Why You Need To Use WordPress For Your Business Website
If you aren’t using WordPress for your business website already, there’s a huge chance you’re wasting time. Read on to learn why WordPress is almost definitely the way to go.
Hopefully, you have a business website already or you’re thinking about making one, and that’s why you’re reading this post. Despite the growth of social media, an up-to-date website is still the cornerstone of your small business’ online presence.
You have a ton of options when it comes to making your website:
- Code it from scratch (you crazy hacker)
- Use a managed service like Wix, Weebly, or Squarespace
- Create it with web design software like Adobe Muse
- Get your site up at lightspeed by using WordPress
Let’s explore why each option other than WordPress is likely a colossal waste of your time.
If you’re thinking about coding it from scratch, you do have a special place in my heart. But, take it from a coder: you probably don’t want to do that. If you don’t know how to code, let me just intimidate you for a minute:
Nerd talk here: In order to make a functional, modern website, you need to have a working knowledge of HTML and CSS at a minimum. You should probably know some JavaScript too so you can add modern web elements. Skills in PhotoShop or another graphic design software will help too, so you can make your site pretty. After you code your basic template, make sure you fine-tune all your breakpoints so your website is responsive for tablets and mobile phones as well. Thinking about adding any interactive content, like forms for your customers? Add PHP and CSS to the list as well! And be prepared to test all of this on multiple devices and optimize the performance as well.
Does that sound like fun to you? If so, perhaps you should take up web design rather than your current profession! Seriously, it takes a ton of time to establish your basic knowledge and then to stay current with new languages and frameworks. If you’re a dentist, plumber, or dog groomer, I don’t think it’s the best use of your time.
Even if you do know how to code and want to DIY your website, use WordPress. The benefits I’ll describe below are worth it.
Let’s evaluate managed services like Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace. These may seem like great options. It’s true you can get a website up in just a few minutes, maybe even for free.
But the free versions are quite limited and likely only sufficient for the most basic uses. So you’re probably going to end up paying.
Take SquareSpace for example: they’re going to shake you down for at least $12 per month (if you pay for a year upfront—it’s $16 per month otherwise).
20 pages and 2 contributors? Wow, what a steal!
These arbitrary limits are in place so they can shake you down for more money later.
So now we’re thinking about web design software like Adobe Muse, since custom coding and managed services are miserable.
The biggest benefit is you get to edit your website and template exactly as they look on the web (well, in theory). Sure, it’s easy, but it’s often quirky and difficult to troubleshoot. WordPress is easier anyway.
These sites are also notorious for having bloated code—yes, bloated like you after a huge meal. You know how after you indulge in a feast, you can’t help but move slowly? Web design software makes sites that are just as bloated.
Yes, it’s just the code and you’re not touching it, but what’s under the hood really matters. Bloated code leads to slower page speeds. And slow page speeds will make your customers sad.
They make Google sad too.
Since your website doesn’t have much of a point if Google buries it to the depths of slow-page-speed hell, you may as well do it right.
Now let’s talk about WordPress, the holy grail of web development.
If it seems like I’m trying to sell you something, well, I’m not. WordPress is completely free!
It’s also popular—really popular. WordPress powers 59% of all CMS websites and 27% of every website you’ve ever visited. Talk about market share!
So, it’s free and popular, which means lots of support, online resources, and people who can help with your WordPress site. It’s also simple, flexible, and constantly updated. You’ll save more time by using WordPress than pretty much any other method. There’s really not much of a downside.
After you read these benefits, you’ll never consider another option for your website again.
Join me on this quest towards time-saving salvation and I’m willing to bet I’ll convince you WordPress is right for your business website.
Save Time By Using WordPress For Your Business Website
WAIT—Don’t Do It!
I know what you did.
It’s OK, I don’t blame you.
You got really excited about WordPress, and you decided to get started without reading the rest of this post.
I’m actually pretty sure your screen looks something like this right now:
Here’s why you need to keep reading (trust me on this one):
If you clicked any of the first eight links rather than the last one, you clicked incorrectly.
While WordPress.com sounds like what you’re looking for, it’s not. It’s a managed service similar to SquareSpace, like we discussed before.
And you guessed it, they’re trying to sell you something.
What they’re trying to sell you is not the WordPress you deserve. It’s watered down, restricted, and far too expensive for the value you get.
You’re looking for WordPress.org, which is the completely free website platform I’m gushing about.
