WordPress is a completely free web publishing platform and content management system (CMS) that enables anyone to operate a website or blog. Created in 2003, WordPress is now over 10 years old and currently powers 1 out of every 5 sites on the internet, making it the most popular web software for end-users and businesses alike.
Why is WordPress popular?
WordPress is simple to use and can be customized to fit anyone’s website needs. Whether someone is a new or an experienced web developer, WordPress is a great platform for building the ideal website or blog. It is also compatible with most web hosting providers, customizable and has a vast library of themes and plugins. WordPress is also constantly updated and improved on by its team of developers and designers, along with hundreds of contributors.
WordPress is a free and open-source software released under the GPL. WordPress is used by millions of people worldwide, including some of the biggest brands and organizations, such as The Guardian, Forbes, and The New York Times.
What’s the difference between WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org
Let’s get something clear. We are talking about WordPress.com. But there is this tiny confusion in the industry. What’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.? WordPress.com and WordPress.org are two different platforms that offer different benefits to users. One is simple and great for small businesses like yours and mine, the later is for advanced folks.
Main Difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org
WordPress.com is a quick and easy way to get started with a website or blog for free. It is perfect for personal use or for small businesses that do not need advanced customization options. The best part about it is that it’s free to use, and you don’t need to worry about hosting or domain names. All you need to do is create an account and build your site.
You can choose from various templates and designs or create your own. WordPress.com also offers a variety of features, such as the ability to create a custom email address for your site and the ability to monetize your site with ads. When you’re looking for an easy-to-use platform to build a professional-looking website, WordPress.com is your option.
WordPress.org, however, is perfect for those who need more control over their website or blog. It provides advanced customization options and allows users to monetize their site through advertising and premium upgrades.
If you want to use WordPress.org software, you have to find your own hosting and domain name. Once you do that, you can install the software and start building your site. WordPress.org sites are more customizable than WordPress.com sites but require more work to set up and maintain.
Both platforms have their advantages, so it is important to choose the one that is right for you.
Why use WordPress?
The WordPress community is among the most robust web communities on the entire internet. Given that WordPress is the most commonly used blog and CMS on the internet, there are literally millions of websites and owners that are all using WordPress every day. With this level of popularity comes a demand and need from just about every type of person out there.
WordPress is Easy for beginners
One of the most powerful aspects of WordPress is its very user-friendly, even for absolute beginners. WordPress lets you integrate pre-made themes and plugins. While WordPress is highly customizable, themes and plugins are an easy way of unlocking the power behind WordPress by changing the look and feel of your website with a few clicks. You can think of WordPress as the engine, themes as the body, and plugins as the features.
While it’s true that there are tons of tutorials on the internet about how to use WordPress, sometimes it’s helpful to have a more structured approach. That’s why we created our beginner’s guide to building a website course on YouTube. In this course, we’ll take you step-by-step through the process of creating a WordPress website, from choosing a domain name to adding content and design. We’ll also provide helpful tips to ensure your website looks its best.
WordPress is Easily customizable
What makes WordPress so popular is that it is so easy to use. You can choose from thousands of free and premium (paid version) themes and plugins available on WordPress. You can customize each theme to suit your needs without knowing how to code HTML or CSS.
Once they are installed, you can easily create new pages and posts using the built-in editor. The editor works similarly to a word processor like Microsoft Word or Google Docs. You can also drag and drop images into your posts and pages.
With WordPress.org, you can host your website anywhere you want. You have full control over your site’s installation, configuration, security, and maintenance.
Themes
Themes represent pre-built packages that completely overhaul your site with a new look, organization and design. Whether you are a blogger, business, artist, real estate agent, store owner or magazine, there is a theme out there for you.
You can make your website unique with endless Widgets and Plugins
Plugins and widgets are both tools that can be used to add extra features to your website. However, they serve different purposes. Plugins are typically used to add a new function, such as a contact form or a social media feed. On the other hand, widgets are usually used to enhance your site’s appearance or to provide interactive elements, such as a search bar or a poll.
Fun Fact:
WordPress.org lists over 35,000 plugins in its repository that are all free to download. This list doesn’t even include the paid plugins that are available all over the internet as well. – That’s a huge list you can choose from!
While both plugins and widgets can be useful, choosing the right tool for the job is important. Adding too many plugins can slow down your website, while too many widgets can make your pages cluttered and difficult to navigate.
