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Why is WordPress so Popular?

September 22, 2016 by Angela Leave a Comment

WordPress is the most popular web hosting option available, powering roughly one in every four sites on the internet. Most web hosting companies (RFE Hosting included) offer free one-click installation of WordPress, and that is just one item in a long list of reasons why most experts believe that WordPress is only going to get bigger with time. So if you’re preparing to create or redesign a website for your company, the question you are probably asking yourself is, “Why is WordPress so popular?” In this article, we will cover a few of the most important answers.

WordPress is a free, open source program. Never underestimate the power of free things. In part, WordPress obtained its tremendous popularity by simply offering the best free and free-to-use software out there: not only did this create an instant user base, it also created an instant base of base of people eager to work on and improve the existing program (but more on that later.)

WordPress is impressively versatile. Whether you are designing a website for Ecommerce, classified advertisements, video hosting, blogging, selling memberships, booking events, or what have you, WordPress has the capability to do a good job.

WordPress offers incredible SEO potential. WordPress also offers fantastic SEO capabilities: Google recently gave the site a 99% positive ranking in terms of enabling its users to rank well. Here’s a few of the SEO prerequisites that WordPress meets.

Fast Loading Speed.
Great Coding Standard.
XML Sitemap.
Robust Navigation.
Image Optimization.
Seamless Social Media Integration.
User Experience and Cross-Platform Functionality.

The Power of Popularity. Finally, the last factor to which we can attribute WordPress’s popularity is the positive feedback loop that followed the company from the start. Thousands of WordPress users have developed their own WordPress modifications and plugins, thus cementing the sites position as the highest quality option out there.

Build your own WordPress Website with RFE Hosting. Visit us online to learn more.

Filed Under: SEO, Web Hosting, WordPress Tagged With: SEO, web hosting, wordpress

Is WordPress Right For Me?

June 16, 2016 by Angela Leave a Comment

When creating a website, there are a lot of choices to be made. One of the first and most important of these choices is which method or you will use. Whereas in the past many websites were built from the bare bones using coding methods like HTML, nowadays there are many different ways to construct websites. One of the most popular ways to do this is with a Content Management System, such as, for example, Joomla, Drupal, or WordPress. While a Content Management System (or CMS) is undoubtedly in most cases easier and faster than doing all of the coding yourself, all of them have their benefits and disadvantages. In this article, we will be comparing the positive and negative aspects of the most popular CMS–WordPress.

Advantages of WordPress

WordPress is easy to use. WordPress is one of the easiest platforms to use, because it is designed to be user-friendly, particularly for beginners who do not already have experience building websites.
WordPress is cheap. There are few costs involved in creating a website via WordPress. The only entirely necessary cost of running a website using WordPress is the small cost of domain and hosting. You may choose to buy extra themes and plugins, but these are not necessary as thousands of themes and plugins come entirely free.
WordPress is popular and thus has a large support community. Because WordPress is so popular, the online community backing it up is exceptionally large and knowledgeable. If you are having a technical problem, the odds are you will be able to fix it easily.

Disadvantages of WordPress

WordPress lacks the advanced functionality of some other platforms. Many platforms come equipped from the start with a number of functions that, on WordPress, you would have download extra plugins in order to use. This makes advanced changes to your website longer and more difficult to make.
WordPress is not always lightning-fast. The way that WordPress is run, along with the sheer number of plugins you will likely want to download, can sometimes result in less-than-optimal loading times and overall lethargic behavior on the part of your site.
WordPress is subject to greater security threats than other platforms. Simply because it is the most popular and widely used platform, the odds its security being compromised is higher than with many other, less popular systems. This is not to say WordPress is unsafe, by any means–it simply means that web administrators may wish to place an extra emphasis on security if they are using WordPress.

Filed Under: SEO, Web Hosting, WordPress Tagged With: SEO, website hosting, wordpress

Alternatives To WordPress

June 2, 2016 by Angela Leave a Comment

We all know that WordPress has, in recent years, gained a reputation as one of the most popular methods of building a website. However, if you are reading this, it is likely because you are wondering, is there other software out there comparable to or better than WordPress? While WordPress may be the right choice for some, each website, being different from all others, has specialized and individual needs. Below you will find a comparison of the three most popular Content Management Systems (CMS) available on the internet today: WordPress, Joomla and Drupal.

WordPress

WordPress is known for being the easiest CMS for beginners to learn how to use. In addition, it is free to download and readily customizable, with thousands of free plugins and themes. All of this does, however, come at a cost. Aside from the fact that–simply because it is the most widely used CMS–it is the most vulnerable to being hacked, WordPress websites are also known to become sluggish and clunky when too many extra plugins are downloaded. Thus WordPress is typically only best for beginners, and those who want to build relatively small websites.

Joomla

Joomla, like both WordPress and Drupal, is a CMS with numerous available free themes and plugins. However, it is known for being more powerful and efficient in some regards than WordPress. For example, it contains numerous features from the moment you download it that, were you using WordPress, you would have to download extra plugins to implement. On the downside, the level of technical experience required to use Joomla is notably greater than in the case of WordPress.

