Rapid digitalization and consequent quick e-commerce development mean that businesses need feature-rich online stores and websites. The use of the right platform is necessary to access the requisite functionalities that you need to run a successful online business. But there are many content management platforms available which makes settling down a one particular platform quite puzzling. Nonetheless, the selection of the right platform should carefully be done as it could have a direct impact on the financial viability of your e-commerce venture.
WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) currently. More than 43.2% of all websites available on the internet use this platform. No matter the size or domain of the business, it is the most popular choice among web developers and businesses. But what factors make this Content Management System wildly popular among users? And more importantly, why you should choose this platform. We are going to discuss all these questions and more. Ready to dive in?
Let’s the ball rolling!
Hold your curiosity for a moment, we first look at what is WordPress and how popular it is with the help of some statistics.
What is WordPress?
It is a common miscaption that WordPress is just a blogging platform, it is not true. WordPress is way more than merely a platform for blogging.
Though it was launched as a blogging platform back in 2006, it soon evolved into a powerful website-building tool and a robust content management system. It offers many distinct features such as plug-in architecture and a template system that has made it one the most popular platform for users.
For instance:
- Currently, 810 million websites are using WordPress and it is responsible for powering 36.28% of the top 1 million websites including Bloomberg, Nike, New York Times, Time Magazine, Sony, Disney, Target, and more.
- After every two minutes, another top 10 million sites start using WordPress.
- Users publish more than 70 million new posts monthly through this CMS system.
These impressive numbers show that WordPress is the most preferred choice and this content management platform continues to gain millions of users every year.
But what makes this CMS platform so popular? Here are 12 reasons that the reason we commend your using this platform for your next website no matter what the size and niche of your business.
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Open-Source and Free Software:
The fact that WordPress is open source is one of the primary factors driving and sustaining its popularity. The open-source implies two things. First, it is free to use for whatever ends you like whether commercial or personal. WordPress also does not have any hidden charges.
Second, you can customize it and change it in any way that may suit your needs. You can alter or improve source code to build a site that best suits your interests, preferences, and brand voice.
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Simple to Setup and Use:
Beginners are welcome. WordPress is easy to use and operate. Even if you are not familiar with CMS and built a website, you can easily perform all kinds of tasks with the help of a simple dashboard with different menu options listed.
You can easily create and post pages, add a navigation menu, personalize website design, and the like tasks. Further, you can easily maintain your website as it does not warrant any technical expertise.
You can install WordPress in just a few clicks with the help of many hosting providers such as Hostinger that offer auto-installer features. All you need is to select a theme, install a plug-in, and jump into creating pages and the like stuff.
It is not only the beginners that find WordPress extremely beneficial, the professional web developers also use this CMS for iterating and adding functionalities more quickly. It is always easier to build on a foundation like WordPress than to build a website from scratch.
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SEO-Friendly:
No matter how well-built the website is, if it does not get traffic, it is useless from the business point of view. Luckily WordPress has been designed in a way to rank websites higher on search engine result pages (SERPs).
It has been written using high-quality code with semantic makeup. This helps in quick recognition and top ranking of the website which helps businesses attract visitors and meet all Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as conversion rates, customer engagement, etc.
These are factors that help WordPress sites higher in search ranking. You can various WordPress SEO Plugins to keep track of the Key Performance Indicators.
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Multiple Business Themes and Plugins:
Third-party companies and individuals have developed many themes and plugins that add further to the versatility and usability of WordPress. Some of these plugins are free, and some of them offer premium themes and plugins with advanced features, you can choose them depending on your needs and budget.
With this wide range of themes and plugins, you can essentially build every kind of website suitable for the particular business you run. For instance, WooCommerce, a popular WordPress Plugin is a preferred choice for building an online store, etc. Similarly, WPForm is a great way to develop contact pages.
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Fast and Responsive:
The website must be fast enough to quickly loads otherwise it leads to poor user experience that costs dearly. WordPress sites are fast. They load quickly and keep visitors engaging while they perform intended tasks such as newsletter subscriptions or completing the checkout process.
Similarly, mobile responsiveness is another major feature of online stores and websites that helps in SEO ranking as well. WordPress-enabled stores and sites are responsive across all devices such as mobile, tablets, and desktops.
