While there are multiple platforms and software for creating a blog-style website, most are pretty substandard and not very well-known. The most famous and most used (by far) is WordPress.
Choosing a Platform for Your Blog
While there are multiple platforms and software for creating a blog-style website, most are pretty substandard and not very well-known. The most famous and most used (by far) is WordPress. If WordPress has any competition, it would come down to two candidates: Drupal and Joomla. Like WP, both of these are open sources solutions (free to download, install and use).
The difference between Drupal and Joomla is minimal. But the difference between WordPress and these two contenders is massive. Drupal and Joolma are great if you are a highly technically inclined and talented web developer or coder, because these applications are complicated and pretty much the opposite of intuitive. That’s why the rest of the non-geek-speaking world uses WordPress for its web design and blogging needs.
What Do You Mean by "Self-Hosted"?
When it comes to creating a successful blog, WordPress is the clear winner. In this article, I will explore 7 reasons why a self-hosted WordPress website is the best platform of choice for blogging.
But first, what do I mean by “Self-hosted.”
There are two ways to set up a WordPress website:
- Self-hosted
- The wrong way.
Okay I’m being snarky now.
The wrong way doesn’t require the use of a registered domain, or a web hosting account. It’s possible to set up a WordPress site by simply going to WordPress.com and set up a free account and a WordPress site. Aside from its basic limited features, the biggest disadvantage of setting up this way is that it will not use a domain name of your choice.
That is a deal-breaker.
Not having your blog on your own domain will make search engine optimization basically non-existent and your job as a blogger who actually wants traffic to your site will be exponentially more difficult.
This doesn’t even take into account the lack of credibility associated with a website that isn’t hosted on its own domain.
While WordPress.com does have paid-for, upgraded version of a WordPress.com website, you might as well move on to the self-hosted method if you are going to be paying anyway.
Self-hosted simply means your website will not be hosted at WordPress.com. Instead, you will register your own domain, choose a host and install the WordPress framework on your account. (Most hosts will install it for you – but it’s easy anyway.)
7 Reasons Why WordPress is the Winner
1. Customization
One of the biggest advantages of WordPress is its flexibility and customization options. WordPress offers thousands of themes and plugins that can be used to tailor your blog to your specific needs. Whether you want to add a contact form, social media buttons, or even an online store, there is likely a plugin or theme that will do the job. Additionally, WordPress allows you to edit the code of your website, giving you complete control over its appearance and functionality.
2. SEO Friendly
WordPress is built with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind, making it easy for your blog to rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs). WordPress automatically (okay, make that semi-automatically) generates SEO-friendly URLs, allows you to add meta descriptions and keywords, and offers plugins to help you optimize your content. This means that even if you are not an SEO expert, you can still optimize your blog for search engines and essentially drive more traffic to your site.
3. Security
I'll be honest with you (I always am, by the way). WordPress used to be a security nightmare. When compared ot static, offline built websites, WP was practically asking for hackers when it was first developed.
But those days are fading. Of course there will always be bad people trying to get into places they shouldn't be. So WordPress takes security very seriously because it has to. Of course, this is especially important for blogs that may contain sensitive or personal information. WordPress releases regular security updates to address any vulnerabilities and offers plugins like Wordfence to further enhance your site's security. Additionally, WordPress offers two-factor authentication and the ability to limit login attempts, protecting your site from brute force attacks.
4. Community Support
Some say WordPress powers over a third of the Internet.
It is used by everyone from from small personal blogs to the complex sites of major corporations such as Sony, Playstation, TechCrunch, Time Magazine, CNN, Disney, The Rolling Stones, Spotify Newsroom, Wired, Microsoft News, Etsy Journal, TED Blog, Yelp Blog, Vogue, Harvard Gazzette, the New York Post, Readers Digest, and NBC…to name a few.
With millions upon millions of websites using this platform, it makes the WordPress community very large and very active. It is filled with people who are willing to offer support, tips, tricks and advice. It is a community made up of developers, designers, bloggers, businesses, individuals and a myriad of users who share their knowledge and experiences through forums, blogs, and social media. If you ever run into an issue with your site, chances are someone in the WordPress community has experienced the same problem and can offer a solution.
With literally millions of 3rd party developed plugins and themes, WordPress is a giant universe all it's own with lots of enthusiasts and resources.
5. Scalability
WordPress can grow and evolve with your blog as it changes over time. Whether you are just starting out with a small personal blog or are running a large business website, WordPress will likely accommodate your needs for the duration.
WordPress started as a blogging platform, but today any kind of website can be built on the WordPress framework. From full-service e-commerce stores to social network groups, video libraries and portfolios, sales funnels, corporate branding sites to podcasts or anything else you can dream of. With thousands of plugins and themes available, you can add new features and functionality to your site as it needs.
6. Mobile Friendliness
Mobile responsiveness has become a huge factor for positive Google rankings. Google wants to only list websites that look good on any device.
WordPress offers a variety of responsive theme designs, and users can easily build a responsive site using WordPress almost automatically. In fact, these days, it’s probably harder to build a NON-responsive website using WordPress – but who would want to do that? Only outdated WordPress themes would not include responsive design elements built in.
7. Easy to Use
Setting up your blog is really just a 3 step process:
- Get a domain
- Purchase a web hosting account
- Install WordPress (or have it installed)
A WordPress site can be up and running in a matter of minutes, even without much technical savvy.
It can be installed free through the click of a button (or two) through your hosting provider. Or the software can be downloaded for free, then uploaded directly from your own computer through an FTP client. (that just sounded harder than it is.)
From there, the user has access to an intuitive and easy to manage back-end dashboard with all the features needed to customize the layout and start creating website content.
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