So you're considering WordPress for your new small business website but aren't sure if it's the right option for you.
In this article, we'll look at some of the reasons small business owners should love WordPress and why it's almost certainly a website solution that matches your needs.
Let's get started.
Reason 1) The flexibility of WordPress
In the past WordPress was sometimes dismissed as nothing more than a blogging platform, but those days are no long gone.
The truth is you can use WordPress to create anything from a simple brochure website with just a few pages, to a complex, fully-functional ecommerce website.
Why not check out this these examples of great websites built with WordPress? It's packed with examples to help inspire you.
Reason 2) It's easy to keep content fresh
One of the biggest advantages of WordPress (and other content management systems) is just how easy it is to make changes to the site.
While you won't want to carry out a major redesign every day, you will want to keep people updated about your latest news, products and offers.
To do that with WordPress, you just need to log in, make the content changes that are required, click "update" and that's it.
Reason 3) Thousands of amazing themes to choose from
WordPress is hugely popular and that means it has tonnes of "added extras" that make using it even easier.
One of these extra is a huge range of themes for you to choose from. If you're unfamiliar with WordPress themes, they're readymade ways of ensuring your website has the right look.
The best thing is there are themes for every kind of business. Whether you're a photographer looking to showcase your portfolio, or a plumber looking to drum up more business, there's a WordPress theme that's perfect for you.
And of course, with WordPress being so flexible, you'll find a lot of themes will be easy to customize, at least to some degree, allowing you to create a website that suits your needs perfectly.
This guide will help you pick the right WordPress theme.
Reason 4) WordPress plugins
Themes are great for customising the look of your site, but you'll also want to customise the functionality it too.
That's where plugins come in. Instead of having to ask a web designer to code a new feature for you, you can simply find the plugin that does what you want, and (in most cases) install it on your site in with a couple of clicks.
Plugins can do everything from add a contact form to your site, to helping you do better search engine optimisation.
Check out this video to learn more about plugins.
Reason 5) The WordPress community
Can't find the right WordPress plugin for a particular job. Or perhaps your WordPress site is behaving in unexpected ways. Or maybe you want some pointers on the best way to start developing your own WordPress themes.
Whatever challenge you're facing with WordPress, the WordPress community can help you solve it.
Because the CMS is so widely adopted, there are thousands of people just waiting to help you out. If you'd have a question for the WordPress community, or just want to become more involved, then the WordPress forums are a great place to start.
Reason 6) It makes SEO easier
Speaking of SEO, WordPress actually makes SEO easier even without any plugins. As Matt Cutts, former head of Google's webspam team, once said: "WordPress automatically solves a tonne of SEO issues."
Now this doesn't mean that you can just create a WordPress site, sit back and expect it to rank well in Google.
But it does mean that you won't have to worry about a lot of basic technical SEO factors, so instead you'll be able to focus your attention elsewhere.
Reason 7) Your WordPress site can grow with your business
WordPress can be powerful - a properly hosted WordPress site can handle hundreds of thousands of visitors a month. But WordPress can also be cheap - setting up a WordPress site on a shared hosting package can cost as little as a few pounds a month.
This means that WordPress can grow with your business. Whether you're looking to launch a new website that will have high visitor numbers from day one, or are starting small and looking to grow, there's a WordPress solution to suit your business.
Reason 8) Managed WordPress
Although WordPress is user friendly, there are some technical things that can't be avoided. For example, you need to keep WordPress updated to ensure that it stays as secure as possible.
However, just because these things can't be avoided doesn't mean you have to avoid them. If you use Managed WordPress from GoDaddy, we'll handle this sort of thing for you, so you can concentrate on making sure your website looks great.
