Where to start?
Many people will tell you that the easiest way to build a website is by using WordPress. I happened to find Moonfruit a better way for myself to build a site in the first few weeks due to the fact i enjoyed the creating graphics etc but as time has rolled on i have found that actually WordPress really is the way to go and should probably be your first choice as a place to start. It may seem daunting to start with and if you have zero experience in building a website it may put you off if you just delve straight in without first learning how to use the site (like i did) but it is the system used by many many people to create their sites with. Below i will show you some differences you may encounter to build a website in WordPress and even show you a way you can do it in less than 10 mins….
WordPress.org? or WordPress.com? 
When i first looked into WordPress i soon became confused as to which option to use and in fact didn’t even know there were two different versions of WordPress. I like to think of it like this WordPress.com is like renting a house and WordPress.org is like owning your own house…Im not sure where i heard that expression before and im sure i must have read it somewhere but it’s a good analogy.
WordPress.com (in a nutshell)
With the .com version of WordPress you basically have a way to get an online presence in a matter of minutes. The site is hosted for you on their own servers and all you have to do is create an account and you are away. First choose a theme and you can have your first blog post up in a matter of minutes. But like renting a house you cannot alter everything inside and go putting a conservatory up! there are limitations. For instance WordPress.com does not have the ability to add plugins which can enhance your site. You are limited with themes and you cannot change the code yourself (if you are anything like me and don’t code this will mean nothing to you) you also will not have your own domain and it will appear as mysite.wordpress.com which to my mind doesn’t seem very professional. You do have the option of using your own domain but this is at a cost, as is options like putting video on and choosing premium themes which if you eventually wanted to self host you would not be able to take with you.
WordPress.org (in a nutshell)
With the .org version of wordpress the sky is the limit although you will need to host your site yourself. You have the ability to add any number of the 19000 or so plugins that are available and ever growing and you also have an amazing amount of themes that you can choose. The customization of your site using wordpress.org is what sets it apart from the .com version and like i said.. its like owning your own house..you can move walls, put up extensions etc..plus you don’t need planning permission ha ha! You will also need your own domain with this version and download the software but many hosting companies nowadays have a one-click installation which makes things dead easy.
Conclusion
I would say that for me and most other people who are serious about setting up a website using WordPress the choice has to be the self-hosted version WordPress.org. It really is a no brainer and will actually probably be cheaper in the long run as you will not have to pay out vast amounts of money to do things like ad video etc….You can find more info about wordpress here
What next?
so lets say that you are going to build a website in wordpress.org. the next thing you are going to want to do is get a domain and find somewhere to host your site. There are a number of different providers and below i have listed a few of the best ones. I actually use Siteground to host sites apart from another even better way to get a site running i will show you later on…(cue suspenseful music!) but for now here are some others you may want to look at.
Siteground, Hostgator, Go daddy, Just host,1&1, ipage, hub, bluehost, network solutions
Once you have chosen a domain and hosting provider you will be ready to start creating your site. I would suggest that you take a look at the many tutorials available on how to build a website in WordPress and after a while you will get to grips with the system…you can also see my page on creating a website for free here
The number one way to get a site up and running!
I am going to let you in on a little secret..this site you are reading now is hosted and developed with a company called Wealthy Affilliate… you can check them out using the link below..(no im not trying to sell you anything) it is a network/community of marketeers who have a brilliant way of not only getting your website up and running in a matter of minutes but also helping you along the way with tons and tons of tutorials. Keep a look out for my review of my experience of wealthy affiliate in the very near future but if you would like a sneak peak then please just follow the link..if you end up joining i will see you in the community and follow you..its a bit like facebook for business people..hold on thats linkdin isnt it?..well kind of but with more pizazz and much more useful.
To visit wealthy affiliate just click here
I hope this has helped you a little and as always drop a comment below..
cheers
Pete.
Recent Comments