Advice from a Pro: What WordPress Can Do for You

Editor’s note: In its eighth edition, WordPress For Dummies was released and updated in 2017 by eWebscapes founder and WordPress pioneer, Lisa Sabin-Wilson. With the permission of the publisher, we will be sharing excerpts from the book in a series we call “Advice from a Pro.” Below is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of WordPress For Dummies, 8th Edition in which Lisa expands on what WordPress can do for you as the user and website owner. 

In a world in which technology advances in the blink of an eye, WordPress really does make building websites easy — and free! How else can you get your content out to a potential audience of millions worldwide and spend exactly nothing? There may be no such thing as a free lunch in this world, but you can bet your bottom dollar that there are free websites and blogs. WordPress serves them all up in one nifty package. The software’s free price tag, its ease of use, and the speed at which you can get your website up and running are great reasons to use WordPress to power your personal blog or business website. An even greater reason is the incredibly supportive and passionate WordPress community. In this chapter, I introduce you to the WordPress software so that you can begin to discover how effective it is as a tool for creating your website.

I work with first-time website owners all the time — folks who are new to the idea of publishing content on the Internet. One of the questions I’m most frequently asked is “How can I run a website? I don’t even know how to code or create websites.” Enter WordPress. You no longer need to worry about knowing the code because the WordPress software does the code part for you. When you log in to your website, you have to do only two simple things to publish your thoughts and ideas: Write your content. Click a button to publish your content. That’s it!

Here are some key takeaways from this excerpt:

• WordPress is easy. Setup is quick. You don’t need to be some sort of technical wizard to get started.

• WordPress is free. Unless you hire someone to do the legwork for you, all you have to do is go to WordPress.org and click the Download WordPress button. That’s it. You don’t have to leave a credit card number. There is no monthly subscription. One click and you have the software you need to create your own website.

• WordPress does not require knowledge of code. The software is created to do the code for you, making the platform user-friendly enough for the novice. There is also an amazingly helpful community to back it up and offer guidance as needed.

Once you have installed WordPress, a world of content, digital, and marketing opportunities await you. Don’t put off your business website goals any longer. With WordPress, you can make your dreams of owning and managing your very own website a reality.

Purchase WordPress for Dummies, 8th Edition at a bookstore near you or online at Amazon.