If you talk to almost any web design company, they’ll tell you that WordPress is their preferred platform. In fact, despite the numerous platform options, WordPress now supports 25 percent of all websites on the internet.
With so many different options online, there must be a reason why so many people use WordPress. What’s the advantage?
5 Things to Know About WordPress
WordPress isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s superior to just about every other content management system (CMS) on the market. Here are a few things you need to know:
- Leading Web Design Firms Trust WordPress
You can tell a lot about a product’s reliability and reputation by studying its users. And when it comes to CMS platforms, leading web design and digital marketing firms turn to WordPress repeatedly.
Respected firms like Marion call WordPress “one of, if not, the most widely used, adaptable, and third-party supported content management systems available.”
That should tell you all you need to know.
- Excellent Customization and Flexibility
One of the greatest aspects of WordPress is the immense customization features and flexibility that are attached to it. And because it’s open-source, the options continue to grow on a daily basis.
“Themes allow you to change the design of your website quickly. There are thousands of themes available for WordPress,” explains Lahle Wolfe, internet marketing expert. “Plugins allow you to extend the functionality of your WordPress site without knowing how to program. There are over 10,000 plugins available that help you add all kinds of functionality to your sites, like social media sharing, SEO, photo slideshows, and much more.”
- Large Online Support Community
While WordPress offers official documentation and resources on its site, that’s pretty much par for the course. The greatest thing about WordPress is that there’s a massive online community just waiting to help you with any issues, questions, or concerns you might have.
Between message boards and forums, YouTube videos, social networking groups, webinars, tutorials, expert consultants, and even in-person gatherings and conferences, you’ll never have a shortage of help if you choose to run your site with WordPress.
- SEO Advantages
A lot of businesses and bloggers turn to WordPress because of the SEO advantages it offers. Not only are many of the themes SEO-friendly, but there are a handful of powerful plugins users can download in order to give their sites that much-needed boost.
One of the best and most popular SEO plugins is Yoast SEO, which comes in both a free and premium version. Features include keyword optimization, content insights, technical optimization, readability scores, and dozens of other options.
- Open Ecosystem
While there are often advantages to being small, there are also advantages to being big. In the case of WordPress, the brand equity it has established allows the platform to enjoy a rich ecosystem of connectivity and integration. Recently, the integration of the REST API has extended that connectivity and now allows WordPress to seamlessly interact with hundreds of other standalone tools and resources.
Not the Only Option
In all fairness, it must be mentioned that WordPress isn’t the only CMS platform on the market. In fact, 75 percent of all websites are built without WordPress. Other popular platforms include Joomla, Drupal, Blogger, and Magento.
While none of these come close to touching WordPress in terms of popularity, they are quality platforms that are worth your consideration. Do your due diligence and look for the one that works best for you. If you find yourself leaning towards WordPress, you’re in the majority and won’t regret your decision.