Which of these choices would you prefer?

One that involves custom programming costing $3000 or more, requires a knowledge of complex programming languages in order to make even simple changes to the content, and requires a complete redesign (again costing thousands of dollars) if you decide the look is outdated?

Or a website built on free software that has thousands of free add-ons available to make it do pretty much anything you want, an easy-to-use interface that you can use to update the content yourself without any programming knowledge and hundreds of professionally designed, quality templates you can use to change the appearance of the site at the drop of a hat?

No brainer, right?

If you aren’t familiar with it, an introduction to WordPress is in order.

Originally a software package used primarily for blogging, WordPress has become an amazingly robust Content Management System small business owners can use to easily create professional looking websites for their businesses.

Here are 7 benefits to using WordPress for your small business’ website:

1. Cost. How about free? Yep! Just go to WordPress.org and download the software at no charge (heck, you don’t even have to provide an email address!). You will need to find a web hosting company to host your WordPress website. Hosting should only set you back between $5 – $10 per month and there are a number of quality hosting companies to choose from. A lot of these hosting companies include software called Fantastico with your hosting plan which allows you to install WordPress with just a few clicks – no software download necessary.

2. Ease of Use. Using WordPress is really quite simple. Yes, especially for the technically-challenged among us, there will be a little bit of a learning curve. However, there’s no shortage of quality WordPress tutorials online to help you get up to speed quickly. Once you get the hang of things, adding content is a snap. It’s no more difficult than using a word processing program. And you don’t have to know how to write code or do anything vaguely technical in nature to maintain your site.

3. Themes. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of themes available for WordPress. A theme is basically a template that changes the look and feel of your WordPress site (a theme can also alter the behind-the-scenes options to make WordPress even easier to customize and use). Some of these themes are free, others you have to pay for. You can also have a custom theme designed so your site meets your exact specifications.

Themes make it easy to get a clean, professional looking site without having to pay for a lot of custom design work. And they’re easy to install and change. If you wake up one morning and decide your site needs a facelift – no problem! Find a theme you like better, activate it and you’ve got a brand new look to your site – without having to touch the content of your pages or blog posts.

4. Plugins. A WordPress plugin is software that extends the out-of-the-box capabilities of WordPress. Plugins, which are extremely easy to install and update, can do things like improve site security, fight spam, let you track visits to your website, automatically backup your site, improve search engine optimization, and much more. And the vast majority of plugins won’t cost you a penny!

5. Search Engine Optimization. The search engines LOVE WordPress sites. Add a few SEO-friendly plugins and then you’ll really be in good shape.

6. Support. WordPress is an extremely popular and commonly used piece of software. There are thousands of people available to help you if you have problems. Whether it’s asking for help in a forum or hiring a WordPress pro, a solution to whatever issue you may have is not far away.

7. Control. When you host your own WordPress website, you are in the driver’s seat. You can easily update content, add new pages or posts, give the site a facelift and much more without being at the mercy of a web programmer. And if you did want to hire someone to assist you in updating your website, there are plenty of qualified people around who can help.

There you have seven reasons to strongly consider WordPress to power your small business’ website. To be certain, there are definitely situations where having a custom programmed website created by a reputable, qualified professional is the way to go.

However, for the needs of most small businesses, WordPress provides a combination of functionality, flexibility and cost-effectiveness that is tough to beat.

Adam Kreitman is a St. Louis, MO online marketing consultant. While he is not a designer, he got tired of seeing small business clients with overpriced, poorly designed websites so he started helping clients develop sites using WordPress. To get the word out to a larger audience he started a website which provides tips, video tutorials and resources for using WordPress for business.

The Principles of Beautiful Web Design, 2nd Edition

This second edition of The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is the ideal book for people who can build websites, but are seeking the skills and knowledge to visually enhance their sites.

This book will teach you how to:

• Understand the process of what makes "good design," from discovery through to implementation
• Use color effectively, develop color schemes, and create a palette
• Create pleasing layouts using grids, the rule of thirds, and symmetry
• Employ textures: lines, points, shapes, volumes, and depth
• Apply typography to make ordinary designs look great
• Choose, edit, and position effective imagery

And lots more...

This revised, easy-to-follow guide is illustrated with beautiful, full-color examples, and leads readers through the process of creating great designs from start to finish.

It also features:

• Updated information about grid-based design
• How to design for mobile resolutions
• Information about the future of web fonts including @font-face
• Common user-interface patterns and resources

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 at 1:18 pm and is filed under Web Sites. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.