Most of my clients are solopreneurs (like myself), small companies or non-profits. As such, their website development and maintenance budgets are small – so much consideration is given to “bang for the buck” – in terms of function vs. form with initial site development and ongoing maintenance.
It wasn’t too long ago that I did only custom designed websites – that they would have to have ongoing assistance to maintain (usually by me). However, the upside was that the client would have a truly unique site that reflects the company’s brand and allow for complete design freedom, plus they could rely on me to do quick content updates as they needed them.
In the past two years or so, the playing field has shifted entirely. With the current version of WordPress and the low-cost availability of beautiful, sophisticated WordPress layout themes, I can offer a robust CMS (content management system) along with the huge search visibility advantages of a blog - and a professional-looking design. Ironically, all these advantages actually reduce the cost of site development, because they are baked-in to WordPress itself. So, for most clients, the superior WordPress option is actually less time consuming to develop AND will deliver better search visibility AND a much lower cost of ownership (most content maintenance can be done by the client). The only downside of using WordPress for business websites is that it is, after all, a templated managed content system with a set layout – you can’t just slap anything anywhere on the screen.
People don’t shop for website services every day, so I usually have to educate clients as to what may be best for their needs and goals. Once clients get to know the options and their pros and cons, they usually decide to forgo the design freedom of a custom website for the technical and cost advantages of a WordPress-based site. In almost all cases, that is the better decision for short term costs (development), marketing (search visibility) and long term services cost (maintenance).
So, what’s more important to you in a website? Form or function?
I rely on Mary for technical advice and assistance with my website updates. Although I consider myself savvy, sometimes I worry that I know just enough to be dangerous. It is those times that I call in Mary. What takes her 1/2 hour to complete, equates to 4 hours of my time. They say, "leave it to the experts," and I say that Mary is mine!
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Hi Mary
Great post! I’m split in half about Wordpress, I love it as a blogging tool and I don’t think it can be beat by anyone in that arena – but I agree with you about the design limitations. If you could change absolutely anything about Wordpress to better suit you, what would it be?
Emi
Hi Emi – Nothing – I wouldnt change a thing! WP is the best – and most flexible. If you are looking to not have maintenance to worry about, one of the hosted services (such as Blogger or Typepad) would be a better choice. Less flexible and powerful… but less work too. Thanks for commenting!