WordPress is very well known for its ability to craft highly engaging blogging websites. However, thanks to the thousands of plugins and themes, It can be sculpted into any type. This is why many will use WordPress for a website even without blogging content.
Due to all of these additional features and tools, WordPress can be used to create amazing non-blog websites. Of course, this raises the question, what is a non-blog website?
Some great examples are online stores, portfolios, small business sites, and much more. In reality, anything is possible with WordPress. Truly the only limiting factor is your imagination.
Create Any Kind of Page
What allows WordPress to create just about any type of website is its flexibility with overall web pages themselves. But, what are some of the pages that you need?
By default, WordPress wants to place your blog as the homepage, but that doesn’t work well for a non-blog website. Instead, you will need to start by creating a homepage.
This is a page that introduces your website to the visitor. It would explain what your site offers, how it works, special offers, member login, and other basic, but important information. Its goal is to inform visitors and get them interested in what you offer.
However, if you are looking to drive traffic, you should also create a landing page. A landing page is a page specifically designed to draw in customers. These are often used to sell goods, services, and highlight special offers to visitors.
A good landing page can dramatically increase the amount of traffic your website receives, which is ideal for any site.
Another key concept to understand is the difference between a WordPress static and dynamic page. A static page is one that essentially stays the same. While a dynamic page is one that can change regularly.
Dynamic pages are easily updated which makes it less expensive for businesses. This is because you need to create a new static page every time, whereas, you can simply add new content to a dynamic page.
Disabling WordPress Blog Features
Be default, WordPress is intended to create blogs and it does an excellent job at it. However, some of these features can be problematic for a non-blog website.
Thus, you are going to have to disable a few of them. Luckily, it isn’t hard to do.
Begin by installing the Disable Blog plugin. As the name implies, it simply disables the blog features in WordPress.
Just by installing this plugin, your website should be free of all of the main blogging features in WordPress. However, it does not delete any data. Thus, if you are just trying to test it, it shouldn’t impact your website.
Note: If you decide to disable it, you will need to go into Settings->Reading and select what will be used as the home page. The plugin will deselect whatever you had selected already.
Something else worth mentioning is that it does not disable comments. If you would like them disabled as well, I recommend the Disable Comments plugin.
Pick A Non-Blog Theme
These have the power to shape how your website looks. And as you might imagine on the most popular blogging CMS, most of the themes are made with blogging in mind.
You need to make sure that you select a WordPress non-blog theme. And, of course, there are plenty to choose from.
Here are 5 WordPress themes without blog features to help you get started with your search.
Responsive
Responsive is a great theme to choose for an online store. And considering that stores are the most common type of non-blog websites, odds are this is what you are looking for.
It offers over 150 customization options to allow you to make this theme fit your needs.
GeneratePress
GeneratePress is a great all-in-one theme. It is fully customizable, which means it can be used for anything WordPress can do.
The theme was designed to be lightweight and fast with a focus on usability and performance.
WooCommerce Storefront
WooCommerce Storefront is one of the best themes you can use if you plan on using the WooCommerce plugin.
Both are developed by the same development team and, as you would expect, they are fully compatible with each other.
TextBook
The TextBook theme is an excellent choice for any website focused on education.
It allows you to make a professional layout with plenty of customization options tailored to an educational website’s needs.
New York Business
The New York Business theme is an excellent choice for those looking to craft an online portfolio. It is also ideal for any small business looking to create an online presence.
This is because it is styled to be professional, which is exactly what you need.
Picking the Perfect Plugins
Now, you just need to install some plugins to give your website the features it needs. Obviously, different types of websites will need different types of plugins, so I will try to pick ones that every website should have.
Yoast SEO
No matter what type of WordPress website you create, you need to have good SEO practices. Yoast SEO is one of the most popular of all SEO plugins. It provides feedback on both the SEO and readability of your content.
The plugin is extremely useful when creating new pages. In particular, every website should have a landing and home page. Yoast can help you out on both of these while also providing other benefits like automatically creating a sitemap.
Wordfence Security
Similar to needing good SEO practices, you always need to have a good security plugin. Without a doubt, Wordfence Security is one of the best options available for WordPress.
The plugin was built from the ground up to guard WordPress against malicious threats and it does an excellent job at it. And the best part is it does this for free.
