WordPress powers more than a third of the web, and custom code runs many of the sites that perform best. Both routes work. The question that decides is what you’ll do with your site two years from now, and which option leaves you in a better position then.
What WordPress is, in two sentences
WordPress is a content management system: a place where you write and publish without touching code, originally built for blogs and now used for almost any kind of site. The software is free; around it come hosting, a theme and whatever plugins the business needs.
Where WordPress shines
If your business will publish content every day and you want to do it yourself, WordPress gives you that from day one, with a dashboard many people already know and thousands of ready made themes. For a simple presence with frequent publishing, it’s a very good option.
Where custom code shines
A site built with its own code does exactly what your business needs, because it was written for that. It loads only what it uses, so it opens fast on a phone with mobile data, which is how most of your clients browse. And the full code is an asset of your company: it lives in your account and any developer can continue it.
The trade off: a new section is built by a developer instead of dragged into place in an editor. That’s why it fits businesses that need the site to do something specific very well: sell, quote, book, capture leads.
Side by side
| WordPress | Custom code | |
|---|---|---|
| Initial investment | Lower | Higher |
| Updates | Frequent, for theme and plugins | Occasional, for the base system |
| Speed | Depends on installed plugins | Loads only what the site uses |
| Content changes | From the editor | From the dashboard that’s built |
| New feature | Install a plugin | Built to measure |
| Ownership | Your content on the platform | The whole site, code included |
The question that decides
Will your business live on publishing content yourself every day, or does it need a site that does one specific thing very well and very fast? Both answers are good; they depend on your business, not on the software.
One more question works for either route: whose name is it in? Having the domain, hosting and code in your account is what turns the site into an asset of your company.
We build with our own code, delivered to your GitHub account. You can see it in a corporate site or a delivered project with its numbers, and message us if you’d like to know which route fits your business.