WordPress Site Development
WordPress is one of the most popular and versatile platforms for building websites because it puts you in the driver's seat. Even so, you may need help getting it set up and keeping it maintained.
WordPress has become one of the most popular ways for people to create and maintain a website. (If you don't know what WordPress is, read my FAQ, "What is Wordpress?") As a CMS (content management system), WordPress allows you to get a basic website up and running in a matter of minutes — and you can do it for free, all by yourself.
Or so it may seem at first.
The reality is often more complex than that.
First of all, if you've never used WordPress before, there's a bit of a learning curve to get started. True, you can have a generic site up in minutes, but customizing it to your needs can take a bit of extra work. You'll have to learn the difference between pages and posts, how to set up a page full of posts, how to set up a navigation menu, how to place widgets on your page (or remove the ones you don't want), what slugs and shortcodes are, how to change the time zone for your site, and so on.
Then there are the themes, which allow you to make your website look a certain way with the click of a button. There are hundreds of thousands of WordPress themes, some of which affect only the look of your website, while others come with added functionality. Some look great right off the bat, while others require quite a bit of setup to get things to look right. Some themes are free, some require payment. Browsing through all these themes, learning how they work, figuring out which ones are better than others — all of that takes time.
Then there are the plugins. These are add-ons that bring extra functionality to your website. Some plugins are better than others. (In fact, some are downright dangerous!) Learning which ones are best for your needs and which ones to steer clear of can add more time and labor to your "do-it-yourself" web project.
Got a problem with your plugin? You're going to need to spend some time figuring out what the problem is. That may require interacting with the creators of the plugin — and sometimes their answer may be so technical it might as well be in a foreign language.
Sometimes, you may want to customize a theme or plugin, because you don't like the way it does things right out of the box. Customizing anything in WordPress can be a nightmare if you're not technically proficient — like trying to customize a car engine.
Have you taken into account SEO (search engine optimization)? Which plugins are best for that? How about security issues?
Then there are the things you have to deal with regardless of whether your site was created using WordPress or some other platform. You have to pick a domain, and change the DNS settings to point that domain to your website. If you plan to use @yourdomain.com for your email addresses, you'll have to learn how to create MX records. You'll also have to pick a web hosting company—some are better than others. The cheapest ones are awful, but some of the more expensive ones can be too. If your site goes down, you'll have to contact the hosting company yourself to find out what the problem is. If you're building an e-commerce site, you'll have to get an SSL certificate and set that all up. And then you'll have to renew that certificate every year, which requires a little bit of technical knowledge.
If that all sounds like an enormous amount of work, that's because it is, especially if you're new to the world of WordPress. Of course, there are plenty of people who have no problem doing all that work, in the same way that some people love working on their cars instead of taking them to a mechanic, or building a shed in their backyard with some tools and lumber and their own two hands.
But some people would rather hire someone else to do all that work for them. You may be one of those people. Getting someone else to take care of all of the above frees you up to do what's important to you: write and edit the content, upload pictures or video, and reply to people who contact you via the website.
As an experienced WordPress developer, I can take care of all the "dirty work" described above, so that you don't have to. I can also teach you how to use WordPress so that you don't have to figure it all out yourself by reading books or tutorials online, or spending hours in trial-and-error experimentation.
Of course, WordPress may not be the ideal solution for your needs. Your situation may call for a custom-built website. Click here for more information.
In any case, if you would like more information, or if you're ready to have someone help you get your new WordPress site up and running, send me a message.
Or so it may seem at first.
The reality is often more complex than that.
WordPress: The Reality
First of all, if you've never used WordPress before, there's a bit of a learning curve to get started. True, you can have a generic site up in minutes, but customizing it to your needs can take a bit of extra work. You'll have to learn the difference between pages and posts, how to set up a page full of posts, how to set up a navigation menu, how to place widgets on your page (or remove the ones you don't want), what slugs and shortcodes are, how to change the time zone for your site, and so on.
Then there are the themes, which allow you to make your website look a certain way with the click of a button. There are hundreds of thousands of WordPress themes, some of which affect only the look of your website, while others come with added functionality. Some look great right off the bat, while others require quite a bit of setup to get things to look right. Some themes are free, some require payment. Browsing through all these themes, learning how they work, figuring out which ones are better than others — all of that takes time.
Then there are the plugins. These are add-ons that bring extra functionality to your website. Some plugins are better than others. (In fact, some are downright dangerous!) Learning which ones are best for your needs and which ones to steer clear of can add more time and labor to your "do-it-yourself" web project.
Got a problem with your plugin? You're going to need to spend some time figuring out what the problem is. That may require interacting with the creators of the plugin — and sometimes their answer may be so technical it might as well be in a foreign language.
Sometimes, you may want to customize a theme or plugin, because you don't like the way it does things right out of the box. Customizing anything in WordPress can be a nightmare if you're not technically proficient — like trying to customize a car engine.
Have you taken into account SEO (search engine optimization)? Which plugins are best for that? How about security issues?
Then there are the things you have to deal with regardless of whether your site was created using WordPress or some other platform. You have to pick a domain, and change the DNS settings to point that domain to your website. If you plan to use @yourdomain.com for your email addresses, you'll have to learn how to create MX records. You'll also have to pick a web hosting company—some are better than others. The cheapest ones are awful, but some of the more expensive ones can be too. If your site goes down, you'll have to contact the hosting company yourself to find out what the problem is. If you're building an e-commerce site, you'll have to get an SSL certificate and set that all up. And then you'll have to renew that certificate every year, which requires a little bit of technical knowledge.
You Don't Have to Do It All Yourself
If that all sounds like an enormous amount of work, that's because it is, especially if you're new to the world of WordPress. Of course, there are plenty of people who have no problem doing all that work, in the same way that some people love working on their cars instead of taking them to a mechanic, or building a shed in their backyard with some tools and lumber and their own two hands.
But some people would rather hire someone else to do all that work for them. You may be one of those people. Getting someone else to take care of all of the above frees you up to do what's important to you: write and edit the content, upload pictures or video, and reply to people who contact you via the website.
As an experienced WordPress developer, I can take care of all the "dirty work" described above, so that you don't have to. I can also teach you how to use WordPress so that you don't have to figure it all out yourself by reading books or tutorials online, or spending hours in trial-and-error experimentation.
Of course, WordPress may not be the ideal solution for your needs. Your situation may call for a custom-built website. Click here for more information.
In any case, if you would like more information, or if you're ready to have someone help you get your new WordPress site up and running, send me a message.