7 reasons why you should use WordPress

If you search for "Why should I use WordPress?" in Google, you'll be amazed at the number of results. The web-related software industry is rapidly growing, and the need for a dependable and scalable CMS is at an all-time high.

Despite this trend, a huge number of startups still rely on making custom layouts for development projects. It's time to change these outdated practices. This article focuses on why WordPress is a strong fit for your web solutions.

WordPress is free and open source

People say that the best things in life are free. I say the best things in life are free and open source. That's WordPress: it's free and open source with a GPL license. This means that you save on any proprietary CMS software, and you get the benefits of the open-source community, of course.

Several limitations are associated with other website-building tools. WordPress frees you from these obstacles. The moment it's installed, you take full control of it. A change in a paid software's pricing model can hurt an entire business model. That isn't the case with WordPress.

WordPress is secure

Some people claim that WordPress itself isn't secure. This is largely based on misinformation about open-source software and WordPress in general. Any software is vulnerable to security breaches. Nothing is perfect. WordPress is over a decade old, and through the years it has been tested and refined, and a good number of security consultants and developers have made improvements to the core software.

There are several practical steps for keeping a WordPress site secure: strong passwords, updating themes and plugins regularly, secure server access and more. In addition, there are many WordPress-specific security plugins and services available.

WordPress has a massive support system

WordPress is supported by a robust online community. I call it the WordPress family. These are people who have been contributing their support and ideas generously since its launch, which makes it easy to find solutions to your questions and keeps support costs down.

There's a dedicated WordPress community on Stack Exchange, plus the official support forum, filled with WordPress professionals helping one another.

WordPress has thousands of free plugins and themes

It isn't uncommon for people to want a feature-rich website for their business. Building every feature from scratch is time-consuming. With WordPress, you don't need to reinvent the wheel.

Plugins can add complex features in a few clicks without hiring a coding expert. There are thousands of free plugins available, from adding a simple Submit button to your site to building a full eCommerce store. You can also find professionally designed templates for WordPress, both free and premium.

There's a caveat. Not all plugins and themes are built equally, and a problem can arise when you rely on too many third-party developers who write plugins as a hobby. There is a danger when you rely on a person's hobby for your whole business. Choose plugins carefully.

WordPress helps with SEO and social media

Online marketing is important and every business needs it. Two essential forms are SEO (search engine optimization) and social media marketing. WordPress helps with both.

Search engines understand websites powered by WordPress well. Matt Cutts, then head of Google's webspam team, said at WordCamp San Francisco in 2009:

WordPress automatically solves a ton of SEO issues.

A few default features and plugins can help you maintain and monitor your site's traffic, and well-known SEO plugins such as Yoast are used on a great many WordPress sites.

WordPress supports multilingual sites

Building a site that supports multiple languages can be challenging. With WordPress, you can create multilingual sites using translation plugins such as Polylang (free) and WPML (premium), which make it easy to build and run them.

WordPress scales

Although WordPress started off as a blogging platform, today it has evolved into a world-class content management tool. Many notable brands and publications use it, including large media sites that serve very high traffic.

Key takeaways

• WordPress has extensive open-source contributions and community support.
• It keeps both developers and clients happy. Developers find the building process easy and maintainable, and customers get useful features with massive support.
• It lowers the risk of proprietary systems by being open source.
• It's easier to find and hire developers who build with WordPress than with almost any proprietary CMS.
• It's easier to follow pre-built standards, or create and contribute new ones, to build a strong foundation.

So, are you ready to take your site to the next level with WordPress? Still not convinced? Let us know why. Reach out to us.