Which do you think is the best – ClickFunnels or WordPress?
To be honest with you, both are still very much relevant for online business owners!
I don’t want to sound like the majority of people who takes side favoring one and condemning the other. Funnels and websites are useful for online entrepreneurs, just that the latter has taken a new dimension and shouldn’t be built the old way.
Like:
A well-optimized website that is built on WordPress for conversions can still do greater things than a funnel built on ClickFunnels with poor copies and designs.
My point is that if your sales processes are well-engineered towards making sales – using WordPress – then I see no reason why you shouldn’t stick to that.
I might digress a bit in this ClickFunnels vs WordPress comparison review, but my main aim here is for you to see and comprehend what’s actually involved in going for any of these platforms.
This comparison isn’t an Orange to Orange kind of stuff, although you’ll get to find out which you should go for if your reason for being here is to get an honest comparison of both platforms…
…to see which to settle for.
Part #1: ClickFunnels 2.0 vs WordPress – Personal Journey
I’ve been a user of WordPress for years now, mainly for blogging/site creation. And for ClickFunnels, I got to know about this software sometime last quarter of 2018 and it hasn’t been bad ever since.
What About ClickFunnels?
I haven’t personally done much with this tool when it comes to building something sophisticated on this platform. My first experience with ClickFunnels happens to be with a Business in a Box (BIB) affiliate share funnel which was created by ClickFunnels Number no. 1 affiliate marketer Spencer Mecham.
I just downloaded the share funnel into my account and changed up the links before driving traffic to it.
It did convert well for me… In terms of email opt-ins and affiliate sign-ups and commissions.
That was my first encounter using a funnel and testing out ClickFunnels. I also built a few funnels myself and played around some of the amazing features inside:
- Follow-up funnels
- Membership sites
- Affiliate management
- Order bumps, upsells and downsells
- Funnel Flix
The thing is; ClickFunnels is indeed a great tool when it comes to everything marketing automation, building a sales and profit-generating business.
It offers some functionality that makes it possible for you to quickly build out a page in less than 10 minutes without having any special coding skill… Even copywriting skills.
What About WordPress?
Just like ClickFunnels, my journey with WordPress hasn’t been bad either. WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world right now powering more than 26% of the web!
This is to tell you how popular WordPress is. Even most of the popular sites we visit every day use WordPress.
Talk of TechCrunch, BBC America, Sony Music, Time Inc and lots more of them…
As I said, I’ve been using WordPress as my primary platform on where I build sites – especially blogging.
WordPress is the best at what it does and you have full control of your site due to the fact that you can accomplish anything you desire by just installing the right plugin, then you’re good to go.
With WordPress, you can quickly put up a page and the next thing is seeing your page appear on the front page of Google for your desired keyword – When properly optimized.
In a nutshell, WordPress has all the needed functionality to get your pages and post rank for organic traffic WHILE ClickFunnels doesn’t!
Do you get that?
And it doesn’t here my friend, you can also build marketing pages, manage affiliates, and a few stuff on WordPress using a bunch of plugins. We shall get to that later.
Now, we have to dive in a bit more to understand the core differences.
Part #2: ClickFunnels vs WordPress – Differences
Since this WordPress vs WordPress article isn’t a head-to-head battle, we shall skip the similarity aspect and talk about how they differ from each other. Before we should decide if migrating from either should be an option.
#1: Funnels vs Website
ClickFunnels is perfect for building sales funnels, WordPress is perfect for building content-rich websites. It’ll take you a lot or near to impossible for you to publish posts using ClickFunnels and get them rank on Search Engines.
But on WordPress? So easy to get found organically, cus you’re given access to everything needed to rank.
You can build funnels on WordPress for sure BUT it’ll take you hours or even days for you to get a functional funnel up and running with WordPress. And by the way, you will also need to install tons and tons of plugins plus pay for them all as well.
#2: Costs
The second differentiation here is the cost of setting up a funnel on ClickFunnels vs setting up a website on WordPress.
For ClickFunnels…
ClickFunnels is a monthly subscription service (yearly too), which is priced at $97 and $297.
For the $97 plan, you get access to 20 funnels, 3 domains, 100 pages, and 20,000 visitors per month plus other features.
For the $297 plan, you get all the features unlimitedly plus the inbuilt Follow-up funnels, affiliate center which isn’t included in the startup plan.
For WordPress…
It’s not the same. WordPress is free, but for you to have access, you must be on a self-hosted plan. You’ll have to buy your domain and host it. Then probably get a theme and other necessary plugins to get your site up and running.
A domain usually costs less than $15/year and the hosting fee starts from $2.95/mo.
Plugins and themes prices might differ depending on your preferences.
The total amount to spend on getting a WordPress site up and running might cost you between $200 – $1000 per year depending on the sophistication.
So, as you can see it’s not really a knuckle to knuckle thing. But the WordPress route seems to be the cheaper option.
#3: Time and Ease of use
The time required to set up a funnel with ClickFunnels vs the time required to set up a sales funnel with WordPress differs a lot.
With ClickFunnels you’re set to go with a few button clicks, but on WordPress, it requires lots and lots of integrations, coding knowledge, trials, and errors.
Unless you have prior skill on page building.
Although when it comes to learning how to use ClickFunnels it can be pretty daunting at times, especially if you’re new to funnels – But you really do not need to worry since there are courses all over the place that teaches you how to use ClickFunnels.
