There are quite a few website builders out there now, so you may ask yourself why should I use WordPress? What’s so good about it? There are a lot of good reasons, but here are my 6 top reasons to use WordPress.
It’s free
So are a couple of others, but WordPress is free as well. There are two “versions” of WordPress. WordPress.com and WordPress.org. WordPress.com can be totally free in that you don’t need to buy hosting to use it. However the functionality may be a little less on the unpaid version. WordPress.org is self-hosted, so you’ll need to buy hosting, and a domain name, but they can both be purchased fairly cheaply. There’s a great article about the difference here.
There are plenty of free themes and plugins available, so you certainly don’t need to buy anything expensive initially. It’s very easy to use, so if you’re just starting out and don’t need a complicated site, you could create something basic yourself quite easily. Note that if you want a more complicated site, or need design help, you’re far better off hiring a professional. You’ll get better results and cause yourself far less stress.
It’s easy to customise
There are a huge number of themes to help you get your website looking exactly the way you want it. Some have a cost attached, but many are free and at least initially, there’s no reason not to go with a free theme until you decide exactly what you want. Many of the paid themes entitle you to a few different templates, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find something that suits you. To find the right theme, you can either search or browse the WordPress Theme Library, or if you see a website you love – check out the very bottom of the page and it might tell you which theme it uses.
It’s easy to get help
There are a lot of communities and a lot of people with WordPress knowledge so if you need help it’s never far away. I generally find that Googling any question I have will find a plethora of forum posts, videos and articles solving the issue. Often, going to the theme or plugin authors site will give you the answer too. Finally, asking in any business Facebook or email groups that you’re a member of will generally find someone who can help you out. I’ve even occasionally just thrown an issue out on Facebook or Twitter to see who can help. I’ve never not had someone give me the right answer.
It’s easy to edit
Anyone can make changes to their WordPress site. You don’t need to be a coder, you don’t even need to understand HTML. Just log into the site and make the changes which will appear in as you go. Most pages will display the same as if they were live – if they don’t you can just hit Preview to see what your changes will look like once you make them live.
There are plugins for functionality
There are a heap of plugins that will help you do more with your website. You can get plugins to create an online store; a contact form; link to other services such as your newsletter or CRM; link your social media pages; to add a slider to display video or images and plugins to help you build a community. Some are free, some are paid, but whatever you’d like to be able to add to your website, there will be a plugin to help you do it with ease.
There are plugins for SEO & Security
There are plugins (such as Yoast) that will help you optimise your post for better searchability. There are also plugins such as “UpdraftPlus” and “WordFence” that help keep your website secure, and if something does ever go wrong, give you a backup to restore the site with a minimum of loss.
WordPress is currently the most popular website builder for a reason. It’s easy to use, very customisable and, mostly safe. That’s why I think you should use WordPress.
