When WordPress debuted, it was used for its blogging functions. In the 16 years since its release (May 27, 2003), WordPress has evolved. It is an essential content management tool for many individuals and businesses. It allows people to create and publish sites anywhere in the world. All you need is a domain name and a hosting site.
WordPress is a valuable tool for many small businesses. It’s a free open source content management system that they can use for many aspects.
Most small business owners have a lot of great ideas. Sometimes they lack the capital required to get those ideas off the ground. Having a functional website with relevant content is essential.
Most startups understand that online presence is important for their idea to develop into a profitable venture. A website is a convenient and cost-effective place for them to explain their ideas, layout the road map, and keep all stakeholders informed of their progress.
It is also a place where job seekers can contact you, or investors follow with a roadmap. A place to get in touch with suppliers and potential customers in the early stages and for building up a buzz until launch day. And when the venture takes off, the website can be used for marketing the product or service and staying in contact with everyone.
WordPress allows entrepreneurs the ability to have an affordable and appealing website. It helps them get their name out as they are starting to define themselves and create their customer base. But is building a business on WordPress smart thing to do? Is WordPress good choice for startups?
Building A Business On WordPress
Here are several reasons why WordPress is an excellent choice for startups:
1. Reliable and here to stay
WordPress is an open-source platform used by developers, testers, coders, and business executives. It’s been around for a long time, and it’s a popular choice for many companies around the world.
WordPress complies with SQL, PHP, Javascript, and other technologies. With constant upgrades and improvements, it’s sure that WordPress isn’t going away.
2. Free to use
One of the most popular reasons why businesses use WordPress is that it’s free. There’s no software to buy or subscriptions to buy. It’s an open-source program not owned by anyone and is licensed by the GNU General Public License.
The Automattic company and many volunteers back it. WordPress users get access to free updates, free themes, and to more than 50,000 plugins in the WordPress directory.
The free themes and plugins ensure that users get off to a head start, thereby saving time and money. You only pay expenses attached to running a website like domain name, hosting, and optional customizations.
3. There’s no lock-in usage
Another advantage of using WordPress is that there are no long-term commitments or contracts. You’re not locked into using the software. You can use it as much or as little as you want.
This gives businesses a lot more freedom in dealing with other companies. Also, your data stays with you if you decide to go somewhere else. You can choose to migrate from WordPress to any other platform with all your data intact.
4. eCommerce features for selling
Many sites already using WordPress have embraced the WooCommerce plugin. It’s a handy tool that’s easy to use and understand. It simplifies many e-commerce functions.
If you need more functionality, you can use any of the available free and premium extensions (check best WooCommerce plugins) that can extend your online store.
WooCommerce can get you started with selling any product or service. If you are selling downloadable products, the Easy Digital Downloads plugin will help.
5. Mobile friendly
Another reason why so many companies use WordPress is that it works well on handheld devices. There are plenty of responsive themes (see best responsive multipurpose WordPress themes) and plugins that you can use.
There are Android and iOS mobile apps like Appmaker WP, WPMobile.App, and AppPresser that can render WordPress pages on mobiles. There is no reason not to make your site responsive.
6. SEO ready
Search engine optimization involves using targeted keywords to help your products and services appear in search engine results. The higher up you are in search engine rankings, the easier it is for people to find you.
Everyone knows how important is search engine optimization, so it is good to know that WordPress is SEO ready. There are many available SEO plugins like Rank Math (see Rank Math vs Yoast SEO), SEOPressor Connect (see SEOPressor vs Rank Math vs Yoast SEO comparison), Yoast SEO, SEOPress (check SEOPress review), All In One SEO Pack (what is the difference between All In One SEO vs Yoast SEO), etc.
Former Google software engineer Matt Cutts even endorses WordPress. There are plenty of tools and helpful advice that you can use to improve your visibility and ranking.
7. Ability to add features using plugins
Different websites have different needs. Those can include selling products, having interactive communities, or a perfect landing page. WordPress offers websites to add the functions they need in the form of plugins. If you wish, you can add functions with custom coding as well.
Right now, there are over 50,000 WordPress plugins in the repository. You can choose any to extend the functionality of your site.
Besides the free plugins, there are third-party premium plugins that you can also use. This makes WordPress a highly extensible platform. For example, if you want to add a webinar function to your site but remove it after a few months, you can do precisely that.
8. You can scale per needs
WordPress is scalable to meet the needs of your business. It’s designed to grow along with you. Most companies prefer to start small because they don’t know where the future will bring them.
Businesses ranging from occasional bloggers to well known multinational organizations use WordPress. Mercedes Benz and Walt Disney Company are a few examples.
You can use WordPress on any server with a shared hosting plan (see which is best cheap WordPress hosting) to high end dedicated servers. It works great for small sites, blogs, and big enterprises equally well.
