What is WordPress?

WordPress is an open-source CMS (content management system) used to make websites from blogs to e-commerce stores, although, it was originally designed to support blogging and online publishing. Now, over 33% of websites on the internet are powered by WordPress, dominating the CMS market share.

What makes WordPress so powerful is the ability for anyone to create a website through it, for someone with no programming knowledge, they could create a website through the use of the many accessible themes and plugins. In 2019, around 60% of small-medium businesses actually use WordPress to power their website, some with more complex functionality than others.

The Pros

1. Hugely Extensible – when creating a website using WP, you can choose from a huge ecosystem of themes and plugins, with a huge majority being free; there are over 50,000 plugins and 5,000+ themes to choose from. It is also possible, if you have the programming knowledge, to adapt and/or create custom themes and templates, for something a little more personalised if you cannot find anything that fits your needs.
2. Flexibility – you can pretty much create anything you want! Whether you’re wanting to start a blog or set up an e-commerce store, it’s do-able through WP. It also allows for manipulation of content for the owners, it gives them the power to change things around and add/remove content at their will – without knowledge of any programming languages.
3. Cost – if you’re a small business and want to build a website simply to showcase your services, going down the bespoke route if often overly expensive for the type of service you need, including maintenance costs in the future too. This is where WP comes in handy, providing a cost-effective technique of building your website.
4. SEO Friendly – a built-in feature of the content management system is that it makes it ideal for Google indexing. There are also some plugins that help your SEO further.
5. Social Integration – if you have a popular and active social media following, WP allows for easy integration with social platforms, so you can constantly provide fresh content and stay in touch with your network and audience.
6. Responsive – usually as a standard, majority of themes come with built-in mobile responsiveness so your site can be adapted to users on all devices. Especially in today’s technological climate, people use and check their phone on average more than 30 times a day.

So, if you’re looking to get a website created or want to re-vamp your current site, WordPress is definitely the first option you should be looking at. Other CMS’s do exist but typically they’re for larger, more complex project’s and require more technical knowledge, for example Magento.

If you know your requirements, you can shop around for adequate themes and plugins beforehand to understand how and what will be required to develop your website. There is a huge community for WordPress, an active forum where members are constantly posting questions and asking for information – useful for when you get stuck!

Here at Square Media, we have extensive experience in creating website’s using WordPress, from blogs to complex e-commerce solutions. If you’re looking to get your website re-created or if you haven’t got one yet and would like to inquire about getting one created, visit our website development page here to find out more. Alternatively, you can send us a message here.