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The Case For WordPress
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Why use WordPress? With the popularity of using WordPress for building websites, this is a common question. I would like to give you some reasons (hopefully 40 Reasons is enough to convince you) to use WordPress for your blog, business website or ecommerce site. Whether you are a nonprofit, SMB, ministry or other organization, starting your digital marketing journey with WordPress is best.
In making the case for WordPress, I will begin with the area of cost. For most small businesses or organizations, cost is a major concern. If it is your only concern, WordPress is best. Hands down. Case closed! Why is it best? Because WordPress is free!
1. WordPress is best because it is free!
Yes, WordPress is free! Almost. The software is free to download at wordpress.org. There are some costs to get started, however. But, those cost are very low.
2 The cost to get started is very low.
All you need is a place to host your site. In building your digital presence, WordPress can be a whole new branch or store location. But your web host is who you will lease your storefront or office space from. What does very low cost mean? As low as $2.95 month at Bluehost, who comes recommended by WordPress.org. In the area of cost, WordPress is best.
3. Lower maintenance costs
In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that WordPress does require maintenance. Maintenance can be performed by you or your staff or you can hire a third-party. But the point I want to emphasize is that maintenance costs are lower for WordPress than with similar software ( CMSs like Drupal and Joomla).
Drupal vs Joomla vs WordPress: Open Source CMS Comparison
http://www.comentum.com/drupal-vs-joomla-cms-comparison.html
4. Upgrades are free.
A software upgrade is an updated version of your software that “should” offer a significant change or improvement. Upgrades are neccessary because technology is constantly changing. The cost of upgrades are not an issue with WordPress because they are offered free.
5. WordPress is Open-Source.
WordPress is “by the people, for the people!” Released under GNU GPL license, WordPress can be downloaded and used by anyone in the world. The source code is free to be modified and improved upon. It is maintained by regular people, many of whom contribute on a voluntary basis.
6. WordPress is dedicated to integration with other applications.
Many popular web-based applications integrate well with WordPress.
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Why Use WordPress? Its Easy.
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7. Easy to Setup
WordPress is so widely used that most web hosts offer a “5-Minute Install” method for WordPress.
8 Easy To Learn
Learning the basics of WordPress does not take much time and help is readily available in the form of classes, videos, and forums. For example, ithemes offers a series of free WordPress tutorials that “cover everything you need to know to get started using WordPress.”
9. Easy To Modify Your Content
Updating content on a WP site is easy enough that almost anyone can do it. Usually it can be done without the services of a paid professional. So the ease with which you can modify your content is yet another area in which WordPress is best.
10. Easy to change the look of you site by changing themes.
11. WordPress now has longevity
WordPress is all grown up. Created in 2003, it is now older than Facebook and Twitter. It celebrates its 14th birthday this year. It has weathered the storms (unfair criticism and security issues) and aged gracefully. WordPress parent company, Automatic, has a staff of over 25 people dedicated solely to increasing and improving security. It now stands as a solid platform and should only get better.
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Why Use WordPress? eCommerce.
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12. eCommerce is free.
13 eCommerce is easy to setup.
Doing eCommerce on a WordPress site is as easy as installing a plugin. Plugins like Market Press
and Woo Commerce work well and are not extremely difficult to setup.
14. Currencies are not limited.
The types of currencies you use are not limited, as they are with options like Squarespace. The only limitations you could have are with the payment processors you choose to use. Currency limitations are a problem for any online store that wants sales from all around the world.
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Why Use WordPress? Versatility.
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15. WordPress can be migrated from one web host to another fairly easily.
16. WordPress can be used with many different genres or industries.
Here are some examples:
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Online magazine or newspaper sites such as The New Yorker or Variety
Websites for Clubs, Nonprofits or Events.
Entertainment blogs like MTV News and Sony Music A Membership Website like Udemy.
Question & Answer Forum such as Quora.
Corporate Blogs like Staples Canada and Target’s Pulse
A Knowledgebase/Wiki website.[/ms_custom_box]
17. WordPress is multilingual.
WordPress has been translated into more than 68 languages. It can be made a multingual platform by adding a plugin such as WeGlot,Polylang or WPML.
