By Derek Ashauer
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that has been a game-changer for website building and management and for us here in Fort Collins at AshWebStudio. Over the years, it has evolved from being a simple blogging platform to a powerful website-building tool that powers over 40% of all websites on the internet. The open-source nature of WordPress has allowed developers to create thousands of plugins and themes that make it easy for users to build and customize their websites. Here are some reasons we like WordPress:
User-friendly and Easy to Use
One of the main reasons why WordPress is so popular is its user-friendly interface. It is designed to be easy to use even for those who have no prior experience in website building. The platform comes with a visual editor that makes it easy to create and edit pages and posts, and you don’t need to know how to code to use it. Additionally, WordPress has a simple and intuitive dashboard that makes it easy to manage your website. We often hand over administrative access to clients and many are able to pick up how to make changes without any instruction from us or online tutorials.
Customizable
WordPress is highly customizable and capable of being designed and built to do anything you want. While every website we make with WordPress is custom designed, there is the option of using one of the thousands of pre-designed themes that you can use to change the appearance of your website. You may hear that all WordPress websites look the same but it simply isn’t true. You can check out our portfolio or WP Showoff, a web design gallery site, to see an extensive amount of sites that were designed with WordPress and how unique they all look.
More importantly, plugins are add-ons that provide additional features and allow us to get the exact functionality needed for your unique project. You can use plugins to add features like social media sharing, contact forms, and e-commerce functionality to your website. Additionally, WordPress is open-source, so developers can create their own plugins that you can use to further customize your website like the ones we have created over at WP Sunshine!
Ultimately what this means is that any kind of site can be built with WordPress, including:
- Informational website for an architect
- E-commerce website selling unique gifts
- Complex member management and online registration system with race result tracking
SEO Friendly
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial for any website as it helps increase its visibility in search engines like Google. WordPress is SEO-friendly out-of-the-box but with some added plugins, like Yoast SEO, your website will be optimized for any keywords we are targeting. Content is still king when it comes to SEO and since WordPress was originally a blogging platform it has everything you need for a successful content marketing campaign.
Speed is also a concern for SEO and WordPress + AshWebStudio has you covered there. With a combination of our WordPress-specialized web hosting, custom web design, and building methods, every website we make is incredibly fast!
Cost-effective
Another advantage of WordPress is its low cost. The platform is open-source, so it is free to use. You only need to pay for hosting, a domain name, and sometimes a small handful of premium plugins if you have unique functionality required. This makes it a great choice for those who are just starting out and don’t have a lot of money to invest in a website. We have options in various project price ranges to help utilize WordPress as effectively as possible for your next website design project.
For example, by leveraging WordPress + AshWebStudio, the team at Perfect Gift Club was able to get their website completed for a small fraction of what every other agency had quoted before us recommending other solutions.
Secure
Website security is a major concern for any website owner, and WordPress takes security seriously. There is a myth in many articles online that WordPress is not secure and it’s simply not true. The platform is constantly updated to fix any security vulnerabilities and with proper hosting, maintenance, and secure passwords we can alleviate all security concerns.
E-commerce Friendly
WordPress is very e-commerce friendly making it a great choice for those who want to build an online store. WooCommerce is the most popular WordPress plugin and powers over 30% of all e-commerce websites online – 3x more than the next leading e-commerce platform Shopify. Regardless of the type of e-commerce store, we can build it with a combination of WordPress + WooCommerce.
We love WordPress! It is a great content management system for building a website as we can bend and flex it to look however we want and do anything we need for our clients. Contact us to see of WordPress + AshWebStudio is a great fit for your next project.