WordPress
Scam Risk is here to help you protect yourself and fight back
By: Scam Risk - Expert Reviewer
WordPress Review
WordPress.com Review 2021 | Is WordPress Right for You?
You’ve probably heard that WordPress.com is the most popular website building platform, but you’re not sure if it’s the best fit for you.
Unlike Weebly, Wix, or Squarespace, WordPress is completely free.
That’s the reason why, you would likely not get anything with value if you searched for reviews of WordPress, because bloggers usually do reviews for products and services from which they get a referral commission.
We have prepared the most comprehensive WordPress software review to help you decide if it’s any good for your business.
We’re going to review some things about WordPress that you won’t find in other WordPress reviews so that you can decide if it really is the best WordPress training out there.
We’ll talk about whether WordPress is the right self-hosted platform for your business.
At the end, I’ll answer some of the most frequently asked questions regarding WordPress and online business in general.
And most important, I’ll show you the exact system I used to build my own internet marketing business to over $40,000 a month in mostly passive income.
This system made me swear off WordPress for good, because it uses some of the same skills in a much more powerful and profitable way!
Check Out This Simple Way To Run A Digital Real Estate Empire Online
With no:
- Mortgages
- Property Taxes
- Bad Tenants
This is so simple, it should be illegal.
Table of Contents
Overview
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
WordPress is a well-known website builders platform that allows you to develop any type of website you want. What’s great about it is that the design and functionality are extremely flexible.
The catch is that you would need to know how to code to be able to set it up.
Best For: Unlimited Customization
WordPress Reviews: How Do You Manage Your Content On WordPress?
The content control panel, aka the editor panel, of a drag-and-drop website builder looks like something like the image below. If you’ve used one before then you must be familiar with it:
This is an extremely user friendly website builder which is also what they refer to as ‘What You See Is What You Get’ (or WYSIWYG) tool, meaning the website you’ve designed in the content control panel will look exactly like it when published.
With a click and a drag, you can quickly and easily change content as you wish, making it easy to visualize how it will appear once it goes live.
WordPress, on the other hand, offers a totally distinct content control panel like the one below:
In WordPress, the content is inserted in the content-entry box, like how you would do it in any data entry program. You will see two options in this box: visual and text.
How do these two work:
- Visual Editor: The visual editor functions similarly like Microsoft Word in that formatting can be applied and mirrored in the content. However, WordPress is far from being a WYSIWYG editor even in this mode.
- Text Editor: The text mode is similar to Notepad. You would need the styling and formatting you wish to add, typed out with the use of HTML code. Unlike the visual mode, the text mode does not offer any indication of how your content would look like when published unless you hit the “Preview” button.
In three ways, WordPress may make managing a content-heavy website easier for you:
1. You Get Automatic Content Consistency.
Theme templates in WordPress provide pre-set layout styles for pages and posts, so anything that’s published will look the same automatically, allowing you to produce new content quickly while maintaining a consistent layout style.
In contrast, if you used a drag-and-drop website builder, you would have to re-create your layout design whenever a new page is started.
This would include either replicating and modifying current pages or starting from scratch with drag-and-drop tools!
2. You Can Quickly Make Site-Wide Content Changes.
Because your product reviews’ content layout is regulated by a centralized pre-set theme, you can easily perform any changes throughout your entire website. Catch is you’ve got to know how to code in order to accomplish this.
3. You Can Easily Manage Individual Pieces Of Content.
WordPress originally functioned as a content management system, so you can expect that managing your content would be easy breezy. In the user dashboard, you will find there the posts management page where an overview of all of your posts in your website is provided.
How Do You Add, Use And Manage Features On WordPress?
You’d find it pretty easy installing themes and plugins on WordPress.
As seen below, finding and selecting which plugin to use can be done directly in the control panel of WordPress.
For free themes, you can find and select the free theme you want to use directly in your WordPress as well.
For paid and pre-designed themes, you must install them using FTP, which I will explain later, or via the theme upload feature.
Who Should Use WordPress?
WordPress is the best option in these circumstances:
- You’ve already owned a website.
- You require unrestricted design control.
- You need specialized features.
- You have loads of content.
- You have time and money to spare.
How Much Does WordPress Cost?
Determining the exact cost of a WordPress website is tricky. If you are not cautious, your expenses may rapidly add up, therefore it is important to search around first for the best offers.
Below is a breakdown of potential costs involved with the set up and operation of a WordPress website:
WordPress Website Hosting Costs
- Monthly Costs: anywhere between $5 – $100
- Self-hosted shared hosting: $3 – $20
- Fully managed hosting: $30 – $100
WordPress Tutorials & Courses Costs
- Monthly Costs: free to $50+
- Time to Learn Basics: A few hours
- Time to Learn WordPress: Weeks
WordPress Theme Costs
- One-time Cost: free to $5,000+
- Basic Templates: $35 – $50
- Premium Templates: $80 – $200
- Template Alterations: $300 – $1,000
- Custom Design: $5,000 – $10,000+
WordPress Plugin Costs
- One-Time Cost: $50 – $500
- Monthly Costs: $5 – $150
- Payment Software: $100 – $500 (one-time cost); $30 – $80 (monthly cost)
- Membership Gateway Software: $100 – $300 (one-time cost); $50-$150 (monthly cost)
- Email Marketing Software: $5 – $99 (monthly cost)
WordPress Technical Support Costs
- Estimated Annual Cost: $500 – $1,000
- Developer Cost: $100 – $180 per hour (only as required though!)
