Part 2 of our 10 Part Informational Series -WordPress as a Content Management System

WordPress started as just a blogging system, but has evolved to be used as a full content management system and so much more through the thousands of plugins, widgets, and themes, WordPress is limited only by your imagination. Here we will examine five key benefits to using WordPress for your website.

Choose From Hundreds of Ready-Made Website Themes

If you’re not sure how to create a professional website, WordPress offers the benefit of hundreds of ready-made website themes. The best part is that they are free.

Website designers will host one or more website themes, creating and sharing them with the WordPress community, in exchange for their link in the footer of your website. This boosts their Google ranking and it may bring them customers who will pay for a custom designed website. You get a free website theme and they get free advertising. It’s a win-win situation.

WordPress.org lists more than 1,000 website themes on their website and you aren’t limited to these themes alone. You can also do a Google search for “WordPress themes” for an even bigger selection. Keep in mind that the themes hosted at WordPress.org have been vetted by WordPress veterans and declared to be in good working order. They are free of poorly written code, malware and other problems.

Reuse Content and Menus without Frames

One of the biggest problems with a static html website is the ability to have information that appears on every page such as links across the top, a table of contents, a footer or header.

Static HTML doesn’t allow for it. One solution is the use of inline frames, or iframes. However, this may not be supported in some mobile devices and it creates a search engine nightmare as none of the links located in an iframe are accessible to web bots and crawlers. Other solutions include using SHTML, or other specialized web programming, which can be problematic for a beginner to implement.

WordPress uses PHP and MySQL to deliver web content dynamically, which offers complete freedom to reuse pieces of web content anywhere on your website. The best part is that you don’t need to know how to program in PHP to have a WordPress website. WordPress comes with an administration panel that lets you add content to your website without ever touching the code or database that drives the website.

Plugins That Let You Add Features

Another benefit of using WordPress is that you have access to over 10,000 plugins that are either free or low cost and add functionality and pizzazz to your website. Some powerful plugins that are available let you add fully functional event calendars, dynamic slideshows, or perhaps social media bookmarks with interactivity to Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and many more. WordPress plugins make it easy to add such features without a lot of the hassle associated with trying to accomplish these functions with a static HTML website.

Built-in Readership

If you blog about topics that others find interesting they will find you through the WordPress portals and link to you. As long as you have at least one or two listings in the Update Services under “Settings/Writing” in your WordPress administration panel, your website will be broadcast through several blog lists.

In other words, without any special effort on your part, people will find your website simply by your being part of the WordPress network.

Spruce Up for the Holidays

One of the best features that WordPress offers is the ability to change the look of your website with the click of one single button. Your website could have a Valentine’s Day theme, a Christmas theme, a St. Patrick’s Day theme, or a football season theme for different times of the year.

Once you have installed a variety of themes, changing from one theme to another is as simple as selecting the new theme in your WordPress settings. With a simple search through the WordPress themes database you can easily find themes you like and then install them onto your WordPress website. Once installed you can easily switch between your themes any time you wish. More advanced users can also edit themes or create child themes based on available WordPress themes to further customize the look and feel of their WordPress website.

Drawback of a WordPress Website

The benefits of having a WordPress website far outweigh the drawback. The primary drawback is that unless you have a basic understanding of PHP, CSS and MySQL, you may be limited to using the ready-made WordPress themes. However, with thousands of WordPress themes freely available, and more being added every day, you are sure to find one that comes very close to matching the look and layout to suit your needs. With the ability to add plugins, change out the basic theme images, add logos and adjust the CSS to accommodate your color, text and basic layout preferences, the benefits of having a WordPress website are well worth it.