As a small business owner, you’ll want a professional website that is inexpensive to setup and easy run. Whilst this may sound like a pipe dream, it is, actually, very achievable. The solution is WordPress, a completely free software program that creates exceptional websites and which is very simple to maintain. In this post, we’ll discuss 7 reasons why you should use it to build your small business website.
- Easy to install and set up
The idea of setting up a website can seem a bewildering exercise, which is why 60% of small business owners haven’t yet got around to it. However, with WordPress, setting up is a simple three step process. Firstly, you’ll need to open a hosting account with a web host – which can cost as little as a few pounds a month. Secondly, you’ll need to purchase a domain name (e.g. yourwebsite.com) which you can do through your web host. These cost a few pounds a year. Finally, you need to log in to your hosting control panel and install the WordPress software on your hosting account.
With many hosting companies, you’ll find WordPress is already available on your control panel or cPanel. To install it, all you need to do is follow the on-screen directions to complete the setup process. If you opt to buy WordPress hosting from eUKhost, you’ll find WordPress is already preinstalled for you.
Configuring WordPress is also easy to do. You might need a little time to become familiar with some of the terms and to find your way around the admin panel but there is nothing technically challenging and no coding is required.
Once you have installed and configured WordPress, your website is built. You can then change to a more suitable theme and start adding the content you need to run your business. Again, you won’t need any coding skills at all to do this.Ready to set up WordPress like a pro? Learn how to configure WordPress settings! - You can use WordPress for almost any type of business
One of the great things about WordPress is its versatility. As it is such a popular platform, developers have created many plugins that let you create websites of all different kinds.
Many businesses just need a website with a home page, contact page and a few pages about their services all of which can be created very easily with a standard WordPress installation. However, it is also possible to create a wide range of specialist business websites, such as fully functioning online shops, paid membership sites and property listings sites. If there is a specific type of website you need for your business there is a very likely chance that you will find a plugin that will create it for you for free. - Enormous range of themes available
The way your website looks is vital to your branding and in helping you connect with your customers. If you choose a developer to build your website, you are pretty much stuck with the theme they create for you. If you want to change, you would have to pay for an upgrade.
With WordPress, you can change the design your website whenever you want (we don’t recommend you do this very often, though). There are thousands of themes available from the WordPress Theme Directory all of which can be installed and working in just a few clicks. The vast majority of these are free, too. You’ll also find thousands of other themes available from private vendors, such as Elegant Themes, most of them costing around £30 – £40.
Not only are all the themes different from each other, each one is customisable. This means, with WordPress, you can create a truly unique looking website without having to break the bank. - Enormous range of free plugins to extend functionality
We mentioned plugins briefly when we discussed the different types of website you can create; however, they deserve a more detailed mention. A plugin is a piece of software that gives WordPress extended functionality. So, if there is something that you need your website to do which isn’t included in the core WordPress software, you can install a plugin to do it.
Just to give you an idea of the capabilities of WordPress, there are currently over 49,000 free plugins available. They cover every conceivable thing you could want a website to do, including many business-related functions such as invoicing, email marketing, analytics and sales funnel creation. You can even get plugins for plugins. And, of course, there are thousands of premium plugins available too.
There is no other website creation platform with such a vast array of functions as WordPress. - A very secure platform
Website security is vital for businesses and so it is important that the platform you choose to build your site is as secure as possible. No platform is ever 100% impregnable but WordPress has lots of advantages when it comes to protecting your data and keeping hackers at bay.
As the world’s most used website platform, there is an army of developers and security specialists working to make sure all updates are vulnerability free. When vulnerabilities do occur, they are usually found and dealt with very quickly. For your protection, most WordPress updates take place automatically without you needing to do anything.
Other security features include:- The ability to update all plugins automatically, which can be done through opening WordPress.com account and linking this to your website.
- Installation of robust security plugins that scan your website for malware and block intruders.
- Easy backup of your files so you can restore your website easily if there is ever a disaster.
A good web host will also provide additional security protection for you.
- Premade SEO solutions
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is one of the most important things website owners need to do to help their sites rank well on Google and other search engines. Luckily, the way WordPress has been designed means that many of the things needed for good SEO are built into the platform.
In addition to its SEO friendly structure, there are also some exceptional plugins, such as Yoast SEO, that help you improve your SEO even more. This includes helping you with elements of both technical and on-page optimisation. - Dedicated hosting available
Your choice of web host and hosting package is very important when it comes to running a WordPress website. WordPress has its own quirks and that means that some host’s servers aren’t configured to get the best performance out of it.
A dedicated WordPress hosting package will be configured in the correct way and this will help ensure that your site can perform at the top of its game. It also means your WordPress site will be less vulnerable to intrusion, have less downtime, load faster and be able to perform all the functions you want it to.
Conclusion
If you are looking to launch your business website and want an easy to use, affordable solution that provides you with a wide range of website options and a secure platform, then WordPress is an ideal choice for you to consider.
27% of the world’s websites are built using WordPress, which tells you just how successful and well trusted it is. There is, really, nothing quite like it for user-friendly, day to day running.
If you are a WordPress user looking for dedicated WordPress web hosting, visit our WordPress Hosting page and see what we can do for you.
