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Are you a novice blogger exploring how to start your own blog?
Launching a blog might appear daunting, especially if you lack experience in the field. However, it’s not as complex as it may seem.
Platforms such as WordPress simplify the process, eliminating the need for coding or building a website from the ground up.
All that’s required is to familiarize yourself with WordPress to establish your blog. This informative article is here to assist you on this journey. So, take a moment to relax and carefully review the following 10 steps.
Why Are You Creating a Blog?
Define Your Niche
This question may seem simple, but it requires focused thought and attention. Several factors could be influencing your decision, such as the desire to generate income or share personal experiences. Why not both?
Depending on your current expertise or interests, you should select a niche that truly ignites your passion. Passion serves as a wellspring of inspiration, and you should feel genuinely motivated when working on your new project. After all, what’s the point of engaging in something you’re not enthusiastic about?
However, passion and inspiration alone aren’t sufficient. Your chosen blog niche and the topics you intend to cover should also captivate your audience. Conduct thorough research to determine whether these topics are likely to attract significant traffic.
Indeed, traffic volume is a crucial element in the successful blogging equation!
Carefully weigh whether you aim to monetize through advertising. If so, consider a broader niche that can draw a larger audience.
Keep in mind that there are no absolute truths in this endeavor. The only certainty is the need for thorough research before embarking on your blogging journey.”
Follow these beginner’s tips
We have some other helpful tips to share with you at the very start of your blogging journey:
- Consider your knowledge, experience, and expertise. It may be smarter to use your current knowledge as the base of your project.
This way, what you have as experience will be put into practice and you will have room for further development as you move ahead.
You can also set the site to generate revenue by expanding your horizon while doing something you enjoy.
- Consider the possibility that you may want to sell your site in the future. Sites with a good domain name and clear purpose go from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
You may want to analyze the demand and hence the likelihood of someone buying your blog.
This means analyzing the topic for trends that will be popular in the future, such as virtual reality, nano-tech, electric vehicles, IoT (Internet of Things), etc.
- Consider selecting a profitable niche for your blog. Selecting the niche for your site is a very important subject. According to the “Scope of Penetration” marketing model, targeting a newer and more undeveloped niche means an easier penetration, and hence it may be easier to succeed.
Also, you have a much better chance of staying on top of Google results.
- What are you willing to invest to create a blog? It is a very vital step to have a clear idea of what you are willing to pay for your site.
And we are not talking only about funds, but time invested as well. If your site is improving every month, then you should keep investing time and money in it because these are strong indicators for future success.
Choose WordPress as Your CMS Platform
Despite the numerous content management systems (CMSs) available, we highly recommend WordPress. It stands as the most popular and widely embraced platform.
According to statistics, WordPress CMS powers an impressive 62.7% of all websites with known CMS, equivalent to 35.9% of all websites on the internet. Notably, WordPress version 5 leads the way, employed by 72.5% of all websites using this platform.
The historical data indicates a consistent upward trend in CMS adoption, with WordPress surpassing competitors like Joomla and Drupal in terms of website usage.
This decision also carries significant weight, shaping your future blogging experience.
Should You Go with WordPress.com or WordPress.org?
What is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
The WP CMS platform is one of the most popular software platforms for building blogs and websites.
Being free and open-source makes it easy for both experienced and inexperienced bloggers to modify it according to their needs.
The core software package is available to anyone at WordPress.org, and can also be installed as part of a package from a Web hosting provider.
WordPress.com also supports the core software. A company called Automattic, created by one of the founders of WordPress made the.COM domain for hosting WP-based websites.
Remember that if you go with .com, you won’t have to install the software as it is already included.
If the end result is the same, you might ask “Why would it matter which of the two I choose”?
The answer is that it matters A LOT because it will define the control you have over your site or blog. Our advice is that you go for the self-hosted WordPress.org platform because it gives you all the freedom you need.
Note that having a self-hosted website is just like owning your own home. Self-hosting a site means you have access to all files related to a website. The advantage is that you can do it any time, any way you see fit.
A self-hosted website has its own domain name and is hosted by a provider that has a specific space reserved for such self-hosted sites.
You can customize your site at any time.
Long story short, WordPress.com is a prime example of a hosted platform that runs on the aforementioned WordPress software, but WordPress.org offers a WordPress site package available for download so you can run it on a self-hosting site.
