AN INTRODUCTION TO WORDPRESS
Have you heard about WordPress and wondered just what exactly it is? If you are reading this article, then it’s likely you are curious to know just what WordPress is. Simply put, WordPress is a platform that makes it possible for people with or without knowledge of programming to build their own website or blog. WordPress was released in 2003 and even since then, it is has gone on to be one of the most powerful softwares. Currently, over 70 million websites are built with WordPress. Quite an outstanding feat, showing just how popular and powerful WordPress is.
FEATURES OF WORDPRESS
One outstanding feature of WordPress is that it is completely free. This is due to the fact that it is an ‘Open Source’ project, which simply means that people with programming knowledge are allowed from time to time to volunteer codes to help in improving the WordPress software.
With WordPress, you can build websites from something as easy as a blog to more complex powerful business websites as well as E-commerce sites. WordPress supports plugins, widgets, themes, CSS and other codes that when carefully and skillfully combined produces a unique website. So whatever you desire and however you want your website to be, with WordPress you can achieve it.
Another outstanding feature of WordPress is it’s simplicity. Unlike other content management systems like Magento, Joomla and others that requires a skilled web designer, WordPress is simple to use by everyone. Making minor changes to the site, updating content, managing the website and other basic activities can easily be carried out without hiring a web designer or programmer.
Third, it’s flexible and extensible. There are thousands of plugins and themes that enable you to easily change the entire look of your website, or even add new features like polls or contact forms, with just a few clicks.
WordPress has a huge community and this is one great benefit of it. There is always a community of people eager to support you and help you solve whatever issue you may encounter while using WordPress.
WordPress is SEO-friendly. Right out of the box, WordPress includes everything you need to ensure that your content is optimized for search engines. This is critical to your site’s visibility and online success. Matt Cutts of Google says, “WordPress is made to do SEO well.”
Now you know what WordPress is and some of it’s key features. Whether you are a skilled programmer with knowledge of HTML, PHP, CSS, etc or you are just a layman that only understands Microsoft Word, you can use WordPress to successfully create a powerful website or a simple blog. With thousands of themes, community support and plugins at your disposal, WordPress offers you endless possibilities.
Are you ready to build your first website using WordPress? The next article will discuss How to download and properly install WordPress. Get ready to create your first WordPress website in 5-minutes.
