The power of WordPress as a CMS
Many websites these days are built on a WordPress platform. It’s considered by many (including us!) to be one of the best platforms to use. Here we look at what makes WordPress so good and why you should use it.
What is a CMS?
CMS is an acronym for Content Management System. They have existed since the 1990s and are essentially computer programmes that allow the user to publish, modify and edit content on a website from a central point or interface. Thanks to the growing power and presence of the internet and mobile devices – and the need for frequently refreshed content – an increased importance has been placed on having a CMS that’s easy to use and allows for a strong degree of control.
Just having a lovely looking website is not enough today; it has to be a constantly evolving piece of information. This makes simple website management more important than ever.
What is WordPress?
We are sure many of you will have heard of WordPress, as the biggest and best known blogging tool. At its launch in 2003, it was viewed as a basic and dependable CMS for blogging, but not much else. However, since then it has developed considerably and has steadily grown in popularity. It has since evolved into a full content management system that now has 42.7% absolute market usage and 65% market share.
The great thing about WordPress is its versatility. Not only do tiny companies use it; small to medium enterprises and larger corporations, like Sony, Walt Disney, Vogue, TED and Mercedes Benz International also benefit from its functionality.
Why is WordPress so good?
There are a number of reasons as to why WordPress is so good.
Ease of use: creating posts in WordPress, adding pages and uploading images or videos is relatively simple. Even those who have a fear of technology can learn and understand it without being too intimidated. With tools like our layout builder, it’s really easy to expand your website, while keeping within brand guidelines.
Popularity: WordPress is an incredibly popular CMS and as a consequence work on its platform doesn’t stop. Major versions of WordPress get released around every 150 days, so the good thing is the system is constantly evolving and improving.
eCommerce: WordPress makes it easy to sell products directly from your own website, like this eCommerce site we created for Rippingham Art. We recommend WooCommerce or OpenCart as these provide bespoke eCommerce experiences.
Website plugin and theme selection: It’s now possible to add functionality with over 59,000 free and open-source WordPress plugins. There are also more than 45,000 WordPress themes on ThemeForest, many of which are free. Although, we always recommend to clients that we build a bespoke WordPress website for more flexibility, brand consistency and longevity.
Support Community: Again thanks to its popularity, the support community behind WordPress is very active and strong. There’s a dedicated WordPress support group as well as a multitude of third-party forums. Whatever your question, you’ll be able to find the answer.
SEO: WordPress is very user friendly with regard to SEO, which in itself can be a highly complex subject. It has a number of excellent features, in particular its ability to automatically generate a search friendly URL. You can also use a dedicated SEO plugin, like Yoast, which has a host of optimisation features.
As you can tell, we think WordPress is one of the best CMS platforms available. We have used it to create bespoke websites for clients for many years.
Most popular content management systems (w3techs.com)
| CMS | Usage | Change since 01.09.21 | Market share | Change since 01.09.21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. WordPress | 42.7% | +0.2% | 65.1% | -0.1% | |
| 2. Shopify | 4.2% | +0.3% | 6.3% | +0.3% | |
| 3. Joomla | 1.8% | -0.1% | 2.8% | -0.2% | |
| 4. Wix | 1.8% | +0.1% | 2.8% | +0.2% | |
| 5. Squarespace | 1.8% | +0.1% | 2.7% | +0.1% | |
| percentages of sites |
We hope you found this article useful. If you want to know a little more about how much websites cost, take a look at this Insight article. If you’d like to find out more about using WordPress as a CMS, please get in touch…
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