Thinking about starting a blog? Here’s why you should use WordPress

It’s no secret that small businesses are struggling with marketing. According to a 2015 Capital One survey, 39 percent of small business owners hadn’t executed any marketing initiatives in the six months prior to the survey. Forty-one percent cite reaching new prospects among their top business challenges.

How do small businesses overcome this challenge? Through blogging.

Luckily, blogging is a cost-effective marketing tactic. It costs little to set up a blog and then only requires your time for upkeep—or a monetary investment if you want to outsource the task.

If you decide to build a WordPress blog for your business, one of the first steps is determining which path you’ll take to set it up. Options include hiring a web designer, using website builders, or self-hosting and using a content management system like WordPress.

Considering WordPress powers over a quarter of the web, it’s worth looking into. Here are seven reasons you should start your blog with WordPress.

 

It’s Easy to Set Up Yourself

WordPress is designed as a do-it-yourself content management system. It has a slight learning curve, but it makes up for that by offering more powerful features than website builders do.

Setting up a WordPress site is as simple as signing up for web hosting, installing the software, and then exploring your dashboard. There, you can make design tweaks, upload plugins, and manage your pages and blog posts.

Even designing your layout is simple for people who don’t have any experience. You can easily browse through themes or upload your own purchased from another website. Many premium WordPress themes feature extensive customization options so you can build a layout suited to your brand.

There’s a Huge Community of Users

While WordPress is great for do-it-yourselfers, you don’t have to jump into the program completely alone. If you’re ever confused about how to use WordPress or how to tweak a specific setting on your site, the huge community of WordPress users are always there to help. Start at the WordPress forums.

If you don’t have the time to set your site up yourself, there are plenty of WordPress developers and consultants available for hire online. And since the WordPress community is huge, you shouldn’t have trouble finding someone who can help you get set up within your budget.

 

You Have Full Control of Your Content

If you decide to hire someone to help you set up your WordPress site, you’ll still have complete access to your content so you can continuously update pages and blog posts. That isn’t the case if you hire a site developer to create a custom site for you. Going the custom route means you have to contact your developer for every change you want made. When adding new blog posts on a regular basis, that’s not ideal.

Plus, since you’ll have full access to the backend of your site, you can always hire a new WordPress consultant without losing access to your content or the control over your site.

 

WordPress is Budget Friendly

The WordPress software itself is free. However, there are several costs that come along with a WordPress site. The good news is that they shouldn’t break the bank. Costs can include:

  • Website Hosting: You can rent server space for as little as $5 per month.
  • Domain Name: Domain names (like www.example.com) cost around $10 per year.
  • Premium Web Theme: If you choose to buy your WordPress theme, you can expect to pay less than $100 for a quality theme. However, there are many free options you can start with.
  • Premium Plugins: The WordPress community is full off free and premium plugins. You might consider buying certain plugins that suit your needs.

WordPress is Versatile

WordPress is able to handle almost any type of website. From membership sites to eCommerce sites, there are tools available for all your needs. It’s built for blogging, but it can do so much more. That said, it’s the perfect platform for both your storefront and your blog, which means you won’t have to separate the two! That makes it great for search engine optimization and user friendliness.

 

WordPress is Scalable

WordPress can accommodate even the largest sites. (Even Best Buy runs on WordPress!) With the ability to create unlimited posts and pages, you’re only limited by your hosting provider. Luckily, most hosts offer packages all the way up to dedicated hosting, which puts your site on its own server to accommodate for large traffic numbers. It’s typically very easy to upgrade your account, and you can always switch to a new host if your site grows beyond what your current host can handle.

 

WordPress is Mobile, SEO, and Social Media Friendly

WordPress is bound to meet all your online needs. For one, there are countless WordPress themes that are mobile-friendly. With 56 percent of Internet traffic to top U.S. sites now coming from mobile, you shouldn’t opt for anything less than mobile-friendly.

WordPress also features a clean code, which makes it easy for search engine bots to crawl your site. With multiple SEO tools available at your fingertips, it’s easy to optimize for search engines. Because of this, WordPress sites tend to rank well on Google, and that means more exposure for you!

Finally, WordPress makes social sharing easy. You’ll find a number of social sharing and follow plugins that encourage people to spread the word of your posts. But WordPress’s sharing capabilities go far beyond simple sharing buttons. Take Social Warfare’s sharing plugin for example. Not only can you customize the look of the buttons to match your brand, but you can also customize the message people will share. Create a custom tweet, or assign an image that will appear when people share online. They’ve even built in a click-to-tweet function, which allows you to add custom tweet links directly in your posts.

WordPress brings together ease of use and power to deliver one of the best content management systems available. If you’re planning to start a blog or a new website, WordPress is the clear choice.


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