If you’re unsure of using WordPress to start and build a successful online business, then read THIS honest review.
Because I’m about to reveal all the moving parts and explain WHY this is one blogging platform that you really must not pass up on.
So without further ado, let’s get the lowdown on WordPress…
Quick Overview:
Name: WordPress (WP).
Website: wordpress.org.
Price: Free. (Build Your $0 Blog via SiteRubix).
Owner: Matt Mullenweg.
My Score: 9/10.
In this FULL review, I will walk you through all the benefits, how the platform works, and how you can easily build your very own website in under 1 minute!
Sound good to you?…
Table of Contents
What’s WordPress All About, Huh?
WordPress (see its Wikipedia page) is a fantastic piece of web open source software.
Better known as a CMS (Content Management System) or even a blogging platform, to the “non-tech-geek speaking” beginner.
It’s the easiest, convenient, fastest, and most powerful way to build a stunning website, write content, and blog about any subject you choose.
Whenever and wherever you want (providing you’re connected to the internet, of course). π
Joking aside, you may or may not know it…
But ‘WP’ is the most popular and #1 rated blogging system used by a huge percentage of bloggers.
Many of whom are building successful businesses – especially in the affiliate marketing arena.
Who is Gonna Benefit From WordPress, You Ask?
The platform is ideal for anyone who wants to create a free website without having to fork out for web design specialists.
And who isn’t equipped with “HTML coding” knowledge, and who wants to build a website – the totally hassle-free way!
‘WP’ is for:
- Anybody who loves to write content for fun (personal blogs)
- Any person wanting to write about their passions & earn an income as an Affiliate Marketer
- Anyone wanting to build sites for clients
- Local business owners
- Big business corporations
And the list goes on…
Heck, you don’t even need to be some “expert” journalist writer.
Because all you have to do is write content in a way that sounds like you’re having a conversation with a friend over coffee.
I always say that if you can write a lengthy Facebook status, then you sure as hell can write a quality blog post!
So whether you’re brand new to blogging and wannaΒ start an online business from scratch or you have other reasons for wanting to blog…
Then ‘WP’ is just the ticket, in my experience!
Is There Any Training Inside The WordPress Dashboard?
Unfortunately not, I’m afraid.
Boo hoo!
BUT having said that…
When you visit the official ‘WP’ site, you’ll find tons of great information on getting to grips with everything that your blog has to offer.
BUT if you’re after REAL meat on the bone training for building a highly profitable blog…
I highly recommend Wealthy Affiliate as your best option for “step-by-step” training on making your blog a big success.
As a member of Wealthy Affiliate, you’ll be shown how to:
Set up the essential plugins for making your blog SEO-ready, create your framework, and write high-quality content for scaling your online Biz.
Plus you’ll learn how to use Jaaxy – a keyword tool for doing keyword research in order to get Google rankings and traffic.
And there’s a heap of other cool “blogging” stuff to learn inside WA too. π
What Tools & Features Are Available Inside WordPress?
When it comes writing content, website functionality, and the overall success of your blog…
There’s a big bunch of tools and features at your disposal:
1: Posts & Pages
This is the main meat of your blog where all the action occurs!
You have the opportunity to publish new pages that create your site’s framework, and publish new posts to freshly update your blog with articles.
You can even create Categories and Tags to group your content together.
In order to enhance the experience for your visitors.
2: Media
The library gives you the chance to upload new images from your computer to breath extra life in your blog.
Nobody likes a dull blog post with no images, right?
So this is where the media function ccomes into play.
3: Comments
Here, you have full control over pending comments from both your website visitors and spammers.
You can Unapprove, Approve, Mark as Spam, Move to Trash, Edit and even Reply to comments.
In my opinion, this is an awesme feature because it encourages that word called “engagement” between you and your readers.
This, in turn, helps you to build relationships and show people that you’re a trusted authority figure in the blogging world.
Furthermore, comments can have a positive imact on your content -helping to boost your posts in the search engines.
BUT the comments must be “high quality” and you must also reply to your readers in a timely manner for all this to be effective.
4: Appearance
This allows you to control specific aspects of your blog when it comes to:
Adding new, changing or customizing Themes, adding Widgets to your blog’s sidebar, creating and editing Menus.
The best part is that there are 1,000s of themes to choose from for customizing your site.
You even the option to experiment with HTML in the Editor if you’re brave enough (but I don’t recommend you try this as a newbie).
5: Plugins
You have the option to improve the functionality of your website by choosing from 10,000s of plugins and installing the “must-have” + your favourite ones.
But keep the number of plugins to a bare minimum to avoid affecting the load-speed of your site.
Personally, I wouldn’t use more than 5 or 7 plugins.
6: Users
Create a personal user profile with a pretty photo of yourself.
And set up additional new users if you want others contributing towards your site.
7: Tools
This is a “must” tool because it allows you to back-up your entire blog by Importing and Exporting content, media, and also comments.
Imagine how you would feel if all your hard work vanished overnight?
You can also access “Press This” to grab pieces of the internet, andΒ use a “Categories and Tags Converter” to convert your tags to categories.
