Wordpress - the Good the Bad & the Ugly!
Wordpress has come a long way since it emerged as an amateur, U-Build-It blog maker. It's now the weapon of choice for the technically challenged web designer. It's all they know how to do, so to survive, they have to convince you, you're an old shoe if you don't get with the "new wave" and hire them!
Should you convert your existing conventional site to Wordpress - absolutely not, and I'll <<tell you why below.>>
Will I add it to my list of services? Most likely - but I will advise against it, then provide it if the client insists. Details below.
What's the mechanical/functional difference between Wordpress and a conventional (HTML) site?
The conventional web designer creates pages, then uploads them to the server. There's no background processing needed to create them – your site exists, 24/7, in its finished form. You can request a physical copy of your entire site.
Your designer will have copies of everything on his computer, as well as on the server. A designer that also knows SEO, can hand code and manipulate every facet of the pages.
Wordpress is actually software that only exists on the server. A pre designed motif is chosen (think "Rooms To Go"), and a template is created. Pages are then created via a "dashboard", and the content is saved to a database.
Serving up a Wordpress page is a two part process -
- Executing the PHP code to assemble the containing HTML template of your requested page
- Querying the database to retrieve your content to insert into the assembled template
NOTE: Wordpress has
some inherent disadvantages compared to conventional sites. Not the least of which is,
ALL admin and page manipulation mechanisms exist online, accessible to hackers.
Also
Wordpress SEO capability is mediocre at best.
Most newer generation web designers see a web page much the same as a print designer sees a magazine cover. A flat, two dimensional object that doesn't interact.
Print designers were miffed, because, all of a sudden, a BUNCH of design work became web based, and they didn't understand the technology. I know, I started out as a corporate photographer in the Wash, DC area - shooting for print output.
Wordpress became a design House's ticket to a piece of the web pie! But they still don't 'get' Business Broker SEO. Their pages usually need expensive PPC to be seen.
Converting a conventional site to Wordpress can be a disaster! Pick your Wordpress designer VERY carefully
These guys usually just grab your existing text copy, then start from scratch.
Most of them don't know that "page rank" comes from indexed pages, with file names, that worked their way up the ladder over time.
I have several documented examples of sites converted to Wordpress, then crashing to earth like a meteorite. It doesn't have to be that way - but it just usually is.
If the one converting the site doesn't have the technical knowledge to transfer your hard earned page rank over - page by page - he could knock you right out of the saddle.
In all my time online, I have only seen one client switch to Wordpress and not totally crash in Google rankings. Wordpress SEO is usually an oxymoron.
