WordPress is the world’s most popular website platform and blogging software powering 34% of the internet as of 2019. Conservative estimates put WordPress.com use at 64 million blogs and 37.5 million self hosted installs worldwide, although the real figure is likely much higher than that.
What is WordPress software?
WordPress is a CMS, otherwise known as a Content Management System, although it can also be described as a “website platform” colloquially. WordPress can be downloaded and installed on any open source based web server you would typically pay for from a web hosting company, and in fact most web hosting companies can install and configure WordPress on the server on your behalf.
If you enjoy a technical exercise, installing and configuring WordPress on your server is quick, straightforward and usually problem free.
A brief history of WordPress
WordPress in its current form started life early in the millennium, and in its recognizable form has been around for over 15 years. Plugins were launched in 2004, and a theme directory came about in 2008. In 2013 WordPress became the most popular CMS in the world, a position it still holds today.
WordPress is now considered mature platform, which has had many of its early bugs and security issues fixed over the years it’s been worked on by a large base of core developers from around the world. It is trusted by individuals and web development agencies alike, many of whom will use WordPress as a platform for all of their client’s non-enterprise level websites.
The differences between WordPress.org and WordPress.com
There is some confusion among people new to WordPress as the software exists as both a hosted blogging platform, and as a downloadable open source software offering greater control and flexibility. They key difference is the WordPress domain extension – WordPress.org is where you would go to download the software code and learn about managing your own WordPress installation, while WordPress.com enables users to create a hosted blog on WordPress’s own servers, much like you would create a blog on Tumblr or similar social networks.
For the purposes of a web development tutorial site such as this one, we will focus almost all our attention on the self hosted WordPress software, which you can download and install on the server of your choice, or have your web hosting company install it for you.
Why is WordPress so universally popular?
Being open source software, WordPress is free to download, install and use. Most themes and plugins are also free for WordPress, with the exception of premium themes and more complex plug ins such as payment gateways or sales funnels add-ons for example.
WordPress is relatively secure and very easy to use website platform that can be utilized for a large number of different purposes. From a simple blog, to an online store or digital download repository, to a more complex web based app – WordPress is flexible enough to do it all.
WordPress is also malleable, with a straightforward structure and code base that even beginners to web development and coding can understand and modify in a relatively short space of time. WordPress provides very thorough and easy to understand documents for installing and modifying the platform, and there are thousands of dedicated blogs and tutorials on the web offering in depth solutions to WordPress issues and modifications.
Is WordPress SEO friendly?
WordPress is one of the most SEO-friendly website platforms in existence, straight out of the box. The structure and HTML output of WordPress is by default ideally set up to be read and accepted by search engines such as Google or Bing, and as a website owner all you really need to do is focus on creating great content for your blog rather than worrying about the details of on-page SEO.
It is also very easy to extend the SEO capabilities of WordPress with a range of powerful plugins such as Yoast, which offer tools and settings to help maximize your organic traffic potential via search engines.
But is WordPress secure? I’ve heard some negative reports…
WordPress has excellent security out of the box (contrary to popular belief), with regular, frequent updates to the platform to fix security issues as they (inevitably) arise. There are a host of free to use security plugins which endeavor to further enhance WordPress’s default security, which are always recommended to install. Most “hacks” into WordPress sites happen due to user error, either by utilizing too simple a password to crack (a typical example would be “password123”), or the user reveals their WordPress login details in a public forum.
Can I use WordPress for an ecommerce store?
Yes, WooCommerce is flexible and powerful free plugin for WordPress that is one of the world’s most popular ecommerce solutions, powering 28% of all online stores on the web. It is suitable for selling both physical and digital products and comes with a suite of (mostly paid) plugins such as payment gateways and parcel tracking apps to build a fully featured ecommerce solution for your business.
How do I get started using and learning WordPress?
We have a growing selection of WordPress tutorials and tools to help you start your own WordPress powered blog, website or app.
