WordPress is a free, open-source website platform (a CMS) that lets you publish and edit pages, blog posts, images, and site content without writing code, and businesses use it because it balances control, flexibility, and long-term ownership. For most local companies, it hits the sweet spot between “easy to update in-house” and “custom enough to match your brand and goals.”
At its core, WordPress is a dashboard for your website. You log in, edit text, swap photos, add new pages, publish announcements, and manage menus. You can also create user roles (admin, editor, author) so your team can update content without handing out full access. If you want the plain definition, here’s what a CMS is in one page.
Businesses pick WordPress because it can be simple when you need a clean 5 to 10 page site, and it can grow into a content-heavy site with landing pages, service pages, FAQs, and even online payments with WooCommerce. It also has a huge ecosystem of themes and plugins (including 60,000+ free plugins in the official directory), which means you can add things like forms, appointment requests, chat, reviews, membership areas, multilingual pages, and analytics without rebuilding from scratch. In Orlando, we often see service businesses add area pages for places like Winter Park, Lake Nona, and Dr. Phillips, plus seasonal pages for peak demand, without changing the whole site, and that’s exactly what we build with our web design service.
| Option | What it is | What it’s like for a business |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted WordPress (WordPress.org) | You install WordPress on your own hosting account and can use any theme or plugin you choose. | Most control and customization, but you are responsible for hosting, updates, and maintenance. |
| Hosted WordPress.com | Your site runs on WordPress.com hosting with plan-based limits on themes, plugins, and server settings. | Faster start with fewer tech tasks, but less control unless you move up to higher tiers. |
The tradeoff with WordPress is that it needs basic upkeep. Updates matter (core, theme, plugins), backups matter, and plugin quality matters. Many “WordPress problems” are really “too many plugins, outdated plugins, or weak hosting” problems. If you want WordPress that stays fast and stable, pairing it with solid hosting, caching, security basics, and routine updates is the difference, and that’s what our WordPress hosting is built for.
If you’re deciding whether WordPress is right for your business, ask yourself: Do you want to own your site and move it if you ever change vendors? Do you need forms, booking, or payments? Do you want your team to publish updates without calling a developer? Do you expect to add pages over time for services, locations, or promotions? If most answers are yes, WordPress is usually a practical choice.
