A big chunk of all the websites on the internet is based on WordPress. Between 30 to 40 percent of all websites are built using WordPress. From e-commerce businesses to small personal blogs, WordPress is very likely to be involved in any website you visit.
So, if you’re looking to get a website of your own for some reason, you’re probably thinking of WordPress because of all the positive word press you heard about it (in case you appreciate puns).
You want to start with WordPress, but you don’t have a good idea about what it’s all about. No worries, this is the article that will show you the basics of WordPress hosting.
How Does WordPress Work?
WordPress (WP) is considered a Content Management System (CMS). WordPress provides the foundational platform for building a website or web application. It’s basically the framework that holds the content of your website.
WordPress is really good for people who don’t know how to code as well as experienced web developers. You can customize everything in WordPress if you’re the type of person who knows the ins and outs of web development. You play with every line of code the way you want. To put it shortly, WordPress is the perfect platform for anyone involved with websites; that’s why you find the majority of web developers work to use it.
There are many CMS’ out there, most notably Squarespace, Wix, and Drupal, but WordPress is still the most favored one among the majority of people in the domain.
At the most basic level, WordPress is a blogging platform, but it doesn’t just limit itself to that functionality. WordPress uses site themes, templates, and plugins to provide whatever functionality and design you desire.
With WordPress, it’s much easier to manage your online presence, posts and blogs, subscriber lists, back-end maintenance, SEO, e-commerce transactions, and everything else.
What’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org
You can do all sorts of cool things with WordPress. But first, you must understand the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
WordPress.com is a free version of WordPress that’s super user-friendly and makes acquiring a domain name and place to host your website easy and free. Having a free website for a small personal endeavor is fine, but that’s not the case if you’re aim is to do business on the internet.
Plus, you don’t actually own a website for free. As long as you don’t pay for your domain and hosting plan, the website doesn’t belong to you. It will always have WordPress in the URL, and WordPress will take a cut of any revenue you generate from the website.
For a professional website, you need a self-hosted WordPress.org site. Hosting your website with WordPress host means that you own the rights to everything on the website exclusively. It’s like buying your own home instead of just renting.
How to Start with a WordPress Website
To start your WordPress site, you need to download and install WordPress on your computer. However, you really don’t need to follow that first step nowadays. Most of the hosting plans out there will perform that for you; it’s always included with their hosting plans.
Your Web Host
Your web host makes your website accessible to other internet users by hosting it on their servers.
There are multiple hosting plans, but the most recommended one for total beginners is a managed WordPress hosting plan.
Domain Name
Your domain name is a licensed address that takes people to your website. Note that you can’t use a domain name that’s already been used unless you’re up to paying the owner of that domain name to sell it to you. It’s like the situation with copyrights. The domain name usually includes the name of your business, your name, or something to suggest the purpose behind your website.
WordPress Themes and Plugins
WordPress comes with multiple built-in themes and plugins that are either free or premium. Such plugins like visual builders and SEO tools are very necessary to maintain a well-functioning website.
Final Thoughts
I hope you have now some basic knowledge about WordPress that will help you get started. This is just the very tip of the iceberg. There’s a lot to know about WordPress if you’re the type of curious person who likes to know stuff.
