Why does WordPress prove to be so popular with our UK clients? Are their other alternatives worth considering? How do search engines like Google view WordPress sites? Is it as popular as it claims to be or is it just an internet fad? I always use WordPress website design for my UK clients, and for a good reason. Here is why.
Overview
These are all questions that are raised when we first discuss the best online solution for any new clients we meet. Its understandable that some may be sceptical as the WordPress claims are quite impressive. Founded in 2003, WordPress now runs over 75 million websites and is the most supportive CMS (Content Management System) in the world. That’s over 60% of the CMS market! Because of its popularity and the majority of the plugins are free and supported by a huge community, the WordPress snowball grows from year to year.
Why does WordPress prove to be so popular with our clients?
Its popularity is mainly down to the flexibility of WordPress template design. This comes by means of themes and HTML. If you want to update the website yourself or add new pages or posts, this can be a relatively easy way to keep your site updated. With a back end secure login area, you can keep your site updated anywhere in the world. In its early days WordPress was initially a blogging platform, but in the past decade its now become a much larger vehicle for running complex websites. The biggest appeal is you need no coding skill to make these website updates if you purchase a template theme.
Are their other alternatives worth considering?
I came from a background of working with Immediacy CMS (Content Management System) right back in its foundation years. From that point onward several new CMS have come and gone. Joomla, Drupal and Magento make up the other big players. But they all have a less usable platform or a less flexible template structure. Ultimately they may have one specialised ability that keep them in the market share and is why they still remain an alternative if you need a very specific requirement, but the “all Rounder” is always going to keep you coming back to WordPress. The large market share means a large support and customisation service.
Is it as popular as it claims to be or is it just an internet fad?
Content Management System
- WordPress
- Joomla
- Drupal
- Magento
- Blogger
- Others (Shopify / Bitrix / Squarespace)
Market Share
- 59.9%
- 6.6%
- 4.6%
- 2.4%
- 1.6%
- 24.9%
Websites
- 27,000,000
- 2,000,000
- 900,000
- 370,000
- 750,000
- –
Data from Google Trends.
How does Google, view WordPress website design in the UK?
By now, it is well known that Google cares about how long websites take to load. Especially for mobile sites, more on that below, the time it takes for sites to appear on screen is an important indicator of quality. As anyone who has ever set up a WordPress website will attest, they tend to load rather quickly in their standard configuration. At the same time, it’s true that if used incorrectly, WordPress sites can get really slow, this is why we have a maintenance plan, where we take care of everything while you can concentrate on your business.
