WordPress.com or Self-Hosted WordPress?

A report out this week tells us that the number of websites built with WordPress continues to grow. 

WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) that had its start as a tool for blogging. Compared to other similar systems tracked by BuiltWith (a service that monitors such things) WordPress has 48 percent of the CMS market, up 7 percent from the beginning of the year, after adding more than 1 million domains.

At the same time, Squarespace and Wix are also increasing in market share, no doubt thanks to their advertising campaigns. Still, both systems have far fewer users than WordPress.

Sorting out the versions of WordPress

I work with many clients to develop WordPress sites. At the outset of a project, one of the biggest questions is whether the new site should be on WordPress.com or self-hosted. This can be a source of confusion for the client.

An excellent and helpful analysis of this question appeared today on the WPMUDEV blog, a source I read often:

► http://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/wordpress-org-vs-wordpress-com-2015/

Author Jenni McKinnon concludes that if you want any flexibility on a WordPress.com site, it will ultimately cost a bit more than a self-hosted site. 

For a person simply looking to start a blog -- a home for one's personal opinions or a forum to become a thought-leader in a particular field -- I recommend WordPress.com. It's very easy to get started and very easy to maintain. And it's completely free, if you don't need the paid features.

On the other hand, a small- to medium-sized business or organization is likely better off with the flexibility of a self-hosted WordPress site. 

Do you need a website?

For many professionals, a robust profile right here on LinkedIn is a perfectly adequate Internet presence. But if you're trying to run a business or consulting firm, and you either don't have a site at all or the site you have was built with the same technology that built the Rosetta Stone, you should be thinking about something new.

And WordPress just might be a great option for you.