Drupal

Drupal is known as the most powerful of these three Content Management Systems. This is why it is used most often by corporations, government departments, and other groups with a need for large, advanced websites. In addition, Drupal websites often load faster than those of WordPress or Joomla, because it is highly optimized and efficient. However, as with Joomla, use of Drupal requires some advance knowledge of coding. Also, because it is less widely used than software like WordPress, Drupal has a notably smaller online support system.

Learn about web hosting and website building by visiting RFE Hosting online today!

Filed Under: SEO, Website, WordPress Tagged With: website, Website Building, website hosting, wordpress

SEO Beginners Tips to Get Started

April 14, 2016 by Shelley Leave a Comment

seo

SEO (or Search Engine Optimization) can be overwhelming. There are entire companies dedicated to maximizing SEO for websites all over the internet. There is a lot to know, but for those ‘DIYers’ that are trying to get started in the world of SEO here are some great tips to set your website up for success:

Monitor Your Efforts

You can do everything just right or be doing everything wrong. You won’t know what SEO efforts are working unless you have a way to monitor your success. Make sure to take advantage of free online tools like Google’s Toolbar to find out what is working best for your website. Other awesome tools like NewRelic and Site24X7 great ways to keep an eye on how healthy your website traffic is.

Know and Use Your Keywords

Make sure you know what keywords work best with your industry and the words that are going to bring people to your website when they type them into search engines. Once you know what those keywords are, make sure you work them in throughout your website for the best results. Name your pages, titles, and pictures using these keywords and try to work them in throughout the text on your website. Make sure that you do it tastefully, however. Spamming your own website with unnecessarily placed keywords might make it show up a little higher in search engines, but will be difficult to read and unattractive to customers.

Use Searchable Phrases

While keywords are super important, don’t underestimate the power of searchable phrases as well. Try to use phrases that you would type into the search bar to find information about your industry. Use locations, city names, and other specific identifiers to help lead people to the information you are trying to show them.

Add a Blog

Blogs are one of the greatest tools any website can have for the SEO arsenal. Providing fresh, new, quality content gives your customers a reason to visit your website and makes sure search engines know that your site is not only relevant but a site to watch.

Link Yourself

One of the easiest ways to help your search engine rankings is to link back to pages on your own website. This is another reason why blogs are so helpful for SEO for websites; they give you things to link back to on your own site! Just like with keywords, don’t over do it to ensure you don’t annoy the customers visiting your website.

Keep Your Website SEO Friendly

While Flash based websites are beautiful and ‘flashy’, remember that the search engine ‘crawlers’ (the parts that actually gather information about your website to know how and where to show it to people looking for information related to your content) can’t read beautiful images and video. Crawlers can see and read text, so make sure that your website design doesn’t underestimate the power of the good old fashion ‘word’.

Don’t Forget to Submit Your Website

While the process can still take a few weeks, it’s important to submit your website to the major search engines. The process isn’t difficult; simply fill out the easy to use web form for Google and Bing (or any other search engine that you find will be beneficial).

Filed Under: revive, SEO, SEO Tagged With: beginner, SEO, tips, website, wordpress

The Best FREE Responsive WordPress Themes of 2016

April 7, 2016 by Shelley Leave a Comment

Nothing beats getting something amazing for free, and these WordPress themes don’t miss the ‘amazing’ mark! Thinking about building a website, or giving yours a face life? Check out these awesome free WordPress themes to make your website stand out!

Customizr
- The King of WordPress themes, Customizr has lots to offer and is super easy to setup and customize. Perfect for the WordPress newbie or a seasoned website designer, Customizr is sure to provide you (or your clients!) exactly what they are looking for in responsive website design. With customizable fonts, social media integrations built in, and a majestic slider you are sure to grab the attention of any customer that lands on your page.
- Interested? Check out this link for more details!
Esteem
- Esteem is perfect for any blog or portfolio! With limitless color options, two custom page templates, and a stunning slider, Esteem is sure to make your blog stand out. What makes Esteem special is it’s ability to feature your own custom background images to truly make your website unique. Set up the perfect image to show off any of the three different blog options in the foreground, and reach your customers with a ‘ready to go’ contact form. It’s ‘translation ready’ and has an unbelieveable support forum, making this free template a steal for any website builder!
- Check out this link for more information!
Accelerate
- Accelerate is one of the most elegant free themes on the market today. Design to present your website with a professional feel, Accelerate features a beautiful front page slider as well as an easy to use ‘Contact’ set up so you can stay in touch with your website visitors. Is your blog more involved than just pictures and words? Accelerate is perfect for you! Accelerate supports multiple post formats, allowing you to show off different types of content! Feature images, videos, quotes, links, audio, or even short snippets called “asides” to your website.
- Check out this link for more information!
Inkness
- Image heavy websites never had it so good with this awesome free theme! Inkness features a beautiful responsive homepage slider, making it stunning regardless of what sort of screen it’s viewed on. Whether your visitors are visiting from a phone, tablet, or desktop computer, Inkness is sure to impress! Looking for a base that is already translated in to French or Italian? Inkess has got you covered.
- Check out this link for more information!
Arcade Basic
- Let your website feature an amazing photo or graphic that is sure to catch your viewer’s eye with this amazing free WordPress theme. Arcade is not only unique, it’s beautiful and loaded with awesome extras like JetPack to make sure that your new website can be found by the right people. WooCommerce integration is also available for those websites that are selling something to their customers, and it’s all for free!
- Check out this link for more information!