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WordPress.com vs WordPress.org: Key Differences

Creating your very own website used to be reserved just for those who were familiar with programming languages like HTML and CSS, but as the world goes forward, the online world evolves too. We have reached the point where anyone can have a fully functional website with just a few clicks.

One of the most famous Content Management Systems (CMS) is WordPress. Why choose WordPress? The main reason is that it’s incredibly simple and easy to use. The simplicity of use helped it rise to the top. With a long and rich WordPress history, it’s become the largest CMS today, running more than a third of all global websites.

You may be wondering, what is WordPress used for? Users can get confused as there exist two instances with the same names, wordpress.com and wordpress.org.

Even though they have the same name, there are many differences between them. Keep reading to understand the differences between wordpress.com and wordpress.org.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is, in short, a service that will take care of hosting your WordPress website for you. With WordPress.com, a user can create a website, and then relax and focus on other tasks at hand, such as marketing or content creation.

You may be wondering, is WordPress a hosting site? In this case, it is, as it is actually hosting your website.

One of the biggest advantages of WordPress.com is that it is completely free to use. Anyone can sign in and start creating a fully functional website. It will, however, be necessary to upgrade from a free plan to a personal plan if you wish to use a specific domain name and remove the WordPress marketing from your website.

👉 Why Do You Need Hosting for WordPress? >>

If you are, however, in need of a more complex website with more features, you will need to upgrade to a more expensive plan. Some of the features are only available with a more high-priced plan. For example, one of the more handy features that a user can get with WordPress Business plan is to purchase a WordPress theme elsewhere and install it on the website.

Overall, WordPress.com is more suitable for those that are new to the world of websites and hosting, and it is also an appealing option for those users that simply wouldn’t like the responsibility of running their website to fall on their shoulders. It is guaranteed that the site will be up and running at any time.

WordPress.com offers the user a simple way of installing the software and it provides its users additional maintenance of the website.

When you are first accessing WordPress.com interface, you will be greeted and encouraged to create an account.

After signing in, you can choose your domain name, and if you plan on registering your domain name elsewhere, you can simply choose the WordPress free option, for-example.wordpress.com. If you already own a domain name, you can connect it to your WordPress.com site through mapping or transfer. That option will be presented to you on the right side of the screen.

Once you are finished with setting up a domain name for your future website, WordPress.com redirects you to choose a payment option. Aside from a free option that you can choose, the cheapest one is a personal plan for $4 per month. With that plan you can get a free domain name for an entire year. Your website will be free of WordPress advertising, and you will get unlimited email support. 

Of course, as the price goes higher, the possibilities multiply. With the $45 ecommerce plan, you can have more advanced features such as SEO (search engine optimization) tools and even earn ad revenue from your site.

👉 The Essential Guide to WordPress Plugins >>

And now, the fun can begin. After choosing the payment plan, you will be redirected to an interface where you can create your very own website. You will be given an option to name your website, update your homepage, confirm the email address, and edit the site menu.

From there, you have several convenient options available. For example, you can use the WordPress app for both Android and iOS mobile phones, which enables editing your site on the go. You can also access a large WordPress knowledge base, which can be tremendously helpful. Furthermore, WordPress.com has a large library of copyright-free photos you can use when creating a website.

On the left side of the WP-Admin Dashboard, you can find some account-related functions. If you wish to change your payment plan, you can manage that under the Upgrades section. All the comments users leave on your website can be conveniently found in this section when you click on the Comments link. The appearance of the website, as well as plugins that you have installed or are available to you, can also be accessed from this section.

Everything is simple and ready to be used. For example, if you wish to install a plugin on your website, simply click on the Plugins link. You will be taken to an interface where you can easily install any plugin you want with the click of a button.

It’s really as simple as that — and it’s easy to understand why WordPress.com became so popular in the world of user-friendly web development. But what about WordPress.org? 

WordPress.org

WordPress.org is open-source software — its code can be accessed and modified by anyone. WordPress.org is known as self-hosted WordPress. That means that the user has more control over the creation of his or her site.

