I’ve worked for companies that create 100% unique, custom-designed websites, and I’ve worked with companies that use proprietary templates for attractive, affordable website design. If you’re going to invest in a new dental website, whether custom or template, I urge you to go with a WordPress foundation. Why? In this blog post, I’ll expand upon 10 reasons to use WordPress for your dental website and explain what WordPress is and where it began.
10 Reasons to Use WordPress
10. You can take it with you.
Often, dentists are surprised to learn that a website they purchased cannot be transferred. Some dental website companies retain ownership of the text and/or template code of the sites they sell, so the dentist is only renting the site, even if it was customized. In this situation, if you’re unhappy with your current website provider, leaving means starting over, from scratch.
A site built on the freeware software known as WordPress is completely transferable. Whether a WordPress site is built on a purchased template or has completely custom code, the foundation of the site is transportable. So, if you don’t receive the level of service you want from the company or developer that built your WordPress website, you can simply opt to move it elsewhere.
9. You can use it yourself.
WordPress features a backend administrative panel that’s super simple to use. The what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) system makes adding pages, posts, metadata, images, videos, and plugins easy. Even if you’ve never worked on a website before, you can quickly learn how to use a WordPress admin panel. Then, if you find yourself in a pinch, you or your staff can make website pages on the spot, without calling a technician.
8. There are plugins for everything.
Plugins is a good word to describe the additional features you can add to a WordPress website because they literally plug right into the code and start working. In the admin panel of a WordPress site, you can access a plugins portal. There, choose from thousands of plugins to give your website capabilities like: automatic email forms, social calendar, automated SEO, polls and surveys, social shares, subscription ability, and more. Some plugins cost, but many are absolutely free.
7. Adding media is easy.
Want to add a picture, video, or form to your site? It’s as easy as click, upload, position, save, and publish. Videos can also be embedded with YouTube embed codes, if you prefer.
6. Adding text is easy.
Need a new page on your website? Want to make a blog post? No sweat. Just click, type, save, and publish. Voila. Remember to always write your own website text or hire a copywriter; duplicate text taken from other sources isn’t good for your site’s SEO.
5. SEO is easy to implement.
Speaking of search engine optimization, WordPress offers a variety of plugins that make adding metadata simple. Most of the plugins feature a text box on the new page admin panel; all you have to do is type in your title tag and meta description. Meta keywords are no longer important to Google, though some plugins still provide a space for them.
4. Automatic updates…
Every time a WordPress template is updated, you’ll see an option to update your site on the admin panel. Be sure to save a backup, then update. By keeping your WordPress template up to date, you can prolong the life of your website.
3. It can be customized.
You’ll have thousands of templates to choose from. Some are free, and others cost – but are usually very affordable, under $100. With WordPress the site code is accessible and can be altered by you, if you know code, or a technician. You can hire a developer to completely customize a WordPress template so that your site features the excellent WordPress content management system (CMS) but is also totally original, unlike any other.
2. Techies believe in WordPress.
In the world of websites, there are SEO experts, copywriters, graphic artists, and developers. Each of these jobs requires special skills, and oftentimes there’s conflict between members of a website team. A copywriter will prioritize text, while a graphic artist will focus on design, and the SEO expert wants to maximize search factors. The developer’s ideas may collide with any of the other team members, because the developer actually puts the pieces together and builds the website. WordPress, however, is a favorite format for techies, as well as other team members. Why? Because all of the important factors receive appropriate attention in a WordPress site.
1. It has unlimited expansion potential.
Some website companies allow you a certain number of pages for a particular fee. With WordPress, you can add as many pages, sub-pages, and blog posts as you want. The site map is auto-generated, as well. Expanding a website is a vital part of a solid content management strategy, and WordPress offers the best bang for your buck.
