WordPress Content Management System

It is almost impossible to look for a new website developer, designer, or hosting company without running into WordPress. WordPress is close to 1/3 of all websites on the internet and for a good reason. It, like many other products, can take less than an hour and you have your site ready to go.

Many developers who don't work primarily in WordPress though treat it like a throw-away tool. You will undoubtedly hear of how many WordPress sites get hacked, how many people make "WordPressy" designs, and it isn't for a "Real Business."

The truth of it is, if you have almost 1/3 of all websites on the planet, someone is going to find something to complain about too.

Let's talk about how you fix those and genuinely begin to care for your website.

Security

Is the password to your computer 1234, or do you hang the key to house on the doorknob? DON'T do this with your website either. Password management is one of the biggest reason something gets hacked, and that isn't just for WordPress, that is for anything. There are numerous to create safer passwords or keep track of them, so you don't have to forget them. The three most straightforward things to remember are:

• Don't use the same password for everything. If you can't remember your passwords, LastPass and many other tools like it are available for free or for pay if you're a business.
• "Password" would take an estimated .19 milliseconds to crack vs. "Pa$$word!" at 800 years. Try this tool here and see how your passwords measure up. https://www.betterbuys.com/estimating-password-cracking-times/
• Finally, WordPress is always being cared for by a vast community of developers. That means when you see the orange bubble saying update available, you need to do it. But carefully, updates are not always a sure fire thing that is successful without fail every time; your web developer should always make backups and test upgrades before applying them. Anyone who says there is no risk in an update is wrong.

Custom Designs

It is your site; It is you, your company, the virtual showcase, so you don't want it to just be the same template as everyone else. There are thousands of templates, and each can be modified. Some themes can be purchased and changed without a developer; others may need some real development work to go into them. But, if you are not willing to put a little money into the design, you won't get very far anyway. It would be like buying a building, slapping some paint on it, and saying to yourself. "I am ready. Let's see when the customers come."

The design has more aspects than this page will allow for, but the first rule is, design for your clients and their experience. If you want a slider, that is great, but make the content count. Just because you can put a flying unicorn on your site, doesn't mean you should, unless you sell flying unicorns. Like anything else, you may buy, spend a little time reading the reviews of what other people like about the themes and look at the demos. You can learn a lot by looking at what is already out there.

Scale and Speed

When people say, WordPress isn't for a "Real Business" that may be very true if your circumstances fit. What product in the world isn't the same? As I have now said, websites need care. When people complain about speed, it is because they have installed too many widgets and plugins that they won't or shouldn't use. Additionally, they aren't testing load speeds. Anytime you upload your 4k image to a website in a 2" area, it is going to load slowly over that 3G connection.

When I say it may be accurate based on your circumstances, it boils down to what you want your website to do. If it is going to integrate with other systems like your ERP or AMS and handle mass volumes of data, WordPress probably shouldn't be your first choice. But if you want to showcase your organization, explain what you do, and communicate with your clients. WordPress will not only get you there, but it will make it easy to do.

Pick your plugins for what you will use, and when you upload an image, optimize it for the user.