Need a New Website? Here’s Why WordPress May Be a Great Option.
You’ve heard of WordPress, but chances are that if you haven’t used it yourself, you’re wondering, “What’s the big deal?”
Maybe you remember it being mentioned as a blogging platform. It’s true that this is how WordPress got its start.
But now, WordPress is on an entirely different paradigm. Here’s a short list of facts about wordpress that may surprise you:
- A whopping 35% of all websites online use WordPress. More than one third!
- Due to its stack of features (more on that later), many top brands use WordPress to power their websites, including Google, Time Magazine, Facebook, the White House, Quartz, The New York Times, CNN, eBay, and so many more. The list goes on and on…
- WordPress is now a versatile Content Management System, allowing for every nature of full websites. From online stores to mobile applications, the sky is the limit.
- WordPress is free software.
- WordPress is Open Source. It’s one of the most extensive open source projects of all time. The code that makes WordPress run is available for anyone to play with and modify. It’s global community software!
Surprised?
Using WordPress is like wielding the collaborative efforts of countless programmers around the world. Any fix or feature you want on your site has a literally global effort of code behind it, often free to use.
There’s no comparison, and that’s why over a third of the world’s websites are now running on WordPress.
|
% of All Websites
|
% of CMS Market
|
|
|
WordPress
|
35
|
62
|
|
Joomla
|
2.6
|
4.6
|
|
Drupal
|
1.7
|
3.0
|
|
Squarespace
|
1.5
|
2.7
|
|
Wix
|
1.3
|
2.3
|
Via Kinsta
So How Does It Work?
WordPress uses a file structure for styling (themes, plugins, images, and more) and a database for storing content and structure (words, users, pages, and other attributes and data).
Building a site with WordPress includes.
- Choosing and customizing a theme – There is a massive marketplace of themes, each with their own funtionality, styles, and structure. Some projects benefit from custom-made or child themes. A good theme is a solid foundation, so it’s crucial to have experience and knowledge of the market when choosing a theme.
- Installing and customizing any needed plugins – Plugins are the lifeblood of WordPress, and a huge part of what makes it such a powerful platform. As with themes, having experience with plugins is like having an arsenal of web tools to draw from. At Blackfin, we make calculated, no-B.S. choices on plugin infrastructure, and we can even create custom plugins to suit our clients’ needs.
- Styling and designing your site – With mockups and wireframes, experienced web designers can incorporate important UX/UI decisions in a collaborative build with their clients. We think this is the best way to build a website for success. This is also where you incorporate custom CSS and Javascript functionality.
- Populating with content – The right rhetoric, imagery, and content flow is key. Your website should have a targeted approach, intentionally designed to help your target users get the information, engagement, and sales they are looking for.
The Right Choice for MANY Websites
WordPress gives more people than ever the power to build websites well, build them quickly, and adapt them to almost any need.
Nothing can trade for professional design, measured digital marketing and strategy, the ability to use custom code when needed, and experience with the WordPress ecosystem.
These days, almost everyone incorporates an online element to their business. So hiring experienced WordPress pros truly makes all the difference.
At Blackfin, we love creating tailored solutions for our clients’ online needs.
Get in touch with us. We’re happy to chat more about what a stellar WordPress site can do for you.
When WordPress Isn’t Enough
All this being said, WordPress has its limitations. There are a handful of scenarios in which it may not be the best choice, and it’s important to consider these. Let’s look at a few such cases.
1. Extensive Customization Needs
As mentioned, WordPress has the most diverse market of custom solutions out there. It’s worth searching through the plugins out there to if there is one or some that can meet your needs.
But every business is different. Your web needs may be specific enough to require a custom-tailored solution. With the growing popularity of SaaS (“Software as a Service”), and generally rising standards on the web, your project may be best served as a web app.
For example, if you want your users to have web access to a corresponding mobile app that gives them real-time event data together with a scheduling and communication portal…you’ll need a custom solution.
Blackfin Webware has over 30 years of experience creating custom solutions for the web. We like keeping it simple for the businesses we serve. We recommend WordPress when it makes sense.
And, if you need a custom web application, we can help there too.
2. Site Speed
WordPress can be fast. You can use light or custom themes, keep bulky plugins to a minimum, and, of course ALWAYS optimize your images. You can create a headless WordPress site to really trim the fat.
But, let’s face it, the strength of WordPress and other Content Management Systems is that most of the hard work is out of the way, created by other plugin and theme developers to make more functionality possible on your site. Such additions can add up quickly, eventually becoming bulk that slows down your page speed, affecting your SEO and user experience.
For most websites, it doesn’t make financial sense to build a custom site from the ground up just to save on page speed. However, especially with custom web apps, it may be of the utmost importance for your specific needs.
So speed is one factor to consider.
