WordPress is still on the rise in the Americas and shows now sign of slowing down. The platform continues to improve it’s user friendliness, functionality, and appearance. The layout of the site is very favorable to search engine optimization making it a clear choice for building a site to rank well.
Worpress has several built in features that aid in the SEO of the site. First and foremost is the ability to use search engine friendly URL’s, this function is very easy to set up in the permalinks selection of the Admin menu. I personally use the custom setting and add /%post_id%/%postname%/ in the text box. The other feature is the fact that WordPress is Semantically correct in code layout making it very attractive the search engine bots.
WordPress can be extended with a variety of plugins to improve functionality and performance. A word of caution on plugins: only use what you really need because some will adversely affect performance. I use (All in one SEO Pack, Google Sitemap Generator, Wp Db Backup) on every site I build. The Next Gen Gallery plugin is a good choice if a gallery is needed as well as Contact Form 7 for a contact form.
Themes allow the WordPress user to change the look of their site with the touch of a button if the site is still basic. If custom coding or template pages have been used then a little more work is involved. But that is the beauty of WordPress, it has the ability to run static and dynamic together with unlimited template files.
All things being equal, WordPress is in a category by itself. The platform is very flexible and forgiving making it one of my absolute favorites to deal with. For small business, and personal sites WordPress is very hard to beat.