Basic Things You Need to Know Before You Start a WordPress Site
Are you planning to start a new website?
Did you choose WordPress as your CMS?
Are you new to WordPress Eco-system?
If your answer is “Yes” to all the above questions, then this article is for you. More than 35% of all the websites in the world run on WordPress. Popularly known for blogs and news websites, WordPress is free to use and quite simple. Even a non-techy individual can launch and manage a website using WordPress.
The lack of coding and simplicity are the two main reasons for the popularity of WordPress. Basic internet literacy is all you need to start a website using WordPress. If you are all set to use WordPress for your new website, then you must learn the basic things about the CMS.
Stuff you must know before using WordPress
Well, now that you have zeroed down WordPress as your website builder platform, it is time to educate yourself a bit more about the world’s favorite CMS.
Here are a few things that every WordPress user must know:
WordPress is the most popular CMS on the web.
As already mentioned earlier, WordPress is the most widely used content management system on the web today. Over 60 million websites in the world use WordPress. More importantly, 25% of all the top 10 million websites also prefer WordPress for content management and publishing.
While the CMS is free to use, do not disregard it as a cheap product. There is a large community of WordPress enthusiasts as well as companies focused on keeping WordPress updated and advanced. A lot of WordPress-focused products and services are available on the web. Hence, the future of WordPress is very bright and endless.
Many high-profile brands have websites powered by WordPress
Most people assume that WordPress is for ordinary individuals and small businesses as it is free to use. Well, that is not the case. Many top brands and leading publications use WordPress for their websites.
CNN’s blogs, Reuters, MTV news, Forbes, WSJ, NASA, and Harvard Business Review proudly use WordPress.
WordPress is more than just blogging software.
Although it gained its popularity as a blogging platform, WordPress has grown as a multi-purpose website builder software. With WordPress, you can create an agency website, eCommerce portal, job engine, Real Estate, Corporate, Directory & Listings, Forums, etc. WordPress. Furthermore, you can use theme engines and plugins, both paid and free, to customize your website as per your needs.
WordPress website builder tools like Elementor, Visual Composer, and Beaver make things easier for non-techy users. You can easily customize and add functions to your WordPress website without writing a single line of code. If you do not have ample time, you can always take professional help from a leading WordPress development company to assist you.
WordPress Plugins allow you to customize your WordPress site.
If WordPress forms the brain of your website, the plugins act as the veins that power up the website further to do wonders. Without plugins, there is no way you can run your WordPress site smoothly. While there is a wide range of WordPress plugins to power up your website, you must always install the most fundamental ones.
Here are some essential WordPress plugins you must install on your WordPress website:
· SEO Plugin: Rankmath or Yoast SEO
· eCommerce: WooCommerce
· Security: Sucuri or Wordfence
· Forms: WPForms
· Email List Builder: ConstantContact, Convertkit, or SendinBlue
· Lead Generation: OptinMonster
· Backup: Updraft Plus, Backup Buddy or VaultPress
· Caching Plugin: WP Rocket or WP Super Cache
· Anti-spam: Antispam Bee and Akismet
· CDN: MaxCDN
WordPress is completely free to use
Yes, WordPress is an open-source platform, but many people believe that you need to pay something extra to run a website on WordPress. Well, you need to purchase a domain and hosting for your website separately to run a self-hosted WordPress website.
There are tons of free themes and plugins which are enough to run a WordPress site without spending a dime. However, you can always opt for premium themes and plugins or hire a web development agency to develop and manage your website.
WordPress.org and WordPress.com are separate entities.
If you are planning to start a self-hosted WordPress site on your custom domain, then you need WordPress.org. On the other hand, WordPress.com is an entirely different platform. You can host your custom domain or start a xyz.wordpress.com (sub-domain) website using WordPress.com service.
A website on the WordPress.com platform comes with a lot of restrictions, whereas a self-hosted WordPress offers complete control and flexibility on your website. Essentially, you need a WordPress.org to start a business online. For casual or personal use, WordPress.com can do just fine.
Over to you!
As you are aware of the basic things about WordPress, it is time to start your website on WordPress. Just find a hosting service that offers a one-click install WordPress script to launch your WordPress website within minutes.