Plus, if you want to understand the concepts involved in funnels, then it’s all inside the Dotcom Secrets book.
And for WordPress…
It’s really easy to use depending on what you want to achieve. There are thousands of plugins that make it very easy to wrap your head around pretty much anything thing.
A basic site? just upload your favorite theme and plugins, then customize.
Or a blog? Choose a blogging theme, write and publish.
Marketing funnels? Check out this post on tools you can use.
However, it can become complicated if you need something beyond a basic site and a blog. This is when a coding skill comes in useful.
#4: Community
Are you part of the official ClickFunnels group on Facebook? Or the affiliate marketing group (called avengers)?
Those are where you can find both successful entrepreneurs and passionate goal getters sharing dreams and visions.
No matter where you’re at your journey, you aren’t limited by your environment, finances, or expertise. You have access to interact with 7 & 8 figure business owners, learn from them and apply to your business.
Are you a part of any official WordPress group? I bet if there are any ha!
You can only see groups related to some of the themes, plugins or WordPress tutorial-based groups and the rest of them.
Don’t get me wrong, please.
Those groups are helpful too, but most of the members over there hardly share things in common, unlike a group where almost all the users, followers, and prospects of a single software congregate to share their experiences.
I just want you to get it straight that ClickFunnels is built around teaching and providing value when it comes to marketing and business growth. WordPress doesn’t provide anything of the sort!
Part #3: Why You Shouldn’t Migrate!
You might be probably thinking of migrating all of your websites from WordPress to ClickFunnels or from ClickFunnels to WordPress. I will have to tell you…
DON’T DO IT!
Both tools have their own value and purpose and they don’t have the same primary function. It’s like throwing away a hammer because you bought a pound of nails.
- WordPress destroys ClickFunnels for SEO
- And ClickFunnels destroys WordPress for easy funnel setup
Simple?
Not just that. Remember that WordPress powers roughly 30% of the internet and that’s for a reason, right? Ownership is a HUGE benefit to an open-source tool like WordPress.
Know that you do not own your funnels in ClickFunnels, you kinda rent it. You have no access root to anything using ClickFunnels, you’re only limited to the tools and integrations they allow.
While on WordPress, your skill and imagination are your limits when it comes to building sites and pages.
Do you need a Website with ClickFunnels?
No! You do not necessarily need a website built on WordPress or on any other Content Management System platform with ClickFunnels. This is because you can build your website right inside of ClickFunnels, and it gives you everything from hosting, domain, designs, and a lot more.
The only occasion I’d recommend you get WordPress with ClickFunnels is when you desire to rank your webpages or use content marketing techniques.
And as you know – ClickFunnels isn’t an SEO friendly platform. WP is.
Part #4: What Should You Do Instead?
Integrate?
I think you’re better off using ClickFunnels for your landing pages and funnel creation than WordPress for your website. And yes, there’s a ClickFunnels WordPress plugin for you to use and still accomplish greater things.
I understand you can still build something pretty good with WordPress + DIVI theme + Elementor + Thrivecart. But those could require some extra workaround.
In my opinion, one of the things missing in WP is the built-in upsells, downsells, membership areas, which are often paid WordPress plugins. Another thing is the smart follow-up funnels that you can’t implement into WordPress.
WordPress is definitely the best blogging platform with so many possibilities…
But when it’s time to sell something, I highly recommend ClickFunnels.
THE THING IS:
Use both! WordPress for content marketing AND ClickFunnels for building funnels and selling stuff.
No matter what the products or services you sell online – there have been quite a lot of successful cases from entrepreneurs who utilized ClickFunnels in their businesses.
Like:
- Agency/Freelancer
- Info Products
- Ecommerce
- Coaching/Consulting
- Network Marketing
- Local Business
- B2B
- Non Profit
- Getting started
- Affiliate marketing/Blogging
And the same for WordPress. Billions have been made by brands that utilized content marketing/blogging in their businesses.
So just…
- Install the CF-WP plugin
- ‘Inject’ your ClickFunnels pages and Opt-in forms into your WordPress site/blog
Use the WordPress blog for what it’s great at (creating dynamic content, linking, roundups, etc.) and use ClickFunnels for taking a customer through a linear sales process till you get the desired results.
Do you get the idea?
I would say this isn’t a direct ClickFunnels vs WordPress comparison but rather letting you see the possibilities when you exploit both platforms into your business.
Click this URL to test ClickFunnels for a free 14days drive => https://clickfunnels.com
For content marketing – get a WordPress friendly hosting (free domain) solution from => https://bluehost.com
Checkout Other ClickFunnels Comparison Posts:
Hey, great and helpful article. I use Clickfunnels for our business for the easy funnel creation but I’m also thinking about using a blog to drive organic traffic through blog posts. Do you think Wix has SEO tools good enough to rank well? I like the ease of a drag and drop builder without having to learn the ins and outs of wordpress.
Thanks
Hi Matt, thanks for commenting!
Yes that’s a perfect strategy, even I myself leverage this blog in driving traffic to few of my ClickFunnels pages – which converts pretty well.
Honestly, I haven’t been on Wix platform, but from my previous research and from the experience of people WordPress beats Wix hands down when it comes SEO and blogging functionality in general! WordPress is really easy to use as you can do anything you want once you get your hands on few plugins.
When you get a free domain and pay for hosting on Bluehost.com, you just do a quick WordPress install, the customer care at Bluehost can even help walk you through it all.