Difference between wordpress.org and wordpress.com

You may be familiar with WordPress and its uses. But do you know there are two different platforms of WordPress? Yes! You got it right. Those two different are wordpress.com and wordpress.org.  Though both are called WordPress, it is different, and knowing the difference between these two terms will allow you to make accurate decisions when setting up your new website. You might get confused between these two and not be aware of the differences between them.

To clear the confusion, let’s go through the differences between wordpress.com and wordpress.com

WordPress.com is a service that helps the user to create a website using WordPress software. WordPress.com is similar to renting a house or space for your website.

Whereas, WordPress.org is where you can download WordPress software to use on your web hosting account. It is similar to owning a house of your own but for the website. It is self-hosted. They are just one click away and are easy to install. A self-hosted site like wordpress.org has almost no restrictions in comparison to a .com site.

 WordPress.com is an open-source and free hosting system that is hosted on WordPress. It is free in the beginning unless you wish to use the software with additional features out of the default offered by WordPress itself. If you want your own domain you can pay $12 a year. WordPress.com offers a custom domain name only for paid planWordpress is both free and monetized; free up to a certain limit and monetized for premium services.

The main thing that should be taken into consideration is selling products via e-commerce on wordpress.com is not possible and is equally forbidden to do so.

Whereas, on wordpress.org, You get the benefit of promoting ads of your own choice, unlike wordpress.com. This also allows you to monetize your site which is great news to the ones willing to earn as it can be your business too.

 Wordpress.com has limited free themes and limited plugins for your site. This means you won’t be able to install your own plugin or themes unless you pay for premium packages.

Unlike wordpress.org which allows you to upload plugins and your blog is hosted on your own domain. This further provides you with better customization options and you’re free to do anything you want to your website. You are allowed to have your own custom domain name.

Moreover, WordPress.com only provides you with 3GB of space or data and also a subdomain. Example:- (example.wordpress.com). WordPress.org also allows you to access all the backend code, database, and files.

Now, to clarify it let’s go through some of its pros and cons

Pros of wordpress.com

Free service forever

To look after the positive side of wordpress.com, it offers you free service as long as you desire to use it. however, if you require any additional features like your own domain name, audio & video uploads, or custom side template, it offers you a special plan which is to be purchased.

No maintenance required

WordPress.com takes care of the site and all the maintenance of your site is done itself. Hence, you never have to worry about your site maintenance, performance issues, or timely update of your site.

Always live & fast

As mentioned earlier, wordpress.com is hosted by WordPress itself. This is a positive side of wordpress.com as it has amazing hardware that keeps your site alive. Further, maintains the speed of the website.

Cons

Frequent plugins and themes update

Frequent updates are very important and crucial to the health of WordPress. WordPress plugins and updates help to maintain the proper security of the WordPress websites. However, updates might bring minor problems to your website due to which you have to revert back to the older WordPress state.

Website vulnerability

As mentioned above, WordPress is open-source software. hence, it is more vulnerable to attacks from unauthorized malware and viruses. WordPress is a popular target for attacks, data breaches, hacking, & trojan attacks, etc. Hence, this is one of the major cons of WordPress.com. Thus, every user should have details regarding plugins and themes to stay away from vulnerability.

Customization is expensive

WordPress consists of added plugins, generic codes, and oversaturated databases that result in slower websites. Page speed is a crucial thing for a website. The viewer’s impression first falls on how fast the website runs. As, large size images, & themes slows down the website it results in an impatient audience quitting your site.

Pros of WordPress.org

complete control

As you own your websites and all the data, you have full control over your website in wordpress.org. further, this means you can customize the site as you wish and there’s no compulsion to follow rules and regulations of wordpress.org. Here you can enjoy the freedom of displaying your own custom domain name.

monetization is possible

WordPress.org allows you to make money from your site. If you have a small business, wordpress.org is the best option as it offers full e-commerce support via free plugins. Furthermore, you can make money running your own ads without sharing revenue with anyone.

create membership sites

you can create membership sites and further sell them for premium content too. Moreover, you can build anything you want on wordpress.org. It is as easy as installing a WordPress plugin. Along with creating membership sites, you can have access to google analytics for custom analytics and tracking.

Cons of wordpress.org

WordPress.org might collapse

You have to pay attention to your site as it may crash or go down anytime and you may not even notice. Further, this may negatively impact your business, and hiring an agency for the backup will further increase your expenses.

