How to Make Your Website Too Big for WordPress
WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) used around the world. Launched back in 2003, it became popular because it was easy for anyone to use and set up. It also has an incredible community built around it, boasting 500 million monthly active users as of January 2020.
But as popular as it is, WordPress has a major issue that many businesses and marketers struggle with. That issue is…
The Platform Is Limited In Terms of Page Size
If you’re a business owner or marketer who has considered adopting WordPress as part of your content strategy, you’ll soon discover that the CMS is limited in terms of the number of pages it will allow you to create.
Usually, this limit is around a few thousand words. While there are some extensions and plugins that can help you reach the maximum character count, that typically requires additional investment from you (in terms of technical knowledge and/or money).
And if you happen to use themes and templates designed for blogging (e.g., Blogger, Simple Magazine, etc.), you’ll quickly find that even those templates are capped at around 4,000 to 5,000 words.
While you may not always need that many words to explain what your product or service is, it’s surprising how often that’s the case. Especially considering that many businesses are moving to a more concise approach to marketing these days.
Why Are WordPress’ Limitations Important to Consider?
Well, for one thing, having fewer pages translates to less content to manage. This can be an issue for business owners who need to keep up with the content on their site. Having fewer than five to seven pages on a site can also make it easier for search engines to crawl and index the site. Having fewer pages also means fewer opportunities to grow your audience.
Beyond that, you need to consider how much storage you have on your website’s hosting plan. If you exceed the limit, you’ll either have to upgrade or find a new host. You don’t want to do either of those things, because then you’ll lose all of that investment in your website. Not to mention the amount of time that went into building out that site’s content.
Should You Consider Alternative CMSs?
While WordPress has developed a following of 500 million monthly active users, that doesn’t mean its limitation is irrelevant. Many businesses and marketers have found that the limitations of WordPress can be frustrating. Especially since there are other options that don’t have the same limitations.
Consider using a full-blown CMS like Joomla or Drupal instead of WordPress. These platforms are more powerful and flexible, and can easily handle much more content. They also have huge followings of their own, with more than 100 million and 130 million monthly active users respectively as of January 2020.
But regardless of which platform you use, the key takeaway is that this is something you need to consider before embarking on any major content strategy with WordPress as part of it.
Things to Remember When Using WordPress For Your Site:
Here are a few things that you need to keep in mind if you want to get the most out of your WordPress site.
Curate Content for International Readers
If you’re curating content for an international audience, you need to take language into consideration. For example, the words “cheese” and “ham” might have different connotations in German and in English. One of the best things about WordPress is that it makes it easy to localize content for different countries or regions. If you wanted to create a German-speaking version of your site, for example, you could easily do so.
You should also look into the different ways that search engines interpret content in different languages. For example, if you have a page on your site about fashion, Google may decide that the term “fashion” is closest in meaning to the content on your page and rank your page higher than others that do not contain this content.
Manage Video Content
Another area where WordPress excels is in managing video content. The platform was originally built to host videos, and that has not changed. Even today, you can use the platform to easily create and manage short-form videos (e.g., Instagram stories).
It’s also one of the few platforms that offer an embed code that can be used to easily integrate video content into a website. Whether you want to add a video to your blog post or want to create a self-running video to showcase your work, WordPress makes it easy to do so.
But beyond that, you can also use the platform to create and manage full-blown YouTube channels. Not to mention the various other platforms that you can use to upload video content, such as TikTok.
Keep On Top Of Evolving Best Practices
WordPress is always evolving, and so are the best practices for content strategy. So if you want to keep up with the latest trends, you need to make sure that you’re reading blogs and news articles that are at least a few months old. On the flip side, if you want to stay ahead of the trends, make sure to check out the latest blogs and news articles as they come out.
Keeping up with the latest news can also become difficult. Especially in a fast-paced world where breaking news and events come out almost continuously. When you have a lot on your plate, it can be hard to prioritize news that is at least a few months old over the more urgent matters at hand. Especially if you don’t have the time to monitor social media for breaking news.
WordPress is a great option for content creators and marketers who want to create a digital magazine or newspaper. It’s also a great option for entrepreneurs who want to turn their blogs into online businesses. Regardless of whether you decide to use WordPress for your site or decide to hire a professional to build you a custom website from scratch, you’ll need to take the time to analyze the platform’s limitations before committing. Otherwise, you’ll just end up growing frustrated with the software.