WordPress is a content management system (basically technology that
allows you to build and update a website). A lot of people use it as the
basis for their blog but you can easily adapt it to create a nice and
functional website. WordPress is one of the most well-known blogging
platforms out there and is beloved for its ease of use, the fact that it
gets a lot of Google-love and last but not least, it’s free! If you’re a
newbie to the world of WordPress, here’s a quick rundown of its basic
features:
Pages
These are static pages – in that once they’re up on the site, they don’t move. If you’re using WordPress as a website rather than a blog, you will probably want to use pages, rather than posts. Some useful pages to have should include a Contact page, where you can add a contact form, your phone number, physical address and email addresses if necessary (although if you add an email address rather than use a contact form, you’ll probably be deluged in spam emails).
You might also want an ‘About Me’ page; a page that displays any products you sell (i.e. eBooks); a page for any press mentions and perhaps a Useful Links page.
Posts
These are used when you have a blog. They will gradually move down the page as you add a new one and eventually disappear off the screen. You can add pictures, audio, video and other media to your posts to add interest.
Plugins
These are ‘extras’ which you can download to your site to add extra functionality. Some are free and some are paid for. There are too many to mention by name here but you’ll be able to get plugins to add a sign up form to your site (to capture email addresses), to improve search engine optimisation, to stop spam and hundreds of different things.
Widgets
These are ‘extras’ that can be put into your sidebar (the strip down the side of the page). You can add all sorts of things like text boxes which contain HTML code for Google Analytics, RSS feeds, an email address capture box and more.
Pages
These are static pages – in that once they’re up on the site, they don’t move. If you’re using WordPress as a website rather than a blog, you will probably want to use pages, rather than posts. Some useful pages to have should include a Contact page, where you can add a contact form, your phone number, physical address and email addresses if necessary (although if you add an email address rather than use a contact form, you’ll probably be deluged in spam emails).
You might also want an ‘About Me’ page; a page that displays any products you sell (i.e. eBooks); a page for any press mentions and perhaps a Useful Links page.
Posts
These are used when you have a blog. They will gradually move down the page as you add a new one and eventually disappear off the screen. You can add pictures, audio, video and other media to your posts to add interest.
Plugins
These are ‘extras’ which you can download to your site to add extra functionality. Some are free and some are paid for. There are too many to mention by name here but you’ll be able to get plugins to add a sign up form to your site (to capture email addresses), to improve search engine optimisation, to stop spam and hundreds of different things.
Widgets
These are ‘extras’ that can be put into your sidebar (the strip down the side of the page). You can add all sorts of things like text boxes which contain HTML code for Google Analytics, RSS feeds, an email address capture box and more.
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