If you need a new website or have an outdated website, consider these reasons to use WordPress.
- YOU Have Control
WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS), which basically means that you can add pages, news posts, text, photos or video, and approve or reply to comments – all without needing your webmaster. - Saves Money
The WordPress platform is FREE! There thousands of FREE themes (templates), plugins and widgets as well. There is no monthly subscription fee. - Plug and Play
With a few clicks you can easily install themes (templates), plugins and widgets. Developers around the world have done the hard work already and made these available to add to your site. - Easy to Update
The content (text, photos, videos, products) and the design (branding, design and layout) are completely separate. This means that you can change colors, fonts, layout or swap out the entire theme without recreating any of the content. - Simple
The dashboard (where you make changes to your site) is user friendly. It has an intuitive “visual” view and WYSIWYG editor like Microsoft Word. - Sell
Integrate eCommerce shopping into your site. Upload products, track inventory, take credit cards or other forms of payment directly from your site. - Interactive
Much of the power of WordPress is in blogging, starting conversations with visitors and syncing with your social media outlets, eNewsletters and CRM software (Customer Relationship Management). - Customizable
It is an open source platform that allows your developer to edit any of the code in the site to customize it to your specifications. - SEO Friendly (Search Engine Optimization)
WordPress is search engine friendly. If you have good content that is updated on a regular basis, the search engines will easily see that and reward you for your efforts. - Support
WordPress has taken the internet by storm and is the most common CMS platform for websites. There are thousands of developers, designers, users, forums and user groups to go to for support.
Some Words of Advice
There are many free themes, plugins and widgets available, but paying a nominal fee for some of these can make a huge difference in the reliability, flexibility and the amount of built-in options. And the support available for premium themes, plugins and widgets can be well worth a little extra money.
If you want customized changes that are not part of your theme options, a developer may be needed to create custom code. This is true with customization of any web application, but WordPress is surprisingly robust right out of the box.
Don’t forget to factor in other standard costs such as your domain name, hosting, maintenance and incremental improvements.
Can You Say “Yes” To These Questions?
Have you used WordPress before?
Have you used other CMS website platforms?
Is your old site easy to update yourself?
Is your old site getting the traffic you want and starting conversations that generate leads?
Does your old site work seamlessly with social media, eNewsletters and CRM software?
Is your old site streamlined for search engines (SEO)?
Do you have good options for fixing or updating your site when you need help?
If you answered “No” to any of these questions WordPress is probably the answer.
For more information, go to www.wordpress.org or do an internet search for WordPress.
Related Post — “How to Find a Good WordPress Theme”