8: Settings
Your settings cover all other aspects of your website like:
General, Writing, Reading, Discussion, Media, Permalinks and also specific plugin settings too.
You can set up your blog just the way you like to.
Yeah, there’s a lot to take in when it comes to all the features, but you’ll soon get to grips with your new blog…
To the point where you can do blogging blindfolded. Well, almost.
Does Any Form of WordPress Support Exist?
When it comes to support, there’s a “Help” tab within your WP-Admin Dashboard area.
Where you’ll find links to a Documentation page and also Support Forums.
In addition, there’s now a cool new section which shows upcoming meet up events as well as news within your area.
In my opinion, it’s not just a great way to meet face-to-face and learn from other ‘WP’ bloggers in your nearest towns and cities.
But it’s an awesome opportunity to make new blog buddies at the same time.
However, if you want 24/7 support from a community of 2 MILLION+ (newbie to expert) ‘WP’ bloggers – see the Wealthy Affiliat community!
How Much is a WordPress Blog Gonna Cost?
Installing your brand spanking new ‘WP’ blog is 100% free!
You will also have to pay a tiny monthly or annual fee for your own personal domain name as well as web-hosting.
There are numerous services available for domain and hosting like:
BlueHost, HostGator, DreamHost, and GoDaddy, to name a handful.
But in my experience – SiteRubix is the #1 platform for building your free blog…
As well as buying a domain at a competitive price, getting super-fast and secure hosting, and a bunch of other amazing services!
PROS vs CONS of ‘WP’
PROS
- Blogs cost $0 to build
- Provides a quick & easy way to build sites
- Domain/hosting is very easy to set up
- Blogs can be optimized for SEO
- Template themes are mobile-responsive
- 1,000s of blog themes are available
- 10,000s of plugins for functionality
- No geeky HTML skills are required
- The software has regular new updates
- Help & support is available
- It’s a very user-friendly platform that’s ideal for beginners
- Will enable you to build a highly profitable online biz using free organic search engine traffic
CONS
- Your site can get hacked through security loop-holes
- You use the same template themes as a lot of other bloggers
- Some conflicting plugins that can affect your blog’s overall performance
- Too many plugins can slow down blog loading times
- Not all system updates will benefit your site and can damage some plugins
BUT despite all the potential technical glitches, problems can always get fixed.
Otherwise, ‘WP’ bloggers would drop like flies and head over to other platforms instead, right?
Final Thoughts: Is WordPress Worth it?…
Although WordPress has its minor faults, it sure as hell is the greatest blogging platform I’ve ever used as an Affiliate Marketer. Period.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some good platforms out there.
But in my experienced, ‘WP’ is umatched in every way possible.
As long as you buy fast web-hosting, continuously publish high-quality content, implement SEO practices, keep your site basic/clean and not overload it with tons of plugins (shiny bells n’ whistles)…
You can build a successful Biz as a ‘WP’ blogger.
So whatcha waiting for, huh?…
==> Start Your WordPress Blog For Free, Right Here!
Your Friend, Neil π
If you have any questions or thoughts on blogging using ‘WP’ – We’d LOVE to hear your comments below…
Hi there Neil,
My first blogging platform is with WordPress and after doing affiliate marketing for almost 2 years, I can’t imagine using anything else.
I think the main features that I love about WP is the variability of themes and plugin functionalities. It’s almost like you can ‘tailor make’ a website the way you wanted it to perform on the web, which is very important from an online business perspective.
On top of that, if you use SiteRubix as a hosting platform, you get immediate access to comment engagement which can help a lot in boosting a web page ranking. I am a very happy user with WP on SR and would not hesitate to recommend them to any beginners.
Hello, Cathy!
I’m pleased to hear WP is the best choice you’ve made. π
I totally agree because that’s the beauty of using WP for your website. Themes and plugins can very easily be installed and activated with a few clicks, so it’s ideal for those who want to make quick improvements without the hassle of knowing HTML.
WA + SR sure takes WP to a whole new level! The “SiteComment” feature is definitely a godsend!
Cheers, Cathy!
Good morning Neil, Thank you for your excellent explanation of what WordPress is and isn’t. I did not realize that 25% of the internet was made up of WP sites.
I assume that the page I am viewing is a WP page, so your design on this review page emphasizes all the benefits you are telling us about. It is hard to believe that such a well-designed tool is free.
Hello, Susan!
You’re very welcome!
Such a high percentage of websites powered by WP just demonstrates how big and popular it has become over the years.
Yep, your assumption is 100% correct – This website was built using WP via the SiteRubix builder! I’ve also installed a cheap Premium theme for extra AWESOMENESS!! π If I can build a blog like this, ANYONE can!
Hi, great review of our favorite platform to build websites: WordPress.
The sad thing about getting a WP(dot)org site is if you don’t comply they can just close you down.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a law-abiding type of person, doing everything by the book.
But I’ve also built my first websites on WP(dot)org and as soon as I added my first affiliate link I received a warning and THEY removed the link. (In other words, they have full access to my security details). The reason for the removal was something about security.
