Case in point: To manage a WordPress website requires:
Seems simple enough, many updates are as simple as a single click. Well, anyone who has made updates knows, there are times an updated plugin can totally break your website. You see, many times plugin vendors aren’t ready for a new version of WordPress, so you need to be careful. Most important, know how to revert your site back to pre-updated state. Otherwise, your site maybe down for a long period of time.
Content is king, always has been always will be. Content is the main thing business owners should concentrate on. Whether it’s writing a weekly blog or putting up news, this is where you should be focused. While WordPress allows you to add your own posts, you may be better off sending them along to an experienced web developer who can not only put up the blog posts, but take advantage of some of the search engine optimization techniques to help you succeed in having better rankings. This of course is something everyone wants. Of course, for the do it yourself-ers, you can make all the small text changes, for instance a change to an employee bio or an update to your about or services page.
This of course is related to number 1, but much more than that. you have to be up on the latest vulnerabilities and tweak your settings to stay safe. You also need to be taking regular backups and have the ability to restore your site should trouble come your way.
This is one of the most important things facing website owners in 2018. You hear every day about hackers and information being stolen, etc. You need to be able to respond quickly when your site gets hacked. The best thing you can do is to have a plan on how you can get your site back up and running if and when it is hacked. For this reason, managing your own website security is a risk you can’t afford to take.
In Closing: WordPress is the most user-friendly content management system on the planet. That is why over a third of new websites use the platform. You should use this for your business, as it fulfills the needs of most companies. But, other than doing some simple tasks, blogging & perhaps a text edit here and there you should leave the management in the hands of a professional website management company. And be sure to use a company that specializes in WordPress sites. As the software has its own share of issues and ways of doing things, you need to see it on a daily basis in order to keep up with all the changes coming your way.
“If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.” ~Napolean Bonaparte
In many cases I would have to agree with the little guy. But he died centuries before WordPress and other Content Management Systems came to be.
So a few questions:
Do you feel comfortable making the changes to your WordPress and plugins?
Have you made changes to your theme? If you update the theme files, will your customizations be wiped out? (this happens when there is no child theme)
Do you have a backup plugin in place in case one of the updates cripples your site? (it happens)
Setting Up a WordPress Website
Although the thousands of available themes look nice and fit the requirements of many businesses, they are not all easy to set up. The more available features, the longer it takes to get up and running.
Conclusion
Don’t get me wrong, WordPress is fabulous, you certainly can blog yourself, edit content, add photos and more with little or no help. But unless you have the time and the skillset needed to keep your WordPress site up to date, hire a professional to help you to set up and manage your website.
