WordPress

WordPress has become one of the world’s leading blogging platforms for many reasons. It can be used as a blog, as a CMS, as an online store or to create online membership websites. In order to get the full benefits of this blogging platform, it’s important to understand the main factors that affect the performance, appearance and functionality of this system.

Below are some of the most important of these factors.

Hosting

Hosting is the bedrock on which a WordPress website is built. This means it’s vital to choose wisely before you decide which hosting provider to use. Your hosting package should be reliable and the company providing this service should have an excellent support system to deal with any problems that may occur while you are a customer. When your website is set up, it should load quickly. If it does not, you could be losing shoppers and potential customers who won’t wait around for a poor performing website to load. This is often caused by the hosting package a website owner uses, so make sure this will not be an issue with the hosting you purchase.

WordPress Theme

A wide range of free and premium WordPress themes are available. If you are creating a basic blog, a free theme may be sufficient. However, if you require more advanced features, a premium theme will probably be required. The theme you choose determines the layout and appearance of a WordPress website, so you should choose wisely. The leading themes also include a range of features that allow you to expand your website into much more than just a blogging platform.

WordPress Plugins

WordPress plugins are software components that give you the opportunity to add new functionality to a website. They are designed by different members of the WordPress community. Some plugins are extremely efficient while others are poorly coded.

You should always research plugins before you decide to install them. It’s tempting to install every potentially useful plugin you see. However, the more plugins you add to a WordPress website, the more you increase the possibility of introducing bugs and other problems which can affect the way a website operates.

Interaction

Older website technologies were very poor at allowing interaction between website visitors. WordPress has changed all of this and most people visiting a WordPress website now expect to be able to comment, share and rate the content contained on these websites. To achieve this objective, you need to make your website more sociable by adding sharing buttons, links to social media feeds, contact facilities, and public or private discussion areas.

When you are setting up a WordPress website, it’s important to understand everything that’s involved in this process. Doing things right the first time will save you a lot of time in the future. The factors mentioned above are the main things you need to seriously consider, so that you can get on with the more important issue of developing and improving your website, rather than continually having to fix it.