After six years building websites professionally, I’ve worked with everything from custom HTML/CSS to modern frameworks like Next.js and headless setups. Yet when clients come to me asking for a website, I recommend WordPress around 80% of the time.
It’s not because it’s easy or because I know it best — it’s because I’ve learned that the simplest, most maintainable solution often wins. WordPress gives clients control, flexibility, and reliability while letting me deliver projects efficiently.
The Reality Check: What Clients Really Need
Early in my career, I learned something the hard way: clients rarely know what they truly need. They might ask for a flashy React app, when all they actually need is to update business hours or manage blog posts without calling me every time.
WordPress solves this disconnect elegantly:
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Content control for non-technical clients
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Plugin ecosystem for almost any functionality
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Hosting flexibility — no vendor lock-in
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Ease of finding developers — future-proofing projects
The Technical Sweet Spot
As developers, it’s easy to get caught up in frameworks and shiny tech. But if a WordPress site takes 8 hours to build and a React app takes 40+, who’s really helping the client? WordPress hits a sweet spot:
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Development is fast and predictable
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Maintenance is simple
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Clients can manage most content themselves
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Code remains understandable months later
When WordPress Isn’t the Right Choice
I don’t force WordPress everywhere. There are times I go custom:
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Web applications with complex user authentication or data processing → Next.js or Laravel
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Performance-critical sites with heavy traffic or sub-second load requirements → static site generators or optimized custom builds
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Complex integrations with legacy systems that don’t play nicely with WordPress
The Business Advantage
WordPress projects are smart business, not just technically:
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Faster delivery → happy clients, better cash flow
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Lower maintenance → fewer 3 AM emergency calls
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Client independence → they aren’t calling for every minor update
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Reusable solutions → improvements on one site benefit the next
Continuous Learning Pays Off
Every hour I invest in WordPress skills multiplies across projects. Custom blocks, performance tuning, Gutenberg tricks — once I learn it, it becomes part of my toolkit. With fully custom builds, I’d be reinventing the wheel every time. WordPress lets me scale my impact.
Looking Forward
WordPress isn’t perfect — Gutenberg can be clunky, PHP isn’t sexy, and the admin UX could use a redesign. But for most client projects, it’s reliable, maintainable, and efficient. And in the end, the best technology is the one that solves the problem, gets the client results, and lets everyone sleep at night.
For my clients, that’s WordPress.
