Frameworks like React and content management systems such as WordPress dominate modern web development. They’re powerful tools, and for large applications they’re often the right choice.
But for many small business websites, they can introduce unnecessary complexity.
Modern browsers have evolved dramatically. Features that once required heavy frameworks—animations, carousels, lazy-loaded images, responsive layouts, and interactive UI—can now be implemented directly with HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript.
Because of this shift, some developers are embracing a philosophy sometimes called “Anti-Frameworkism.”
Despite the playful name, the idea is practical:
Start simple. Add complexity only when the project truly needs it.
As a web developer who has spent many hours working with both React and WordPress, I’ve learned that lighter codebases often produce better results. They’re easier to maintain, easier to understand, and easier to optimize.
Framework-driven websites frequently contain hundreds of files—configuration files, dependencies, build tooling, and layers of abstraction that exist mainly to support the framework itself.
Strip those layers away, and something interesting happens.
The project becomes easier to reason about.
The code becomes cleaner.
Performance improves.
I recently refactored a client’s website with this philosophy in mind. By leaning on modern browser capabilities and removing unnecessary layers, the project shrank from over 100 files to roughly 35—while preserving its functionality.
The result was measurable.
The site’s mobile performance score jumped from 53 to 93.
That kind of speed matters. When someone searches for a local service, they want a site that loads instantly—especially in urgent situations.
For example, if your septic system is backing up and the commode isn’t doing away with your duties, you don’t want to wait around for a slow website. You want your local septic service company’s site to load immediately so you can make the call.
And when I do my duty optimizing your septic service provider’s website, your duty gets whisked away that much faster.