You can install themes and choose from a variety of plugins to make your site. The user is not limited in any way when choosing from a variety of themes and plugins, which can be significant if you are trying to stand out from the crowd. You will, on the other hand, be responsible for the hosting of your site.

👉 Learn How to Use WordPress With Our Most Helpful WordPress Resources >>

With WordPress.org, you can customize any theme you want, and you can even build your own theme from scratch with the help of CSS and PHP.  WordPress.org can make your life easier with features that take care of security, analytics, and more.

If you’re wary of being self-hosted, know that there really isn’t much to be afraid of. There are many WordPress communities and forums dedicated to finding help for any issues that may occur. There are also a number of available resources on WordPress.org as well, both in the form of workshops and articles. 

Additionally, hosting companies offer Managed WordPress services that can relieve you of some of those duties.

How to Use WordPress.org to Create a Website

If you choose to create your website with WordPress.org, the first step in the process would be an installation. WordPress is software which you can download from their official WordPress.org website on your device for free. If you already have a cPanel account, you can download and install WordPress in cPanel using Softaculous or Fantastico.

After installing the software, You will be looking at an interface that resembles the one of WordPress.com. On the left, in a darker box, you can access administration functions, such as updates for your WordPress account, plugins, and themes. From there the user can also review all of the comments from his or her WordPress website, which can vastly improve interaction with the visitors of your website.

Installing a plugin or changing its appearance is effortless. In only a few clicks you can completely change the appearance of your website without worrying about losing your content. The possibilities are endless here — creating the content is complicated enough, and with WordPress you can easily decide what looks best for the content of your website simply by trying various themes. It’s as painless as choosing a pair of pants in a dressing room.

You may be wondering, what is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? And how is all of this significant to me?

There are advantages and disadvantages with both WordPress.com and WordPress.org, and in the end, all that matters is what kind of website you are building and what are you expecting from your CMS.

One of the main polarities in WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com is that with WordPress.org you can host your own website, while if you are using WordPress.com, it will be WordPress.com that is hosting your website. That makes WordPress.com painless if you are just getting started, but it gives you less freedom than its counterpart. 

👉 Beginner’s Guide to WordPress Performance Optimization >>

With WordPress.com you can have a simple website in a couple of clicks, but for more complex themes and plugins, the user will have to upgrade his or her payment plan. Besides that, there are not a lot of themes the user can choose from if he or she does not upgrade to a higher payment plan. This can raise some concerns if you are trying to make a distinctive website that will be instantly recognizable. 

If you care about the appearance and the variety of plugins, but you would not like to spend a lot of money, then WordPress.org could be a better solution for you. But if you don’t mind that your blog or a website has the same theme as possibly thousands of other websites, and the simplicity of it all is appealing to you, then WordPress.com might be the way to go.

Either way, with either one you get to create a fully functional and great looking website from scratch, without any experience.

However, there is also the option of Managed WordPress. This option lets you have it all — simplicity and a trouble-free experience paired with as much creative freedom as you need.

Consider Managed WordPress Hosting from Hostdedi

Combine the freedom and convenience of WordPress software with a carefree experience of managed website hosting. But what is WordPress hosting? And what is managed WordPress? 

Essentially, the term managed hosting describes a service where your hosting provider takes care of the administration and security of your website, as well as keeping it up and running steadily. As we already know, WordPress websites make up more than a third of all websites on the internet, and a convenient option for WordPress users is to have managed WordPress hosting. 

Some features that make Hostdedi fully managed WordPress so convenient include:

  • Security monitoring that is always on.
  • Support from WordPress experts 24/7 every day of the year.
  • A built-in Content Delivery Network (CDN) with 22 locations.
  • And advanced caching for ultrafast loading of the website.

Hostdedi also offers image compression which can significantly improve the browser loading time. Premium tools with Hostdedi managed WordPress plans include Visual Compare, WP Merge, iThemes Security Pro, iThemes Sync, TinyPNG, and Qubely Pro.

