If you’ve been around the WordPress community for a while, you know there are as many ways to use it as there are people who use it.
It’s also not uncommon to see websites that take advantage of the CMS in ways we might not have thought possible.
After all, with so many WordPress-powered sites out there, someone is bound to come up with something brilliant at some point.
With that being said, here are 8 brilliant WordPress websites that utilise the CMS in ways you may never have thought possible.
Dropbox Blog
Every company blog, at some point, will probably have a post on their website about how they use WordPress. They might even call it their “WordPress Story.”
While it’s nice to see companies like Dropbox give a shout out to the platform, what makes their WordPress story special is their use of the product to build their blog.
Instead of the usual WordPress theme, Dropbox opted for a custom-made design that features a fluid layout.
The result is a design that’s clean, minimalist and distraction-free, making it ideal for a blog that’s likely to get lots of traffic.
Hudl
Hudl is an app that helps basketball and soccer coaches track stats and scout their players.
Given that this app is used heavily by sports teams and coaches, you might expect its website to be sports-themed.
Instead, Hudl opted for a modern, minimalistic design that does not include a single basketball or soccer ball logo.
The company’s website is clean and features a lot of white space, which makes it easy to read and navigate.
Hudl doesn’t even have a sidebar, opting instead for a sleek, one-page layout that takes full advantage of WordPress’s flexibility.
The website also features a great selection of stock photos that go well with the overall clean, modern feel of the design.
Tastebud
Tastebud is a social network with a unique twist. Users can write reviews of food they’ve had at restaurants.
But Tastebud goes beyond the usual information you’d find on a typical review site by also allowing users to post photos of their meals.
Tastebud’s website is clean and well organised. The site uses a traditional layout with a sidebar on the left-hand side and a footer at the bottom of the page.
The site has a lot of white space, which makes the design easy to navigate. It also features a lot of photos of food and people’s reviews, which help to break up the design and keep things interesting.
Real Homes
Real Homes is a Toronto-based real estate agency that uses its website to showcase properties for sale in Toronto.
The company previously used a traditional website with a blog and a separate page for each home for sale. Real Homes decided to switch to a WordPress website and now has a very clean, well-organised site.
The website features a single-page design with large images of the homes for sale. The website also uses a mix of colour schemes and fonts to make each image stand out.
Zesty.io
Zesty is a platform that allows users to create industry-specific magazines.
The company’s website is clean and well organised, but what really stands out are the magazine covers. Each cover represents a different industry and issue.
The covers look like the covers of real magazines and feature bold, vibrant images in place of the magazine’s title.
Speaker Deck
Speaker Deck is a website that allows users to create and share slideshows and presentations.
The website not only allows users to create and publish content, but it also features a blog where people share their presentations.
The blog’s design has a simple, clean look. It features a large image at the top of each page followed by a brief description of the post.
WP Toolkit
WP Toolkit is a website that does one thing: lists WordPress resources.
The website’s homepage features a grid of thumbnails for resources. Clicking any of the thumbnails takes you to a page featuring the resource’s name, a brief description, and a link to the website hosting the resource.
Problogger
Problogger is a popular blog that helps people with their own blogs. The site actually started out as a WordPress blog.
It later grew into a full-fledged website with a variety of sections about blogging and blogging-related issues.
The site has a clean, minimalistic design with a large featured image at the top of each page.
Bottom line
Building a website is not a one-size-fits-all type of thing.
You can use WordPress to build a website, but you can also use it to create a blog, a simple eCommerce site, a portfolio, a landing page, an online store, a forum, a directory, a resume, a business directory and more.
There are different types of WordPress themes and plugins that can help you build the website that you need.
Choosing the right theme will influence the success of your site, so it’s important to take your time and find something that works best for you.
If you’re interested in using WordPress to create your next website, make sure that you choose a theme that is easy to use and navigate.
Having a clean and well-organised layout will also help you get more visitors and turn them into subscribers.