WordPress.com and WordPress.org Features
If you want a quick setup that works, requires next to no maintenance, and is easy to configure, you should choose WordPress.com.
On the other hand, if you want the freedom of choice, deeper customization, better Analytics, and to tinker with the site more, then you should definitely stick with WordPress.org.
Hopefully, this post has been informative enough for you to be able to make a simpler decision on which one to go with.
Either way, WordPress is so popular and big that whatever of the two platforms you choose with, you still have options to make every site you take up, in your truly own colors.
You can learn more about both versions of WP in our dedicated article WordPress.com Vs .org.
How to Create a Blog: Initial Steps
How Choose the Right Domain Name
Choosing a domain name for your first site can be both entertaining and challenging. Since this is going to be the name by which you will be known and discovered online, you need to choose carefully.
In fact, the domain name of your website can be country- or niche-specific. Whatever you do, you should think Brand awareness and an SEO-friendly way.
Think Easy-to-remember
If you’re starting a personal blog, you can always use your own name. In any other case, it should be catchy and easy-to-remember.
The best-case scenario is choosing a domain name that is both self-explanatory and memorable.
Here are some tips you can follow; they are valid in nearly all situations:
- The domain name should be short;
- The domain name should be easy-to-remember;
- You may want to go for words that are easy to spell;
- You may want to choose a “brandable” domain;
- Make a domain history check to be sure that it’s clean;
- The domain name can be related to your specific blogging niche.
So, let’s elaborate a bit on some of the above points.
What Is a Brandable Domain?
Depending on your overall strategy, you can go for a brandable domain. As explained by Novanym, “brandable domain names are web addresses which have been created and registered but are not yet used as company websites.
These domain names have been designed with distinctiveness, catchiness, and imagination in mind, ready to be adopted by a suitable brand. Most crucially, it already exists, even though its namesake business doesn’t.”
Why Should You Choose a Domain That Is Easy to Spell?
If you are going to create and sustain a blog, you will definitely discover that there are three main types of traffic through which people get to a website:
- Search traffic, which comes from search engines such as Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo;
- Referral traffic, which comes from clicking on links to your blog;
- Type-in traffic, which is when a user types your domain name in the search bar of their browser.
Choose Web Hosting
If the blog you’re starting is tied to a local business, then you should definitely consider the best hosting option for that specific market.
In other words, the very first thing you should know is that depending on whether you’re starting a local or international website, there are different approaches to consider and implement.
The first tip is quite logical: look for a server or a data center that is located in that specific country. Location is crucial when it comes to a local audience, as it ensures speed and reliability.
It could even improve the SEO of your website. You should also consider the local currency and legal regulations.
Each country has its specifics when it comes to laws and regulations, and you should get to know the ones in the country you are looking to grow your business and audience.
It is highly important to choose the best option in matters of value for money ratio, support, and additional perks for the customer.
After choosing your hosting provider, keep in touch, and seek all the assistance you’ll need – changing DNS settings, uploading and indexing your website, connecting an FTP program.
And keep in mind that the initial arrangement of your files is most likely included in the package you’re going to pay for.
How To Find Web Hosting Server Locations?
To find a web hosting server location, you can use a website such as HTH Hosting Finder Tool , which provides detailed information about a web host’s network and server locations. You can also use tools such as the Reverse IP Lookup tool from IPLocation.net, which will allow you to search for a web host’s server locations based on its IP address. Additionally, you can use the WHOIS lookup tool to find the server location of a domain.
Set Up Your Web Hosting and Domain Name?
Shortly explained, a web hosting service allows people just like you to make their website accessible via the web.
Our Editor’s choice for a new blogger web hosting is SiteGround, and you can get the fastest managed WordPress hosting at only $1.99/mo with free SSL, CDN, PHP 8, etc.
Note. We want to be sure that you know that the hosting links are affiliate and we get a small commission on every purchase with no additional cost for you.
Instead of that, you get the hosting at a special price with a free SSL certificate, CDN, and a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can feel free to try the hosting for a month.
To start hosting your WordPress blog, go to SiteGround and choose your plan.
After choosing your hosting plan you need to type your website domain name.
Have a clear idea of the site’s domain name. For example, a good tip is to make it short and with focused keywords.
Then type in your account and client information in the appropriate fields.
When you fill in your information, enter your purchase info like card number, PayPal, etc.
You have successfully completed the steps of purchasing SiteGround managed WordPress hosting.
