WordPress (Photo credit: Adriano Gasparri)
Sometimes I see people throw WordPress out there in a derogatory way and act like only small time, hobbyists use it for their website. In actuality, 17.4 percent of websites in the English speaking world use WordPress including blogs from small time hobbyists like UPS, the NFL, CNN, and Time magazine along with full websites from Outbrain and Techcrunch. Besides those stats and big names, there are a specific list of reasons we use WordPress for our clients including:
1) A WordPress based website will allow for regular updates because you don’t need to know HTML or other coding (java or PHP) to make updates. As the designer, I would need to, but once it was set up, a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor would be available to make those changes. What I usually do for my clients is make a step by step video showing exactly how you will be able to make those changes. This makes it so I have no need to charge ongoing fees to your organization for basic maintenance. It also allows for more immediate changes to be made by the client. In other words, it saves our clients money.
2) WordPress offers a ‘development team’ unparalleled in the web design world since in actually it is composed of thousands of independent, voluntary developers – many of which have a huge passion for open source stuff – like WordPress. Most things companies and individuals are looking for is likely already available within the WordPress plugin “marketplace”. It is simply a matter of plugging in it and most importantly, make sure it works flawlessly (that can be the sticky part sometimes). The key is that no coding is required for these items other than customization as necessary. It is much easier than recreating the wheel.
3) WordPress comes pre-search engine optimized and there are also a couple of fantastic modules on the WordPress ‘marketplace’ that fills in the spaces. Meanwhile, pure HTML sites require a lot of manual work to set up to be search engine optomized and further more, requires a ton of additional development work to ensure you stay that way. In other words, we save ourselves time and we save our clients money.
4) Finally, WordPress is a nonprofit that not only releases frequent, free feature updates and more importantly, SECURITY updates. This ensures that your page won’t fall victim to hackers nearly as easy as a pure HTML website might.
I hope that better explains the reasoning behind us using WordPress to make professional websites for our clients. If you are interested in learning more about our process, please fill out the form. Not in the mood? Find out how a website audit can help your business thrive in 2015 and beyond. Finally, you can find a full video presentation titled WordPress Success: The Good, The Bad and the Required I did in March of 2015.