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Community Support:
WordPress has a large, active, vibrant, and thriving community of developers and users. You can avail of extensive support sources such as tutorials, forums, and plugins to meet your varying needs. For instance, there are many worldwide events- WordCamps- where you sign up and enjoy a friendly WordPress community to seek any kind of help. Further, you can listen to and learn from the most experienced IT professionals on these platforms.
Hence, if you are ever stuck in any difficulty or you want to add new functionalities, just search online and you will have thousands of WordPress communities available to you can turn to find the answer.
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Easy to Maintain:
Websites require maintenance, it is essential because it helps you ensure the security and efficiency of your site. WordPress has a unique feature that it is easily maintainable. You don’t need to update new versions, plugins, and themes.
If you choose the managed hosting plan, all the maintenance tasks can be performed automatically. The managed hosting providers take care of updating your WordPress site to the newest version, updating the themes and plugins, and optimizing and securing the latest Google guidelines.
In addition, they also provide the services of automated backups and around-the-clock support services. Hence, you can focus on growing your site and stop worrying about how to run the site efficiently and smoothly.
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Safety and Security:
The robust security of WordPress sites is another reason you should this content management platform. WordPress takes security seriously and it regularly releases security updates and patches to keep your site protected from malware or other security threats.
Further, there are many security plugins available, and some of them are free. So, if you want to add more layers of security, you can install them and enjoy a safe and secure website experience. Hence, you don’t need to pay thousands as WordPress offers you Knox-level security with regular updates and freely available security plugins.
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Website Ownership:
Full ownership of the website is key to running a successful e-commerce business. Unlike other available website-building solutions that restrict access to their source code and thus take away the control of the website, WordPress offers complete ownership.
The WordPress websites allow you to choose any managed hosting service and scale your website as per your needs. You can create, publish, and share any content without any restrictions or limitations.
The users can also modify source code and personalize the website as per their needs. Every blog post, every product video, and every product listing within the WordPress website will be yours. This ownership does not change even if you want to change the website platform or hosting provider.
This complete ownership is one of the many reasons that makes WordPress-enabled website solutions the most popular among small businesses as well as corporations.
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Customization and Personalization:
WordPress websites are completely customizable. Even if you are not a programmer or professional designer, you can easily customize the website to adjust it as per your needs and requirements.
The market is flooded with thousands of themes that you can deploy. Themes are templates that have option panels to assist you in changing colors, uploading your logos, changing the background, creating beautiful slides, and more. For every kind of use, there is a perfect theme available. For instance, there is a specialized theme for blogging websites, e-commerce websites, or online stores.
In addition, there are many WordPress plugins available, some of them are free and some are premium offering advanced levels of functionalities. Plugins can help you add new capabilities such as analytics, contact forms, membership areas, and the like.
Hence, the combination of themes and plugins makes WordPress extremely customizable which is the primary underlying reason for its wild popularity.
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Integration With Third-Party Sources:
WordPress has seamless integration with third-party sources and tools. This enables you to connect your website to your preferred services. For instance, you can avail one of the following integrations with third-party sources:
- E-commerce Integration
- Email Marketing Integration
- Social Media Integration
- Analytics Integration
- CRM Integration
- Payment Gateway Integration
- API Integration
and the like.
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Scalability:
Last but not least, WordPress sites are scalable which is a great help in particular for startups and small businesses that are likely to grow rapidly. Needless to say, scaling a running website is one of the most daunting challenges that developers and users face. The more content you upload, the more traffic you attract and the more strain it puts on your CMS system.
But scaling is very easy when it comes to WordPress websites. Some of the largest sites such as Facebook, and the New York Times are using WordPress which handles massive amounts of content daily. Therefore, WordPress offers a website experience that you can easily scale up in line with your growing needs.
What Kind of Websites You Can Generate with WordPress:
From a simple blog website to a complex online store, WordPress can be used for building different types of websites. A few examples are given below:
- Blog website
- Business website
- Online store
- Membership website
- Sell online courses website
- Sell digital downloads website
Final Words:
Needless to say, the right platform is key to making your online venture a roaring success. The are multiple software-building solutions available but WordPress stands quite distinguished for many reasons. Developers are readily accepting WordPress because it is free and open source, WordPress sites are easy to install, use, and maintain, and more importantly, you can have a huge and friendly WordPress community. Furthermore, this CMS platform offers full website ownership, SEO-friendlies, and fast and responsive web pages.
These are reasons that have helped us conclude that you should opt for WordPress as your ultimate content management system and software-building tool.
Thanks for your reading.