Did you know that 42% of websites on the internet are made using WordPress software?
There are many reasons for this, but we’re going to try to keep it to 11 as we dive into the specifics of why WordPress is the best CMS on the market (as of November, 2021).
WordPress is a website builder software – or CMS (Content Management System), if you wish – that you can download on your computer to build websites, blogs, ecommerces and even applications by modifying its source code to your liking.
Wo wo wo, coding? You lost me.
If you read the above and were like, “nah, coding is not for me.” Don’t run off just yet.
The cool thing about WordPress is that it was created with both developers and non-developers in mind. It can be used by anyone – whether they have the necessary technical skills or are new to website building – because it has an easy-to-use interface and simple navigation tools specifically built for the best user experience.
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WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com
Huh? There are two WordPresses?! There are in fact two different domains for WordPress services. It may sound confusing at first, but let’s walk you through it:
- WordPress.org is where you’ll find the downloadable software, which is meant for people who have programming knowledge and who want to arrange their own hosting and domains by themselves. All very customizable and free to use.
You won’t have support from WordPress itself, but you may find answers for your queries regarding security, maintenance and functionalities inside the WordPress.org community.
- WordPress.com, on the other hand, is the website for the company that runs the hosting service. People wanting to create a website or blog and are also in need of a hosting service will have an easier time here. However, you will have to pay for one of the hosting plans that they offer.
Most small business owners will find that paying for a good hosting service and avoiding code is the best way to go when you are just starting off your digital presence. You won’t have to worry about installation, set up, security or maintenance of your website since it’s already included in the plan you bought.
A brief history of WordPress
Before WordPress, there was a project called b2/cafelog, which was created by Michel Valdrighi.
Valdrighi designed the software that would serve as the basis for managing blog content with an enchanting interface. But at the time, the need for customization and for adding new features was very limited, so in 2002, Valdrighi dropped the project.
However, in 2003, two supporting developers – Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little – picked it up to launch the first iteration of WordPress. Their work became more than just an application – it had become a system that could be used to build websites with basic blogging functionality.
Since then, WordPress has evolved to become an open-source website builder software, where anyone can download it on their computers to create sites, blogs or ecommerces. Nowadays, the system is driven by a team of developers and professionals who add new functionalities to the software at such a fast rate.
WordPress has come a long way since its beginnings in 2003, with more than 500 million downloads across all platforms – including mobile apps for Android and iOS devices!
It’s also been translated into more than 100 languages. Did we mention that it’s free?
Mike Little and Matt Mullenweg in the flesh, ladies and gentleman!
What is WordPress?
Disclaimer: Since we already talked about the differences of WordPress.org and WordPress.com, from now on we’ll mostly discuss the features of WordPress.com – the hosting solution for easy-to-build websites and entrepreneurs with no experience in programming.
WordPress is an open source CMS, also known as a content management system, that enables users to create and edit web pages with its user-friendly interface.
There are many different types of content management systems available, all with differing levels of complexity and technical requirements. For most of them you’d have to learn how to code, but with WordPress.com hosting solutions, you’ll pay for a plan that covers installation, setup, and basic configurations – all thanks to the team of developers working on it.
While you can use your own domain name and hosting service with both versions of WordPress, the .com version provides an easy to use drag and drop editor that lets you edit HTML elements like text, images, gallery, videos and more.
What are the top benefits of WordPress?
WordPress has many different features, but not all of them are important to everyone. If you’re wondering why did we choose WordPress as our preferred CMS, here’s why:
WordPress is Free
As we mentioned before, for those confident in their programming skills, you can download the free WordPress.org software on your computer and start your website project on your own, making edits to your websites and setting up domains, hosting, etc.
If you have the right skillset, WordPress proves to be a great tool to build websites, and we all know that nothing beats a free offer.
No coding necessary
If you’re not a programmer and don’t want to deal with complex coding and setups of your website – why spend time learning the basics when they can do it for you?
Easy to Use
Even if you aren’t a developer, WordPress still proves to be one of the easiest platforms to learn how to build a website or blog.
WordPress.com provides a set of templates and layouts that you can use to build your website with little knowledge about HTML, CSS or Javascript.
With the user-friendly drag and drop editor interface, you’ll be able to edit any element on your webpage – from text elements like headings, paragraphs and links to images galleries, videos and social buttons.
Secure & Safe
WordPress is constantly pushed to thwart security breaches with its team of developers who are always working on new features for the software. Not to mention that you can also install security plugins like Wordfence for added protection.
