WordPress is an incredibly popular content management system (CMS) used by millions worldwide. It’s used to create everything from blogs and personal websites to full-fledged eCommerce stores. But why do so many people choose WordPress as their go-to CMS? In this blog post, we’ll explore why WordPress is so widely adopted and how it can help you achieve your goals.
Whilst most clients have heard of WordPress, they might not know what it can do, so we’re often asked why it will benefit them and whether it will be easy to use.
We thought it was about time we explained why we chose it as our go-to platform when building a content-managed site.
What is WordPress?
WordPress has a fascinating history and a rich background that has contributed to its widespread popularity today. It all started in 2003 when Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little created WordPress as a blogging platform. Initially, it was designed to meet the needs of bloggers, allowing them to publish and manage their content easily.
Previously, you would have found sites using it as a separate tool to manage the news or blog areas from the primary content management system (CMS). Over time, WordPress has developed into a powerful CMS managing all aspects of a website for bloggers and businesses and individuals looking to create websites. It gained traction in the web design industry as a reliable and efficient tool for building websites.
WordPress’s open-source nature played a significant role in its growth. The open-source community, comprising developers and contributors from around the world, has continuously enhanced and expanded WordPress’s capabilities. This collaborative effort has led to the development of a robust and flexible platform.
Today, WordPress is not just a blogging platform or a CMS; it has become a reliable and versatile solution for creating all kinds of websites. It’s user-friendly interface and intuitive design make it accessible to individuals with little to no coding experience. Moreover, its scalability allows businesses of all sizes to use it effectively.
From a basic level, it enables you to add, edit and manage any page, article or media file on your website, and with thousands of third-party WordPress plugins that are free or cheap to license, we can pretty much build anything you want.
With its widespread adoption and extensive range of features, it’s no wonder that London WordPress agencies like ours have chosen to specialise in WordPress development. The platform’s popularity grows, attracting users from all walks of life and fulfilling various website needs.
Features of WordPress
When it comes to the features of WordPress, there is a lot to talk about. This versatile content management system offers a wide range of capabilities, making it a go-to choice for many individuals and businesses.
One of the standout features of WordPress is its extensive collection of themes and plugins. With thousands of free and premium themes available, you can easily customise the design and functionality of your website to suit your needs. Whether you’re looking for a sleek and professional design or a more creative and unique look, there is a theme for you.
At Fhoke, we specialise in custom themes to give clients a unique look and feel that they own. we believe that by harnessing our experienced design team’s talents, you will be offered the best in UX and UI across every project stage. Establishing a style throughout the site ensures everything is consistent for the user, whatever page they are on.
In addition to themes and plugins, WordPress also offers powerful SEO tools. You can optimise your website’s content, meta tags, and URL structure to improve your search engine rankings and attract more organic traffic. With the help of SEO plugins like Yoast, you can quickly implement best practices without needing extensive technical knowledge.
Another notable feature of WordPress is its user-friendly interface. You don’t need to be a coding expert to create and manage your website. The intuitive dashboard and drag-and-drop functionality allow you to easily add and edit content, create pages, and manage media files. This user-friendly approach has made WordPress accessible to individuals of all skill levels.
These are just a few features that make WordPress a popular choice for website creation. Its extensive range of capabilities, user-friendly interface, and the support of the WordPress community and agencies like ours make it a reliable and versatile CMS that can help you achieve your goals.
Versatility and Flexibility
WordPress offers unparalleled versatility and flexibility, making it a top choice for individuals and businesses. WordPress can accommodate your needs whether you want to create a blog, an eCommerce store, a portfolio website, or even a corporate site.
The platform’s versatility lies in its extensive range of plugins to expand the base capabilities of WordPress. We use a content editor called Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), giving us, and you, the power to build out new and beautiful pages without needing to recruit an in-house designer once we’ve handed over the keys. That’s where you’ll start getting a real return on your investment. You’ll only need to call on us to bake in new functionality or content blocks to present copy and images differently.
