Is WordPress Outdated? The Good and Bad in 2023

WordPress started as a blogging platform in the early 1990s and has since grown to become a website-building powerhouse, powering nearly half of all websites on the planet (CMS). In 2023, tons of competitions make everyone doubt “is WordPress outdated?”

WordPress is at the top of the web application development and website design game, owing primarily to its open-source accessibility and top-notch security, and other advantages that we will discuss in this post.

However, numerous other options are available, and opinions differ on the best way to build a website. For this article, we sat down with our friends from a top-tier digital marketing firm specializing in web development in Chicago and compiled a list of reasons why you should or should not use WordPress to design your website in 2023.

If you're looking for proof that WordPress is a good choice, you don't have to read the whole thing — WP integrates well with third-party plugins; it's flexible, secure, and simple to update. You will not be sorry if you stick with it.

Keep reading if you want a more in-depth look at using WordPress in 2023.

What exactly is WordPress?

WordPress is the world's most powerful website builder. This CMS is used to build more than 34% of all websites on the internet. In 2003, developers Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little created a platform that allowed anyone, beginner or advanced, to publish their content online quickly.

They created what is now known as WordPress. WordPress is a PHP-based open-source website builder. It is also licensed under the GNU General Public License. This means that anyone can contribute to it and add or remove features.

This feature enabled developers from all over the world to collaborate on this open-source CMS, which grew into what it is today. WordPress powers more than 14% of the most popular websites.

Why is WordPress still popular in 2023?

1. Usability

WordPress makes it highly simple to create a website. WordPress allows anyone with basic computer skills to launch a website. The dashboard is simple to navigate, thanks to its user-friendly interface.

2. Community Engagement

WordPress has a sizable and helpful community. If you ever have a problem with WordPress (or any of its popular themes or plugins), you can find many solutions on the WordPress support forum or get personalized advice from the members.

WordPress is a popular choice for beginners due to its large and supportive community.

3. Tons of Themes, Plugins, and Features

The abundance of WordPress themes and plugins is also an advantage. You can choose the theme that reflects your brand identity without coding your website from scratch.

Other than add-ons, you can customize the code to suit your needs. If you can’t code yourself, it’s easy to find a freelance WordPress developer for an economical price.

4. Versatility

With WordPress, you don’t have to worry whether your CMS supports the type of website you want to build. From blogs and portfolios to e-commerce stores and e-learning sites, you use WordPress to create whatever you want using plugins and customization.

WordPress’s Most Serious Flaws

1. Security Threats

WordPress is vulnerable to cyberattacks. WordPress is used by approximately 90% of hacked CMS-based websites.

WordPress's popularity makes it a popular target for hackers. Hackers can access thousands of websites by spotting a security flaw in the core software or any plugin. Hackers can compromise your website by exploiting vulnerabilities in any plugins or themes available.

WordPress users are partially to blame for these vulnerabilities. Using outdated core software or plugins and a lack of adequate security measures increases the exposure of your website to hacking.

If security is your top priority, we recommend using a more secure CMS such as MODX or WordPress security plugins.

2. Low Loading Rates

A fast-loading website improves your Google rankings and keeps visitors from leaving.

WordPress consumes more server resources and has redundant code in most cases, resulting in a slow website. Excessive plugins or heavy themes slow down WordPress websites even more.

Static websites can offer faster loading times if you're looking to build a simple website that doesn't require frequent changes.

3. The Requirement for Plugins

From caching to contact forms, most basic WordPress functions require the use of a plugin.

Although there is a plugin for every purpose, installing too many plugins will slow down your website. You may encounter compatibility issues if you use multiple plugins.

Even though thousands of free plugins are available, you'll need to purchase premium versions to stand out and enjoy advanced features. These subscription-based paid plugins can significantly increase the operational costs of your website.

Who Should Make Use of WordPress in 2023?

The best website builder provides the features you require without being too difficult or expensive to use.

It makes no difference how many features a website builder has. Why do you need all of these features if you're never going to use them? Remember that extra features mean extra costs, so you're wasting your money if you're not using everything on offer.

It is critical to be brutally honest with yourself and consider what features you use and require.

WordPress is the best option in the following circumstances:

You've previously had a website: If this is not your first website and you are familiar with web hosting and basic coding, you will be able to manage a WordPress website on your own.

You require complete design freedom: WordPress's web design customization capabilities may be necessary if you need a design that cannot be created using a drag-and-drop website builder.

You require the following website features: If you need a highly customized tool or feature that drag-and-drop website builders cannot provide (for example, you want to integrate your website with a CMS software like InfusionSoft), WordPress is the only option.

You have a lot of content: If you have a website with a lot of content, you'll need a website builder with a sound content management system. 

You have both time and money: It's worth taking advantage of this if you have the time to learn how to use and manage a WordPress website or a large enough budget to hire a professional to help you get started.

Is WordPress Outdated— Advantages

Safety

WordPress's high level of security and its massive global community go hand in hand. As a result, since its introduction as a CMS in 2003, developers have been able to use, redistribute, and customize WordPress freely.

Because the product affects the work of millions of users, the community is deeply invested in its security. As a result, the website builder's updated versions have become increasingly secure, protecting WordPress websites from cybercriminals and malware.

If you choose to build with WordPress, you can rely on the input and depth of expertise of some of the world's best web and software developers, contributing to the platform's security.

While complete security is impossible to guarantee, WordPress is an example of software that comes close. Furthermore, you can use a variety of excellent security plugins to fortify your site against malicious activity.

Anyone looking to build a new business website should always prioritize security. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, as people are often more concerned with making their website look cool with flashy features and design.

