Your firm’s online presence should start with a robust website that offers an illustration of who you are as a firm and helps you stand out from your competition.
There are many critical components that make up a website, some important components your firm should keep in mind include:
- Usability
- Clear user experience
- Points of differentiation (What makes your firm unique)
- SEO optimization
- Quality design
With a strong plan of action, your firm can expect to acquire quality leads and cases from your site alone. According to a recent ABA survey, around 87% of firms have a website but only 20% of the firms’ websites contained essential information such as consumer guides, legal articles, forms, announcements, etc. And this is a great starting point for your digital presence adventures.
Before we dive into the technical aspects, it is important to note that a website isn’t a static ‘one-time’ job and done. It requires continuous technical and content updates. Depending on how regular you are with these updates, your firm’s digital growth may vary for years to come, so the more consistent you are, the better!
Let’s start with the basics. There are many sources to build a website on but for the sake of research and comparison we will focus on explaining the difference between a website built with .NET and a website built with WordPress.
.NET versus WordPress is Similar to Comparing Apples and Oranges
Simply put, they are not the same… at all. They are two entirely different concepts within web design, both with their unique pros and cons. In order to evaluate which one might be a better fit for your firm, it is important to compare and contrast them. Here’s a quick run-down.
.NET or ASP.NET was created by Microsoft for the sole purpose of building web applications. .NET is programmed with coding languages like C# and visual basics. Think of coding as the language that tells the program what to do. In short non-technical terms, .NET uses a more ‘sophisticated’ language to code, which is useful when a business is enterprise-level i.e. a bank. It allows for full customization of the site, albeit in a more complex way.
On the other hand, WordPress is considered a Content Management System (CMS), and the programming language for WordPress is PHP. PHP stands for Hypertext Pre-processor. This coding ‘language’ is perhaps the most popular technology, and because of this popularity, there are millions of PHP developers in the world, and it is also far more widely used than ASP.NET.
“Should My Firm’s Website Use WordPress or .NET?” The Ball Is In Your Court
Yes, comparing WordPress with .NET is again, like comparing apples with oranges. But ultimately, we want you to know the ball is really in your court. You can see some pros and cons for yourself.
| .NET | WordPress (PHP) |
| .NET is a paid Microsoft platform. | WordPress is a completely FREE open source. |
| The programming language is not easy to learn, it is far more sophisticated. | The programming language of WordPress is easy to learn and pick up. |
| .NET has fewer online support groups, fewer forums, and Q&As. | Due to its popularity and cost, there is a large community of online help. It is also constantly being improved by this community. |
| It is exclusive to Windows. | PHP can be used on Mac, Windows, and other machines. |
| .NET is more scalable since the coding language for .NET is more demanding/complex. | WordPress has themes and plug-ins to scale. But, too many plug-ins may cause issues. |
When speaking of website plug-ins, it is important to note that at Consultwebs there is a list of standard plugins used and our team tries not to deviate from it. Besides this, our team builds around the website’s theme framework functionality. We use WordPress because of the scalability and the quick access to support in case we should require technical help from the team, as well as the SEO-friendliness that it presents.
Another Thing Your Firm’s Website Needs…A Hosting Provider
To put it simply, this is the medium from which your firm can successfully post the website onto the Internet and be found by your desired audience. It is typically a free service and in order to host your site, you must first have your own domain. (Your domain is the name of your website, and this is typically something you must pay for annually.)
With that said, Consultwebs uses the WordPress hosting provider called Pagely. Pagely is the host to some of the fastest loading websites on WordPress and the world. It is also used by Fortune50 and other tech websites.
“And what about my firm’s website security?”, you may ask.
With the use of Pagely, you can guarantee your website’s security. This hosting provider is able to run a few technical tasks of your firm’s website including:
- Core updates
- Automatic updates of plug-ins
- Site migration
- Daily site backups
Besides this, it automatically backs up your site with top technology with Amazon S3 and offers 24/7 support.
Get Your Money’s Worth With A CMS – Content Management System
Although .NET and WordPress are fundamentally different, a major point of difference between both is that WordPress is a CMS (Content Management System).
A CMS in short words allows your firm and the people in charge of your digital marketing to maintain, edit and manage your website. Like we said earlier, a website isn’t a static ‘one-time’ job and done.
A built-in CMS for your firm’s website:
- Saves your firm time and money.
- Allows flexible editing of specific areas in your website.
- Gives your firm a theme framework to already work from.
- Optimizes SEO and SEO ranking
A proven advantage towards success.
At Consultwebs we understand that your website is an extension of your firm’s image. We also understand a successful website is designed to drive quality results and cases.
For this, your firm needs a forward-thinking team that would be happy to walk the extra mile with you. Are you ready to cultivate quality long-term success? Let’s talk.
The post What You Didn’t Know About Your Website’s Design appeared first on Consultwebs.
from Consultwebs https://www.consultwebs.com/blog/websites-design-things-to-know
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