WordPress. What was once a blogger’s paradise is now a global content management system (CMS) for websites everywhere. You’ve probably heard of it by now. It’s been here since 2003 – the same year Beyoncé left Destiny’s Child.
Coincidence? We think not. Even 20 years on, these superstars still outshine whoever comes in their way. We may be biased in saying this as a WordPress website agency, but the statistics don’t lie: 45% of the world’s websites use WordPress.
If you’re considering switching to WordPress, read on to discover whether this platform will be right for your business.
TL;DR – The answer is yes
WordPress is one of the most popular CMS and website builders for a reason. It’s incredibly flexible, customisable, user-friendly and great for SEO.
Whether you sell products, provide services or are something in between, WordPress is great for any type of website.
What is WordPress best for?
WordPress is an open-source CMS that lets you host and build websites. Due to its flexible design, you can customise any website to reflect your brand and business purpose.
Many assume WordPress is only good for business websites – i.e., sites that focus on generating leads rather than product sales.
In fact, WordPress has many applications, including e-commerce stores and professional portfolios. We list some of the popular website types below:
1. Business WordPress websites
A business website is the online equivalent of your brick-and-mortar facilities. These websites need more functionality and are integral to a company’s marketing strategy.
Due to its powerful CMS, businesses will use these sites to post content like blogs regularly or build new pages as they grow. You may also rely on SEO, analytics and other plugins to ensure you get found on search.
This year, we launched Grayce’s business website, a leading hire, train, deploy (HTD) consultancy specialising in change management. Grayce is a content-driven company that regularly publishes blogs, whitepapers and video content. Since WordPress is so user-friendly, Grayce’s team could quickly post content when needed without needing our help. Plus, our slick design ensures all web content is displayed beautifully.
While brochure and business websites have crossovers, the latter offers more functionality for a brand to play with. Before designing its website, we helped the Female Advisory Board (FAB) develop its brand identity, including brand guidelines. Through great web copy and interactive design elements, we presented FAB in a fresh light: more powerful and better than before.
2. E-commerce WordPress websites
You can use WordPress to create an online store. Plugins like WooCommerce allow you to track orders and shipping, manage products and add payment gateway options.
With WooCommerce, you can tailor your e-commerce website around your physical or digital products. You can sell anything – clothing, cosmetics, furniture, you name it. Adding a WooCommerce Subscription plugin is a must-have if you offer a subscription-based selling model.
WordPress is a treat for e-commerce websites. Just look at Jodie Bakes, a Leeds bakery that makes the best cakes around. Jodie Bakes wanted to update their e-commerce site with their new branding, so the bakery asked us to refresh its existing website with branding across every page.
High-end e-commerce stores like Timepiece Partners, which sells and buys luxury watches, also benefit from WordPress. As a dealer, the selling approach is different – a client will only receive a price on application (POA). We built Timepiece Partners’ website to reflect this and all the functionality of an e-commerce site.
3. Portfolio WordPress websites
An online portfolio is ideal for professionals in the creative industry. Whether you’re a designer, writer or photographer, a portfolio website showcases all your work in one place.
WordPress websites like these will have a gallery of images, text, audio or videos, as well as a contact and about us page. Portfolio websites are similar to brochure sites in that they share service information, but the layout is not the same. One is a collection of a brand’s work; the other is a brochure of what they do.
Dare is a Leeds content studio specialising in video production and photography. In the creative industry, you need to evidence your worth. And what better way to show your work than a portfolio? We developed an all-encompassing portfolio website showcasing their skills and detailed service pages for added value.
4. Blog WordPress websites
WordPress was the OG platform for bloggers, and even today, it has even richer features for hobby, lifestyle or educational brands.
You can organise content into posts (aka blogs) and pages, add tags and categories and create a comment section for your top fans. Plenty of plugins, like social media sharing buttons and email subscription boxes, are available.
With all this content, bloggers can polish their SEO skills and optimise posts to reach their target audience on search engines.
5. Brochure WordPress websites
A brochure website mainly aims to inform visitors about a company’s products or services through images and text. This website acts as an interactive brochure, taking complete inspiration from its printed counterpart.
Brochure websites are one to five pages long, making them much easier to build, use and maintain. Businesses like legal, accounting or consultancy firms benefit the most from this.
We recently worked on two brochure websites for the engineering and flooring industry. Kaizen CE and Site Track now benefit from a clear-cut website that effectively showcases their brands and core offerings.
WordPress can also be used to develop personal, subscription, event or educational websites. You can pretty much build any website on WordPress.
Should you build your own website?
Growing your online presence starts with a great website. If you’re an SME business, you might consider using WordPress or other builders like Squarespace and Wix to develop your website.
Doing this is fine if you only want a decent-looking site. A lot goes into a professional WordPress website. You need to consider user experience (UX), SEO, content marketing, security, maintenance…., and the list goes on.
In this era of grind culture, asking for help can be seen as a weakness. But when it comes to growing your brand and revenue, you must seek professional help. That’s where a web design agency comes in (hint: Trio).
Want a new WordPress website? Let’s talk
The Trio team is an expert in web design and development, creating custom WordPress sites for diverse sectors. Send us your brief, and let’s turn your ideas into a reality. Contact our team today.