In the past few months, perhaps even as far back as the past year, I’ve noticed something about freelancers. More and more of them are turning to Wordpress when it comes to making a website. There are many benefits to using Wordpress in lieu of constructing a regular, html/css based website. I’m assuming that all of these benefits are the cause of the shift to a Wordpress based website.
When I started out as a freelance writer, editor and web designer several years ago, one of the biggest mistakes I saw other freelancers making was not having a website. I plan to touch on the importance of having a website (and the type of website to have) in a future article, so I’m going to avoid getting ahead of myself on this topic and just say, a website is vitally important to becoming a successful freelancer. I digress.
The benefits of Wordpress that make Wordpress so attractive to freelancers far outweigh any negative features. Here is why I believe there are so many freelancers turning towards using Wordpress.
It’s Easy to Setup and Use
Installation of Wordpress includes uploading files and folders and clicking a few buttons. You can use a pre-made template that looks nice. It’s as simple as it can get. Whenever you want to create pages, you just go to the page editor in Wordpress, create the page, and voila! You have exactly what you want in one easy to install package.
When you create a regular website, you have to worry about designing the website, creating links by hand, accommodating cross-browser problems that Wordpress already attempts to cover, and the list goes on. If you don’t know anything about design, you might just have to hire a designer or buy a template in order to have a professional looking website.
It’s Free!
What’s better than free? I started out freelancing because I was bedridden due to an injury. I had no job or money. All I had were the skills to weave words and basic web design/graphic design skills. Over the years, these skills have developed into what they are today, but when I started out, I couldn’t afford to pay to make money. I had to make money first and improve my website design the more I learned about designing websites. Eventually, my clients saw how good I was at designing my own site, so I was offered multiple web and graphic design projects along with SEO, marketing, a freelance writing and editing projects. Unfortunately, most freelancers who aren’t web designers aren’t able to use web design skills they don’t have. I was a rarity.
What’s better is the fact that you can get many free Wordpress templates to customize your site. It sure beats spending hundreds of dollars on high quality website design.
It has a Built in Blog!
Blogging is at the peak of its popularity. Companies big and small all have blogs. With a Wordpress setup, you can offer pages that talk about you, your services offered, and also update your blog regularly to garner interest in you and what you have to offer.
This is also a way to report progress to current clients, show off samples of your work, and network with other freelancers! You can share your knowledge with the world and show people on the internet that you know what you’re talking about, making you the perfect freelancer to work with for their projects.
It’s Highly Customizable!
With so many different plugins, Wordpress is incredibly customizable. You can make your website exactly the way you want it to look. Built in contact forms are just one option that make having a Wordpress blog better for freelancers. There’s also social bookmarking to show off your blog posts and be my friend contact methods, which can help clients to better get in touch with you.
Of course, this may require tweaking code in your Wordpress files, but most plugins come with step by step instructions. If you can follow these instructions you’ll be fine!
Wordpress is SEO-Friendly
I don’t know about every other blog out there, but I’ve found that with the right SEO-enhancing plugin (I use All in One SEO) and inclusion on the search engines, my blog posts are picked up much quicker than pages on my website were. Wordpress allows for SEO-enriched content that can be up on the top search engines within a few hours (though this may vary depending on your post and the particular SE). It certainly makes you more accessible to a wider audience on the internet.
*Marketing skills can help with this, as well. You can’t just let the blog market itself. This tip assumes you are trying to market yourself and your blog.
It Allows for More Interactivity
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Just think about all the possibilities you have with plugins for forums and comment sections accessible on every blog post.
While these aren’t the only benefits to using Wordpress, these are the most important reasons for freelancers to switch from a regular website to a Wordpress-based website.
If you are a freelancer, professional or own your own company, feel free to let me know your thoughts on this article.
Do you use a Wordpress-based, HTML/CSS or another type of website? Why do you use the type of website you use? Do you see a benefit to one type of website over the other?
Let me know your thoughts!
Technorati Tags: Wordpress, freelancer, writer, professional, business, website, designer, graphics, blog
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Don't hate me for wanting to be your own personal God!
I definitely agree that wordpress makes things SOO much more easier when building a website.
Hey Susan - Thanks for your reply. With every release of Wordpress, they up the bar, providing better features! It’s just far superior than having to design a website by hand.