To see some elaborate layouts, why not check out New Legend or Original Software? With these kinds of sites, we need something more potent than text-based content. This is where ACF, a WordPress plugin, joins the party.
When We Use WordPress
For most of our clients, we’ll choose to use WordPress. Most websites today run standard and bespoke text pages, blogs or news sections and have various features like galleries, contact forms, logins and basic eCommerce needs. WordPress and the thousands of plugins available can handle all those requirements with no problems asked, and that’s why we’ll use WordPress to fit your needs over a bespoke CMS.
Utilising the vast plugin library, we can seamlessly integrate features like form builders and online shops into your website, cutting costs and saving time. Rather than building something from scratch, we can leverage the power of WordPress plugins to meet your needs efficiently and effectively.
So, when it comes to website development, if your requirements align with the capabilities of WordPress, we’ll choose it as our go-to CMS. It’s a reliable, versatile, and accessible platform that allows us to deliver a high-quality website that meets your goals and exceeds your expectations.
Why WordPress Benefits You
There are still web design agencies (and we hear of them a lot) who like to charge a ‘reasonable’ upfront cost for a website to get you onboard, only to charge questionable fees to make changes to your website every time and for the simplest updates. That’s just wrong!
We build our sites on WordPress, making it easy for you to change and add content yourself. We’ll also give you a tutorial on how to update all the areas of your website.
You can log in through any browser from anywhere worldwide and update your site on the fly without using us. We package you up with a website that works.
When your requirements change, and you need that shopping cart or that members area added to your site, WordPress will have a plugin ready for the job, and with a bit of magic from us, we’ll get your new features up and running quickly.
WordPress Alternatives
90% of the time, we’ll use WordPress, but we’ll also build eCommerce stores on BigCommerce and Shopify (as well as the WordPress plugin WooCommerce). We also rely on Statamic, an intuitive content management system with fast load speeds and version-controlled content. Here’s a bit more information on these popular alternatives to consider:
1 Shopify
If WordPress doesn’t seem the right fit for you, don’t worry! Plenty of other content management system (CMS) options exist to meet your website needs. One popular alternative to consider is Shopify. Shopify is a dedicated eCommerce platform that offers a wide range of features specifically designed for online stores. It provides seamless integration with payment systems, inventory management, and marketing tools to help you run a successful online business. Whether a small boutique or a large enterprise, Shopify can be an excellent option for creating and managing your online store.
2 BigCommerce
For those looking for an alternative to Shopify for an eCommerce platform, BigCommerce is a strong contender. BigCommerce offers a range of features specifically tailored to online businesses, including built-in marketing tools, secure payment integration, and customisable storefront designs. With its focus on eCommerce functionality, Bigcommerce provides a comprehensive solution for creating a successful online store. So, if you’re primarily focused on selling products online, BigCommerce may be worth considering as an alternative to WordPress.
3 Statamic
While WordPress is a popular and versatile CMS, it may not fit everyone best. If you’re looking for an alternative, you might consider Statamic. Statamic is a modern and flexible CMS offering a unique website development approach. It uses a flat file system, so it doesn’t rely on a traditional database like WordPress. This can result in faster loading times and a more efficient workflow. Additionally, Statamic offers a user-friendly interface and a robust set of features that make it a viable option for individuals and businesses looking for a different CMS experience.
4 WooCommerce
When creating an online store, WooCommerce is the perfect companion to WordPress. WooCommerce is a popular plugin that seamlessly integrates with WordPress, allowing you to easily set up and manage your eCommerce store. With WooCommerce, you can customise your store’s design, add product listings, set up payment gateways, and manage orders and inventory from the same user-friendly interface. It offers a range of features specifically designed for eCommerce, making it a powerful tool for anyone looking to sell products online. So, if you’re looking to build an online store, WooCommerce is a fantastic option.
There isn’t anything we can’t do, and we’ll always choose the right platform for you and your future needs. Whatever you’re looking to do, we can help. Contact us for a chat.
