# Having a WordPress website made? Decide first who's going to manage your site | Fokuus [Home](https://fokuus.be/en/) [Blog](https://fokuus.be/en/blog/) Having a WordPress website made? Decide first who's going to manage your site # Having a WordPress website made? Decide first who's going to manage your site Having a WordPress website made is always possible, but costs more in maintenance. When WordPress is the right fit and when custom-built wins, with four real client projects. [Anton Pycarelle](https://fokuus.be/en/about/) 15 September 20266 min read time ## In this article - [The three questions that determine the choice](https://fokuus.be/#de-drie-vragen-die-de-keuze-bepalen) - [When WordPress is the right choice](https://fokuus.be/#wanneer-wordpress-de-juiste-keuze-is) - [The price of that convenience](https://fokuus.be/#de-prijs-van-dat-gemak) - [When custom-built wins](https://fokuus.be/#wanneer-maatwerk-wint) - [The two options side by side](https://fokuus.be/#de-twee-opties-naast-elkaar) - [What this costs at Fokuus and who maintains it](https://fokuus.be/#wat-dit-bij-fokuus-kost-en-wie-het-onderhoudt) - [The decision rule](https://fokuus.be/#de-beslisregel) For TaxFlow we built a complete WordPress website, and today the team publishes its own blog posts, news items and vacancies on it. For Meesters Vloerverwarming we did exactly the opposite: their slow, cluttered WordPress site was removed and we rebuilt everything on fast, modern technology without WordPress. Both are Fokuus clients, and both times it was the right choice. That's the most honest answer to the question of whether you should have a WordPress website made: it's always possible, but it's far from always the best option. In our projects, a WordPress site is usually priced higher and needs more maintenance than the sites we code ourselves. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes you pay for years for something nobody uses. So the real question isn't "WordPress or not", but: who is going to manage the content, how often does something actually change, and what may the maintenance cost? We build and maintain both types of sites, so I have no system to defend. Below is the trade-off the way I make it myself, tested against real projects. ## The three questions that determine the choice The first question: who is actually going to work on the site? You, someone from your team, or really nobody? Be strict about that. I regularly see business owners who are certain at the start that they'll blog every week, and who never log in again three months later. The management system is still there, though, with all the maintenance that comes with it. The second: how often does something actually change? A vacancy once a quarter and the occasional new photo is a different regime than three news posts a week. For the first, an email to your web developer is enough; for the second, you don't want to depend on someone else. The third: what may the maintenance cost? Not just in euros, also in attention. With a WordPress site, someone has to keep up with the updates, month after month. Anyone who only asks that question after delivery pays the difference for years without ever really having decided it. ## When WordPress is the right choice WordPress wins as soon as the answer to that first question is "ourselves, and often." [TaxFlow](https://fokuus.be/en/cases/taxflow/) is our clearest example of that. After their rebranding we built their entire website in WordPress, partly because the team wants to publish regularly themselves. Today they post blog posts, news items and vacancies without us; we take care of the hosting and the agreed changes. For that profile, a management system isn't an extra but the core of the site. Louis Van Belle is the second profile for which WordPress really works. He ran into the limits of Google Sites: limited design options, barely expandable, and always dependent on what Google allows. For someone who is technically capable and wants to tinker with their own site, that's frustrating. That's why he switched to a WordPress site that is entirely his own, and today he manages everything himself. Look at what these two have in common. They didn't vaguely want to "be able to change things themselves"; they actually publish and tinker with the site themselves. That's the bar. If you clear it, WordPress is an excellent system and we'll gladly build it. ## The price of that convenience That convenience has a cost side, and you only really see it after delivery. A WordPress site consists of a core, a theme and a series of plugins that each age separately; someone has to keep the whole thing up to date. At [HM Technics](https://fokuus.be/en/cases/hm-technics/) we do that work: we maintain their existing WordPress site, carry out updates and agreed changes, and we've made content management