Why WordPress is the perfect platform for your business website.
Prior to discovering WordPress, I had used and demoed a lot of different business website software options. I ran a couple eCommerce websites using software such as 3dCart, Volusion, Yahoo! Store, and OS Commerce (while demoing countless eCommerce software options), helped design a couple business websites based on Homestead software (now Intuit Websites), and experimented with website creation software such as WebStudio, SquareSpace, Adobe Dreamweaver, Xara and many others.
I knew WordPress was very a popular platform among bloggers, but I thought WordPress was just that – blogging software. While WordPress was originally designed as blog publishing software, it was also built to be extendible, meaning that web developers could build website templates (also known as themes) and plugins that could be integrated with the core WordPress software. As WordPress evolved over the years, it became much more robust than simple blogging software. As functionality was added to WordPress, it became capable of being a full content management system, and developers began developing themes and plugins that took WordPress far beyond just being a platform for blogs. Today, there are amazing WordPress business themes for everything from corporate WordPress themes, to business directories and city guide themes, job board themes, restaurant themes, classified ad website themes, eCommerce themes and much more.
Probably like you, I was originally hesitant to switch to WordPress, as I questioned whether a free software platform could deliver the quality I was used to when using hosted website software. I was worried that it would be difficult and time consuming to learn how to use a new software program. I knew that WordPress was very popular among bloggers, but I wasn’t sure whether if it would have all the features I was looking for in small business website software.
I have to admit that when I first started using WordPress, I was a little confused by some of the terminology and functionality of the WordPress admin screen. I’m also a guy – which means I typically avoid reading manuals and instructions. As I played around with WordPress for a bit, I started to understand why the software is so popular. I was able to figure out how to use most aspects of it by myself rather quickly, and for anything I was unsure of, a quick Google search brought me to a number of great WordPress blogs that contained the answers to whatever questions I had. While I quickly became impressed with the core WordPress software, it was when I discovered how easy it was to use different website themes, plugins and widgets when I realized how powerful, flexible, and amazing WordPress is – especially compared to other affordable small business website design software options.
In other website software I had used, they typically had some business website templates, but the options were pretty limited, and it was blatantly obvious to customers that I was using a cheesy template. I often wanted to customize my website beyond the the basic things like font colors, but was often unable to, as some website software companies don’t even give you access to the source code. Even more importantly, if I wanted specific features added to my website, I either had to just wait until the next release (which was usually about once or twice a year) and hope it contained the features I wanted, or pay the company a good chunk of money for custom work. Here’s where WordPress excels.
WordPress themes let you chose any layout, design, color scheme and much more. Theme developers do the hard work for you. Most premium WordPress themes are designed for easy customization, and include a custom theme options panel on the WordPress backend that lets you customize almost all aspects of your website, without having to touch any code. Changing things like backgrounds, borders, colors, column width, navigation menus and much more can literally be done with about 1 click of a button. WordPress plugins give you the ability to add virtually any feature you want to your website, quickly, easily, and usually for free. Say you want to add a media slider to your homepage, or maybe a great image gallery, or a widget to display your social network links, or advanced search functionality. All of those functions, as well as nearly anything else you can think of, can be easily added through a WordPress plugin. And here’s the key thing about WordPress business themes; they’re really good. They feature professional, original and creative designs. In other words, nobody will know you’re using a website template!
As I’ve used WordPress over the last few years, I’ve continued to be blown away by the quality of WordPress business themes that have been built, as well as the amount of innovative new plugins, and improvements to the core WordPress software. WordPress is a great option for small, medium, and even enterprise businesses looking for robust, flexible and affordable business website software.
If you’re looking to try out WordPress for the first time, you can checkout WordPress.com, which is the hosted version of the software geared largely to individual bloggers. Some hosting companies like Host Gator and Blue Host offer generous money-back guarantees, so you can experiement with WordPress at no, or very little, risk.
If you’re ready to start checking out the best WordPress themes for business, you’re welcome to browse by category or by theme designer on our top menu bar, or sort themes by features, style and more on our homepage.
P.S.: Check out our article comparing Free WordPress Themes vs Premium WordPress themes if your wondering whether it’s worth paying for a premium theme. You might also be interested in How to Find the Best WordPress Theme for Your Business or Blog.