Because the code that powers the flashier elements of a website is frequently breached, it is critical to hire a web marketing company with extensive experience. Building a beautiful, functional, and secure website is both an art and a science.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) will continue to be essential for the success of any website, as it has been for some time. Despite this, some website designers fail to convey the critical information search engine algorithms require to index and rank sites.

Google favors WordPress and will frequently rank sites built on it higher than others because the CMS makes it easy for their algorithms to crawl and categorize websites.

Furthermore, WordPress supports a variety of SEO-focused plugins, such as Yoast, making it very simple for you to take care of your on-page optimization by adding the right keywords in all the right places.

Adaptability

When it comes to customization, WordPress is arguably the best CMS. It provides a wide range of options for the look and feel of your site and hosting. This is possibly the most crucial reason for the platform's phenomenal success: it allows you to customize the look and feel of your website.

Most web design firms that build their own CMS solutions rely on templates, which results in a cookie-cutter feel that hinders your efforts to stand out from the crowd. This also limits your website's capabilities, as non-open-source platforms do not work well with third-party plugins and apps.

On the other hand, WordPress appears to have many themes and designs to choose from. These include built-in customization options that give you complete control over the appearance of your site, including but not limited to its fonts, color palette, layout, header, footer, and so on.

This means that WordPress is a good website builder for various website types. WordPress has you covered whether you want to create an online forum, launch an aggressive content marketing campaign, or open an e-commerce store.

Compatibility with Multimedia

If you have a podcast or a YouTube channel, you want your website to showcase your content correctly. Including a podcast with a written transcript could help your SEO, while providing a quick overview of your YouTube library will make life easier for fans of your work.

WordPress is always there to help you set up the site exactly how you want it, taking care of every detail.

Scalability

WordPress is built to assist you in scaling, both in terms of bandwidth and content. Because it is a self-hosted platform, you can expand your website's hosting plan as your business grows.

Things are even more straightforward when it comes to adding content. Without any HTML or coding knowledge, you can add pages as needed. This also applies to developing online courses and webinars, as WordPress makes it simple to add various levels of functionality to your site.

Mobile-Friendliness and Responsiveness

Any website that does not work on mobile devices will quickly become obsolete in 2023. A non-responsive, desktop-only website will undoubtedly cost your company leads, prospects, and sales.

As more people use mobile devices to access the internet, your website must be responsive to any device or screen size. Fortunately, WordPress has many responsive themes and templates to help you stay ahead of the competition.

Is WordPress Outdated— Disadvantages

Regular Updates

Things must be changed and updated regularly to maintain a high user experience in the digital age. We're used to seeing this with our phone apps, with something requiring an update every time we plug in our charger.

The same is true for WordPress websites, particularly if many plugins are running in the background. You'll need to check your WordPress dashboard to see if your plugins or theme require an update.

If you have many other projects, it's easy to overlook this, and you'll soon have an outdated website.

Excessive reliance on plugins

When you buy a WordPress design template, you usually get a fully designed website that must be updated with your content (text, images, logos, etc.)

If you want your website to have more features, you'll need to find the right plugin. Most of these are free to use, but more advanced features will require payment. Also, as previously stated, plugins can become obsolete.

Unless you hire someone to manage your website, you'll have to install, update, and manage the plugins yourself. This can be challenging and time-consuming.

Extensive loading times

The same plugins that make WordPress so versatile can also be relatively slow. If you go overboard with the new features, your site may become overcrowded and sluggish.

Plugins are not the only thing that can cause your website to load slowly. You'll also need to consider your images' size and hosting provider if you don't want to host your site on wordpress.com.

Page speed is an essential factor in both user experience and SEO. You want your site to load quickly so that your visitors don't get frustrated and leave. It's a shame you lost business because you wanted your site to have a few extra animations or plugins.

WordPress New Features in 2023

Headless WordPress

According to a WP Engine survey, 64 percent of enterprise respondents already use headless technology. More than 90 percent of those not currently using the headless plan to evaluate headless solutions within the next 12 months.

Given the continued adoption of headless technology in the enterprise market and WordPress's current market share, we can predict that many headless implementations will use, or will continue to use, WordPress as the back end. In fact, Jason Cohen, Founder and CTO of WP Engine, stated in a Business Wire press release, "Given WordPress now constitutes 40% of the entire web, powering many of the largest, most popular sites in the world, it makes sense that it will increasingly be a trendy choice for headless architectures."

Adoption of Version 5.8.1

WordPress version 5.8.1, released to the public on September 8, 2021, included three major security fixes, 41 bug fixes for Core, and 20 bug fixes for the Block Editor. Because this is a security release rather than a maintenance release, WordPress advises users to update their sites right away.

This version is likely to be widely adopted, ensuring that users' WordPress websites continue to run smoothly on both the front and back ends. Those who use outdated versions of WordPress will also be more vulnerable to infections.

Gutenberg Improvements

The Gutenberg editor debuted in 2018 as part of WordPress's fifth version. The community did not like it because it was very buggy and difficult to use. Fortunately, many new features are added with each WordPress version update, and many bugs are fixed.

Gutenberg 11.9 enhanced the site editor in preparation for complete site editing. FSE will alter how users design and develop WordPress websites by utilizing Gutenberg blocks to post content and edit website elements such as the header, footer, menus, and sidebars.

The Gutenberg project's subsequent phases will support collaboration and multilingual websites.

Final Thoughts: Is WordPress Outdated?

WordPress is still an excellent choice for the majority of people. It's simple, effective, and completely free. Although it has some flaws, you can work around them using plugins.

Despite the mixed reactions, the development of the Gutenberg block editor is a positive sign. Hopefully, we will see even more progress in the future.

WordPress, for the time being, is not going away. WordPress's aging technology will render it obsolete at some point in the future. As a result, you should start looking into more advanced alternatives.