27 Reasons Why You Should Use WordPress

People have always viewed WordPress as just a blogging tool when in fact it has matured into a full Content Management System (CMS). It actually powers more than 25% of world’s websites. So if you are wondering why you should use WordPress, this article is going to tell you 27 reasons why you should.

So without any further ado let’s get started.

Why You Should Use WordPress?

1. WordPress is Free

Yes, WordPress which powers more than 25% of world’s website is free for everyone to use. It is an Open Source project and released under GPLv2 license which means you can use and modify it as you wish.

You can download WordPress from WordPress.org and install it on your web host or local machine. Even the hosted WordPress solution offered by Automattic on WordPress.com is free but it comes with some limitations as to what you can do with it.

2. WordPress is Powerful

Well, if it wasn’t then millions of people in the world wouldn’t have used it to build their websites. So calling it powerful is an understatement.

Features like Themes, Plugins, Post Types, Post Formats, Comments, RSS Feed, User Management, Easy Backups etc. give WordPress a big edge over other website builders.

3. WordPress is Flexible

Did I mention, you can tweak WordPress in every way you want to build a website exactly as you need. Right from its functionality to it’s user interface everything can be changed right from the admin panel by just using various Plugins and Themes.

Even the core features like RSS Feed, Comments, User Management etc. can be managed directly from the admin panel of WordPress.

4. You Control Everything

Unlike some website builders where you are tied with their legal terms and conditions as to what you can and cannot do, WordPress gives you the control to do anything.

Every bit of content that you create with WordPress is owned by you and not by someone else. In short your website is yours!

5. Easy to Setup

Even after being powerful and flexible, WordPress is easy to install. The installation should not take you more than 5 minutes of your time.

On top of that, almost every web host will provide you with a tool to easily install WordPress on your server. So installing WordPress is really hassle-free.

6. WordPress is Easy to Learn and Use

With hundreds of tutorials available throughout the Internet, there is rarely anything that you will not be able to learn about WordPress. This very site was also started with the same intention of teaching WordPress to everyone.

Even if you decide to not go through all the tutorials on WordPress, it is not that difficult to learn and use it by yourself. If you spend just about an hour or two navigating the WordPress admin panel, you should be able to learn and use it easily.

Related Further Reading: Is WordPress Hard To Learn? (And Ways To Learn It Fast)

7. WordPress is Extensible

By “Extensible” I mean “Literally Highly Extensible”. You can easily extend WordPress with Plugins or get it customized from a developer to suit your needs.

WordPress is so very extensible that you can even find people who have built entire SaaS applications using WordPress.

8. WordPress is Secure

Security is a complex subject and often depends on many factors such as the customization you have made to your website, the web host you are using, the plugins you have installed etc.

So no one can guarantee you to build the most secured website in the world. WordPress is no exception. Even after all of this, if used properly with a good web hosting company, WordPress at its core is very secure. What that means is that you can actually build a secure website for yourself and for your clients.

9. WordPress is Search Engine Friendly

WordPress is developed to put out semantic markup that makes it search engine friendly. On top of this you can make it even more search engine friendly by installing Yoast SEO plugin or a SEO friendly theme like Genesis.

Keep in mind though that SEO is a constantly evolving field and no one can guarantee you a fully SEO friendly website.

10. WordPress is Mobile Friendly

Themes like Genesis, Thesis, Beaver Builder, etc. ensure that your website is fully mobile friendly. There are even many free themes in the WordPress Theme Repository that can make your website fully mobile responsive for free.

Apart from themes, you can even find many plugins in the WordPress Plugin Repository that will make your website mobile friendly.

11. WordPress Supports Multiple Media Types

WordPress can help you store and host multiple types of media like images, movies, audio, pdf files etc.

Not only can you store all these files using WordPress, you can even make them available to your site visitors.

12. WordPress Integrates with Other Applications

You can integrate WordPress with any application with some help from your developer. Apart from this, there are many applications like Leadpages, OptinMonster, ActiveCampaign, Infusionsoft, Google Adsense, etc. that have existing integrations with WordPress.

Even if you do end up finding an application that does not integrate with WordPress, you can always try and use Zapier to connect the two.

13. WordPress is Easy to Style

Styling or the look and feel of your website can be controlled at a very granular level using WordPress. You can either use one of the free or premium themes to control the styling of your website or you can simply hire someone to code a theme just for you.

Even if you use one of the free or premium themes, you can customize them to suit your needs. You can do that yourself or hire someone else to do it for you.

14. WordPress is Customizable

I mean it is extremely customizable. If you do not like a certain feature of WordPress you can customize it to fit your needs.