You’re responsible for updates

Though updating is simple via the update button in the WordPress dashboard, you’re responsible for updating WordPress themes & plugins. Also, you’re responsible for backups which can be done through WordPress backup plugins.

securing websites is your job

There are tons of security plugins available to secure the site. Also, web hosts have built-in security and features. hence, you are responsible for the security of your websites and for the backup of your content.

In conclusion, these are some of the differences between wordpress.com and wordpress.org. Now let’s take a look at some of the reasons to use WordPress in 2022.

A complete guide to building a WordPress Website

Hey! Don’t you wish to create a website without any knowledge of coding. Well! Here’s a solution to it. Creating a website in today’s digital world is not a big deal, with platforms like WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix where we can easily create websites. In this blog, I will share a quick and simple guide to creating a WordPress website.

So let’s move toward getting to know more about WordPress.

Let’s take a brief look at WordPress. There are numerous ways to build websites, but why is WordPress the ideal option to develop websites among the developers?

What exactly is WordPress, & why should you choose it?

WordPress is the most popular CMS globally used to create web pages, and posts and publish them. In fact, it powers almost 40.6% of the active internet base. WordPress offers tons of advantages to its users along with a variety of themes and plugins.

The most important feature is that WordPress is absolutely free & secure to use. In other words, WordPress is only a few clicks away to install and use freely.

Here are some of the key attributes of WordPress:

  • Cheap and cost-effective
  • Multilingual
  • It’s easy to understand
  • Extra versatility is its key feature.
  • It provides quality security & is fast and secure
  • 55,000+ plugins for impeccable site experience
  • Over 3,000 beautiful and professional themes
  • SEO Friendly
  • Mobile responsiveness

But wait,

According to what is mentioned above, WordPress is FREE but you’ve certainly heard about people paying for the websites they’ve built.

To clarify, let’s talk about the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

The main difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org is who is responsible for hosting your website.

Firstly, WordPress.org is a free platform to create and maintain websites. It is a highly recommended platform that allows you to host your own website.

However, WordPress.com is another option but is slightly different. It is a web-based platform that will assist you in hosting your sites. Each element is handled carefully by WordPress and is in fact easier to start.

Hosting companies such as Bluehost or SiteGround are just as easy to use as WordPress.com, but they are less expensive and provide more flexibility.

Throughout this article, we shall talk about WordPress Software that is available here WordPress.org

home page of wordpress.org

Moving on, let’s take a look at the fragments of building a WordPress website from scratch.

Step 1:- Register a domain name

Prior to learning about the creation of a WordPress website for starters, you’ll require a domain name for your website. A domain name refers to your website address on the internet. It assists in attracting customers and increasing brand awareness.

In simpler words, your website’s permanent internet address is the domain name. To elucidate it, let’s take a look at the following example where ourvirtualtribes.com is the example of the website’s domain name.

domain name for your website

To acquire a domain name, look for a domain name provider’s website. For instance, Nepal’s official.np domain registration, Gurkha.host, Namecheap, and so forth.

A domain name is similar to your home’s address which justifies your location in the world.

Following are some tips you can use while choosing a domain name for your site:-

  • The domain name must be related to your site content.
  • Try considering keywords related to your business to sound good. For example, if I create a travel blog, I can include keywords like “food”, “foodie”, etc.
  • Keep it in a nutshell.
  • Select an appropriate extension like .com, .org, .net, and more as they convey some specific meaning; for instance, .com is used for a commercial while .org is for organizations. So, choose based on what your website is all about.
2. Buy a web hosting

Web hosting is an engine that drives your website and is a place where your website’s files live. Anyone willing to build a website must have web hosting if you want others to access your website.

It’s easy and simple to purchase web hosting as the efforts of the companies make the process easier and simpler. The best & suitable way to build a WordPress website is via the hosting service provider under WordPress’s recommendation.

While exploring web hosting providers viz. Bluehost, Siteground, and Dreamhost you can learn about other hosting services too like:-

  • Shared
  • Managed WordPress
  • Virtual Private Server (VPS)
  • Dedicated
  • Cloud

Hence, You can select any one of the above hosting plans according to your website needs after reviewing your need for memory, space, and other resources along with your budget.

Moreover, you can explore other web hosting companies from Nepal here!

3. Install and configure WordPress

After purchasing your domain name and web hosting, you’ll receive an email from the support team along with your details that can be used to access your profile and start working on your website.

Many hosting providers offer quick and simple one-click WordPress installations or manual ones that make things comfortable.

