In recent years, there’s been a growing trend of maximizing WordPress websites by integrating numerous functionalities directly into the platform. However, as we move into 2025, it’s crucial to reconsider this approach and examine what should—and shouldn’t—be hosted on your WordPress site.
The Appeal of All-in-One WordPress Solutions
Many website owners and agencies have traditionally favored incorporating multiple functionalities into their WordPress sites for three main reasons:
- Cost Efficiency: WordPress plugins often offer more affordable solutions compared to third-party SaaS services, especially when considering subscription-based pricing models.
- Perceived Simplicity: There’s a common belief that having fewer tools and platforms makes management easier, though this isn’t always accurate.
- Brand Perception: Particularly among agencies, there’s a desire to present a unified, white-labeled platform to clients, believing it enhances professional credibility.
What Definitely Doesn’t Belong on WordPress
Before diving into the gray areas, let’s acknowledge what the industry universally agrees shouldn’t be hosted on WordPress:
- Video Content: Due to bandwidth limitations, storage constraints, and performance impacts, videos should be hosted on dedicated platforms like YouTube, Wistia, or Vimeo.
- Sensitive Personal Data: Credit card information and other sensitive data should be handled by specialized, secure services rather than stored directly on your WordPress server.
Three Critical Areas to Reconsider
1. Email Marketing Platforms
While solutions like Fluent CRM are popular, hosting email marketing tools on WordPress presents several challenges:
- Database Bloat: As email lists grow, statistical and historical data can rapidly consume server space
- Backup Complications: Email marketing data creates unique challenges for backup and staging environments
- Timing Issues: Cron jobs and automation timing can become unreliable
- Data Management: Long-term data storage and maintenance become increasingly problematic
Recommendation: While WordPress-based email tools can be excellent for getting started, businesses should consider transitioning to dedicated email marketing platforms as they scale. I personally use HighLevel because it’s extremely scalable and offers additional value outside of just email.
2. Community Platforms
Community features hosted on WordPress face several significant challenges:
- Resource Intensity: Community platforms can severely impact server performance
- Storage Requirements: Growing communities need exponentially more storage
- Migration Difficulties: Unlike email platforms, community data is often impossible to migrate effectively
- Backup Complexity: Maintaining proper backups while keeping community engagement active presents unique challenges
Recommendation: Use a platform that fits your community needs. Not all community platforms offer the same user experience or cater to all submarkets within ‘community-driven’ businesses. For example, my community is very focused on training events and education, so I went with Circle because it offers courses and live events built right into the platform.
3. E-commerce Solutions
While WooCommerce and similar platforms are popular, certain aspects require careful consideration:
- Customer Data Management: Proper exportation and storage of customer information is crucial
- Digital Asset Storage: Careful planning is needed for digital product delivery
- Subscription Management: WordPress-dependent subscriptions can be vulnerable to site issues
Recommendation: Platforms like SureCart offer a ‘headless’ solution for WordPress meaning that they store most of the data off-platform. If your website is destroyed, you can simply start another one and connect your SureCart account and you won’t lose any of your customer data or products.
Moving Forward: A Hybrid Approach
Instead of hosting everything on WordPress, consider a strategic hybrid approach:
- Keep your core website on WordPress
- Utilize specialized platforms for specific functionalities
- Focus on integration rather than consolidation
- Prioritize user experience over platform uniformity
Key Takeaways for 2025
As you plan your WordPress strategy for 2025, remember:
- Not everything needs to be (or should be) on your WordPress site
- Consider the long-term implications of your platform choices… it’s better to pay once and cry once rather than to suffer through paying multiple times (time and money) as you hop from one platform to the next.
- Evaluate the true costs of self-hosting vs. using specialized services
- Prioritize reliability and scalability over initial cost savings
Remember, the goal isn’t to abandon WordPress but to use it strategically alongside other specialized tools and platforms. This approach often results in better performance, reliability, and user experience—factors that ultimately matter more to your audience than having everything under one domain.