I frequently get asked why I love WordPress for blogging, and with some people the phrase “because I just love it” cuts no ice, they need more reasons as to why I am such a WordPress fan. I make no bones about where I first started blogging… it was Yahoo and it was a place called Geocities. Don't judge me! There wasn't a lot of choice back then and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when they pulled it down.
I then moved to Blogger. And do you know what? It was okay. It didn't set the world alight, it was just okay. But I'm a fiddler, a tinkerer, and a person who strives to learn more and grow each and every day. Blogger was fine but it didn't teach me anything I needed to know… And then I discovered WordPress.
20 million+ other website owners can't be wrong…
10 reasons to choose WordPress for blogging.
1) It's Free!
That's right, it's completely free as open source software. Sure you can pay money for premium themes and plugins, but you can still do a lot things with the free themes and free plugins. Free enables you to build a strong base before you start exploring the paid options for anything WordPress related.
2) It's Open Source
What this means is that you can alter the code, redistribute your changes in design, and collaborate openly with other WordPress fans to make the software even better than it is already. What's not to love about that?
3) Superior Functionality
What else can you say but WordPress works.
- It's intuitive
- it's simple
- it looks great
4) Easy to Use
If you can send an email you can easily use WordPress. The dashboard is simple and intuitive (a lot of the time). It works the way you think it's supposed to.
5) Awesome Design Options
WordPress looks fabulous and can be easily updated with just a few clicks depending on the theme you choose. You can pay for premium themes, or use the free ones recommended on WordPress.org to create exactly the look you want.
6) Easy to Keep Secure
WordPress is easy to keep secure with free and paid plugins to add essential security features to your website. It's very important to be able to easily backup your website, and keep it secure from hackers and viruses and using WordPress makes all this simple.
7) Great for SEO
Search engine optimization is easy with WordPress. By using plugins (or premium framework) and by entering the information needed, plus creating regular blog posts, your SEO will almost take care of itself. Google loves WordPress! Just in case here are 3 plugins that you can use to optimize your content.
8) Accessible to ALL users
Some people do not realize it but some websites are invisible or impossible to read for some people with disabilities.
Did you know that blind people also read websites? All WordPress websites are accessible to people with various disabilities without any extra coding. The only thing you might want to remember to do is always fill in the “alt” text for photographs so that they will know what a photo is by hearing their reader state what the graphic is.
9) Expandable
You can make your WordPress website as big as you want, with as many functions as you want. There is really nothing that cannot be accomplished with a WordPress website. Start small and move your way up without having to rip it all down and start again. WordPress provides a really solid base to work on.
10) Huge Community
If you get stuck, you can ask the community for help. They are very nice, responsive and helpful. There are also hundreds of videos on You Tube and thousands of other bloggers sharing hints, tips and tricks to get the best from WordPress. With WordCamps you can also meet other WordPress fans in real life.
You can use WordPress websites for every type of website from an ecommerce site to an online portfolio website.
Your imagination is the only limit. Feel free to go beyond what you thought was possible to create a full-fledged website that will serve your business well for a fraction of the cost and without coding ability.
Hi Sarah, I really love WordPress too. I do love the learning and growing aspects. Not only is it functional, but also fun to use. I’m so glad I decided to move to this blogging framework, both for writing and ecommerce.
:), I think it’s a great tool for your creative skills Anita and I’m thrilled that you develop your sites with such lovely designs, and that WordPress supports your creativity
Hi Sarah,
Thank you so much for your lovely words of encouragement. Thank you for all your help and kindness x
Hey Sarah,
I do love WordPress :D
I started out with Blogger, and it was great. Sure, not many features compared to WordPress (Especially, back then. Blogger is a lot better now). But, I learned a lot of valuable lessons, and I will never forget that ;)
I have seen bloggers saying that new bloggers should start out with WordPress. I disagree, they shouldn’t start with WordPress, at least not with WP.org (WP.com is okay. When you are just starting out, there is a chance for a lot of mistakes. Sure, mistakes are great lessons. But, you don’t want to make too many of them). My personal opinion is that people should start out with WP.com or blogger, and then move to WP.org (WP.com is preferred since you will be familiar with the interface when moving to WP.org).
Anyways, thank you for reminding me about the good things of WordPress ;)
HI Sarah,
One of the things that I love here, on your blog, is the targeted content. You always create specific content that address a particular need or problem. It is not funny at all to go to dozens of blog and read the same old generic content like: create stellar content, make comments, guest post etc.
Here you addressed WordPress, its importance and its benefits. I like wordpress, of course and I understand the benefits.
One new lien of action that interests me most is the possibility to create e-commerce sites. I want to know more about how to use wordpress to create an e-commerce site. I know there are some plugins (paid ones) that you can use to make a good, quality e-commerce site.
This is a line of action I would like to explore more.
Have a wonderful day
Think you’ve covered it all there Sarah and reading through took me right back to the days of HTML / CSS websites.
It took absolutely ages to produce even a basic site.
I remember producing a comp in Fireworks and getting it approved by the client before moving on to the HTML and then styling it with CSS.
And don’t even think about the CSS hacks for internet Explorer!
The one good thing about those sites was the speed of loading – boy were they fast.
Hello sarah, nice blog, very attractive. I too am a blogger and love the wordpress platform, it totally rocks big time. I agree with your points, it’s very easy to use once you get the hang of it. I love how it is a big community and because so many people use it, it’s easy to find a solution to any problems one may run into. Your right, imagination is the only limit, there are so many things you can do with wordpress it’s crazy. I still learn new things about it everyday.
When I started my blogging journey then my first question was, Why I should choose WordPress and not other CMS softwares.
I searched a lot about it on Google at that time and I found that everybody is recommending to use WordPress and I started doing the same.
Now today I know that why people should choose WordPress. Because WordPress is an independent and easy to use content management system.
The best thing about it is, We can bring any feature in our website with just using a single plugin. That’s really good. :D
I am using WordPress since last 3 years and I loved it. :D