434 Marketing

Why We Use WordPress

It’s 2022 and anyone can “build a website” with just a few clicks. There are numerous website builders that promote the promise of a “same-day website” with “no developer needed.” Well, we don’t offer you those services. But we do offer you something much, much better — a site built on WordPress.

As of 2023, WordPress powers around 43% of the entire internet (that’s about 810 million websites). More than 500 websites are created with WordPress every day, and 62% of the 100 fastest-growing U.S. companies use WordPress.

WordPress is well known and trusted in the development and web world, and at 434 Marketing, we are proud to use this platform to build client websites and power our own.

Website Builders vs. Site Builders

You’ve probably seen the YouTube ads for Squarespace and Wix that advertise how quickly and efficiently you can build your own website. We get asked sometimes if this is a good option, and while there may be some benefits to using those types of platforms, we don’t use them at our agency.

Both Squarespace and Wix are website builders, which are easy to use but do not grant the flexibility to create a site that meets the unique needs of our clients. WordPress is a CMS, which requires custom coding, but offers us almost infinite possibilities to customize a site.

No matter what, our clients are priority #1. We believe WordPress is the best platform out there for creating sites on behalf of our clients, but if you’re curious about some of the differences between site builders and WordPress, here’s a summary:

Pros of Site Builders

  • Site builders do not require previous coding experience. Users can easily add text and images to a website using a visual editor.
  • Hosting is included, which makes getting your site online simple and convenient, but it can be prohibitively expensive.
  • The timeline to launch a site is usually short, especially if you purchase your domain from the builder.

Cons of Site Builders

  • Because some of these builders host their own websites, you may not have the option to move to another hosting platform if you desire.
  • Website builders offer templatized websites with limited functionality – depending on what template you select, you will be limited to certain features and may not be able to increase functionality as your needs change.
  • It can be easy to miss the target on a unique design when creating within the constraints of the builder.

Pros of WordPress

  • A WordPress website is completely customizable, from the way your site looks, to the way it responds, to the functions and features it’s fitted with.
  • WordPress Plugins are numerous and can be installed relatively easily.
  • WordPress makes security a top priority and their support center is top-notch. They regularly roll out upgrades at no charge to existing users.

Cons of WordPress

  • Hosting is not included in a WordPress site build. Don’t worry — our team is familiar with all things hosting and can help point you in the right direction. Many of our clients host with us!
  • Due to the flexibility WordPress offers, some coding experience is usually needed to completely execute custom ideas.
  • The timeline to launch a live site is considerably longer than with a website builder.

WordPress Advantages at a Glance

Attainable Flexibility

WordPress allows for customization, but it’s much more accessible than fully-coded websites. WordPress operates off of a database system, meaning that the data for the content you see — images, text, videos, etc — exists separately from the code that runs the website theme and appearance. This allows us to change the appearance code without altering the content.

WordPress also makes it easy to build themes that completely reflect who our clients are. We can change everything from header fonts and sizes, to banner color treatments, to hyperlink colors, thanks to our development team’s coding capabilities.

Built to Integrate

Many of our clients use some kind of customer relationship management (CRM) software. WordPress has the ability to integrate with most larger CRM systems seamlessly. When you get a new lead through a website, their information is immediately stored where you can use it.

Plug It In

The WordPress community has built a plugin for almost anything. Many of them are free, letting you stretch the abilities of your website (and your dollars) a little further. Plugins can handle a range of things, from image optimization, to video embedding, to event calendars. Some are more complex than others, but they allow us to take websites to the next level by using sources that have been created and vetted a team of trusted developers.

We’d like to note that our developer asks anyone reading this to be very careful about updating plugins on your own without consulting your web team first!

Support and Security

Because WordPress is an open-source platform, many eyes are constantly searching for and solving potential security issues. If something does go awry, the WordPress team is ready at a moment’s notice to get things moving as they should.

The WordPress team is also dedicated to regular updates. New versions of WordPress get released every 152 days on average.

Ease of Use

After a little bit of training, our clients are able to use WordPress mostly independently – it really is one of the easiest to use platforms out there. When we build websites for our clients, we offer one-on-one training that allows us to answer any questions you may have, and help you to understand how best to use it for your job.

WordPress Supports Ongoing Content Creation

WordPress used to be known as a blogging platform. Over the years, it’s evolved into the preferred platform to create websites for many developers. As a content marketing agency, we love that WordPress has its roots in content creation. With a WordPress site, we can easily create different types of pages and post so our clients’ content (and the content we make them) can look and perform as well as it reads.

What makes our WordPress websites different from others?

Over the years, we’ve built more than 250+ websites. During that time, we’ve learned a thing or two about what resonates with our clients and their end users. Our websites are all tailored to our clients’ unique needs. Before we even start conceptualizing, you’ll meet with our Senior Web Manager so we can learn more about your business and how you plan to use your website.

The developer on your project will meet with you multiple times throughout the site-building process so we can collaborate with you. We’ll customize the design of your website and ensure it’s built with the features and functions you need. All of our WordPress websites are built with an intuitive content block system. With minimal training, you’ll be able to use a variety of content blocks to create dynamic, visually interesting pages without any coding experience.

Want Your Own?

If your business is in need of a new website, we can help. You won’t get a same-day site, but you will get one that meets all of your needs. Just let us know what you are looking for.