WooCommerce
If you are planning on running an online shop, WooCommerce is the ultimate one-stop-shop for you. It has absolutely everything you need to do business online and it comes with a lot of extension plugins that can help you customize how it works.
When it comes to WordPress, WooCommerce has a whopping 93.72% market share, which makes it the most popular e-commerce plugin available.
Akismet Anti-Spam
If you plan to use a lot of submission forms or just have them in general, your going to need a way to stop spam. While most use Akismet Anti-Spam to block spam comments in their blogs, that is just one of its many uses.
It’s other primary features protect your website from spam from a variety of sources and let me assure you, spambots love any type on a submission form.
bbPress
If you are looking to add forums to your website, you’re absolutely going to want to use bbPress. This plugin adds this feature to your website without slowing it down as similar plugins do.
Forums are a terrific addition to almost any type of website. They allow you to communicate with visitors and customers. But even more importantly, they allow them to talk with each other. This can help you build a strong community faster than normal.
Your Website Should Still Have A Blog
I understand you are probably here to learn tips on how to use WordPress without a blog, but they offer quite a few benefits that are hard to dismiss.
For starters, having blog content just makes you look more knowledgable on the subject. Never underestimate the value of looking like an expert.
Blog content can also help you rank higher on search engines like Google. The content is simple to create and since it is your opinion on the matter, you have full flexibility on what you produce.
The extra traffic your blogs draw in can help any business grow faster and it is a great way to introduce visitors to your products or services as well.
Just a Start
Without a doubt, picking out themes and plugins that help you use WordPress without having a blog is important, but it’s just a start. You still have a long way to go when it comes to actually design your website.
You will need to ensure that your website has a consistent color scheme, loads fast, and actually works. Oh, and don’t forget new content. Even if you’re not operating a blog, regular updates are important.
Why don’t you want to have a blog section in WordPress? How do you plan to use WordPress for a website?
FAQs
Are WordPress websites only for blogs? ›
WordPress now powers more than 60 million websites
You can't do that with WordPress. WordPress is only for blogs. That's one of the limitations of a WordPress website. The only way to add sales pages and opt-in pages is with a separate installation of WordPress and a different theme such as Optimize Press.
Setting Up A WordPress Website With A Blog
Publishing content regularly is a great way to improve your website search engine ranking, share news, and increase your website's engagement. That's why we often recommend website owners add a blogging section to their site.
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that allows you to host and build websites. WordPress contains plugin architecture and a template system, so you can customize any website to fit your business, blog, portfolio, or online store.
Can you make a free website with WordPress? ›WordPress is free for anyone to download and use to build any kind of website without any restrictions. If WordPress is free, then where is the cost coming from? WordPress is free because you'll have to arrange your own custom domain name and web hosting provider, which costs money.
How do I turn my WordPress into a website? ›- Find web hosting.
- Switch to a custom domain.
- Find a theme.
- Create a homepage.
- Add new pages.
- Keep the blog functionality.
- Make your site social media friendly.
These days there really is no difference between a website and a blog. Most blogging and website content management systems will allow you to create pages which are more static as well as create blog posts that get listed in reverse chronological order.
What's the difference between a WordPress blog and website? ›A WordPress website is the things you see when you visit a particular domain or website address. When it comes to comparing a WordPress blog vs website, the simple truth is your blog is on your website, and your WordPress website comes with a blog. Tip: A post loads into the blog portion of a WordPress website.
Do free WordPress blogs make money? ›WordPress.com displays advertisement on free WordPress blogs which provides them revenue to pay for the free blogs. You don't have control on what kind of ads appear on your website. You can pay upgrade to turn off ads, but that would cost you money.
Do I need a website to start a blog? ›If you're like most of the people who reach out to us when starting a blog, you're probably wondering, “What's the difference between a website and a blog, and which one do I need?” Here's our answer: All blogs are websites, but not all websites are blogs. You definitely need a blog, but not necessarily a website.
What kind of websites a WordPress can make? ›- A Blog. ...
- Business Website. ...
- eCommerce Website. ...
- Portfolio Website. ...
- Online Community. ...
- Multilingual Website. ...
- Wiki/Knowledge Website. ...
