Choosing WordPress or Perch. Or Both?!

I wrote this post before Christmas where I discussed some potential decisions about the focus of my business. In particular, whether I should focus on a single content management system, WordPress or Perch, for web development. Well, I've decided to continue to use both! Here's why.

I want to work with WordPress and Perch because they offer different things. I have clients with different requirements and budgets. By working with Perch and WordPress, I feel that this gives me the flexibility that I need. It gives me more choice about how I build a site.

Some folks might find it strange that I like both systems because they are quite different. However, I've built client and personal sites with each system and I love both. So there!

I know some people focus on Perch and some are WordPress developers. Some folks work with both! There are good reasons why each system may be more suited to specific projects. I've listed why I might use either system below. This is just how I think about them. You may have completely different views. Fair enough!

Please note that the presence of an item in either list does not mean that this is absent in the other system. These are just what I have prioritised higher in my own mind.

For Perch

• Custom design and build of site.
• Retrofitting to an existing site.
• Powerful and fast.
• Great support.

For WordPress

• Theme customisation allows for fast development of sites with lower budgets.
• Ecommerce functionality using WooCommerce.
• Incredible range of functionality via plugins.
• Very popular. Can I afford not to offer WordPress development?

In addition to the above, specific projects may have requirements that are better suited to either Perch or WordPress. By working with both systems, I feel that I can assess that better.

So, that's my decision. Pretty much the status quo and what I've been doing for a couple of years, I know. But I decided last year to assess what I'm doing more frequently – so this was part of that.

Additionally, I've decided that some focus is needed so I will be focusing my WordPress web development on a single theme framework and that's the Genesis framework by StudioPress. The reasons for that will be the subject of another post.