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Wordpress is the most popular CMS in the world. According to statistics, 25% of sites in the world are made on this platform. The reasons for such popularity lay on a surface: the system is free and attracts with the possibility to maintain a site independently, without involving programmers.
If you are looking for an answer to the question of whether it is worth making a site on Wordpress - you got to the right page. We used to go through this ourselves, and regularly face questions from people who plan to get a site. All your doubts will be dispelled, read through to the end!
Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org are different things...
Wordpress.com is a free web hosting service where you can create and post your blog. The domain name "your_name.wordpress.com" is free. If you already have a domain name, you can use it by paying $13 extra. The third option is to buy a domain (.com is offered for $18 per year).
Wordpress.org - here you can download the latest version of Wordpress platform for free to fill it on your hosting.
The first option - all for free (hosting and not a very beautiful third-level domain provides Wordpress), but for the same reasons your site (blog) does not actually belong to you.
The second option - you buy the domain and hosting on which you place the platform Wordpress. In this case, everything belongs to you: both benefits and problems.
Advantages and disadvantages of Wordpress
The website on Wordpress has a number of advantages:
- Free "engine". use for personal and commercial purposes is provided through an open and clear agreement, which is licensed;
- Extensive possibilities. They include the creation of an eCommerce, blog, the project being sold, information storage and gallery.
- Flexible adjustment of registration. In free access there are templates, they are with and without money.
- For administration it is not necessary additional narrowly directed skills, all work is carried out intuitively.
- Within five minutes, you can create a site on Wordpress from scratch and put the first content.
Despite the advantages, when you create a site on Wordpress in 2020, you will have to face a list of disadvantages:
- Suitable only for beginners. Since the serious, as well as more or less large companies sites (like luxor hotel and casino) are self-written or use special CMS.
- All rights belong to the administrator - the creator, not the platform.
- For creation of suitable and unique appearance it is required expenses of resources.
- It is heavy in the process of optimization.
- Requires additional plug-ins and modules.
- It has a low load of the site.
What to choose?
If you want to create a personal website or blog, do not understand anything about hosting and other technical nuances, this is your first experience and you want to practice - choose the option wordpress.org.
For any other serious purpose is suitable only the second option, which we will continue to talk about below.
Is it easy to make a website on Wordpress?
Yes, just for those who have already gone through this procedure many times: for those who already have knowledge and experience, it will take only time.
And for those who do not have the experience, it will take a lot of time. "Simple, but very long" automatically turns into "difficult".
The "Where to Start" page of Wordpress’s official reference is quite extensive. Here are some of the highlights.
- The installation phase
- Buy some hosting.
- Install Wordpress on the server.
- Buy a domain.
- Set up a domain on hosting.
- Find and install the topic (template site appearance, there are paid and free options).
If you draw an analogy with the construction of the house, at this stage we have laid the foundation and built a "box" that has neither external nor internal finishing, not to mention the furniture.
- Configuration stage
- Configure the appearance of the site.
- Internal Wordpress settings.
- Installation and configuration of additional modules.
Even if you have chosen a successful template, it will need to be adapted to your needs. This concerns, for example, the location and number of menu items, graphic and functional blocks (banners, sliders, buttons, forms).
Internal settings - access rights, URL format, parameters for displaying records, comments, images, etc.
The list of tasks that can be solved using the basic WP functionality is very limited. Its capabilities are extended by installing plug-ins, some of which are needed from the very beginning - at the stage of site configuration. Examples: SEO plugin that allows you to fill in the meta tags of pages, without which optimization of the site is simply impossible, a plugin that generates XML site map, etc.
Installed and configured, what's next?
Having spent a huge amount of work on configuring Wordpress, you'll be pretty tired. But you do not have to rest, because the site is ready, and the content is not yet. You will need the original content, basic information about you, your company, contact details, categories of goods and services, pages "Delivery and payment", etc. And then the grey days of running and promoting the site will begin.
Promotion of sites on Wordpress
It should be kept in mind that when promoting sites on Wordpress by themselves or with the help of outside experts, there are a number of objective problems that will need to be solved.
Engine Wordpress is not initially equipped with functionality for search engine optimization, with such a free template has a lot of junk and constantly creates duplicates, code, from which you need to get rid of. The problem is solved by installing an endless number of modules and flows into modules and plug-ins of different quality and convenience created by different developers, for different versions of Wordpress, etc. From time to time, even specialists have different glitches of the site, the failure of individual elements, slower loading, which leads to site load speed - one of the most important characteristics of the convenience of the site for users, as well as one of the key factors in the ranking of search engines. Simply put, people want to deal with fast sites, and search engines provide these sites with a higher position in extradition. Speed has never been an advantage of WP, and the heap of necessary and unnecessary superstructures significantly exacerbates the situation.
Creating a website on a Wordpress template may seem like a good idea at first. But! A good and high-quality site can not be created on the basis of a template, as all content will be similar to a similar resource. Creating your own individual requires additional costs, and if it was only a matter of time. This key is implied and the financial side. At first glance, it may seem that everything is not so bad, because a website template for WordPress may cost not much. On the other hand, it is worth thinking about why to act irrationally, to spend more effort, time and money for improvement, if you can spend the amount a little more immediately and occasionally correct the details. "The stingy pays twice" is a commonplace truth.
It has already become clear that from the outside it seems easy to launch a site on the "banal" WP system - not so easy. It is worth to prepare and take into account the option that it will take you a great amount of time and effort, according to forecasts increased by two or three times than the most pessimistic forecast.
Make a Wordpress site from scratch can and, even, need, if the purpose of creation is to have your own blog, “business card” site or the need to "train" in creating beautiful sites.
Working site based on WordPress is not needed if the final result is the creation of a large commercial project that will be popular and bring great money. If necessary, CMS should pay attention to the choice of a specialized platform that would be suitable for your specific type of site (there is more than one paid or free platform for eCommerce). The ideal option, of course, will be a self-written CMS, which is easily customizable by programmers to your needs, taking into account all the nuances and wishes.
Summary
You've already realized that launching a website on a "simple" WP system is a bit difficult. Be prepared for the fact that it will take you 2-3 times more time and effort than your most pessimistic forecast. But the road will be overwhelming.
You can and should make a site on Wordpress if you want to create a personal blog or train in creating sites.
To make a site on Wordpress it is not necessary if you plan a serious commercial project. Choose the specialized CMS under your type of a site or self-written CMS which programmers can adjust concretely under your project taking into account all nuances.