WordPress .org Vs WordPress .com

Please note: This post contains affiliate links, whereby I receive a small commission from any purchases that you make from the external links.

WordPress .org

What is website hosting?

What is a domain name?

A domain name, also known as a web URL,  is a unique address used to visit and view a website. This is entered into the URL bar at the top of your web page. 

There are many different extensions available when choosing your domain name, such as .com, .org, .net etc. As a general rule of thumb, try to stick with a .com domain name, as this is the most universal name for websites!

E.g. mywebsite.com

Where can I find affordable web hosting?

There are many options for web hosting, and these can depend on your requirements.

More often than not, for an average blog or website, you should be okay with the cheaper packages. These include a shared server, a certain amount of space on your server and extra features such as an SSL certificate. However, you can always pay a little more to upgrade your hosting in time, as your website grows larger.

I have tried a variety of different web hosting companies and I have found that having quick customer support is a very important factor.  This is why I recommend the web hosting company Hostgator. 

60% Web Hosting Coupon With Hostgator

WordPress .org Pros & Cons

Pros

• Free software.
• Easy to use.
• You own your website and the data. The site cannot be turned off, you have full control.
• You can monetise your site by running your own ads and you keep all the revenue.
• Can utilise powerful tools such as google analytics for tracking.
• You can create an online store to sell digital or physical products and manage shipping from your site.
• Ability to create membership sites e.g. to build an online community or sell a course.
• You have access to backend code and databases.
• Ability to upload your own themes (a great advantage!)
• You can upload your own plugins.
• Can use your own custom domain name for your website URL.
• Usually unlimited hosting storage.
• Access to all SEO features.

Cons

• Cost of website hosting which is usually, $3-$10 per month depending on the package. Remember to use my coupon code 60HGSDN for 60% off web hosting with Hostgator.
• You are responsible for updates & backups, important for avoiding being hacked!

WordPress .com

• Free – Very limited.
• Personal 6GB space– $36 per year
• Premium 13Gb space– $99 per year
• Business unlimited– $299 per year

Pros

• WordPress .com is free with up to 3GB of space. Which is great for hobby bloggers.
• A quick setup.
• WordPress .com takes care of updates so you don’t have to worry about it.

Cons 

• Limited features.
• WordPress .com places ads on all free sites. Therefore your users will see ads on your site, and you don’t receive any money from these ads. Furthermore, to avoid ads, you need to upgrade to a paid plan.
• You are not allowed to sell ads on your website. The only option is to apply for a program called WordAds, an advertising program where you share the revenue with WordPress .com.
• You have no unique domain name.
• There are no plugins available.
• There is no access to code or databases.
• Very limited theme options.
• You are restricted to their stats, with no access to google analytics.
• The risk that your site can be deleted at any time and you have no control.
• Your site displays a “powered by wordpress.com” link. You can only remove it by upgrading to the business plan.
• No e-commerce features.

Further reading

Ready to get started with your WordPress .org website/ blog?

The first step is to purchase your web hosting and domain name from a company such as Hostgator.

Once you have done this, you can install WordPress .org and get started setting up your bespoke website/ blog! Don’t forget to use my coupon code 60HGSDN for a 60% discount on web hosting with Hostgator!

Want to try out the free WordPress .com platform first? Great! You can set up a free account with WordPress .com here!

Stay tuned as in my next post, I will take you on a step by step tutorial on how to create a website for free using wordpress.com! 

Meanwhile, you may find the below articles of interest…

HOW TO USE PINTEREST TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR BLOG

MAKE MONEY ONLINE WITH AN AFFILIATE INCOME

If you enjoyed this post or have any questions, please let me know in the comments below! 🙂

Until next time!

Emily x

In this vlog post featuring an Adobe Photoshop tutorial, I am going to show you step by step how to make a circle image in Photoshop. Using Photoshop is a cost-effective way of creating your own professional graphic imagery which you can use across your social media channels, blog, website and more!

If you don’t currently have Adobe Photoshop CC, you can purchase and download Photoshop straight away here!

Having a professional profile image really helps to portray your professional image, consequently, this Photoshop tutorial vlog will help you to create just that!

Photoshop Tutorial: How To Make a Circle Image In Photoshop

Click here to subscribe to my YouTube Channel.

“Hello and welcome to today’s video…

In this Photoshop tutorial, I am going to show you how to create a professional circle image using photoshop, which is perfect to add to your blogs and social media accounts.”

Photoshop Tutorial Steps

• Firstly open up Adobe Photoshop CC.
• Find the image that you would like to create into a circle image, using file > open (and locate your image from the correct folder).
• If your image displays gridlines which can be distracting, you can remove these by pressing; “Ctrl and H” on your keyboard. In addition, you can also zoom into your image by holding down “Ctrl and +”
• On the right-hand side of your screen where you can see your layers. Your image will be displayed there as a layer. If it says background on your image layer, or there is a padlock present on your image layer, simply double click on the layer, which will unlock the layer and allow you to carry out further editing.
• On the left-hand-side menu panel, select the elliptical marquee tool.
• Whilst holding down the Shift key, click over your image and drag the circle to your desired size.
• Reposition your circle over the image to your own requirements.
• Whilst your circle is still dotted, from the top menu click on select and click inverse. This will highlight all the background detail that is not required for your circle image. Once you have your background details highlighted, press the Backspace or the Delete key from your keyboard to remove this.
• Finally, to crop your image to size you need to select your rectangular marquee tool from the left-hand side menu.
• Position the rectangle around your image to your required dimensions. Once you are happy with the size, select image and crop from the top menu. This will crop your image and you are ready to save your new circle image!
• The best way to save your image is by saving for web and devices. You can do this by holding down, ” Shift Ctrl Alt and S” on your keyboard. From the save screen make sure that PNG is selected and then save into your desired folder.

Ta da! A perfect circle image made using Adobe Photoshop CC…

If you don’t currently have Photoshop, you can purchase the software yearly membership directly from Adobe.

Did You Enjoy This Photoshop Tutorial?

I hope that you enjoyed this Photoshop tutorial. If you would like to see further vlogs and tutorial based videos, please…

 Click here to subscribe to my YouTube Channel.

Have you checked out my free online resources?

There are details for lots of useful website and companies, great for graphic design, managing an online business etc. Click here to check out online resources! 

If you missed the link in the article, you can click here to purchase a yearly Photoshop software membership from Amazon and download it straight away!

Finally, please let me know in the comments below whether this video has helped you, and do you struggle with anything else in Photoshop? Maybe I can help you, let me know! 🙂

Until next time!

Emily x