Here at Mackman, we develop websites using WordPress; the World’s most popular content management system (CMS) that offers the perfect digital hub for businesses of any size. WordPress is straightforward to update and manage; particularly for beginners.
In other words, we love WordPress, we love it a lot, and we are sure you will too!
What is WordPress?
WordPress is an open source software that enables anyone to create responsive and beautiful websites. In a nutshell, it is software that isn’t owned by any single entity; which means its code is available for everyone to see and change as they see fit.
Evolving from a single piece of code in 2003 to currently over 252,000 lines of code (and counting!), it has taken an estimated 65 person-years to get WordPress to where it is today, and it’s showing no sign of letting up.
According to Forbes, WordPress runs approximately 25% of the entire internet, but how is that statistic beneficial when looking to build a new website? Here are our top five reasons why WordPress is the best website software.
Five reasons to use WordPress
1. It’s easy to use
The dashboard and its tools have evolved over the last 15 years and it’s as easy to add or edit content as it is to write a simple email. Training requirements are therefore small and the cost of ownership kept low as a result of this.
2. Train members of your team to use it effectively
WordPress is incredibly easy to use and supports many users to which different roles can be assigned. So if someone on your team shows a particular interest in managing your site, but has no previous experience, it’s easy to pick up new skills and feel confident.
3. Search engine friendly
Appearing on a search engine results page is very important for your business, and there are many key factors to improving your website’s visibility that are often overlooked. By using WordPress, features such as pretty permalinks (full URLs to a site), title tags and headings, optimised images and well written HTML code are all present, which gives your site a better chance at ranking against competitors.
4. There is a massive community surrounding, developing for and supporting WordPress
Thousands of developers worldwide are constantly working to enhance the platform, which means there is a supportive community of individuals and groups. Thanks to this community, the platform is constantly up to speed with all the latest developments within the industry (and it also means there is one less element for you to worry about)
5. There are currently 30,000+ plugins available for WordPress
This means that when there is a requirement for additional functionality, someone has more often than not been there before, and has fulfilled that requirement for the benefit of other users by creating a piece of software, or ‘plugin’, that enables that functionality.
We used WordPress to create TCM’s website which helped improve effective communication with key customers and create a stronger brand.
The future of WordPress
The future is very bright, and we can certainly expect the expansion to continue. A revamp of the content editor (codenamed ‘Gutenberg’) means that it will be even easier for users to create, reuse and maintain content, and WordPress’ continuing development of its API (application programming interface) will ensure it is simple for third party developers to combine their plugins and systems with the CMS.
Ultimately, WordPress is perfect for your business, and there has never been a better time to upgrade your website. By using it, you’ll be safe in the knowledge that your site is user responsive, community supported, SEO friendly and future proof.
James Royce is Technical and Operations Director at Mackman, a Sudbury based full-service branding and marketing agency.
If you would like one of the specialists at Mackman to provide a comment or write an opinion piece for your publication, give us a call on 01787 388038, or email customerservice@mackmangroup.co.uk