Is WordPress good for building websites?
Although creating websites on the WordPress platform may seem intimidating, in reality it is not at all. Like many other agencies, we are happy to use it for our clients because no one wants to create a website that will take several months.
In this way, the services of programmers, which are too expensive, are avoided. Essentially, a person with minimal programming skills is needed.
But what exactly is WordPress?
You have probably researched this on the internet as one of the solutions for your website. But you still have no idea what WordPress really is and how it can help you in your online business.
Don’t worry, we’ll try to explain it to you as simply as possible.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is an open source content management platform, or content management system (CMS). The software itself is free and anyone can install, use and modify it.
For the simplest sites, creating websites on the WordPress platform can be completely free. It’s great for beginners as well as experienced professionals.
Initially, WordPress was mainly used to create blogs. However, with software development and improvements, today you can create any website you want.
But in this case, there will certainly be a need for themes, plugins and tools that are not free. You can create personal or company blogs, business websites, e-commerce stores and much more.
After installing WordPress, the next thing is to choose a theme. There are many topics that are divided by areas and it will not be difficult to find the one that suits you. There are a lot of free ones, but if you have a bit more requirements, a paid theme will solve the problems.
No matter what your idea is, you can create any website you want in WordPress. And all this thanks to the huge CMS capabilities and the large community that improves WordPress every day.
Let’s mention one more important thing for this platform, namely plugins.
In WordPress, a plugin is a small software add-on that can significantly expand some features and functions on your website.
And thanks to them, there are phenomenal sites that are built on WordPress. Here too, there are free and paid plugins, so it is always up to the one who builds the website to choose the best solution.
There are over 60,000 free plugins and thousands of premium ones made by independent developers.
More than 40% of websites are built in WordPress!
From originally planned as a blogging platform, WordPress has become the most powerful presentation tool on the web. Statistics from 2022, that is, W3Techs, say that the creation of websites on the WordPress platform uses about 43% of all websites on the Internet.
Once this was a network reserved for bloggers, while today WordPress is used by e-commerce stores, news and travel agencies and many other organizations. In order to understand how powerful WordPress is, we will mention some information.
WordPress was created in the year 2003 when two developers, Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little, decided to build a platform that would allow bloggers to publish their posts. They were very successful in that and in 2011, about 13% of websites were on WordPress.
Every year, that percentage increased and the assumption is that it will by the year 2025, the creation of websites on the WordPress platform will exceed an incredible 50% of the participation in the global network .
However, if we look only at websites that use a CMS (content management system), WordPress occupies an impressive 65% of the market.
In order to understand how superior they are compared to the competition, we will mention that the second on the list is Shopify with 6%, and the third is Wix with about 3% share.
It is often heard that creating websites on the WordPress platform is not the best solution if you want a really serious website.
However, according to BuiltWith research from 2022, it was determined that WordPress holds 37% of the market of the top 1 million websites on Google.
Many well-known companies use it, including Nike, The New York Times, eBay, Sony, GM, UPS, Forbes, CNN, Reuters, Samsung, IBM, and many others.
We believe that this is enough information to convince you of the power of WordPress!
Which theme to choose for creating websites on the WordPress platform?
At the moment there are about 10,000 free themes for creating a website on WordPress. However, there are even more paid themes that average from $80 to $100. Maybe this price seems high to you, but premium themes offer a lot more options and are more flexible compared to free themes.
WordPress.org and themeforest.net are recommended for both options. We will mention a few topics that we consider to be the most important. These are Astra, Divi, OceanWP, Indigo, Neve, Hestia, Elementor, etc.
However, choosing one of them depends on your needs.
There are some topics that are narrowly specialized in some areas, such as restaurants or tourism, for example. Other themes are broadly specialized and can be applied to many e-commerce websites.
If you have any doubts about which topic to choose for your website, feel free to call us!
It is important that the theme corresponds to mobile devices (mobile friendly), so that your content is displayed as well as possible on mobile phones. Because today almost 80% of views are from mobile phones. Then the theme must be compatible with WordPress page builders, and it is recommended that they have customer support and are regularly updated.
Another important thing is the page loading speed and its performance.
That’s why it’s important to analyze and compare any topic that you think is good with someone else.
This is not a one-hour job, and it can cause you big problems later. We work on several themes, depending on the needs of the clients, but we would single out the Divi theme, which proved to be one of the best.
Divi has a paid theme that costs $89 per year or $249 for lifetime access.
We’ve been using the Divi theme for many years and that’s why we really recommend it!
WooCommerce is used by one in five WordPress web shops!
This means that at least every fifth web shop created on WordPress is actually intended for online commerce. For those who don’t know WooCommerce will allow any WordPress site to become an e-commerce site. It’s free and compatible with several payment options.
Today, WooCommerce is one of the most popular plugins for e-commerce sites and holds about 20% of the market.
Just like WordPress, WooCommerce is built on a large set of features that can be easily extended. E-stores that use it have a double benefit from its multiple functionalities. They have access to thousands of themes and plugins, as well as hundreds of e-commerce extensions made exclusively for WordPress.
WooCommerce is extremely flexible. Literally, any type of sales web shop can be created with its help.
Thanks to the fact that it is open source, developers can change its features, can build new extensions and can adapt to almost any requirement. This is very important because developers are extremely expensive and take a long time to develop an option on demand.
