When I first got into the online marketing business, WordPress didn’t exist and I had to rely on making HTML websites.
Back then, the process of making a website wasn’t as simple as it is today. Things were complicated, frustrating and often times, little issues impacted my sites in the biggest ways.
Even though I became decent at making HTML websites back then, once WordPress came out, I gradually moved into it. While there was a small learning curve, I eventually switched completely over to the new platform.
And even though most people are shifting away from HTML sites and moving towards WordPress and other similar website platforms, there are still many stuck in the old days of making websites and/or hiring “professionals” to make HTML websites for them.
In this post, I’d like to help deter you away from HTML websites and explain why WordPress is vastly superior to them in pretty much every way imaginable.
3 reasons to use WP instead of HTML:
1) Much more newbie friendly.
I cannot stress this enough. When I used to make HTML websites, some coding knowledge was needed even for the simplest sites.
Although there were and are free programs which can help you make HTML websites, one of the BIGGEST issues was that if you made a site with multiple pages, you’d have to manually link them together to make your site look more visitor friendly.
This process, although not very difficult required more work than you’d think and often times, just getting 1 link wrong, or having to remake a new page, then link it to previously existing pages was a pain. However, WordPress makes this process extremely simple.
Making multiple pages and linking them as one doesn’t require anything but a hyperlink and that’s it. You open up a window, select your page to link to and that’s all there is to it. The time needed to do this is seconds compared to minutes and even hours you’d have to invest when working on it through the HTML alternative.
But it’s not just the linking aspect of things that counts. WordPress itself is so much easier to understand and there is a much smaller learning curve.
Although complete beginners may find confusion when they first start, it’s a quick process if you have the right guidance. Overall, I say everyone new to website creation start with WordPress and stick to it. You can then try HTML websites just to see how great you have it!
2) WordPress sites are much more SEO friendly.
It’s no secret why WordPress is so popular. It’s not just because of it’s easy to use system, but also because it holds great SEO benefits.If you want to get noticed in search engines, WordPress should your choice. HTML websites still work, but you’re much better off in the long run using WP.
3) There’s no real need to hire professionals to make a nice looking site with WP.
Back in the HTML days, if you needed to make a great looking website, you’d have to hire someone to do it for you. Generally the price of hiring a professional web designer would run you up to $1,500 and more in some cases.
Although cheaper services like Site Build it eventually came out that automated the process of creating these sorts of sites to help people, they eventually fell of the radar with the rise of WP and it’s conveniences.
While a lot of people were upset that HTML was becoming less and less necessary (including myself when the shift to WP first began), this was a great thing because opened up the door to absolute beginners being able to make their own beautiful websites without spending a bundle to do it.
Nowadays if someone asks my opinion on website creation and if they should hire someone, I always advise doing it on your own. When they become shocked and even worried at the though of doing it, I introduce them to simple website builders like this one that I use to build my own websites (my favorite choice) which can have a website up and running for you in literally under a minute.
Now try to compare that to website designers who charge tons of money to make something you can do on your own for much less and essentially free and you already know the right course of action. In fact, I consider paying to have websites designed for you an absolute rip off.
So let’s conclude:
- WP is easier to use. It’s easy to learn it and is simple to customize with. Although everything has a learning curve in the beginning.
- It’s better for SEO.
- Evens the playing field in that you don’t have to hire someone to do it for you, at least not for a lot.
Now that I only use WP to build websites, I honestly can’t imagine ever going back to HTML. It’s like comparing the cars with GPS to when days you had to use an Atlas. Obviously we all know what’s more convenient.
I do have to admit that HTML sites in the beginning did make me money and that’s because I knew how to market them. For example, here is a 1 page, six figure site I made using the HTML platform. But I can tell you that if I had WordPress at the time, it would be a much easier building process.
How about other website platforms (SquareSpace, WiX):
As WordPress naturally became more and more popular, other places also tried to become the next big thing. As a result website builders like WiX came out in addition to many others like Square Space and while they all have their pros/cons, I still believe WordPress stands above the rest.
One thing I absolutely must stress is the importance of content creation over making your website look as good as possible. No matter if it’s HTML, WordPress or any other website creation program. This is something a lot of people don’t understand when they get into website building.
If you’re aiming to make a good looking website and have no intention of going further with it, such as perhaps starting an online business, then by all means do it.
But if you do plan on growing your website and perhaps even profiting off it, then you have to know the proper ways to do this which Wealthy Affiliate teaches and one of the most important factors is creating high quality content (images, videos and information) that is helpful to your visitors that has them coming back for more information. This is your primary goal.
But as for the whole debate on HTML sites, as I said before, go with WordPress. It will make life a whole lot easier. I have switched all of my major sites to WordPress and in the foreseeable future will keep using it.