What Hostdedi doesn’t have are overage fees, traffic limits, and metered pageviews. 

Hostdedi offers a variety of fully managed WordPress hosting plans, and with every plan you choose, you have a staging environment, 30-day backups, and unlimited email accounts. You also have an option of a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can be confident when choosing your plan.

Give it a try. Start your free two-week trial of managed WordPress today.

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Why Use WordPress? 8 Reasons Why You Absolutely Need It

You’re going to build a website, right? With so many options available, making a choice just keeps getting harder. You’re probably familiar with household names and why some of them just aren’t for you, and still have some questions.

You know the WordPress name, but maybe you’ve never used it for page-building. Maybe you were just hitting high school when pioneers of content communities like Open Diary, Live Journal and Xanga were becoming the next big thing.

Everyone got to live out their Doogie Howser aspirations. Maybe more than a few of us have that lingering in our heads when we’re given WordPress as an option to build our sites. And it’s not uncommon to ask, Isn’t WordPress just for blogs?

Oh, no. There’s a reason 44% of all content management systems rely on WordPress.

When it comes to building a website, WordPress gets stereotyped as the “best for writers and bloggers” when its versatility is one of its biggest strengths.

That’s because there are two versions of WordPress. WordPress.com is geared towards blogging and WordPress.org is the open-source powerhouse we’re really talking about.

You want to know why WordPress? Let’s find out. Keep reading to learn some of the benefits of WordPress and why you should choose it.

Why Use WordPress? 8 Good Reasons

1. WordPress is Easy to Use Without Sacrificing Quality

It may have been a fashion designer that said, “simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance,” but the same is true for running a website. The more complicated your CMS, the harder it is to update, edit, and keep your site looking great.

When you start with WordPress, you aren’t starting from scratch. You technically get a fully composed website to work with that you pull elements into and customize the way you want.

You pick a theme, select plugins, edit code if you want, and pretty much start adding content. It can get as technical as you want, or you can keep it super simple. The beauty of WordPress is that you make it your own and it’s really not that hard to do.

The interface is user friendly and navigation is intuitive. If you find yourself in a bind, there is a robust support community both within WordPress itself and externally. If you use Managed WordPress, there’s even more support available to you.

Outside of the domain itself, everything you need to manage your site is at your fingertips.

Just because it is simple doesn’t mean it is “less.” The elegance within WordPress is in its simplicity because it doesn’t take a lot to understand how to make it great. That in itself makes it a huge asset.

2. Like it Custom? Have it Your Way

With so many options available for making a website, you may be wondering, why WordPress? Well, it’s highly customizable — which is a huge draw.

Look and feel are what make your site better and different from everyone else in your space. If you want to stand out, you’re going to have to do more than just load a basic template.

There are themes to suit everyone’s purposes and tastes. Better ones are highly customizable. You can pick one that’s gorgeous from the get-go, or use a tried and true one that you truly stamp your brand on. Some WordPress themes are faster than others. A little research goes a long way with WP.

Don’t like where you’ve ended up? You can make changes all day long. Found something you like on another site? Give it a whirl.

Whatever vision you have for your site, there’s a path forward using WordPress, and that’s why more people select it for their sites.

3. Tools? Try a Utility Knife

Plugins can increase and alter the functionality of your site, change how you monitor or otherwise interact with it, or even add ways to communicate with you.

The Essential Guide to WordPress Plugins >>

Whether you want to add images, give visitors a way to contact you, or supercharge your performance — there’s a plugin for that.

With simple, easy integrations, and constantly becoming more innovative, WordPress is simply Stellar at making your experience better than the rest.

There are free plugins, paid plugins, and even add-ons to those plugins that enhance the functions of those plugins. Think of add-ons as DLC for a game you’ve already installed.

Not only are there countless great plugins available, but a great combination can take your site from iron-tough to Iron Man. Test different combinations and see what works best for you, or leave it to the pros. 

4. Great for SEO. No Quip — It’s Just True

When it comes to search engine optimization, it’s more than just about keywords. Think of it this way.

