What is WordPress? The World’s Most Popular Content Management System

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) software used to create, manage, and maintain websites. Known as the most popular CMS in the web world, WordPress powers 65.2% of existing websites. This equates to 42.4% of the entire internet, covering almost half of it.

Let’s look at the four main reasons why WordPress is so popular:

It’s Free: Although users need to purchase web hosting and a domain, downloading and using the WordPress platform is entirely free.
Flexible and Customizable: WordPress can be used for a wide range of purposes, from blogging to creating an e-commerce store. Additionally, there are many themes and plugins available in the official WordPress library and third-party repositories.
Scalable Platform: As long as your hosting plan's resources are sufficient, WordPress can run websites of any size. There's no need to switch platforms after your site goes live.
User-Friendly: Instead of coding a website from scratch, WordPress allows you to create beautiful and fully functional sites with much less technical knowledge.

Features of WordPress

WordPress is currently the world’s most popular content management system. Over 35% of all websites on the internet are powered by WordPress, and this number is rapidly increasing. Simply put, a content management system (CMS) is a web application that allows website owners, editors, and writers to publish content without requiring any coding knowledge.

WordPress uses PHP and MySQL, supported by almost all web hosting services. However, a specialized WordPress hosting plan can offer advantages in speed, performance, and reliability. While CMSs are typically used for blogs, WordPress can easily be transformed into a portfolio, news, or e-commerce site.

One of the best aspects of WordPress is its easy and intuitive interface. If you know how to use Microsoft Word, you can easily use WordPress; creating and publishing content is just as simple.

WordPress Features and Admin Panel

The WordPress admin panel allows administrators and authorized users to modify and maintain the website. The panel includes tools for website management, such as the content editor, theme customizer, plugins, and widgets. Users can change site configurations from the settings menu.

Websites That Can Be Created with WordPress

WordPress is a highly versatile tool for creating various types of websites. Blogs, portfolios, business sites, charity sites, and online stores are some of the most common uses.

Why Should You Use WordPress?

To briefly summarize the reasons behind WordPress’s popularity:

It’s Free: Aside from purchasing web hosting and a domain, WordPress is completely free.
Flexible and Customizable: It can be used for a wide range of purposes and offers a vast selection of themes and plugins.
Scalable: As your website grows, there’s no need to switch to a different platform.
User-Friendly: Creating websites with a graphical user interface is much easier than coding from scratch.

Popular Sites Using WordPress

WordPress is not only used by small businesses and blogs but also by famous sites like The New Yorker, TechCrunch, Sony Music, The White House, and Beyoncé.

Pros and Cons of WordPress

While WordPress has many advantages, it also has some drawbacks. It's important to be aware of these pros and cons before using the platform.

Pros: Low cost, easy setup and updates, simple management, custom design and functionality, supportive community, open-source.
Cons: Security concerns, potential issues with third-party content, slow page load times.