It’s a question Simon Bailey Design has been sitting with for a long time. And honestly, it’s a fair one.
For some, the argument goes that most websites don’t need a content management system at all. For a handful of pages and maybe a blog, something like WordPress is overkill. Static sites are faster, cleaner, and with AI lowering the barrier, increasingly easier to manage.
Not entirely wrong. But not entirely right, either.
After years in the WordPress trenches, Simon Bailey Design has come to a simple conclusion. It’s a love/hate relationship, and it comes down entirely to the project. When a client genuinely needs the power and flexibility of WordPress and gets a great site built properly, it’s hard not to love it. But when a smaller business with fewer resources pushes ahead in spite of good advice, it can become more of a burden than a blessing.
So, both sides of the argument deserve a fair hearing.
The Case Against WordPress
Let’s be honest. WordPress has a complexity problem.
What started as a clean, simple blogging platform has evolved into something far more elaborate. Themes, plugins, updates, security patches, and the ever-present risk that two plugins are quietly arguing with each other behind the scenes. Left unmanaged, a WordPress site becomes a bit like a garden nobody’s tending. Things grow where they shouldn’t.
For a small business that simply needs a clean five-page website, that overhead is genuinely hard to justify.
The Case For WordPress
Here’s the thing, though. In the right hands, WordPress is still exceptional.
For most clients Simon Bailey Design works with, the flexibility and control WordPress offers is exactly what’s needed. Custom post types, advanced fields, clean template structure, and precise control over what gets served to the browser. Done properly, a WordPress site is fast, lean, and SEO-friendly.
The platform itself isn’t the problem. A poorly built, poorly maintained site is the problem.
The tools Simon Bailey Design reaches for, including GeneratePress and ACF, are well-coded and built by people who care about quality. You can see the full toolkit here. The result is a site that does exactly what it needs to, without carrying unnecessary weight. And for marketing managers and teams who need to update content without calling a developer every time, a well-configured WordPress back end is genuinely easy to work with. That’s peace of mind worth having.
So, What’s the Right Call?
It depends on the project.
A brochure site for a lean startup might do perfectly well on a simpler platform. For a growing business with multiple service lines, a content team, and ongoing marketing activity, WordPress still makes a lot of sense.
The question isn’t really whether WordPress is relevant. The question is whether it’s being used well.
Simon Bailey Design builds WordPress sites that are clean, considered, and built to last. No bloat. No unnecessary complexity. Just a well-crafted digital presence your team can actually enjoy working with.
Unsure whether WordPress is the right fit for your next project? Get in touch and let’s talk it through. (And of course Simon Bailey Design can build you a static site if that’s what is best for the project.)