9. WordPress is secure
While no site will ever be 100% safe, WordPress is one of the most secure CMSs around. They have a dedicated team committed to keeping users free from threats.
Updates and patches are published regularly, and members informed of the latest scams and viruses. Companies, including NGinx and The Obama Foundation, trust WordPress to keep their sites running smoothly.
WordPress makes an effort to ensure that every user’s site is as safe and secure as possible. Helpful information is given about creating secure passwords and security questions.
WordPress also offers various security plugins that you can add for extra peace of mind. Some of the popular security plugins include Swift Security (Swift Security vs Hide My WP comparison), MalCare (check MalCare review), iThemes Security (check iThemes Security vs Wordfence comparison), Hide My WP (see Hide My WP review), etc. What’s important is that as a user, there are many things you can do to keep your website safe.
This includes choosing a reliable host (see WordPress hosting guide for beginners), using strong usernames and passwords, selecting quality themes and plugins, and updating WordPress regularly. In the hands of a responsible user, WordPress is a secure platform.
10. Easy to use
WordPress is straightforward to use. But if you do get stuck, there are plenty of online courses, tutorials, and other helpful resources. WordPress is known for being a “do-it-yourself” kind of website.
There are live chats, blogs, tutorials, and podcasts that can come in handy. If you’re stuck or are experiencing an error, the odds are that you’re not alone. Other users have experienced the same type of difficulty before.
Reading about their experiences can help you solve the problem and find new ways to run the website more efficiently.
11. Enables smooth workflow
Another reason why companies of all sizes use WordPress is because of the defined user roles. These roles can be assigned to different members of your company.
It’s easy to create user log-ins, assign tasks, and even automate different functions if you want to. This helps to ensure a smarter, smoother workflow.
12. Huge Selection of WordPress themes
When choosing WordPress theme for your business, it is important to pick right one. There are thousands of WordPress themes to choose from. Themes are easy to install and can add functionality to your website. There are free themes to select as well as premium themes. You can also preview them before adding them to your site.
Themes can help define your brand and make your website stand out above the competition. You can add your logo, contact information, photos, text, etc. to give your website a unique identity. I recommend using Astra (Astra theme review), GeneratePress, Deep theme (check Deep theme review), OceanWP (see OceanWP theme review), etc.
13. Multilingual ready
Companies are becoming accustomed to conducting business with people in many countries around the world. One problem that many companies experience is difficulty with language barriers.
They either lack the knowledge of another language or functionality to help global customers place orders.
Thankfully, WordPress has multilingual plugins (WPML vs Polylang vs MultilingualPress vs Weglot) that are easy to install and operate. These plugins let you translate categories, pages, and themes so that you can focus on running your business.
14. Great community
If you talk to enough WordPress users, you’ll hear about how great the online community is. Thousands of users are there to help fellow business owners like yourself.
Each of them offers valuable insight and advice to people who struggle with certain aspects. There are also a lot of handy guides and online tutorials if you’re not sure where to get started.
Every year, WordCamps are held, and in the last decade, there have been over 500 WordCamps hosted in over 40 countries. They are locally organized WordPress user conferences where Contributors, Developers, Bloggers, and Agencies meet to share information and ideas.
WordCamps host various workshops, talks, and launches to keep everyone engaged. Attending a WordCamp brings the community together. You can even find WordPress consultant or freelancer to help you with your website and business.
15. Regular updates
The WordPress developers are always looking for new ways to make their services and plugins more helpful for the end-users.
WordPress is updated regularly throughout the year. These updates help to improve performance and fix any security issues that may arise. Major updates are released once or twice a year and named after famous jazz musicians.
Sometimes WordPress plugins or theme updates can break the site. It is essential to have backups in case that happens. You can use a plugin like Duplicator, WPvivid (check WPvivid review), BackupBuddy (see BackupBuddy review), 10Web backup plugin (see 10Web review), etc.
Is WordPress The Best Way To Build A Website?
It’s not easy going into business. Having an idea, formulating a business plan, choosing a product line, finding a facility and employees can be costly. Raising funds can be challenging for people who are getting started. You might have a lot of great ideas, but how are you going to execute them?
Having a website is a requirement these days for any business. It needs to look good, do the job, and be easy to use. However, we’re not all web developers or can afford to hire one. That’s where WordPress comes in.
WordPress is an invaluable resource for companies large and small. It is here to help you succeed by allowing you to create a brilliant website for little or even no money at all.
The best thing about WordPress is that most of its tools are available either free of charge or at a reasonable price. There are guides, tutorials, and plugins that can help get you started.
WordPress takes a lot of the guesswork and intimidation involved in getting your company website started.
DISCLOSURE: Posts may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, I might get a small commission, without any extra cost to you. Read more about it here.