With all the talk about WordPress, it’s easy to easy to get lost in the mayhem. Your may not even know what WordPress is, nor why there are two different adaptations. Fear not, I am going to make heads and tails of all of this for you, so you understand what it is and the path you should take.
Just to make sure we are all on the same page, I am first going to tell you what WordPress is.
What is WordPress?
In layman’s terms, WordPress is software that is used to run a website. WordPress makes it easy to customize your site and manage content. It is arguably the easiest and most powerful blog and website management system on the planet, and certainly the most widely used.
WordPress is what is known as open source software, and it is free.
Do I need WordPress?
The answer in short: Yes and no.
You don’t need WordPress to run a website much the same way you don’t need Excel to run a spreadsheet… but it makes it a whole lot easier and a whole lot more effective.
You don’t need any content management software to run your website, but that just makes it nearly impossible to manage and maintain your website properly.
And WordPress is not the only content management software, but choosing WordPress makes the most amount of sense. It’s popularity results in a huge support infrastructure, providing you with more tools and options.
Question: Do I need WordPress?
Answer: Yes, it’s a wise decision to run WordPress
Why are there two different kinds of WordPress?
There is WordPress.org and WordPress.com, and they are actually two very different platforms. Because the names are similar, beginners often confuse the two thinking they are the same, leading them to choose the wrong platform for their needs.
My intention is to share the primary differences between WordPress.org and WordPress.com, so you can make the right choice.
WordPress.org is the amazing WordPress that you hear about, the WordPress that runs so many of the sites on the Internet worldwide, the WordPress that provides you complete flexibility for your website.
Simply put, WordPress.org is where it all began. It’s the 100% free open source software that you can download to run your website or blog.
WordPress.com, on the other hand, is a hosting service provided by the co-founder of WordPress.
This is a very important distinction because WordPress.org gives you full function and flexibility, and WordPress.com does not. There are circumstances where WordPress.com would be a proper choice, but for people who want to make money and scale their blog, WordPress.org is the right choice.
Only you know what your objectives are, so I am going to compare the two.
WordPress.org is what is known as a self-hosted blog. Self-hosting your blog gives you the flexibility to upload themes and plugins, and gives you the ability to own your links. If you are planning to make money with your blog, this is the way to go. You can read here about the benefits of a self-hosted blog.
WordPress.com provides free hosting with limited services. The do offer upgraded plans with additional services, but you still will never have the flexibility and options to scale and make money like you have with a self-hosted blog. And, on top of that, the fees for their upgraded plans are more expensive than using your own host (such as hosting with Bluehost, which I use and recommend). If you are a hobby blogger and never plan to monetize your blog, then WordPress.com may be a good option for you.
WordPress.org Overview
WordPress.org is the choice for those who have a business or who want to make money from their blog or website.
If you have a business or your want to make money from your blog or website, then self-hosted WordPress.org is the way to go. It gives you the freedom and flexibility to build and run your website the way you want.
WordPress.org Pros
- You have full control of your website.
- You are free to customize it as much as you want.
- It is free.
- It’s easy to use.
- You own your website, your content, and all your links.
- You can add free and/or paid WordPress plugins, or even develop your own.
- You can add free and/or paid WordPress theme, or develop your own.
- Anything on your website can be modified, so you can get that perfect look and function.
- You can run ads without sharing revenue, allowing you to make money with your site on your terms.
- You can track your website performance with tools like Google Analytics, which can be used to tweak traffic and maximize income.
- You can monetize your site by building an online store to sell products and services.
- You can accept various forms of payments that you choose, including credit cards.
- You can create and manage membership sites providing protected content for recurring income.
WordPress.org Cons
- You need to get your own hosting (hence why it is called a self-hosted blog or website). Ironically, self-hosting is what provides the great benefits of WordPress. All websites need to be hosted somewhere.
- You are responsible for your own website backups. Luckily, there are plugins that you can use for this purpose. See this post for more info.
- Your are responsible for updates. This is easy though, because when WordPress releases an update, you only need to click once on the update button.
I recommend WordPress.org for most of my readers. That’s because this blog (ScottsMoneyMachines.com) is about making money. See my tutorial on how to start a blog.
WordPress.com Overview
WordPress.com is the choice for those who blog as a hobby or who don’t care to make money from their site, such as those who want to showcase their vacation. Although most bloggers need self-hosting, you may want to read this article if you are not sure.
WordPress.com starts with a free plan. Although the free plan is especially limited, all of the plans have limitations in terms of control of your site and what you can do with it.
WordPress.com offers these hosting:
- Free – Very limited
- Personal – $60 /year
- Premium – $96 /year
- Business – $300 /year
WordPress.com Pros
- It’s free to get started. You get up to 3Gb of storage for free. If this works for you, you’re good to go. Otherwise you will need to upgrade to a paid plan. All the plans before the business plan have storage limitations.
- Backups are provided.
- WordPress updates are provided.
WordPress.com Cons
- All free hosted blogs and websites have ads on them. Your visitors will see the ads, but you don’t make any money from them. All of the ad revenue goes to WordPress.com.
- You are not permitted to sell advertising space on your site. If you are getting traffic and you want to run ads, you need to apply for their ad program, where you would be sharing the revenue with them.
- Your site is branded by WordPress.com with a “Powered by WordPress.com” marketing link. You can only remove this link if you subscribe to their business plan.
- You cannot upload plugins. You lose the ability to choose and use plugins, which are one of the greatest benefits of WordPress (.org). However, they do allow limited plugin installs with their business plan. Click here to find out more about plugins.
- You cannot upload themes. Themes are also one of the amazing benefits of WordPress (.org) that you would have to give up with WordPress.com (although, their business plan offers choices).
- You cannot install Google Analytics or any other tracking metrics. Their business plan does allow Google Analytics.
- You do not own your site and it can be deleted by WordPress.com if they feel that it violates their terms of service.
- You cannot monetize your site with your own online store.
- You cannot accept forms of payments through integrated payment gateways.
- You cannot have membership sites.
WordPress.com restricts and limits your ability to grow, scale, and monetize your site. That’s fine for some people, but if you are building a blog to make money, or you may want to monetize you blog in the future, or you just want to own and control your site, WordPress.com is just not the best option.
So which is better: WordPress.org or WordPress.com?
The question is not which is better, but which is better for you. Now that you know the differences, take a look at your own needs and objectives. The choice should now be apparent.
There is no question that WordPress.org is a more powerful platform that is better for most people. There is a reasons why WordPress.org is the most widely use platform on the planet, running over 32% of all websites across the web.
How do I start a WordPress.org website?
Starting a WordPress.org website or blog is as simple as getting a host and getting a domain name.
Fortunately, this is really easy.
I recommend using Bluehost for hosting. I use Bluehost for this blog and for my niche websites. Bluehost is secure, reliable, inexpensive, and one of the largest, most respected hosting companies. Also, WordPress.org recommends Bluehost as an official WordPress hosting provider.
And on top of that, Bluehost provides a special offer to my readers and a free domain. There is no easier way to start a blog or website because Bluehost has one-click WordPress installation, and I created a step-by-step tutorial that walks you through the entire process. You can start a blog in under 20 minutes.
For me to walk you through the entire process, check out my how to start a blog tutorial.
Did this post help you understand the differences between WordPress.org and WordPress.com?
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