If Google is a highway, your website is a driver. WordPress is the car flashing lights, honking horns, making turns, and (hopefully not) crashing with other cars on the road trying to get other drivers’ attention. But that’s not all!

WordPress is also being monitored by some cameras that are keeping an eye on the road to ensure everything is going smoothly, nobody is driving erratically, and figuring out who shows up at the green light first.

With fantastic plugins like Yoast SEO, your digital content strategy, and the simple fact that so many WP themes are SEO friendly to begin with — WordPress already has a leg up with SEO. It’s one of the key benefits of WordPress.

Further capabilities make it even more valid of a choice. Compression tools like EWWW Image Optimizer, compatibility with a variety of page builders like Beaver Builder and Elementor, and features like autogenerating a robots.txt file are important for your SEO efforts.

The Top 5 SEO Plugins for WordPress Compared >>

Site structure, page load time, and crawl are all affected by the way your site is designed and the size and quality of your resources. That all affects your page rank. WordPress helps make it a breeze.

5. Support So Robust, Emeril Issued A Cease And Desist

As WordPress is free, you’re going to have a ton of people both asking questions and looking for help on the internet. One of the best parts of choosing WordPress to build your site is its enormous support community.

Chances are, if you’ve run into an issue, someone else has too. Simply running a search will likely find you an answer or point you in the right direction.

If you’ve gone with managed, secure WordPress hosting, you’ve got access to an even more extensive panel of experts. There are even companies that provide WordPress Support Services because, as you might expect, with so much of the web dominated by WP, there’s absolutely a need!

As with any open source software, there are limits to what you can get for free on demand — but between YouTube and web forums, you can find an answer to nearly all your questions.

So why choose WordPress? Why do a bit more work? Frankly, everything looks and works better when you’ve put effort into it, and your website’s visitors can tell. 

Taking the time to look through support pages and learn can be the difference between staying and leaving when UX means so much to users. 

6. More Secure Than That Password You’re Never Going To Remember

Let’s face it. You can really bungle some things up pretty easily if you try. Keeping your site updated (not a problem with Managed Plans, by the way), installing SSL certificates, and enabling security options will go a long way.

There are some vulnerabilities on your site — and that is usually within maliciously-coded themes and plugins. How do you avoid that? Research.

If your theme or plugin has malicious code, it can affect visitors of your site and potentially people sharing resources on your server. Protect yourself with plugins and software that detect that right off the bat like iThemes. 

7. Flexibility That Makes Yoga Enthusiasts Jealous

Why choose WordPress when there are so many other options? Well, the flexibility of the CMS makes it an ideal choice for just about anyone.

Want a blog? Done. Want a site for your business? That’s easy. Heard membership sites are all the rage and want to build a subscription-based business? WordPress ticks that box, too.

Beginner? No problem. You don’t need to have coding experience. Veteran? Even better. There are options for you, too. There are countless plugins, tools, and interfaces available for transforming your site into virtually whatever you want.

Migrate your existing site over or start fresh. Want to take it a step further? There are plenty of coding tutorials available to guide beginners, and seasoned professionals will be right at home.

With all the resources available online, nothing can stop you from building a site the way you want it because it’s capable of being anything. And really, if you don’t want to learn but have the vision, you can also hire a skilled WordPress developer too.

If you’re wondering, why WordPress? just think of it this way. WordPress is a site builder tofu: it’s got all the important core elements you need. All you need to do is add your flavor.

8. It’s So Reliable, This is Almost a Car Commercial

It’s hard to believe WordPress has only been around since 2003 when it feels like it’s been around forever. With WordPress history going back to almost 20 years, you can’t go wrong with a classic.

Nearly half (44%) of all of the websites on the internet were built on WordPress. If you’ve visited a site today — you’ve probably seen a WordPress site (hint: you’re on one right now).

Why do people use WordPress? Easy. Because it’s great.

People trust WordPress because it consistently performs well. You can create beautiful, functional sites with it. Thanks to it being open source and highly customizable, it’s become the powerhouse that it is, and it’s only gaining more territory.

