Building a flexible, professional, and inexpensive website for your business is possible with WordPress. From being a self-hosted blogging tool, the platform now has over 45,000 plugins and endless customization options to meet varying needs and preferences.
As an Open Source project, it is now a massive ecosystem run by users and developers who are eager to add new plugins, widgets, and themes for everyone to use or purchase – from hobbyists to multinational corporations. Other than being a shared hosting platform, WordPress is also free to use and provides a host of other freedoms, making it a great alternative to launching a website from scratch.
Key Features of a WordPress Site
Themes – creating a customized user experience with WordPress begins with installing a theme from its existing pool of default themes or building one from scratch. Taking the second route means you can customize the look, feel, and structure of your website the way you envision. But your coding skills will be put to a test. Setting up a stable and well-structured theme is the critical first step to WordPress customization, since you will use it as a starting point to define, design, and format the site’s content and elements.
Plugins – the core function of plugins is to extend and expand the functionality of a website. They also improve the overall experience of visitors. There are bits of software for a range of functions – from increasing page load speed, like the Hummingbird and W3 Total Cache, to enhancing security, such as the Defender. Google plugins are also readily available to install, like Google Analytics+, which tracks user visits, page views, and other useful information for boosting your website’s performance, and Google XML Sitemaps, whose core function is to instruct search engines to crawl your web pages and index your blog. This article gives a run-down of 37 essential WordPress plugins you should install.
Widgets – these standalone areas of code allow you to add content and features in the widgetized sections of your theme, which is mostly the sidebar or the header. You can either install a default widget or customize your own, which this step-by-step guide illustrates.
Content Management System (CMS) – WordPress is no longer just a blogging and publishing tool, it’s a stable and reliable content management system (CMS). What this means is that it supports the creation, modification, and management of digital content.
Subscribing to a WordPress Concierge Service
While anyone can now build a functional and beautiful WordPress website, it still takes a certain level of technical know-how, creativity, and dedication to fully optimize the desired user experience. Given the open source nature of the platform, imagination is the limit.
While licensing is free with WordPress, you’re still likely to pay up if you want the best plugins and features. You may also need to purchase a plan to expand your website or install premium application. If you want to know more, Smash Magazine gives a comprehensive look into the inner workings of WordPress.
The good thing, though, is that you only have to pay for what you need. If you’re building a website for your business and you want it to perform the way a closed source website would, hiring a concierge-style service may be a good option. This way, you don’t need to brush up on your coding skills and simply instruct the support stuff to perform the customization for you.
Your business website is the digital hub and extension of your brand. Put up a website that your target audience deserves without draining your funds. And look into DIY WordPress solutions.
