This is a WordPress-versus-your-static-custom-coded-site comparison. I just finished tweaking a client’s site because the web host made a change that caused it to not display at all. Between her web host and me, we got her original site back up, and I made a small update to the content on one of the pages. All great and everything, but having to go into the client’s previous designer’s old HTML code took longer than if she’d had a WordPress site, which she could have updated herself without paying me to do that part. 🙂
Your Old HTML Site
I still remember back in the day as a freelance book indexer having a great professional build me a nicely designed website to make me visible to potential clients. It was a review of my services and a resume of my experience. Worked fine. But that was 1997. A lot of freelancers who aren’t into all the blogging stuff think that their static CV-type website will work just fine in 2019. It’s the same information, it’s still visible, or so it seems. Why not just have a designer come in and tweak it or update content once in a while?
Unfortunately, no. A lot has changed since 1997, and especially since the early 2000s. And it’s not about fancy site designs with big images and weekly blog articles. What’s happened is that most of the old sites from the 1999 to 2010 period in particular have become invisible to search engines, partly because search looks for actively changing sites with lots of visitors, and partly because Google likes sites that look good on mobile devices.
But, maybe you have a thriving freelance business based on reputation and referral and don’t feel a need to modernize your website. It’s just not that critical to your business. Fair. But with a more modern site based on a content management system like WordPress or Squarespace, or even Wix or Weebly, you could actually make content updates yourself. Save time, save money in the long run. And also make yourself more visible.
Your WordPress Website
I’m going to use WordPress as a content management system example, because I prefer its wealth of capabilities, but you can also make simple sites with other systems like Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, or even the very basic systems that most web hosts have as standard features.
Your upfront costs for a WordPress site will be the time and money for help in getting the site set up and your content moved. If you want to maintain everything yourself, one or more tutorials might be a good idea, and then you’ll be able to add new projects to your portfolio or update resource documents for your colleagues, or even write articles for your profession if you are so inclined.
Keeping everything up to date is as easy as checking into your site once a month and clicking on the updates function. Maybe once every five years you can look at a redesign, but if you are not looking to expand your client base by a whole lot or become a blogging influencer in your field, you’ll be fine for that long with just updating content (you don’t have to have a blog), and maybe asking for a brief tweak or troubleshoot a small issue with a professional designer.
Meanwhile, your site will look cool, stay technically updated so you don’t have display problems with your web host changes something, and updating will be easy and much more efficient. Three wins!
As you can guess, I’d love to help you update your site from 2000 or so and empower you to maintain it if you so choose. I can also check in on your site regularly if you like. Let’s set up a conversation!