Lately, I’ve heard loads of mums ask if they can set up their own websites and if so, how. Template website builders are an option (like Create, Moonfruit, Mr Site and so on) but WordPress has several big advantages over these:
1) You buy your own hosting, so your website and content are your own. So you don’t have to worry about the website builder company going bust and taking your website with them.
2) You have far more flexibility – you can install plugins that do pretty much anything you like and many are free.
3) WordPress is free
4) You have many more options to optimize your website for search engines
5) Your website won’t look like a template website!
However, the disadvantage is that there’s a bit of a learning curve. Although you won’t need to be a web designer, you’ll probably need to fiddle with a little code at some point. That said, there is a vast amount of WordPress support online for free. By the way, WordPress was designed as a blogging platform, but you can use it as a website without a blog.
One of the aspects of setting up a WordPress website that used to put me off is that there are so many little bits and pieces to think about – hosting, domain names, settings and plugins. None are all that difficult, but together there’s quite a lot to get your head around. Which is why I was glad when I found this outrageously useful mindmap on setting up a WordPress website.
Here it is: WordPress mindmap (right click to download it)
It’s a freebie from the myNAMS training course, of which I’m a member. Click myNAMS for more info and if you decide to join, enter the code MYNAMS85 to get 85% off.
Of course, if setting all this up is too much, you can pay someone to do it for you. This is still better than a traditional website because you can edit the content yourself whenever you like.
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Great piece, really informative, I’m often asked about wordpress and the best platform for blogs.
Thank you!