WordPress is an open-source CMS (content management system). The advantage of WordPress is that it is free and relatively easy to use. WordPress runs about sixty percent of the CMS market. It is the largest share market compared to its competitors, such as Drupal and Joomla. These two competitors have a one-digit market share.
WordPress allows various plugins, themes, customizability, and ease of use, which gives it better functionality and a large market share. Moreover, WordPress has quality building tools in the market.
In this article, I will answer the question, “Is WordPress only good for blogs”? Keep reading the article to get well-detailed information. Let’s dive in!
Why is WordPress used for Blogs?
WordPress was initially made for blog publishers as a platform for blogging. However, with time it became a full CMS (Content Managment System) for various websites because of accepting plugins and themes. WordPress has blogging features that continue to attract webmasters and content creators. Moreover, many high-profile blogs are run on WordPress. They include BBC America, The New Yorker, and Beyoncé.
The goodness of WordPress is that it is easy to use, even if you are a beginner. You will find it easy to navigate the system and publish your simple blog. The challenging part is setting themes for your blog. However, there is a preset theme that you can apply directly to your blog; if you want your blog to have a custom look, you need to install a page builder tool like Elementor, or you need to change your theme.
With WordPress, you have access to a variety of plugins. The almost infinite selection of free but also paid premium plugins for WordPress make it possible to customize the look and the functions according to your wishes. You can allow comments or disallow them within WordPress; you do not need a plugin. Moreover, there are plugins for managing user-generated content like product reviews. Plugins such as Social snap make sharing content on social media easy.
There are also plugins for monetizing your blog by displaying ads, selling merch via eCommerce plugins (WooCommerce), advertising, and accepting donations. Using WordPress, you can create different small, big or custom blogs. The NewYorker blog uses WordPress to give its users a better design, interactive graphics, and a quality mobile experience.
The NewYorker has an integration of a paywall to ensure subscribers have limited access. The characteristic of this paywall is that it uses complex artificial intelligence to maximize revenue income on its blog. From this example you can see that you can do almost anything you want with WordPress. WordPress is extremely flexible and you can change the entire source code as you wish if necessary. This does not work on other platforms, for example.
What are the other uses of WordPress?
WordPress can cater to various websites apart from a blog which includes:
E-commerce stores
You can have a WordPress E-commerce site using a free e-Commerce extension like WooCommerce. Examples include the Entrepreneur Magazine shop Vic Firth’s Percussion Store and Shopify store. These sites are well-designed and stylish to attract more vending job products. Their main aim is to sell products to their customers. Target and Walmart need WordPress, but other start-up retailers do.
The plugins make it easy to set up an e-commerce store with WordPress. The best e-commerce plugin is WooCommerce. It helps maintain the other WordPress plugins, which solve problems such as getting postage, gathering data, and accepting payments.
A business that sells its products online needs a POS (point of sale system) that integrates well with WordPress. Doing this will make it easier to set up and sync data with the system for easy navigation.
It is also possible to create dropshipping eCommerce online shops with WordPress and WooCommerce. All you need is an extra plugin and you can run your own dropshipping store with WordPress and WooCommerce. If you want to create a dropshipping store with WordPress and WooCommerce, I can recommend Alidropship premium plugin.
Business Websites
WordPress is a good option if your business does not need complex site features. You will get the right tools to do branding, SEO, and advertising. B2B businesses and the service industry use WordPress for their websites to generate leads.
Marketing agencies use these strategies to help struggling businesses grow. WordPress makes it easy to set up Facebook Ads, Google analytics, and various tools for digital marketing. You can also integrate A/B testing tools such as Instapage and a popular landing page seamlessly. It is also easy to carry out changes in WordPress, such as the content and layout for conversion rate optimization.
A business that offers technical assistance and support needs WordPress. For example, forum applications and ticketing businesses such as Freshdesk and Zendesk have WordPress plugins. It makes it easier for website visitors to get help.
When it comes to the application of WordPress to businesses, the list is endless. Examples of big businesses that use WordPress are the Renault Group and the Disney Company. Smaller businesses include Eschelon Experiences and Hub spire.
