WordPress is an open-source platform that helps publish content from bloggers by providing them with an intuitive and efficient content management system (CMS). These platforms allow website owners to manage their blogs, writing and moderating roles of other contributors, overall creating an organised blogging dashboard.
WordPress Pros and Cons
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Pros |
Cons |
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WordPress excels in the design, features, and availability of tools. Customising your WordPress website is easy and without any limits.
The extensive list of tools, plugins and design aids makes WordPress a designer’s delight. WordPress enables you to access their codes and customise pre-made themes without constraints. You also get access to numerous plugins, themes, and templates to enrich your Website with various functions and features. |
WordPress is a self-hosted platform, and a website owner is responsible for setting up the hosting. Working in WordPress blogs means you oversee managing your hosting. Setting up the hosting is an uphill task, making managing it even more challenging. It requires a massive amount of time and excellent technical knowledge. Many keep inclining towards WordPress for its functionality but are unaware of the complexity of setting up the hosting. |
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WordPress allows the integration of third-party tools to help in website building and designing. Websites require different tools and plugins depending on the niche and customer base. If you own an eCommerce website, a customer forum, shopping tools, membership profile sections, etc., are needed to help your business grow. The plugins library is full of various plugins to enhance your Website’s functionality. You can also install third-party tools via coding. |
Proper coding knowledge is required to manage different issues, including troubleshooting in WordPress. Being an open-source platform, WordPress doesn’t have customer services for solving your problems while building or designing your site. However, there are WordPress communities to help you with any issue you may be facing. There could be issues that you are unable to solve yourself. In that case, you can search for a developer to help you troubleshoot. |
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Hosting is a crucial part of developing your Website. WordPress is a self-hosted site, meaning there is no compulsion to choose to host. You can pick whichever hosting you like or the one that provides maximum benefit and outcome. |
The platform focuses on coding for customization, so you need to have prior knowledge of coding to set up or design the various components of the Website. Suppose you are willing to change an image on the Website. In that case, you need to change the code of the existing theme with the help of HTML or CSS knowledge. Otherwise, you can hire a developer to do it for you. |
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WordPress is a free platform and is very popular among website owners. Therefore, many WordPress communities are available where you can instantly find an answer to any lurking question. |
WordPress learning curves are steeper than any other website-building platform. It is an intricate platform that requires proper knowledge and the ability to research. It may not be easy for newbies, but if you want something more advanced with versatility, then WordPress would be your answer. |
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
There are two types of WordPress available- WordPress.com and WordPress.org. While WordPress.com is a hosted website-building platform that works on a monthly subscription basis, WordPress.org is an open-source platform that is free and allows self-hosting.
WordPress.org is a little more complex than WordPress.com in terms of integrations, hosting set-up, customization, etc. Despite the high learning curve, WordPress.org gives users total control over their Website. WordPress.com, on the other hand, has limited control and flexibility.
Having a self-hosted website has its benefits which WordPress.org has. Having a self-hosted website means you are not limited to any specific choice; you can choose your hosting provider for maximum functionality.
Choosing the right hosting provider ideal for better speed and site security is possible with a self-hosted platform. Hosting providers offer unlimited bandwidth and unlimited space on specific paid plans, which is great for when the number of visitors increases.
1. How Does WordPress Work?
WordPress is a highly customizable website-building platform that allows developers to add required features and functions to a website to make it work as intended. It is like a blank canvas where you add widgets, plugins, and numerous other elements to make it serve a purpose.
For example, you are given a blank template to which you add plugins like product listing, shopping button, cart, and payment option, and you can make it work like an eCommerce site. Similarly, with the help of straightforward CMS and a few social media integrations, you can create a blogging site in WordPress. WordPress gives you ultimate control over managing your content-heavy Website, moderating the page roles, and the flexibility to customize and design a site based on its niche.
2. Who Can Ideally Use WordPress and Get Benefitted?
A website builder can be worked out without a truckload of features and tools, as many of these come for extra money.
