Ready to move your business online? Before you do, you have to decide whether to build and run your site on a CMS platform like WordPress or rely on quick website builders like Wix.
If you’re only going to look at the numbers, WordPress wins by a longshot. Over 30% of websites today run on WordPress, making it the predominant choice.
But what makes it so unique? Find out more right here as we tackle why WordPress is the best website builder today:
1. Risk-Free Start
Did you know that most “free” website builders aren’t worth the investment? Wix, for example, offers a free plan, but your site gets bombarded with ads. With WordPress, particularly WordPress.com, you don’t have to spend a penny on starting.
Sure, an essential WordPress site is nothing more than a basic blogging corner, but you still get access to a ton of free themes, and you can customize some aspects of your site. You can again create new pages, and you don’t even have to pay for hosting or a domain yet.
This is an excellent option for people new to website building or blogging. WordPress, without all the premium bells and whistles, is fundamental to a degree, but it’s a risk-free environment to help people learn its intricate systems and options.
2. Coding or Drag-and-Drop
Speaking of intricacies, it’s no surprise that WordPress is a complicated tool to use. It can seem daunting to study and use, especially for people with no web design or development experience.
The good news is you don’t need any coding skills to build a beautiful website with WordPress.
The dashboard allows you to customize the layout, theme, and more. If you want to get even more intricate, you can use plugins like Elementor or Divi to design a full website using a drag-and-drop UI.
For people accustomed to site builders like Wix or Squarespace, these plugins function similarly. They even allow you to customize further in case you do know how to code.
3. Plugins, Themes, Widgets
Yes, website builders like Wix and Squarespace offer themes and plugins, but these are mostly first-party plugins. You only get the ones offered in their respective marketplace. That is not the case with WordPress.
WordPress is an open-source platform, meaning anyone with enough skill can make and customize new themes, widgets, and plugins for everyone to use. The sky is the limit with WordPress — if a plugin doesn’t exist for the kind of function you need, you can make it yourself or hire someone to do it!
It’s this unlimited supply of great themes and plugins that opened the doors for things like Divi, which made drag-and-drop website designing on WordPress a reality.
If you want a site that looks and behaves exactly as you want it, you can’t go wrong with WordPress.
4. SEO-Friendly
The prettiest website in the world isn’t worth it if it’s not SEO-friendly. Without good SEO, no one will even know it exists. No one will visit it, and therefore you can’t earn or spread information and entertainment.
Remember how WordPress is an open-source platform compatible with thousands of plugins? Many of those plugins help boost on-page SEO, like Yoast SEO.
From speeding up pages to checking keyword usage, you’ll find all you need for WordPress. WordPress is also mobile-friendly and secure, both of which boost page rank in accordance to Google’s search algorithm.
5. Different Purposes
One of the biggest advantage WordPress has over website builders is its options for diversity. You can get hundreds of people and put them in a room together, but they’ll still end up with unique websites.
You can use WordPress to build a unique blog site, a video streaming site, an online store, or a fan club website, or even a wiki.
No matter the kind of website you want to build, it’s possible with WordPress. Sure, the more complex types might require a few plugins, professional themes, or coding skills, but despite that, it is possible to achieve your dream design and purpose.
6. Updates and Security
Worried about hackers and potential ransomware attacks? Do you aim to open an online shop but worry about credit card information getting stolen?
You’ll have less to worry about if you use WordPress. It continually receives updates from the developers, ensuring you get the latest security measures built right into the platform.
It goes beyond that, though. WordPress allows you to avail of external hosting, meaning you can pay for HostGator, GoDaddy, or other hosting services and enjoy their security updates too.
Don’t forget about the active community and all those plugins! There are thousands of security plugins and features you can install and utilize as well.
7. One Site, Multiple Users
Go ahead, take a moment to try any of the many website builders. When you’re done, you’ll notice they all have one major flaw: only one person can access the dashboard and create or edit content.
On WordPress, the site owner has complete control, but you can give other people new logins and roles. A writer, for example, can access the dashboard and write a draft post, but they can’t delete posts or make other significant changes. An editor, on the other hand, might be able to leave comments for editing but can’t write on the position they’re reviewing.
This flexibility to allow all sorts of different users to manage a single site is what makes WordPress the optimal choice for businesses. Other website builders work fine if only one person is going to use it, but if you have a full team on board, you’ll need to shift to WordPress.
Build and Improve With WordPress Today!
Website builders can be great, but if you want flexibility, full customization options, and more functionality for a team of people, then you should use WordPress.
Its open-source nature, regular updates, and the large community make it the most powerful platform out there.
Of course, launching a WordPress website and managing it are two different aspects.
It takes a lot of skill, research, and tools to keep any site functional and successful. That said, we’ve got all the guides listing numerous tips and tricks to help you out.
Feel free to read more of our articles to continue learning more, like this one discussing seven ways to keep your business safe from ransomware.