What is WordPress?

How did we get here?

The history of WordPress

WordPress has come a long way since its first release in 2003. Created by Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little, it was initially intended as a fork of b2 — WordPress’s precursor project estimated to have been installed on approximately 2,000 blogs by May 2003.

Today, WordPress powers approximately 39.5 percent of all websites (a significant jump from 35 percent in 2020). WordPress is also by far the world’s most popular CMS choice, with a market share of 64.1 percent. In comparison, the world’s second most popular CMS, Shopify, has a market share of just 3.2 percent.

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

When we talk about WordPress, we are generally referring to the free, open-source software that is available for anyone to download on WordPress.org. It is distinct from WordPress.com, which is a for-profit software-as-a-service website builder that uses the WordPress CMS software. As a website building and hosting platform, WordPress.com offers “free” (i.e. ad-supported) websites to users. They also offer additional paid tiers (Personal, Premium, Business, and eCommerce) that grant users ad-free hosting and access to more features and functions that best suit their personal or business objectives.

Another way to think about the differences between the WordPress software and WordPress.com is by asking “who is your hosting provider?” When you download the free, open-source software on WordPress.org, you can choose any hosting provider you want. When you create a WordPress.com website, your host is WordPress.com.

Components of a WordPress site

Every WordPress website is composed of three parts — the core, the theme, and the plugins.

WordPress core

The WordPress core software is the one component that stays the same across all WordPress websites. Your site’s core WordPress files govern the basic functionality and appearance of your website and administrative interface.

They are the free, open-source files you download at WordPress.org to create your website. When you installed the core software, you have a basic yet functional site that allows you to:

• Log in and set up different user accounts
• Create pages
• Create posts
• Create a blog
• Add media
• Embed video
• Add categories and tags
• Add widgets
• Manage comments
• Manage favicon settings
• Manage page errors (404, 403, etc.)

WordPress themes

With WordPress, you will use a template system to manage the appearance of a website. This system allows developers to create what’s known as ‘Themes.’ Themes are a collection of templates and stylesheets that together define your WordPress site’s appearance and visual identity. You can design and develop custom themes for your website, but thousands of free and premium premade themes are built specifically for WordPress. Your theme choice is not set in stone — you can change, edit, manage, and add themes within the WordPress admin area.

Themes are available within the WordPress theme directory, as well as on marketplace sites:

• MOJO Marketplace
• Themeforest
• Elegant Themes 
• CSSIgniter
• StudioPress

As one of your WordPress site’s essential elements, your theme governs your website’s aesthetics and functionality. As such, it’s necessary to keep your theme updated along with your core and plugins to prevent any technical glitches or security issues.

If you buy a premade theme, keep in mind that you will need to keep up with annual renewals of your theme’s license to receive continued support, updates, and new features from the theme developer.

WordPress plugins

WordPress websites can do just about anything, and plugins are what make it possible. Plugins are pieces of software that you install to extend the functionality and features of your site. There are many different kinds of WordPress plugins available to meet your needs — form plugins, search plugins, ecommerce plugins, SEO plugins, the list goes on.

There’s nothing more frustrating to a user’s experience than encountering a website that doesn’t work the way it should. Why does this happen? For WordPress sites, it’s usually outdated software, including plugins. When the owner doesn’t properly maintain these elements, it can impact the user’s experience on the site significantly.

If you are using a paid plugin, keep in mind that you will need to keep up with annual renewals of your plugin’s license to receive continued updates and new features from the plugin’s developer.

Form plugins

If you’re looking for a form plugin, then you almost certainly decided on a visitor call-to-action. Bearing this in mind, these are the key elements any form plugin worth its salt should have:

• Quick and easy creation ability
• Support for standard fields like name, email, phone, address, web URL
• Support for file uploads
• Protection against spam
• Customizable email notifications
• Reliable email delivery
• Add-ons to extend functionality
• Gutenberg compatibility

With years of experience under our belt, our professional recommendation for a form plugin is Gravity Forms. Gravity Forms is unique in that it has always been a paid plugin. It has an add-on library that’ll seamlessly integrate with third-party services and software.

SEO plugins

You’re presented with countless plugin options when building a WordPress website so it can become challenging to determine what you need and what you don’t. In our opinion, an SEO plugin is high on the list of priorities. SEO plugins are crucial for managing your site’s metadata and implementing content strategies to help your site become discoverable to its intended audience. But which SEO plugin should you choose? Here’s what we recommend:

• Yoast SEO: Considered to be one of the best SEO plugins around, Yoast SEO is marketed as a product that caters to everyone. Professional or beginner, Yoast makes implementing your SEO strategy and optimizing your content simple.
• RankMath: The search engine optimization plugin for WordPress makes it easy for all users to optimize their content through suggestions built on widely-accepted SEO best practices.
• All in One SEO Pack: The user-friendly SEO plugin, All in One SEO Pack covers everything the user needs in one straightforward interface.

Site search plugins

One of our customers’ most consistent annoyances is the lack of power behind the WordPress search function. We’ve come to find that SearchWP is by far the best WordPress site search plugin. Compatible with all your website elements and the many ways your content can be presented, SearchWP is the plugin solution with the power to do it all.

Ecommerce plugins

Building a website to function as an online store is very different from setting up a standard website. If you’re not open to using a platform like Shopify or BigCommerce, then the most significant difference you’ll face is your ecommerce considerations. Thankfully there are WordPress plugins for that. We recommend WooCommerce. A free WordPress plugin, WooCommerce adds ecommerce functionality to your website to turn it into a fully-functioning online store.

Site backup plugins

Any web development professional will tell you how important it is to ensure your site’s security and invest in a reputable WordPress backup plugin or service. We recommend BlogVault as it covers both backup and security. You can set the BlogVault plugin to perform a routine backup of your WordPress website automatically. It provides easy management of every aspect of your WordPress website — this includes migration, staging, and merging across servers.

Page builder plugins

There are various ways to go about building pages in WordPress. Specific page templates may come loaded with a theme you buy, but you can also install a page builder plugin.

Page builders are popular because they are straightforward to use — simply drag and drop elements and content onto a page. However, the downside of using a page builder is that they can leave behind a lot of hidden code that bulks up your site’s size and results in slower page speed. Even so, page builders are an excellent option for someone who is DIYing their website.

Here are the most popular page builders on the market right now:

• Elementor — The ultimate free web page builder, Elementor combines fast performance and visual design to be an all-in-one solution.
• WPBakeryBuilder — A premium WordPress page builder that makes building your website easy and fast. It’s a straightforward drag and drop style editor that, when coupled with templates, blocks, and plugin extensions, is all you need to create your website.
• Divi — A premium WordPress page builder that’s marketed to take your website further with its advanced visual builder technology, Divi is the most popular of the page builders available.
• BeaverBuilder — Popular among end-users and implementers alike, BeaverBuilder is a page builder with a good reputation. Its users tend to enjoy its regular updates, introducing new features and the available extensions that allow for further flexibility.
• Brizy — One of the newest WordPress page builder plugins, Brizy is exclusively front-end and visual, making it straightforward, easy to use, and a likely choice for beginner users.