I am a WordPress Evangelist.
Though I wasn’t actually there when WordPress was conceived, I had climbed on board the WordPress train soon after. I was thrilled about what it could do then .. and 8 years later, I continue to be thrilled about what it can do now.
Did You Know…
Did you know that the following well-known brands run their websites on WordPress?
- Ford
- eBay
- Sony
- People Magazine
- The Wall Street Journal
- CNN
- Samsung
And that’s just a few!
What’s WordPress?
When I tell my website clients that I design, create and maintain their websites based on the free open-source platform called WordPress, they look at my quizzically. I don’t blame them. If you’re outside of the ‘blogging’ world, you might not know about this very important piece of software.
So, let me tell you what WordPress is.
WordPress is a free (yes, FREE) software program that is Web-based and that anyone can utilize to build and/or maintain a website. Initially intended as an easy way to set up a blog, WordPress continued to evolve into a versatile piece of software that about 12% of 1 million big-name websites run on. With the help of smaller pieces of software called plug-ins, a website running on the WordPress platform can do almost anything!
WordPress for the Startup Website
There are THREE reasons why I recommend WordPress as the content management system (CMS) that startup companies should build their websites on:
1. It’s Free
2. It’s Versatile
3. YOU can run it yourself
Free is a good thing. With ALL of what WordPress does, it’s hard to imagine that this powerful software doesn’t carry a price tag with it.
Versatility is also a good thing. The host of plug-ins available for WordPress continues to grow, each plug-in adding distinct functionality to your website.
And at the risk of putting myself out of a job, I’ll say this:
Once YOU learn the basics of WordPress, YOU can run your website by yourself – bypassing the need to depend on a website geek (like myself) to add and edit content, as well as to maintain the website.
Handing the Job Over to a WordPress Expert
While it might be easy to learn the basics of setting up a website using WordPress, not many business owners want to invest their time into learning the skill. The time they would spend learning the mere basics of setting up a startup website could be better used to doing what they might do best: generating leads and sales, marketing etc..
And this where website designers like myself come in. We take care of the routine tasks like:
- installing WordPress on the server
- installing the necessary plug-ins to enhance functionality
- implementing design elements like logos, color schemes, font families etc.
- activating a fail-safe backup procedure for all content within the website
- organize content so that it is easily navigated
- upload media files
Again, while all these tasks might easily be learned by the business owner, they are tasks that take time to complete. And time is money.
Getting to Know WordPress
I’d like to end this article by providing you some useful online resources if you’d like to read more about and familiarize yourself with WordPress. The better you know about this wonderful piece of software, the more excited you’ll become about the potential of your website as a startup business owner!