It’s never been easier to publish content on the web. If you have something to say, you can publish it on any number of platforms in minutes. It’ll look good, have great typography and design, and the publishing process is often as simple as typing, throwing up a few images, and hitting a button. Tumblr is a paradigmatic example of a service that allows users to create their own space on the web with next to no hassle. That being the case, why bother with a more complex content management system like self-hosted WordPress?

It’s Really Not That Much More Complicated

At its simplest, publishing using WordPress is not that much more difficult than free platforms. Long gone of the days of manual installs and messing around on the Linux command line. Good hosting companies offer one-click installation of WordPress on an optimized platform that’s ready configured to make the most of the CMS. Choosing a theme, either free or premium, is straightforward, and once its installed, in many cases you’re good to go.

Easy Installation Is Just The Start

The benefit of having control over a publishing platform is that all the choices are yours to make. That gives you much more scope to tailor a site to your requirements. Of course, there are thousands of themes for you to choose from, each of which can be modified. But there is also an almost limitless variety of WordPress plugins that can change a vanilla installation into just about any sort site site you can imagine. Because WordPress has such a large community of developers, the chances are good that if you need a particular piece of functionality, someone’s already made a plugin for it. And if they haven’t, there will be an experienced developer who can do it for you.

With WordPress, You Are In Control

Have you ever read the Terms Of Use for a free platform? Frequently they are a long list of conditions that absolve the service provider of any responsibility for your content. They aren’t liable for downtime or poor performance. They can suspend your site or blog whenever it suits them. Web hosting companies are different. Hosting is their bread and butter. It’s in hosting company’s financial interest to keep clients happy, and the best offer comprehensive support, service level agreements, and managed hosting.
If you simply want to throw up a blog post or two every once in a while, then the free publishing platforms may be sufficient. But for anything more ambitious, particularly if you are basing a business on your site, self-hosting a content management system like WordPress will give you far more control, flexibility, and choice.
Image Credit: Keith Williamson