Top 3 WordPress Developer Misconceptions And What You Should Know

Article Published: Friday, March 25th, 2011 at 7:30 pm | Subscribe

I’ve been building websites and web based applications for over 10 years now and have worked with well over a dozen of CMS’s (Content Management Systems) and development frameworks.  I currently work full time at a local internet marketing firm as well as take on a good amount of contract and freelance work.  Over the years I have settled on developing Websites on the WordPress system, but not for many of the reasons many clients, colleagues and even every-day people might think.

Contrary to what some may believe about web developers, I haven’t built a flourishing career off point and click website building.  After all, this isn’t “webs.com” or “GoDaddy Go Live”.  There’s a LOT more that goes into building good, effective WordPress websites and applications and I’m prepared to explain why.

1) I thought you just install a theme with WordPress and BAM!?

Even if this WAS true, there is still someone out there that has to be the person building those gorgeous themes right? Sure you can go out and purchase a beautiful theme for around 35$+, but how many hundreds or thousands of people end up with that same design? Do the math, this could be an estimate for how much you should budget towards a professional custom WordPress website.  However,  I’m glad this question is brought up because it offers me the chance to divide the line between a professional web designer/developer and someone with a hosting account and the knack to Google “How to install a WordPress Theme”, because those “designer/developers” (emphasis on the quotes) are out there and there’s lots of them. Website design & development is one of the last actual steps in regards to getting a website built. Sound weird? Well it’s because in order to build an efficient, functional and productive website there’s a process that needs to be executed. A professional needs to gather data on your business, goals for the site, target market, brand and competition in order to develop a real plan for your online success.

2) I thought with WordPress, you don’t need to know how to write code or be a great designer?

First, WordPress like any other CMS is just that, a content management system, in and of itself WordPress isn’t a website.  WordPress is a system which allows developers to build completely custom websites on top of a foundation that gives the owner or manager of the site the ability to make content changes to the site in the future. However, this doesn’t mean that the professional designing & developing the website doesn’t need to know how to write code.  In fact, in order to build GOOD WordPress sites, a developer should be very fluent in HTML and CSS, not to mention pretty good at PHP and MySQL and have a firm understanding of programming logic. So in other words, WordPress developers need to know more actual code than someone building traditional HTML websites. Oh, and that’s just the development side of things, someone also has to draw all the pretty graphics – this takes a creative eye and lots of Photoshop experience.

3) Ok I think I’m getting it now, so what is the benefit of using WordPress?

Well, think of it like this.  Let’s say You’re building a house, the first thing you need is a good foundation, that’s exactly what WordPress is.  Designers and Developers all across the world work together on improving WordPress daily.  There are thousands of plug-in’s which support the demands of many different website features like calendars, photo galleries and forms.  This isn’t really “easier” for a designer/developer and the term “plug-in” can be a little misleading, but WordPress allows designers/developers to be more productive, which in the end allows them to build better looking, more stable websites at the fraction of the cost to you.

So by now I hope you have a better understanding of what WordPress designers/developers actually do over services like “webs.com” , “GoDaddy Go Live” and even traditional static HTML websites..  If you’re looking to test the waters with a website or blog that isn’t that important to your personal or company brand or business then a pre-designed WordPress theme might be perfect for you, or even a static HTML website.  If you’re serious as ever about building a completely custom, professional and effective website on a system that allows you to have control of your site’s content – a professional WordPress designer/developer might be perfect for you.  Always remember, at the end of the day a website is a marketing tool and should be calculated towards an end goal.  Whether that be to increase brand visibility, increase leads or create sales – you need a true professional that understands what goes into not only developing the end result, but what it takes to get there.

If you would like to talk to me about your project I would love to help you get pointed it the right direction, click here to talk to me today!

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