As a general rule, only use plugins when you need them, and try to stick with simple widgets that enhance your content without overwhelming your visitors.
Here is a list of some of the most popular widgets and plugins available for your WordPress site.
Favorite Plugins for Beginners:
- Yoast SEO.
- Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth. …
- Akismet Spam Protection. …
- Wordfence Security – Firewall & Malware Scan. …
- Contact Form 7…
- WooCommerce.
- Google Analytics for WordPress. …
- All in One SEO Pack.
Favorite Widgets for Beginners:
- HubSpot
- Relevanssi
- Ultimately Social Media Icons
- Instagram Feed
- Siteorigin Widgets Bundle
- WP Recipe Maker
- YouTube Gallery by YotuWP
- EnviraGallery
- All-in-One Event Calendar by Timely
- Black Studio TinyMCE Widget
- Popups by OptinMonster
- WP Live Chat Support
- Google Maps Widget
To Easily Make Money Online
There are a few different ways to make money through WordPress and blogging. You can sell advertising space on your site, write sponsored posts, or even create and sell your products.
Whatever route you choose, there’s huge potential to earn some good money by doing what you love. If you’re looking for a way to make some extra cash or even start a full-fledged career, consider using WordPress and blogging to earn money online.
eCommerce
If you have a WordPress website, you may be looking for ways to monetize it. One option is to turn it into an eCommerce site. This can be a great way to generate revenue, as WordPress is known for being SEO-friendly and easy to use. Plus, there are many plugins and themes available that can help you create a professional-looking eCommerce site.
However, before you start, you should keep a few things in mind. First, make sure you choose a theme that is responsive and mobile-friendly. Second, choose a payment processor that is compatible with WordPress.
Lastly, consider using a plugin like WooCommerce to help you manage your eCommerce site. By following these tips, you can create a successful eCommerce site using WordPress.
Affiliate Marketing
When it comes to affiliate marketing, WordPress is the clear winner. As the world’s most popular content management system, WordPress provides SEOs with everything they need to publish consistent content, rank highly in search engines, and make affiliate commissions.
In addition, WordPress is extremely user-friendly, making it easy for even the most technically challenged SEOs to get up and running quickly. So if you’re serious about making money online, there’s no reason not to start your affiliate marketing journey with WordPress.
Run ads using 3rd party companies
If you’re running a WordPress site, there are a few different options for displaying ads. One popular option is to use a third-party company like Ezoic. Ezoic works with various ad networks and can automatically optimize your ad placements to maximize revenue. They also offer other features like heatmaps and A/B testing, which can help understand how visitors interact with your site.
Another advantage of using Ezoic is that they handle all the technical aspects of running ads, so you can focus on creating great content for your site. If you’re looking for a hassle-free way to run ads on WordPress, Ezoic is worth considering.
What websites can you build with WordPress?
WordPress was primarily a tool for creating a blog rather than more traditional websites. However, this hasn’t been true for a long time. Thanks to changes to the core code and WordPress’s massive ecosystem of plugins and themes, you can create any type of website you want with WordPress.
For example, not only does WordPress power a huge number of business sites and blogs, but it’s also the most popular way to create an eCommerce store as well. For those that want to sell products online, there’s a good chance that they’ll be using WordPress to do it.
For someone that needs a more complex website, such as a directory or forum, WordPress can handle that too. They will just need the right plugin or theme. In short, whatever type of website you want to create, there’s a good chance that WordPress can help you do it.
Common Websites Built with WordPress:
- Blogs
- Personal webpage
- Online store.
- Website for a business.
- Portfolio
- Online classes
- Wiki
- eCommerce Website
- Membership Website
Who uses WordPress?
WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world, powering 43% of all websites on the internet. In the world of website design, WordPress is a household name. From small businesses to major corporations, WordPress is beloved for its user-friendly interface and flexibility.
There are plenty of familiar brands and organizations that rely on WordPress to power their websites. These international organizations include Nintendo, Forbes, The Guardian, Sony Music, Adidas, and MTV.
There are also plenty of well-known celebrities that use WordPress. These will include the likes of Beyonce and Usain Bolt. With such an impressive user list, it’s no wonder WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems on the planet.
Here are a few popular websites that most of us recognize instantly:
Microsoft
Etsy
TEDBlog
Ahrefs
How to use WordPress?