Let’s take an example, If you choose Bluehost it shows a simple wizard to move with the installation.

  • In cPanel, scroll down and hit the “WordPress” icon.
  • You will see the Quick Install option to download WordPress. Click on “Get started”.
  • Next, select your domain name. It’s where your WordPress site will be hosted. Click “Next”.
  • Enter your site name, admin password, and admin username. Click on “install” to continue.
  • Once your installation completes, it will show a message – “Installation complete”.

After you’re done, you can start working on it picking pieces of functionality and designs for your WordPress site.

Now, Click on the link provided to find your WordPress login URL along with the password.

Log in with your username and password to start working on your new website.

However, If you need to install WordPress manually, it might take some time but it’s easy. You may check out the official guide by WordPress.org on how to install WordPress.

Basically, you’ll need to download WordPress, upload your files to the domain name folder, create a database, point your browser to the domain name and follow the instructions.

You’re done! You have created your first WordPress website.

You can now head over to the WordPress login page & can always access your dashboard by going to:

yourdomain.com/wp-admin

You can log in to your WordPress site using the admin username and password you entered earlier.

login interface of website
Login Interface

After entering your log-in data, you can see the main interface of WordPress.

main interface of wordpress
Main WordPress interface

After this process, let’s choose a design for your website.

Step 4:- Choose a WordPress theme and plugins

Now, let’s move to the most exciting part i.e. design & appearance.

The best part here is that you can customize everything in WordPress as you wish. You’ll have to make efficient use of WordPress themes or Templates.

In simpler words, WordPress software provides users with a pre-designed look for your website its posts, and pages. It is the main design layout or the integral part of your site’s outlook.

themes in appearance section
Themes section of wordPress

Where to find the best WordPress themes?

The popular and easiest place to get free Themes for your site is from the official themes repository. There are over 7700 themes to choose from and the best part is all of them are free to boot. Thus, you can set up a WordPress site to look beautiful for absolutely free.

Likewise, you can install plugins into your website to enjoy benefits like better security, SEO, contact forms, Google Analytics, and more. Currently, WordPress provides over 55,000 plugins completely FREE at your disposal.

Plugins for WordPress
Plugins
Step 5:-Add Content to Your Site

WordPress comes with two default content types called posts and pages. Posts appear in reverse chronological order and pages, on the other hand, are meant to be static. For instance, Your about page, Contact page, Privacy policy, etc.

How to Create Posts and Pages in WordPress?
add posts

Post and Pages creation are similar to each other.

first, select the Posts/Pages option on the sidebar. This will bring you to the page where all your posts/pages will be listed.

Now to create a new post or page, just click on the ‘Add New’ button at the top.

This will drop you to the WordPress post editor. Here, you can include all kinds of content including text, images, or other graphics which is fairly intuitive.

After you’ve completed preparing your content, simply click on the ‘Publish’ button located in the right corner.

Step 6: Customize your website
general settings to add URL, email,  timezone
General settings in WordPress

Along with theme customization, you can further customize your website in numerous ways. Let’s take a brief look at some of them:-

Initially, let’s start by customizing your site title. From your admin dashboard, select Settings > General. Here, add your website title and tagline. You can also toggle other basic site information like your URL, email, time zone, and more.

Further, let’s customize your reading sections. Under Settings > Reading, you can change your homepage to a static page.

Reading section in WordPress

Now, To create a WordPress menu, go to Appearance>Menus from your WordPress dashboard.

appearance section in wordpress
Step 7: Managing WordPress Security

Now that you’ve completed creating your WordPress website and adding content to it. you’re almost done. however, there are a few essential things you must work on immediately. let’s make your website secure.

Here are a few easy steps to make your website more secure:-

  1. Keep WordPress Updated
Wordpress new updates
  1. Keep your Themes and Plugins Updated
wordpress plugins update
  1. Enable SSL
  1. Backup your Websites Regularly

In addition, the following are some of the best WordPress plugins for secure websites:-

Step 7: Optimize your content for SEO and performance

There are some Seo plugins like Yoast SEO to optimize your content and further increase visibility. Moreover, Optimize permalinks, headings, titles, subheadings, videos and images, and other media.

Likewise, Speed plays a significant role to make the path to the success of your website.

Certainly, none of us like to wait. Hence, don’t let visitors slip off your site due to poor page loading speed.

Enable browser caching to improve your website’s performance. Well! Browser caching is the process of temporarily storing your website’s data on your visitors’ browsers. In this way, your content doesn’t require to be sent from the web server for it to appear in the browser, which increases the website speed.

