You Can Own Your Own Domain Name
WordPress is a very well known blogging platform for self hosted blogs. Self hosting means any user can choose any hosting provider of their choice and install WordPress platform on it. Users can choose their own custom domain name instead of sub-domain names. Example: www.yourname.com instead of www.yourname.blogspot.com. WordPress is also a tremendous tool for web site development. Some web site designers might not share this with you because it opens the door to DIY'ers.
Plugins
Plugins are a backbone of the WordPress platform. By making use of plugins, users can customize performance of their blog according to their needs. Some famous plugins are All in one SEO, Akismet, Robots meta, SEO friendly images, etc. Plugins are a tremendous tool to the end user because it allows for tons of customization options with a few clicks of the mouse.
Highly Customizable
Themes decide the look and navigation of the blog or website. WordPress offers lots of customization options within their themes. There are tons of themes available for WordPress. Both free and what is considered premium themes which will cost some dollars but can be worth it in the long run. Users can download the themes according to category and what they need for their individual looks or "brands".
Easy to Use
I have often told people if they can use Microsoft Word, they can use WordPress. It is very easy to use and makes it a perfect platform for content management. Someone with little experience can start using WordPress very effectively with little assistance and if you hit a road block, Google it and there are tons of self-help videos out there for WordPress. WordPress.org has incredible info that you can use to quickly learn WordPress.
Designs
Experienced users can modify the CSS files to get their own designs according to their needs.
It Is Totally FREE!
Free is always good! Since WordPress is an open source bogging platform so it is totally free of cost to the end user. If you are a DIY'er, you can do this! If you are not a DIY'er and you want to hire an experienced WordPress installer, click here. But I am here to tell you, YOU can do this! It is fairly easy to learn and implement quickly.
SEO Friendly
The search engines love WordPress!!!!
Want to be on the first page of Google? WordPress is an extremely viable vehicle to get you there. WordPress comes with a self ping feature. This feature sends ping to different search engines every time the blog or website is updated. Also there are lots of plugins available for WordPress which can extend the WordPress reach.
WordPress Will Save You Time and $'s
WordPress has a very simple editing platform and the plugins will allow you to quickly put into place complex functionality on your site that would normally take a lot of time to learn or it would cost you lots of $'s to hire someone. You can actually own and manage your own content with very little effort. It will save you a ton of time and money. It will allow you fire your web guy or gal, your programmer, your coder; whatever technical guru you may have felt you needed and allow you more time to devote to income producing activities!
Kim Garst has been a Mompreneur for almost 20 years and has built a 7 figure income from her home. Currently she shares her business and marketing savvy through coaching and consulting with clients around the world. Kim specializes in helping you get more sales, more leads and more clients utilizing social media and the Internet as a whole. Her systems are easy to implement and get quick results for small businesses as well as new and established solopreneurs.
I totally agree with all your points above. At first I was scared to use it, but I purchased a premium theme that is very easy to customize without having to know any CSS, and now I love it. I wonder why more people don't use it.
I agree. We use wordpress blog. It's simple, easy to use from anywhere. This was a timely comment because we coach small businesses where the principal doesn't always even want to be tech-savvy. So WordPress is an easy answer to help clients get started on the information highway!
I am slowly realizing I MUST switch . . . making it a "summer project". I feel overwhelmed by it – but after reading you and Sandi, it is a change I must make . . .
Great summary – Short and sweet. I use WP for all the reasons you list. I'm having more fun these days developing content for my blog and spending less time trying to manage site/tech stuff. Thx for the article! -Steve
I resisted WordPress at first – I thought I had to build sites from scratch until i realized the time and money I was wasting. I've come to love WordPress and look to it before considering alternatives. It's a waste of time and money to reinvent the wheel. Most of all, many 'regular' people can handle WordPress, so with some training I can turn some sites over to clients to edit and update their own information.
Same, Pete! Love WordPress and I too resisted it. As webmasters it is also great when the small things that would eat up a lot of your day, can now be accomplished by the client!
WordPress is magnificent. I had tried several other platforms when I discovered WordPress and all my frustrations disappeared. The only frustration now days is finding a decent hosting company.
Keep up the good work Kim.
Hi Kim, I still consider myself a wordpress newbie, thanks for the confirmation that im on the right track
. Now, onto taking my blog to the next level. Loads of great info here-gonna stick around for a while.
