Business at Home Income Blog

What is WordPress anyway? You might know that it’s a blogging platform, but in reality, it’s more. And it’s definitely the road to profitable blogging.

What (Exactly) is WordPress?

WordPress is split into two things. First, wordpress.com is a free blogging site. You can register with wordpress.com and be up and blogging in about 10 minutes. It’s easy and fast, as well as a great way to get started blogging if you’ve never done it before.

On the other hand, wordpress.org is the software used to manage the blog. It’s free blog software that you can use to power your own profitable web log.

And because it’s free software, the great news is that many web hosting services offer 1-click installations of the wordpress.org software. One click and the software is installed without you having to do anything more complicated than deciding upon a login name.

Blogger vs WordPress

As far as free blogging sites go, the two major contenders are blogger and wordpress. I’ve used both, and while both are good, I like wordpress.com better (as far as free blog hosts go).

But neither holds a candle to the power of the wordpress.org software on a paid hosting service.

Why WordPress?

If you’re looking to make money blogging, your most powerful ally is the wordpress software. Why? Let me count the ways.

• Flexibility. To the best of my knowledge, wordpress is the most flexible blogging software there is.

• Cost. The wordpress software is free, and free is good! And what makes it better is that there are also a plethora of free wordpress themes and wordpress plugins you can use.

• Plugins. Plugins add all kinds of functionality to a wordpress blog, without you knowing a lick of code. You can add polls, automate Adsense ads, display ebay auctions, track statistics and do all kinds of fun things.

• Themes. There are a ton of free wordpress themes out there. With a theme, you can change the look and feel of your blog in about 10 seconds. You’re not locked into looking like everyone else. And the hardest part? Deciding which theme you like best!

So there are just a few reasons why wordpress makes sense. It’s great for everyone, but especially useful for anyone who wants to make money blogging; read on to find out why.

Profitable Blogging and WordPress

Remember I said something about wordpress plugins? There are free plugins that help your blogs get listed with the search engines – fast. I’ve been listed in as little as 24 hours for some sites! And the sooner that the search engines know your site is out there, the sooner they can send you traffic.

There are also plugins that help you monetize your blog quickly and easily. For example, do you want to use AdSense on your blog to make money? There’s a free plugin that makes it an absolute breeze.

Want to use the eBay affiliate program but hate the hoops they make you jump through to set it up for each blog post? You guessed it — there is a plugin that can automate putting the ebay affiliate ads on your posts.

Belong to the Amazon affiliate program? Yes indeed, there are plugins for Amazon as well.

All this serves to highlight that if there is something in particular that you want to monetize, there’s likely a wordpress plugin for it.

Now here’s the deal — you can only use these plugins if you have your own web hosting. You can’t install these plugins on a wordpress.com blog. I’ll cover the ins and outs of web hosting in another post, but suffice to say that you can get web hosting for around $5 a month or more. And wordpress is free!

The answer to the question, “what is wordpress” is that it’s simply the most powerful blog software there is. And the best platform on which to build a blog that makes money.