A Content Management System or CMS like WordPress is a web application that uses a database such as MySQL to create html content, edit and store data and files in an organized way. The content is created and edited in the admin area, which can be published for online visitors to view. A CMS like Joomla!, Drupal and WordPress are popular choices among website owners and bloggers because they can create professional website without having to learn programming languages. Today, WordPress has become the most popular choice among website owners, bloggers and even web designers. Due to its popularity, web host companies now include WordPress as one of their included applications in their web hosting packages.

Advantages of using WordPress for your website

Here are the advantages of using WordPress as a CMS for a website:

• Manage design, structure and content separately. This is convenient especially when a website owner wants to change the WordPress theme or design. The content and structure will stay intact;
• Add content easily using WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editor, a mini version of the MS Word;
• Maintain the website from anywhere as long as you have a computer connected to the Internet;
• All pages have a consistent design, therefore making the website visually appealing;
• Made easy for a website owner to have his or her own website without hiring a web designer;
• Menu navigation is intuitive and logical which is generated automatically. Make sure to create concise and straightforward titles;
• Ability to add plugins to enhance the functionality and capability of the website, making the content dynamic;
• Level of restriction can be applied to the admin and users in order to prevent the content from being edited or changed by unauthorized personnel;
• Ability to have static pages as well as blog posts. If you want to convert WordPress into a website and not a blog, you can create static pages from the admin backend. Plus, you can set your homepage as one of your static page, under Reading in the Settings section;
• Ease of integration with social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and more;
• Readers who subscribe to your blog (RSS) can receive an email every time you update the content;
• You can establish a publishing schedule for your articles. This is convenient for the writer who is unable to publish the content at a particular time.

Overall, WordPress is the best CMS for someone who is interested in having a website without thinking about all the technical aspects of managing and coding a website. Since the structure, design and content are independent from each other, you do not have to know about html or CSS. Also, with many free plugins available from WordPress, such as a shopping cart, you can easily use your site to create a e-commerce website. Plus, web developers are active in the WordPress forum, ready to help when you encounter a problem with your CMS.

Please read WordPress Hosting to learn about the best web host for your WordPress website.