Landing Page Creation
Many businesses today use WordPress to carry out changes in landing pages. The simple changes include changing the texts and colors; however, you might need an expert for a sophisticated change. Landing pages are tied closely to ROI; therefore, having an attractive theme is necessary.
If you want to change the colors and menus or customize the theme, the WordPress tabs will help you accomplish that. Moreover, another way to change the landing page appearance is by adding widgets in specific areas. You can add elements such as Google map location, contact forms, and calls to action to your landing page.
There are also drag-and-drop landing page builders that work well with WordPress. When making landing pages, you can use a beaver builder if you prefer to drag and drop.
Portfolio websites
Portfolio websites are common for artistic works, personal brands, and many other uses. Most of these sites are simple and minimalistic; however, WordPress will make them stand out. You can find a good developer who will help you create an attractive portfolio, even if you have a small budget within a short time or you can search for a theme that will fulfill your needs.
It is important to make the WordPress portfolio your own. As a first-timer, you must learn a few things and a online learning platform like Udemy can help you with that. Moreover, WordPress has countless themes for portfolios. WordPress has plugins that can make your portfolio catchy and attractive to people.
Most portfolios show off artwork or photographs. Others display testimonials that you can link to your social profile automatically.
SEO Digital Marketing Sites
WordPress is the best for SEO (search engine optimization). It gives website visitors a good experience and increases your search engine visibility. WordPress also has many tools to ensure your website is technically SEO friendly.
The in-built tools help your website do the following:
- Optimization for mobile devices
- Creation of text for images
- Resizing images
- Categorizing posts
- Creating permalinks
It also makes it easy to accomplish SEO tasks using WordPress plugins. The tasks include:
- Checking for broken line
- Managing rich snippets
- Improving loading time
The Yoast plugin for example helps solve SEO website needs such as:
- Creating sitemaps
- Grammar and readability
- Keyword density
- Snippet and Metadata configuration
- Search console data
- Search engine visibility
- General site information
Digital marketing sites such as Neil Patel and CXL use WordPress to help them reach more customers and generate leads.
When Can You Not Use WordPress?
First-Time Website Developers
Although WordPress is a popular choice, it is not used for each website. If you are a first-timer website developer and you only need a simple website, you can create it using Wix or Weebly. Or you can use a graphical interface that does not need coding.
Simple design website builders offer widgets and contact forms for more website functionality. You will also not need to upgrade your website. Moreover, these websites are easy to use and cheap.
If you have no experience with WordPress but still want to create a website with WordPress, I recommend you to take a course. There are many quality WordPress courses on Udemy where you can learn how to create your own website or blog with WordPress.
Here some examples:
From the basic beginner fundamentals to the master deep, you’ll learn all you need to create & design awesome websites.
A Beginner to Expert Course on WordPress. Covers Elementor & eCommerce too
Taxonomy and Organization
WordPress website’s big competitor is Drupal. It is excellent at managing such sites. Drupal can maintain content, workflow, and structure more strictly than WordPress. It makes it an excellent choice for companies that have large websites.
The outstanding feature of Drupal is Taxonomy. It is a sophisticated feature that helps during the following situations:
A website needs various preset navigation routes, layouts, and other elements.
When a website needs to have many different sections and each of the sections should be editable by specific team members.
When website content is for specific physical locations, it should appear based on user navigation or location.
Security
Security is an important feature when selecting a CMS. While WordPress is secure, the more plugins, the less secure it becomes. The risk also increases if the plugins do not get audited or updated often. Updating the plugins makes the websites more secure. Therefore, knowing which features your website will need is important before choosing a CMS.
In general, however, WordPress is very secure. If you download and install the plugins from official sources, there are no major problems. You should always make sure that the plugins you want to install receive regular updates. This closes any security gaps.
You can also install special security and backup tools that take care of the security and backups of your WordPress website. As a backup tool for your WordPress website, I recommend the free plugin “UpDraftPlus“, and for security you can download the free security plugin “Wordfence Security“.