What makes WordPress.com stand out is the fact that it’s hosted on a dedicated server, meaning your website won’t be exposed to threats from other users’ websites or accounts sharing resources with you in shared hosting environments.
WordPress also uses SSL certificates for added security when handling sensitive data like credit card information and passwords – which not all hosting solutions offer. As a result, WordPress proves to be a very safe CMS.
Plugins & Themes
WordPress makes website creation easier than ever before with its intuitive interface, huge selection of templates (called themes), thousands of free or inexpensive plug-ins (or add-ons) for personalizing the site design or adding features like online store capability, social media integration, analytics and more.
What’s even better is that you can easily update your site with new features, plugins or themes without having to worry about losing traffic or getting locked out of the website.
Blogging
WordPress lets you build an online reputation as a blogger, which is why it’s such a great tool for those who want to promote themselves or their business.
Blogging on valuable topics of your industry also makes you a more reliable source of information for users looking for solutions related to your business. For most people, a blog is the first step into finding an offer that fits their needs.
With a little bit of keyword research and SEO efforts, your blog content can drive loads of organic traffic to your website.
Just make sure they’re well written, up to date and optimized for SEO!
WordPress is SEO-friendly
WordPress is a great CMS for bloggers and business owners because it’s SEO-friendly, which means that you can optimize any of the pages on your site to rank higher in search results and get wave after wave of organic traffic.
The templates provided by WordPress have clean code and no Javascript errors – making it easier for search engines like Google or Bing to crawl and index your website.
What this means for you as the user is more organic traffic! Not only will people be able to find your site more easily through search engines, but you will rank higher when people are searching for products or services related to what you offer.
Multimedia support
WordPress is the best CMS on the market when it comes to multimedia content. You can add images, videos and documents to your posts or pages with ease – without any prior knowledge of HTML.
Not only that but wordpress allows you to embed third-party content like YouTube videos directly into blog posts,one of the many reasons why we recommend it for blogging purposes. Having an embedded youtube video in your blog makes it easy for you to centralize your content creation strategy and make the most of your youtube video content and your blog strategy, driving more traffic to both sources.
WordPress also comes with built-in galleries that let you display your images in a visually appealing way while creating the necessary metadata to optimize them for SEO purposes.
Ecommerce Solutions
WordPress is a great ecommerce platform to build your online store on, mainly because there are so many third-party plugins that you can use to build an easy and intuitive shopping experience.
WordPress also has integrated support for credit card payments, which can be done through a variety of plug-ins such as PayPal Pro, Stripe or Authorize.net.
Another attractive feature for any ecommerce store are the powerful themes that are available in the market.
These themes make it easy to display your products and/or services in a way that captures potential customers’ attention. With some cleverly inserted information about why your product is better than the rest, your website will be on its way to generating more traffic and sales.
The best part is that wordpress provides templates with different levels of complexity for you to choose from, depending on how tech savvy you are or how much time you want to spend working on it.
Statistics & Analytics
WordPress comes with custom dashboard widgets that allow you to see how many people are on your site at any given time, what they’re viewing and why. You can also use the statistics to find out which pages or posts perform the best so you know where to focus more of your efforts when creating content.
What’s great about this feature of wordpress, is that it allows users to track conversions – meaning they can see how many visitors are taking action on their website by completing a goal (like filling out an opt-in form).
This feature is great for businesses that have their own sales funnel or are looking to create one.
Learning community
Instead of spending hours trying to piece together all the information you need, why not just ask the community for help?
WordPress comes with an amazing community where you can read and share tips, tricks and opinions about website building and blogging. This provides a wealth of information for beginners to use as they get started on their wordpress journey!
There is also a forum section where you can find users in similar situations as you who have asked questions or found creative solutions to a problem you might be encountering. Furthermore, WordPress has an active community of developers and designers who are always available to help out.
Conclusion
WordPress is a powerful blogging platform and content management system that can be used to create beautiful websites. You’ll find that WordPress is the ideal solution for startups – or anyone looking to get into blogging or building their business website.
WordPress is SEO-friendly and comes with custom dashboard widgets that allow users to see how many people are on your site at any given time. You can also use the statistics to find out which pages or posts perform the best so you know where to focus more of your efforts when creating content.
WordPress is easy to use and has a number of advanced features that allow you to create efficient, well-designed sites. You can either build a site from scratch and install the theme you want, or use one of the many pre-made themes that are available to download online.
The best part about this platform is that as long as you keep updating and using its themes and plugins, your site will be up-to-date and relevant for years to come.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why wordpress is the best CMS out there!