Building a Website? HTML or WordPress

As a web developer, I get asked this question all the time – which is better to use to build a website – WordPress or HTML?

Well, I’m here to tell you – that it depends..

There is no one right answer, because it depends on what you are looking to use it for, and what kind of website/webpages you are looking to build.

1) As a custom web programmer, I have many large web projects where WordPress would not be the best choice for the project. Most of these websites are custom built application systems that I work on and in these cases neither WordPress or HTML would be the proper solution. These custom projects require dynamic programming using PHP, ASP with custom mySQL, MSsql databases, etc.

2) If you are looking to build a typical business website and are familiar with HTML programming, you could create static HTML pages for your website, or you could hire a programmer to build them for you.

But if you are planning to add fresh content to your website on a regular basis, or include an ongoing blog on your site, which is the best way to keep Google interested in your website and indexing you for search engine/SEO results, then HTML can be tedious and time-consuming if you are building it yourself, or expensive if you are paying someone to make the changes for you.

3) And, most typical websites require some king of common functionality such as contact forms, Google maps, optin signup pages, etc. and unless you are experienced in programming these kinds of things, then WordPress is definitely a good choice.

For these kinds of needs, WordPress makes a great choice because there are so many plugins available that can assist with most of your common needs as mentioned above, all without you having to worry about programming them yourself.

4) And the other great advantage of WordPress is that there are so many design templates openly available that it can be much simpler for you to find a web design you like, without having to pay the expense of hiring a web designer.

5) Now, if you are looking to do a simple squeeze page or a single product sales page, HTML might make sense if you can program in it, as WordPress might be a bit more than is needed.

But, if convenience and ease of use are important to you and you want to try to create your website yourself, then I would definitely recommend that you give WordPress a try. And, if you do decide that you would prefer to hire someone to build it for you, there are many professionals versed in using WordPress that would be able to help you out.

So, tell me – what you you prefer? What are you using for your website needs? And do you have any horror stories to share about one way or the other?

Be sure to leave your comments here – so we can all learn from each other.

Until Next Time! Betty