When you have to pick a website builder hands down the best choice for you is self-hosted WordPress. WordPress is one of the most used content management systems available. Below are ten reasons why you should use WordPress.
1) It’s Free!
That’s right, it’s completely free. While you can pay money for premium themes and plugins you can also do most things with free themes and free plugins that you need.
2) It’s Open Source
What this means is that you can alter the code, redistribute your changes in design, and collaborate openly with others to make the software better.
3) Superior Functionality
What else can you say but WordPress works. It’s intuitive, it’s simple, it looks great, and it can do everything you need it to do.
4) Easy to Use
If you can use Facebook, Twitter, and other online software you can easily use WordPress. It works the way you think it’s supposed to.
5) Awesome Design Options
WordPress looks fabulous and is very easily updated with just a few clicks depending on the theme you choose. You can pay for premium themes, or use the free ones recommended on WordPress.org to create exactly the website you want.
6) Easy to Keep Secure
WordPress is easy to keep secure with free and paid plugins to add essential security features to your website. It’s very important to be able to easily back up your website, and keep it secure from hackers and viruses and WordPress makes it simple.
7) Great for SEO
Search engine optimization is easy with WordPress. By using a simple plugin, and by entering the information needed, plus creating regular blog posts, your SEO will almost take care of itself. Google loves WordPress!
8) Accessible to Everyone
Some people do not realize it but some websites are invisible or impossible to read for those with various handicaps. Did you know that blind people also read websites? All WordPress websites are accessible to people with various disabilities without any extra coding. The only thing you might want to remember to do is always fill in the “alt” text for photographs so that they will know what a photo is by hearing their reader state what the graphic is.
9) Expandable
You can make your WordPress website as big as you want, with as many functions as you want. There is really nothing that cannot be accomplished with a WordPress website. Start small and move your way up without having to start fresh.
10) Huge Community
If you get stuck, you can ask the community for help. They are very nice, responsive and helpful. Do try reading through the tutorials, or watching videos before asking for help, but if you get stuck there is always help.
You can use WordPress websites for every type of website from an ecommerce site to an online portfolio website. Only your imagination can stop you. Feel free to go beyond what you thought was possible to create a full-fledged website that will serve your business well for a fraction of the cost and without coding ability.
I’ve had a WordPress website for my divorce guidance biz for 3 years.
Overall I find it easy to use- but since the designer I hired had customized a child theme a lot when creating my site, it sometimes crashes when I do a major updated on it which makes the whole site disappear until he restores it.
I have a question- why does WordPress expect us to do updates so frequently on so many things on our site?
Great question, Nancy! The actual code (or program) for WordPress only changes once every couple months or so. That is not *too* frequent.
Each plugin you use, probably only get updated every once in a while as well. So each one is not too frequent (although some get updated weekly like security plugins).
Also, each theme only changes once in a while (every few months or so) – again… not so bad.
What *MAY* get overwhelming is that each one of these updates happens at different times, so it just seems like something needs to be updated all the time! There is no one universal date when updates come up for everything.
Updates are usually a good thing because it helps with either security, bugs, or additional functionality, or all of these!
I love WordPress. I did not realize it was so accessible to those with different abilities, though. My mom works at a radio station for the blind. She reads the food ads each week. So, this is a very important feature! Guess I had better go check my alt tags!
Alt tags are definitely great to use for that reasons, Elisabeth! Also, when describing the image, you should use your keywords to help boost SEO! Thanks for stopping by!
Well this is sooo very true and that’s why I swear by WordPress LOL. Like I always recommend this resource for anyone wanting to start online.
Thanks for sharing the #10-Community. Because honestly, all though I LOVE WordPress, sometimes I do get stuck and always need help! I can’t keep using “YouTube” all the time. My problems are bigger than YouTube.
Janelle
Thanks, Janelle! It is all about community! There is so much you can do with it, and interacting with folks is a huge benefit!
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Thanks for stopping by!