Plainly everybody involves the desk with preconceived notions about WordPress. And proper or flawed, it may be troublesome to vary opinions after they’ve been shaped.
There are specific misconceptions that rise to the highest again and again. They’re pervasive and regularly halt sensible businesspeople who know WordPress is an effective CMS however have been fed sufficient dangerous data to present them pause. That is actually a disgrace as a result of it will probably forestall people and companies from shifting ahead with constructing an online presence. And as everyone knows, making a viable net presence is without doubt one of the most essential issues a enterprise can do as of late.
At the moment, we’re going to set the report straight on 5 of essentially the most generally perpetuated lies about WordPress and do our greatest to debunk them for good.
Lie #1: You Must Purchase a WordPress Theme
When managing a WordPress website for your corporation, it is very important have a particular fashion and design. You need your website to face out from others, particularly your rivals’. Many individuals obtain this by buying a premium theme. Of their minds, this ensures their website’s individuality.
Sadly, their transfer is misguided. For starters, many individuals should buy the identical premium themes. And in the event that they hold the theme with all of its default settings, it’s extremely doubtless there will likely be a number of different websites on the market with the very same appear and feel.
All I’m saying is, shopping for a premium theme isn’t going to ensure you a 100% authentic website. It’s simply not going to occur. Plus, lots of people are underneath the impression that premium themes mechanically include developer assist, however that’s not at all times the case. I don’t wish to discourage you from shopping for a premium theme (as they’re sometimes higher than free choices – simply check out a few of the premium WordPress themes made right here at WPSaviour), however it is best to achieve this on the understanding that it doesn’t assure individuality.
She positive is horny wanting (the theme, not Frank), however might actually profit from a private contact.
Whether or not you go premium or keep on with a free theme possibility, know this: customization is your buddy. Free themes don’t provide as many customization choices because the premium ones however they will nonetheless be made to appear and feel nevertheless you need. So, if all you want is a quite simple website, you simply must spend money on customized graphics and you need to be all set.
Lie #2: Solely Sure Industries Can Use WordPress
I wager you’ve heard this one earlier than: WordPress is only for bloggers. And by bloggers, the one who says this oft-repeated phrase means it in a semi-derogatory method. It’s dismissive. And whereas WordPress positively is a running a blog platform, it’s able to a lot extra, too. In truth, it may be (and has been) tailored to match the wants of nearly any trade (the truth is, Freddy simply wrote a submit about a few of the Massive Title Manufacturers that Use WordPress).
You possibly can add opt-in pages and gross sales pages proper from inside a single WordPress set up, add a fully-fledged retailer, and choose from a variety of themes. You possibly can rent somebody to design a website for you from scratch or use a pre-made theme and customise it to fit your functions. The sky’s the restrict.
That brings me to a different level: many individuals appear to assume that out there themes are solely suited to the running a blog fashion of content material presentation, however that’s not true. Yow will discover a theme good for any firm in any trade, from manufacturing to actual property to authorized to attire. In the event you can’t discover a pre-made theme, it’s also possible to create a completely customized one or have one made for you. There are not any limitations.
Lie #3: You Can’t Run an E-Commerce Website on WordPress
That is simply utterly false. You completely can run an e-commerce website on WordPress and it’s fairly straightforward to do at that. There are such a lot of plugins out there that make making a model new retailer or integrating your present one with the WordPress platform a snap. And for essentially the most half, the administration of merchandise, analytics instruments, and extra will likely be accessible from throughout the WordPress dashboard.
You simply have to regulate a couple of configuration settings and also you’re good to go along with full SSL, a number of forex assist, a number of fee choices, and extra. There’s an excellent tutorial over at Tuts+ on this very topic utilizing the WP e-Commerce plugin, however that’s far out of your solely possibility. A pair different nice decisions embrace Straightforward Digital Downloads and WooCommerce.
You must at all times do your due diligence earlier than downloading and putting in new plugins of any kind, not simply e-commerce associated ones. Make certain what you’ve chosen is the correct match to your particular wants first. And pay shut consideration to the safety settings. Because you’ll be liable for holding different folks’s private and monetary data secure, you should make this a precedence.
Lie #4: You Can’t Customise Your Website
So, this one is expounded to the primary two lies however it bears standing by itself for one excellent cause: some folks appear to assume WordPress is very easy and so easy that it will probably’t be personalized for any actually significant goal. It’s an informal running a blog platform, nothing extra.
Once more, this simply isn’t true. You possibly can customise a WordPress website all the way down to the final element. Relying in your diploma of net savviness, you may tweak and fiddle to your coronary heart’s content material. You possibly can code a theme from scratch or add all of the bells and whistles you wish to an present theme. Principally, you may simply go nuts.
The easiest way to do the latter is to create a toddler theme and construct your customization on high of that. You possibly can even change the dashboard or customise the WordPress admin UI to mirror your organization’s model so everybody concerned in your group will get a totally branded expertise after they log in.
Anybody who says WordPress can’t be personalized is both misinformed or ignorant. Both means, you shouldn’t take heed to them.
Lie #5: You Must be a Net Developer to Use WordPress
On the flip aspect, lots of people additionally appear to have a false impression about WordPress being too difficult. Humorous how these two opinions can co-exist, huh? Nonetheless, this lie is as pervasive as any and places lots of people off from the CMS.
The actual fact of the matter is that WordPress is extraordinarily straightforward to make use of. It’s solely tougher — and presents extra superior options — if you need it to be. So, net builders can get loads out of it and starting bloggers can, too. That’s the great thing about it and why I’m such a staunch WordPress evangelist — it may be utilized for nearly any goal.
