Is WordPress right for your new website?
by Randall McCarley
October 24th, 2007
I find myself recommending WordPress more and more these days. My clients always ask two things when I bring it up:
- What is WordPress?
- Why is it right for me?
WordPress is enhanced blogging software that lets you - yes you - manage your own website content.
Many of my clients find this useful because as their business changes their website content needs to be adjusted. Often this is basic surface stuff like an address or policy change. Sometimes though, clients want a more robust content management system (CMS) and WordPress fits the bill.
In the old days when a client wanted the ability to manage their content this meant we either had to teach them how to be a lightweight web designer including basic HTML and FTP operation or we would build them a CMS which added thousands of dollars and weeks to the development to the project. The other option was for them to call us each time a small update was needed. If we were in a busy period even small updates could take days to get done.
With WordPress, the end user doesn’t need to know HTML or how to upload files via FTP. Everything is managed through a console called the dashboard. From there adding, editing or deleting pages is just a couple clicks away.
The interface for writing new content is pretty similar to Microsoft Word including keyboard shortcuts for bolding text and adding italics. Inserting links is easy as well. In fact, the most complicated part of writing content in WordPress is making bulleted lists because it is a 2-step process where almost everything else is done in one.
WordPress comes with a lot of other features as well but before I go into that I should point out that the cost for WordPress is minimal. In fact, WordPress is free.
The only expense you have to cover is the hosting which must include a mySQL database (usually that is included any more but some hosts still treat that as a premium) and the development. The development is someone like me taking the time to customize the appearance to fit your brand and that is where the bulk of the expense is… or the actual “website design” if you will.
If your website is content-driven, has only a few pages and won’t require changes then a “static” website built with a combination of PHP and HTML is usually the way to go. These are what I call basic brochure websites.
If your website is content-driven and more than a handful of pages or will need updating then WordPress is the best bet. At 14th Colony development costs for WordPress sites start where brochure sites leave off so it’s a natural transition point.
The great people that build WordPress also craft their product to be in line with my own goals for 14th Colony websites including:
- Search engine friendly code
- W3C standards met (in most cases)
- Assessable to the disabled or people with visual difficulties (by default though that may get lost with customization)
- Works cross-browser and cross-platform from handheld to Safari to whatever the browser you are using to read this post!
- Minimal effort to update or maintain the site
- Relatively low cost for customization
- Can do almost anything you can think of without a major overhaul of the code
- Content is kept separate from the form making it portable to other formats, just in case that is ever needed
- Security measures in place to prevent hacking attempts and spam
Plus the things WordPress is famous for:
- Built in blogging software great for press releases, company announcements, showcase of work and even… blogging!
- Built-in RSS support to make subscribing to your content easy for viewers and completely hands off for you
- Huge development community for support and ongoing improvements
Depending on your needs, WordPress may be the perfect fit for you. At 14th Colony we include training for you and/or your staff when we build sites around the WordPress platform. This training takes less than an hour in most cases and can be done over the phone or email.
If you are thinking about getting a new website (or upgrading an old one) and want control over your content, contact 14th Colony for a free initial consultation and no-obligation quote.
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