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Ordinary and Extra Ordinary People Choose WordPress for a Reason
Updated April 12, 2014

Ordinary and Extra Ordinary People Choose WordPress for a Reason

Rebecca Olkowski | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

3.8.1

Overall Satisfaction

I help start up entrepreneurs and small business owners use WordPress websites for their businesses. WordPress offers a platform that's easy to use for most business owners as far as making changes to their content, and is an affordable way to have a dynamic and interactive website without breaking their bank account. The fact that WordPress always keeps it's platform updated is important to me especially when it comes to being compatible with emerging technologies, such as mobile responsiveness and the ability to play audio and video easily.

There is so much variety in the number of plugins and themes available, that's it's fairly easy to customize a website to look unique and match company branding without having to spend extra money coding it from scratch. I've found that by using Premium themes as opposed to using one that has been custom coded from scratch, many business owners have an advantage. Premium themes are usually kept updated, whereas a custom coded theme, may not, if the web developer is no longer associated with the business. There's less chance of a Premium theme breaking or having issues and support is usually available.

I would recommend WordPress especially for businesses on a budget.
  • The fact that WordPress is set up to create a blog makes it easier for a business to get traffic to their site simply by writing valuable content that gets shared and indexed. Each blog post creates a new page on the Internet that search engines can find. WordPress is the most popular blogging platform in that regard.
  • The software is easy to install on many hosts that offer a one click installation. For a simple site, there's often no need to upload and configure files using FTP.
  • There's a plugin for practically every function imaginable. Although some are better than others, a business owner has many options in what they can offer their audience.
  • Some WordPress themes are easier to use than others. In those cases there may be a need to use a designer to customize the CSS in the stylesheet, write php functions, and configure plugins. It's not that this is a bad thing, but the majority of business owners want their website to be as easy as possible to style and maintain.
  • The frequency of WordPress updates can sometimes be annoying and it's important to be careful in going about the process. I'm glad the smaller security updates and bug fixes are now taking place automatically in the background, as long as they don't disturb the theme design or conflict with plugins.
  • I think there's still some room for more flexibility in configuring the layout of the site for many themes. It would be nice to be able to drag and drop widget areas and place them where ever you want without having to write php functions or tweak CSS.
  • Using content marketing via blogging is such a no brainer when it comes to driving traffic to a website. It's surprising that more people don't take advantage of it. WordPress is the gold standard, as far as blogging is concerned, in my opinion. I've found that writing on a regular basis will always bring more traffic than having a static website.
  • WordPress widget areas and shortcodes make it simple to install opt in boxes, or other conversion tools to make a site more interactive and effective when it comes to monetization.
  • Comments are a great way to get feedback from your audience to find out what their needs are so you can service them and also to find your target market.
I've used some of the free blogging platforms such as Blogspot, WordPress.com and Weebly. You don't have the same control over your files and website like you do with a self-hosted WordPress site. I migrated over to WordPress.org and never looked back. I've worked on some client sites who were moving over from mundane static html sites and there's such a huge difference in the amount of connection they are getting from using WordPress. I personally love that so many other products and services interface with WordPress, such as email marketing services, schedulers, shopping carts, etc. It makes sense to me to use it.
I love using WordPress but it has some limitations. It's an open source free software that experiences bugs from time to time. You may find that support from the free forums is hit or miss and when you finally get an answer it's in geek speak. Sometimes it takes a while get your problem solved. My clients are ordinary business owners and entrepreneurs who simply want their website to be functional, effective, and understandable. Despite that, I believe WordPress is the best solution, for most people, and especially for those who want to cut their business overhead. A simple and effective WordPress site can be developed for only a few hundred dollars as opposed to thousands and thousands of dollars. That's an important benefit especially for start up companies. I'm a Baby Boomer. I am able to operate WordPress easily and have learned to customize it. If I can do it, chances are many others of my age group or younger will be able to create content, make edits and updates when needed.
If a company has a healthier budget or has more complicated needs than most smaller businesses, and needs an extensive shopping cart or more flexible design, then hiring a designer who can completely hand code a site may be a better idea. However, for the average business owner, who's more concerned about attracting organic traffic to their site, using content marketing, then WordPress is the way to go. The fact that many people are viewing websites on mobile or other devices, makes it especially important to use an ever evolving platform like WordPress. There are so many older and less functional html sites out there that are clearly not keeping up with technology.

Product Usage

1 - I am the sole owner of my company and a WordPress blog marketing consultant. I not only set up WordPress sites, but I also tutor those who are techno-phobic so that it's easier for them to use it also. I've found that many times business owners are left high and dry by their designers. I don't know what this happens but some people just need a little support and guidance to empower them to optimize their website for their business.
1 - Just me. I have several other websites on WordPress and manage the sites of at least 30 other people doing day to day editing, tutoring and support. Although I may consider outsourcing this work to others eventually, I haven't found the work to be too overwhelming. It's quite creative, actually.
  • I set up WordPress sites and offer WordPress support for others so, of course, I use WordPress.
  • WordPress to me is easy enough to manage and quite dynamic.
  • The functionality of it and the fact that it integrates with so many other products makes it the website platform of choice for me.
  • Through my sites, I've been able to connect to other people in my same niche to do promotions and giveaways. The RSS feed from my blog and backlinks have improved the traffic on my site.
  • I've been contacted by other companies to write reviews and try out products.
  • There's a sense of connection overall when using a site built on WordPress.
  • I would like to add videos and podcasts to my sites to build my audience. WordPress plugins and integration make this easy to do.
  • i will be adding more products and probably some type of shopping cart using WordPress plugins.
  • Traffic builders such as optimized opt in boxes via WordPress plugins.

Usability

I think that many people can use WordPress easily but not everyone is able to. WordPress is still be a little overwhelming for some. Everyday, WordPress is improving it's usability and that's what makes it such a great platform to use for business and personal websites. I think serious business owners will take the time to learn to use it.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Convenient
Feel confident using
Not well integrated
Slow to learn
  • Probably the easiest thing would be writing posts and pages using the WordPress visual editor. It's similar to writing a Word Doc.
  • Now that plugins can be uploaded directly using the dashboard, rather than FTP, makes this a very easy process.
  • Although some web people may disagree, I'm happy that WordPress updates are taking place in the background automatically at least for minor changes.
  • Generating code for widget areas still require writing some code, but this can sometimes be accomplished by using the post editor to write the code for you.
  • Some WordPress themes are very complicated while others are simple. It all depends on which ones you pick.
  • Dealing with php function code can be a bit scary if you're not a coder.
Yes - There are various ways to view your website using on a mobile device. Some WordPress themes are built to be responsive which is what I personally prefer. It's built into the theme. You just have to be careful not to make major changes without being aware of how that can affect the theme responsively. Mobile plugins are okay for certain types of businesses but tend to be limited and show a theme completely different than your website. Just viewing the site as is, without a responsive design or mobile plugin is a preference and needs to conform to how your main audience views your website.