When you first get started in web development, it may intimidate you because WordPress is one of the most common websites. But once you develop websites, you quickly learn that WordPress works with web designers and not against them.
Will WordPress kill web development? WordPress is one of the most popular solutions for building a website. WordPress has so many solutions that you can do everything from e-commerce to membership websites. These options lead to greater development time which often creates more work for web developers rather than reducing it.
In this article we will explain to web developers why WordPress is the perfect ally rather than a threat for people who are trying to build websites for clients or just personal projects.
The raise of web development
When the internet first began blowing up back in the 90s we saw a raise in things like web design and web development. Back then people were coding websites with html and CSS.
As the web began to shift we started noticing many changes and more of a shift in creative websites in the early 2000s. These websites were often very colorful and had unusual navigation. Creative images and color schemes often characterized these websites.
By the time mobile started gaining in popularity web development had changed, now you had all kinds of development languages such as Ruby on Rails, PHP, JavaScript and so much more. Websites were now in a phase of being interactive and focused more on wooing the viewer.
Fast forward today and websites have now become all about mobile and accessibility. As a matter of fact that is one of the biggest things we focus on as web development continues to change. Accessibility has been the forefront of what search engines are looking for and this very statement has changed web development.
Why accessibility matters for web developement
Long ago when people first started out on the internet as a web designer, you never had to design for multiple devices or trying to customize it to fit Google standards. You built websites and they would rank on Google no matter what.
Now we are forced to make our websites fit all accessibility including things like:
- voice search
- easy navigation
- Google standards
- SEO standards
- so much more
These may seem like very basic things but considering that websites of the past never had to worry about these, now developers must focus on things they never even learned about. Search engines have forced us to make sure that these websites meet the demands of the web otherwise your website might never be found.
Why WordPress has helped web development
WordPress maybe to some the bane of the internet for a host of reasons, it doesn’t change the fact that it has changed the web. WordPress has forced other websites to adapt by keeping up with all the standards that have forced websites to be more friendly to all things including people who struggle with websites.
When WordPress first got popular, many people assumed that it would kill the web developer but in fact WordPress helped. People assumed that easier websites meant that you would never need a web developer so the easier they became the more fear grew.
The problem was WordPress was complex enough that even though someone with very little web knowledge can install a WordPress website that doesn’t mean that it’s not powerful enough to handle things. In fact, that maybe one of WordPress’s primary problems.
WordPress is powerful enough to have things like ecommerce websites and membership websites but yet simple enough that someone with very little knowledge can install it. This strength and weakness has turned it into one of the top things that people want for websites.
The fact is WordPress is a reliable framework that gives both designers and clients a framework that will continue to improve through the community and development. These types of frameworks can be hard to find as most will come and go with age. WordPress is a framework that has stood the test of time and that’s important for several reasons.
The reality of WordPress killing web development
When you consider all the things that WordPress does and what it rights, you quickly find that WordPress is only growing web design and development rather than killing it. WordPress is tricky, and that trickiness comes with a knowledge learning curve.
While a client can install WordPress, they might not know how to fix things like a broken theme or plugin. This creates opportunities for web developers to come in and gives them purpose. This lack of knowledge by the client is just another way for a good solid company or developer to come in and pick up the work.
So in reality WordPress is creating more web development, not killing it. While there are developers out there who may hate or dislike the WordPress system, I can guarantee it is one of the most stable platforms that exist on the market.
When you combine this with the fact that WordPress has its own mini markets such as
- themes
- plugins
- updates
- improvements
This creates new markets in which web developers can now broaden from just WordPress to helping clients with themes or plugins or updates. These mini markets have created markets in which there are hundreds if not thousands of developers making products for these markets.
An example of this would be something like Woocommerce which started with a business called WooThemes which made Woocommerce. These developers created a product that took off. Years later this product is now one of the biggest parts of WordPress.
Another example would be Elegant Themes which created premium themes for WordPress but then created the Divi page builder. Divi is now one of the top page builders on the market for creating your own website. Both clients and developers use this framework to make a living doing web design and supporting businesses.
The whole point of showing off these examples is to expand your mind into thinking about the more complex things that WordPress offers to web development which is much more than you might consider when you look at it from the standpoint it’s just WordPress. WordPress has spawned so many mini markets that developers are being created every day for specific jobs that involve certain plugins or themes which blew up.
A few years ago I would say that you never needed something like a Divi specialist. Now Divi is so giant that you would be a fool not to niche into this as a web developer because there are so many potential clients that you could have. This also allows you to control the source of your speciality. Just like they have general doctors, heart doctors, and ENTs they have many specialities in web development.
Related Questions
What about Wix and Squarespace? Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, Joolma, and others are examples of the market breaking and people finding other solutions. While these solutions create their own set of web developer issues, they have specific companies and web developers who focus on these platforms. There is no right or wrong way to build a website, there are many thousands of ways to build one and each one can be different.
Why is WordPress the right solution? What’s popular isn’t always the best choice but with WordPress I believe this stands true. WordPress does minimal advertising when you consider what Wix and Squarespace do by hiring celebrities and other endorsements but yet it continues to thrive. WordPress thrives because the framework behind WordPress is solid and web developers who want to continue to work in that field can not ignore that.
With so many options how do I decide which way is the best way to develop websites? Follow your passion. For me WordPress is like playing music or painting a picture. I enjoy watching all the moving parts come together to create the ultimate website that has working parts each playing a function in the site’s design.
Conclusion
I hope you have enjoyed this article and can now see why WordPress is an excellent choice for both clients and web developers. WordPress is not killing web development, it’s helping it by continuing to create new markets for web developers to specialize in.
If you liked this article and want to talk more web design or WordPress, come check out our website. And if you have questions free feel to include them below and I will answer them.
