In this episode, we take a deep dive into the world of WordPress, the most popular content management system on the internet. Host Chrissy Rey breaks down what WordPress is, why it’s the go-to platform for website creation, and how its robust features can serve both beginners and experts alike. From themes and plugins to scalability and community support, get a comprehensive understanding of what makes WordPress the ideal choice for your website needs.
Listen to the Episode
Show Notes
In this episode, host Chrissy Rey takes listeners on a comprehensive journey through the world of WordPress. From its basic definition as a content management system to its scalability and community support, this episode aims to provide a 360-degree view of why WordPress is the go-to platform for website creation.
Timestamps
- 0:00 – Introduction to the episode and WordPress
- 0:41 – What is a Content Management System (CMS)?
- 1:49 – Why is WordPress so popular?
- 3:06 – Open-source nature of WordPress
- 4:12 – Themes and plugins in WordPress
- 5:05 – Free vs. Premium plugins and themes
- 6:15 – The overwhelming choices in WordPress
- 6:59 – The WordPress community
- 7:57 – Scalability of WordPress
- 9:07 – Cost associated with WordPress
- 10:04 – Difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org
- 11:09 – Summary and wrap-up
Key Takeaways
- WordPress is a user-friendly CMS that powers over 40% of all websites.
- The platform offers a wide range of themes and plugins, both free and premium, to extend functionality.
- WordPress has a strong community and offers scalability, making it a long-term solution for all types of websites.
Additional Resources
- WordPress.org
- WordPress Plugin Repository
- WordPress Themes Repository
- Podcast Episode 25 – All About Web Hosting, Part 1
- Podcast Episode 26 – All About Web Hosting, Part 2
Transcript
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of Website Success. I’m your host, Chrissy Rey, and today we’re diving deep into the world of WordPress. Since I spend a good chunk of my time working in WordPress, I thought it might be helpful to cover it a bit more in the podcast, so here we are!
Let’s start with the basics. WordPress is a content management system, or CMS. In simpler terms, it’s a platform that allows you to build and manage a website without needing to know how to write any code. It’s the most widely used CMS on the internet, powering more than 40% of all websites. The next most popular CMS’s out there are Shopify at 4%, Wix at 2.5%, and Squarespace at 2.1%.
WordPress is so popular in part because it’s relatively easy to use. You don’t have to be a tech guru to use it. The dashboard is pretty intuitive once you know the basics, and you can perform most tasks with just a few clicks. Want to add a new page? Easy. Need to update your menu? No problem.
Another great thing about WordPress is that it’s open source, which basically means that anybody can make extensions to it. And that has led to massive numbers of extensions called themes and plugins. Themes dictate how your website looks, while plugins add functionality. Imagine you’re building a car. The theme is the body, paint job, and interior, while the plugins are the engine, air conditioning, GPS, and all the other gadgets that make your car functional and comfortable.
WordPress offers almost 60,000 free plugins, that can manage everything from SEO and page layout to social media integration, e-commerce capabilities, and much more. This means you can start with a basic website and add more features as you go along, without having to rebuild the whole thing. In addition to the free plugins, there are thousands of premium plugins, some of which are upgrades to the free ones. Those often have more features and better support than the free ones.
As for themes, you can find more than 11,000 free themes. And like plugins, there are thousands of premium themes available. There are also several page builders which give you a sort of drag-and-drop functionality to create any layout you want, similar to how other website builders like Squarespace and Wix work.
Now all of that extendibility can lead to WordPress becoming a little overwhelming for some folks. There are just so many choices that you can run into paralysis by analysis. But don’t worry too much about that, because I’m here to help you sort through all of the confusion. I’ve been using WordPress for a very long time now, and if you need it to be able to do something in particular, I can probably point you in the direction of the right extension.
Another huge advantage of WordPress is its community. It’s been around since 2003, and over the years, it has built up a massive global community of users and developers. This means that you’ll find a wealth of resources, tutorials, and forums to help you. If you run into a problem, chances are someone else has too, and there’s a solution already out there.
Now, let’s talk about scalability. One of the beautiful things about WordPress is that it can grow with you. Whether you’re running a small personal blog or a large e-commerce site, WordPress has the capacity to handle it. As your website gains more traffic or you need to add more features, you won’t have to switch to a different platform. I have personally built everything from one-page websites that might get a few hundred hits per month for folks who just needed a placeholder on the web to multi-million dollar enterprise websites that might get tens of thousands of hits at one time with tight integrations into other business systems. WordPress really can handle it all.
Now, let’s address the elephant in the room—cost. The WordPress software itself is free to use. However, you will need to pay for web hosting and a domain name. The good news is that there are hosting plans available for all budgets, from as low as a few dollars a month. And while there are premium themes and plugins that come with a cost, there are plenty of free options that offer great functionality and design.
I do also want to mention that there’s a big difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. It can be a little confusing, so I think it’s important to know the distinction. WordPress.com is a business that offers WordPress hosting. While they do have a free plan, it’s very limited and doesn’t really hit all of the points I already mentioned. WordPress.org on the other hands is totally free and can be hosted just about anywhere that has the minimum requirements. In fact, you can even install it on your own computer, but I wouldn’t recommend hosting your website from there.
In summary, WordPress is a robust, flexible, and user-friendly platform that’s ideal for anyone looking to build a website. Its wide range of themes and plugins means you can create a site that’s both beautiful and functional. The strong community offers invaluable support, and its scalability ensures that WordPress is a long-term solution for your online needs.
That wraps up today’s deep dive into WordPress. I hope this episode has given you a comprehensive understanding of what WordPress is and why it’s the go-to platform for creating a successful website. In our next episode, we’ll explore how to choose the perfect WordPress theme for your site. Until then, this is Chrissy Rey, signing off.