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WordPress initially started out with a mission to provide an awesome platform for bloggers. Since it’s inception, WordPress has grown exponentially and now powers a large proportion of the websites we see across the internet. Some of the biggest names like Sony Music use WordPress as their chosen Content Management System (CMS) platform, and rightly so!
We’re going to provide you with the facts and figures you need to reassure you why WordPress is now better than ever, and why you should choose WordPress to power your personal or business blog and/or website.
Ease of Use
Source: WordPress.org
Simply put, if you’ve never created a website before, or never used a CMS platform, WordPress is very easy to get to grips with. Due to its drag and drop website builder, WordPress doesn’t require you to have any coding skills or background knowledge in order to create a professional looking website.
Furthermore, WordPress offers thousands of free and premium themes that you can choose from to get started. WordPress themes can be installed with a click of a button, enabling you to change the text, images, and even colour scheme to fit your needs. You can integrate a plethora of WordPress features that are available to make your blog or website as unique as you want it to be.
WordPress’s ease of use shouldn’t put you off if you are a website designer or developer; it’s systems are powerful in the back end, so it’s simplicity shouldn’t be of any concern.
Versatility
WordPress is entirely flexible, allowing you to create any kind of website you can imagine. Whether you’re a small-time blogger, creating a website to show off your personal portfolio, or an eCommerce giant, there really is something for everyone.
Creating an online store with WordPress has never been easier; with access to plugins like WooCommerce, you can setup your website, integrate shopping carts, payments methods, and actually sell your products or services online. Big brands like Bata (believe it or not) use WordPress as their website builder, and are a great example of what you can do for eCommerce websites.
Whether you’re looking to keep it free and simple, or spend a little and add even more features to your WordPress website, you’ll not be short of resources. Themes like Subscribely are available to purchase, allowing you to earn an income from your membership based website; entirely customisable, with various different colour themes to choose from. And if you’re looking for something extra, you can find a tool for pretty much everything with WordPress plugins.
SEO Performance
WordPress itself, on a base level, meets many SEO requirements outlined by search engines such as Google. However, the more you add to your WordPress website, the slower it will get, using more resources, and eventually decreasing your SEO position. However, because WordPress is awesome, it can combat its own flaws.
- Website speed: Although WordPress is already optimised for high performance and decent speeds, there are now devoted WordPress web hosting packages available (shared and managed) to ensure that your website’s speed and performance are consistent, regardless of data usage. The faster your website loads, the better your SERP SEO score will be – combining WordPress’s engine with a powerful web host is your key to success.
- Image optimisation: When uploading a media file to your WordPress dashboard, you have the option to optimise your image to resize it, and add your own image alt tags, titles, and descriptions, in order to increase your SEO. WordPress focuses on ease of use, so once you’ve added the required information to your image, you’re free to use it (and the details you’ve included) across your website.
- Social Media: WordPress’s social media integration is not only handy, it’s also a powerful tool in generating more traffic to your website, by generating back links, and creating a social presence for your business. Simply drag and drop your favourite social media icons onto your website and link your profiles.
Conclusion
WordPress has been powering websites for over a decade, constantly improving the way they work and providing endless options and features for their users. The WordPress community has exploded, with thousands of people taking advantage of the open-source CMS, providing thousands of themes, templates, and plugins for the world to use.
2018 is sure to see even more WordPress users, and will continue to grow offering even more possibilities in the future. From blogging to eCommerce sites, design portfolios to online magazines, there’s not much you can’t do with WordPress, making it one of, if not the best CMS available on the internet.