In order to use WordPress, you first need a web hosting provider. What a hosting provider does in operate web servers that are able to run a variety of software. While WordPress has a few requirements in order to run, most web hosting companies today support WordPress by default due to the overwhelming popularity of WordPress.
The current requirements for installing WordPress are:
- PHP 5.2.4 or greater
- MySQL 5.0 or greater
- mod_rewrite Apache module
As a convenience to our customers, WPHUB offers both WordPress hosting as well as WordPress installation services. This ensures that our customers can quickly and easily have a website up and running immediately without the need for technical skills. Most of our customers opt for this option as the vast majority of WordPress users are more interested in writing and uploading photos to their website instead of being junior coders and database administrators.
That said, if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, you can always download the latest version of WordPress at WordPress.org and give it a shot. For additional reading, you can read our quick WordPress Installation Guide that will walk you through a typical install.
Is WordPress a software or website?
WordPress is a software application that lets users to create websites and publish content online. The actual WordPress website acts as a hub of information on how to use WordPress. It is free to download and use because it is released under the GNU Public License.
WordPress is popular because it is easy to use, offers a wide range of features, and can be customized with plugins and themes. WordPress powers millions of websites, including many large and popular sites. A team of volunteers develops WordPress, and anyone can contribute to the project. WordPress is a great option if you’re looking for an easy way to create a website
Using a Domain with WordPress
Domains are easy to remember and unique internet addresses so that people know how to get to your website. A domain is essentially an internet address that gives browsers directions on how to get to your website.
You can obtain a domain either directly through a domain name registrar or through your web hosting provider. For your own convenience and ease, we recommend you sign up for a domain through your hosting provider, as they will automatically configure your domain to point to your website.
Adding a domain to WordPress is simple, as the WordPress installer will automatically ask for you to enter in your domain and configure your website to use your domain information. If you are using WPHUB to install WordPress for you, then this will all be taken care of automatically as well.
How To Run a WordPress website
WordPress performs two main duties: letting visitors read and browse your website and letting you add and upload content. In order to prevent anyone from simply having access to your website, you are given an Administrator login and password when WordPress is installed. If you used WPHUB or another third-party installation service, your login and password will be issued to you from the service provider.
To view your website, simply go to your domain address in your browser after you have WordPress installed and you should see everything working. To start editing, you want to go to the Administrator login page, which is located at:www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin/ (replace yourdomain.com with your domain name)
Log in with your username and password and you will have access to the Administration area of WordPress. This is where you will want to play around and learn the ins and outs of WordPress, but to start you off, read Getting started with WordPress admin as well as getting started with WordPress.
It will likely take a little bit of exploration before you become totally comfortable with WordPress, but that’s the fun of it! Most of our users are just so excited to finally be running their own website that they take a lot of joy from simply publishing their first post.
When you are a bit more experienced, you can start reading on how to really push the full power of WordPress. Here’s some articles that we would recommend:
- Intro to Blogging
- Writing Posts
- Writing Pages
- WordPress Lessons
- Essential HTML for Editing WordPress Content
- Blogging by Email (useful for blogging from your phone)
Join WordPress Community
If you’re totally lost or need specific advice, the WordPress Support Forum is a good place to look for tips and advice on everything from installation tips to advanced WordPress hacking.
You can also attend WordCamp, which are worldwide WordPress events that are meant to introduce new and existing users to WordPress. WPHUB is proud to have sponsored WordCamps both in Seattle and Warsaw and was a presenter in Warsaw for WordCamp 2014.
We have started our own WPHub community group so join us on Facebook! We want your site to thrive so if you have any WordPress related questions pop-in and ask!
Conclusion
As you can see, WordPress is a versatile content management system that can be used for a wide variety of websites. The platform is easy to use and offers a variety of features, including a plugin architecture and a templating system.
Do you want to read how WordPress compares to one of the most popular website builders, Wix? If you want to learn more about the differences between Wix and WordPress, you can read more about our Wix vs WordPress full comparison guide. Wix is a super simple website builder and we dug deep into why WordPress is superior in certain features but falls short on others.
WordPress is also extendable, meaning that you can add new functionality to your website by installing plugins or themes. WordPress has the tools you need to get started, whether you’re looking to create a personal blog or an eCommerce store. If you are ready to start your own WordPress site, be sure to watch our WordPress for beginners course!
