How to Find the Perfect Website Template for Your WordPress Site
WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system. If you’ve ever shopped on Amazon, you’ll undoubtedly have come across many WordPress products, as the platform is marketed as the ‘Amazon for bloggers.’ As a blogger of quite some experience, I’ll admit that I was quite skeptical about jumping onto the WordPress bandwagon. Truth be told, I viewed it as a trendy option amongst digital nomads who happened to be blogging – hardly a fair representation of the typical WordPress user.
However, after carefully weighing the various benefits of WordPress vs. building my own website, I’ve decided to join the club. Why? Well, let’s take a look at the pros and the cons.
Pro: Easy To Use
The main reason why I chose to go down the WordPress path is because it’s so easy to use. First off, you don’t need any kind of technical knowledge to use WordPress. You simply browse through the WordPress template galleries and pick out a design that speaks to you. Once you’ve made your selection, all you need to do is type in your content, add some images, and voila – you have a fully functioning website in no time!
Now, this may sound like a plug for WordPress, but in reality, I’m simply stating the obvious. The interface is relatively simple and intuitive, which is great for beginners as well as experts. Anyone who’s ever created a PowerPoint presentation will feel right at home in WordPress, as the system is built on top of familiar tools like slides and captions.
Con: Design Trends
The dark arts are ever-changing, and web design is no exception. Just when you think a particular design trend has reached its peak, BAM – a newer, even more stylish design pops up that makes you want to throw out your old design.
WordPress has always been a bit trendy on the surface, but under the hood, it’s been around for quite some time now. This being said, let’s be honest – not all design trends are made equal. Some can be pretty good, while others…not so much.
You see, when you use a WordPress template, you’re essentially using someone else’s design ideas, which can sometimes leave a bad taste in your mouth. Now, this isn’t necessarily a con, as you have total control over the design and theme of your site, but it’s something to keep in mind.
On the subject of taste, let’s also not forget about the ever-changing fashion tastes of the online world. If you’re not aware of the generational differences between different digital nomads, you might be in for a bit of a shock. We’re a digital society, and the online world is the ultimate showroom. If you’re not prepared for frequent style upgrades, you’re going to leave your website looking like a mess.
Pro: Easy To Customize
Once you’ve created your WordPress site, you’ll see a variety of shortcodes scattered all over the place. These are handy bits of code that allow you to add content, features, or adjust design elements without having to touch a single line of code.
This is a massive time-saver for web designers, as it takes them hours if not days to create the perfect look of a blog or website. With WordPress, you can achieve identical results in a matter of minutes! To give you some context, I’ve been a professional web designer for well over a decade now, and I still can’t wrap my head around how much time this can save me. In a nutshell, if you want to change the layout of your site, the color scheme, or the font size of text on your site, you can do so with the click of a button.
Con: Limited To Two Sites
Even though WordPress is an easy, intuitive platform to use, it’s not exactly designed for websites with multiple pages. As the platform is relational, all content is stored in a single place, which makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index. This makes it convenient for online shoppers, as they don’t have to wade through pages of content to find what they’re looking for.
If you’re the owner of a multiple-site organization (i.e. you have more than one site connected to the same WordPress account), you’re going to experience some serious limitations. For one, you can’t use the free version to create multi-site blogs, as the functionality is locked down. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a great tool for creating simple blogs with a few posts and some pictures. However, to create a proper, full-fledged website with all the bells and whistles requires a paid plan. Fortunately, there are generous tiers of WordPress plans where you can get the multi-site functionality for free. All you need to do is contact the support team and ask for an exclusive coupon code.
Pro: Scalable
One of the major perks of WordPress is that it’s incredibly scalable. In fact, the platform is designed to be expandable. This is partly because WordPress was created with an eye towards the future, where web hosting providers like Amazon Web Services came into existence. Today, it’s possible to create a functioning website even on a free account with little to no restrictions.
When you run the WordPress software from a free account, you have the flexibility to create as many sites as you like. Once you’ve set up your free account, you can use the WordPress dashboard to create a fully functioning website in just a few minutes.
If you decide to upgrade to a premium plan at some point in the future, you can do so with relative ease. All you need to do is login to your dashboard and click on the “Upgrade” button in the top right-hand corner. From there, you can select the plan that best suits your needs and wants. Once you’ve made your selection, click on the “activate” button to continue.
To put it lightly, WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems around because it is incredibly easy to use and scale. If you’re looking for a simple, yet effective web platform to power your blog or website, give WordPress a try!