales instead of a price tag that reflects the effort required to code a website. If you don’t know how to code and are trying to build with this platform, this can leave you in the dark about how much you don’t know.
What makes it attractive to designers, copywriters, and marketers is that they can get by without learning how to code and put something together that looks okay (maybe even really good, if they’re very talented at design) and works well enough when it first launches. They themselves are likely unaware that the websites they put together have no considerations for performance, optimisation, or maintainability.
Most of the time when I see someone sold on a website like this they have it replaced within the year because it’s just too painful to update. You’re supposed to be able to do that yourself! But these professionals usually have little capability to support this work after hand-off, leaving you with few options and facing down the barrel of rebuilding, having to bin the first site and lose that initial investment.
What if you can’t afford a bespoke build?
My best advice to people who can’t afford to spend on having a proper website built all at once is to create a wishlist of features and work with a developer (or someone who at least works with a developer) to scope out the work within your budget. It’s better to delay some features than to try to find someone who promises you everything for cheap. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is.
Small websites at Bad Egg Digital start at £4,000. We collaborate with you on the design and structure and code them from scratch. We build our websites so they can grow with your business. We can easily build new features because we built everything else. Content will be easy to create and update. We even offer our own hosting and maintenance packages to make sure your website remains fast, secure, and up-to-date.
We don’t treat websites as disposable, so your up-front investment will be cheaper in the long run. We have several clients still using our websites after years and years. We also invoice by milestone, so the full amount isn’t expected all at once, and we’re happy to work out payment plans to help you invest in a website that works for you and your clients for years to come.
But here’s what most marketing professionals won’t tell you:
It’s okay not to invest in a website when you launch
If you’re not ready or your business is still changing and growing, save your money. Unless your business is entirely online, it’s okay to skip the proper website build, especially if you’re in your first year of business or your only goal for your website is to simply exist online.
If you are struggling with what to say or how it should look, there is absolutely nothing wrong with collaborating with a designer, copywriter, or marketer to help you decide what you really need from your web presence before you even speak to a web developer. Each of these professionals are usually involved in the process of creating a website that looks good, does what you want it to, and really represents who you and/or your company are. You just need to understand that if you are hiring one of these professionals to create your website for you, you are likely paying for their expertise in their field and getting little extra value on the website build itself. This means that you should be looking at this investment as a temporary solution and budget to replace it with a fully bespoke solution in the long term.
If you already know what you want to say and how you want it to look, there are many DIY options out there for websites that you can fuck around with to figure out yourself. That includes the very same WordPress themes that “codeless” web designers resell as bespoke, as well as other options like Squarespace and Wix.
Want to try your hand yourself but nervous about going it alone? We offer resources and consultations on general principles of design, UX (user experience), and organisation of information to set you up for success on DIY products. As a bonus, building your own website when you’re just starting out helps prepare you to work with someone like us in a year or two, when you’re ready to invest in your full website.
Are you a designer, copywriter, or marketer?
Reach out! We love to collaborate and we understand that the industry has failed all of us by normalising pricing structures that undervalue the vital role we all play in bringing an amazing website to life. Let’s work together to make the web a better place for all of us.
