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What is Wordpress - Wordpress Introduction Guide for Beginners

What is Wordpress?

This article is an introduction to Wordpress. It provides explanation and understanding on the different type of Wordpress - Wordpress.com vs Wordpress.org their benefits/advantages and disadvantages/downsides.

And provides advice on the best to use whether for personal or business blogging.

Wordpress Introduction

What is Wordpress?

I'll say Wordpress is a publishing application that makes it easy for anyone to start publishing online or start a blog.

To understand what Wordpress is better, here are three professional definition of Wordpress.

Wordpress Explanation

Wordpress blog is a blog built using Wordpress blogware or software.

Wordpress is available as both a free blog host service (free to blog Wordpress) and as downloadable blog software that can be self hosted.

The free hosted service is available on Wordpress.com and the downloadable version is available on Wordpress.org .

What are the benefits and disadvantages of using a free Wordpress and a self hosted Wordpress for blogging?

Which of the Wordpress services should you use for your blog?

Wordpress.com vs Wordpress.org

Some Benefits/Advantages of free Wordpress blogging

You get to blog for free, no monthly or yearly financial commitment for Wordpress software hosting.

Since the software is hosted for free, it doesn't require any download which means you can start blogging in minutes.

You are provided with some great features like unlimited storage, automatic software upgrades, support forums, themes, traffic stats, and rankings.

It offers service in over 50 languages.

You can maintain several blogs on it without paying a dime.

If you decide to get your own hosted domain for an already existing free Wordpress blog, you are allowed to move your content. You just export from the free host service wordpress.com and import to your self hosted Wordpress blog.

The Disadvantages/Downsides of Using a Free Wordpress blog

Free stuffs most often comes with conditions and limitations and the free Wordpress blog is not an exception. You don't have all rights when using it.

Some of the rights you don't have are :

You can not use javascript, flash or plugins.

You can't upload PHP themes.

You can't customize a free Wordpress blog.

You can't advertise (ads and affiliate schemes).

You lack control over your files.

Ads are automatically displayed on your blog though they might not be visible.

If the ads are visible and you want them removed, you will have to pay a yearly fee.

It's difficult to build the kind of credibility that comes with owning your own domain name.

Having your own domain name gives you access to a professional email address, like nicky@yourdomain.com which helps in branding.

Instead of myblog. com (which is professional) your blog domain will be myblog.wordpress.com (unprofessional, no branding)

If you decide to export your content to a self hosted domain eventually, your traffic would be affected which will take some time to build back.

If you already had a good search engine ranking for your blog on Wordpress.com, you could lose such ranking.

What is Wordpress Self Hosted and Why is it Best for Blogging?

You can download the Wordpress software from it house at wordpress.org and give it a new home by hosting it yourself on a web server.

With a self hosted Wordress you get all the necessary help you need to get the most out of the software.

There are hundreds of themes and plugins to choose from that you can easily upload to your blog to enhance it performance.

You get a professional URL - yourdomain.com instead of yourblog.wordpress.com

You have complete control over your database.

Could this be seen as Downsides of a Self Hosted Wordpress?

If you self host your blog, you will need to take responsibility for it. Like the type of hosting to use, how to work with it and more.

And pay a recurring fee for your hosting account about $7 monthly.

Which Wordpress Service should you Use for your Blog?

From all you've come to know about what is Wordpress decide which is best for you according to your blogging goals and needs.

If you want to blog for money, you can't consider using the Free Wordpress because no ads of any kind is allowed on the platform.

If you want to blog for fun then you can consider using it. But for me blogging is blogging whether for fun or for money, branding is required.

Moreover, a personal blog could suddenly get very popular and you start considering changing your goal for it and run some ads. The free Wordpress blog will not welcome that change at least not without some headaches and losses.

So it's good to play safe and just start right.

It's not difficult to self host a Wordpress blog, you just buy a domain name, hosting and then install it; which will take only few minutes.

See the articles:

How to Choose Domain name . It discusses how to create a user and search engine friendly domain names. And step by step process of registering a domain name from Godaddy.

How to Install Wordpress . It discusses how to Install Wordpress on Godaddy and Hostgator hosting accounts; which are some of the best Wordpress hosts. And also how to install Wordpress using an FTP client.

If you decide to go ahead with a free Wordpress blog then see the article:

How to set up Wordpress for a step by step image Wordress tutorial on how to set up a free blog on wordpress.com

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