WordPress is a content management system, or CMS. A CMS lets you build your website in a user-friendly online platform, organizing the design and content of your site with ease. WordPress comes in two forms, WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
WordPress.com is a totally free online platform hosted by WordPress. However, because WordPress is the host, your site is very restricted when it comes to customization.
WordPress.org is also free to use, but it has two main differences from WordPress.com. With WordPress.org, WordPress doesn’t host your site. This means you’ll need to pay for a host, like Bluehost or Hostgator, which costs as little as $60 a year. WordPress.org also lets you customize your website to your heart’s content. This is the recommended option for businesses and brands. You pay a little in hosting fees, but you have the ultimate freedom to manage your website.
WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com vs. WordPress VIP
The difference between WordPress.org, WordPress.com, and WordPress VIP has to do with who is actually hosting your website.
When you use the WordPress.org software, you host your own website (AKA “self-hosted WordPress”) or blog using a third-party hosting provider. You’ll need to purchase web hosting and a domain name, install the WordPress software on your hosting, and then manage your site going forward. While most web hosting services give you a lot of tools to make this easier, it’s still a more hands-on experience than WordPress.com.
WordPress.com offers to host your website for you, more like a software-as-a-service tool (SaaS). You also don’t need to download any software or manage a server. You can either use a WordPress.com subdomain for free (e.g. yoursite.wordpress.com), or you can pay to use your own custom domain name (e.g., yoursite.com), which I think is a better approach for most websites.
WordPress VIP hosts and manages WordPress for the biggest websites on the web. The platform is built to meet the scalability challenges of the biggest media properties, the security requirements of major government agencies, and the implementation needs of the most sophisticated enterprise companies.
How to Choose Between WordPress.org, WordPress.com, or WordPress VIP
You may be wondering whether WordPress.org or WordPress.com would be a better fit. Let’s review a few more of the pros and cons that come with both options, so you can make an informed decision.
WordPress.org is ideal if you want full power over customizing and controlling your website. However, there is more responsibility that comes with managing a WordPress.org website. You have to purchase and set up your own domain name, upload and install plugins and a theme, update your website’s software, and maintain your website’s security. WordPress.org is free to use, but you have to pay for everything else that goes into having a website.
I think that WordPress.org is still definitely something that a non-technical user can handle, but it’s still not as easy as WordPress.com.
WordPress.com is preferable if you’re looking for an all-in-one option that has most of the hard work done for you. You’ll never need to manage your server, pay for your hosting, or buy a domain. There are also a number of customization options that come with a WordPress.com plan to help you make your website look the way you want it to.
WordPress.com has a free and paid version. If you stick with the free version, you can’t upload any custom themes or plugins, and you will have a WordPress subdomain. I think this makes the free plan unsuitable for most serious websites.
If you want to use your own custom domain name and install your own WordPress themes and plugins, you’ll need to pay for at least the WordPress.com Creator plan, which costs $40 per month (or $25 per month if you pay annually). If you’re running a high-traffic, high-security enterprise website that provides a sophisticated and differentiated digital experience, WordPress VIP is a great CMS choice.
1. Accessibility and Ease of Use
WordPress offers a user-friendly interface that makes website management and content creation a breeze. Its intuitive navigation and straightforward dashboard allow users to efficiently navigate different sections and perform tasks.
You don’t need to be a coding expert to build and manage your website. WordPress provides a visual editor and a variety of pre-built elements, allowing you to customize your website’s design and layout that aligns with your brand and appeals to your target audience without writing a single line of code.
Format text, add images and videos, and organize your content into categories and tags with just a few clicks. Even users with limited technical knowledge can quickly adapt to this straightforward content management system.
2. Extensive Plugin Library
WordPress boasts an extensive plugin library, allowing users to customize and extend their websites effortlessly. Plugins are pre-built tools that add specific features and capabilities to your site. Leveraging plugins enables you to expand and enhance your website’s capabilities without extensive coding or development work.
