What is WordPress?

Put basically, WordPress is arguably the world’s premier platform for website creation. In a nutshell, WordPress allows even the most inexperienced website designers to put together their own site. It is simple to use, has a whole lot of different options for people of different computer skills, and it is absolutely and completely free.

It is thought that over 25% of the websites on the whole world wide web are powered by WordPress, with this number growing daily. This equates to almost 20 million individual websites. Sure, a lot of them may be defunct or poorly maintained, but this many people wouldn’t use the platform if it wasn’t simple to use, useful, and engaging.

What makes WordPress stand out above other website creation platforms?

Although WordPress is the most popular, there are actually plenty of different website creation platforms out there. Some, such as Weebly, are actually similar to WordPress. Others, such as Shopify, are designed with a specific purpose in mind. The thing which makes WordPress stand out above most other platforms is its simple customizability.

Depending on what you want to do, WordPress is by far the simplest platform for new website builders. For example, if you want to set up an online shop, all you need to do is install a shop friendly theme, find a few plugins to help you receive payments and store customer details, and there you have it – the makings of an online business in just a few clicks of your mouse button!

How do I get started on WordPress?

Well, this depends on what you want to do. WordPress is completely free, so there is no harm in setting up an account and just having a go!

There are actually two different versions of WordPress (more on that later), which both offer different perks. All you need to do is decide which version you want to use, create an account, and follow the prompts to get started. If you are new to website building then you can find plenty of different tutorials and how to videos through Google, and these should help you get going on your website building adventure.

Now, a comparison of the two WordPress platforms:

WordPress.com

If you want to create a simple blog or informational website, WordPress.com is probably right for you. All of the hosting of your site is done by wordpress, so you don’t have to worry about anything more than customising its look, adding your content, and sitting back and relaxing!

Pros:

• It is free.
• You won’t have to pay for a domain or for hosting (unless your website turns out to be very popular!).
• It is very simple to use.

Cons:

• Your domain will include “WordPress.com” unless you pay a premium to remove it.
• You are limited with how much you can customise.
• You will need to pay to upload videos.

WordPress.org

WordPress.org is the more advanced platform, and is used by the majority of serious web developers. It gives you almost full customizability, but doesn’t include any hosting or domain registration.

Pros:

• You won’t have to pay to upgrade your site – WordPress.org is completely free.
• You will have much greater access to plugins.

Cons:

• If you aren’t a computer wiz, you might find WordPress.org to be a bit confusing.
• It can be very hard to choose from the thousands of themes and plugins.
• You will have to pay for hosting and your own domain.

Final word:

In reality, if you are a new web designer without a lot of experience, you are going to use WordPress. If you want more customizability and freedom of design, use WordPress.org. However, if you just want a simple blog which allows you to upload content regularly without having to put a lot of work in, then you should probably use WordPress.com.