Is It Easy to Set Up WordPress?
Yes, if you put in the time and effort, setting up a WordPress website is possible.
Hosting services like as Bluehost, on the other hand, provide 1-click WordPress installation and automated WordPress upgrades, sparing you all the trouble!
With a drag-and-drop website builder, however, set up would take you only under a minute — just sign up, select a plan, and you’re all set to build a website!
You should also keep in mind that a standard WordPress website might take anything from 30 minutes to a few days to put up.
The amount of time you require is determined on how much research has been done and how tech-savvy you are.
WordPress Themes
Thousands of designers around the world create WordPress themes, so you are in no shortage of choices – the world is your oyster!
There are two types of WordPress themes: Free and Paid.
Free WordPress Themes
There are free themes available on the dashboard of your WordPress site.
All yo have to do is click on “Themes” at the “Appearance” tab. You can find here all the free themes by WordPress.
However, there are a few pros and cons that you need to be aware of when using the free themes:
Pros:
- Free
- Wide selection
- Best for a simple website that requires minimal plugins or customization
Cons:
- May not have been built by credible developers and hence include several code problems, causing your website to fail anytime there is an update. If you want to avoid this, look for free themes from trusted developers. As a promotional item, several developers provide free copies of their themes. The free version may be sufficient for a simple website.
- You can’t access customer service because it is free. You’re on your own if you have any problems with the theme. Some suppliers let you use it for free while paying an hourly rate for technical assistance if you require support.
Paid WordPress Themes
Most of the WordPress themes are paid. There’s an abundance of developers who’ve been building WordPress designs for a long time.
When using WordPress paid themes, you’ll see that there are two types: A one-time purchase or a yearly subscription. Let’s check them out below in detail.
One-Time Payment
You just pay one time for this, and it generally includes a limited support period of 6-12 months.
You’re essentially on your own right after the fixed period. Some theme suppliers provide extended support of three years max, pretty much like an extended warranty.
These are the most popular themes that you can find on WordPress and the most common option among users.
The advantage of this is that your first financial commitment is minimal. It’s not the end of the world if the theme doesn’t work out.
The disadvantage, however, is that if you maintain the theme for an extended period of time, you will have to pay for further support. Based on my experience, managing a WordPress website would somehow push you to invest in this additional support as competent help is difficult to come by.
You will most likely require this assistance for the installation of the theme, since you may have issues with theme customization or plugin compatibility. WordPress updates, plugins, or the theme itself might potentially cause problems and render your website inoperable. So having access to assistance from your theme vendor is absolutely useful should you need it.
Yearly Membership
The annual subscription option is most popular among web designers who build websites for their clients.
It is, nevertheless, an excellent option if you:
- Like modifying the look of your website on a regular basis
- Want to have the peace of mind that you may contact customer service anytime you require it
- Don’t like to employ the services of a new developer or designer every time you have a problem with modifications.
Plugins
Plugins are classified into two types: free and paid.
Free stuff, like everything else on WordPress, does not offer customer or technical support. There’s a lot of extremely well-built and well-managed plugins that are free.
However, free plugins usually don’t receive regular updates.
Paid plugins are an excellent option if you want additional functionalities or do not want the plugin to be discarded in the future.
Essential WordPress Plugins
There’s a wide selection of WordPress plugins to select from. However, regardless of the website you build, these are the basic plugins we utilize and suggest for all WordPress websites.
- CrazyEgg – A website analytics tool with a visual interface.
- Yoast — A must-have WordPress SEO plugin that allows you to fine-tune your content in order to boost your search engine rankings.
- TinyPNG – A tool for compressing pictures without sacrificing quality enabling you to save space and increase your page load speed.
- Disqus – A well-known engagement plugin that allows you to accept and manage the comments found in your website
- CloudFlare – Software for improving website performance and security
- InfusionSoft – A sophisticated email marketing and customer management software.
- Akismet — An anti-spam plugin that handles your spam comments by filtering them out for you (Best with Disqus)
Specific WordPress Plugins
If there is a particular WordPress website that you require of, perhaps a site with multiple languages or an online store. Below are some WordPress plugins that might be useful for this:
- aMember – WordPress user management and membership plugin tool
- WooCommerce – Product management and online shopping cart tool that converts your website into an ecommerce store
- Envira Gallery – Responsive gallery plugin best WordPress portfolio creation
- Booking Calendar – Free plugin that allows bookings from visitors to be accepted through your website (Best for restaurants or service providers like plumbers, dentists, etc)
- Multilingual Press – Allows the creation and management of a WordPress website in different languages
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
WordPress provides you considerably more control over the SEO of your website than a drag-and-drop website builder. You may also utilize plugins to increase your website’s performance and rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
SEO is an abbreviation for ‘search engine optimization,’ and SEO tools are crucial for your website since without them, your WordPress site would struggle to have high rankings in Google SERPs.
