Think long and hard about which CMS to use, weigh the pros and cons of your various options, then choose WordPress and never look back.
There are a lot of options facing anyone looking to build a website, such as who to hire and what design to use but most people in the market for a website aren’t even aware that they need to be thinking about the software that’s going to run the site as well. Nowadays, any new website being built is integrated with software to control the content or service provided by the website, and if you’re paying for a website that doesn’t have some kind of CMS (content management system) you’re getting ripped off. The emergence of the CMS in the 21st century has given the ordinary person the ability to control and update the content of their website at their own discretion, something that they used to need a “webmaster” to do. Remember that term, webmaster?
The same way that there are a multitude of different document writing software suites (Word, Open Office, Google Docs, ect.), there are a multitude of different content management systems. Some are proprietary and can cost a pretty penny, others are open-sourced and totally free. The main thing that a person needs to determine when choosing a CMS is: Does it handle the tasks I require of my website and am I going to be able to use it easily and regularly? Unfortunately, most CMSs do not have both of these important features. If they are powerful and full-featured they usually are complicated and hard to use. If they are fast and easy to use, they are usually lacking in useful features that can both help you and extend the useful life of your website. There are a few options that allow for both and one in particular that has pulled ahead of the rest in terms of use, features and widespread adoption by the industry: WordPress.
WordPress is the most popular open-sourced CMS in the world today because of the wide range of features and user-friendly design it offers. For anyone considering a new website or a re-build of their existing website, WordPress should be at the top of your list for the following reasons:
- Ease of Use – The most important reason that WordPress is as popular as it is, and should be considered by you for your next website is it’s ease of use. A clean, user-centered design makes WordPress simple to learn and start using for anyone who is familiar with Facebook, Gmail or Microsoft Word. Menus are clearly laid out, functions and controls are intuitive and the page/post editor is similar to commonly used word processing software, meaning anyone who can type can quickly publish and update content.
- Powerful Free Add-Ons – WordPress comes setup with a lot of great functions that can add value to your website, but for the things you need that aren’t part of it’s default capabilities, no CMS on the planet can match the number of free software Add-Ons that can be installed with WordPress. From social sharing to e-commerce, there is free software available and easy to install for virtually every need you can think of and a whole lot you can’t!
- Built In SEO – You hear the term SEO a lot these days, Search Engine Optimization, and while it get’s thrown around a lot and used out of context, it is very important. The more competitive your field or industry, the more important SEO is to make your website stand out. Because WordPress was originally built as blogging software, at it’s core it is designed for publishing and being found meaning that every post, page and picture you publish to your website will have all the appropriate tags and meta-data to make it search engine candy, giving you a head up on the competition. Search engines love WordPress and WordPress loves SEO!
- Unsurpassed Developer Base – Because of the explosion of popularity in WordPress and it’s open-sourced nature, the number of developers who are well-versed and knowledgeable regarding WordPress surpasses every other CMS in use today. This means it will be easier for you to find a great WordPress developer who can work on your site, there will be better support for any 3rd-party features you incorporate into your website and you’ll be able to find more competitive rates for work done on your site than with any other CMS.
- Regular, Useful Updates – Despite being open sourced, WordPress is still overseen by the company that originally developed it, Automattic. They love WordPress and work day in and day out with the huge crowd of developers that are constantly helping them update it. This means that WordPress updates very regularly, and with each update it adds useful new features and becomes more and more robust and easy to use. If you think WordPress is impressive today, imagine what it will be able to do in just one year’s time!
When considering a new website, it’s important to weigh all your options. Compare everything that’s available to you, evaluate the pros and cons of each choice, and then pick WordPress and never look back!