How to Choose Your WP Theme
This step is about choosing your site’s design and layout. This step is as important as the rest. The layout of your site is its face, and you want it to be attractive, user-friendly, and intuitive.
You want your visitors to be happy, and the design of your website is key to this happiness. Of course, the information you will be providing is also a key element.
However, it’s not only important what you are saying but how you are saying it. You want your visitors to trust you and accept you, so be user-friendly.
Once you have installed the platform, start looking for the right theme for your blog. The theme should not only look awesome but it also should be practical, meeting your content needs and being consistent with your niche.
Before you select a theme, follow these tips:
- Carefully read the description which will give you a pretty good idea of the theme’s features and functionalities;
- Have a look at the theme’s ratings visible as starts in the preview and under theme details. Opinions (of other bloggers) matter;
- Preview the theme in a demo to see if it clicks with your content’s needs and overall idea;
Consider the theme’s responsiveness as a sign of your choice. A good theme has a responsive design that works on both desktop and mobile. This is also important for Google (and you want to please Google).
Should You Go With a Free, Premium, or Custom Theme?
This is an excellent question, indeed. The answer depends entirely on your blog’s needs… and your vision. Free themes come at no cost but it is highly likely they won’t meet your visions and expectations.
Premium themes, on the other hand, have a wide price range and a lot more to offer and are created by both developers and specialized showcase websites. You could invest in a single-use license starting from $30 up to $300 or higher.
Custom themes can be created by freelance developers or agencies. These themes require both coding and design knowledge. For the purpose of creating a custom theme, an existing theme could also be customized.
This is definitely an option worth your time, money, and effort, but it may not be the ideal one for a beginner. Your choice is entirely dependent on your budget.
How to Set WordPress on Your Hosting
Setting up WordPress on the SiteGround hosting is very easy to do. SiteGround has optimized its managed WordPress hosting for easy WP installation. That’s why we recommend using SiteGround your website.
As an initial step goes to your SiteGround’s dashboard. Login to your account and then click on “Website”. Tap to the “Complete” button as shown below.
Select “Start a New Website” and choose WordPress if you are planning to create a blog. If you want to create an online store choose WordPress + WooCommerce.
When you choose WordPress as your CMS platform, then you will need to create a new login for your website. When you are done click “Continue”.
Here you can add some additional features when you are ready click “Finish”.
After you are already done with all these steps type “yoursitename.com/wp-admin/” in your browser and log-in using the WordPress e-mail and password you created earlier.
That’s it you are already on your WordPress website which is waiting to be customized. In the next step, you will find how to work with the WP editors, is it necessary to use a website builder.
Now, let’s move forward!
How to Install WordPress Plugins
After you are ready with the theme installation the next step is to add plugins to your WordPress blog.
It is really easy to add them. WordPress has thousands of free plugins and widgets about everything you want.
For example, you can add countdown plugins, timer plugins, contact forms, pop up plugins, and whatever shows up on your mind.
Adding a WordPress plugin to your blog is similar to the way we added the theme. Go to your WP dashboard “Plugins” “Add New” and search for the plugin you want.
Once you choose the plugin you want click “Install Now” and then activate it.
How to Configure the Best WordPress Blog Settings
Up to now, we have created our blog on a fundamental level. You know how to get a domain name, web hosting, install WordPress on your host, choose a theme, and install plugins.
Before we start with the page and post creation, there are some basic WordPress setting which we need to configure. Now let’s begin!
How to Configure Your Permalink Settings
The permalinks, also knowns as URLs are the web addresses of your website content. It is basically a code through which people can enter your website.
There is an option in the WordPress settings which allows you to choose the structure of your permalinks.
By default, WordPress set a “Plain” URL structure, which represents some kind of random numbers. This structure is the worst option that you can choose because it doesn’t tell the search engines anything about the URL’s content. In other words, it isn’t good for the SEO of your website.
The best option you can choose is “Post Name” with it, the URL will be the same as the name of its content.
Search Engine Visibility
WordPress has an option for private websites or personal portfolios. This option simply discourages the search engines index your content.
Make sure you never check this option instead, if you want to have a website for your own.
How to Customize Your HomePage
Having a well-customized homepage is very important for your website UX.
WordPress has made it easy by using their customizer.
Just go to Appearance –> Customize, and then experiment. Make sure that the default WP customizer has limited opportunities. The best way to get a stunning design of your website is by using a website builder.