Simply search for the desired functionality, install the plugin, and activate it to add or improve new features. You can find plugins that allow you to add features like contact forms, social media integration, e-commerce capabilities, and more. They’ll enable you to tailor your website to meet your requirements and goals.
Some of our favorite plugins include:
- Yoast SEO for optimizing your site
- WooCommerce for building powerful online stores
- WP Forms for capturing leads and inquiries
3. SEO-Friendly Features
By default, WordPress is a search engine-friendly platform. It has countless themes that help you improve your overall website experience. WordPress also has built-in tools and plugins that help you enhance your website’s performance.
Yoast, for example, helps you optimize meta tags, headings, and image alt tags.
Aside from Yoast, WordPress seamlessly integrates with various SEO plugins. You can create XML sitemaps, run keyword analysis, generate on-page SEO recommendations, and connect your website to social media.
4. Responsive Design and Mobile Compatibility
WordPress prioritizes mobile responsiveness, ensuring your website looks and functions seamlessly on various screen sizes and devices. Its responsive design adapts your website’s layout and elements to provide an optimal viewing experience for users accessing your site from smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices.
WordPress’s mobile responsiveness takes advantage of Google’s mobile-first indexing, which predominantly uses the mobile version of a website’s content for indexing and ranking purposes.
This improves your website’s visibility in search engine results and delivers consistent and user-friendly experiences across different platforms and browsers, reaching a wider audience, enhancing user satisfaction, and increasing your website’s traffic.
5. Community Support and Active Development
WordPress provides extensive online documentation and tutorials for users. Whether a beginner or an experienced user, you can access comprehensive guides, tutorials, and documentation to learn how to use WordPress effectively.
And since WordPress evolves and improves through regular updates and new releases, its large user community is useful for keeping up with the platform’s latest improvements.
You can find support forums where users exchange knowledge, ask questions, and provide solutions. You can also check the Web.com blog where we offer website-building and WordPress-specific guides.
6. Scalability and Flexibility
Whether you’re building a blog, an online store, or a Wiki page – WordPress has the plugins and features to help you build it.
WordPress also handles high traffic volumes and accommodates increased website visitors with its robust infrastructure and optimized code. Along with a good web host, your website can effortlessly grow along with your business.
7. Cost-Effectiveness
Unlike other platforms, WordPress is free and open source, so you can download, install, and use it without incurring any licensing fees.
If you’re unsure about using WordPress to host your website, you can sign up for a free account and explore the platform. You’ll be automatically given a free subdomain to work with (for example: yourbusiness.wordpress.com).
In addition, there are free add-ons (plugins, themes) that you can use for your site.
8. Security and Reliability
Aside from allowing you to set passwords and user levels, WordPress lets you further improve your website’s security with plugins.
These plugins can be for malware protection, firewall installation and even for auto-backup and real-time monitoring. It’s essential you keep your WordPress site up to date too. The platform regularly releases new versions to address vulnerabilities and other threats.
9. Hosting Your WordPress Website isn’t a Hassle!
Finally, you can host WordPress on various hosting platforms, from a shared hosting environment to a dedicated server –whatever suits your budget.
Pro tip: Make the most out of your WordPress website with WordPress Hosting! As the name implies, this hosting setup is built specifically for websites built on WordPress.
Conclusion
WordPress has attracted millions of users and powers the majority of websites worldwide. As the most popular content management system (CMS), it is the first choice for most people who wants to build their own website.
This article has listed ten main reasons why you should use WordPress as your preferred CMS:
- The WordPress software is free and open-source.
- Users gain full control and ownership of their websites.
- The platform is SEO-friendly.
- There are tons of customization options in WordPress.
- It is suitable for online stores.
- WordPress focuses on speed.
- It has a huge and active community.
- WordPress platform is secure.
- Easy to learn.
- The best option for bloggers.
Now, you have learned the advantages of using WordPress to build a website. We hope this article has helped you decide whether this CMS is the best choice for your needs. Don’t forget to check out our WordPress tutorials for more useful tips and tricks.