Why is wordpress good

There are different types of hosting and hosting providers that you can choose to better optimize your website speed and security. Your site speed and security will become progressively more important as your website grows and gain more visitors. Losing control over this can hamper your website in the long run.

WordPress is one of THE most flexible website builders. This lets you customize it or build new features however you like. You can make it work the way you want! Large Professional Community — Because WordPress is so popular, it is very easy to find a good WordPress developer anywhere in the world. Not to mention there are lots of online classes and tutorials that you can access to learn how to use WordPress.

The huge community makes WordPress much more approachable as long as you have the time and cash to invest in the initial learning process. Almost infinite number of plugins — As WordPress is open source, anyone with coding skills can create tools, themes, plugins and features for it. This huge library of plugins is what gives WordPress its flexibility and is one of its biggest draws. Need a product management tool? A payment tool? Maybe a membership access tool? Think WordPress might be too technical for you?

For example , Shopify is one of the leading ecommerce platforms and so provides you with a cart abandonment tool e. Makes sense, right? How do you manage your content on WordPress? Well: Visual: The visual editor is like using Microsoft Word.

You can add formatting and see it reflected in your content, so it gives you an indication of how it will look when published. Text: The text editor is like using Notepad.

You have to type out all the formatting and styling that you want to add e. Not sold? However, WordPress can make it easy for you to manage a content-heavy website in three key ways: 1 You get automatic content consistency WordPress theme templates come with pre-set layout designs for post and pages, so everything you publish will automatically display in the same way.

Exceptions to the rule that you need to know about : Wix Code Overview — Released in late , Wix Code is an awesome new tool that enables you to easily create, edit, and manage site-wide page layout designs just like WordPress does.

Best of all? Check it out now! Ecommerce Platforms — Ecommerce drag-and-drop platforms, like Shopify and BigCommerce, are very good at managing massive amounts of content. This is because these platforms are created for the sole purpose of helping you build, grow and manage an online store as easily as possible and this potentially means stocking lots of products that each need their own page.

Installing plugins and themes on WordPress is pretty simple. For plugins , you can actually find and select the plugin you want to use directly from your WordPress control panel, which you can see below: For free themes , you can find and select the free theme you want to use directly in your WordPress as well.

To keep issues to a minimum, we recommend following these best practices: Always choose plugins or themes that are created by reputable developers. You can identify these developers as they will usually have a very large user base. Limit the number of plugins you are using to keep code incompatibility to a minimum. Like WordPress. The bottom line In my opinion, WordPress is not something I would suggest for people with limited technology skills, or for those who have never owned a website before.

Unsure if WordPress is right for you? Check out our detailed comparison chart to see how they compare with each other, and find one that is perfect for you.

Take our quiz now to get started. Set up WordPress in your hosting client console this varies by hosting provider Download and learn how to use FTP the tech publication Wired have a super in-depth guide for FTP beginners that may prove handy Point your domain name to your hosting provider you can often do this through your hosting provider! Bluehost goes hand-in-hand with WordPress, offering three WordPress-specific plans: WordPress Managed WordPress WooCommerce for selling online Generally speaking, though, WordPress hosting is categorized into two types: self-managed hosting and fully-managed hosting.

With self-managed hosting, you will be responsible for: Setting up WordPress on your hosting dashboard Troubleshooting any issues with your website if you need support, you can contact customer support, but they expect you to have a minimum understanding of hosting and the technicalities that comes with it! This is essential because if there are any issues, you want to have a backup you can restore your website from. Self-managed hosting recommended providers: Bluehost — recommended by WordPress itself, BlueHost is reliable and cost-effective.

It offers a 1-click install option to make your life as easy as possible, plus a free SSL certificate and a free domain name for the first year. It also offers a free domain name for the first year. There are both pros and cons with free themes. To avoid this, find free themes offered by reputable developers. Many developers offer free versions of their themes as a promotional item.

If you have a very simple website, the free version may be enough to cover your needs. If you have any trouble using the theme, you are on your own. Some free theme providers allow you to use the theme for free and you can pay for technical support on an hourly basis when you need any help. One-Time Payment You only pay once for this type of theme and it usually comes with a fixed support time of between months.

W3Tech made extensive research into how popular each CMS is. See the result:. Note that popular websites such as news outlets, Fortune company websites, and celebrity sites also use WordPress.

You may be wondering — Why the hype? Why is it so popular? The following section explains why WordPress is a safe bet for you. The features below apply to wordpress. Please check this article on the difference between wp. The WP core software is free to download. This is probably the strongest reason why WordPress is this popular.

So anyone can check it out without paying for the privilege. However, every website needs a domain name and a host. Although there are a couple of companies offering free hosting plans, we do not recommend such. To get started, go to the WordPress official website. Then, click Get WordPress. This will bring you to the WordPress download page. Click the Download button. Now you own the latest version of the WP software without paying a dime. Go ahead and install it.

Alternatively, you can get WordPress using the one-click installation method. Most WordPress hosting companies provide this facility. See our guide on WP one-click installations to know more about it. WordPress will definitely be a part of the list along with other website builders like Weebly, Joomla, Squarespace, Shopify, Blogger, Magento, etc.

They are all great for building websites. However, the closed-source ones like Squarespace, Shopify, and Blogger come with a couple of limitations. For instance:. This is similar to renting instead of owning an online space. However, with WordPress:. Coding sometimes feels like rocket science.

Non-techies avoid tasks like website building as a result. Thankfully, WordPress websites are easy to build without having to touch any code. All you need to get your website up and running are a couple of WP tutorials.

