When it comes to choosing the best website creation tool, there are a host of options, and it can be daunting trying to select the best one. WordPress is renowned for being one of the most popular website creation tools.
According to WordPress, “43% of the web uses WordPress, from hobby blogs to the biggest news sites online”. With a reported 68 million websites being run on WordPress, it is without a doubt the leader in this space. To put it into perspective, approximately one in four websites you visit are probably being powered by WordPress.
And if you are still in any doubt, Microsoft uses WordPress to power their official blog; it is also used by Facebook, Sony, Disney, and WordPress powers even the Rolling Stones official website.
What is WordPress?
WordPress has been going since 2003 and was predominantly used as a tool to create blogs. But since then, it has evolved into one of the best website builder and content management systems around. And the customisation options are enormous with various plugins (60,228 free plugins) and themes (10,046 free themes), enabling you to create any type of website. The only limit is your imagination!
WordPress is an open-source content management system that is licensed under GPLv2 (General Public License). In simple terms, that means anyone can download, install, and modify WordPress software for free.
WordPress allows you to manage various aspects of your website without needing any programming skills. In other words, you can build a website even if you aren’t a developer. There is no need to work with any form of code as you can easily configure your website and manage your content via your WordPress dashboard. As they say, “People with a limited tech experience can use it “out of the box”, and more tech-savvy folks can customise it in remarkable ways.”
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
If you Google WordPress, you will come up with 2 sites – WordPress.com and WordPress.org. When you hear about people referring to WordPress, they are generally referring to WordPress.org. The key difference between the two boils down to who is hosting your website.
WordPress.org
With WordPress.org, you are responsible for hosting your website or blog. This is the free, open-source software that you can install yourself – basically, all you need to get started is to organise web hosting and buy that all-important domain name.
It might sound rather technical, but it is very easy as many companies will register a domain name for you and provide you with access to a web server. This is the perfect option if you want full control over your website, especially when it comes to customisation.
WordPress.com
With WordPress.com, they will host your website, and you don’t need to download the software or manage a server. You will, however, have a WordPress sub-domain, although you can upgrade your account and buy a custom domain. This is probably a good choice if you want an easy all-in-one option – just remember that if you choose the free option, you won’t be able to upload any custom themes or plugins.
Advantages of WordPress
WordPress (and here we’re talking about WordPress.org) has many advantages, and let’s be honest, it’s free, and you can download it straight away and be up and running before you know it. And as mentioned earlier, you can also use and modify this free software according to your specific requirements. And before we delve a little deeper into all the benefits, WordPress is considered one of the more secure platforms.
User-friendly
But one of its key attributes is that it’s incredibly user-friendly and easy to use. You don’t require any technical expertise when it comes to building your site. Once WordPress has been downloaded, you will find that the dashboard is pretty intuitive and easy to manage, with different menu options in the sidebar. So there is everything you need to customise your site, from headings and layout to creating pages and posts and adding navigation menus. And just a reminder, all of this can be done without writing any code at all!
Versatile, adaptable and customisable
WordPress is exceptionally versatile and can run any type of website, from blogs to business sites and online stores. Another significant advantage is that it is accessible and user-friendly – you can also access your website from your desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile.
We love WordPress’s ease with which you can customise your site. It is simple to add custom features with the help of their numerous plugins and thousands of free themes or website template designs that can be installed with a single click.
You won’t battle to find the perfect theme for your site. One of the major advantages of their themes is how easy they are to customise. They generally come with their own option panel, which lets you easily change colours, and backgrounds and even upload your own logo. You also have the capacity to preview themes live and install them at any stage if you need to change the look or layout of your site.
And then, we come to those plugins that allow you to include custom functionality in terms of advanced features like contact forms, shopping carts, and galleries. You can also use analytic plugins that track the number of visitors to your site or one of our favorites, the SEO (search engine optimisation) plugin that helps you with your Google rankings. Plugins can also be activated, deactivated, and uninstalled as your requirements change.
SEO Friendly
WordPress is exceptionally SEO friendly as it is built with search engine traffic in mind. As we all know, ranking high on Google and other search engines is key to your success. Fortunately, WordPress sites tend to rank highly as their keyword are constantly updated. Let’s not forget that SEO plugin which will definitely go a long way to helping you optimize your content.
Blogging is another important aspect of SEO, as well as adding value to your users with original content. WordPress comes with a built-in blog section which makes it very easy to add extra content to your site.
Another aspect that is sometimes overlooked is whether or not your site is mobile responsive, which means your website needs to look good on any device. This is also a factor that can negatively impact your Google rankings. But with the host of responsive theme designs offered by WordPress, you shouldn’t have a problem. WordPress also has the functionality that enables you to make a static site responsive through adjustments to theme files and plugins.
Community Support
Because it is open source, it is supported by a global community who all participate, helping the platform to grow from strength to strength. The main advantage of open-sourced software is that it isn’t maintained by a company or one person.
WordPress is continually kept updated and secure through the changes made by the WordPress community. This community is full of thousands of users and developers, giving WordPress the longevity that other website builders don’t necessarily have.
This has ensured that WordPress is always up to date – any features that are considered standard when it comes to website software, you can be guaranteed that they are available on WordPress.
Conclusion
There are many benefits to using the WordPress platform. It’s easy to use, 100% customisable, and flexible no matter what type of site you require.
And let’s not forget it’s free, and once downloaded, you’re a few clicks away from being up and running and part of a massive global community.
And on a final note, remember WordPress is probably powering approximately one in four websites you visit.
