Wordpress As Your Full Website

Wordpress is a powerful blog platform, but is it powerful enough to run your entire website? There are definitely pros and cons to using it as your full website, so let's discuss.

Pros

• Wordpress is a standard amongst blogging platforms; therefore, there is a lot of support. The source code is open source, so anyone can modify, update or improve the code as they see fit. Additionally, because it is so widely accepted the Wordpress platform itself is updated on a regular basis.
• Your SEO efforts can benefit. While there are many plugins that assist you with basic SEO functions, I think the true benefit is the ability to create new content and archive old content. Please keep in mind, an SEO plugin does not mean you have a well optimized site. I have seen many instances of the Wordpress code behind the scenes getting messier than a well optimized static site or one powered by a good CMS. Clean code is important to SEO.
• The financial investment is often less as you are essentially getting free code. We began offering extremely small businesses and non-profits Wordpress packages to better fit their budget. Though, keep in mind Donny's post from yesterday. It is OK to start small, but think about the future.
• The CMS is good and pretty easy to use. Most people with little to know web development knowledge can pick up the functionality fairly easily.
• Wordpress was meant to be a blogging platform first and foremost. It does an excellent job performing it's original intent. I have used a few blogging systems and definitely prefer Wordpress over the rest.

Cons

• Security can be an issue with Wordpress. As I mentioned, it is open...that means it is open to anyone and can be a target for hackers.
• I find some things to be more finnicky than with other CMS platforms I have used.
• Most templates are created as blog templates, so in converting them to actual websites that don't appear to be blogs it takes some work and usually a little bit of development knowledge.
• The editor is a back end editor. I prefer a front end editor where you can edit the content as you see as if you were an actual user.
• You are at the mercy of your plugin developers. There are a ton of plugins, but unless you can develop them yourself you will rely on someone else. Using Wordpress as your full site, you will want plugins. You will have greater access to a local web developer that you have a relationship with vs a developer that created a free plugin for thousands to use.

All in all, I like Wordpress. I think it is affordable and can get some small business's feet wet when it comes to the online world. As a full blown website, I definitely think it has it's shortcomings. An established business or organization will be better off having a secure website, an easy to use CMS, and a relationship with the developer on all aspects of the project. It definitely has it's place and I will continue to recommend it as a full website for some organizations. Best case scenario, a full website with a Wordpress blog as a sidekick!