Why WordPress is better Than Coding in HTML

A website is one of the most important resources for your company. It’s a way of attracting customers and building your brand. But what platform and coding language is most used? WordPress and HTML are the two most common platforms/coding languages used when building a website. While one may be easier to manage than the other, both have their pros and cons. However, WordPress is found to be more user-friendly for the everyday consumer than HTML, but HTML can provide an overall more advanced website. Let’s look at both in a little more detail and see why.

What is WordPress?

First, let’s explain what each is. WordPress is referred to as a content management system or CMS. At least 30% of websites on the internet use WordPress, from your average consumer to big-name companies like The New York Times. Although all WordPress websites are HTML-based, it is not true in the opposite form. Not all HTML sites are WordPress sites. WordPress sites use PHP and a database to create their websites. WordPress is more for the average consumer because it allows its creators to develop and manage a website in a more advanced and user-friendly way. One thing to remember when it comes to WordPress sites is there are two platforms that can be used, WordPress.com and WordPress.org. WordPress.com is self-hosted, and you may find that there are some limitations when it comes to creating your management. Now, WordPress.org is the open-source we previously mentioned, and it allows for a variety of free plugins and themes. A custom domain can be created for .com, and you can sign up for a hosting service.

What is HTML?

In contrast, HTML is a static language, with its markup language used to create the content and structure of the web pages. HTML stands for Hyper-Text Markup Language, its language contains tags used to classify the elements on a website page. Using the HTML coding language requires at least some coding and web development knowledge. CSS and JavaScript are also used with HTML for website creation. These programs, all put together, provide the website’s basic structure. Remember that HTML and CSS are the page content structure and information style, whereas JavaScript is the logic-based language. As previously mentioned, WordPress can be added with HTML as a static website. This allows for the creation and management of the website to exist on WordPress while still publishing the website as HTML. Now for some of the pros and cons of each.

The Pros and Cons

WordPress has many pros aside from the fact that it is user-friendly and does not require coding or website creation knowledge. For example, WordPress can be tailored to your specific needs, although it may not be as in-depth as HTML. However, WordPress offers premade themes and allows site plugins to be added. Since WordPress is SEO-friendly, you can easily take it a step further and add an SEO plugin. The same rule applies to those running an online store. eCommerce plugins are easy to add and manage. There are also plugins to help automate your marketing, which we all know is a big-time saver for business owners. WordPress sites are referred to as open-source as they allow users to contribute to the platform, such as helping resolve bug issues or developing their themes. Open-Source allows for the rapid development of WordPress sites, which requires one to back up their site more often than HTML users. The two most significant drawbacks come when maintaining the website and having to check yourself for any site issues. A more advanced site may require you to have some of the knowledge you would need to create an HTML site. 

Although the more user-friendly interface of a WordPress site may be appealing to most, HTML has some pros that still make it exist today. For example, HTML has by far better customizability options, of course, this comes with having some knowledge in coding and web development. HTML also comes with the flexibility and convenience of integrating additional features on your site. HTML also does not have as many updates, so without the constant updates to the program, there is less need for backup, allowing for an overall faster website performance. Due to HTML using fewer resources, it can run on cheaper servers. The downside to HTML for website creation is the knowledge you need to use the elements and the cost associated if you don’t.

Getting Started

Now that you better understand the difference between WordPress and an HTML website, you may be ready to get your company site going, but where do you start? Your first step is to choose what website creation platform you will use, like WordPress, and the coding language, like HTML. If selecting a WordPress site, you must decide if this will be with the .com or .org platform. Once this is determined, you can start your next steps. WordPress users will then need to choose their hosting provider before starting, whereas HTML users will need to gain knowledge before starting. You will need to know coding, website development, HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript before you can begin. Once there, you can start building by creating your page layout.

In Conclusion

As a recap, HTML is a coding language used to create web pages from scratch. WordPress is a CMS where files, published content, and media hosting occur in an admin-user-friendly way. As WordPress is a good platform to use, HTML is a good coding language that can be used in website creation, but both have their pros and cons. If you are the average consumer looking for a user-friendly platform with free integrations to help with automation, then WordPress is your platform. If you have more advanced knowledge and want to make a more advanced website, HTML would be the appropriate coding language to use in your site. Websites represent your brand, make sure to get what you are looking for, but also keep in mind the routine maintenance that each offers to make this convenient for you. WordPress may have a higher hosting cost than HTML, but HTML requires knowledge in a few areas of website development. The price for someone to create your site may be higher in cost than building a WordPress site.