The open web is the fulcrum on which the small-to-medium business (SMBs) digital marketing lever rests. The open web has been absolutely essential to providing SMBs with a platform to showcase their products and services to a wider audience. With the advent of WordPress, building and maintaining an online presence has become incredibly easy and cost-effective. This article will delve into the impact of the open web on small businesses, with a special focus on WordPress and its advantages over closed-source solutions.

The Open Web and Small Businesses

The open web, which is essentially the portion of the internet that is accessible to the public and can be freely used, modified, and distributed, has opened up a world of opportunities for small businesses. With the help of the open web, small businesses can establish their online presence, reach a global audience, and compete with larger businesses. Grandeous opportunities notwithstanding, the open web has had a tremendous impact on local businesses that need to have a small localized web presence.

One of the most significant advantages of the open web is that it allows small businesses to own their content and have control over their online presence. This is in contrast to closed-source solutions like Wix, where businesses are limited by the proprietary platform’s features and design options. On the open web, small businesses can customize their websites to their liking, incorporate their branding, and showcase their products and services in the best possible light.

WordPress and Small Businesses

WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS) that has become incredibly popular among small businesses. One of the reasons for WordPress’s popularity among small businesses is its ease of use and affordability.

With WordPress, small businesses can create a website from scratch without any coding knowledge. WordPress offers a vast selection of pre-built themes and plugins that can be easily customized to suit the business’s needs. The platform is also incredibly affordable, with many free themes and plugins available, as well as premium options at a fraction of the cost of hiring a web developer.

WordPress also offers data portability, which means that businesses can easily move their content from one host to another without losing any data. This is in contrast to closed-source solutions like Wix, where businesses are locked into the platform and can’t move their content to a different host. Data portability is critical for small businesses that want to retain control over their content and avoid being held hostage by a proprietary platform.

Advantages of Owning Your Content

Owning your content and having control over your online presence are critical for small businesses. Here are some of the advantages of owning your content:

1. Control: When you own your content, you have complete control over your online presence. You can customize your website to your liking, incorporate your branding, and make changes as needed.
2. Flexibility: With data portability, you can move your content from one host to another without losing any data. This gives you the flexibility to switch hosts or CMS platforms if necessary.
3. Reliability: Using a single closed-source platform may appear to have security benefits, but if a vulnerability is exploited, how will you protect your site? What if the platform goes down, how can you move your site to a new server?

The open web and WordPress are the only ways for you to maintain control of your site and mitigate the risk of loss of files, traffic, and, most importantly, ownership.