REGISTER NOW: Uncomfortable Conversations: The Skills Crisis
REGISTER: 8THIRTYFOUR Skills Survival School Founding Cohort

Why We Love WordPress

Written by

Share This Post:

8THIRTYFOUR Why We Love WordPress 2024 Blog A computer screen with 8THIRTYFOUR's website displayed

There are a lot of ways to build websites, and everyone you ask will have their favorite. If there’s one thing we digital nerds are good at, it’s having really strong opinions about programs and website platforms.

We know the title of this blog alone gave any website designer an instant reaction. Wherever that falls on your emotional spectrum, don’t worry. We don’t just say we love WordPress and leave it at that. We’re spelling out some of our favorite features that make WordPress our go-to platform.

WordPress for…eCommerce?

Yes, you read that right. When someone comes to us in need of a site to sell their products, we don’t hop over to Shopify or BigCommerce. No, we turn to WordPress.

WooCommerce and WordPress are an incredibly strong team, but a lot of people overlook them. Why? Because WooCommerce doesn’t have exciting podcast ads about how great it is for your e-commerce needs. It’s not built for the inexperienced site builder, which is why they don’t market themselves to the small business owner. Setting up WooCommerce can be a headache, but once it’s configured, it gives users a lot of control over their catalog, presentation, and more. Pair that with our favorite drag-and-drop editor, Elementor, and you’re set up for a highly customizable and incredibly easy-to-use e-commerce experience.

8THIRTYFOUR Why We love wordpress blog elementor image of sections

Why not just go to Shopify or Wix or Squarespace or one of those other builders? We’re glad you asked. While those sites are amazing for one-man small business teams, what they gain in usability, they lack in customization and performance. These sites drag down the speed of an e-commerce site since they have to load the builders through Wix or whatever platform they’re built on. Plus, any developer can tell you a horror story or two about their experience with one of these platforms. When you know the possibilities of what could be with a site, it gets incredibly frustrating to operate within templates, blocks, and prefabs…and that brings us to our next point.

Endless Customization

A.k.a. The world is your oyster (what does that even mean, anyway?)

As of 2024, 43% of the 810 million websites in the world were built using WordPress. That’s almost 350 million websites! Why? Because WordPress is a free, open-source, highly customizable CMS (Content Management System). That means anybody anywhere can build a plugin for WordPress that can do legitimately anything they want it to. The possibilities are, quite literally, endless.

That means no more “my Eventbrite doesn’t sync with my website” issues. If there’s a plugin, there’s a way. Integrations are infinite. Plugins press the limits of possibilities. And when you’re building a custom website for a small business, being able to truly shape it to fit their needs just makes sense.

One significant advantage lies in the simplicity of creating various types of posts. Whether you’re drafting a fresh blog post, curating a carousel of images, or adding new items to your online store, WordPress streamlines the process down to just a few clicks. This user-friendly approach not only simplifies sharing content but also enhances the overall branding experience for your audience.

So if you’re a seasoned Web Designer or new to the digital world, WordPress takes the difficult part out of building a website. And with the number of resources out there for WordPress like official forums, Reddit, online courses, events, webinars, and books there are endless ways to troubleshoot issues. Making it extremely accessible for anyone to create a website and begin their online journey.

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Recent Posts

Something on Your Mind?

The power of the Women's Entrepreneurial Fellowship, in a graduate's own words:

"Growth is never accidental, it comes from being willing to learn, adapt, and embrace change. After nine months of dedication, reflection, and business development, I proudly graduated from the Women's Entrepreneurial Fellowship (WEF) during the Small Business Association of Michigan Annual Meeting.

Throughout the program, I challenged myself to evaluate every aspect of my business, celebrating what was working while identifying opportunities for growth and improvement. The journey was made even more meaningful through the support of an incredible cohort of women entrepreneurs, the guidance of mentor Gina Jacquart Thorsen, and the leadership of bodespeaks and her team.

A sincere thank you to smallbusinessassocofmichigan for investing in second-stage women business owners and creating opportunities that empower entrepreneurs to build stronger, more sustainable businesses."

— Mary A. Barton, President and CEO of Equitable Accounting Solutions and proud WEF graduate.

Applications for the next cohort are now open. Link in comments.
"Out of failure comes growth – you have to see it as an opportunity." 

bodespeaks joined cuzzinjustin on the strictlyfromnowhere Podcast for an honest conversation about entrepreneurship, embracing your superpowers, and building a personal brand that's actually yours, the wins, the setbacks, and everything in between. And naturally, dropped an f-bomb or two along the way. You don't want to miss it.

Full episode in the comments 👇
AI doesn't treat every source equally; it trusts what's credible, cited, and current, like news coverage.

Showing up in the right places isn't just good PR. It's how the robots (and the humans) get you right.

Read the full blog at the link in bio.
"If you don't get up and grind every day, the needle isn't gonna move."

We sat down with brandonmccraney, founder and Master Blender behind olderaleighdistillery in Zebulon, North Carolina. Brandon spent fifteen years just thinking about whiskey before he finally opened his doors, and even then it took four more years, a dozen rejections, construction delays, and a global pandemic to get there. Two years later, Olde Raleigh had already won Best Micro Distillery in the US.

Check out the latest episode of Happy Hour Hustle, where Brandon shares what it actually took to grow a business through COVID, the military discipline that kept him going when everything else said quit, and how working with people turned out to be the hardest part of the job.

Listen to Happy Hour Hustle on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and watch the whole episode on Youtube. Link in bio.
It's 9 months that is impossible to sum up in a video - but here's just a taste. 

This Women's Entrepreneurial Fellowship is resources, mentorship, and connections that you can't build anywhere else. We're so exicted for what the next cohort will bring.

Apply now at the link in bio.
smallbusinessassocofmichigan