When it comes to Content Management Systems (CMS), WordPress is often the first name that comes to mind—and for good reason. It’s the most widely used CMS in the world, powering over 60% of websites. Affordable, flexible, and easy to set up, WordPress has become the go-to solution for blogs, small business websites, and even larger projects.
But if your business is growing—or you’re looking for a platform that offers greater control, scalability, and security—it might be time to consider whether Umbraco could be a better solution for your needs.
At Gecko, we’ve worked with businesses that started on WordPress but found themselves outgrowing its capabilities. These experiences have shown us that while WordPress is great for smaller projects or businesses just starting out, Umbraco is the better fit for businesses that want to take their website seriously.
Let’s explore why.
WordPress: A Great Entry-Level Solution
Why WordPress Works
- Quick and Affordable: WordPress is free to use, and there are plenty of low-cost hosting providers and thousands of templates to help you get started quickly.
- Beginner-Friendly: Its intuitive backend makes it easy for anyone to create and manage a website without much technical expertise.
- Templates Galore: With tens of thousands of templates to choose from, you can quickly find a design that suits your needs. Many of these templates can be tweaked to match your brand’s colours, fonts, and style, offering a semi-customised look without the expense of bespoke design.
- Plugins for Every Feature: Need a contact form? SEO tools? eCommerce functionality? With thousands of plugins available, WordPress can do just about anything.
Understanding When It’s Time to Move On from WordPress
While WordPress is a great entry point, there comes a time for many businesses when their website needs outgrow what WordPress was built to do.
As businesses grow, their websites often need to handle more complex functionality, offer greater scalability, and integrate seamlessly with other business tools like CRMs or ERP systems. And while WordPress can be extended with plugins, this approach often feels like building on a shaky foundation
Signs It’s Time to Move On
You’re Hitting Plugin Overload
WordPress relies heavily on plugins to add functionality, but the more plugins you add, the more complicated things become. Compatibility issues, frequent updates, and performance slowdowns are common headaches when plugins don’t play nicely together.
With Umbraco, most functionality is either built-in or custom-developed for your exact needs. This removes the dependency on third-party tools, resulting in a more stable and reliable website that works exactly how you want it to.
You’re Paying for Minor Changes
Another red flag is when you find yourself having to ask developers to make seemingly small, inconsequential changes—like tweaking a template layout, adjusting a heading, or updating how content displays.
WordPress templates are often rigid and don’t give you the flexibility to make customisations easily. If you’re being charged by your web developers every time you ask for adjustments, it’s a sign you’ve hit the limit of what your WordPress installation can do.
With Umbraco, the websites we build at Gecko are designed to give you greater control. We create intuitive, bespoke back offices that empower content editors to make changes themselves, without needing to involve a developer for every tweak.
Your Website Needs to Scale
If your website is growing in complexity—managing multilingual content, integrating with third-party tools, or handling larger user bases—WordPress can start to feel stretched thin. Its origins as a blogging platform mean it wasn’t designed for enterprise-level projects.
Umbraco, on the other hand, is built for scalability. It’s the CMS businesses choose when they need a platform that grows with them, whether that means launching in new markets, integrating with complex systems, or adding entirely new functionality.
SEO Performance Is Suffering
SEO is a priority for most businesses, and WordPress does provide some excellent tools to help optimise content. However, WordPress’s reliance on plugins and templates can sometimes create challenges.
For example, one client we worked with came to us frustrated that their website wasn’t ranking for the search terms they had been optimising for. After reviewing their WordPress site, we discovered that the template they were using hadn’t been built with SEO best practices in mind - poor code structure was holding them back.
With Umbraco, SEO best practices are baked into the development process—especially with the bespoke framework we’ve developed at Gecko.
- Every page is structured properly, with only one H1 tag by default.
- Metadata, headings, and other critical elements are fully customisable and optimised for search engines.
- Our framework ensures your website has a clean, lightweight codebase that performs well in search rankings.
If SEO is critical to your business, it might be time to invest in a CMS that creates strong technical foundations from the start.
Umbraco: A Tailored Solution for Serious Websites
Why Umbraco Might Be a Better Fit
- Completely Customisable: Forget rigid templates. With Umbraco, every website is built to match your unique needs.
- Scalable and Flexible: Whether you’re launching in new markets, managing multilingual content, or integrating with CRMs, Umbraco is built for growth.
- Control Without Compromise: With a custom Umbraco site, you’ll have the tools you need to make changes yourself, without constantly relying on developers.
- Future-Proof SEO: At Gecko, we’ve worked with Umbraco since 2007, and our bespoke framework enhances the platform’s out-of-the-box features—ensuring every website is optimised for search engines and built to last.
How Do You Choose Between WordPress and Umbraco?
WordPress Might Be Right If…
- You’re a small business or startup launching your first website.
- Budget is a primary concern, and you need to keep costs low.
- Your project is simple, such as a blog, a brochure site, or a small eCommerce store.
- You need a quick-to-launch solution with minimal technical setup.
Umbraco Might Be a Better Fit If…
- You see your website as a long-term investment and a critical part of your business strategy.
- You require custom functionality or complex integrations, such as CRMs, APIs, multilingual capabilities, or managing multiple websites from a single CMS install.
- Scalability, security, and performance are top priorities for your business.
- You’re tired of being constrained by templates or plugins and need total creative and technical freedom.
Final Thoughts
WordPress and Umbraco aren’t competitors—they’re tools designed for different audiences. WordPress excels as an entry-level solution for smaller businesses and simpler projects. But if your business is growing, or you need a website that’s as unique as your goals, Umbraco offers the flexibility, security, and scalability to get you there.