The platform was built with everyone regardless of your technical background in mind. Note the following points. Instead, WordPress lets you know about the update in the dashboard, where you can usually complete the process in less than one minute. At one point in time that was, in fact, the case. WordPress was developed as a blogging platform , but that has changed drastically with the various new releases over the years.

In fact, WordPress is at an advantage due to its blogging roots. Some website building tools think about design and apps first, then the blogging interface comes in as an afterthought.

Clearly, the list goes on and on. The good news with WordPress is that the functionality for things like forums and ecommerce websites is achieved with simple plugins and themes.

So, for instance, if I wanted to make an online portfolio for my web design business, I could go with the theme below. All it would require is a small one-time fee, an upload of some demo data, and whatever changes I wanted to make myself. The screenshot below is a rather popular ecommerce theme that pairs with the WooCommerce plugin. WooCommerce is one of the primary ways you turn your regular WordPress website into a functioning online store, with payment processing, a shopping cart, and product galleries.

Check out this in-depth tutorial on how to install WooCommerce. There are also plenty of other eCommerce plugins like Easy Digital Downloads typically used for selling digital products and WP Ecommerce. Check out this in-depth tutorial on how to install Easy Digital Downloads.

The final example below shows a forum. This website was constructed using a theme, but you might also consider looking around the internet for some forum plugins. Write down the feature you need, then go to Google and see if there are any plugins or themes to fit your needs. Feel free to check out the long list of accepted file types for WordPress , but know that the following primary categories are all accepted:.

You can expect to upload common files like. Yes, WordPress supports pretty much any type of media. Check out this full list of places to find free images for WordPress. As an excellent example of WordPress media support, the Sony Music website promotes both music tracks and videos. Therefore, you can often find several forms of video and audio clips on the website. The Variety website also uses WordPress, and its homepage is littered with items like background images, short video clips, movie trailers, animations, music tracks, and galleries from film shoots and TV shows.

As an open-source software, WordPress can be used by anyone. Sure, there are plenty of things to learn about WordPress, but any person could play around with the dashboard for ten minutes and start to absorb how the interface works.

You can either pay extra money for dedicated support or work through the WordPress forums. For instance, you might follow a blog like this to receive a consistent flow of WordPress tips in your email inbox.

On the other hand, you can also search Google to locate immediate solutions WPBeginner is known for quick fixes. For example, the WP website is a well-known training spot with flawless video course on the following topics:.

The primary WordPress support forum should do the trick for most of your development situations. In the screenshot below it shows topics for fixing WordPress, networking with WordPress, localhost installs , regular installations, and more. As for premium plugins and themes, those developers typically provide their own dedicated support through knowledge bases, forums , ticketing systems, and email. The same goes for a business website or portfolio. After that, the design work is minimal besides some color changes, logo additions, and of course, the new pages and blog posts.

But every once in awhile you realize that something new needs to be added to your website. Maybe your customers are clamoring for a membership section of your site, or maybe you realized that a monthly quiz is a great way to get customers to interact with your brand. In both of these situations, a plugin rectifies the issue. For instance, there are plenty of excellent membership plugins that convert part of your site into a community.

Some of them are free, while others you have to pay for. The same goes for quiz plugins. Yes, plugins typically run the show when it comes to adding functionality to your site. Most of the time you only need one theme at site launch. A great example of this was when Google started rewarding mobile responsive websites.

Within a year it seemed like all WordPress theme developers began selling mobile-friendly designs. Therefore, lots of website owners needed to go out and get new themes. Looking for a WordPress theme is as simple as completing a Google search. You can find an onslaught of lists covering the different categories of WordPress themes.

However, your best bet is to pick from a trusted WordPress theme shop and or developer. This ensures you get quality support, fast and well optimized code, and updates for the long haul. There are also online theme marketplaces. However, be careful with these as sometimes developers will drop off the face of the planet, leaving you with an unsupported theme. But they also have a large variety, and high-quality themes do exist, you just have to look a little harder:.

Plugins are similar to themes in that you can find both free and premium versions. The only difference is that free plugins are far more commonly used by actual business websites. Read our in-depth post on WordPress free vs paid themes for a little more insight into which might be better for you. You can search for new plugins through your WordPress dashboard or go to the WordPress plugin library. This library has over 50, plugins, most of which are free or in some form of a freemium business model.

The library has everything from caching to forum plugins, and spam to social media plugins. Installing a plugin takes no more than a few minutes, and each of the plugin pages include screenshots, feature lists, and even some demos. Many premium plugins are sold throughout the internet as well. The main difference between a free and premium plugin is that you often get better customer support with a paid plugin.

Here are some great places to search for premium plugins:. Website development companies often sell pricey packages where they ask for an upfront downpayment and recurring monthly payment for maintenance. Website management typically involves a few things:.

Security and WordPress site backups are either handled with plugins or through a managed WordPress hosting plan. Everything else on the list only needs to be done on occasion. Choosing a quality web host is key to scaling your website and making sure it always feels fast. However, the CMS you use also plays a significant role. As we mentioned before, there are thousands of plugins and themes both free and premium available for WordPress. With WordPress in particular, you have to stay on top of the following:.

In practice, none of those tasks should take up too much of your time individually. However, if you want to save time, you can always opt for a managed hosting service. Managed hosting plans get their name because your provider will take care of a lot of maintenance tasks for you.

Our DreamPress services , for example, offer automated backups, website optimization, and around-the-clock support. However, depending on which platform you use, optimizing your content for search engine results can either be simple or an uphill battle. If you want to run a tight ship, the single best thing you can do is make sure WordPress is always up to date.

That includes the CMS itself, as well as any additional components you use such as themes and plugins.