Here at Surf Your Name, we really like WordPress. Seriously…we like like it. 37% of the websites on the internet are using WordPress, so lots of other people really like it too. Why is that? Nowadays the internet is saturated with easy to use website builders that claim to make it simpler than ever to eke out a spot on the web for your brand…so why make things more complicated than they need to be, right?
There are actually plenty of reasons why it’s much more beneficial to use WordPress over a platform like Wix or Squarespace. Let’s go over some of the most notable ones.
Themes and Design
Drag and drop builders claim to make it easy for you to create a beautiful site in just a few clicks. The downside of this is that the customization is actually very limited. While you may be able to make something that looks nice relatively easily, adding simple elements in the future may prove to be difficult because you don’t have a lot of control over the design of your site. WordPress on the other hand has an incredibly massive library of themes to choose from if you choose to go that route, but it is also 100% customizable to your liking. If you have the knowledge or wish to hire someone who does, you can start from a blank file and create a completely unique site for yourself, unlike anything you could do with an “easy” builder.
Open Source
WordPress is open-source software, which means you are free to tinker with it as much as you want, and it also means you can make any customizations that you wish to, as often as you want. It also adds comfort in knowing you are free to look at all of the code on your site if you’re someone who is concerned about shady tracking.
Extensibility
One of the strongest features of WordPress is the absolutely massive library of plugins or third-party extensions. WordPress at its core is blog software, but with plugins, you can make it into a store, a video site, a learning platform, or many, many other things. If you can dream of it, a plugin probably exists for it.
Reliability
WordPress has the benefit of having been around for many years, which many of these easy builders can’t say for themselves. This means that if you’re having a problem with your installation, it’s going to be relatively easy to find someone who has run into the same problem as you. With somewhere like Wix or Squarespace, you will most likely need to go through the trouble of contacting their support team, who may not be helpful or even understand your problem.
How We Use WordPress
At the beginning of this article, we mentioned that we really loved WordPress. So how do we use it? A lot of people get a little put off when they hear the word “theme”, because they think it means that their website will just be a logo replacement and some color changes. A great way to think about a WordPress theme is to consider it like a set of Lego bricks. It’s full of different pieces that you can put together in tons of different ways, or even combine with other pieces from add-on sets to make it even more unique. Add in things like hand-painted bricks (graphic design!) and other goodies, and you’ve built something completely your own. At Surf Your Name, we ensure that your website will always be original and different from anything you’d find on a theme store.
We hope this article helps you understand a few reasons why we will always recommend WordPress to our clients over a drag and drop builder platform, and we also hope this has inspired you to give it a try if you haven’t before. If you’re looking for a custom WordPress website designed by experts with over 17 years in the industry, look no further than Surf Your Name. We’re here to help you with all of your design and marketing needs!