How to Create a Navigation Menu
Having a navigation menu on your wordpress website is another important feature which must have. It provides quick links to your website’s most important content, and it can be customized easily through your theme.
If you want to add a navigation menu, go to Appearance –> Menus –> Add a Menu.
Using WordPress Editor to Create a Blog
WordPress is the most used CMS platform when it comes to website building. It offers lots of capabilities and opportunities, but it has one pretty significant downside.
The page editors that the platform provides are simple, but counting only on them will revoke the chance of creating a blog with various styles and layouts.
The classic WordPress editor has a word processor and allows you to add text, images, codes, and visual modes. You are not in the ability to create whatever you want.
Create Pages on Your WordPress Blog
When it comes to creating pages on WordPress, you have two different options.
If you have a blog and posting daily new or articles, you need to create a post. You need to create a page when you create landing pages, or pages like About us, Contacts, or Homepage, for example.
Unlike the pages, the posts can be organized into categories and tags.
Pages You Must Have on Your Website
There are a few essential pages that you must have on your website.
Homepage
The homepage is a presentation of your website. It is the first thing which the customers of your website see when they visit it. It might be well customized and organized.
It is essential to have the most important stuff on your website. A user-friendly interface is also required for having a better user experience.
When you start up your WordPress blog, the platform automatically creates a default homepage with a pretty simple design that needs to be customized.
Before you start customizing your homepage, you need to consider a few things.
Choose a theme that supports homepage templates: It will save you a lot of time if you use a pre-made homepage supported by your WordPress Theme.
About Page
Creating and having an About page is a great way to familiarize your customers and website visitors with your activity.
You can describe what they can find on your website and provide some emotional content, for example, your history or, if you are an individual person, something about your life and how you have been inspired to start your enterprise.
The About page needs to look good and convince people that they are in the right place.
Contact Page
Having a contact page on your website is of great importance because it is when you receive the essential information about your visitors and make them customers.
The best way to create your contact page is to add a contact form where your clients can fill in their email and send you a massage.
The best way to create a contact form is by using WPForms. You can use it to add any forms you need on your website.
Create Pages with Classic Editor (Blog Pages)
Creating a page with the classic WordPress editor is a pretty simple task that even a newbie can do.
First, go to your WordPress Dashboard, then Pages –> Add New.
After you are here, customize your page by adding title and content. You can also use the page attributes to create a link, bold text, add an image, etc.
If you are using a specific WordPress theme, you may have a custom template that will look differently.
After you are ready with the content creation, the last thing you need to do is to publish your work. You also have the option to preview it before posting it.
How to Write Your First Post
Writing and creating your first blog post are different things.
This step is dedicated to the more technical side of the post creation. Remember that you should have a clear idea of the topic you will cover before writing your blog post. Making it SEO-friendly is also crucial.
Create Your Post with the Classic WordPress Editor
Technically, creating a post with the classic editor on your WordPress blog can be done really easy if you have your content ready to be pasted on the white sheet.
First, go to your WP dashboard, then Posts –> Add New.
When you are at the “Create a Post” page, you can notice that it has pretty much the same layout as when we were creating our pages with the classic editor.
You need to add a title, and under the “Add Title” box, you have the bootstrap menu, through which you can access HTML codes in a faster way only by clicking the icons.
If you are ready with your content, you can paste it on the white sheet, customize the titles, and highlight the stuff you want.
Also, you can import images and videos by clicking on the “Add Media” icon. For best performance on your website, optimize your images.
Add Tags and Categories
Adding tags and categories to your WordPress blog is helps you organize your content.
Remember that categories are hierarchical structures that organize your content by relevance.
For example, you have a blog for healthy food and you write vegan recipes.
It will be relevant to add a category – “Vegan Recipes,” which can be a subcategory of “Healthy Recipes.” Also, in the main category, “Healthy Recipes,” you can add “Vegetarian Recipes” and “Low Gluten Recipes” as other subcategories.
You can add as many classes and categories as you want in order to hierarchize your website and create relevance within your content.
To add categories with the Classic Editor, you need to be on your post. On the right side of the screen, you will see the Categories box.
Click “Add New Category“, name it, and choose if you want it to be a parent category or a subcategory.
In the same way, you can add new tags or choose from the already created ones.
Tags are used for describing specific content. By adding them to your posts, you create relevance between the posts with the same tags, which means they have something in common.
Be careful with the tags because they can create a big mess on your website if you don’t use them properly. Do not overuse them.