Twitter: marierleslie
Woo Hoo for WordPress! I, too, am a WP convert and a believer. So much easier than my earlier websites and so much more creative. And I love the way Google loves it.
WordPress makes it easy for those who are tech-challenged to get started and to easily make changes while entering into the world of blogging! It has made my cyber journey much more enjoyable
nice post I fell in love with WP years ago and think it is the best I shared your post on my facebook and twitter today maybe help others
thanks
bl
Agree. I used blogger and I still do but I like WP Best. I tell people but they seem to think it is difficult and that I must be smart. I like that too.
I've been wanting to switch… because I think WordPress blogs look cleaner. & there are things that I want to do w/ mine that I canNOT on blogger… Thx for this post!
Kim,
People have been asking me about my site updates. And how they can be efficient with their site and social media.
I'm not a designer or web developer, but I'd like to think I am at least somewhat social savvy. Somehow, when I've been trying to explain WordPress to people, I don't quite hit the concepts home.
Thanks for providing the information above in sensible, bite-size, "gettable" pieces. I'll certainly refer people to read in the future.
~Keri
Totally agree! I use wordpress a lot for my clients. Specially for the ease of use when looking for a content management system. Lots of plug-ins!!! Like this fantastic plug-in that shows your site very nicely on my iPhone… Have a great day!
I completely agree! I switched from a regular website to WordPress. It just made sense for my consultancy firm and business network to organically merge the two without missing a beat. I’m still new to WordPress but I do love it. Now I just need some customization from a CSS/HTML pro within my chosen theme and I’m there!
Hello Mam, Great information… thanks for sharing this .. i will also share this useful information to my friends circle.
Thanks
Devender
Wow Kim, you should make a commission on the amount of people that will be switching over because of your article! I agree with you 100%! The ease of WP is unmatched and with Google’s love of it, it is a no-brainer! Great post!
Thank you for this post. Totally agree. Building a new website at this very moment (first time WordPress for personal use). I really like Open Source CMS-ses, but it took me some time to make the switch. It’s so much more user-friendly for my customers and no matter what other developers might say, WordPress has developed into a full-grown CMS.
Well you sealed it for me. Starting the move this week. Thanks!
Hi Kim,
Great post! Totally agree with you. WordPress is awesome. I use it too. I also love the widgets that allow you to add html code on the sidebar of your site. Ever thought about adding a Wibiya toolbar to your site? It allows you to integrate Facebook, Twitter and Youtube functionality on your website. – Juan.
I need to do that, Juan! Just haven’t gotten around to it yet
…too many things in my day 
. Thanks for the comment!
I have my own domain name but free hosting thru blogspot.com at mommyonlyhas2hands.org, So my question is, you said it is totally free, with wordpress.org, don’t you have to pay for hosting somewhere or is it hosted on wordpress? I’ve heard that worpress is just a platform to use with a self hosted site, which would make it not free.
I’ve often found that self hosted sites, the ones you pay for have more server problems and blog downtime than the ones you don’t pay for. For example a friend of mine on a self hosted site thru go daddy was doing a giveaway with me and she only bought a certain amount of bandwidth and her site was down for quite a few days, but mine was still working.
Now I’ve used wordpress.com and found that you are not allowed to customize anything unless you buy the themes or just use the ones they provide, but blogger seems to have a ton of free themes that you can upload, tweek if you know HTML and a little javascript coding and you don’t have to pay for any themes.
I don’t mean to argue what you have written, but if you use wordpress.org, where is it hosted, not talking about domain names, just talking about where your site is stored, is it stored on a worpress server or do you have to buy that?
WordPress, the platform, is absolutely free. For example, you do not pay to install it on your hosting account if you are using WordPress.org. You do have to pay for your hosting account but the actual installation of WordPress is free and there are tons of free templates that are available as well. Hope this clarifies.
Twitter: acastano1030
Great suggestions. I am using WordPress and I LOVE it.
Twitter: phildonnelly55
Hi Kim, I totally agree with your views and recommendations for WordPress. Excellently put and I've added a back link to your article. Philip.
I have used Blogger and other website designing sites like Moonfruit but much prefer the look of WP and am definitely going to switch. I've usually only heard great things about it but my one concern is that I've heard it's difficult to use Google Adsense with it and even using affiliate programmes on it can be problematic. Is this true?
I have not had a problem with Google Adsense.