What is WordPress Used For?

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By Vinay Khatri

WordPress.com has its foundation on the software-as-a-service SaaS platform which in turn allows you to develop a website by making use of the building blocks derived from WordPress. But, while WordPress.org has open-source architecture and permits hosting regardless of the place, WordPress.com is constructed on the edifice of the WordPress.org framework and manages to host a website with super ease. Now, if that is apparently indicating any limitations of WordPress.com, you will be astonished to know that the software delivers a whole lot of things you crave for.

In addition, over 38 percent of the world’s aggregate websites have been built with WordPress. This makes it evident that the web-building platform can be put to use for the creation of different types of websites.

This article focuses on sundry aspects of the use of WordPress.com.

Advantages of WordPress.com

  • Ease of use

WordPress.com simplifies the process of website development as well as content management. This is especially helpful to website owners and beginners who want to create interactive web pages, add products and images to the website, and manage blog posts with absolute ease without the need to write code.

  • Affordability

With WordPress.com in place, the website owners can resort to significant cost-cutting because of its wide-ranging array of free themes. How to add themes to your website? Well, the theme needs to be uploaded into the WordPress web server, appended with plug-ins and content.

  • Active community

WordPress is a hotbed of developers hustling and bustling to create new themes and plug-ins every now and then. WordPress has a far-reaching online community that is available round-the-clock. Rest assured, you will at all times find someone down there providing relevant answers to your questions.

Why WordPress.com is Superior to WordPress.org?

Many users prefer WordPress.com as a hosting service provider over WordPress.org, leading Content Management System (CMS) having a free, open-source architecture. In this article, our basic objective will be to find out the precise functions of WordPress.com. But, first, you need to gain an understanding of in what way the platform is different from its open-source counterpart. Here are some of the benefits you derive from using WordPress.com that WordPress.org does not necessarily indulge you with.

1. WordPress.com offers web hosting

When you put WordPress.com into action, you need not be concerned about how to download the WordPress software, how to find a hosting partner and pay for it, or how to manage a web server. You can simply concentrate on the creation of your website. You can likewise focus on adding content to it. Everything else will be looked after by WordPress.com.

It is true that self-hosting comes with lots of perks, in particular if you have ample technical prowess. Under such a circumstance you can take WordPress.org into consideration. But, for a vast majority of users, WordPress.com is more desirable. Since it comes along with managed hosting, you can greatly benefit from it. What is more, WordPress.com servers get meticulously optimized to solely attend to WordPress needs.

2. WordPress.com provides enhanced security

WordPress.com makes every effort to keep your privacy intact and goes the extra mile to uphold the safety of your website. Here are the means by which WordPress.com does that:

  • By keeping a watch on traffic and user activity to detect anything suspicious
  • By creating robust encryption for all websites
  • By running firewalls regularly
  • By carrying out numerous security tests
  • By forming a focused security team for the protection of your data

3. Wordpres.com provides comprehensive customer support

By putting WordPress.com into effect, you get hosting, security, and backups within a single package. Similarly, you can obtain a custom-created domain name through a system upgrade to any paid premium plans. Moreover, you can benefit from expert support if your website is conceived through WordPress.com.

You can pull resources from many forums for asking questions and finding solutions. This is one of the most striking differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. While WordPress.com has real staff to come to your aid, support from WordPress.org is extended by volunteers.

One remarkable thing about WordPress.com is the very fact that backups of your website are created automatically. You do not need to take backups separately. However, in the event you need to create additional backups, you can take backups manually too.

Besides, if you have subscribed to the WordPress.com paid Business or e-Commerce plans, you can procure backups of the full site as per your needs and timings. The web servers of WordPress.com are absolutely safe.

4. WordPress.com is suitable for different websites, projects, and users

Irrespective of whether you keep delivering professional or personal goals, WordPress.com can further lend you a helping hand in creating an ideal website for your unique needs. Also, if you plan to earn revenue from your site, the use of WordAds may come of great help. WordAds is actually an advertisement program put forward by WordPress.com. It is advantageous in yielding high advertisement-induced revenue. Plus, if you are subscribed to the Business plan, you can maximally leverage the potentials of Google AdSense.

WordPress.com is a first-class choice for a wide array of users including the ones mentioned below:

  • Artists
  • Bloggers
  • Doctors
  • Photographers
  • Plumbers
  • Restaurateurs
  • Shop owners

The platform offers a plethora of themes and plug-ins. These are tools to design your website and include various features and functionalities. Also, if you have a Business plan subscription, it qualifies you to get your own themes and plug-ins uploaded.

