In this article, our web design experts explore the differences between Web Development vs WordPress, the benefits of using WordPress for web development and considerations depending on your business’ site’s requirements.
WordPress vs. Web Development: What is the difference between WordPress and Web Development?
| WordPress | Web Development |
| WordPress functions as a content management system, offering templates & plugins for customisation. | Web development involves coding a site using languages like HTML, CSS, & JavaScript. |
| Quicker and simpler solution, ideal for those lacking coding expertise. | More control and flexibility |
Choosing between web development and WordPress hinges on the website’s specific needs and the developer’s skill level.
Is WordPress good for web development?
WordPress can be a good option for web development depending on your business needs and site goals.
Here are our top 10 reasons why using WordPress is a great choice for both developers and those looking to build their website independently:
Advantages of WordPress for web development:
- Speed
- User-friendliness
- Free
- Customisable
- Simplified SEO
- Mobile-friendly
- Scalability
- Global community
- Supports different content types
- Regular updates and security
1. Speed
Mastering WordPress yields substantial benefits, but first and foremost, it will accelerate website development significantly. The ready-made aspect of WordPress is what makes it such a brilliant time-saving tool. It enables faster website development using standard web languages.
2. User-friendliness
WordPress offers a user-friendly experience for both freelancers and clients. With its intuitive interface, clients can seamlessly handle minor changes without the need for constant external assistance. This can help you or your developer free up some time to focus on the more important and productive endeavours.
3. Free
The great thing about WordPress is that it’s free to use, with a range of hosting options available. There are, however, costs involved when building any website as you will need a domain name and a web hosting account. There are dozens of great providers to choose from, and you should compare a few options before you sign up.
4. Customisable
WordPress allows high levels of customisation through themes and plugins, offering design flexibility and added functionalities. You can use plugins to manage your SEO tasks, add a contact form to your website, create an online shop for your client, manage your blog comments, speed up your website, and much more! It’s important to remember that plugins may come from third parties that may not be compatible with your WordPress theme, or even with each other.
5. Simplified SEO
SEO should be a primary focus when launching your website as you’ll need to draw as much quality traffic as possible to your page. Thankfully, WordPress allows you to simplify SEO with the various plugins available for search engine optimisation.
6. Mobile-friendly
With WordPress, you can create responsive, mobile-friendly websites, which is extremely important these days, as the likelihood that your website will be viewed via mobile is high. WordPress websites are highly responsive, so they look good on any device, whether you’re using a mobile phone or a desktop.
7. Scalability
WordPress is scalable, which means it can cater to websites of varying traffic volumes, it’s often used to create simple sites, but it’s capable of supporting major platforms, such as CNN and TechCrunch, that receive millions of hits.
8. Global community
WordPress boasts a vast global community – it’s so widely used that if you were ever to have an issue with your website, you could just reach out to this online community and easily gain support and solutions, and anyone with some PHP and MySQL experience may be able to assist you.
9. Supports different content types
Why not offer your visitors a truly immersive experience by adding a variety of media to your website? Well, WordPress supports diverse content types as it allows for seamless multimedia integration, and you can make it as immersive as you wish, so if you want, you can embed some content from other platforms, such as YouTube or Instagram.
10. Regular updates and security
WordPress is frequently updated to add new features and improve security, helping to keep websites up-to-date with the latest requirements and secure.
Discover more about WordPress CMS and the benefits of WordPress in our guides.
Considerations when using WordPress for web development:
Scalability
WordPress can handle varying size websites, however for more complex functionality a higher level of development work may be required.
Skill Level Required
WordPress can be used without coding experience, however to achieve higher scalability and functionality web development with WordPress requires more advanced skills.
Creating custom themes and plugins requires knowledge of HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP.
Security
Ensure to update your WordPress site regularly. This helps to overcome any security vulnerabilities.
WordPress for Web Development FAQs
Is WordPress good for professional websites?
Yes, WordPress is a good option for professional websites due to its user-friendliness, customisation options, plugins and themes, scalability and SEO compatibility. However, larger, more complex sites may require a higher level of customisation.
What kind of sites is WordPress web development best for?
Using WordPress for web development is good for:
- Small to medium size business websites
- E-commerce stores, using plugins like WooCommerce
- Portfolio websites
- Blogs and content-focused websites
Do real developers use WordPress?
Yes! Building every website from scratch often results in unaffordable prices for small businesses. WordPress is very popular, even amongst developers, as it allows for faster full-scale website construction.
Do I need coding skills for WordPress?
No! WordPress can be used without coding experience. However, coding experience can be useful to achieve a higher level of customisations.
Using WordPress for Web Development
WordPress offers immense benefits for web developers and businesses alike. It speeds up development, allows for customisation, and simplifies complex tasks, making it an invaluable tool! Perhaps you’re seeking custom WordPress plugin development, or wondering how to develop a WordPress site, but don’t know where to start. Consider reaching out to an agency like Yellowball. We’re a web design and development agency based in London, UK, contact us today!
Read more: What is headless WordPress?
