Not long ago, building your website on WordPress was all the rage. After all, it was free, easy to install, and easy to update. But now, many of the businesses who understandably chose this route are experiencing issues with their WordPress sites as the platform becomes outdated.

Not having a safe and functional website is every business owner’s nightmare, especially if these issues lead to a loss of revenue. One of the issues we can identify with websites built in WordPress is that many templates and plugins within the platform risk becoming outdated, which can lead to holes in security and compatibility and a poor user experience. And WordPress isn’t the only platform on the brink of becoming outdated. Platforms like Dreamweaver and other HTML-coded sites should be on your radar for updates as well. Nowadays, with the internet being a crucial element in the busines world, a poor user experience can quickly lead to the loss of a sale regardless of whether your product is superior to your competitors. Having an up-to-date website is CRUCIAL.

So what options do you have if you have a WordPress site?

OPTION 1: Find an up-to-date theme or plugin. If you have the time, resources, and a bit of technical know-how, this option might be a viable one for your business. A downside of this option is that you’re left with exporting and importing your site or settings into a new theme or plugin. While this can sometimes be easy, it can be a challenging choice for less tech-saavy business owners. 

OPTION 2: (BIG SPOON CO. RECOMMENDED OPTION) Redesign your site from scratch. It sounds scary, we know! Especially when you consider that WordPress was supposed to be future-proof. While this is a less-than-ideal option for some, there are notable advantages. 

Big Spoon Co. advises clients to use platforms like Squarespace or Wix, which basically take care of security and compatibility updates on your behalf. The beauty of using these platforms is that they don’t require any coding or have complicated menus and settings like WordPress.

The downside? You don’t actually own the site, instead paying a monthly rental fee to the platform. It may sound strange to pay for a website without actually owning your site, but it’s a scenario that is common in our lives these days. Similar to paying a membership fee to enjoy Netflix and Spotify without owning the movies or music, the same thing goes for Wix and Squarespace.

Your monthly site fee covers things like hosting, domain, security updates, mobile optimization, and, perhaps most importantly, ease of use. Going into your site and swapping some text or a photo can be done by almost anyone who possesses a little know-how. 

As an agency, we get contracted to do the heavy lifting for our clients to create client websites within these platforms. Once the project is completed, we hand over the virtual keys so that our clients can confidently take the wheel from there.

With a new year quickly approaching, it might be the perfect time to consider an upgrade. Whether you’re looking for guidance on the process or someone to handle the process of building you a new site, the team at Big Spoon is always at your service.