9 Reasons You Should Use WordPress

WordPress.org is an open-source content management system (CMS). It’s flexible, easy-to-use, and if you have a website, there’s a good chance you’re using WordPress.

But don’t take it from me. WordPress is used by about 25% of all sites on the internet, and over 50% of content management sites. To put it in perspective, Squarespace is used by about .5% of website and 1% of those using a content management system. According to this survey, one could add up the next 10 CMS competitors’ market share and still not match WordPress.

That should be reason enough to use WordPress. But if you’re still not convinced, give some thought to these additional 9 reasons you should use WordPress.

9 Reasons You Should Use WordPress

 

1. S E O, S E O, SEOOOOOOO!

WordPress is search engine friendly right out of the box. (In fact, WordPress.com has recently launched a set of “advanced SEO tools” for it’s business plan users.) But forget about that “out-of-the-box” talk. All you need to know is that you’ll be able to use the Yoast SEO plugin, which is arguably one of the best optimization tools that exist.

While other CMS websites like Squarespace have made strides in SEO, WordPress still has more optimization potential.

2. (Mostly) Secure

Getting hacked is the worst. Fortunately WordPress sites are generally secure, and in the instances of widespread hacks on WordPress, updates have been released quickly. Of course, a lot of this has to do with whether or not you’re following best practices for website security like changing your username from Admin and using a secure password. There are plenty of security plugins available for WordPress sites like Limit Login Attempts, which defends against brute attacks.

3. Easy-to-use (for how awesome it is)

For as much flexibility WordPress has to offer, it’s fairly easy-to-use. It doesn’t take much time training and playing around before one feels comfortable using it. Additionally there are a number of websites (like this one) and resources dedicated to providing support, tips, and tutorials on how to use WordPress.

4. Themes on themes…

If you’re just starting out or want to set-up a site quickly, there are plenty of free and paid pre-designed themes from which to choose. Whether you’re a photographer, event planner, or blogger, there’s probably something that fits your needs.

We’re excited to announce that starting Wednesday, November 2nd we’ll be offering a line of ShowIt themes that have matching WordPress blogs. If you’re interested in being the first to hear more details, subscribe to our mailing list here.

5. Customization

It’s easy to customize a WordPress sites. And that’s evidenced by the plethora of different kinds of WordPress sites out there. Whether it’s a membership site, shop, blog, podcast, or something else entirely, you can generally make it happen on WordPress. If you have some coding know-how, there are so many possibilities. And If you don’t know how to code, there’s most likely a resource or plugin out there for you.

6. Open-source

WordPress is “open-source” meaning there are hundreds of people around the world that are working to enhance the source code. As the wordpress.org site states, this is more people then most commercial platforms. This has certainly contributed to how the many features and benefits of WordPress. Open-source systems are generally also more secure, too. Since people can view the source code, it’s more likely that mistakes or vulnerabilities can be spotted and corrected.

7. Cost-effective

Downloading and using WordPress is free, so I’d say it’s affordable. Of course, there are other things you need to purchase such as hosting (we recommend Site5 and Dreamhost—Site5 has a one-click WordPress install and Dreamhost is what we use for our sites).

8. Showit off

Showit is an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop website builder, and now it integrates with WordPress. This integration is so powerfully amazing because it has combined the simplicity of something like Squarespace with the power of WordPress.

If you’re looking for a professionally designed website that’s simple to maintain and update, look no further than our premium designs coming to the Palm Shop on Wednesday, November 2nd.

9. There’s a plugin for that…

At the time of writing this article, there are 47,337 available WordPress plugins. Whether you need something for related posts or security or search engine optimization, there’s a plugin for it. The optimization that can be achieved using WordPress plugins is reason enough to use WordPress in our opinion.

Perhaps we’re a bit biased because we design custom WordPress websites for creatives. But, I suppose one could say that a quarter of the internet is biased, too. 

Did we miss any reasons you should use WordPress? Let us know in the comments!