Nonetheless, it is important to note that tech professionals who want to do coding all by themselves should go ahead hosting their individual WordPress.org installations.

Next, let us gain some understanding of how each category of users specified above makes the most of the benefits of WordPress.com.

  • For bloggers

WordPress.com is a powerful blogging platform. Even though it can be directly used for building websites, also those without a separate blog section, it is actually delineated as a content management system (CMS) for blogs and articles. Therefore, it is equipped with numerous features to cater to that particular use case.

With several built-in options, WordPress.com allows users to create and publish blog posts on their websites with ease. The need to rope in any third-party tool to effectuate that functionality becomes optional.

Moreover, blogging websites developed with WordPress.com come with an in-built commenting system – a feature that any other website builders for the most part do not carry.

Many WordPress themes are definitely made ready for blogging purposes. Also, there are blog-specific themes and plug-ins that cater to special niches. You can get the most out of them by offering protection against spam, adding contact forms, or improving SEO.

  • For business websites

No matter what your profession is, be it doctor, engineer, or restaurant owner, WordPress.com gives you assistance in building your website and passing on helpful, relevant business-centric information to your website visitors. Also, this holds good across different business sizes, whether it is a startup, a large corporate house, or anything in between.

WordPress.com comes up with plenty of choices for businesses that are inclined towards building a customized, branded website. These are businesses that want to avoid the headache of separately dealing with the tasks of hosting, support, or security all by themselves. Such businesses can significantly benefit from WordPress.com.

You can grab hold of a theme that is perfect for the type of business you do. Next, you can have a few plug-ins installed to specifically cater to your marketing needs.

  • For photographers and artists

In addition to blogging and other business requirements, WordPress can be used by non-branded institutions or professionals. They can use WordPress.com for creating a complete portfolio site.

The main goal is to display your work. Such types of websites are all the rage among photographers, artists, interior designers, architects, graphic designers, and more. In this way, you can either showcase your portfolio to your clients, market them well, and increase sales and profits.

WordPress is the cream of the crop as far as developing and managing all kinds of personal and professional websites.

Since WordPress.com allows you to create web pages just like any other website builder, you can effortlessly set up a portfolio site. Not only does your portfolio site highlight your work and achievements, but also WordPress.com lets you add several web pages to it. This aids visitors to gather information and get in touch with you. For instance, a portfolio site is expected to put up the following pages:

  • Services
  • Pricing
  • Contact us
  • FAQ
  • For e-commerce

You can build your online e-commerce store with WordPress.com by leveraging its e-commerce plan. The plan includes all diverse features and functionalities you may need to use.

One of the most remarkable benefits of this plan lies in the fact that it happens to be the only out-of-the-box package that comes with personalized expert support sessions. These sessions are basically tutorials on how to bring your online store to fruition. The e-commerce plan furnishes advanced features like the following:

  • It allows you to accept payments from literally anywhere in the world
  • It facilitates carrier integrations
  • It comes up with specific e-commerce marketing tools
  • It offers special ecommerce themes

Subscribing to the e-commerce plan greatly helps in case you are operating a retail store. Setting up an online store with WordPress.com is easier than doing it through WordPress.org. Undoubtedly, WordPress.org offers more opportunities with respect to design and customization.

On the flip side, it does not have any separate e-commerce plan. As a result, the onus lies entirely on you to use plug-ins and add the functionality of your choice. WordPress.com is available with lots of integrated security features. In the case of WordPress.org, you need to manage the security features single-handedly. Or else, you have to do a lot of research to get to know your requirements.

Final Thoughts

So by now, you have gained enough idea on the various aspects of usability of WordPress.com. It is a formidable blogging platform, but at the same time, it can assume the appearance of a creative portfolio, business website, or an e-commerce store.

Besides, in spite of everything, you can still keep track of its effectiveness with the help of in-house WordPress.com statistics, reports, or Google Analytics. All these can be integrated when you opt for a paid premium plan or better.

Last but not the least, even though WordPress.org may come up with extended freedom and flexibility when it comes to developing and managing a website. However, anyone would rather prefer to have unflinching reliability in their websites that do not call for much expertise, time, and energy to manage – something which a website developed via WordPress.com offers.

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