The advantage of WooCommerce is that it is easy to use, so it will not be difficult to quickly train someone who can do the work for you.
It is very important that WooCommerce can provide a quick and easy experience for all users regardless of the size of the e-store. Proof of that is eBay that works perfectly! With a good choice of hosting, it can achieve even better results.
We can really recommend WooCommerce if you intend to open an e-shop!
To make you laugh, there is a joke that goes like this:
What is WooCommerce?
That’s the way to sell anything!
Is Yoast a good plugin for WordPress e-commerce?
Yes, Yoast is a great plugin. Especially for beginners who have no experience with SEO content and website optimization.
You know that SEO professionals don’t like him because they think that everything he does, a man can do even better. We are of the same opinion, but until you have mastered Search Engine Optimization, we advise you to use it when adding new content to your website.
Especially since SEO optimization is very complex and requires great knowledge and a lot of analysis.
According to data from 2022, Yoast has over 5 million active installations and an almost clean five for the rating. . To ga čini jednim od najpreuzimanijih plugin-ova sa skoro najboljom ocenom. Besplatan je za preuzimanje i korišćenje do jednog izvesnog nivoa.
After that, the annual subscription for Yoast SEO Premium is 99 euros + VAT, but believe us that this plugin is mandatory, even in the free version.
In the premium version, all tools are unlocked and it will be much easier for you to attract visitors from Google and social networks like Facebook and Instagram.
You will have 24/7 support throughout the year, and you can access the Yoast SEO academy for free to learn new skills.
The cost of Yoast SEO Premium is one of the best investments you can make for your website.
Thanks to it, you will be able to stand up to big corporations without problems. It also allows small business owners to create a respectable website they can be proud of.
Yoast u velikoj meri duguje svoj uspeh WordPress-u, pa zato aktivno učestvuje u kampanji „5% za budućnost“, koja pomaže daljem razvitku ove sjajne platforme.
Will a WordPress website work for me?
It will definitely suit you! Once the creation of websites on the WordPress platform is complete, a little training will be required to manage the website. But everything is made so that anyone can understand the basics.
Of course, this does not mean that you will be able to use all the possibilities on your own. But you can work smoothly and educate yourself on how to properly use a WordPress website.
If you are a beginner, it will not be difficult to add and create a simpler new page yourself, and there are many tutorials on YouTube.
WordPress is really flexible, so personal or company blogs, e-shops or online newspapers can be created equally well on it.
Whatever you think is possible!
The software is open source and not owned by any company. And that means that thousands of developers collaborate and contribute to the progress of WordPress. Even if you don’t know how to write a single line of code, it won’t be a problem to manage the site.
Leave that job to the developers!
The good thing is that the WordPress site can be modified and upgraded with various plugins to get some functions that you need now.
And one more very important thing, which is website security. Given that no platform can be said to be 100% secure, this also applies to WordPress.
But it is still one of the safest!
The biggest problem is not WordPress or any other platform, but a mistake by someone who manages the site.
So be careful about everything that comes from outside your website. For any questions and tips, check out what the WordPress community has to say.
WordPress 5.0 and WordPress 6.0!
These are the last two and most important updates for us, especially WordPress 5.0 (better known as Gutenberg). WordPress 5.0 was officially launched on December 6, 2018. This is a very important update because it has completely changed the way developers use CMS (content management system) with its new Gutenberg editor.
Since then, the building of websites in blocks has started and a new Twenty Nineteen theme has been installed for new installations.
It was a big shock and change for the editors because they could no longer use the classic WordPress editor or the WordPress text editor they were used to using until then. To the great opposition of users who were surprised by this fundamental change, the use of the WordPress editor was extended until December 31, 2021.
WordPress 6.0 is the last major update of WordPress for now and it happened on May 24, 2022. . It was not as radical as “Gutenberg”, but it brought many changes. With this update we expected, but we also got a lot of new functions and improvements. With version 6.0, WordPress has continued to improve the tools and new great features.
On it, the developers really tried to fix some bugs that always somehow got through.
This was a huge change as there were over 400 updates, 500 bug fixes and 90 brand new features.
Really impressive!
The list display has been significantly improved, new blocks have been introduced, the block editor has been improved, new templates have been added, the theme style has been changed and much more.
These changes made it much easier to use the WordPress platform, and the UX (user experience) became even better.
Conclusion
WordPress is an amazing platform that can be used both for the simplest websites and for the creation of high-quality and very demanding websites.
Like all platforms, it has some disadvantages, but what WordPress can provide, no other similar platform can.
However, it has something that other platforms cannot fulfill. And that is the widest range of options and the ability to adapt to your needs and requirements. We are sure that no other platform is as flexible and extensive in its offer of add-ons.
If you are not demanding, you can create a website with a free theme and plugins. The software itself is also free of charge and has frequent updates. We can say that this is a powerful platform with unlimited potential.
Everything can be done to make the website 100% mobile friendly with the help of free or paid plugins.
The module itself is extremely adaptable to developers and has pre-built security functions and protections. For many doubts, we often visit the WordPress global community and they are really recommended.
However, we have some complaints, because we are also part of the WordPress community. First of all, we would point out the lack of direct support from the WordPress company. Sometimes it is very difficult to find a solution, and we all waste a lot of time looking for it on the Internet.
There is no such thing as a perfect e-commerce plugin like Magento 2 for web stores that have over 50,000 items.