WordPress is a free, open-source website creation platform. On a more technical level, WordPress is a content management system (CMS) written in PHP that uses a MySQL database. In non-geek speak, WordPress is the easiest and most powerful blogging and website builder in existence today.
WordPress is an excellent website platform for a variety of websites. From blogging to e-commerce to business and portfolio websites, WordPress is a versatile CMS. Designed with usability and flexibility in mind, WordPress is a great solution for both large and small websites.
What is a WordPress Website?
A WordPress website is any website that uses WordPress as its content management system (CMS). WordPress powers both the backend of the website (the interface where a user logs in to make changes or add new content) and the frontend (the visible part of the website that your visitors see on the web).
Here are just a few examples of the types of websites you can build with WordPress:
- Blog – A blog is a special type of website devoted to sharing thoughts, photos, reviews, tutorials, recipes and so much more. Blogs usually display the most recently-published content first.
- E-commerce website – An e-commerce website allows you to sell goods or services online and collect payment via an online payment system. You can download and install a WordPress e-commerce plugin to extend the default functionality of WordPress so you can have an online store on your website.
- Business website – Many businesses will benefit from having an online presence in the form of their own website. If your business needs a website for customers to learn about your company and what you have to offer, WordPress is an excellent option. Customers can contact you, ask for a quote, schedule an appointment and much more.
- Membership website – A membership website allows you to put content behind a paywall or an account login. To access pages or posts, users must login or pay for the content. WordPress can also handle membership websites with additional plugins.
- Portfolio website – Show off your artwork, design skills and more with a portfolio website built on WordPress.
- Forum website – A forum website can be a helpful place for users to ask questions or share advice. Believe it or not, many forum websites run on WordPress.
- Event website – Hosting an event? WordPress makes it easy for you to share your event details and sell tickets.
- E-learning website – Students can take online courses, track their progress, download resources and much more from an e-learning website. With a special kind of plugin called a WordPress LMS plugin, you can offer online courses from a WordPress website.
- Wedding website – Share the details of your big day with a wedding website built on WordPress. With an array of WordPress wedding themes, you can get a website up quickly and easily.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to customizing a WordPress website. WordPress themes and plugins can add new design options and added functionality. Check out WordPress.org for free themes and plugins.
Is WordPress right for me?
If you’re wondering why WordPress is such a widely used website content management system, here are some of the benefits of WordPress as a website platform:
- Simplicity: WordPress allows you to publish and build your website content quickly. Even as a beginner, you can easily use WordPress.
- The cost is free – The actual WordPress software available on WordPress.org is free to download and use. You will, however, need to pay for web hosting and a domain name.
- Flexibility: WordPress allows you to create many types of websites from personal blogs and online stores to online magazines and newspapers.
- Easy to use – If you can use a word processing software like Microsoft Word, you can use WordPress to build and manage a website.
- Open-source software – WordPress is open-source software that is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), meaning it isn’t owned by a single company or entity. Hundreds of developers and users collaborate and contribute to the software to make it better. The spirit of open-source means constant improvements, accountability and free usage for everyone.
- No need to know code – WordPress removes the requirement of needing to know how to code in order to build a website. While WordPress utilizes a variety of coding languages, there’s no need to know any of them to use WordPress.
- Extendable with WordPress plugins – The core WordPress software can be extended with WordPress plugins. WordPress plugins are bits of software that you can upload to your website to add more features (such as e-commerce, SEO, backups, contact forms and more). There are thousands of free WordPress plugins available on the WordPress.org plugin directory and a thriving premium (paid) plugins industry.
- Highly customizable with WordPress themes – WordPress themes provide the design and layout of your website. With a click of a button, you can change the entire look of your website by applying a new WordPress theme. More advanced WordPress themes are more like WordPress page builders, giving you even more control of your layouts.
- Website security – While no website platform is 100% secure, WordPress security continues to improve with a vigilant security team of core developers and users. Common WordPress security issues are usually due to user error, rather than the software itself.
- A thriving community of users and developers – When you have a WordPress website, you can also get involved in the greater WordPress community through your local WordPress Meetup, WordCamps and more. The WordPress community has a reputation of being incredibly welcoming, helpful and innovative.
- A premium plugin and theme industry – While there are loads of free plugins and themes, most serious WordPress website owners invest in premium (paid) plugins or themes. Why? Your purchase of a reputable premium plugin or theme helps pay for the ongoing development and support of the plugin or theme, including new features, security patches and more.
