In the nearly 20 years we’ve been in business, our approach to website design and development has had to continuously evolve to ensure we are providing the best solution for our clients while also remaining at the leading edge of emerging technologies in an ever-evolving industry.
A big part of remaining at the leading edge is ensuring that the choice of Content Management System (CMS) that drives our client’s websites is the right one to meet their individual business needs. We work with a variety of different CMS’ including Orbit CMS (our own proprietary system), and open-source platforms such as Drupal, Joomla, Magento, Silverstripe and WordPress. The CMS platform that we choose to build an individual website on will depend on the specific needs of the client.
Proprietary systems are built and maintained by a single company or developer. That developer generally retains the Intellectual Property (IP) rights in their own system and typically does not allow access to the code – think Microsoft. Moving a website from a proprietary system to another provider (even if you own the design and content) is generally difficult as the new provider will not have access to the code that runs the website. That said, proprietary systems are often the best choice for businesses that have very specific or unique needs as the developer is able to create a solution to meet the client’s needs. Proprietary systems are generally more expensive to develop and maintain due to the level of continued investment in the product, particularly around customised solutions, and the support that they require.
Open source platforms, on the other hand, are built and supported by global developer communities who make their code freely available for use. These communities continually improve code and develop new features and functionality to meet changing needs and unlike proprietary CMS’ you are not tied to a single developer and can freely move your site to other developers with relevant skills. Open Source CMS’s can be customised through the use of add-on (or Plugin) software .
WordPress is fast becoming our open-source CMS of choice because:
1. WordPress makes it easy for YOU to update your website
With WordPress, most content on your website can be updated by non-technical personnel. As part of our handover, we provide basic training that allows anyone to adequately keep their website up-to-date. Most of our clients find WordPress very easy to use and when the odd question does pop up, we can help sort it out very quickly. You can keep your website current without paying developers for every little change and don’t have to wait for an opening in their schedules.
Other open source CMS’ tend to be fairly complicated tools that require extensive training for everyday use. We know clients who maintain lengthy “cheat sheets” in order to update their websites using other platforms.
2. WordPress provides a greater ROI
WordPress is a comprehensive open-source platform that can be customised through the use of free and paid plugins. No matter how unique your requirements are, there’s a good chance that a plugin exists that will help our team of developers customise your website to meet your needs. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, which translates to savings for you and a website that is delivered faster. With WordPress, a custom website can include powerful tools and features that might otherwise be unattainable on a restricted budget.
3. WordPress allows for fully customised design
With WordPress, there are no longer limitations in the design process. In the early days, all CMS’, including WordPress, had some limitations with regards to how websites could be designed. Thanks to the evolution of WordPress in recent years, our design team is no longer constrained by WordPress. Our experienced development team can integrate any design concept within the WordPress platform, allowing us to deliver beautiful websites that are unique to each of our clients.
4. WordPress is search engine friendly
While there is no such thing as a search engine optimised CMS; WordPress does support several plugins that are designed to enhance your site so it ranks well in search. It’s important to remember though that the plugins, while aiding the site, do need to be properly configured for optimum results. Enlisting the help of a digital marketing agency, such as ours, will ensure that the correct plugins are installed and configured as part of a comprehensive plan to improve your online presence.
5. WordPress (when built right) is mobile friendly
We’ve been talking about the importance of Responsive Website Design since 2012 (where has the time gone?!) and we still practice what we preach by carefully building all of our WordPress sites to adapt, display and function perfectly regardless of the device they are viewed on.
6. WordPress websites are scalable
A large majority of our clients return to us at some point after their website is built because their business has evolved and they need their website to support these changes. When the website has been built on WordPress, we will almost certainly be able to leverage existing plugins to cost effectively support the new requirements. This allows us to deliver updates quickly, so websites can keep up with our clients’ demands.
7. WordPress is a trusted platform
WordPress has been around for nearly 14 years. In Internet years, that’s a pretty long time! Today this stable and reliable platform powers over 60 million websites, including nearly 30% of the top 10 million websites online. Due to the maturity of the platform, many of the past user experience issues have been resolved over the years. And thanks to the enthusiasm and dedication of the open-source community, new features and plugins are continually being rolled out.
8. WordPress is secure and well supported
When hosted by us that is… WordPress can be vulnerable when coupled with a low quality hosting environment. Luckily for you, few things are more important to us than the security of our clients’ websites. While WordPress provides a robust ‘out of the box’ platform, it is up to us to ensure that all updates are installed on time. Out-of-date WordPress sites are vulnerable to attacks. That’s why we actively manage our clients’ sites and ensure that upgrades are completed constantly.
Are you ready for a new website?
If you’re in the market for a new website, we’d love to chat with you and learn more about your needs. If you’re after a modern website that is capable of supporting your business, there’s a good chance we’ll recommend a custom WordPress website. We’d love to hear more about your business and explain how our website design and development process can help meet your needs. Please contact us today to get started!