WordPress is the platform of choice for more than 20% of websites
WordPress is open source web software that you can install on your web server to create your website, blog, community or network. WordPress started out as a tool for blogging, but has evolved into a full-fledged Content Management System (CMS), capable of powering websites, networks and communities.
It’s easy to make the mistake of classifying WordPress as just a blogging platform. Because you can still use WordPress just to create a simple blog but now it also allows you to create a fully functional website, even a mobile responsive website.
WordPress is both robust and flexible
One of the main reasons that WordPress has grown so much in popularity is that it’s easy to use and flexible enough for just about anything.
It’s so robust that many of the top brands use WordPress to power their websites including Time Magazine, Google Sony Disney,The New York Times and more.
Freedom to choose
I’m a great believer in giving choice to my clients and WordPress gives you the freedom to do it all yourself, to have your website developer do the basic set up and you add the content or have your website developer or web marketing specialist do it all for you.
What is open source software and what are its advantages?
While WordPress is free software, that means you’re free to download, install, use and modify it, it’s also open source which means that the source code of the software is available for anyone to study, modify and play with.
As a result, there are now more than 2500 WordPress themes and 31,000 plug-ins available for free. These allow you to add extra functionality to your website.
Free or paid themes and plug-ins?
More advanced functionality and styling is available with quality paid themes for which the developer provides ongoing support if you need that. We exclusively use themes that we have paid for, plus we use a mixture of free and paid for plug-ins, in addition to developing specialised plug-ins, styling or features to meet our client’s specific needs.
What do I need to use WordPress?
To run WordPress all you need is a domain name and web hosting. Be careful with these; usually you get what you pay for! Contact me if you want some advice before you make a commitment to a domain name or web hosting
My favourite reason for using WordPress is that it is search engine friendly!
One of my biggest reasons for using WordPress is its ability to build in powerful organic search engine optimisation functions. After all, what’s the point of having a website if it doesn’t get found online? Some of these functions fairly obvious in their use and application, but to get the most out of the search engine optimisation potential for WordPress I recommend that you seek some professional advice.
My second favourite reason for using WordPress
Have you ever had this experience or know someone who has – they had a website built, it was hand coded, so only the person who built it really understood how it all worked, then that person went out of business and you couldn’t get anybody else to work on the website?
Unfortunately, because the website development industry is largely unregulated, that is all too common an occurrence. The good news is that if your website is built on a WordPress platform and the company that developed it for you goes out of business, then there is an abundance of developers who are familiar with the WordPress platform, so you will not be left high and dry. This is a key consideration when choosing your website platform – I just can’t stress enough how important this reason is for choosing WordPress!
WordPress is easy to manage
In your WordPress dashboard you will see a built-in updater that allows you to update your plug-ins and themes from inside WordPress. You will also be notified when a new version of WordPress is available so that you can update it just by clicking a button. You want to keep all your WordPress content safe, so some of our clients do this updating for themselves and some of our clients choose to have us do it for them as part of their hosting package.
WordPress safety and security
WordPress is developed and updated with security in mind, however the Internet can be an uncertain place, so I recommend that you speak to your website developer or hosting provider about extra security measures you can take to protect your site and to ensure fast and full recovery in the event of an attack or accident.
WordPress and various multi media
When you choose WordPress you are not limited to just using text. You can also add images audio and video content, plus you can use it for PDF document management. So you can offer many types of downloads to your website visitors, demonstrating that you are an authority in your field.
Need help with getting started with WordPress, or want us to do it for you?
Click here to go to our contact page and choose how you would like to contact me to start the discussion about the best way to get your WordPress website up and running!