So, you must be careful about which features you need and then ignore the others. An overdose of features can often make a website builder more instigating, especially if you have no technological background. Here is a list of people who are ideal for WordPress-
- With Previous History of Owning a Website,
If you have prior knowledge of how website builders work and, what it takes to create a website, the benefits and pain points, then WordPress is great for you. It is not a platform for people without any technological background.
- Wanting to Have Freedom and Flexibility
If you are looking for a website-building platform that offers unlimited freedom in designing and customising your Website, WordPress is your ultimate choice. With the power of using coded plugins, WordPress offers you more freedom than website builders with pre-made themes and designs.
- Requirement of Dedicated Features
If your Website depends on specialised features to grow, WordPress is the right builder for you. WordPress platform is dedicated towards customisation, which enables flexibility. Also, WordPress has niche-specific tools and plugins.
- With Content-heavy Websites,
WordPress is known for its excellent content management system, which is great for websites with a lot of content.
- Enough Time and Money to Contribute
to Learning WordPress and understanding its features requires adequate time. Moreover, if you cannot do it alone, you must hire a developer to help you design and manage your Website, which will cost you money. WordPress is for you if you are willing to spend that much time and money for excellent results.
3. What are the Costs Associated with WordPress?
If it is not possible to accurately tell how much a website costs with WordPress as it depends on various factors. However, the following chart will give you an apparent idea as it shows the breakdown of the costs to set up a website with WordPress-
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Description |
Significance |
Price |
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Monthly subscription |
Not Required |
$0 |
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Apps/plugins |
Required |
$0 – $100+ monthly |
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Themes |
Required |
$0 – $50+ additional upfront charges |
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Hosting |
Required |
$2.95 – $85 monthly |
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Security |
Required |
$0 – $200 annually |
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Professional help |
Not Required |
$80 – $180 per hour |
4. Setting Up WordPress
Setting up a WordPress Website is easy and takes five simple steps. These are-
Step 1: Select and purchase a domain name from a domain name registrar.
Step 2: Find a good hosting provider that gives you ultimate flexibility.
Step 3: Set up WordPress using your hosting provider’s console.
Step 4: Download FTP and learn how to use it.
Step 5: With the help of your hosting provider, point your domain name to the hosting provider.
Hosting Options with WordPress
WordPress is a self-hosted website builder, which means you can choose your hosting provider depending on what you expect from your Website.
Among all the hosting providers, Bluehost emerges as the ideal one as it has three WordPress-specific plans.
Here are two different categories of WordPress hosting-
- Self-Managed Hosting
Starting at $3 to $5 a month, this Hosting allows setting up WordPress on your hosting dashboard, troubleshooting, protecting your site from hackers, and using third-party backups to secure your Website content.
- Fully managed Hosting
With a higher monthly cost, Fully-managed Hosting is a WordPress-specific hosting that is flexible to accommodate the traffic as the Website grows.
5. Themes of WordPress
WordPress has many themes created by professionals worldwide. There are generic or niche-specific themes available in the library. WordPress has two types of themes: free themes and paid themes.
6. WordPress Plugins
Like free and paid themes, WordPress also has two types of plugins. According to your Website’s needs, you can choose from thousands of plugins available in WordPress’s plugin library. Although free plugins are good to go, it’s a paid plugin regularly updated with newer features.
7. SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which roughly means the ability of your Website to rank in a search engine or the chance of getting SERP visibility. WordPress’s in-built SEO and third-party SEO boosters ensure your site has increased visibility.
8. WordPress Communities, Support, and Resources
WordPress are popular for its supportive community that has the answer to all your problems related to setting up a website or troubleshooting. Due to WordPress’s massive popularity, there are many free tutorials and resources to learn the basics of WordPress.
Conclusion
WordPress is ideal for someone who needs more complexity in a professional or business website. Before going with WordPress, you must understand the expenses and time requirements.