- Magazine and Digital Publishing Websites.
How do I create a WordPress site without a domain? ›
Instead of having your site on your own domain, you'll create a free site on a subdomain. So people will have to type in something like “yourname.wordpress.com” to access your site. With this, you don't have to worry about a domain or hosting. Just sign up and start building your site with the selection of free themes.
How can I host my website? ›- Step 1: Decide What Type of Website You Want. You will typically find 2 types of websites:
- Step 2: Choose Your Hosting Server. ...
- Step 3: Select Your Web Hosting Plan. ...
- Step 4: Change Your DNS Address. ...
- Step 5: Upload Your Website.
WordPress is and continues to be free because it's not owned by a company. Instead, it's owned by the non-profit WordPress Foundation, which was established “to ensure free access, in perpetuity, to the software projects we support”.
How can I host my website for free? ›- WordPress.com. WordPress.com is a popular free hosting platform that offers a unique flavor of WordPress. ...
- Wix. Wix is another fully-hosted website builder that offers free website hosting. ...
- Weebly. ...
- GoDaddy Website Builder. ...
- Squarespace. ...
- Google Cloud Hosting. ...
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
The short answer is: it depends. While a novice webmaster may be able to get their website online without deep technical expertise, the truth is to become a WordPress developer requires a much deeper skill set. With some patience, you can learn basic WordPress skills and have your website online in very little time.
How does a WordPress website work? ›It's a content management system that uses a combination of some core files, a database, and some extra files that you add for themes, plugins, and uploads. And the WordPress admin screens make it possible for you to access all of this without having to write any code or explore the files on your server.
Can you build an app with WordPress? ›App allows you to create a mobile app from your WordPress website. You can purchase a single lifetime license to build your app. All app setup and configuration can be done inside your WordPress admin area.
How do you make a website from scratch? ›- Specify a goal for your website and list all your requirements.
- Research your market and competitors.
- Research what appeals to you visually.
- Choose your website builder.
- Choose your web host.
- Choose your domain name.
- Add your content and customize the layout.
- Connect all the necessary tools.
The first page of a website is called homepage. The definition of a website is a page or collection of pages on the World Wide Web that contains specific information provided by one person or entity and traces back to a common Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
How do I know if my website is WordPress? ›As you know every WordPress website has a login page. The default login page is http://mydomain.com/wp-admin. Therefore, to see if a website is WordPress or not, you can add /wp-admin to the end of any domain name. If you are redirected to the WordPress login page, it means the website is WordPress.
How do you tell if a website is a blog? ›
The only real difference between a blog and other types of website is that blogs are updated on a regular basis with new content, which is displayed in reverse chronological order (new blog posts first). Typical websites are static in nature where content is organized in pages, and they are not updated frequently.
Which is easier to use Blogger or WordPress? ›If you're looking for advanced customization and a unique look to your site, you'll want to go with WordPress. While WordPress does take a little more knowledge of coding than Blogger, it's a very popular platform, so there are thousands of walk-throughs for just about anything you have trouble with.
Why do bloggers use WordPress? ›WordPress is a content management system (CMS for short). It's a robust tool for creating and managing your website. Blogs, business websites, personal sites, and ecommerce stores alike can benefit from using WordPress. This platform is run online, meaning you don't need to download any desktop software to use it.
What is the purpose of a blog? ›A blog is a web page that you update on a regular basis. Oftentimes, brands have blogs right on their websites, making it easier for users to find and engage with your posts. Within your blog, you can share long-form articles that over topics your target audience may want to read or learn about.
How many views do you need to make money on a blog? ›If your blog gets over 10,000 monthly unique visitors, then yes – you can monetize your blog and create a nice revenue stream with it. The real challenge is making money from a blog that generates fewer than 1,000 visitors per day. Just as in life, there are different stages to a blog's life cycle.
How does WordPress make money in 48 hours? ›- Some caveats to consider before taking on the challenge.
- Create your blog site.
- Create a brand.
- Sign up for an email marketing service.
- Monetize your blog. Affiliate marketing. Display advertising. Sell digital products.
- Create and promote your blog content.
- Conclusion.
Starting a blog on self-hosted WordPress is simply more advantageous and profitable. Not only do you get to monetize your blog through various advertisements, affiliate links, or direct advertising, you also get to customize and control your blog as you please.
