You need a website for your business. So why would you want to use WordPress to build your website when there are other platforms that are out there that you could use as well?
When a potential client contacts MavroCreative because they need to have a website built, we explain to them that we build all of our sites on WordPress. Most people know about WordPress and don’t really ask us why we use WordPress as our platform, but we do get a fair amount of people that ask us why do we use WordPress instead of, say, Squarespace, or Wix, or Weebly.
Each one of those platforms definitely has their own benefits, and it’s totally up to the person that’s building your website (whether it’s you building it yourself or it’s someone else) to decide which platform is best in terms of what it is you’re looking for that you want to be able to do.
I totally see merit in using any one of the other platforms that I just mentioned and they may be perfect for certain businesses, but I do have such an affinity for WordPress for many reasons and it’s why 28.9% of all websites are currently running on WordPress!
#1: Empowerment
Number one, which I always think is so super important, is that it empowers you.
When you’re using WordPress, you own your website.
As a business owner, that is so vitally important. You can set up your hosting on your hosting provider of choice. You can move it if you don’t like it. You have full control over your website. Some of the other platforms are “self-contained”, meaning that you build it right there within that particular provider. Once you set up your site on, say, Squarespace, you’re using Squarespace. If you decide that you don’t love Squarespace in terms of your site speed, what you have control over, etc., you can’t just pick it up and move it somewhere else without having to completely rebuild it.
With WordPress, since it’s what we call “self-hosted”, meaning that YOU decide where your website “lives”, you have the control. If you hosting is with, say, Go Daddy, and you decide that you don’t love their customer service, you can move it somewhere else. You’re in the driver’s seat!
The fact that WordPress allows you to really control all the aspects of your website, to me as a business owner, is so incredibly important.
#2: Flexibility
The second reason why I absolutely love WordPress is because of its flexibility. Gone are the days where you really needed to hire a developer and pay for sophisticated programming when you want to have something specific for your website. If you’re familiar at all with WordPress, you may have heard about words like plugins, and themes, and widgets, and stuff like that. These crazy terms are what make WordPress such a game-changer when it comes to building websites.
You can think of a plugin as an app. Just like there’s an app for that, there’s usually a plugin for that.
So, whether it’s an interactive calendar that you’re looking for or whether you want to have online booking or a really fun and cool portfolio, you can usually find a plugin that will meet your needs.
WordPress also uses themes that control the look and design of your site. Think of themes like the skin of your website. You can change your theme while keeping your content in place, making it super easy to give your site a different look and feel as your business grows and changes.
#3: Community
Number three is the community. There’s a huge community out there of people that use WordPress. There are resources galore for you to find information about how to use WordPress, how to set it up, how to implement your theme and pretty much anything else you can think of.
You can usually find an answer to one of your questions, if one pops up, on either a board, or a forum, or with the plugin developer. When you’re working on your website, especially if you’re a DIYer (do it yourself!), there’s comfort in knowing that you can find answers and get support.
#4: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Number four is search engine optimization. Search engine optimization (SEO) has to do with how people find your business online.
When someone Googles website design, I want MavroCreative to appear in their results. That’s search engine optimization. WordPress, out of the box, does a great job with that. For that reason as well, I absolutely love WordPress.
Getting Started with WordPress
Now, I’d be remiss if I just sung the praises of WordPress and I didn’t tell you about any kind of a con or a downside to it, because like anything in life, there are pros and cons. The one thing about WordPress, as it compares to another platform like a Squarespace or a Wix, is that there is a learning curve. There’s no way around it.
However, because of the fact that WordPress has really exploded, there are so many resources that are out there to help you kind of make your way up that learning curve and get yourself to a point where you really can control and design an absolutely gorgeous website in WordPress.
Until next time!
xoxo
