What The Heck Is Wordpress?
It's no exaggeration to say that WordPress is the cornerstone of the modern web. Millions of businesses of all sizes depend on WordPress in some capacity to keep their business online. But what exactly is WordPress? And is it a good fit for your business? If so, how do you use it? Building a website can be very overwhelming if you've never done it before, and you can easily get bogged down in jargon and technical terminology that makes it impossible to make meaningful progress. But have no fear! In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more.
But first, if you want to skip the read, TLDR (Too Long, Didn't Read): WordPress is a no-code website building platform that makes building professional and functional websites approachable for non technical folks.
What Can I Build With Wordpress?
While there will limitations with any no-code or low-code website building solution, you can genuinely build almost anything with Wordpress so long as you're comfortable with some compromise. Ecommerce sites, Informational sites, Blog sites and more can all be built on WordPress.
.com vs .org
Interestingly, WordPress actually has two very similar platforms, WordPress.org (.org) and WordPress.com (.com). The functional difference between the two boils down to how much control and freedom they provide to their user, and how simple they are to use. Both are platforms for building a website, but with .com you can quite literally be up and running in minutes for as little as $4/mo. On the flip side, it isn't nearly as customizable as .org. WordPress.org will require you to "host" the site yourself, which usually means turning to a hosting provider like Bluehost.com, Rocket.net or GoDaddy (yuck). This can be a little more complicated in the short term, and potentially more expensive. Many hosting providers will provide a "Managed WordPress" solution, where they handle all of the initial setup of your WordPress site for you, which I recommend using if you don't have a dedicated IT person. These can start as low as $8.99/mo and scale with your business as it grows.
The next logical questions are "Should I be using WordPress?" and "Which of the two should I use?". To answer the first question, if you don't currently have a website and are looking to make one then you should consider WordPress, although I'd checkout out this other post first. WordPress is a part of a group of no-code website building platforms, along with other platforms like Wix and SquareSpace. WordPress.com is most similar to Wix and SquareSpace. If you just want a simple and cheap website that is up and running fast, I would recommend using SquareSpace, but Wordpress.com is a feasible alternative. Conversely, If you want something that you can sink your teeth into and try to build out exactly how you want it, WordPress.org would be the way to go.
But how exactly do you use Wordpress? Well, that's outside of the scope of this article. If you want to build a website alone, there is a lot to consider. Doing it alone is certainly feasible, but for total beginners I would recommend Wordpress.com over Wordpress.org, or another solution entirely. You could also always reach out to us for a consultation 😉