Similar to getting the themes developed for you, you can hire someone else to customize WordPress for you. Sites such as Codeable, Upwork etc. make it easy to find WordPress developers who can customize WordPress for you.

15. WordPress is Easily Updatable

WordPress gets updated frequently and so you will need to upgrade your WordPress installation to the newer version every now and then. But don’t worry; there are no complex steps to perform for upgrading WordPress when a newer version is available.

WordPress makes it very easy for you to upgrade your website to the newer version. Typically you will get a notification in your admin panel about the availability of the newer version and you can just upgrade to that newer version with a single button click.

16. WordPress Updates are Free

Yes, all the newer versions of WordPress are made available for free. So you will never have to keep your website on an outdated version of WordPress.

This is the beauty of Open Source software like WordPress!

17. Easy to Backup

WordPress can be easily backed up. All you need to do is to copy over the content folders and take a backup of your database.

If this sounds complicated then there are premium plugins and services available like BackupBuddy and VaultPress that you can use to easily backup your site. You can even find some free plugins in the WordPress Plugins Repository that can take a backup of your site.

18. WordPress is Easy to Migrate

You are not really tied to any hosting provider. If you want to switch your web host then you can easily migrate your WordPress site from one hosting provider to another.

Some WordPress hosting providers like Kinsta and BigScoots (that I usually recommend to everyone) will do the migration for you so that you don’t have to worry about migrating your site.

19. WordPress Supports Multiple Users

Are you not going to be the only person to maintain your website? Even if there are other people who are going to help you to build and maintain your website, WordPress can handle all the users. You can create user accounts for everyone.

You can even control what each person can do while logged into your site by setting the proper roles for the users.

20. WordPress Saves You Money

Actually I should say “Tons of Money”!

WordPress provides many features right out-of-the-box and in addition to that it can be easily extended and customized to fit your needs. This itself is going to save you tons of money.

If you have ever taken a quote from a developer to develop a website as per your needs, you know what I mean. Custom-made websites are costly and WordPress can help you build your site at a considerably lower price.

21. Big Community Behind WordPress

Remember I mentioned that WordPress is Open Source? That means anyone in the world can use it. And because of its popularity, there are millions of people actually using it.

This has resulted in a huge community that is actively using and supporting WordPress. This means you will never ever run out of people who can help you with any issues relating to WordPress. Finding help for WordPress is just one Google search away!

22. WordPress Helps You Build A Community

Ever wanted to build a social network like Facebook? Or maybe just a blog on which people can interact with you? Or a forum where people can ask you questions or to other people around the world?

All of that is possible using WordPress. Now you can actually build your own community around the topic of your interest using WordPress.

23. WordPress Can Build Complex Websites

By complex I mean really complicated sites like forums, social networks, recommendation engines, sites with flashy animations etc. All of that is possible with WordPress.

You will have to select the proper plugins for building the site or just customize WordPress to make it work the way you want it to work.

24. WordPress Can Build e-Commerce Sites

Yes, I mean real e-Commerce sites that can sell physical goods. You can even generate Invoices, Receipts, Coupons etc. for your customers.

Check out WooCommerce plugin. It can help you build e-Commerce websites. Similar to WordPress, WooCommerce is also free to use. Don’t like it? You can easily find other e-Commerce plugins as well.

25. WordPress Can Build Digital Stores

If you just want to sell digital goods like eBooks, Images, Services, WordPress Themes, Plugins etc., you can do that as well using WordPress.

Plugins like Easy Digital Downloads, WooCommerce etc. can help you sell your digital goods. Just install and configure these plugins and you are good to go.

26. WordPress Can Build Membership Sites

Using WordPress you can build a membership site where you can sell access to your site. Only people who become members of your site will be able to view the content on your site. Rest of the people will not be able to.

Plugins like MemberPress, s2Member, WooCommerce Memberships etc. can help you build such membership sites.

27. WordPress is Multisite Capable

WordPress has a feature called Multisite using which you can install multiple instances of WordPress each with their own domain names. You can then control all sites through a single admin panel.

You can activate or deactivate themes and plugins or even upgrade WordPress to new version through a single admin panel. This should give you an idea of how powerful WordPress has become.

And Finally…

WordPress has truly become a powerful, flexible, extensible, customizable and secure tool to build modern day websites. And it is completely free. So there is absolutely no reason for you to not try out WordPress. And if you want to learn WordPress then read this in-depth tutorial on WordPress for beginners.

I hope I have answered the question of why you should use WordPress. If you still have any questions then please do not hesitate to ask them in the comments.