Wordpress.com vs Wordpress.org

​(Updated 8/28/2017)
Since this post I have since switched to Weebly.com (A backwards switch for most but it allowed me to customize without coding and focus on my portfolio instead of constantly redesigning my site!)

When I first started my business journey I created a blog on blogger.com I had looked into different blog formats including WordPress but blogger had the most customization and it was easier for me to learn (seeing as I was a beginner) This blog was successful for everything I needed it to do at the time, but then I started illustrating. I didn't want to have my illustrations shared only in blog format. I needed a portfolio of some kind, and I also wanted to be able to provide a link back to somewhere you could find everything about me. So, I decided to create my own website and that prompted the question...
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Wordpress.com or Wordpress.org?

Pros: Wordpress.org

1. Wordpress.org is essentially a program that you can use in order to create your own website which means you get complete control.
2. It's also completely free! (You'll have to pay however for a host for your website, but even this gives you absolute freedom at an extremely low price.)
3. If you can code, your website can look literally any way you want it to. You have the freedom to manipulate CSS and HTML to create a completely custom design.
4. Plugins. Wordpress.org gives you access to hundreds of plugins all with the ability to help your website perform faster, more efficient, and to help your viewers become more interactive. These plugins vary in price and are created by people for people so essentially anything you want to be accomplished can in theory be done.

Cons: Wordpress.org

1. You're on your own. Wordpress.org is completely self-run. You have access to WordPress support but its question and answer based and involves only those in the WordPress community. If you have limited or no knowledge of website design this will be pretty difficult for you.
2. If something breaks, only you can fix it. This goes along with being completely on your own. If anything happens like say a link gets broken or a plugin malfunctions it's up to you to figure out how to fix it. Without any knowledge of what to do this puts you at a severe disadvantage. There's no 24 hour support team there to get your website back and running no matter how important or urgent it may be.
3. Plugins can be created by anyone. As awesome as it is that people are creating and sharing plugins there's no way to know how good they really are. You're trusting someone who has no responsibility to WordPress to create a quality plugin or work through its bugs. Ultimately, you can conspire with the creators of the plugins and ask them for help, but you are still putting your website in the hands of people you don't know (inadvertently)
4. Wordpress.org is a program which requires a lot of files and a lot of backup. This isn't necessarily a con if you've got a desktop that meets the requirements and set a schedule to constantly back up your machine. However if you're a singular person wanting to start a career than chances are you're working off a laptop and you maybe back up your hard drive every 3 months. This isn't going to cut it if you want everything to run smoothly.

Pros: Wordpress.com

1. Wordpress.com is extremely user-friendly. I thought blogger was going to be easier for me than WordPress and the truth is, they're pretty much the same in terms of ease of use. WordPress is very straightforward and for each theme you choose there's a guide on how to use it with a direct link to the sample page. There's also an awesome staff ready to help you with any and all of your questions.
2. It doesn't take up space. While wordpress.org is a program that takes root in your computer wordpress.com is just a website. It takes up no concrete space and can be edited from anywhere.
3. It's inexpensive (Depending on what you want) There's multiple plans you can buy for wordpress.com which all have different benefits. Personally, I pay for the Premium plan because I want the ability to edit the CSS codes and make my page slightly more unique.

Cons to Wordpress.com

1. You're website will never look as cool as you want it to. Wordpress.com is extremely limited when it comes to customization. Even with the premium plan you can only touch the CSS codes but nothing else. This makes changing colors and borders easy but there's no way to add animations or change the layout of your website. You just have to choose the theme that best suits your needs.
2. You don't have access to plugins and can only track your SEO and Google Analytics if you pay for the business plan which is roughly $300 a year. This makes it harder for you to show up on the google search engines and track how well your posts are doing.
3. You don't actually own your site. If you've got problems WordPress is there to help you and fix it. They have an expert staff and they work hard. That being said, that staff and those people are part of a business, a business that owns your website whether you like it or not.

In the end when looking into the pros and cons from both sides I chose wordpress.com because I'm a beginner. I would love the freedom to own my own site, completely customize it, and make money. At the same time, these freedoms come with an extensive knowledge of computers and programming.

When researching between .org and .com a lot of people said they were scared because according to the terms and conditions WordPress.com, “may terminate your access to all or any part of the Website at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately.” Now that is pretty scary but what I think is worse is causing the destruction of your own website!

I'm not great at backing up files and I can't trouble shoot computer glitches. These can easily get you in trouble if something goes wrong and at this point in my life one of them is a real possibility and the other is just something to keep in mind down the road.

So for me wordpress.com was the way to go. It's easy, it's user-friendly, and the company makes sure your website stays up and running no matter how much you manage to screw it up! (I kid)

Until next time,