Are you looking to launch a new business website or overhaul your current old static HTML site? If so, content management systems are a great option. They let you manage and update your website from anywhere you have an Internet connection. But which should you choose?
Personally, I’m partial to WordPress. I have 50 current WordPress installations and I’ve used it to run a wide variety of websites. It’s far more than just a blog platform.
Reasons to Choose WordPress for Your Business Website
Here are some specific reasons you should consider using WordPress as the content management system to power your new business website:
- It’s free.
- It’s open-source and it has a huge community of developers constantly releasing new themes (website designs) and plugins (extensions to give you added functionality).
- WordPress allows you to run a dynamic website (where content on your homepage is automatically updated when you post new information).
- WordPress can also be used to run static-looking websites (where the main content doesn’t change). WordPress “pages” work just like static site pages.
- Widgets allow you to easily place supplemental content and features (like a search bar or list of your latest blog posts).
- WordPress makes it incredibly easy to run a static-looking website and a company blog, all from a single installation. Find out how.
- You can more easily integrate your website and social media accounts using WordPress plugins.
- WordPress can run just about any kind of website you can imagine, with the right theme and / or plugin. For example, you can run corporate websites, blogs, forums, social networks, job boards, Web directories, classified sites, daily deals / coupon sites, and much much more.
While you’ll ideally want to use a self-hosted version of WordPress with your own domain name and hosting (download from WordPress.org), you can test the platform out by signing up for a free WordPress.com account. Give it a try. What do you have to lose?
Do you run business websites using WordPress? What do you think of the platform? Share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.
My own business site, annewayman.com is a pretty static wp site… easy to update. The rest of my blogs are too… love it.
Same here. I use it on business sites to look like a static site, but then I have fully integrated blogs. The best part is that I don’t have to be at my system to update my sites. I remember using old school html sites years back and the manual uploading. Yuck. Never again.
I use WordPress for pretty much *everything*, from business to personal websites, character blogs, to-do-list web notepads, draft archives, etc. It’s a flexible CMS that has a plus: it’s super easy to use.
Someday I’d love to be able to write my own WP plugins. I need to learn a bit more about PHP programming, though. All I managed to do so far (with my fiancé’s help) was a simple PHP code to display Alexa Rank as text.
~ Luana S.
Glad to see another WP fan Luana.
And you’re right — it’s an incredibly flexible CMS. It’s a shame so many people still think of it as only a blog platform.