According to WordPress itself, 43% of all websites are built with WordPress, and this includes large Norwegian and international companies. A large part of the reason for this is that WordPress is so flexible that it can be tailored to a variety of different needs.
Fjellvann has been developing websites for companies using WordPress for many years. We always choose the publishing platform that best suits the customer's desire for functionality and form, and WordPress is often preferred for professional websites. Here are some of the reasons why:
- The control panel is easy to use for both the developer and you as a customer. This means it's easy to edit the website and publish new content once everything is set up.
- The availability of design templates and plugins can make setup a little more affordable for the customer.
- WordPress is safe from attack - as long as the site is set up correctly and maintained. WordPress is the most widely used website solution in the world and is therefore vulnerable to hacking, but as long as you "lock the front door" and "have an alarm" it's easy to protect yourself.
- Many large companies and organizations in Norway and the rest of the world use WordPress - such as brønnøysundregistrene.no, DSS (Departmental Security and Service Organization), Høyre, KRF, Stiftelsen Organdonasjon, Kreftforeningen, Redningsselskapet, thewaltdisneycompany.com, rollingstone.com, vogue.com and whitehouse.gov.
Flexibility for better or worse
There is no doubt that the large number of plugins (extensions) and themes (design templates) are some of the biggest advantages of WordPress - also for businesses. But this is also why many people make the wrong choices when building their WordPress site. For example, some design templates can be difficult to customize, or they may have limitations on how many different types of websites they can be used for.
Another common mistake is choosing too many, and the wrong, plugins. In some cases, plugins can cause problems for each other, for example, if they try to override each other with the same functions.
At the same time, it is this flexibility that allows WordPress to be used for both small personal websites and larger, professional websites. If you know what functionality you need - there is almost certainly a plugin for it.
In many cases, however, we find that it can be a good idea to steer clear of plugins and themes, and instead build the website as well as possible from scratch. Due to the flexibility of WordPress, this can also be done in a good way.
How to add a professional touch to WordPress websites?
Good planning is a key part of the process of building a professional website. And it's equally important to stick to the plan during development. It's easy to get a little too excited about cool features, plugins and design elements - and forget about the big picture. Here's a short list of things to keep in mind:
- How can the company's identity and tone of voice be reflected on the website? This should permeate all text, images and design elements.
- What information is essential to show to your potential customers?
- How can we make it easy for potential customers to get in touch?
- How can the content on the website reach the part of the target group that does not yet know they are interested? Think about what content can spark interest and naturally become part of the customer journey via organic visibility, e.g. in search engines.
Naturally, this is something we help our customers with during the process. Take a look at this article for more information on what a professional website should contain.
WordPress is not maintenance-free
Unlike some other CMSs, WordPress is not a complete "all-in-one solution" - for better or worse. The advantage is that you can customize different parts of the web solution, such as server location, security, backup, etc. The disadvantage is that it can be a bigger job to keep all this up to date, quickly and securely. The vast majority of companies should partner with an agency that handles this, while a handful of exceptions have in-house expertise that can handle this.
Read more about how to maintain a WordPress website here.
So why not choose a maintenance-free off-the-shelf product?
In some cases, it may be appropriate to consider solutions such as Squarespace or Webflow where you buy "access" to their publishing solution. You then pay a monthly fee for them to keep the technical side of things running and you don't have to worry about it. In some situations it's a perfect match, in others it's a nightmare. We see, for example, that we're delivering more and more in solutions like Webflow for simple pages without the need for major bespoke development and functionality.
Given our focus on professional websites for businesses, control over the technical aspects is often an important factor. This offers benefits in terms of security, speed, personal data management (GDPR) and the freedom to build exactly what you need - and you can do this with WordPress.
For others, it's more about the risk of being dependent on an external provider, where you have zero control if they are acquired tomorrow and the service is shut down, or if they have a massive data crash that causes downtime.
Technical challenges can occur with any solution, but the combination of working with a solid agency and using WordPress gives you the opportunity to address the issue yourself and get it resolved in a short time.
Is WordPress right for your business website?
Most likely, WordPress is a good match, but there are a few exceptions. We're happy to have a no-obligation chat to find out if your needs are best met by WordPress and are happy to make other recommendations for publishing solutions, even if that means recommending something we don't deliver.
Find the price calculator and read more about choosing a publishing solution for your company's website.
WordPress is a solution that can be optimal for most things, but that doesn't mean we should shove it down everyone's throat.