There are quite a lot of people out there who think WordPress is just a blogging platform. This is far from the truth! WordPress can build the simplest blog all the way up to a professional, complex website – there really are no limits!
WordPress is becoming a great starter point for new web designers and developers, since it’s great for getting your website online, and it’s fairly simple to pick up.
A lot of professional web developers are turning to WordPress to build sites for clients as it’s a powerful tool, it cuts development time, and it provides a great CMS so that their clients can add content themselves.
Why WordPress CMS is an excellent choice for developing websites:
- It’s based on open source technologies
- WordPress is an open source CMS and can be tweaked and edited by anyone to fit their needs.
- It’s easy to install and manage
Installing WordPress is an extremely simple task and only requires a few clicks of the mouse. It is also very easy to manage via the WordPress dashboard. For instance, creating menus, pages, posts, adding images and setting titles is a matter of a few clicks, and entails no programming skills.
Styling using themes
There are thousands of WordPress themes freely available. These themes can be used to define an overall style for your website. Themes can be tweaked to achieve desired styling or you can even create your own. Most themes are responsive, so they will look perfect on all mobile and tablet devices.
Enhanced functionality via plugins
WordPress websites can be enhanced easily via several “plugins”. WordPress themes, by default, come with basic functionalities. However, additional functionalities can be added via plugins. There are many freely available plugins that can be used to enhance the functionality of a WordPress website.
There’s great support via a large development community
WordPress has one of the largest software developer communities. The immense developer support allows users to solve their WordPress issues immediately.
It’s search engine optimization (SEO)-friendly
WordPress already comes with a number of built-in SEO features, like the ability for search engines to crawl content, and pinging search engines when new posts are created. There are also a number of really good SEO plugins that will guide you through the process of SEO and help your website rank better with search engines.
Though there are many CMSs currently available in the market, WordPress is the best place to start. It is extremely easy to learn, flexible to tweak, open source and SEO-friendly. Also, with a large developer community, you are likely to get instant help and support for any issues that arise during your website development endeavours.
What can I build with WordPress?
You can build a number of different websites using WordPress. Here are just a few things you can build when you get more familiar with the platform:
- eCommerce website
- Business website
- Online forums
- Portfolio
- Membership website
- Directory/listings website
- Auction website
- Mobile app
The list goes on! This is just a taste of what you can do.
Find out how to use WordPress to create your own project, with WordPress in easy steps, 3rd edition. Available from our online shop NOW.
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By: Darryl Bartlett
ISBN: 9781840789843
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