I built 2 sites at that stage (this was many many years ago when I first started online). The one was about singing – it’s gone because I didn’t post on it a lot. They just removed it – when I was looking for it the other day it was missing.
The other one was about diets. This was the one that received the warning. I paid for their hosting because I thought it was the main reason for the warning and that I would be able to add affiliate links then. As you also pay yearly, I just never renewed it – so that site is gone too. (and I only posted 2 articles – so it was a huge waste of money)
I would rather go for something you pay for, in the end, it is worth it – like buying your own domain name and paying for your own hosting. Or of course, SiteRubix. Just my thoughts on WP(dot)org – but I still love WP.
Linda
Thank You, Linda!
I’m very sorry to hear that WP shut down your websites and caused you to have bad experiences in the past. However, if you take advantage of the SiteRubix + WordPress platform and use Wealthy Affiliate to host your blog, you have the freedom to publish posts as and when you want, you can add as many affiliate links as you choose, and your website is fully secure too!
Thanks for your thoughts on WP, and hosting your own blog is definitely the best option.
Neil
Great article about WordPress. I have to admit that I simply love WP because it’s very simplified and easy to use for anyone who has little or zero experience with websites.
Almost anything you need can be adjusted through plugins that can be easily installed within seconds. Ready-made templates make the process even easier than you can imagine. To be honest, if you need to customize your website according to your needs it may take a few hours or maybe 1 or 2 days, but still, WP is very user-friendly.
Cheers, Rufat!
I agree, WP is suited for anyone who wants a “quick and easy to build” website! π Themes and plugins certainly do save you a lot of hassle, time and money when it comes to building an awesome website.
With WP, you can easily change the layout and functionality of your blog within minutes.
Neil
Hi, Neil.
Thanks for the pro vs con breakdown on using WordPress. I have used both the WP and blogger free platforms in the past and quickly discovered that I preferred WP. I recently started self-hosting and have been looking for a safe blogging platform for my content (as an affiliate marketer).
I clicked on your Wealthy Affiliate link and am very interested. Would you say this is a great platform for bloggers like myself? I post fresh content 3x a week. From articles to video… Please let me know.
Thanks-Nicki
No problem, Nicki!
Good for you! I too have used Blogger during my earlier days as an Affiliate Marketer, but the platform had very limited functionalities. WP is in a league of its own! π
That’s great! With WA and the SiteRubix platform combined, you can’t go wrong because they are ideal for both newbies and current bloggers with experience. With SR, you have the flexibility to post content when you want and also any type of media (including videos).
I hope this helps you…
Neil
Hi,
WordPress is good for building a good website. I have been using it to enhance my site and it is looking great!
All that you have talked about here is right. But I was a bit scared about the cons of using WP. And that one’s site is vulnerable to hacks. Does that mean all websites on WP platform are liable to be hacked?
Cheers
Hey, Daniel!
I couldn’t agree with you more on WP!
I wouldn’t say that all WP websites are open to hackers because I guess it can depend on the website hosting provider and the advanced security features it has to offer.
However, when you build your WordPress blog using the SiteRubix – The guys over at Wealthy Affiliate make it their mission to ensure your blog is “hack proof” and highly secure.
And I’m extremely happy with WA’s service because this blog has NEVER been hacked into once! π
Neil
Hey, Neil.
Thank you very much for sharing the WordPress platform.
I think many bloggers will get helpful tips by reading your review.
Hi, JL!
It’s no problem at all, and I sure hope so! π
If you need any further help with WP and blogging, you know where I am.
Thanks for the Article, Neil.
I have a blog on blogger platform. As you know already blogger is good for starters, but lacks some of the main features. I’m planning to move to WordPress. Your article is very helpful for me to understand the benefits of WP.
You’re welcome!
Blogger isn’t a bad content platform, but yeah, it is very limited compared to WP. Cool, then I look forward to welcoming you to the WP gang! π
I’m glad you now understand more about WP. If you need a hand with any part of your new blog, please do get back to me with your questions.
Hi Neil,
Currently, I’m stuck with google blogger and it lacks so many features that can be found on WordPress. So, I decided to start a blog on WP. Your article gave me a clear idea about WP with pros and cons. Good to know that it is not necessary to be a master in HTML. I thought I should know some HTML codes to operate WP sites.
Bad that WP can be hacked. Can you tell me what all the security you’ve taken to prevent hackers?
Hey, Tamil!
I could never get along with blogger either, due to its limited functionality. But Good on ya for choosing the WP platform! π I’m glad I’ve helped you to understand behind the scenes of WP a little more. HTML skills aren’t required, but you do have the opportunity to implement HTML coding into your website if you prefer the challenge.
There’s nothing worse than having your WP site hacked and filled with SPAM because it has happened to me in the past. But with the SiteRubix builder, my WP website is monitored 24/7 – making it fully secured, and especially when my site has a “hack-proof” password combined of both upper and lower case letters too.
And all it takes is a simple click of a button if I wish for a new password to be automatically generated.
In addition to those security measures, my blog is also fully protected against spammers who use spam bots to hit websites with crappy comments.
Pure Genious, if you ask me!