HealthCare
WordPress integrates with HIPAA –compliant services, making it unfit for healthcare companies. You can remove WordPress from your list of CMS if your website needs HIPAA compliance in the entire site. Choosing another CMS is the best way instead of using tandem with WordPress for third-party services.
WordPress Pros and Cons
Pros
WordPress is a free and open-source platform making it accessible and easy to navigate. The only expense you will have to incur is the domain name registration fee and your site’s hosting. Moreover, you can save money using free themes and plugins.
In terms of functionality, WordPress is highly flexible and scalable. It has access to many extensions, making it easy to expand your site’s functionality according to the arising needs. Moreover, every feature you want has a plugin making your work easier.
It may not have a drag-and-drop website design but has simple tools you can use to design your website. The tools available will make your themes attractive and you will generate leads leading to the growth of your website. But if you want to, you can add a page builder like Elementor or Divi page builder.
WordPress was initially meant for blogging; therefore, its organization is excellent. It allows you to create a custom taxonomy for different groups and custom post types, which improves your website searchability. Furthermore, WordPress promotes SEO searches.
WordPress is popular; therefore, finding materials and tutorials to help you learn how to use it are readily available. There are plenty of training videos on Udemy to help begin developing your WordPress site.
Cons
Building an essential WordPress website is easy if you have the basic knowledge. However, when running large websites, there will be challenges and you might need help from professionals. Moreover, you will need skills in how to run a large site.
WordPress is open-source, meaning you will be responsible for running the technical aspects of your site. These aspects include implementing security measures, creating backups, and conducting updates.
WordPress has many theme collections; you may need manual customization and integration for optimal performance. If you set them incorrectly, you will create vulnerabilities in your site, making it susceptible to various cyber-attacks.
WordPress involves flying blind. If you encounter a problem, there will be no customer support or service to help you. You will use online forums and tutorials to navigate through your problem. Premium plugins and themes offer support; however, they are costly ($20-$100).
Why is WordPress so popular?
WordPress is becoming more and more popular, and not because of you! WordPress is open-source software that anyone can download and install. WordPress is also constantly being developed and improved. You don’t have to pay anything to use the WordPress software. This is a big advantage compared to other page builders like Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify.
Most hosting platforms already offer a “one-click installation” for WordPress. So if you buy a domain name or hosting, you can install WordPress with just one click. Very easy and very practical!
With WordPress, you can create very simple websites in a few minutes, but also very complex websites with a lot of in-depth functions.
WordPress is also ideal for creating an eCommerce online shop. WordPress offers a very mature eCommerce platform extension called WooCommerce. Of course, WooCommerce can also be used free of charge and can be expanded almost infinitely.
You will find thousands of different extensions on the internet and on different platforms like ThemeForest or Codecanyon. Many of these plugins or themes greatly expand the functionality of your website. So you can adapt your website or your online shop exactly as you need it.
Final thoughts
WordPress is an open-source CMS, making modifying and publishing content easy. It also has many plugins with great benefits. Moreover, WordPress powers SEO content, forums, landing page, portfolios, and e-commerce apart from blogs. It also has advantages and disadvantages. WordPress can be difficult at first, but if you spend some time with the WordPress backend, or even take a course, you will quickly see the benefits of WordPress and be able to create your own websites or blogs in no time. Therefore, it is important to understand the needs and features of the website you want before selecting a CMS for your website.
However, WordPress offers the great advantage over other website builders or ecommerce platforms that WordPress is free and receives great support from many developers worldwide.
If you are looking for a specific function or a specific theme, you will definitely find this function or plugin. You will also find the largest selection with WordPress when it comes to design or templates. There is an almost endless selection of different themes for WordPress. Take a look at the “Themeforest” platform, for example, where you will find an almost unlimited selection of themes and plugins for WordPress.
If you still have problems with your WordPress website, you will find many people who can help you. On platforms such as Fiverr, you will find thousands of freelancers who can help you with any problems.