Has the whole World gone WordPress Crazy…
Before WordPress building a website was a long drawn out affair, in addition to all the skills you needed as a web designer/developer, you could spend days just working out the layout, not to mention the time writing style sheets (CSS), PHP, JavaScrpit. It could take you months just to get the foundation of a website together.
It’s so different today... WordPress is a real game changer, and it’s certainly taking the work from many web design companies, (especially in the Small Business Market where budgets are tight). The DIY web design market is well and truly open. It’s similar to the days when many of us first discovered Desktop Publishing, it almost killed the Print Industry and many small Printing firms went out of business because of it. Is the same thing happening again with web design?
Perhaps it’s the shift in the way many businesses are now embracing Social Media, they are starting to take control of how they are represented online, taking a much more active role and getting involved more directly, rather than outsourcing their online Marketing as they have done in the past. This has brought them back full circle, as the website now needs to work seamlessly with elements of social media, updates need to be more immediate to keep up with competition. Many local businesses simply had a website because their competitors did, now the website needs to be responsive to hand held devices smart phones. WordPress gives them back that control and flexibility, easy to learn with the right guidance WordPress offers much more than an out of the box experience. It’s no wonder the world is going WordPress Crazy.
WIX Verses WordPress
Another strong contender competing for a slice of this DIY/Website in a box market is WIX.com. It offers an instant solution to creating a great looking website within a few hours. With it’s simple to use content management system and ready made templates plus drag and drop features it’s a great alternative. If you want a quick fix to creating your own website then WIX could be your answer. However if you are looking for more versatility and want to incorporate many of the features that you would have to pay for if you went down the WIX route then WordPress is a no brainer.
Video Tutorials
Since first going live over 10 years ago WordPress videos have been populating the web. You could actually learn almost everything you need to set up a WordPress Website from scratch, simply watching videos on YouTube or Lynda.com. Plus many themes now come complete with additional video instructions check out this brief example below by expanding the box.
What’s the best way to learn WordPress?
Without doubt video tutorials are a great way to learning any subject, the only problem is that they are not always tailored for the individual needs of the learners. A much better alternative and quicker way to learn is in a group of like minded people, all contributing to one objective, “learning to build and manage a great looking website”. If you would like to find out more about building a great WordPress managed website or blog why not join us at one of our Wednesday Workshop sessions.