Using WordPress to build your website can make it less expensive, quicker to get online, and easier to manage and update.
WordPress can be used for more than just a “blog.” Yesterday I shared a couple of tips to help you use WordPress without it looking like a blog. You can use WordPress to build a complete website, a photo gallery, a video focused website, your own social networking site, an ecommerce shop, and much more.
Save Money on Startup
WordPress itself is free, open source software. Many of the plugins and templates for the system are available free as well. But having complete control of your own website is priceless.
When you build a website with WordPress you’ll need to invest in a domain name (about $10/year) as well as website hosting ($5-10/month).
On a cPanel website host with Fantastico you can easily install WordPress yourself. On the WordPress website you can find hundreds of free themes to choose from for your website design. So you don’t need to pay a programmer to setup the site or a designer to create your website design.
Quick Time to Launch Your Site
With WordPress you can have a new website up and running in just a few hours. Once you’ve learned the process it can take 30 minutes to an hour to launch a new site!
The steps are:
– register your domain and hosting
– install WordPress
– choose your theme and add it to your blog
– add your content
It really is that simple! Sure, you can make it complicated (like anything) and spend hours pouring over themes and plugins and widgets. But you can get the basics together quick.
Do it Yourself Updates
With WordPress you can save money on maintenance after you website is live. You can add your own new pages or edit existing pages easily.
To add a gallery, just find a plugin and upload your photos. Many other features work the same way. You can find a plugin that does what you want and install it.
If you get tired of the design or colors, or move your business or blog in a different direction and want to rebrand, it’s easy to choose a new theme and activate it. You won’t have to recreate any of your content.
Support & Extensions
Since WordPress is such a popular script you can find helpful community support, documentation and video tutorials to help you as you build your website.
You can also find many free and low-cost professional themes. Just search for “free wordpress theme” and watch how many results come up. :-) Or try here on the WordPress website.
For free extensions and plugins go to the WordPress plugin directory on the WordPress.org website.
Do you use WordPress for your website? What’s your favorite feature or reason for using it? Feel free to share in the comments and give us a link to your site so readers and see what can be done with WordPress!
I love WordPress. I made the switch in February after having a WYSIWYG static site. It was so easy, I bought a second domain and started a blog. It is so user-friendly and flexible, I recommend it to everyone starting a blog. (I don’t know how I could live without those plugins)
I love plugins, too – it makes it so much easier to add new features. :)
Thanks for the post. As much as I love WordPress and use it on several sites, I think it’s always important not to get stuck into a platform. WordPress is great for many sites, but there’s many cases when it’s not the best as well, and there’s a risk you can double your work by using the wrong platform!
Good point, Mark. There are a few situations where I wouldn’t recommend it – advanced ecommerce needs being the main one. For 95% of what I work with though, it’s perfect. :)
Hey Michelle, I am currently on Blogger, not crazy about it and want to move everything over to WordPress – – any advice on that process? Thank you, Katy