Today’s article is going to touch on another great tool that any lifestyle business or online business owner should be using to develop and build their online presence, it’s used by millions of people all over the world and is constantly being developed to become an ever better solution.
I’m talking about WordPress and my goal is to give you 7 great reasons as to why you should be using it and give you an insight into why so many people have already chosen to do so.
1. It’s Free!
Regardless of who you are, whether it be a digital marketer, a blogger, lifestyle business owner or the developer of the next big thing online, the fact that WordPress is free has got to be at the top of anyone’s benefits list. Even better than that, when I say free, I mean it, there is no premium upgrade or next level of product you can buy which gives you extra features or fills any gaps you may expect from a free piece of software.
And, regardless of how many visitors you’re site is getting, WordPress itself will always be free for you to use, so you don’t have to worry about suddenly finding yourself with a bunch of extra charges should you create an incredibly popular site with thousands of visitors. Although your web host may have something to say about it… but you can’t hold that against WordPress.
2. It’s easy to setup, maintain and upgrade
One of the big positives of WordPress is that it is designed with the non-techie in mind, there’s no need to have a degree in information technology or understand the inner working of PHP in order to use WordPress, all you need to get started (with the hosted service) is an internet connection and web browser… which means if you’re reading this article, you’re good to go.
Keeping your WordPress site up to date is also a simple process with latter versions automatically upgrading you to the newest release to ensure you are making the most of the new features and getting protection from any security issues that may be discovered. Adding functionality is also nice and easy with the addition of plugins that extend the functionality of WordPress to suit just about anyone.
3. It’s extremely customizable
While WordPress began its life as a blogging platform it has developed into an incredibly powerful CMS that can easily be tailored to suit the needs of just about anyone who is looking to get online in one form or another today. Not only can you access an incredible array of plugins to add new features to your site such as an online shop, a membership site, lead capture, additional SEO, forum functionality and much more, there are also a huge range of themes available that can give your site that unique look.
Not only that, but as the code for WordPress is open source, you are free to get your hands dirty and develop bespoke code (or get someone else to) for your site that allows it to work exactly as you need. From integrating with payment platforms or adding content from cloud based storage systems or even just tailoring your layout to be just right, you have full control of how your visitors and customers will experience your website.
4. It’s search engine friendly
The last thing you want when developing a presence for your business online is to be hidden from the search engines, it’s vital that if potential customers are searching for the product or service that you are offering they can easily find you when they search using Google, Bing or any other search tool.
The great news is that WordPress is search engine friendly straight out of the box (one of Google’s own engineers, Matt Cutts has endorsed WordPress and uses it for his own blog) and if you want even more control or optimization there are some great plugins that take things to a whole new level of search engine friendlyness (if that’s even a word).
5. It’s secure
It’s no surprise that having a website can be risky business, what with all the recent hacking of large websites and the release of personal information, but don’t think for a second that being a small business gets you a pass. While it may not be as big a deal that your site is compromised or offline for a period time as it may be for the likes of LinkedIn or Facebook, the fact is some people enjoy making life difficult for others and will happily target even the smallest of sites.
The good news is that WordPress takes security very seriously, having one of the most popular platforms online is going to mean people are going to try and make a mess of things for you and your customers. So the team at WordPress are constantly testing and updating their code to ensure that you and anyone else using their software are protected from attack, not only that there are plugins available that will add even more security to your site should you choose to use them, ensuring you can make it as difficult as possible for hackers to do damage to your site (and reputation).
6. It’s mobile and responsive
The web today is a different place from even a few years ago, there are more ways to access it than ever before and people using their mobile or tablet as their primary source of internet access are growing in numbers. So it’s great to know that WordPress is built to handle this through the use of responsive themes which present content to visitors that is optimized for the device they are using.
Your customers won’t have to zoom in and out of your web pages in order to try and read something that was designed to be consumed via a desktop browser and large screen, they’ll be able to view and navigate your website in the manner that they’re used to regardless of the device they choose to use (this goes for mobile, tablet, in-car, on their television etc).
7. It’s going to continue to evolve
WordPress has been around for over 10 years now and it has grown into a fantastic publishing and content management platform. It continues to be developed and the team over at WordPress continue to invest in hiring the best talent in order to continue to push the boundaries of what it’s capable of, so you can be assured it will be around for many years to come, providing your online business with a stable platform on which to grow.
You only have to look at how much WordPress has developed in the last couple of releases to realise that it has a bright future and it is unlikely to be surpassed when it comes to free web solutions. With technology continuing to evolve and people coming up with new ideas to make the most of the internet I expect WordPress will remain at the heart of many online and lifestyle business long into the future.
And that’s not all…
Although the article title is “7 Reasons Why WordPress Is A Must Have Tool For Your Online Business” there are many more than those I have outlined above, just quickly here are a few more (not in the same amount of detail, but good reasons just the same):
- You’re not committed to just one hosting provider
- You can set up and configure posts to publish in the future
- It can handle multiple users and roles
- WordPress is supported be a great community of developers and users
- There’s a thriving economy of plugins, themes and services available to you
- It integrates with a wide range of complementary platforms (Aweber, Clickbank etc)
- Support is easy to find
So, that’s now 14 reasons why WordPress is a must have, don’t say I didn’t over deliver on this article
In conclusion
There you have it 7 (14 actually) reasons why WordPress should be a massive part of your online or lifestyle business. I hope you got some useful information from this article and can see why WordPress is the tool of choice for millions of people who have an online presence today (and will continue to grow into the future).
Of course this is only just scratching the surface of WordPress and I have some awesome plans to add even more useful WordPress related content in the future, so check back soon to see what’s what.
I hope you’ll be back again soon, until next time.