Install and activate a caching plugin like W3 Total Cache to enable caching for your website.

Wrapping Up

Congratulations! You’ve successfully learned how to start a WordPress website!

Now you know the process is simple and easy. The great thing about WordPress is that even absolute beginners will be able to have a site of their own in no time.

We hope this article made the whole process clear to you.

But wait!

you’ve learned how to create a WordPress website, but don’t you like to extend your knowledge on WordPress? well! here’s an article on the 6 Most Important Reasons to Use WordPress in 2022.

If you have any questions, feel free to let us know in the comment sections below.👇

6 Most Important Reasons to Use WordPress in 2022

WordPress commonly known as a content management system is also known as an industry that creates web pages, and posts and publishes them. A special fact about this software is, that it manages the content and further converts it into a website that is customized by themes and plugins.

There are lots of website builders out there, but WordPress.org is by far the most popular. In fact, it powers 40% of the entire internet!

In this article, we’ve put together a list of the most important reasons why you should use WordPress (and how it can help your website grow).

Now, let’s overlook the reasons to use WordPress in today’s digital era.

1. WordPress is SEO friendly

The best website in the world won’t be a success if it doesn’t get any traffic or visitors.

For a brand, SEO can either make it or break it. Search engines being one of the biggest sources of increment in valuable traffic, it increases visitors building a path to success for the business.

It is written using high-quality code with semantic markup and works according to the algorithm set. WordPress SEO increases your overall site score leading to much exposure in the market.

WordPress is SEO friendly.
Google and Other Search Engines Love WordPress

To lead your business to success, it should be search engine friendly. This platform being search engine friendly tends to rank on the most relevant search results.

Thus, every brand is recommended to use WordPress SEO to maximize search traffic.

2. A secure platform

It is a safe and secure platform for users as WordPress utilizes safe plugins and themes. It is built with quality security providing users with a safe and secure work experience.

However, every website is vulnerable to hacking. Hence, WordPress is safe and secure until the publishers follow best practices, monitor their site, and regularly update it.

There are additional ways to secure your website in WordPress by installing a WordPress security plugin that scans your website to check if it is infected by any type of malware or viruses.

Wordpress is secure.

3. Setting up WordPress is a few clicks away and is free

Installation of WordPress is just a few clicks away which makes the work easier and more comfortable for anyone who is willing to create a website. Nowadays, WordPress web hosting services are provided that make the work super easy to set up and start working on it.

WordPress is a free and open-source content management system (CMS)

Along with that WordPress provides free services to users making it a more flexible and powerful platform than other worlds. Dashboards and navigation menus are easily understood and are simple even for beginners.

The dashboard comes with a sidebar with different menu options that allow a user to create and publish posts, monitor them, and customize their site.

This regularly releases core WordPress updates that you can install with the click of a button. The same goes for plugins and themes which release their own updates.

It is absolutely beginner-friendly and its regular updating feature makes it more reliable and secure.

4. It comes under your budget

WordPress along with being free to use and install, allows the user to purchase its hosting at a cheap and affordable price per month. Web hosting is similar to renting a house or space but for the website to store its files and documents.

Although WordPress is free the cost is all about getting your website a custom domain name, themes, and Plugins. Choosing a good web host and the right plan will minimize your overall cost and in return, you can get a comfortable and better performance.

Before selecting any plan, one must review its performance to get benefits from reliable, secure, and speedy services.

5.WordPress is Multilingual

According to the research, WordPress supports around 160 languages making it a multilingual-friendly platform. Hence, these services make the user convert any website into the languages they prefer.

Any languages are supported

WordPress benefits the user by providing the service to convert the same content into different languages. However, to access these services, the user has to set up plugins that allow them to create multilingual blogs easily

You write your content, posts, and pages as usual and the plugins installed shall deliver you the same content in different languages.

6. Easy to understand and use it.

As mentioned earlier, it is beginner-friendly, its simple structure is easy to understand and every beginner can master it with simple knowledge about this platform.

Dashboards are comfortable to use and they are easy to understand. A simple exploration of this platform and you can use it like a pro. However, it does require a basic programming language for the user to build amazing websites without a huge investment.

It is a versatile platform that makes it suitable for small-sized business sites too. It’s easy-to-use features and simple structure allow a user to know about it in-depth in just 1-2 weeks.

So, what are you waiting for? Get started with the most powerful CMS (WordPress) by using it. Give it a try, and let us know what you think.