Generally speaking, people trust what is familiar. WordPress isn’t just familiar, it is used extensively and by industry leaders.

Don’t believe us? Some of the most recognizable brands and hottest celebrities have dropped sites built on WordPress: Clorox, Snoop Dogg, BBC America, Felicia Day, The Walt Disney Company … even The Official StarWars.com blog is built on WordPress.

I Don’t Think You’re Ready For This Query

Why use WordPress? Now you have eight great reasons. And we’re just scratching the surface of all the benefits of WordPress. There are countless reasons why you should use WordPress for your website. 

If you want a powerful, customizable site that won’t look like anyone else’s, WordPress is for you.

If you have tried drag and drop interfaces and feel like you’re playing a kid’s game instead of building a professional website, WordPress is for you.

If you want a simple, but elegant solution that doesn’t compromise on the tech flavor that today’s devs can offer, WordPress is for you.

Are you ready to try WordPress yet? We can start singing that ABBA song if you really want us to. Something makes us think you’ve gotten the point. 

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Retail Pricing Strategy for Ecommerce Stores

One of the keys to a successful business is selling at the right price. If your products are inexpensive, you may rake in more sales but have a hard time turning a profit. And if your products are too pricey, consumers will turn to other retailers, and you’ll lose your market share. 

But if you’re a small business owner, don’t fall prey to the misconception that price alone drives sales. 

When it comes to a retailer’s pricing strategy, there isn’t one surefire approach that fits all. You need to perform a product pricing balancing act that considers business and production costs, consumer trends, revenue goals, competitor pricing, and even a little psychology.

In this article, you’ll learn about:

  • What retail pricing is.
  • What kinds of retailer pricing strategies you can use.
  • How to choose the right retail pricing strategy.

What Is Retail Pricing?

The retail price is the final amount consumers pay to purchase an item. 

To make a profit, the retail price you set for a product must include the cost of goods for you, plus an additional markup to make a profit. 

As an online retailer, you can take numerous approaches to pricing products or services. The right strategy for you will depend on your short and long-term business goals.

Here’s the good news.

We’re about to explore 10 approaches, so you can pick the retail pricing strategy that will work best for you. 

Pricing Strategy Examples

  1. Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP)
  2. Keystone Pricing
  3. Markup Pricing
  4. Discount Pricing
  5. Bundle Pricing
  6. Penetration Pricing
  7. Psychological Pricing
  8. Premium Pricing
  9. Competitive Pricing
  10. Dynamic Pricing

1. Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP)

If you sell mass-produced items such as consumer electronics and household appliances, the Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) is a good pricing strategy to adopt.

MSRP is a standard price for an item, regardless of who is selling it. It takes the guesswork out of setting prices, but it can dull your competitive edge when your product sells at the same price as other retailers.

2. Keystone Pricing

Keystone pricing is a type of markup pricing. With this strategy, you double each product’s wholesale price to create a healthy profit margin. 

With a fixed percentage, your calculations will be simple. Maybe too simple — it’s easy to end up pricing products too low and too high.

Keystone pricing isn’t a good option if you offer highly unique products or custom items that take a long time to create because you won’t make enough profit. 

It’s just as poor a pricing strategy if you sell standardized, common products. Depending on the availability and demand for an item, it might be unreasonable for a retailer to mark up items at such a high rate.

3. Markup Pricing

Markup pricing (also called cost-plus pricing) is the most common and intuitive pricing strategy for retailers. You add a percentage of the base cost of individual items to create a profit — but you apply a different markup depending on the product. 

When selling a high volume of products or seasonal and perishable items that need to be sold quickly, it’s best to set the markup below 100%.

When selling custom products or privately labeled items like cosmetics, jewelry, alcohol, or electronics, you can set the markup above 100%.

It is straightforward in theory, but markup pricing requires you to spend extra time evaluating factors such as perceived customer value and competitor pricing.

4. Discount Pricing

When retailers mark down their products’ prices to encourage sales, it’s called discount pricing.

