What is WordPress?

We work exclusively with WordPress. What exactly this is, what its benefits are for you, the typical features of every WordPress website, and more, you will discover in this blog post.

Let’s start with a basic definition of WordPress.

WordPress is a CMS (Content Management System). It allows people to publish data on the Internet in a visual way; to create a website. The very first version was launched in 2003. Back then most websites were still traditional and static. They used HTML for this. Don’t worry if this still sounds like Chinese to you, I’ll explain further in a moment.

CMS vs. HTML

It’s important to know that almost every website is built using the coding languages ​​HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). However, there is a big difference between websites that are built from scratch by “writing” (coding) the entire website using HTML, and websites built on the basis of a CMS.

With a CMS, existing templates can be used, everything can be visually adjusted and even without knowledge about these coding languages, it’s possible to build professional websites.

Today, the vast majority of websites are based on a CMS. Unlike HTML, this is not static, but dynamic. That means that these websites can easily be updated. Content can be added easily. That is probably also the main reason that WordPress started as a blogging software, where the home page always showed your latest blog posts. Meanwhile, WordPress is at the root of more than 40% of all websites, which amounts to about 700 million websites.

Very impressive is that WordPress is at the root of more than 30% of the top 10 000, top 100 000 and top 1 million most visited websites. No longer is it mainly being used for blog websites. All companies, large (even those in the Fortune 500) and small, can enjoy the many benefits associated with this CMS.

Some properties, concepts and facts of WordPress

To better understand how WordPress (in short, WP) works, below is a summary of some key features and terms directly related to WordPress.

• Programming language: PHP (but you don’t need any knowledge of this).
• All content is stored in a database. This must be  maintained to stay in top condition.
• Every WordPress website is based on a “Theme“, which usually largely determines its look and feel. Especially if you have no technical knowledge. There are many free themes. However, these have only limited functionalities. More on that in a moment. There are also premium themes available. Be careful when you choose a theme that is not regularly updated. Then you risk having problems in the future.
• Very characteristic of WordPress is the possibility to add all kinds of functionalities using so-called “plugins“. This gives the opportunity to add all kinds of elements to your website without technical knowledge. For example, e-commerce websites work on the plugin “WooCommerce”. There are also plugins that improve the speed of a website, increase security, etc. There are more than 50 000 plugins, but separating the wheat from the chaff is an art. A lot of plugins are “abandoned”, which means that the developer no longer update them. This poses security risks and in some cases can lead to the breaking of the entire website. We therefore work exclusively with Premium (paid) plugins that are well maintained and offer excellent customer service. This way we can always guarantee an optimally functioning website.
• Besides plugins, you can also add “widgets” to the website. These can be placed on the left or right side or in the footer of the website (at the very bottom). This allows functionalities such as a search bar, blog archive, registration form,… to be added.
• WordPress is open source and free. Anyone can download the latest version and then use it freely. Originally it was developed by only two people. Meanwhile, hundreds of developers worldwide are working on improving it every day.
• WordPress is definitely not just used by small businesses. Also big names such as BBC America, Bloomberg Professional, Sony Music, Microsoft News, The Walt Disney Company, Facebook Newsroom, Vogue, The Rolling Stones, Toyota Motors Brasil, Usain Bolt, Katy Perry, New York Post and The White House have a WordPress website.

Advantages of WordPress

Choosing WordPress offers many advantages for your professional website. It’s not without reason that we only work with this, as do many other large companies. Below you will find an overview of the 10 most important advantages and reasons to choose WordPress.

1. Very flexible

Whatever website you want, with the right theme, you can develop any website using WordPress. Add to that knowledge about CSS and the smart use of Premium plugins, and you have the best possible total package.

2. Reliable

WordPress is the most popular CMS, powering 40% of ALL websites on the Internet. That’s huge. This also means that it will not just disappear. Your investment is therefore safe for the long term. In addition, more and more security updates are also added. We ourselves have our own plugin which ensures that your website is extremely safe; OMNIA Security. In addition, we also make specific adjustments. If you choose to work with us, you can be sure that your website is always fully protected against hackers, malware and other online risks.

3. Much faster and cheaper to develop

You no longer have to spend many thousands of dollars to have a professional website developed. A one page website (one page with all information) can be obtained from us for less than 500 dollars. For less than 1 000 USD, you can have the website of your dreams developed. With maximum transparency, no surprises, up to 15 pages included, fully responsive web design and much more.

4. Easy and cheap to update/change

Not just developing the website is cheaper thanks to WordPress. It’s also much cheaper to maintain, update and change your website. We have developed a customised Service Package that is extremely affordable, and includes everything you need on an annual basis to keep your website in top condition. Changes to the content of your website or the development of a blog are also perfectly possible and affordable.

5. Anyone can make (minor) changes

If you wish, you can also make changes yourself. We can teach you this in just a few hours. A little skill with the computer is desirable, but even if you are less comfortable with it, it’s still possible (although we don’t recommend it). Everything is visual, and we always make sure that certain functions are blocked, so that you cannot make unintended changes.

6. Built-in blogging capability

WordPress started as a blogging platform. Even today, this functionality is an important part of every WP website. So there is always a built-in blogging option. If you want to, you could post new blog posts every day, without it costing you a lot of energy, or having to spend time getting to know a complicated environment. We will develop a template for you that you can use for any blog post and that is fully adapted to the corporate identity of your company and the design of your website. We can of course also take this completely off your hands. But at least the option is there to do it yourself, if you wish.

7. Optimal for e-commerce

Thanks to the WooCommerce plugin, all aspects associated with an e-commerce website are directly added to your website. We then refine this using just one Premium plugin. With a minimal cost, you have a fully functional webshop that can generate a lot of extra turnover for you.

8. Better for SEO

Due to the way WordPress websites are built, the fact that they often change and there are plugins that are completely focused on optimising SEO, WordPress sites also offer a great advantage here. These sites rank higher in the search results of Google and other search engines than static HTML websites.

9. Responsive web design

In short, responsive web design means that a website looks good on all platforms: small laptops, large monitors, tablets, smartphones,… The website automatically adapts to the size of the screen. This is extremely important for the visitors’ experience. Moreover, websites rarely rank high in search engines if they are not “mobile friendly”. This is one of the guarantees we give with our CUSTOM (MINI) WEB Package.

10. Unlimited possibilities (thanks to plugins, among other things)

As discussed earlier, there are many thousands of plugins to add functionality to your WordPress website. The chance is therefore very small that you have a request that is not possible to fulfill. If no plugin exists yet, but you do use a good, (preferably) Premium theme, then there is guaranteed to be someone who can help you do this.

How can OMNIA Web Agency help you?

We are specialised in building WordPress websites that are fully adapted to the wishes of our clients. It’s our mission to help as many companies as possible to grow thanks to our website and tailored online business strategy.

On our Portfolio page, you will find an overview of all our completed projects (the ones that are still in development are not listed here yet). This can give you an idea of ​​what we can do, but is by no means a limitation. Even if you have wishes that completely deviate from what we have done so far, we can help you. As you learned in this blog post, it’s possible to develop any kind of website using WordPress, the right theme and plugins. We add our expertise and experience to this, so you don’t have to worry about anything.

You can always contact us with your questions and for a first free, no obligation introductory meeting. I am looking forward to working on your project.