Hi there! Let me start out by saying that I think you‘ve made an excellent decision looking into WordPress to build your website. In my 15 years as a webmaster, I‘ve found WordPress to be the easiest and most powerful website building tool available today.
In this in-depth beginner‘s guide, I‘ll explain exactly what WordPress is, how it works, what you can use it for, and everything else you need to know to get started.
Let‘s dive in!
Contents
A Quick Overview of WordPress
WordPress first launched in 2003 as a simple blogging platform. But over the years it has massively evolved into a fully-featured content management system and website builder.
Here are a few quick facts about WordPress:
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Used on 43% of all websites – Yes, WordPress now powers over 40% of all sites on the internet from small blogs to major news websites.
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100% free and open source – WordPress is open source software that anyone can use for free. The platform is maintained by a global community.
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Easy to use for beginners – With an intuitive interface, WordPress is easy for anyone to learn and use, no coding needed.
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Endless flexibility and customization – You get complete control to customize your site design and features as you want.
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Scales to handle high traffic – WordPress can easily handle millions of monthly visitors with the right hosting and configuration. Major media sites rely on it.
So in summary, WordPress is web software used to build and customize websites with ease, no coding required. Let‘s explore it in more detail.
What Exactly is WordPress and How Does it Work?
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) and website builder created in PHP and MySQL. It‘s open source software that you can download and install on any web server.
Once installed, you get access to the famous WordPress admin dashboard:
This is where you can access all the tools you need to build and manage your site, including:
- Pages/posts – To add your site content
- Media library – For images, docs, videos
- Theme selection – Templates that control site design
- Plugins – Extend functionality
- Menus – Navigation organization
- Users – Manage permissions
- Settings – Admin configurations
- Comments – User feedback
- Widgets – Dynamic blocks
- Navigation menus – Manage site IA
WordPress handles all the core backend functionality like security, system updates, caching, databases, and more so you don‘t have to worry about any of the technical details.
You simply create your content, choose a theme, and use plugins as needed. It‘s that easy!
Under the hood, WordPress uses:
- PHP for server-side scripting and processing
- MySQL for database storage and querying
- Apache or Nginx for the web servers
- HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to display content
But you don‘t need to know any coding to use WordPress. Thanks to the simple admin UI, you get full control over your site without touching code.
Now let‘s look at what kinds of sites you can build with WordPress.
Uses for WordPress – What Can You Build?
A common misconception is that WordPress is only good for making blogs. While it first started as a blogging platform, today WordPress can be used to create all kinds of websites.
Here are just a few examples of sites you can build on WordPress:
Blogs
Of course blogs are still hugely popular uses for WordPress. You can create any type of blog imaginable from personal journals to photography blogs, food blogs, music blogs, travel blogs, and more.
Small business / professional sites
For businesses, professionals like photographers, restaurants, coaches, consultants, and more, WordPress sites are easy to set up. Add some key pages, integrate contact forms, portfolios, and other business functionality.
Online stores
Want to sell products or services online? With WordPress ecommerce plugins you can launch a full-featured online store complete with shopping carts, payments, shipping, and more.
Membership sites
Offer premium gated content to members who pay a monthly/annual subscription fee. Give members access to courses, videos, downloads, support forums, and more.
Learning management systems
Easily build online courses and coaching programs. Add lessons, quizzes, drip content, private forums, and integrate with payment solutions.
So as you can see, WordPress offers endless possibilities. Virtually any type of website can be built successfully on WordPress. That flexibility and versatility is why it now powers over 40% of all sites on the internet.
Advantages of Using WordPress
Given how widely WordPress is used today, you may be wondering what makes it so popular. Well here are some of the main advantages that make WordPress a great choice:
Easy to Use
WordPress wins hands down in terms of ease of use. The famous 5-minute install gets you up and running quickly. The dashboard UI is well-organized and intuitive enough for complete beginners to find their way around.
You don‘t need any prior coding or web design experience. WordPress is designed to be accessible for users of all skill levels.
Extreme Flexibility
With open source roots, WordPress can be customized and extended in just about any way imaginable. The core platform is built to be flexible.
There are over 8,000 free themes available to change up your site‘s design with a couple clicks. Premium themes offer even more customization options.
Plugins allow you to easily add, remove, or modify functionality on your site without altering core code. Want to add a contact form, gallery, ecommerce store, membership site, forum, or any other feature? There‘s a plugin for that.
