Chances are, even if you’ve never built or owned a website before, you’ve probably still heard of WordPress. After all, it’s the biggest website host out there – with 43.6% of the world’s websites using WordPress. Anthem Communications is no different, not only is the site you’re looking at right now on WordPress, but equally, we build all of our websites through WordPress too. The question you may be asking is: Why? We’ll explore what WordPress is and provide the top 4 reasons why you should use WordPress!
What is WordPress?
WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS), which is a fancy way of saying it’s a place to have and build a website. It began as a blogging platform, before expanding over the years to offer a wider set of website options. It’s open source, and available initially for free. Nowadays, it has a phenomenal user base, and you can build almost any kind of website through it.
What’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
A key aspect to understand is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. The two both give you the opportunity to build websites but with different approaches.
The best way to explain the difference is that WordPress.com is like renting a property. You don’t need to do much of the decorating, and all the maintenance is handled by your landlord. For your website, this means that WordPress hosts your site, and gives you fantastic, but not unlimited options for growing your site.
WordPress.org is more like building and owning your property – you have much less framework to start with, but if you know what you’re doing, you have more scope to build something tailored to you. Any maintenance is up to you though. For your website, that means you’re self-hosted, with greater freedom but greater responsibility.
Why you should use WordPress:
1. WordPress is the Most Popular CMS
We’ve already mentioned that WordPress is used by 43.6% of the world’s websites, but the statistics even past that are truly phenomenal. It’s estimated that about one-third of the top million most-visited websites are run on WordPress, with over 500 new sites built on it every day. It truly is a dominant force – and that’s because it’s great to use. It may not be the first choice if you plan to DIY your website, but WordPress is the “happy place” between complete reliance on a professional designer and a restrictive, closed-environment builder like Wix or Squarespace.
“It’s like the Walmart of web development. It has everything you need to make a website (and a lot of things you don’t). Plus there’s an interface that allows everyday users to update their own content.”
2. The WordPress Developer Community is Unparalleled
WordPress really excels in its plugins, which are extras you can add to your site to benefit you in some way. For example, the third most popular plugin is for Yeost SEO, which gives you tailored hints and tips on pages you write on what to change to improve your SEO so you can avoid those SEO no-nos. But importantly, these are open for developers, which means you’re not reliant on WordPress for innovation, but benefit from a whole community of developers creating plugins that take your website experience to the next level.
“…there is not a problem that someone hasn’t already figured out and either offered as a free plugin/theme or provided it for a reasonable price. You simply cannot find that anywhere else to the same extent as with WordPress. This community-driven development ensures that WordPress stays current with web technologies and trends, ensuring that you have access to a future-proof platform.”
3. More Designers Use WordPress
A real benefit to WordPress is that it’s so widely used, that there are many experts and designers who are on hand to help you should you need it. We use it here at Anthem Communications, whether building from scratch or helping you update and edit your current site.
4. WordPress is Flexible for What You Need It For
WordPress is a rare gem in that it works for a huge range of different needs. People running their very first website can benefit from how user-friendly it is and can manage impressive sites without too much jargon. Those who know their way around a website can customize it using more advanced features, or by using plugins. Equally, whether you need it for a landing page or an e-commerce site, WordPress has options that no matter what you need it for, you’ll almost certainly find WordPress can do it.
“As an (almost) full-time, 90% custom-code WordPress developer, I feel the main reason for its popularity and staying power is how extendable it is. It began, and still remains a blogging platform at its core, but can be expanded, enhanced and modified to be a full-blown CMS, have e-commerce functionality, handle CRM/leads or even just work as a way of organising data for a json API with very little tinkering under the hood.”
Remember, if you want your website to sing, you can always reach out to us at Anthem Communications, where we exclusively use WordPress to build sites tailored to our clients!
