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1. WordPress is Free as in Freedom

WordPress is free software. It means you are free to download, install, use and modify it to match your needs. You can use it to create any kind of website. To learn more, see our article about why WordPress is free.

While the WordPress software itself is free, you do need a domain name and web hosting to install it.

A domain name is the address of your website on the internet. This is what your users type in their browser’s address bar to access your website (for example, wpbeginner.com).

Web hosting is like your website’s house where all your website files are stored.

For both hosting and your domain name, we recommend Bluehost. They are one of the largest hosting companies in the world and an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.

They are also offering WPBeginner users a 60% discount on hosting and a free domain name. Basically, you can get started for $2.75 per month.

If you want someone experienced to set up your WordPress site, then our talented staff members are happy to help you get started with our completely free WordPress blog setup.

2. WordPress Is Easy to Use

Despite being the most flexible and powerful platform, WordPress is quite easy to use for beginners.

It comes with a simple dashboard with different menu options listed in the sidebar. You can easily create posts and pages, customize your website design, add navigation menus, and more.

WordPress makes it easy for absolute beginners to maintain their own websites without any technical hiccups.

First, there are updates. WordPress regularly releases core WordPress updates that you can install with the click of the button. The same goes for WordPress plugins and themes which release their own updates.

For backups, there are excellent WordPress backup plugins (many of them are free). They allow you to set up automatic backups and store them on a remote location like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Finally, there is security. With some basic WordPress security best practices, you can make your website even more secure (more on this later).

As a beginner, you may find it a bit overwhelming at first. However, as the largest WordPress resource site for beginners, we can confidently assure you that you’ll soon find your way around.

Over the last 10+ years, we have seen thousands of beginner level users quickly graduate to intermediate and advanced users. In fact, many of them now make WordPress websites for others to earn their living.

Here at WPBeginner, we have thousands of WordPress tutorials on any topic you need, from beginner to advanced. For example, to create your first page or blog post, you can see our guide on how to add a new post in WordPress.

If you need any help getting started, simply type your question in Google and add ‘WPBeginner’ at the end of your question. You will likely find the answer on our website.

3. WordPress Is Completely Customizable

Most folks using WordPress are neither web designers nor programmers. As a matter of fact, most people start using WordPress without any prior knowledge of designing websites.

For non-tech savvy folks, WordPress is the perfect solution because there are thousands of free website templates (themes) that you can choose from. There is a perfect WordPress theme for just about every kind of website (whether it’s a blog, business site, or an online store).

WordPress themes are easy to customize because a lot of them come with their own options panel allowing you to change colors, upload your logo, change the background, create beautiful sliders, and truly customize it to your needs without writing any code at all.

For example, Astra is a theme we often recommend because it makes it easy to create a professional-looking website even for beginners. It comes with 90+ ready-made templates that are easily customizable for any type of website.

For more recommended themes, you can see our expert pick of the best multipurpose themes for WordPress.

To further customize your design, you can use a drag-and-drop builder like SeedProd to create beautiful landing pages, sales pages, product landing pages, and much more.

You can also add custom functionality to your WordPress site by using plugins. WordPress plugins are like apps for your website that you can use to add advanced features like analytics, contact forms, membership area, and more.

Just like themes, there are thousands of free and premium plugins available for you to use. To learn more, see our article on what are WordPress plugins and how do they work.

Aside from adding extra functionality, some WordPress plugins can let you transform your website into a completely new platform.

Having to pick from thousands of plugins can be overwhelming, but there are some essential WordPress plugins that we recommend for every website:

• A contact form plugin so your visitors can reach out to you
• An analytics plugin so you can see how many visitors you’re getting
• A search engine optimization plugin so you can get more traffic from Google

Then you’ll need to choose more plugins depending on the type of website you’re creating.

To find the best plugin for your needs, you can always search Google and add ‘WPBeginner’ to your search to find our recommendations. Our expert team thoroughly tests every plugin before we recommend it.

4. WordPress Is SEO Friendly

The best website in the world won’t be a success if it doesn’t get any traffic or visitors.

Luckily, WordPress is built with search engine traffic in mind.

WordPress is written using high-quality code with semantic markup. In non-geek terms, this means Google and other search engines love WordPress.

This is why WordPress sites tend to rank higher than others in search engines.

To optimize your site to get even more traffic, we recommend using a WordPress SEO plugin.

Our top recommended SEO plugin is All in One SEO (AIOSEO), used by over 3 million websites. It’s easy to use, but also incredibly powerful. You can check out our guide on how to set up AIOSEO for WordPress to set it up properly on your own site.

5. WordPress Is Safe and Secure

WordPress is developed with security in mind, and it is a very safe and secure platform to run a website.

However, you can still do a lot to make your website even more secure from hackers, malware, and other dangers. For details, see our step-by-step WordPress security guide for beginners.

Here at WPBeginner, we use Sucuri to protect against common threats such as brute force attacks and malware. You can install their free WordPress security plugin, Sucuri Scanner, to make sure your site is protected.

6. WordPress Is Here to Stay

Website builders come and go. Even the biggest ones may disappear (remember GeoCities?).

That’s because as open-source software, it’s not maintained by just one person or company. Even if WordPress disappears, anyone can simply fork its code and launch it with a different name in a matter of minutes.

One of the lesser-known facts about WordPress is that it does not have a CEO. The name WordPress is protected by the WordPress foundation, which is a non-profit organization ensuring that WordPress continues to grow.

There is a strong community of thousands of users, developers, and small businesses behind WordPress. As a community, all of them ensure that WordPress is here to stay for the long-haul.

WordPress benefits millions of users around the globe. It is available in more than 53 languages and powers thousands of multilingual websites as well.

As a WordPress beginner, you’ll join this global community of users and you’ll find the WordPress community welcoming and eager to help.