Active Community
As an open source project, WordPress has a large global community behind it. The forums at WordPress.org have over 1.1 million registered members. Facebook groups and Reddit threads offer help for beginners.
If you ever get stuck, you can easily find answers and solutions from other WordPress users. The ample documentation and learning resources online are also invaluable.
Search Engine Optimized
WordPress focuses on search engine optimization right out of the box. The platform generates clean code and uses best practices for on-page optimization elements like title tags, URLs, alt text, and more.
There are also hundreds of SEO plugins like Yoast SEO available to optimize your content for search rankings.
Secure and Reliable
Many think WordPress is insecure, however it powers many high-profile sites handling millions of visitors. With proper hardening like automatic updates, trusted plugins, strong passwords, and a web application firewall, WordPress can be very secure.
The open source model also ensures constant maintenance, improvements, and oversight from the WordPress community. The platform‘s reliability has been proven over and over.
Scalability
WordPress can scale to handle huge amounts of traffic. Large media publications like TechCrunch, TIME, CNN, Forbes, and more use WordPress to serve hundreds of millions of monthly pageviews.
With a well-configured server and caching, WordPress can easily handle spikes in visitors. Bluehost, SiteGround, WP Engine and other managed WordPress hosts offer plans built for scale.
Free and Open Source
You can download, install, and use WordPress for free with no licenses or subscription fees. The platform is licensed under the GPL and you have full ownership over your site and data.
WordPress will also always remain free thanks to its open source roots. The WordPress Foundation oversees the project‘s ethos and development.
Translated Into Many Languages
WordPress has been translated into over 70 languages making it accessible across the globe. Switch your admin dashboard to any language or even create a multilingual site.
The translation capability comes thanks to the active worldwide WordPress community. Many themes/plugins are also available translated.
Clearly WordPress has some major advantages that explain its widespread adoption. But what about downsides? Let‘s look at a few potential cons.
Disadvantages of WordPress
No platform is perfect, so WordPress does have some drawbacks to be aware of. Here are a few potential disadvantages:
Learning Curve
While WordPress is easy to use overall, there is still a learning curve involved, especially for total beginners. Understanding where all the settings and configurations are located takes some hands-on experience.
Following beginner tutorials and getting some practice does help overcome the initial learning phase. But expect a period of learning and experimentation when you first start out.
Potential Bloat
With so many themes and plugins available, it‘s easy to go overboard adding lots of unnecessary extras. Too many plugins can slow down and bloat your site.
Carefully consider each addition to avoid "plugin sprawl". Only use well-reviewed plugins from reputable developers, and clean up any unused plugins.
Updates Are Required
You absolutely need to keep WordPress and all plugins/themes updated to the latest versions. This adds site maintenance work, but is critical for security, performance, and new features.
Using managed WordPress hosting can automate updates for you. You can also use plugins to manage updates centrally. But updates should never be neglected.
Vulnerabilities Exist
Like any software, WordPress has its share of vulnerabilities. Hackers are always seeking ways to exploit systems. Proper hardening and security protocols are a must.
However, with the right precautions, WordPress sites can be very secure. Understand the risks, but also that they can be effectively minimized.
Not Good for All Use Cases
While flexible, WordPress isn‘t ideally suited for every purpose. For some complex web apps, custom frameworks may be better. Highly customized sites can also be difficult.
Know when it makes sense to use WordPress, and when a different approach may be warranted. Understand its sweet spots and limitations.
So those are some of the potential downsides and risks to factor in when using WordPress. But in most cases the pros far outweigh the cons as evidenced by its massive adoption.
Who Else is Using WordPress?
As you may know, WordPress powers over 40% of all websites. But many newcomers to WordPress are surprised to learn just how many big brands rely on it.
Here are just a few of the most popular sites running on WordPress:
- Microsoft
- CNN
- Forbes
- TechCrunch
- The New York Times
- Sony
- NBC
- FiveThirtyEight
Major universities like Harvard, MIT, Oxford, and Stanford use WordPress to publish content. Even governments like the UK, Australia, France, and more rely on WordPress.
So while WordPress may have started as a humble open source blogging platform, today it powers many of the biggest websites online. Don‘t let the familiar admin dashboard fool you – WordPress can scale to the enterprise level.
Getting Started With WordPress
If you‘re ready to launch your own WordPress-powered site, here is an overview of what you need to get started:
Domain Name
First, you need to purchase a domain name for your site. Your domain is your unique website address like yoursite.com or yourbusiness.com. Make it relevant to your brand or site topic.