Below are some suggestions that you may consider:
- Make sure your site is visible. WordPress allows your site to be highly visible to all search engines, especially Google. When doing major changes, it’s best to turn this on, but right after saving the changes, remember to uncheck.
- Set up categories and tags. Customizing tags and categories on WordPress is pretty simple and makes sorting of your content possible., making it much easier for search engines to analyze the content of your website and rank it on top of results pages.
- Use SEO-friendly URLs – WordPress lets you define the structure of your website’s URLs (aka your pages’ unique web addresses). This means you can set up SEO-friendly URLs that are descriptive and help Google identify the relevance of your pages to a particular search.
- Get maximum value from keywords. HTML tags are allowed by WordPress to enable your content to be written in the text editor. Hence, keywords may be included in page titles and subtitles, which marks them more important by search engines and supports in the analysis of your content.
And I’m only scratching off the surface – WordPress can really help you enhance your SEO.
You may also utilize plugins to improve the SEO of your website. I cited ‘Yoast’ earlier, and by far, it is the most highly recommended plugin available. Without it, I’d be completely clueless on what to do!
Yoast allows the addition of meta titles and meta descriptions to your web pages.
Yoast also allows you to see a preview before publishing to give you a visual check.
It may also provide valuable insights on how keywords can be used and if you are either under-using them or over-using (both of which are huge no-no’s in SEO!).
WordPress Review: WordPress Support, Tutorials And Community Resources
WordPress offers a large support group to whom you may turn for assistance. Because WordPress is so popular, there are several resources and free tutorials available to help you master the fundamentals of maintaining a WordPress website.
Even better, hosting providers such as Bluehost provide WordPress-specific customer assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on their WordPress plans (Free Plan/ Business Plan/ ECommerce Plan).
If you’ve tried all the free resources and are still unable to solve your concerns, you may always hire a developer or designer to assist you.
In the past, when we required special coding or assistance, we’ve made use of freelancer markets like Upwork.
WordPress Community & Resources
- WordPress Forum
- WordPress Documentation
WordPress Tutorials
If you feel like WordPress is something that may be useful for you, we strongly suggest that you devote a time to learn by watching some tutorials.
Compared to a drag-and-drop website builder, as I’ve mentioned earlier, WordPress might take longer time to master. The learning curve for WordPress is higher.
So, for beginners, prep yourselves up by reading through a guide before you spend for a theme or plugin.
Now, if you already know the basics and want to advance your knowledge of the software so you can customize your WordPress website/s, check the following resources:
- Lynda.com – Provides free basic courses and premium courses valued at $19.99 monthly
- Tutsplus.com – Provides free step-by-step tutorials and premium courses valued at $15 monthly
Is WordPress A Scam?
WordPress obviously isn’t a scam. The more fitting question, in my opinion, would be, “Is it the best website builder for you?”
WordPress.com isn’t for everyone – for obvious reasons which I have covered in this review. However, when you fully utilize everything WordPress has to offer, it could be an incredibly valuable tool.
It is perhaps the most versatile website builder available, and it can build nearly any website you can think of, be it a blog, a company promotion site, or an ecommerce store.
WordPress is ideal for anyone who requires a sophisticated website or has a website with a lot of content – but only if you’re not scared to invest the time and money required to set it up and running.
One disadvantage of choosing WordPress.com is the initial financial and time investment that alternative drag-and-drop website builders, such as Wix, do not have.
If you are unsure about making these commitments, it is preferable to pick a drag-and-drop website builder that meets the majority of your requirements.
Once you’ve determined that your website has the ability to expand, you may always explore converting to WordPress at a later time.
What Is Our Top Recommendation For Making Money Online In 2021?
Our review team has come across a program in the real estate industry that is next level!
Although it’s not real estate in the traditional sense, it’s all digital.
Websites that rank at the top of Google for any given industry are INSANELY VALUABLE!
Businesses know this and it’s exactly why they pay THOUSANDS each month for those positions. All that traffic makes them all sorts of money.
But these types of businesses aren’t paying thousands for cookie cutter websites on Wix or GoDaddy…
They’re having their business partners build out sites using WordPress because of it’s ability to be customized and be unique.
So if you’re itching to get started using WordPress and want business partners that will pay you THOUSANDS per month to do this…
Things We Liked:
- Wide selection of themes and plugins
- Flexible design and functionalities
- Allows you to build any type of website
Things We Didn't Like:
- You need to know how to code
- Expensive (But may be worth it for some)
- Not for all users
ScamRisk's #1 Online
Business Recommendation:
You know deep down what you're meant for. Now they will show you how to go get it.
