What is WordPress

by | Mar 1, 2016 | #Tribe, Business, Tech & Social Media, Websites

WP phone computer small

You need a website, right?

So to get one, you’ll need to do a little research online, find a company or agency that “does” them, pay a designer to create some page templates, pay a programmer to create the pages from the ground up, and wait months and months for all of this to get done… then make changes.

Or… you could use WordPress.

WordPress had its beginnings as an easy way to host a blog and if you knew a few technical things you could create a few pages to flesh out the rest of the site. But now, WordPress is the single largest tool used to create websites on the internet. In fact, around 26% of ALL OF THE SITES ON THE INTERNET are done on WordPress. Narrow that to sites that have content management systems, and that number jumps to nearly 60%.

So what does all of this mean? First the bad. It means that if you can hack WordPress sites you MAY have the ability to hack nearly 26% of the websites in the world. But that’s not entirely true. The vulnerable sites contain outdated code, pirated or compromised plugins, or free themes. They can also have pages that were designed custom and have not been updated or put through any security audits. And finally, they can be hosted on virtually any server that runs PHP and a few other things.

But don’t let lazy security issues keep you away from WordPress. First of all, ANY server or website that doesn’t have security enabled or updates performed at a regular basis is at risk. At BeBizzy Consulting we develop all of our websites using WordPress and use the following options to reduce the risk or compromise:

  • We have a tool called ManageWP installed on our computers, tablets and smartphones that allow us to update ALL of our sites several times per day.
  • The same tool informs us when SPAM comments are made on these sites AND allows us to clear them out with one keystroke as well as keep the sites databases clear of overhead data.
  • Another tool is loaded with all sites to check for malicious code on a regular schedule. If any is found an email is generated to BeBizzy so the files can be removed and/or repaired.
  • Yet another tool runs on every site and performs periodic scans on files AND notifies BeBizzy via email with every successful and unsuccessful login to the dashboard.
  • Themes are purchased through reliable, trusted sources and all photos are purchased through an iStockPhoto account.
  • The hosting account includes daily backups of the sites which are downloaded to local storage twice a month. This ensures that if something does emerge on one of the sites, strategic updates can replace the malicious files.

So as you can see, hosting a site where it can be monitored and updated on a regular basis is a huge benefit when using a powerful tool like WordPress. And speaking of power, check out these other features of the world’s largest CMS:

  • Themes make changing the look of your site as easy as copying some files and activating the new theme.
  • Blog posts and other pages can be created visually in an interface that’s as easy to use as Word or your email program.
  • Integrate your social media accounts into your site without hours and hours of coding.
  • Easily control who has access to what within your site and even within your admin dashboard.
  • Drag and drop your photos or other media onto the Media Library and it gets uploaded and easily shared.
  • Thousands of plugins have been developed to make shopping carts, booking calendars and  sharing available with very little coding.
  • Self-manage your SEO by either installing plugins or controlling your page descriptions, tags and other information right on the page or post.
  • Want visitors to comment on your page or post? It’s built in by default!
  • Easy integration of Google Analytics, Adsense and other tools to make reporting and analysis easier.

Still not sold that WordPress can house your website? Check out this list of world-class sites hosted on the WordPress platform.

So what are you waiting for? Contact BeBizzy Consulting today to talk about how we can bring your website, SEO and other technical visions to life. You know your business, leave the technical stuff to us.