I’ve been building WordPress websites for a long time.
And every now and then I’ll hear someone say:
“I don’t like WordPress.”
When I dig a little deeper, quite often what they actually mean is:
“I didn’t like editing my WordPress website.”
That’s a completely different problem.
And, to be fair, I understand it.
I’ve never believed that simply installing WordPress and handing the login details to a client is good enough.
WordPress is the foundation, not the finished product
WordPress gives me an extremely capable foundation on which to build websites.
But the WordPress installation itself is only part of what I provide.
When I build a website, I’m making decisions based first and foremost on the client’s business objectives.
From there I’m making decisions about editing tools, functionality, plugins, layout systems, hosting, security, performance and the way the client will manage their content afterwards.
Those decisions make an enormous difference to the experience of actually owning and operating the website.
It’s one of the reasons my clients can have a very different opinion of WordPress from someone who’s struggled with another WordPress website in the past.
I want my clients to be able to edit their own websites
This has always been important to me.
A business owner shouldn’t have to contact their web designer every time they want to change a paragraph, replace an image, update some opening hours or add something to a page.
Equally, I don’t think they should need to understand HTML, CSS or the technical structure sitting behind their website.
They should be able to concentrate on the content.
But that doesn’t mean they have to do it themselves.
I’m always here to make changes for my clients if they’d rather I took care of something for them.
The important thing is that they have the choice.
If it’s a simple change and they want to make it themselves, they can. If they’re busy running their business, aren’t confident about making a particular change or simply don’t want the hassle, they can ask me to do it.
For years I’ve refined the WordPress setup I use for client websites specifically with this in mind.
WordPress editing has moved a long way from the old text box
If your memory of editing WordPress is essentially a large white box with a row of buttons that looked a little like a basic word processor, things have moved on considerably.
And the tools I use take things much further again.
A modern page can be broken down into understandable building blocks.
Rows.
Columns.
Text.
Images.
Buttons.
Headings.
Galleries.
Tabs.
Accordions.
Maps.
Post lists.
And plenty more.
Those elements can be arranged into proper page layouts rather than expecting a business owner to somehow construct a sophisticated modern web page inside a glorified text editor.
For my own work, I have powerful tools that allow me to create complex, bespoke page layouts.
For the client, the objective is much simpler:
make the content they need to manage logical, understandable and easy to find.
I’ve spent years refining the tools I use
There are thousands of themes, plugins, page builders and other tools available for WordPress.
I’m not going to list my toolkit here.
Partly because it would mean very little to most clients.
And partly because the particular combination of tools isn’t really the point.
What matters is that I’ve spent years working with, testing and refining the system I use.
I know what it can do.
I know where its limitations are.
I know how to extend it when a project requires something different.
And because I work with a consistent underlying system across many websites, I can support those websites efficiently long after they’ve gone live.
I want the website itself to be bespoke, while the underlying tools are proven, familiar and maintainable.
But having good tools isn’t enough
This is the bit I think is often missed.
You can give someone the easiest website editor in the world and they’ll still occasionally forget how to do something.
Particularly if they only do it once every six months.
That’s why, when a website goes live, I create a suite of bespoke training videos for the client.
And I don’t mean sending them links to generic “How to use WordPress” videos on YouTube.
I record the training while I’m actually operating their own website.
If they need to know how to add a news article, the video shows me doing it on their website.
If they need to know how to replace an image, I demonstrate it using their pages.
If there’s something particular to their business that they’ll need to update regularly, that’s what I cover.
So months later, when they’ve completely forgotten what I showed them, they don’t have to remember.
They can watch me doing exactly the same task on exactly the same website that’s sitting in front of them.
And if something new comes up later that a client needs to do regularly, I’ll often record another training video and add it to their existing collection.
My clients love these videos.
They’re also excellent for knowledge transfer
There’s another benefit to these videos that isn’t immediately obvious.
People change jobs.
Responsibilities move around inside businesses.
The person who originally looked after the website might leave, or the business owner might eventually decide that managing the website is something they want to delegate to a new employee.
Instead of starting from scratch and trying to explain how everything works, there’s already a training resource sitting there.
The new person can work through the videos and see exactly how their company’s website is managed.
By the time they’ve watched them, they should have a very good understanding of the routine tasks they’re likely to need.
That’s not just website training.
It’s knowledge transfer within the business.
And, of course, I’m still here.
If somebody gets stuck, needs advice or isn’t sure about something, they can ask me.
Easy to edit doesn’t mean you have to become a web designer
There’s another side to this.
I’ve never been particularly interested in giving clients unlimited ability to redesign their entire website.
That’s not really the objective.
I’ve spent time making decisions about typography, spacing, responsive behaviour, colours, layouts and how the website works across different devices.
A content management system should make it straightforward for a client to manage their content without requiring them to become a web designer.
There’s an important difference.
The tools I use give me enormous flexibility when I’m building the website.
Then I can give the client a much simpler job:
look after the information that matters to their business.
And if they want something more substantial changed, that’s what I’m here for.
Why not use something newer just because it’s newer?
There are plenty of website-building platforms and WordPress editing systems available.
Some are excellent.
But I don’t choose technology because it’s fashionable.
I choose it because I’ve used it repeatedly, understand it thoroughly and know I can use it to produce the result a client needs.
It comes back to something I’ve written about before:
the technology comes after the business objective.
The objective isn’t to build a WordPress website.
The objective is to help the client’s business achieve something.
WordPress and the tools I’ve developed around it are simply part of how I get there.
If my existing toolkit allows me to build the right website, make it straightforward for the client to manage, maintain it properly and support that client for years afterwards, changing technology simply because something else is newer doesn’t automatically make the result better.
So, do I recommend WordPress?
Absolutely.
But perhaps the more accurate answer is:
I recommend the WordPress websites I build.
Because WordPress is only the starting point.
The real value comes from understanding the business objectives, making the right decisions, selecting the right tools, building the website properly, and providing the training and support that comes afterwards.
A badly considered WordPress website can be frustrating.
A well-built one can give a business an incredibly flexible platform that its people can comfortably manage and that can continue evolving alongside the business for years.
And they don’t have to manage it alone.
They have their training videos.
They have me when they need me.
And they have a website that was built around their business in the first place.
That’s why I still build with WordPress.
And judging by what my clients tell me, they’re quite happy that I do.