1/3 of all websites are WordPress sites.
These range from small websites with a few pages to complex corporate websites like BBC, NBC, Sony and even the official Star Wars news blog. In general, the three most popular sites are WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. All have numerous add-ons available for customization and functionality. See the rankings of all of them here. So, why do we think WordPress is so great?
We checked in with Cynthia Blackshear, our Web & Digital Manager, to learn more about building a site with WordPress.
What is needed to get started with a WordPress site?
When we begin the process of building a WordPress site, we complete a document together with our client to gather information that will help us drive the design of the site. Some of this information includes their likes and dislikes of their current site, other websites they love, the functionality and content needs on the new site, and information about the market they serve and goals they have for the site user. This document guides our site design to help us arrive at a beautiful site that both accomplishes the needs of the client and provides an excellent user experience for the site visitor.
Can users edit their site themselves? Is it necessary to know how to code or program?
One of the biggest benefits of WordPress is the ease of editing it provides. You can create pages, add menu items, and edit photos with the click of a mouse! Coding experience is not at all necessary for most functions within WordPress.
What kind of features are available to customize a WordPress site? Do they cost extra?
Thanks to the open source community of WordPress, you can accomplish almost anything with your WordPress site. It’s fully customizable based on the needs of your organization. We choose to implement only vetted plugins, which allows us to maintain the security of your WordPress site. This means that sometimes they do cost a little extra, and we take care to be sure it’s installed properly on your site.
There’s an outdated perception that these sites may not be as secure. What kind of security features are available to protect a WordPress site from hackers?
WordPress publishes version updates on a regular basis to combat hackers and security vulnerabilities. As mentioned above, we also only use vetted plugins on your site, so we know that only the safest and most trusted plugins are being utilized. Our hosting plans also include site monitoring, daily backups, one-button site restore and malware removal in the unlikely event that a hacker should find a way into your site.
Is WordPress SEO friendly?
WordPress has a lot of great features out of the box that allow search engines to easily crawl its content. Much of SEO optimization is up to the owner, though! With WordPress, content is easy to add and update, so adding SEO content, keywords, links, titles and more is right at your fingertips! PMD is here to help if you aren’t sure where to start with SEO!
Is a blog included?
WordPress comes built with blog functionality. However, making sure that content is delivered to your users is an extra and important step! We add in the functionality for users to sign up for your eNews, which is integrated with an email service so the important information you’re sharing on your blog can be delivered right to their mailbox!
Do you have more questions about WordPress or ready to make the switch? Contact us for a custom web quote!