Did you know that Wordpress powers about 40% of the internet?

I was shocked too. When first I started in the web development game, I pretty much wrote Wordpress off because I thought if I used it, I wouldn't be considered a "real" web developer.

After nearly 2 years in the "web dev game", I have grown to truly believe that Wordpress is the most valuable tool an aspiring freelance web developer can learn for the following reasons:

Client Controlled Content

My first "paying" client sent me 35 emails a day, for 2 months asking for "little tweaks".

I must've spent dozens of hours digging into the code, switching out pictures and content in that first month after the site went live. Every time my inbox pinged - I cringed at the thought of replacing the word "really" with "very" deep within the 2,000 lines of code that made up the site. I knew right then and there, I was never going to deal with THAT again.

Wordpress solves this problem beautifully by establishing a user based dashboard that allows the client to control their content - without having to contact the web developer.

Established Plug-Ins

So I had finally realized how much time and effort Wordpress could save me on content alone - but I had not realized quite yet, how much development time it could save me as well.

Wordpress offers hundreds of established plug-ins that perform common business related tasks - many times for free! Utilizing these plug-ins can save countless development hours and dozens of headaches. Some of these plug-ins even offer all necessary website functionality, allowing you as the developer, to really only have to focus on the final design and how the site all fits together.

By implementing well established plug-ins, developers can churn out 4 or 5 websites in the time it usually takes to do one "from scratch".

Cheap To Host And Works (Pretty Much) Everywhere

My hands still shake at the frustration of finishing my brand new Node based application and finding out that I couldn't upload it to my web server.

I had spent weeks meticulously crafting an application using the latest React hooks and components. It was snappy and worked like a dream - on my computer only. After troubleshooting a little more I realized that my application could work on my server - I just had to pay 5x what I was currently paying for hosting. Since that was not going to happen, I switched the application to a Wordpress based app and it worked just as well as the Node application.

Since major hosting providers like Hostinger, Bluehost, and GoDaddy all come with Wordpress hosting out of the box, it is the most affordable and most "hostable" type of web based application.

Using Wordpress as my "go-to" for freelance gigs has allowed me to increase profits by removing the need for constant content tweaks, speeding up development time through the use of established plugins, and keeping my costs low by being compatible with the world's most dependable and affordable hosting providers.