Just as there are people today that have never used a VHS tape, never had the chance to enjoy a Humunga-Chunga from Chi Chi’s, and don’t remember music before Nickelback ruined it forever, there are young web designers that have never experienced a world without WordPress. And for good reason. WordPress is quite literally everywhere.
The venerable content management system and web design tool began its life in 2003. Today it’s estimated to power 34% of the websites on the planet — a full third of the internet. That’s a staggering number, and it speaks to the power of the platform.
It continues to be the tool of choice for millions of designers, so it bears exploring WordPress pros and cons to see why, after 16 years, it’s showing no signs of going the way of the VHS tape.
WordPress Pros and Cons – The Pros
There are far more reasons to like WordPress than to fear it. It’s an excellent tool for beginners and advanced users alike. Below are a few of the most notable reasons.
<h3″>It’s Easy to Use
There’s a learning curve if you’re trying to design a site from scratch, but if you’re starting with a template, or if you’re just looking to add new content, like blog posts, to a site designed by a professional, the CMS tools included in WordPress are hard to beat.
WordPress features an intuitive interface that’s designed to be fast and flexible. Users don’t need to know HTML or any other coding language to use the software. This makes changing and adding to a WordPress site a fairly simple proposition.
It Features Thousands of Plugins To Extend Its Capabilities
There’s almost nothing you can’t do with a WordPress site. If the functionality you need isn’t included in the basic installation, you can almost certainly add it with a plugin.
There are plugins that help you build email lists, handle contact form creation, and provide deep site analytics. You can create a stunning portfolio page and get help with SEO. You can even design fully-functional eCommerce sites in WordPress with the right plugin.
WordPress is Built for Consistency
Web design works best when it’s consistent. Visual elements should look the same from page to page. Colors, fonts, text sizing, images and more should all flow organically throughout the design. When a site is cohesive, it feels professional. WordPress makes consistent design easy.
Visual elements that are created in the WordPress environment can be shared across all the pages in a site so that when new pages are created, they reflect the same default design choices.
It’s Easy to Install and It’s Free!
WordPress is open-source, which means it was developed by a community of people interested in building the best CMS tool they could, for their own use and for others. No company owns it, so it’s free for anyone to install and use.
Many leading web hosting services include a ready-to-use WordPress installation as a standard part of their hosting plans. But even if yours doesn’t, installing WordPress is a fairly simple process.
WordPress Pros and Cons – The Cons
Like anything, WordPress isn’t perfect. It does fall down in a few places. But its problems are like Ringo’s songs in the Beatles music catalog. They can be a bit annoying, but they certainly don’t do anything to ruin the legacy.
Updates Can Be Challenging
WordPress is constantly being improved, so it needs to be updated occasionally. Depending on your hosting provider, this can be tricky, particularly if you’re using a lot of plugins.
This hassle can be avoided by choosing a web host that helps in the updating process. You also don’t need to worry about this if you have professional designers create and host your site. They’ll take care of updates for you.
There is a Learning Curve
If you’re building a simple blog a template will work just fine for you. But if you need a multi-page company website with advanced functionality, beginners may find they’re in a bit over their heads.
That’s why it can be best to trust the creation of your WordPress site to professionals. They will craft a flawless design and then give you the tools to maintain it.
Plugins Can Cause Conflicts
Installing too many WordPress plugins can begin to cause problems, as they trip over each other trying to style your page. If you’re designing your site by yourself, this is something to be aware of.
It’s not a concern at all if you have your site created by a web design firm. They’re fully cognizant of how plugins interact and can prevent any problems.
We Design WordPress Sites That Sing
We hope it’s clear that the WordPress pros and cons greatly favor the pros column. At Puget Tech, we love the platform and use it constantly to create beautiful, functional sites for clients in many industries. Think Lennon and McCartney, or Harrison at his best. Poor Ringo.
If you’d like help creating your own site, check out what we offer. We have packages to fit most any budget and can get you the results you’re looking for.