To add categories and Tags with Gutenberg editor, go to your post page, and click on the “Gear” icon in the upper right to access the menu. Then add your categories and tags, in the same way, as with the classic editor.
Once you are ready with your tags, categories, content, and customization, add your final touches and click on the “Publish” button to make your article visible on your website.
A good habit before publishing is to preview the whole work and remove any mistakes.
How to Create Your Content Strategy?
Once you have completed the previous technical steps, it is time to provoke your inspiration and imagination! You have arrived at the destination, which will open new doors and possibilities for you and your blog.
As you can imagine, content strategy is an endless topic, and SEO experts have written entire books about it. There are, however, some necessary steps you should start with, such as:
- Defining your goals;
- Researching the niche (market), you will be targeting;
- Select the keywords you will be targeting; (Jump to Keyword Research);
- Researching the competition;
- Carefully choosing your topic ideas;
- Start working on your content and its elements.
Create a Sitemap of Your Content
If you are not sure what is a sitemap, here it is:
A sitemap is a list of your website’s content, mostly containing their URL’s.
There are two types of sitemaps: HTML sitemap and XML sitemap.
HTML sitemap meaning: It is a list of all the important content pages of your website. Adding them to the HTML sitemap, you basically tell Google that this content powerful. The search engine refers to the database and indexes these pages faster and ranks them better.
XML sitemap meaning: Unlike the HTML one, the XML sitemap list all your website URLs acting like a connection between your website and the search engines.
By having an HTML and XML sitemap, the search engine crawlers can find, index, and rank your content a lot easier, so make sure you use them in your WordPress Blog.
Create a Table of Contents
Implementing a table of content is another good SEO technique, which Google loves. Putting your “H2” and “H3” titles in a similar table will give them the power to rank well as keywords in the search engine.
Use Alt Tags on Your Images
In simple words, alt tags are acting as a translator for Google. They describe the image’s meaning and what’s on it. Adding alt tags will help boost and optimize your images to rank well in the image search.
Write Quality Content
Quality over quantity!
The long, well-written articles are the content Google prefers. Creating a prominent article with useful content will be ranked better than a short and fast written one.
Make sure you structure your articles well and observe various relevant topics. If you make it right, for sure, you will rank well.
Install an SEO Plugin
Following all these SEO techniques and approaches can be a tricky task. Installing an SEO plugin aids the faster and easier SEO optimization on your site.
We recommend installing the Yoast SEO plugin. It will help you optimize your post and pages.
If you want to learn more about Yoast and other SEO plugins, preview the best SEO plugins.
Keyword Research
Researching keywords can help you understand what gets more traffic and is more searched. Using proper keywords for your niche can boost your website in the sky. Every keyword has different competition and hardness to rank on it.
As a begginer, it is better to start from the low-competitive keywords and gradually raise the level.
Good tools for keyword research are:
- Google Keyword Planner – It is a free tool mostly used by websites using Google Adwords;
- Google Search – The search engine you are using to buy yourself pretty nice shoes can help you research keywords for your site;
- SeoStack – This is a free tool for researching keywords for any search engine and any country. The tool gives you a wide variety of options, and you can search for specific keywords for any country. It can be installed as a Chome extension;
- Ahrefs – It is a tool that is most likely to give any information about your competitor, but at the same time, you have a keyword explorer.
- Google AdSense
- Freelancing
- Sell Products
- Affiliate Marketing
- Create a Product
- 1-page Autobiography websites
- Blogs and Personal Websites
- eCommerce stores
- Update everything – WordPress, themes and plugins all need to be updated regularly and on time, to make everything run smoothly.
- Use the latest version of PHP – PHP is the scripting language that powers all WordPress websites and you need to run version 7 or later for best performance.
- Delete unused plugins and use a lightweight theme – unused plugins can slow down your site or cause errors. A lightweight theme will load every page of your site quicker.
- Optimize images – optimizing images, should leave them in nearly the same quality, while drastically reducing their size, leaving less cluttered space and improve site speed.
- Lazy load your content – doing so, your site will only load images that currently appear in the browser window of a user. If they do not scroll down to the placement of other images, they simply will not load.
- Install a WordPress caching plugin – it builds every HTML page on your site with PHP, then saves these full HTML pages which are sent to future visitors when requested. Thus, the building process is avoided for each new visitor saving time and resources for simplifying the repetition of the whole process.
