A basic look at the pros and cons of WordPress and why WordPress is the right choice
Hopefully you’ve had a chance to have a look at our website. If not, duplicate this tab and head of to have a snoop. Go on, we’ll wait here for you to come back.
Back?
OK, great, as we were saying, you’ve had a look at our site and one of the things that you will have noticed is that we offer bespoke web design services. We do this using something called WordPress. You may or may not have heard of this, so in this blog post we’ll be looking at what WordPress is. We also explain a little about it’s history and then discuss the pros and cons of WordPress so you get a picture of why we choose to work with WordPress.
Content Management Systems are Go
So computers work using programming languages. These are differing types of code which are created to allow us to interface with our tech. Computer Coding began literally with binary, 1s and 0s. You can see an excellent example of an early computer in action in the terrific Benedict Cucumberpatch movie, The Imitation Game.
Coding stepped beyond 1s and 0s as new coding languages are created to help us interface easier with tech. Modern languages are actually tools to help to translate our language into older harder coding languages. What’s this got to do with WordPress?
WordPress is a Content Management System. It is an interface which allows designs to be created without the need to directly write the code. Imagine it a little like being an architect designing a house and giving instructions for walls to be built without actually having to laboriously lay each brick yourself. A CMS like WordPress gives the user an interface where you can add, update and create designs through a front end and backstage then creates the necessary coding to actually create the designs and there are definitely pros and cons to WordPress.
Where WordPress Came From
WordPress began life as a blogging system. It was a computer environment, made freely available, to allow users to create simple blog pages. Early WordPress sites were a little like homemade social media ‘walls’.
WordPress is now MASSIVE. WP is now used by 39% of the top 10 million websites [1]. And it’s actually used by a massive 69% of websites where the Content Management System is visible – so that number could be even more massive.
So why do we use WordPress? What are the actual pros and cons of WordPress? We’ll actually begin with the supposed cons of WordPress. Please bear in mind that these some of these cons are the often-repeated claims of groups who can be quite snobbish.
WordPress allows the creation and use of themes. There are companies which will sell design bases to developers for use on WordPress. Because of coding issues, these can sometimes mean a completed website can be a little slow. Interestingly, we as a company are uniquely positioned because we have our own inhouse nerd who writes code. That means this whole argument about slow loading isn’t something we need to worry about.
Another con is that some ill-design sites which don’t take the necessary security steps can be vulnerable. WordPress is an Open Source system. This means the code it’s built on is open for any and all to see. This becomes an issues if you are buying Plugins and Themes without caution. Again, our experience and knowledge means we are well trained in avoiding risks!
Some purists argue that a con of WordPress is that they don’t have TOTAL CONTROL OF EVERYTHING and that every website should be hand-built from scratch. Each line of code being written and compiled by human. This is a really childish and naïve viewpoint though. For a start this would make every website build take 4-5 times as long to complete. It also introduces a significant element of human error!
The Good Stuff – Why WordPress rocks!
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation is king. It means making sure a website is Web Crawler friendly. WordPress is an absolute dynamite for helping to ensure that websites meet SEO standards. There are tonnes of Plugins that can be used to help ensure that SEO is being checked. After all, you want people to be able to actually find your site don’t you?
Plugins/Tools
We all know that the best bit of the Bond films is Q’s delivery of cool gadgets to the suave British spy. Plugins are those wonderful little gadgets! And there are tonnes of ingenious little Qs all over the world creating more and more of them. They can add functions, make you site look cooler or even improve accessibility to those with impairments. When we say we make bespoke sites, we will be drawing on over 50,000 extra tools that can be used to make your site a really draw.
User Friendly
WordPress is 100% user friendly. It was originally designed for use by anybody and everybody remember. Now we are able to really tinker and work miracles with it but that’s because Leena is a creative genius. However, because you will actually OWN the site (unlike with Yell or WIx), when we make a site for a client they will actually be able to interact with it themselves. More importantly, the site can be moved in future if you want to.
Overall WordPress is the way. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either a coding geek who wants you to take 5 times longer to get your site to market and charge you 100% more for the privilege. Or they are a pushy telesales person trying to lock you into a lifetime contract giving you a substandard template website which you’ll never be able to move but won’t actually own.
Trust us. We may be small, but we’re mighty. Just like you. Get in touch if you want to know more about the amazing bespoke site we can build you in WordPress now that you know the Pros and Cons of WordPress.