Read until the end and I’ll tell you how to get set up in minutes. But first I have to tell you why it’s the only way to go.
Themes, themes, themes! = more options for you
Designing a website can be like building a home. So many choices, and you want it to be perfect!
You’ll be pleased with the extensive number of WordPress theme options. Odds are, you’ll be able to find a theme that’s very close to what you’re looking for. Then it’ll be easy to customize it the rest of the way.
The official WordPress site is stocked with thousands of themes, and you can install them directly from your WordPress dashboard in one click. Many of these themes are free.
Sites like ThemeForest are also loaded with tons of great options. Prices range from $20-60, which is well worth it to avoid dozens of hours of design and development time.
It’s also likely you’ll be able to find a theme already customized for your industry, whether you’re a catering company or plumber.
Once you set up a theme, it’s easy to change the colors, upload your logo, and populate the content.
And when you decide your site needs a facelift, just install a new theme and all your content will still be there.
The other options have themes too, but there are fewer options and they aren’t as customizable or convenient.
Thousands of plugins to customize your website
If you’re coding your own website, you’re not going to have fun when you want to add features like contact forms, photo galleries, and newsletter sign-ups.
And if you used a managed service or web design software, you’re not going to appreciate their limited options.
WordPress has you covered with thousands of free (and paid) plugins to add features to your site that will grow your business.
Let’s say you want to add a contact form to your homepage and create a “contact us” page. Just search for contact form plugins and you’ll be well on your way.
After you install and activate a plugin, there won’t be much more work left to do. Many plugins will work “out of the box.”
Whether you want to add a photo gallery, Google Map, social icons, online store, or site analytics, there’s a plugin for you.
If you’re looking to add one of these features to your site and you aren’t using WordPress, you better not be picky—you won’t have many options. But with the massive WordPress plugin library, you can just uninstall any plugins that don’t work how you want and pick another one.
Related: Don’t Use WordPress Without These 15 Must-Have Free Plugins
Huge user community
I already mentioned the sheer volume of websites hosted on WordPress.
This means lots of people who know how to make WordPress sites.
And this means you can Google pretty much any question and find hundreds of people who have asked the same thing before. When I’m working on WordPress sites, I never have to look too hard to find an answer.
It also means that if you choose to work with a digital media company to create or maintain your website, any company should be able to jump right in.
The huge community also means an ever-growing ecosystem of plugins, themes, and website updates. WordPress isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Learn in minutes
WordPress is intuitive. It’s one of the best user interfaces I’ve ever seen.
It’s simple and it just works. For websites with basic features, you aren’t going to hit too many roadbumps along the way.
I really believe it’s the easiest platform in existence to make a website.
I’ve been coding and making websites for 15 years. When I take on a project and the client’s existing website isn’t on WordPress, I can feel like I’m stumbling around in the dark a bit.
And that’s me—someone who has spent thousands of hours learning new platforms and coding. I can only imagine how hard it must be for business owners who don’t know too much about technology and just want to spend a few hours to get a website up.
I didn’t even start using WordPress until a few years ago (shocking, I know). After I did, I realized what I was missing out on and never looked back when doing any Cincinnati website design.
Do the right thing and pick the solution that just works.
Easy to update
Oh look, I need to update one of my websites!
I’m pretty busy, so good thing WordPress also offers one-click updates for the core platform, plugins, and themes.
You might be tempted not to update your website. I could write another post about why this could be a huge mistake.
Updates generally contain security fixes—you don’t want to be the next Chipotle data breach, do you?
Keeping your site secure is vital if you store customer information or process payments on your website. Even if you don’t, hackers are still targeting your site so they can try to add things to your site and trick your customers. It’s not good either way.
A site that is secure today could be massively compromised tomorrow. Hackers are constantly looking for new exploits. That’s where updates come in—Norton AntiVirus isn’t going to help you this time.
There are benefits other than security improvements too. Updates might bring you more features, faster performance, bug fixes, and other tweaks to help your site keep up with new web-browsing devices and technologies.
If updating your website takes half an hour, you’re probably going to procrastinate since you’re so busy. That’s why WordPress updates are very speedy, and you can even turn on automatic updates.
Your site is YOUR SITE
With WordPress, you have full control over your website and data. You can back everything up at any time, move your website to another provider, or make whatever change you may need.
You can install any plugin or theme you want. You can even modify the code WordPress runs on (not that you should).
