You have considered using WordPress as a CMS (from the English Content Management System) to create your website, and, as usual, before making a decision, you want to find out and compare the different CMSs you have available on the market.
Stop looking at other websites because, in this article, I will show you the advantages and disadvantages of choosing WordPress as a platform to build your website.
WordPress is free or open source software, or what is the same, it is open source software. Its code is available for anyone to see, study, modify, and redistribute under its GPL ( General Public License ). This is one of the main advantages of WordPress: its transparency for being open source.
Being an open-source project, many people decided to contribute to improving this system. Some contribute to the WordPress code voluntarily; others are paid by companies that base their business model on this CMS. The result is that many people are dedicated to improving all the functions of this website creation platform without all the work falling on the investment capacity of a particular company.
Like any other open source software, thanks to its transparency, rest assured that if there were any part of its code that behaved suspiciously or allowed any doubtful access to the information contained in the database of your website, it would be known. Quickly. This is not the case with WordPress, and this is a fact.
As errors are detected and fixed continuously, the security of the core of this content manager is high, no matter how much its detractors claim otherwise. Of course, updates to guarantee this security and its optimal functioning are frequent.
In any case, keep in mind that the security of your website does not depend exclusively on how secure WordPress is. There are more factors, such as the PHP version, the server configuration, the plugins you use (and where you get them from), your password, etc. In the end, the most robust chain is always broken by the weakest link. Security is key to a good reputation for your brand.
WordPress is entirely free as software to create and manage your website. You do not have to pay to be able to use or install WordPress, as it happens with other CMS. However, that does not mean that creating a website with WordPress does not have a cost.
At a minimum, you will have to hire a domain (your website address) and a hosting plan from a hosting service. Raiola is a hosting provider with competitive prices for specialized WordPress hosting plans and when contracting your personalized domain.
WordPress makes it easy for you to do a lot of complex but necessary technical tasks to create a website. So you can prioritize creating content for your website instead of fighting with the configuration of your platform or CMS.
Whether you want to start a personal blog or a page to ensure your company’s presence in the Internet world, the first step is to install WordPress. The WordPress installer is straightforward to use and intuitive, but Installatron (the tool offered by Raiola) is even more so. With a few clicks, your website will run without worrying about uploading files to your hosting or configuring the database.
The WordPress learning curve is probably one of the shortest in the world for website managers. The primary and fundamental steps are simple and intuitive; from there, you can complicate it to the level you consider.
Visual builders ( Elementor, Divi, etc.) are the fastest and most direct way to implement your web design. These add-ons to the default editor allow you to define the visual appearance and layout of your website’s elements, products, articles, etc., using only the mouse. In addition, with WordPress, you can choose between different visual builders and use the one that offers you the best user experience.
WordPress functionalities can be extended through the use of plugins. There are plugins for practically anything you need, from SEO, marketing, and image optimization to avoiding spam in your blog comments.
You can also install new themes to use the template that best suits the type of website you want to have. All these complements increase the possibilities of creating this content manager.
WordPress has been designed to be useful for different types of users simultaneously, from the web development specialist to the user who has neither idea of programming nor wants to have it.
This is one of the significant advantages and disadvantages of WordPress, since in the same way that there are easy things to do (for some), there are also difficult things to do (for others). It all depends on what we are used to and what is more comfortable for us.
Free software always gathers a community around it. In this sense, WordPress is no exception: its community is one of the most active and diverse in the world, since apart from people who contribute to the development of the code of this tool, you will also find people who are dedicated to web design, marketing, training or simply have a blog based on this platform.
The important thing is that it is this community that drives the project forward, the one that provides support through the official forums, the one that creates training content, the one that translates both the so-called WordPress core and the themes and plugins into other languages , and many other actions.
Without a community, no open-source project lives on. In that sense, you have nothing to worry about with WordPress.
As you have just read, the WordPress community supports the tool through the official support forums. You will always find volunteers willing to lend you a hand to solve doubts or problems with WordPress, the theme, or the plugins you are using on your web pages. Of course, be polite and watch your way if you want to receive answers from these volunteers since nothing obliges them to answer.
This community also organizes training events on WordPress and with content from other related areas such as marketing, SEO, e-commerce, security, web maintenance, etc. Meetups and WordCamps are excellent places to keep up with the WordPress project.
As if that were not enough, the efforts of the WordPress community to generate educational content are mainly reflected in two sites. One is WordPress.tv, where you can upload the talks organized in meetups and WordCamp so anyone can see them anytime. The other fundamental resource is Learn WordPress, where you will find video tutorials explaining specific topics and to the point on different aspects related to the WordPress project or the operation of this platform.
For all these reasons, it is easy to understand that WordPress is the most widely used CMS in the world. This means, among other things, that it will be easier for you to find resources and professionals specialized in working with WordPress and, like everything in this world, the law of supply and demand; if there is more supply, prices drop while maintaining quality.
Everything good also has its wrong side, and WordPress is no exception.
It is necessary to learn new concepts. Even if you do not know how to program a web page, it will require you to acquire ideas related to creating a website, such as backup, plugin, user account, call to action, payment gateway, privacy policy, shopping cart, newsletter, etc.
Imagine the problem that having a car would cause you without knowing why fuel is pouring into the tank or what the clutch is for. You will need to learn if you want to have a website or something new.
With the visual builders, you can customize the design of your page with a click to adjust the colour of the headers or that the text is displayed in two columns, for example. But if you need greater customization, you will have to resort to programming.
Therefore, you either learn or delegate this action to someone else.
A fast website is essential, and so that your WordPress website does not become slow, it will be necessary to implement several strategies: image optimization, use of a caching system, optimization of the code, using only the essential plugins, optimization of the database data, etc.
As you can see, either you learn the best optimization practices or, again, you must resort to someone who offers that service.
Although the software is safe, you must learn to avoid the dangers that users can generate, for example, using weak passwords or not changing them regularly. Another way to ensure the security of your website is to choose carefully where you get your plugins and themes from.
The primary recommendation, and the easiest way, is to go to the official WordPress repository and apply regular updates, so this disadvantage is not so bad.
WordPress can be slower than other systems and platforms for building websites. But it is also true that none of these alternatives can offer the same as WordPress or in the same way.
If you carry out a good maintenance and optimization of your website, WordPress will not work slowly.
Its popularity is one of those advantages and disadvantages of WordPress. Put yourself in the mind of an attacker; where do you invest his efforts? It will have a higher probability of success on the most used platforms. If you worry about following good security practices and keeping your website software updated, it is unlikely, because nothing is impossible, that you will have problems in this regard.
Another consequence of its popularity is that you will find a wide variety of companies and professionals that offer their services and products based on WordPress. As in any situation, the greater the number of options, the greater the probability of coming across products and services that do not meet your expectations or the average market level.
We have already seen that WordPress does not require an outlay beyond hosting and domain. But as you want more features, you will probably have to resort to paid plugins and, in some cases, look for developers who tailor solutions to your needs so as not to overload your CMS with plugins.
The cost of these custom jobs can be considerable. Even so, thanks to WordPress being so popular and well-known, the total price is lower than what an equivalent development would have with other platforms.
As you have seen after reading the article, WordPress has advantages and disadvantages. Many of them are entirely reasonable. It is a software that simplifies the creation of websites, but like any other tool, it requires learning and dedication. The great potential of WordPress is based on being an open-source project with a large community behind it that is in charge of improving the tool and supporting it.
Also Read: What Is HTML, And What Is It For?
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