easier for the staff. Useful work, but it remains work that keeps coming back. That's why a WordPress project is usually priced higher with us than a site we code ourselves: it more often includes licenses for paid plugins, and above all the maintenance weighs more heavily. That's our own estimate from our projects, not a market statistic. I explained earlier why that maintenance burden is mainly a result of your platform choice in [the post about website maintenance](https://fokuus.be/en/blog/website-onderhoud-hoeveel-nodig/) . ## When custom-built wins Turn the three questions around and you get the profile of [Masters of Underfloor Heating](https://fokuus.be/en/cases/meesters-vloerverwarming/) . Nobody there needed a publishing system of their own: whatever needs to change, they simply pass on to us. Their old WordPress site had grown slow and cluttered, was full of dead links and drove hesitant visitors away. We rebuilt the website completely on fast, modern technology, without the WordPress overhead, and the maintenance has been with Fokuus ever since. You should read the result with some caution, since it's only early feedback: in the first week after launch there were four to five times as many quote requests as before. How that number holds up in the long run remains to be seen. But the direction matches what we see more often: for a business that rarely publishes itself, a site without a management system achieves more, with less worry. ## The two options side by side In summary, the way I present it to clients: WordPress Custom-built without a CMS Editing content Your team, directly in the management system Pass it on to Fokuus, we make the change Best for Publishing regularly yourself (TaxFlow, Louis Van Belle) Content that rarely changes (Meesters Vloerverwarming) Maintenance Core, theme and plugins need ongoing attention Few moving parts, little ongoing attention Price Custom price; afterwards usually more maintenance and sometimes licences (our estimate) Custom price Biggest risk A CMS nobody uses anymore, with the maintenance burden on top For every change, you contact your web developer That last row matters. Both choices carry a risk, and which risk costs you the most depends on how your business works, not on what an agency prefers to build. ## What this costs at Fokuus and who maintains it In practice: for a website with Fokuus you get a custom price up front, with or without WordPress. I charge ad-hoc work at 80 euros per hour, excluding VAT. We do not add a fixed surcharge just because something is called WordPress: what a project costs and who carries the maintenance afterwards is agreed up front, per project. Often we take that maintenance on entirely; if you want to publish yourself, we tailor the content management system to that. That way you avoid the most expensive outcome: paying for a CMS, carrying its maintenance, and never using it. ## The decision rule Does your team publish several times a month itself, or do you, like Louis, really want to be able to tinker with your own site and do you have the technical feel for it? Then have a WordPress website made and take on the maintenance consciously, either yourself or through your web developer. In every other case, you're better off choosing custom-built without a CMS: faster, lighter on maintenance, and an email is enough for a change. If you're unsure about your own profile, be strict about it: anyone who hasn't written a single blog post in the past six months rarely starts doing so just because there's a new management system. Want to discuss this with a [web designer in Kortrijk](https://fokuus.be/en/webdesign-kortrijk/) ? Share your situation and we will tell you honestly whether WordPress fits your business. ## Who will manage your content? Tell us what you want to update yourself. We will discuss the right system and support for your needs. [Discuss your content management needs](https://fokuus.be/en/contact/?dienst=websites) WordPress Website design Website maintenance Customization Share [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffokuus.be%2Fen%2Fblog%2Fwordpress-website-laten-maken%2F) [DotsApp](https://wa.me/?text=WordPress%20website%20laten%20maken%3F%20Beslis%20eerst%20wie%20je%20site%20gaat%20beheren%20https%3A%2F%2Ffokuus.be%2Fblog%2Fwordpress-website-laten-maken%2F) [Email](mailto:?subject=WordPress%20website%20laten%20maken%3F%20Beslis%20eerst%20wie%20je%20site%20gaat%20beheren&body=https%3A%2F%2Ffokuus.be%2Fblog%2Fwordpress-website-laten-maken%2F) ## Get Fokuus updates. New articles and Fokuus's updates in your mailbox. You can unsubscribe at any time. ## Anton Pycarelle Founder of Fokuus Anton builds and optimizes websites for Belgian SMEs from Kortrijk. He writes about choices and experiences from real projects. 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