- Simplify your page designs and content – that way you will reduce loading times. You should provide less content and minimalistic design, and less sophisticated code if you want for browsers to load faster.
- Avoid redirects – Redirects might often be unavoidable, but try optimizing your site architecture from the very start to avoid redirect chains that will slow your site down the more you use them.
- Use a Content Delivery Network – a CDN is a global network of web servers. Each has a copy of your website files, JavaScript, CSS, and image files. When a user requests a page on your site, the CDN will send the appropriate files closest to them, making load times faster.
Link Building
Link building is a major Google ranking factor, and the more websites that have linked to yours, the better your website will be ranked on Google.
What is link building?
It is the process of getting your webpages (posts, articles, etc.) linked by other websites. These types of links are called backlinks. Building a link mass on your website is not easy, and it can’t be done fast.
Creating backlinks is the same as creating relationships but in the networking space.
So, in a relationship, both sites get value. It would help if you found relevant linkers that will provide strong and powerful links to your website. Still, you need to take back the gesture.
As bigger a website is, the better your Google ranking if you receive a backlink from it.
There are many different methods to start the link building process, and below we will show the most effective ones.
Create Quality Content
As we said in the previous step, high-quality content is essential for ranking, but it is also crucial for building a linking mass. Having meaningful and quality content can easily earn you lots of backlinks.
For example, you can write how-to guides and news, which will gather significant amounts of backlinks to your website.
How to Monetize Your Blog
Making money with a WordPress blog is the last step of our guide. Make your dream come true and start making money from your hobby.
Monetizing your content can bring you a lot of revenue and make blogging your job. There are a few methods and approaches with which you can earn an excellent income.
Of course, monetization is not an easy process, but it is definitely easier than binging traffic to your website.
Monetizing your WordPress blog is the last step because you need to pass through all the previous steps and start generating at least 300 daily traffic before implementing some of the methods we have prepared.
Here are the five most powerful methods for monetization.
We have arranged them in a hierarchical order, from those which can bring you less revenue to those which can make you a fortune.
Use Google AdSense
As we said, we start with the easiest way to monetize your blog.
You can start to earn money by displaying ads provided by Google from its advertising network called Google AdSense.
You can start with this method even if your website is not very popular and does not generate massive amounts of traffic.
Also, if you are generating more traffic to your website, you can directly connect to a specific product and advertise them by getting the total ad revenue.
TIP Step
Find out if Competitor Website is based on WordPress and what plug-ins they use via our WP Check Tool
WordPress Hosting – FAQ 2023
What Is WordPress?
WordPress is one of the most popular software platforms for building websites. Being free and open-source, it makes it easy for people to use and modify their sites. The core WordPress software package is available to anyone at WordPress.org, and can also be installed as part of a package from a Web hosting provider.
What Is WordPress Used For?
WordPress is used for building websites in the form of:
WordPress is ideal for beginners who want to build small websites with a specific purpose in mind, but also used by experienced internet prodigies who scale up and make huge businesses out of WordPress sites.
What Is WordPress Multisite?
WordPress Multisite is a feature of the WordPress platform that allows users to create a network of multiple sites, all running on a single WordPress installation. It allows users to manage multiple sites from a single dashboard, and to easily share data, users, and content across sites.
Databases, user accounts and server resources are all shared in-between all websites you have tied to the WordPress Multisite feature. It will make your life easier to single-handedly install plugins and updates to all sites. However, there is also a chance that if there is an error or a crash, all sites can go down together.
Is there a Difference Between WordPress.org and WordPress.com?
Yes, there is a difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. WordPress.org is an open-source platform that allows users to install and self-host their websites, while WordPress.com is a hosted platform that provides users with basic features and hosting services.
For more information about their differences, you can also check out the HTH.guide’s WordPress.com VS .org comparison review.
Who Owns WordPress?
WordPress.org is open source software, which means it is developed and maintained by a network of volunteers. This means that no one owns WordPress, but the WordPress trademark and the WordPress.org website is owned by the WordPress Foundation, a non-profit organization.
WordPress.com is owned by a privately held company called Automattic. Automattic was started by the co-founding developer of the open source WordPress software, Matt Mullenweg. He started the company in 2005, two years after WordPress, with the main purpose to make WordPress hosting easier and allow people with little technical knowledge to start a blog with WordPress.
Is WordPress Outdated?
