WordPress is mostly known in the blogging circles as a blogging platform. In fact, initially it was promoted as a free source blogging platform built entirely in PHP.
Due to its widespread use – more than 18.9% of all websites on the Internet are managed with WordPress – it has gradually evolved into a CMS (content management system), from merely being a blogging tool.
WHAT IS WORDPRESS?
As I have mentioned above, initially WordPress was a free source blogging platform. You would have to download the PHP installation files and then upload the same files to your server (where you host your website).
Although you can still do that, most of the web hosting companies these days give you an option of installing WordPress straight from the cPanel.
So, there are two types of websites normally:
- static websites
- dynamic websites.
In static websites, the content doesn’t change often, and new content is added and existing content is modified by changing the actual HTML files. Static files don’t have many pages – at the most 10-15-20 – and these many pages are easier to maintain.
A dynamic website on the other hand displays the information on individual web pages dynamically, deriving the content from a database.
As the name suggests, you don’t create individual web pages. There is an interface that dynamically updates the information according to what the visitor wants to see.
Dynamic websites may have many web pages – 100-500-1000 or even millions – and this is why it’s not humanly possible to manage all these pages manually.
Until a few years ago only big publishers would use a CMS, but these days, every business owner who needs an ability to change web pages on-the-fly or immediately add new web pages without having to upload individual HTML files, uses a CMS.
A CMS allows you to create new web pages or work on existing web pages just like the way you use a word processor like Microsoft Word. After the setup, there is no need to work with the source code. Even people who don’t know how to design websites can use a CMS and create new web pages or edit existing web pages.
Although there are many CMSs available like Joomla! and PHPNuke, WordPress is the most widely used one because first people started using it as a blogging platform and then gradually, also started adopting it for running business websites.
Here are some renowned websites that are managed using WordPress:
- The New Yorker
- BBC America (though, their content doesn’t seem to be available in India)
- TechCrunch
- MTV News
- PlayStation.blog
- Sweden’s official website
- Microsoft News Center
- Bata Shoes
- The Walt Disney Co.
- The Wall Street Journal Law Blog
- Vogue India
- Mercedes-Benz
LISTED BELOW ARE 5 BENEFITS OF USING WORDPRESS AS A CMS FOR WEB DESIGN
1. FREE SOURCE
- You can simply download the PHP installation files from WordPress.org, upload them onto your server and start publishing your web pages from the word go.
2. VERY EASY TO INSTALL
- Most of the web hosting companies these days offer one-click features from within the cPanel to install WordPress. You don’t even have to download it from WordPress.org and then upload it using an FTP program. The cPanel will do it itself.
3. THOUSANDS OF THEMES AVAILABLE
- Although for a business website you will need to hire a web design agency to customise the WordPress theme that should reflect your business brand, if you simply want an online presence there are thousands of WordPress themes to choose from within the dashboard.
- Some of the themes are so professionally designed that you can use them straight out-of-the-box.
4. EASY TO MAINTAIN
- Since WordPress is a cloud-based service, you don’t have to worry about security patches and updates. WordPress.org automatically informs you if updates are available and you can install an update just with a single click.
5. ADD NEW WEB PAGES IMMEDIATELY
- From the dashboard you can immediately start adding new web pages. All you have to do is create a new post or a new page and whatever you publish, will automatically appear according to the theme you have installed.
- Once your web design company has installed and customised your WordPress website, if you prefer it that way, you can easily maintain it on your own.
- Having said that, every interface has a learning curve and to run a business website it is always advisable to hire a qualified web design company.
6. ONE OF THE BIGGEST SUPPORT GROUPS
- There are millions of people using WordPress so naturally, if you have a doubt in WordPress, you can immediately find an answer because someone has already dealt with the same problem.
7. EASY TO FIND PROFESSIONAL WEB DESIGN COMPANIES FOR WORDPRESS
- Since WordPress is so widely used, almost every good web design company knows how to design and customise your WordPress website.
8. SEARCH ENGINE FRIENDLY
- The content architecture of WordPress is designed in such a manner that unless you really goof up, you automatically create a search engine friendly website when you create a website using WordPress.
- This is because initially it was a blogging platform and search engines like Google prefer blogs to websites. So, even now when you publish a website it basically uses a blogging architecture (which appears as a website).
9. EASY TO MIGRATE
- Need to change your host? As mentioned above, most of the web hosting companies provide one-click WordPress installation features.
- Many web hosting companies also make it extremely easy to migrate to their servers from another server. All you have to do is, give them your WordPress dashboard user name and password.
- Even if your web hosting company doesn’t give you this feature, migration is extremely easy. All your website admin has to do is, backup the MySQL database and the theme files and then transfer the entire thing to the new web server. No need to backup hundreds of web pages.
10. YOUR WEBSITE IS AUTOMATICALLY MOBILE-READY
- More than 60% of your customers may be accessing your website from their mobile phones. This is why it is very important that your website must look good, or even better on mobile phones.
- The WordPress information architecture is designed in such a manner that it easily scales according to the size of the screen and you don’t have to create a separate mobile website when you get your website designed using WordPress.
- Looking for more information on how you can power your website using WordPress? Are you looking for a web design agency in Delhi that can design a website using WordPress? Do give us a call or fill up our contact form and we will provide you all the details you need.