18. There are many options for hosting
19. A Choice in Page Builders
You have multiple choices in page builders, starter themes and theme frameworks with WordPress, unlike Squarespace, which only has one editor and no alternative.
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Why Use WordPress? It Gives You More Control.
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20. Self-hosted WordPress gives you ownership and control of your content.
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[bctt tweet=”Ownership Of Your Content Self-hosted WordPress gives you ownership and control of your content. Proprietary software options have many restrictions and limitations on how your content may be used and may even use your content without your permission.” username=”Klear_Vue”]
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21. WordPress Doesn’t Force Companies to Work With One Vendor
Another great WordPress feature is that its open source nature doesn’t restrict you to one vendor. There is a large community of vendors providing WordPress services and products. Proprietary software can lock users into hard to customize, black box solutions that are expensive to upgrade.
22. Levels of access can easily be controlled by assigning various user roles.
WordPress has built-in user roles such as administrator, subscriber and contributor. These roles can be modified and extended to meet different requirements
23: Full Control Over SSL and HTTPS
Installing an SSL certificate places the https prefix for your domain in a browser’s address bar. It also helps secure your site by encrypting the connection between your site and your visitor’s browser. The encryption prevents hackers from being able to do things like hijacking a visitor’s connection to bypass the login form.
24. Choose Your Domain Registrar and Price
Both WordPress and Squarespace let you choose which Registrar you use to get your domain for your site, but WordPress doesn’t force you to choose a specific Registrar at any point.
25. Greater profit potential
Because the cost of acquiring customers is lowered by WordPress vs. other options, the potential for profit is greater.
26. Updates can be done automatically.
27. WordPress is SEO (Google) friendly.
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Why Use WordPress? It’s Scalable.
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28. Scalability
Theoretically there are no limitations to the size of your site. You can have as many posts, pages, and multimedia items as your host server will allow.
29. Unlimited Sites and Networks
30. WordPress Multisite Allows You To Create a Network Of Sites like wordpress.com.
31. Word Press has built-In Options for Creating A Forum Site.
32. WordPress Can easily be setup as a Membership Site.
33. It has a Built-in commenting system
Comments allow you to interact and get feedback from your website visitors.
34. Marketing tools Integrate Easily with WordPress.
Tools that are either built-in or can be added via plugin:
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[ms_list icon=”fa-star-o” icon_color=”” icon_boxed=”no” background_color=”” boxed_shape=”square” item_border=”no” item_size=”12″ class=”” id=””][ms_list_item]Email marketing[/ms_list_item][ms_list_item]signup forms and campaign tools[/ms_list_item][ms_list_item]Pop up opt-ins[/ms_list_item][ms_list_item]Social media sharing[/ms_list_item][ms_list_item]Comments and discussion tools[/ms_list_item][ms_list_item]Browser and mobile push notifications[/ms_list_item][/ms_list]
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35. These same tools make WordPress a great option for affiliate marketing.
Building an audience is essential to affiliate marketing success. This is no easy task but for little or no cost, WordPress gives you a lot of great marketing tools. Setting up most of these tools only requires a few clicks.
36. Mobile friendliness.
Mobile friendliness is built into almost all WordPress themes. It can increase your audience and makes your site attractive to Google. We know that Google is dedicated to providing a great mobile search experience from its participation in AMP (accelerated mobile pages ). AMP involves caching of pages and posts to reduce page load time.
37. AMP can be integrated into WordPress with a plugin.
38. WordPress also has a plugin for Facebook Instant Articles
Instant articles is Facebook’s attempt to improve mobile user experience through speed. This is significant when you consider that the average user will click away from your site if page load time is greater than 3 seconds.
39. WordPress makes you more efficient.
WordPress allows you to schedule publishing of posts for times convenient to users. It also makes it easier to post at regular intervals. Scheduling posts allows you to both satisfy users and use your time more efficiently.
40. WordPress has better Analytics
There are many WordPress plugins out there that can add analytics straight into your site’s dashboard. WordPress is able to provide very comprehensive analytics through plugins like Google Analytics Plus. Alternatives like Squarespace have only basic analytics that do not even integrate with its admin area.
If you would like to know more about WordPress and what it can do for your orgnization, join our email list.
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