You can get one for around $15 per year. I recommend Namecheap or Namesilo for registering domains.
Web Hosting
Next, you need WordPress hosting to host your actual website files and database. Without web hosting, your site won‘t be accessible online.
Many companies offer managed WordPress hosting plans that have WP pre-installed and configured. This makes setup much easier versus general web hosting.
For beginners, I recommend starting with Bluehost, a reputable and affordable WordPress host. Their basic shared plan starts at just $2.95 / month.
Install WordPress
Once you have your domain pointed to your web host, you can install WordPress. Most managed WP hosts provide a simple one-click installer.
If not, you can easily manually install WordPress yourself in around 5 minutes. Just upload WordPress files to your host and run the installer. Our tutorial explains how.
And that‘s it – with those 3 steps complete, your basic WordPress site will now be live online! Pretty easy, right?
Customize Your Site
Next, you can log into your WordPress dashboard and start building out your site. Choose a theme to select your design, create pages, publish blog posts, add plugins, modify menus – the possibilities are endless.
Check out our guide on getting started with WordPress for step-by-step guidance and tips to familiarize yourself with the basics.
I hope these steps give you an idea of how fast you can be up and running with WordPress. Now let‘s look at some common questions beginners have.
Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress
Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions I get from users just starting out with WordPress:
Is WordPress really free to use?
Yes, WordPress is 100% free open source software. You can download and use it without paying anything. The WordPress Foundation oversees the project.
However, you will need web hosting and a domain name to host your site online, which costs money. Some premium themes and plugins also have fees. But overall, WordPress is very cost effective.
Do I need to know coding to use WordPress?
Absolutely not! This is one of the best things about WordPress – it does not require any prior coding knowledge or web design skills to use. Thanks to themes and plugins, you can build a site without touching code.
However, learning some basic HTML and CSS can allow you to customize themes. But for the average user, no coding needed!
Is WordPress secure? What about hacked sites I read about?
While WordPress does get targeted, with proper hardening and security steps, it can be very secure. Using strong passwords, automatic updates, limiting plugins, and security plugins will lock it down.
Also choose managed WordPress hosting that offers security features like malware detection and backups. Understand the risks, but also that taking the right precautions significantly improves security.
Can WordPress handle heavy traffic?
Yes, WordPress can easily scale to support high traffic loads. Large media publications like CNN, Forbes, and TechCrunch use it to handle millions of visitors monthly.
With a well-configured server and caching, WordPress speed and performance can remain excellent at scale. Managed WordPress hosts like WP Engine offer hosting plans built specifically for high traffic sites.
Which hosting company should I use?
I recommend using a managed WordPress host like Bluehost, SiteGround, HostGator, or InMotion for beginners. They specialize in optimized WordPress hosting with auto updates, caching, backups, security, and 24/7 support.
For larger businesses, a managed WordPress VPS from WP Engine is a fantastic (but pricier) choice. They cater specifically to high traffic sites.
Avoid cheap shared cpanel hosting not optimized for WordPress. Stick with a reputable managed WordPress host for the best experience.
How much does WordPress cost?
An average basic WordPress site costs around $100-$200 per year including hosting and a domain name. The exact cost depends on your traffic needs, whether you use free vs paid themes/plugins, development requirements, and more.
Ecommerce sites cost more considering payment and transaction fees. But overall WordPress is very affordable, especially for small sites and blogs.
I hope these answers help explain some common questions beginners have about using WordPress. Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!
Conclusion and Next Steps
If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I hope this beginner‘s guide provided a comprehensive overview of what WordPress is, how it works, what it can be used for, and the basics of getting started.
To recap:
- WordPress is open source CMS software used to build websites
- No coding experience needed – it‘s easy for anyone to use
- Build blogs, stores, member sites – very flexible
- Customizable with themes and plugins
- Scales to handle serious traffic
- Completely free and open source
In my opinion as a long-time user, WordPress is hands-down the best platform available today for beginners looking for an all-in-one solution to building their online presence.
Next, I recommend taking the plunge and signing up for web hosting to install WordPress for yourself. Get your hands dirty and start experimenting!
Learning WordPress does have a bit of a learning curve, but if you take it step-by-step and use available resources, you‘ll get the hang of it quickly.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions during your WordPress journey! I‘m always happy to help out beginners.
I wish you the best of luck with your new WordPress site!
