A Web Designer’s Love Fest with WordPress
February 10, 2015
CONSUME CREATIVELY
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Most of us interact with websites on the daily without giving much thought to the backbones of the site and how it manages to exist on the World Wide Web; web designers view them a little differently. They think in terms of the content management systems supporting the site. Some web developers can take one look at a website and visualize the code that directs the contents of the site to behave as they do.
As unique as all the sites on the Internet may appear, nearly a quarter of them have one thing in common: they were built with WordPress.
2014 State of the Word Address
Image from 2014 State of the Word Address SlideShare presentation.
In Matt Mullenweg’s 2014 State of the Word Address he elaborated on the growing power WordPress harnesses. Between 2012 and 2013, the number of websites running on WordPress increased 1.5% from 17.4% to 18.9%. The more impressive figure was the jump from 2013 to 2014; 23.2% of all sites on the Internet now run on WordPress.
So what’s all this WordPress hubbub really about?
Our very own website expert, creative officer and founder, Monica Pitts, gave the inside scoop about Why Web Designers Love WordPress to the Columbia Business Times last year.
But let’s backtrack just a step for those of you still wondering exactly what WordPress is. Put simply, WordPress is a content management system (CMS), meaning it’s a tool that can be used to publish, edit, modify and manage website content. How the content looks and is presented on each webpage can be altered to give sites a unique touch. The blogging feature of WordPress sites is also notable for being easy to use and allowing website admins to schedule out blog posts either hours, days, weeks or months in advance.
By describing Why Web Designers Love WordPress, Monica offered some solid insights into the benefits this blogging tool and content management system brings to users and why she thinks it’s here to stay.
7 Reasons Why We Love WordPress
1. Great Usability
Monica highlighted one of the most important reasons why WordPress is an awesome content management system (CMS) when she said how user friendly it is. People without any knowledge of HTML can easily update their WordPress website content because the interface doesn’t require you to make changes via code.
What does this mean for users?
- Lower maintenance costs.
- No more waiting around for a webmaster to make changes and alterations to your website.
Image from BuiltWith.com
2. It’s Expandable
WordPress sites are extremely easy to individualize so they behave with the exact functionality you need. As Monica put it, components can be “added and subtracted from the core functionalities with ease.” This means that WordPress sites are flexible and can be modified over time to reflect your business as it grows.
For example, say you own a veterinary clinic and want to be able to start scheduling appointments with clients online through your website. Instead of having to completely rebuild your website to add in this function, the site can just be modified with a plugin to accommodate this feature.
As of the 2014 State of the Word Address there were 34,061 free plugins available for download from WordPress.org.
What does this mean for users?
- Plugins are like pre-made cookie batter. All you have to do is download them and add them to your site. Why reinvent the wheel and develop custom features for your website from scratch when you could already have your website cooking?
3. Written in PHP
According to Monica, web developers want to cuddle up to WordPress because the CMS is written in a programming language that results in:
- Faster load times for websites
- Less expensive software (thanks to it being open source)
- Less expensive hosting
- Database flexibility
What does this mean for users?
- These benefits translate to lower costs all around for your company when it comes to maintaining your website.
- Additionally, you’ll keep your website visitors happier by allowing them to access your content quicker instead of wasting their time waiting for your site to load.
4. It’s Open Source
As of December 2013 WordPress powered over 69 million websites. That number has increased even more over the past year.
What does it mean for software to be open source? Basically, it comes down to this fact: the software is available to the public at no cost and anyone can access the code for the purposes of studying it, using it or modifying it.
WordPress.org is open source and that means experts are constantly working to improve it’s framework. What WordPress is capable of doing becomes a community collaboration and effort among programmers, which will ultimately result in a higher quality product.
What does this mean for WordPress users?
- In addition to being able to use the software for free, users will never have to worry about finding a new developer to work on their website. There are thousands of web developing gurus familiar with all the ins and outs of WordPress willing to help out.
5. Highly Supported
WordPress was initially released in 2003 and has grown to be a buzz word in the web developer community. Updates are constantly undergone to ensure the system offers the most recent features technology has to offer. There are whole communities of programmers on “Team WordPress” that will support and promote the system for website creation.
What does this mean for WordPress users?
- If you’re worried about getting the adequate training to learn how to use WordPress, there are endless tutorials available to help you along the way.
- Any problem you encounter while using WordPress is just a quick Google search away from being resolved.
6. SEO
Good SEO (search engine optimization) is something that every business should strive for their website to achieve. This is all about altering and amending your website content so it ranks high on a search engine results page, which in turn makes it easier for people to find your website featuring your products and/or services.
WordPress made sites are guaranteed to produce good SEO for your business from the get-go. Monica mentioned how search engines like WordPress sites because of the way they’re created and structured.
What does this mean for WordPress users?
- Due to this “liking” your website will rank higher in search engines if it’s supported by WordPress as opposed to if the site was built from scratch.
7. Available Development Talent
Finally, Monica believes web developers love WordPress is because it’s becoming universal in the sense that it’s easy to find companies or individual web developers familiar with the software. This ever-growing pool of talented developers who are experts at using and molding the software are looking to help those whose business specialties lie in different industries.
What does this mean for WordPress users?
- Security! If your current client/web designer relationship isn’t satisfying you, don’t be afraid to look for help from a different company. Experts are lurking around every corner vying for your attention. One of them may be a better fit for you.
Who Manifested This Madness?
This fabulous human, that's who.
Monica Maye Pitts
Monica is the creative force and founder of MayeCreate. She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with an emphasis in Economics, Education and Plant Science from the University of Missouri. Monica possesses a rare combination of design savvy and technological know-how. Her clients know this quite well. Her passion for making friends and helping businesses grow gives her the skills she needs to make sure that each client, or friend, gets the attention and service he or she deserves.
