In this article I will explain why we finally choose WordPress for building business websites for our customers.
I have been in web design and building business for a long time.
I started building websites using plain HTML, CSS and Javascript. Back then there were no reliable well known open source software to act as an alternative solution. Building a business website using raw HTML, CSS and Javascript was one way.
As time past, a vast variety of PHP based open source CMS (Content Management System) solutions emerged. It was the time that CMS like Mambo, TYPO3, Drupal, ez Publish (now Ibexa), CMSimple, Contao, MODX, PHP-Nuke, XOOPS, etc, came to life.
I choose Mambo. A great piece of open source software for its time.
In 2005 their was a crisis on Mambo community that gave birth to Joomla!.
We have been fans of Joomla! for many years. A powerful open source cms system. Joomla! is fast, expandable. But for users in 2020 it is quite complex. Joomla is not complex for experienced users, but customer that pays has the final word!
Then, back in 2013, WordPress came into my life!
WordPress is a free open-source software that was released for the first time back on May 27, 2003 by its founders, American developer Matt Mullenweg and English developer Mike Little, as a fork of b2/cafelog. It was mainly a blogging system. Used by bloggers.
As the time passed it was expanded and matured. Now being a full Content Management System (CMS).
For many years, I was reluctant to switch from Joomla! to WordPress, because of it blogging legacy.
But when I did discover WordPress, there was no way back!
WordPress from a business perspective
- WordPress is free Open Source Software.
- Websites build with WP are responsive.
- WordPress is easy to use. You will love it!
- WordPress provides excellent SEO.
- A WordPress business website is easy to maintain, edit, update.
- A WordPress business website costs less to build than using other solutions.
- A WordPress business website is expandable. With the use of plugins, can expand and adapt to business future needs.
- WordPress is easy to learn.
WordPress from a web developer perspective
- WordPress is well documented.
- You can use child theme, custom functions.php and custom style.css to override functions and features of the main theme, without modifying its files.
- You can modify the behavior of WordPress using Hooks, Actions and Filters.
- WordPress is well designed. You can keep all your changes in one place.
- There are hundreds (or even thousands) of plugins that you can use to expand a business website.
- You can develop your own plugins.
- You can add your own custom post types and mimic Drupal functionality.
WordPress from a web designer perspective
- There are thousands of themes that you can use to start building a business website.
- You can build resposive websites that render correctly on desktop, tablet and mobile.
- You can modify the theme using a child theme.
- You can add your own CSS in style.css file.
- You can modify the behavior of WordPress using Hooks, Actions and Filters.
- You can override default behavior of almost any part of your website.
A few more things about websites build with WordPress
Updates
WordPress and its plugins and themes, are actively developed. That means that new versions are becoming available all the time.
To keep your WordPress build website secure, you have to constantly update the core, the plugins and the theme.
Actually WP has a special feature for it. A very powerful feature.
But with power comes great responsibility.
Although all plugin and theme authors try new versions not to break things, unfortunately this is not always the case.
It is not advisable for live sites to just press the update button without first takiing a backup of your website or better take a backup and perform the updates on a staging server or a local development environment. If everything goes OK, then apply the updates to the live website.
At least that is what we do for our customers and we provide it as a service.
Speed
Speed, the loading time of your website is a major parameter for SEO and user experience now-days.
WP is a great tool, but if you overload it with plugins, can easiy become slow to load. Something that gives bad experience to customers and visitors.
We must take special measures to optimize WordPress loading times.
This is a tailor made process for every website.
Security
As WordPress is so popular, WP made websites are targeted by hackers all over the world.
Things get worst as lot of people, without experiene and knowledge, every day build websites using WordPress.
Even business websites.
These sites simply take no measure to protect themselves from hacking.
Conclusion
WordPress is a great free open source software that can be used to build SEO friendly business responsive websites.
Businesses love it. Developers love it. Designers love it.
It can be expanded using plugins and by using custom types it can antagonize Drupal.
WordPress can be used for very small up to very complex websites.
It is supported by a vibrant community.
Extra precautions should be taken for updates, speed and security. Popularity comes with a price…