Let’s say your web hosting company goes downhill. You can migrate your WordPress site to another company in minutes.
Other solutions may have export features, but you’re out of luck if they don’t work.
And as far as customizing your site, impossible is not an option with WordPress. With enough tinkering, you can get your site to do whatever you want. Other more restrictive options may just not support what you’re looking to do.
Simple to implement “must-haves”
These days, your site absolutely must check a few boxes:
- Mobile compatibility
- Search engine optimized
- Fast and efficient
- Secure
You may have to invest some man-hours to check these boxes with other solutions.
As you may have guessed, that’s not the case with WordPress!
Avoid picking themes that aren’t mobile compatible. Most themes nowadays will be. This means your site will work on any device without any extra work on your end.
There are great plugins to optimize your site content quickly to appear higher in search engine results.
WordPress will offer your users snappy page loading times.
And as it’s easy to keep your site updated, it’s secure.
Engage your audience
Your website should be designed with audience engagement in mind. Get your customers excited and talking about your business!
Since most users spend fewer than 15 seconds on your website, you should add a few features to keep them on your site longer. WordPress makes this a piece of cake!
With plugins, it’s easy to add Facebook comments to your blog posts and social sharing icons to every page.
You should also use your site to build an email list, so you can keep your customers in the loop. Sign up for a free MailChimp account and add an email signup form or popup.
Whatever your business does, an engaged online audience will undoubtedly lead to more sales. That’s why the time and money you spend maintaining your website and social media are a worthwhile investment. WordPress ensures your investment will pay more dividends for your business than any other option.
It’s FREE! (Well, almost…)
The WordPress platform is free to use. Here’s their eloquent explanation of how they manage this:
Just like other open-source projects like Android, Wikipedia, and Linux, WordPress is an incredibly high-quality platform because tons of brilliant, committed people are working on it. They believe in the mission of helping businesses like yours get the word out to customers without paying an arm and leg.
Though WordPress is free, and you can get a free domain name like robbenmedia.com, you’ll need to pay for hosting from a company like Bluehost to get your site live.
While other services are $8-12 per month or more, you can find a quality web hosting company for as low as $3-4 per month. And this can even support your site as you add more complex features or bring in more web traffic—other services will make you upgrade to premium $25-30 per month packages and beyond.
Beyond that, you could do everything completely free. There are plenty of free themes and plugins. You’ll also have the option to make your life easier with paid add-ons—but you get to decide when that’s worth it, and you’ll still likely save money and end up with a higher-quality site.
Highly scalable for when you grow
As soon as you set it up, WordPress will be ready to suit the needs of most websites with average traffic. It’ll serve your small business well without any need to tweak the performance.
WordPress will still be there for you when your business takes off, you’re leveraging SEO to grow organically, and you make your way into the Fortune 500.
With millions of page views, you may need to get a more expensive hosting package and make some performance tweaks. But you’ll still be able to ride WordPress all the way to the top.
Huge sites like MTV News, Sony Music, The Walt Disney Company, and even Beyonce are powered by WordPress. You may not be able to tell because they are heavily customized, but I wouldn’t lie to you!
Ultra-quick set up
You may have been attracted to SquareSpace because they brag about “one-click install” and “easy set-up.” WordPress is just as easy!
Once you quickly sign up for your hosting account, most services offer WordPress one-click install features.
This means you input a few simple options like your site name, click install, and then start customizing your site immediately.
The few extra clicks involved with setting up your own WordPress platform will pay off for years to come. You’ll thank me when you start making thousands of dollars because of customizations you made to your website.
Convinced? Get Started With WordPress
As a parting gift, here’s a quick guide to get your WordPress website off the ground.
First, sign up for an Bluehost hosting account. After much research, I am convinced they’re the best option at a great price. Their cheapest package is less than $4 per month, and it should be enough for many businesses.
Once you log into your hosting account dashboard, you’ll see this. Click WordPress.
Click install, then fill out a few very simple options.
After this, you’ll see a few links and receive an email with your installation details. You’re good to go to log in. It’s that easy to install WordPress and get started!
Even though WordPress is pretty easy, it’s perfectly understandable if you don’t have the time your website deserves. You can use WordPress to create an excellent site quickly—or you can get your site up even more quickly by working with a website design company to take care of it for you. We clearly love WordPress, so we’d be glad to help.
And if you have any questions about your new WordPress site, I’d be happy to point you in the right direction as well.