One form of discount pricing is the high-low pricing strategy: Products are introduced at a high price point and marked down when demand decreases. 

Electronics retailers use this strategy most often. Computers, game consoles, and smartphones are the most expensive when they’re first released. But when the next model comes out, the previous versions are sold at low prices.

Discount pricing is an effective strategy if you want to clear unsold inventory and increase sales. But if you become known for discounting your products, customers may perceive them as low quality or grow accustomed to waiting for the lower price. 

5. Penetration Pricing

Penetration pricing is another form of discount pricing. A business offers its new product or service at a lower price to attract customers. The idea is to get consumers hooked with a sale price, so they are willing to pay full price after the promotional period expires.

The penetration pricing strategy works best for subscription products, especially in a competitive market.

Businesses that use this pricing model include:

Similar to penetration pricing is the loss-leader pricing strategy, in which products are sold at a loss just to get customers in the door. 

6. Bundle Pricing

Bundle pricing is another discount pricing strategy. It’s useful if you sell related items you can package together. Bundling items lets you curate the customer experience and empowers you to increase sales volumes through up-sells or cross-sells. 

Common examples of bundle pricing are Christmas baskets or deli bundles that include preselected wines, cheeses, and meats.

Similar to bundle pricing, multiple pricing sets products at a lower price when more than one is purchased. For example, “buy one, get one free,” or “buy two, get 20% off.”

This strategy works best when you bundle less popular items with your high-demand products. Sales are hard to resist, especially if the customer is buying something they already want. You can simultaneously attract customers and get slow-moving items out the door. 

7. Psychological Pricing

Psychological pricing is a value-based pricing strategy. Also known as charm pricing, it depends on the customer’s perceived value of the item.  

According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon, people experience pain when they spend money.  It’s up to merchants to minimize that pain.

You see psychological pricing almost every day when retailers give products a price that ends in an odd number. 

For instance, instead of charging $6, retailers price a product at $5.99. The brain sees $5 and the consumer is tricked into perceiving a lower price.

Psychological pricing is best applied to non-essentials, as it encourages customers to spend impulsively.

8. Premium Pricing

Premium pricing (also known as prestige pricing or luxury pricing) is another value-based pricing strategy. High-end retailers sell their products at an additional markup that gives their customers the sensation of status.

Premium pricing works best when your product quality and customer service can match the expensive price tag. It also depends heavily on successfully marketing your brand as high-end. 

It’s how Gucci sells their $1,200 Lady Lock bags. Other companies that use premium pricing include:

As an online retailer, it may be difficult to replicate the luxurious feeling these companies have spent decades cultivating. However, you can validate your premium pricing with a chic design aesthetic, high-quality products, and a stellar customer experience — which includes a fast-loading website.

9. Competitive Pricing

Competitive pricing entails consciously setting lower prices to gain a competitive advantage. It works best if you’re in an industry with similar products, where your competitors’ prices are the only differentiator. 

The competitive pricing strategy is most effective if you’re a larger retailer and can negotiate a lower wholesale price from suppliers so you can still earn a decent profit. However, small retailers can be driven out of business in a price war. 

10. Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing is a retailers pricing strategy where you adjust your prices according to changes in supply and demand. 

Ecommerce businesses are in the best position to use dynamic pricing because it can be done in real-time. When you sell online, you can leverage technology and data to sell the same product at different prices depending on the purchaser. 

The dynamic pricing strategy requires software, data, and manpower. WooCommerce plugins can help you price products optimally on your WordPress website.

Final Thoughts: Retail Pricing Strategy for Ecommerce Stores

When deciding on a retailer’s pricing strategy, online sellers have several factors to consider, including their company’s niche, competition, market behavior, and most importantly, financial targets.

Of all the strategies we’ve shared, no single pricing tactic will be enough. Small business owners should experiment and combine tactics to develop the right pricing strategy to ensure their company’s profitability.

Get your online store up and running fast with Hostdedi’s ecommerce web hosting plans. Experience the speed and scale of fully managed hosting for yourself. Start your free two-week trial today.

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