Moving from WordPress? The Truth About Hugo for Corporate Sites

Is your company website running on WordPress, but it feels slow, hard to maintain, or too dependent on plugins? You’re not alone. Other organizations are also exploring Hugo as an alternative.

But before you jump, it’s important to know exactly what Hugo can do well for a corporate website, and what it can’t do without some extra planning.

What Hugo Can Do for a Corporate Website

Hugo is built for speed, security, and simplicity. Here’s what that means for a typical company site:

1. Faster pages

Because Hugo builds your site into static files, pages load faster. That means better user experience for visitors and often improved SEO rankings.

2. No plugin headaches

WordPress corporate sites usually don’t need dozens of plugins, but even small things often rely on them. Hugo doesn’t need plugins to run. That means fewer things to break.

3. Security peace of mind

No database, no login page, no plugin vulnerabilities. A Hugo site drastically reduces the risk of hacks, which is critical if your site represents your brand.

4. Lower maintenance

Your team doesn’t have to log in every week to apply WordPress or plugin updates. Once Hugo is set up, it just runs.

5. Full design control

With Hugo, your developers and creative team can design the site exactly how they want, without being boxed into WordPress themes or fighting against plugins.

In short, Hugo handles common corporate website features like About pages, Services or Product pages, Team bios, News or Blog posts, and a Contact page.

What Hugo Can’t Do (Without Extras Tools)

But Hugo isn’t a magic fix. It’s not WordPress, and there are tradeoffs:

1. No built-in dashboard

WordPress gives you a control panel anyone can log into.

Hugo doesn’t have that by default. Content is written in Markdown files. That’s great for developers, but non-technical staff may find it unfamiliar.

You can solve this by adding a content editor like DecapCMS, TinaCMS or Sanity, but it’s something you need to plan for.

Forms need outside help

Corporate websites almost always need a contact form or lead capture form.

Hugo doesn’t include forms natively, so you’ll need to connect to third-party services like Netlify Forms, Formspree, or HubSpot or roll out your own service.

Fewer features

With WordPress, you can add almost anything through plugins: SEO tools, event calendars, analytics, social feeds.

Hugo offers a handful of these features natively, but for the rest you’ll need to set them up manually or connect external services. The trade-off is that while it takes more upfront planning, the result is often leaner and more reliable.

Workflow changes

If your marketing team is used to logging into WordPress, clicking “Add Page,” and editing visually, Hugo requires a shift.

Either they learn Markdown, or you provide them with an editor tool layered on top. Some examples include DecapCMS, TinaCMS and Sanity.

So while Hugo is fantastic for a stable, fast, professional corporate site, you do lose the “all-in-one” convenience of WordPress."

The Takeaway for Corporate Teams

So here’s the decision point.

If your corporate website is primarily informational — pages about your company, services, team, plus a blog and a contact form — Hugo will likely serve you better in the long run.

It’s faster, safer, easier to maintain, and gives your team full creative control.

But if your team relies heavily on WordPress’s dashboard, plugins, or dynamic features, you’ll need to fill those gaps with extra tools and processes.

To make the migrations smoother, you might consider working with a freelancer or agency to make the migration smoother. Once those pieces are in place, your site can run leaner and with far fewer headaches than WordPress.