WordPress Features
As a website building platform and CMS, WordPress boasts an impressive feature set. Here are just a few of the many features of WordPress.
- SEO – Search Engine Optimization (SEO) begins at a technical level and WordPress delivers an exceptional code base for SEO. SEO allows your website’s content to be found via common search engines such as Google or Bing. Check out these free WordPress SEO training videos to learn more.
- Speed – WordPress is a lean website framework that is constantly striving to remove code “bloat” that slows down the loading speed of a website.
- Mobile-friendly – Most WordPress themes are now mobile-friendly or responsive out-of-the-box.
- Media file library – WordPress includes a built-in media library where you can upload and embed media files such as images or videos into your pages or posts. You can even perform basic edits to your images within WordPress.
- Easy-to-use user interface – WordPress is very easy to use with no complicated settings. If you can use a WordPress processor, you can use WordPress. WordPress also has a focus on accessibility.
- Custom menus – WordPress makes it easy to create navigation menus with links to your pages or custom links.
- Built-in blog – Adding a blog to your website is as simple as publishing a post.
- New in WordPress 5.0: The WordPress Block Editor – WordPress 5.0 introduced the new Block Editor, also known as the Gutenberg WordPress Editor. The new editor transforms the way you edit WordPress pages and posts. Now you can design and arrange your content with a more flexible “drag and drop” approach.
About WordPress
WordPress began in 2003 when Mike Little and Matt Mullenweg forked a little-known blogging tool known as B2/cafelog. Little and Mullenweg sought to create a better blogging platform, built on the original B2 code base, but with more robust features and more consistent development.
The result is WordPress. First a tool for blogging, WordPress quickly grew to be an extensive content management system (CMS) able to handle a variety of websites.
WordPress Usage Statistics Across the Web
According to usage statistics of content management systems now report that WordPress powers over 60 million websites, or 36% of all websites on the internet and over 60% of all websites whose content management systems are known.
Because WordPress is free and so easy to use, it has been widely adopted as the gold standard for website builders.
Who uses WordPress?
Rest easy, knowing you’re in good company if you use WordPress to publish on the web. Many famous blogs, news outlets, music sites, Fortune 500 companies and celebrities are using WordPress, including NBC, CBS, USA Today, Time, Disney, Airbnb, Spotify, TechCrunch and even the Pioneer Woman.
If you’re ever curious about who uses WordPress, head on over to the WordPress site showcase and you’ll be impressed by the number of well-known sites and famous people using WordPress to power their websites.
WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org
If you’re just getting started with WordPress, there are a few important things to know. First up, you’ll need to know the difference between WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org.
The difference between WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org can be a little confusing if you are new to using WordPress.
- WordPress.com is the hosted version of WordPress, where you can create a WordPress.com account to make a blog or website.
- By default, your website’s URL or domain will include the word “WordPress,” like myblog.wordpress.com.
- Paid upgrades include a custom domain, Google Analytics integration, more storage space, the ability to add your own plugins and themes and more.
- WordPress.com is owned by Automattic, a company founded by one of the original WordPress creators, Matt Mullenweg.
- WordPress.org is where you can download the WordPress software to install on your own server or web hosting account.
- The WordPress software is open-source, so it is free to download and use.
- To use the WordPress.org version of WordPress, you’ll need to have a domain name and web hosting, purchased from another reputable company like Liquidweb.
- Most web hosts offer a WordPress “quick install” or done-for-you installations of WordPress to help you get started if you don’t want to install WordPress yourself.
- WordPress.org is the non-profit foundation of Automattic.
How do I start using WordPress?
Now you’re probably asking, “how do I start WordPress?”
Again, WordPress is free. Yep, that’s right – it’s 100% free. You can get started today with a WordPress website in just a few steps.
You’ll just need a few things to get started with WordPress:
- Quality web hosting
- A domain name
- The WordPress software installed on your website (most web hosts will handle this for you.)
If you’d rather use the hosted version of WordPress available on WordPress.com, you’ll simply need to create a WordPress.com account to get started.
What is a WordPress Plugin?
A WordPress plugin is a package of additional code that you can upload to your website to add new features, functionality or integrations.
- Plugins can be added via the Plugins menu in your WordPress dashboard.
- Using the built-in search function, you can find a free plugin available on the WordPress.org Plugin directory.
- Plugins can also be packaged as zip files that you upload through the Plugins menu uploader in your WordPress dashboard.