No, WordPress is not outdated. In fact, it is one of the most popular website building platforms in the world, used by millions of individuals, businesses, and organizations. Its powerful features and frequent updates make it a great choice for creating and managing websites of all shapes and sizes.
What Is WordPress Hosting?
WordPress hosting is a type of web hosting specifically designed for websites built with the popular WordPress content management system. This form of hosting is specifically-tailored to WordPress and revolves around optimising its performance and security. The service has features such as one-click WP installations, automatic updates and a support team to help you manage it.
This is a service that is best optimized for using WordPress. It is generally a shared plan but it can be any type of hosting. You can compare Cloud Hosting vs WordPress Hosting and see which plans offer more features for a cheaper price.
How to Log In WordPress?
Logging into WordPress is simple. Navigate to the login page of your WordPress website, enter your username and password, and click the Log-In button. Your WordPress dashboard will then open, allowing you to manage your content and settings. To be able to log-in to WordPress in general, you will need to first find your WordPress login URL, received after getting the web hosting plan.
If by any chance none of the above-mentioned options work, check with your hosting provider about logging in from the web hosting page or if they have a specific guide for logging in through their hosting dashboard.
How to Update WordPress?
To Update your WordPress version, you need to first, log in to the admin area of your WordPress website and go to Dashboard » Updates page.
You will see a notice that a new version of WordPress is available. Now you just need to click on the Update Now button to initiate the update. Just wait for the process to unfold on your screen and wait for it to finish.
You should make backups or have a WordPress backup plugin before doing these updates, especially if your website has important files and is not a new site.
How to Improve WordPress Speed?
To speed up your WordPress website, use a caching plugin, optimize images, reduce external HTTP requests, and use a CDN. Additionally, update WordPress and plugins regularly and keep your website clean by deleting any old unused files or plugins.
For further tips, you can also follow HTH’s article on speeding up WordPress effectively.
In addition, you can also try to follow the professional WordPress speed up tips listed underneath:
What Is the Best Web Hosting for WordPress?
The best web hosting service for WordPress is a reliable host that is optimized for WordPress and comes with an array of features such as automatic updates, backups, and a secure environment. It also provides a high level of customer service and support, uptime and bandwidth.
According to HTH.guide and many other experts across the Internet, the most balanced and most reliable WordPress Hosting is Hostinger.
Hostinger has 99.9% uptime guarantee, speed-optimization features, and industry-leading security and 30-day money-back guarantee. You should definitely read the Hostinger Review and see if Hostinger is the Best Hosting Service for your specific WordPress website.
How to Choose The Best WordPress Hosting Plan?
To choose the best WordPress hosting, consider the features offered by the hosting provider, such as storage space, bandwidth, customer support, security, and scalability. Additionally, assess the hosting provider’s reputation, customer reviews, and pricing to make sure you make the right decision. You can formulate the best companies for your needs by selecting your specific criteria using advanced tools, such as HTH.guide’s Hosting Finder tool.
What Does WordPress Hosting Include?
WordPress Hosting includes a range of services, such as domain name registration, hosting, one-click installation of WordPress, and technical support. It also offers a wide range of features, such as plugins, themes, and more, to customize your website to your needs.
Who Can Benefit from WordPress Hosting?
WordPress hosting is the perfect solution for anyone looking to create a website or blog. It provides a secure and reliable platform for hosting your site, as well as access to a variety of powerful plugins and features to help you customize your site and maximize its potential. With WordPress hosting, you can easily maintain your website and ensure it runs smoothly.
How Many Websites Can I Host on WordPress?
You can host an unlimited number of websites on WordPress. Depending on your hosting plan and the features you need, you can choose from a variety of hosting options, such as shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, and managed WordPress hosting.
Is WordPress Better Than Traditional Web Hosting?
WordPress hosting is generally considered to be better than traditional hosting, as it offers a range of features that are specifically tailored to the needs of WordPress users. WordPress hosting comes with a pre-installed version of WordPress, which makes setting up a website easier and faster. Additionally, WordPress hosting provides additional features such as automatic updates, enhanced security, faster loading times and better customer support.
Traditional hosting does not offer these features, and the setup process is more time consuming. Therefore, for the majority of users, WordPress hosting is the better choice.
Is WordPress Hosting a Good Service?
WordPress hosting is a great service for businesses, bloggers, and web developers looking to create a website. It offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it easy to manage and customize a website. WordPress hosting also provides features like high-performance hosting, security, scalability, and a large library of plugins and themes. All of these features make it an ideal service for creating a website that looks professional and runs smoothly.
