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Last updated on August 29th, 2024 at 11:50 am
If you’re thinking about starting a blog or website, WordPress is likely the top platform you’ll come across. Since its launch in 2003, WordPress has quickly become the most popular self-hosted blogging tool in the world.
From a technical perspective, WordPress is an open-source web development framework built on PHP, a programming language. It includes a web template system that allows users to easily customize their pages. WordPress also provides a vast array of features, such as built-in themes, a pick-and-choose plugin system, widgets, static pages, and simple media management tools.
With all these powerful features, users can craft websites that are both aesthetically pleasing and SEO-friendly.
According to statistics shared by WPZoom, more than 478 million sites around the globe are using WordPress to power their websites and blogs. That’s a lot of sites and it continues to grow each month! So that may make you wonder, what makes it so popular?
WordPress has held this top spot for many years, let’s have a look at the reasons why WordPress is so popular:
It’s Free & Open Source
WordPress web development is completely free to use, edit and redistribute, which makes it the most cost-effective solution available in the market. It is also entirely open-source. The software script that’s used to run WordPress can be downloaded and installed by anyone from their official website.
The source code can be easily edited and customized according to your individual needs. Most of the web hosting services offer a one-click install option for WordPress. Therefore, you can get started with a new and free blog within seconds!
Ease of Use
The free availability of WordPress doesn’t come at the expense of its usability. WordPress offers an insanely smooth learning curve, which means that you don’t need to be a programmer to understand how it works. There are also PLENTY of easy-to-follow YouTube tutorials and guides out there to help you along.
WordPress comes with features for publishing content, user management, feeds, revisions, a block editor for easy page building, and so much more.
The WordPress dashboard offers a visually easy-to-navigate backend or admin panel. The administrator interface is so practically organized that everything from editing a page to uploading media can be easily accomplished.
Flexible and Versatile
Another amazing feature that makes WordPress a popular choice is its extensibility and scalability. Today, it has become much more than just a blogging platform as it offers the flexibility to develop any website. Did you know that WordPress started out as a free community-built tool for blogging? Check out WPBeginner’s blog about the history of WordPress to learn more.
From a video-sharing site like YouTube or Vimeo to a fully-functional eCommerce store like eBay; WordPress is versatile enough to be used for developing any website.
There are countless themes and plugins available for WordPress that allow you to easily develop any type of website:
- Blog
- eCommerce store
- Business Website
- Creative Portfolio
- Video Website
- Service Website
- Photography Website
- Directory or Classified Ads Listing Website
- Membership Website
- Question Answer Forum
- and more! The possibilities are endless.
Themes
WordPress is an incredible content management system with highly creative and practical capabilities. There are thousands of user-friendly WordPress themes to choose from for any kind of site.
From lightweight web design created by casual developers to extraordinary powerhouse developed by professional designers, you can find a plethora of free and paid themes for your specific needs. EnvatoMarket is one of the most popular places to find and purchase reliable themes from.
In addition to that, many themes can be easily customized without any coding. The control panel under the WP dashboard enables the users to customize the colors, design, and features of the theme.
SEO Friendly
A website should be SEO-friendly so that search engines like Google and Bing can index and rank it. These search engines use various predefined parameters to rank the websites. This includes fast loading speed, XML sitemap, good coding, navigation, user experience, etc.
WordPress web design pays attention to all these parameters and also offers several additional plugins to improve the SEO & visibility of the site on search engines.
According to Google, WordPress is 99% SEO friendly; therefore it will minimize your efforts for making the site rank higher in the search results.
Easy monitoring and maintenance
If you are worried about regular surveillance and maintenance of your site, then rest assured that WordPress maintenance will not soak up your budget or time. Also, there is very little room for website downtime with this platform as the updates do not consume much time.
It takes about 15 minutes to backup the data manually for an average multi-plugin update.
WordPress also has a large community of active users and developers to help in troubleshooting. It has well-maintained support forums where you can post your questions, search queries and find solutions to your problems.
Security
WordPress design helps create robust and highly secured websites of any type. It has very high security standards and is regularly updated to minimize vulnerability and keep hackers at bay. There are many reliable, top-rated security plugins to choose from as well. So you can rest assured knowing your site is being protected and monitored while you sleep.
Users are encouraged to take certain precautions to reduce any potential threats. Using essential security tools, updating WordPress regularly, and downloading the plugins from official sources only, are some of the measures to improve safety.
Closing Summary
WordPress’s popularity stems from its extensive built-in features, enabling the creation of dynamic websites across various types. Its focus on security, SEO, and user-friendliness makes it a top choice for anyone venturing into the digital world. There is SO much to choose from that getting started can be overwhelming! Don’t worry, that’s our speciality! 😉
If you’re looking to get a corporate site, e-commerce store or blog developed, drop us an email anytime for advice or a quote.