As a small business owner, you know that having an online presence is essential to reaching new customers and successfully competing in today’s marketplace. But with so many website builder options out there, it can be hard to know where to start. In this complete guide to WordPress, we’ll cover everything you need to know about WordPress to build your small business website in 2022.
Why WordPress?
WordPress is the world’s most popular website builder, powering over 35% of all websites on the internet. It’s loved by users for its flexibility, ease of use, and wide range of features. Whether you’re a tech-savvy user who wants complete control over your website’s design or someone who just wants a simple, no-fuss website up and running quickly, WordPress can accommodate your needs.
There are two main ways to use WordPress: with a self-hosted WordPress.org site or a hosted WordPress.com site. For most small businesses, we recommend using WordPress.org as it gives you more control over your website (like the ability to install plugins and edit your theme code) and doesn’t have any usage limits like WordPress.com does. Plus, it’s free! All you need to pay for is hosting and any premium themes or plugins you might want to add on top of the ones that are available for free in the WordPress repository.
How Much Will It Cost?
If you go with self-hosted WordPress.org, your only costs will be hosting and any premium themes or plugins you choose to add (which are optional). Hosting costs can vary widely depending on which provider you go with and which plan you choose, but generally speaking, you can expect to pay around $5-10 per month for shared hosting, $50 per month or more for VPS hosting, or $100 per month or more for dedicated hosting. If you’re just starting out, we recommend going with shared hosting as it’s the most affordable option and easy to upgrade as your traffic grows.
As for themes and plugins, there are literally thousands of both free and paid options available for download in the WordPress repository. However, if you want something truly unique or want access to support from the developer, then opting for a paid theme or plugin is probably your best bet. Prices can range from $0-$200 or more depending on the item and its features/level of support.
How Long Will It Take?
Again, this will vary depending on how much experience you have with web design and development and how much time you’re able to devote to working on your site each day/week. If you’re starting from scratch with no prior experience, we recommend allotting at least 3-6 months to build your site before making it live. This will give you plenty of time to get comfortable with using WordPress (and learning HTML/CSS if you decide to take on some of the design yourself) as well as create quality content for your visitors.
If you already have a general understanding of web design principles or are working with someone who does, then building a basic WordPress site shouldn’t take more than 2-3 weeks at most—though adding additional pages/sections/plugins/etc could extend that timeline somewhat.
At the end of the day though, the most important thing is not how long it takes you to get your site up and running but rather that it meets the needs of both you and your target audience once it does go live!
Conclusion
We hope this guide and everything you need to know about WordPress have given you a better understanding of what WordPress is and how it could benefit your small business website in 2022 & beyond! While there is certainly a bit of a learning curve involved in getting started with WP (especially if you’re not familiar with web design), we think it’s definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for an affordable yet feature-rich platform that gives YOU complete control over your site’s design & functionality without forcing any usage limits on you like some other builders do (*cough* Wix *cough*). Happy building!
