wordpress for business websiteIf you’re not already using WordPress to develop your personal and business websites, we would like to encourage you to do so at this time. WordPress is a Content Management Software (CMS) platform that is currently utilized by over 60 million webmasters worldwide. WordPress can allow even the most amateur webmaster to quickly build professional websites at a minimal cost. In fact, WordPress itself is free, so the only costs involved is that of your monthly server subscription (unless you host your site on your own, network-enabled server) and the one-time payment that you will need to make in order to purchase a domain name.

While the effectiveness of WordPress is uncontested, as it has been proven time and time again to be one of the most reliable and secure web design platforms in the world, you may be asking yourself whether you should use a pre-built WordPress theme for your business or pay a programmer to create a custom theme that is uniquely designed for your specific needs. The short answer: It’s up to you.

WordPress themes are available in the WordPress repository as well as via dozens of third-party providers that can be found all across the Internet. Just a few of these third-party providers include WPMUDev, ThemeForest, and ThemeFuse. Besides general themes, there are also niche based themes such as Lawyerwordpressthemes. Although the vast majority of WordPress themes that are available in the WordPress repository are free to use, most third-party sources require a fee for you to use their themes. For the most part, however, that fee is well worth it as you will have access to a wide variety of advanced features and design options that are simply unmatched by anything you will find in the WordPress repository.

wordpress logo mugMost WordPress themes, whether they are sold for a price or available for free, will allow you to customize your website in a variety of ways. The theme you choose may have options to change the color scheme or layout of your website as well as the option to include customized widgets that are designed specifically to enhance your website, such as the ability to create a shopping cart or communicate with each customer on a personal level. Because of the sheer size of the WordPress repository in addition to the thousands of other themes that you can find around the Internet, you should have no problem finding a theme that is perfectly crafted for your business. If you have any knowledge of CSS and HTML, you can further craft the website to your exact specifications.

Hiring a professional to create a custom WordPress theme from scratch, on the other hand, can give you a website that is exactly the way you want it without making any additional modifications and you can be sure that your website will have every feature that you desire. Because a custom WordPress theme may only cost $40 – $200, depending on the programmer and the extent of the work required, a custom WordPress theme can, in some cases, be the same price as a premium theme. You should keep in mind, however, that a WordPress theme developer will, in most cases, simply choose a free theme that is mostly compatible with your requirements and then make the necessary modifications.

wordpress codingTherefore, if you do not have any experience with WordPress theme development or knowledge of HTML, CSS, or PHP and do not mind spending the money, a custom WordPress theme may save you a lot of headache. If you would rather not spend any more money than you absolutely have to and/or you have experience with the programming languages mentioned above, you may be better off to choose a free or affordable premium theme and make the necessary modifications yourself.