Released in 2003 as a blogging system, today open source WordPress has evolved into the most popular and best web content management system (CMS) in the world currently powering more than 26% of the web. WordPress is so powerful, it is limited only by your imagination and of course your tech skills. So why are companies and organizations continuing to use other open source CMS's such as Drupel, Joomla, and concrete5? To be completely honest, we have no idea! When considering your next website redesign, you shouldn't consider using any other CMS. Here are our top 5 reasons to use WordPress!
1. most popular cms in the world
Wordpress is only limited by your imagination and of course, your tech skills.
As outlined above, WordPress is the most popular open source CMS in the world powering more than 26.4% of the top 10 million websites as of April 2016. Being the most popular open source CMS in the world of course has its drawbacks but the positives far out weigh the negatives. Take for instance the thousands of free plugins that you have at your fingertips right in the WordPress Plugin Directory. Here you can find free plugins that are both easy to install and built by credible and active authors. Looking for a plugin that will help you hide your WordPress log in page? They have you covered. Looking for a plugin that blocks spammers from commenting on your Blog? No problem. There are a few free plugins that take care of that. Looking for a free SEO plugin that helps you optimize your pages content with real time page analysis? The Yoast team has you covered and you can find all of these and 44,668 more plugins on the WordPress Plugin Directory.
On top of the thousands of free plugins, WordPress also offers 15 free Themes that you can download from their Theme Directory on WordPress.org's website. Themes are the lifeblood of the design of your website and if you are a code/dream weaver expert, you can build and design your own themes and the possibilities for your new website are endless. Don't have the technical skills to build your own themes? Hire a developer like to build a custom WordPress website.
The underlying premise here is that with WordPress being the most popular and best web content management system in the world, the resources that you have at your fingertips are endless and so are the developers that build with it.
2. wordpress is open source
picking the right development partner is essential with open source solutions.
Open Source solutions can be very powerful, especially when you pick the right development partner to help you harness the full power of the open source solution and WordPress is no exception. Although WordPress is free, developing a top of the line WordPress website isn't and picking the right development partner is essential. WordPress developers are a dime a dozen but the good ones are not but that is what brings us to one of the biggest benefits of WordPress... Since WordPress is an open source solution, if you are dedicated to using WordPress but you are not happy with your current WordPress developer, you can move on to another WordPress developer without having to start from scratch (most of the time).
WordPress is backed by WordPress.org which is an entire network of WordPress experts and developers that continually maintain and improve the platform. The original design team is still heavily involved and WordPress.org is also now supported by WordPress.com which is a pay for hosting service for basic WordPress websites.
With Proprietary content management systems, you are usually dealing with one company that may or may not be around when you need them most. When selecting a proprietary CMS, it's important that you have confidence in the company offering the solution. You need to make sure they are willing and able to continually invest and maintain the product that you have most likely paid thousands/tens of thousands of dollars for. Some other challenges of choosing proprietary content management systems are:
- Limited options when it comes to software enhancements
- Customization can be very expensive
- Likely limited to the standard modules and functionality available when purchased
- Not keeping up with changes to social networking integration
- Not keeping up with Google's many updates to search algorithms
You don't have to worry about these problems with WordPress because it is backed by WordPress.org. WordPress is here to stay and will likely continue to dominate the open source CMS space for the foreseeable future.
3. Unlimited Hosting Options
PICK A host. any host. they want your business.
With the emergence and dominance of WordPress, all hosting providers are competing for WordPress hosting business driving down prices and driving up the quality of customer service. Inmotion Hosting (one of our partners) is the industry leader in customer service. Their 100% satisfaction guarantee leaves no doubt that they are the right host for any sized business/client. They cater so much to WordPress users they have made it as easy as clicking a few buttons to install WordPress on your server and they aren't the only ones! Whether you are considering Host Gator, WPengine, GoDaddy, or Bluehost, every hosting provider today is competing for your business and they are constantly striving to better accommodate WordPress users.
One piece of advice: be sure to compare a few providers before choosing one. Compare prices and services and most importantly, CUSTOMER SERVICE. Don't be hesitant to pay more for great customer service. In times of great need, the few extra dollars per month for great customer service will seem well worth it. There is nothing worse than an inattentive hosting provider, especially when things are not going well or your website is down. 24/7/365 support chat is a must and a dedicated account manager is a huge plus.
4. WordPress is safe and secure
With the right partner wordpress is the most secure cms, hands down.
There is a "lack of security" stigma surrounding WordPress and a feeling that it is very vulnerable to proficient hackers. This stigma could not be more false and with the right partner, WordPress can be the most secure CMS on the market. Just like all software solutions, WordPress has had and currently has vulnerabilities but these vulnerabilities can be mitigated by doing 3 things:
- Being vigilant at updating and upgrading WordPress immediately when new patches are released. Also, remember to update all plugins that are installed on your website.
- Follow a specific set of best practices that can be found and downloaded by clicking this link. These best practices will help insure your websites security.
- Secure your website with an SSL certificate and consider following WordPress PCI compliance standards.
Anyone that tells you that WordPress isn't secure and can't be trusted as a reliable CMS clearly isn't a content management system expert and you should steer clear of this advice. WordPress with the right partner can be the most secure CMS on the market, hands down. For more information on WordPress Security download the WordPress security check list by clicking the button below.
5. Loads of Support
99% of the time, your answer is found by asking google.
One of the biggest complaints about open source and proprietary CMS options is the lack of support. Support is essential when attempting to mitigate problems such as plugin and theme support, customizing the software, as well as mitigating security risks and vulnerabilities. Aside from the amazing forums found on WordPress.or1g, there are a ton of awesome WordPress support resources on the web. Sometimes the easiest way to find a solution to your issue is literally entering your question/problem into Google Search and abracadabra! your answer is found. Seriously, that is how easy it is to find the answer to your WordPress problem/questions 99% of the time. For the other 1% of problems that can't be solved by searching the forums found on WordPress.org/support or searching Google, you can simply start a new ticket on WordPress.org and a trusted WordPress developer/support specialist will respond as soon as possible.
A lack of support should be the least of your worries when it comes to WordPress. Another great resource for you and your team should also be the WordPress development team that you choose to work with. Your WordPress developer should be focused on closely working with each of their clients website managers and should be ready and willing to field any WordPress questions you may have.
Thanks for reading our latest blog post!
Thanks so much for reading our latest blog post! For more information on security, check out our WordPress Security page OR click here to go to our contact page and setup a time to speak with one of our our WordPress experts. Looking for some SEO tips and tricks? Check out our blog post "SEO Tips and Tricks - Easy Mistake to Avoid in you next Redesign" or download our guide "10 SEO Mistakes to avoid in your next Redesign" by clicking the button below!
