A question was recently asked around hand coding an HTML “static” site or using WordPress as a content management system (CMS) of sorts.

As John pointed out in the original post there are several pros and cons to each solution but I thought I’d add some of my personal input. If the site is only going to have a handful of pages (less than 10) and you don’t need to worry about updates and the site functionality is limited then a static site is fine.

If you want advanced functionality and the ability for anyone to add, edit and remove pages then using WordPress as a CMS is the way to go.

WordPress is highly customizable. Not only can you have a custom home page that looks different then the rest of the site, you can also add custom templates and sub-templates for individual sections or pages.

Anyone familiar with Microsoft Word can quickly learn how to edit content in WordPress. In fact, WordPress includes keyboard shortcuts for highlighting text, adding links and other functions in addition to the simple graphic interface.

The WordPress site structure is another strong advantage especially to anyone interested in search engine optimization. By default, the link structure and page hierarchy is strong and there are several plugins to make your WordPress website even more enticing to the search engines.

WordPress automatically creates RSS feeds of your content giving you extra methods of promotion. People can subscribe to your feed via an RSS reader or by email.

There is a lot of support for WordPress bringing new functionality to the table every day. New themes, plug-ins and tools are being released regularly making upgrades simple.

If you ever want to redesign, upgrade or enhance your website having the content in a portable format like WordPress is a huge advantage. Every website has a shelf-life and then looks dated. Or perhaps you want to do a major overhaul to add functionality. WordPress stores your content in XML files making it portable to other CMS solutions and making future WordPress updates much easier to handle. One of the most time-consuming aspects of any website redesign is managing old content. The process of copying it and placing it in the new format along with formatting can take days.

WordPress is structured in PHP so there is some programming skill needed to get the most out of your WordPress site - at least for setup, but once that is done you’ll really enjoy how easy the site is to use and promote.

WordPress Links:

• WordPress.org - Home of WordPress.
• WordPress Pages - Information about what Pages are and how to manipulate them.
• Template Tags - WordPress has preset tags you can use to modify your template.
• WordPress Themes - Includes a long list of links for picking a theme that is right for you.
• Keyboard Shortcuts - List of common keyboard commands to save time while writing.
• Advanced Editor - WordPress has a “secret” editor for advanced formatting.
• WordPress Plugins - Add functionality to your website.

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