In most cases, I would recommend WordPress to my clients because it gives them control over their content. However, the time has passed and there are alternatives that could be considered when creating a new website.
Web design agencies need to rethink their customers and evolve so they can survive. As mentioned previously, it needs to avoid the myopia of thinking in terms of web design but in terms of satisfying the customers. Studying what the potential customers want and how to satisfy their needs.
One more thing that Web 2.0 brought us was simplicity. The overall page became more simple and the use of CSS was expected over multiple frames and tables for the layout.
You can use any approach of creating tasks models from just mentioning the personas and creating bullet points with the tasks required to accomplish the goal to a more detailed explanation of feelings, behaviors, and illustrations needed to communicate better the flow that users take.
It is difficult to tell a client that you will design a user experience. It is better to explain exactly what you would do in your design that will increase the usability, conversion, provides what your users want, and performance of the page.
One of my first jobs in the IT field doing queries into a large database for a telephone company. Something that could be called Big Data and my job was to get insights out of it like a data engineer, data scientist, or data analyst.
Agencies, or web design related companies, must pay dedicated personnel that develops the site. Websites don’t build themselves, they are created by people and those people need to be paid.
Usually, we like to blame the users for not upgrading their browser. There are developers arguing that if people have outdated browsers, it is their fault and responsibility. However, we have to use context and know who is using the computer and how.
If you can design a fast flyer for a nonprofit organization when there is no work around the office, do it! Moreover, you can participate in the open source community answering questions or contributing with code.
In just one day, there are tons of articles coming from everywhere: usability, web design, accessibility, programming languages, user experience, web frameworks, security, databases, etc.