Are There Any Problems With WordPress Hosting?
Yes, there are some potential issues with WordPress hosting. The biggest problem is security, as WordPress sites can be vulnerable to hackers if not properly secured. Additionally, WordPress hosting can be expensive, and it may require more technical expertise than other hosting services to properly maintain and manage the site. Finally, WordPress requires frequent updates to ensure the best performance and security, which can be a burden for webmasters.
Does Google Prefer WordPress?
Google is neutral and will rank content based on its quality, relevance and other factors regardless of platform. However, it is generally accepted that WordPress offers an SEO advantage due to its clean codebase and wide range of SEO-friendly features. WordPress also makes it easy to create content, manage keywords and optimize content for search engines. Ultimately, Google will favor content that is well-crafted and SEO-friendly, regardless of platform.
Is WordPress or HTML a Better SEO Choice?
WordPress is generally considered to be better for SEO option than HTML, as it provides numerous SEO-friendly features, such as built-in SEO optimization, the ability to create custom meta titles and descriptions, and many SEO-specific plugins.
Is WordPress Hosting Better Than Cloud?
WordPress hosting is a great choice for those looking to quickly and easily set up a website with minimal technical know-how. However, when compared, cloud hosting offers more scalability and can be more cost-effective in the long run, making it a great choice for businesses looking to grow quickly. Ultimately, it depends on your needs and budget which hosting solution is better for you.
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I’m a newbie, and here I found all the essential details that will help me to start creating my personal blog the right way.
Good job guys, like it because it shows pure advice and suggestions without pushing products and services. I am using local hosting provider in Greece and found you trough your wordpress install review for Papaki.
Is there any way to create meeting on the home page on wordpress blog. I am using free theme. Please advice?
Hi there! Thanks so much for the tutorial. Can I ask you something in addition? Is there a way to create an email address that is linked to a blog? I don’t want my blog to be linked to a personal gmail account. So I need to create an email address dedicated to the blog. Thanks :)
Hi Howtohosting Team,
you have written so much content! So thank you, for starters.
I didn’t know where to begin from, but then I kept reading more and more and got the gist of it, i think. Good thing you have pictures and tutorial parts and that sort of stuff. I especially liked the DO NOT CLICK tip on the “Discourage search engines from indexing” part – I was laughing at how it was phrased, but wondered what exactly it would do – you made me check up on it.
You have made this like a type of encyclopedia of sorts, which I like, but to be honest, I haven’t followed everything… too long, lol, but can you give more examples on what quality content is, aside from how-to guides and news? Now, I have an almost fully working site, so that is my question – the bit about good content. What makes it good? Are backlinks that important and if I pay for such is a bad strategy?
Waiting for a response,
Your brand new fan,
Robert
Hey, Robert!
Glad we have been helpful!
To your points:
Quality content should be written with meaningful sentences, that best help your audience. For example, you are selling cars – do not write just the specs of the cars, but more detailed history about each vehicle.
What makes the content good is when you make it engaging. Make it, so that your users would definitely want and need to see that content on your site and that it helps them. So, it applies to any type of site, those above were just a few examples.
Backlinks, internal links and other useful information links are important, but do not pay for them. As a beginner, you have a lot to build and with a fast site and good content (see what I did there, haha), the links will come eventually.
Paying for links can be good and bad. If you pay someone to be on their page, that can be beneficial and ethical. But like paying for thousands of links to go to your website as a fake boost in a short period of time is bad and you should definitely not do it.
Best Regards from the HowToHosting.guide Team!
Yes, BenEC, you should create another email account for the blog.
You can always change the emails, so no worries there.
Is it really mandatory to use Email Outreach, will it help with regularly returning users?
There is something I’m wondering about.. is it possible to use wordpress just for a blog creation and then transfer the blog to my wix site? I’m just trying to find best option to combine wordpress and wix… thanks in advance!!
Thank you! Such an awesome article!
It is great that guides like these exist to help users to reach their goals and WordPress is definitely the platform I would use
I have just set a WP Website for my business. The next step is to add a SEO plugin. At first, I thought that Yoast will be the best choice but then the Rank Math tool which I saw in an article you linked – the best SEO tools, grabbed my attention. Now I try to identify which one will work better.
Danke! Great article which has helped me make my first blog site so easy!