WordPress is a website management tool, Content Management System (CMS), or blogging platform. It started as two separate pieces of software called b2/cafelog and WordPress, which were created by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little in 2003.
WordPress was initially named after composer Igor Stravinsky’s work “thè rite de spring” because it sounded fresh to the founders.
The original intention was to create a piece of software that allowed users to easily publish content online without any knowledge about HTML, PHP, or databases: all that complexity would be handled by WordPress behind the scenes.
WordPress now offers the Gutenberg page builder in its significantly enhanced versions and is now used by millions of websites, including those belonging to CNN, BBC, Reuters, Time magazine, MTV, and many other recognizable names.
Is WordPress Good For Blogs?
The short answer to the question “Is WordPress Good For Blogs?” is “yes.” It is certainly my choice for my portfolio of websites.
But you may be thinking that’s too brief, so let me elaborate. First, there are several reasons why WordPress is ideal for blogs.
- You can easily update your website and blog more frequently with much less effort
- It’s free (although you will want self-managed hosting), very easy to use, and you don’t need any technical skills [as long as you follow some basic rules]
- Your site is automatically search engine friendly, although creating great content is the key to ranking on Google.
- WordPress also has many plugins, so if there’s a specific feature you want (such as an image slider or integration with social media sites), it’ll probably already be available.
- With the right host, your website has regular backups, which prevents you from losing data.Â
- A massive library of themes allows you to keep your website fresh with new designs when desired.
Is WordPress Good For eCommerce?
Although WordPress is not the best “out of the box” option for eCommerce sites, thousands of good WordPress eCommerce themes and plugins are available.Â
Many people choose Shopify over WordPress because of the ease of getting started.
For those that love WordPress, it can be an excellent eCommerce solution as well. To make your WordPress website ready for eCommerce, which means setting up an online shop and selling products, you’ll need to take the following actions:
Install an eCommerce plugin. The plugin does all the heavy lifting and allows you to sell products online through your WordPress website.
Many use the WooCommerce Plugin to set up their shop.
Choose an eCommerce theme like Hybrid Core or Storefront. These are designed specifically for eCommerce and have features like drop shipping, affiliate programs, and the ability to create a complete product catalog.
You’ll be able to accept payments [such as credit card and PayPal] with many plugins like WP eCommerce, WooCommerce, or Easy Digital Downloads.
You’ll also need to set up a payment processor like Stripe [to charge credit cards], Authorize.net [to accept bank payments], or PayPal [for both]. This requires some configuration but is relatively painless since you’re using already familiar services.
And finally, you’ll need to install an SSL certificate to get your website HTTPS:// rather than HTTP:// in the URL bar.
If you need help, my brothers Paul and Jeff Helvin set up WordPress Websites. You can call them at 702-917-0755.
Yes! WordPress is an excellent tool for small business websites because you can easily update your website and blog more frequently with much less effort than on other platforms such as Tumblr or Blogger. WordPress also has plugins that integrate perfectly with popular accounting software such as Quickbooks, Xero, Sage One, etc.Â
Businesses can track their sales from within their accounting application rather than log in to WordPress every time they want access to this data.
If you need more help setting up shop, then there are lots of excellent site builders available that
Yes, it is. I would argue that WordPress is the best choice for agencies when doing client work because of its ease of use and versatility. So all you need to know is how to install a new theme (which takes just a few moments), and then you can build virtually anything!
WordPress is one of the most SEO-friendly platforms on the market for bloggers and website creators. The setup is straightforward, so it’s easy to implement proper SEO and leave it in place. WordPress also has a massive community of users who are constantly looking for new ways to improve their rankings by using plugins like Yoast SEO, making optimization very simple. When you create a blog post, you’ll be able to designate an SEO Title tag, meta description and customize the URL (Permalink) to an SEO-friendly page. You can also create custom categories and tags for each of your posts so when someone performs a Google search, it will show up in the correct category or within the right set of results. When you add images, you can add the alt description right from the editor without leaving your blog post.
Absolutely! It even has critical features that make personal blogging much more manageable (such as blocking specific users or limiting access to certain posts). Installing plugins like Better WP Security can also help with this process.
Yes. Many photographers and Travel bloggers choose WordPress. Photos can be embedded using the same tools used in standard blogs, and there are many ways that they can be displayed, such as a Carousel, Slideshow, or a large display with multiple photos visible at once. The method varies based on your theme, so consult the documentation available to see how best to achieve this. If necessary, you could also use a plugin like NextGen Gallery, which has an extensive set of options.
WordPress is best when used with a self-managed hosting platform like Flywheel. com. Using Flywheel allows you to have complete control over your website and gives you full access to the source code for your WordPress installation, so it’s easy to re-install or restore a backup if something goes wrong.
Yes! Instead of requiring users to register an account using their email, which can be clunky or intrusive, WordPress requires choosing a username and password. This makes registration and login super simple without sacrificing security. Users can also sign up with Facebook – click on the button below any post to enable this feature:
While WordPress itself doesn’t report analytics, it integrates easily with Google Search Console and Google Analytics through Google Sitekit. You can set up your Google Analytics ID, and then it will track all of your site’s traffic.
Clicky is another excellent analytics option that can work well with WordPress.
Most definitely! Video is becoming one of the most important types of content that you can create for a blog or website.Â
I recommend setting up YouTube channels for each of your sites and then embedding these videos within your posts using WordPress Gutenberg or the Elementor page builder’s video widget. Many great plugins are available for getting more out of this feature, such as MyVideo, which allows you to convert any video on Youtube into an embedded object. Using the Elementor page builder, you can easily add the video through a drag and drop widget and add the lazy load option to allow your page to load faster. Video is notorious for slowing down web pages. There are video-centric themes for WordPress like Fusion, which will show your featured videos by default. There is also a premium plugin called Vidyard that does the same.
When it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), one of the essential plugins you can use for your website is Yoast. This plugin makes on-page optimization super easy, and just about anyone can use it! You can easily optimize titles, meta descriptions, redirects, images, and more with just a few clicks.
Yes! It’s good for portfolios because you have control over how they’re presented. Plus, if you’re using an agency like Flywheel to host your site, then each portfolio project can have its dedicated site. In this case, each project can be customized to fulfill unique needs or to target specific audiences. This is also a great way of providing an additional level of detail to your clients they’ll love because they can review the work you’ve done for them in greater depth.
Yes! Several outstanding affiliate program plugins are available today, like AffiliateWP, which integrates with all top affiliate networks.
It lets your users manage their accounts directly from within your admin, so they don’t have to sign up for individual affiliate programs or worry about filling out forms.
Closing
As you can see, WordPress is an excellent choice for many businesses. From the small business to the large company, to eCommerce, to Affiliate Programs, WordPress is for bloggers and beyond.