Do bloggers make money? ›The potential for blogging is virtually unlimited. Well-established bloggers like Ryan Robinson—who runs a blog about blogging—can make upward of $30,000 per month. Adam Enfroy, who started blogging about the business of blogging in 2019 as a side hustle, generated $1.5 million from his blog just two years later.
Is starting a blog worth it? ›The short answer is, yes, it is worth it to start a blog! But it's going to take a lot of work, so be sure you're ready to make a long-term commitment. In this article, I will reveal the steps we took from conception to execution to super-charging our growth and income in the last few months.
How do beginner bloggers make money? ›- Affiliate Income. One of the easiest and most common ways to make money blogging, for beginners, is affiliate marketing. ...
- eBooks. If you want to sell your own products, an ebook is a great way to make money blogging. ...
- Online Courses. ...
- Freelance Writing. ...
- Google Adsense. ...
- Coaching and Consulting.
How many sites can I build with WordPress? ›
You can have as many websites as you want under one WordPress.com account. The paid plans are applicable per site basis so you would need to pay separately for each website (in case you want to use a custom domain and other paid features).
Which type website is most popular? ›- eCommerce website.
- Business website.
- Blog website.
- Portfolio website.
- Event website.
- Personal website.
- Membership website.
- Nonprofit website.
- Build An Affiliate Shop. ...
- Let Users Book Online. ...
- Create Real Estate Listings. ...
- Sell Physical or Digital Goods. ...
- Create a Directory Website with Maps. ...
- Start A Forum. ...
- Rally Your Readers Around A Cause. ...
- Invoice A Client.
Installing WordPress When You Can't Use A Domain Name
You can use the IP address of the new server, with the username of the account for an install URL on most servers that run Apache on cPanel. (Check with your hosting to confirm).
Yes, it's possible to create a website without a having domain name. Though the cost for registering a domain name is negligible, compared to benefits you'll get. For now, let's assume: “You want create a website without a domain name”. In order to get a website up and running all you actually need, is a web server.
How do I get a free WordPress domain and hosting? ›- HostAwesome.
- AccuWeb Hosting.
- 000webhost.
- FreeHostingNoAds.
- x10hosting.
- Freehostia.
- WordPlus.host.
- Byethost.
Every website requires web hosting to be accessible to visitors online. In order for people to see a website in the virtual world, it has to be hosted on a server stored somewhere in the physical world. Any website that invests in this type of hosting has one of these servers entirely to themselves.
Can Google host my website? ›You can host your website, blog, or online store on your domain registered on your Google Domain. Google has tools and resources to help you create a website. You can: Choose a website builder.
How much does it cost to host a website on Google? ›Google Web Hosting Pricing – Starting at $49
Last we checked, customers will spend $0.040 per month for standard disk space, $0.170 for high-speed SSD storage, and up to $0.340 for regionally optimized SSD space.
What is The Difference Between Blog and Website? Blogs are a type of website. The only real difference between a blog and other types of website is that blogs are updated on a regular basis with new content, which is displayed in reverse chronological order (new blog posts first).
What's the difference between Wix and WordPress? ›
Wix is a website builder, so it's perfect if you have little technical experience and you want an all-in-one package. Meanwhile, WordPress is a content management system (CMS), which is better if you value independence and complete creative control over your website.
How do I know if my website is WordPress? ›As you know every WordPress website has a login page. The default login page is http://mydomain.com/wp-admin. Therefore, to see if a website is WordPress or not, you can add /wp-admin to the end of any domain name. If you are redirected to the WordPress login page, it means the website is WordPress.
Is it necessary to have a website for blogging? ›Yes, you need a website to start your blog and post your articles on. The word “blog” itself comes from the term “weblog,” referring to a website or page that contains informative, diary-style posts. You can build your blog on a website you create yourself or an existing website where users can publish content.
Is WordPress still free? ›WordPress is and continues to be free because it's not owned by a company. Instead, it's owned by the non-profit WordPress Foundation, which was established “to ensure free access, in perpetuity, to the software projects we support”.
What is the purpose of a blog? ›A blog is a web page that you update on a regular basis. Oftentimes, brands have blogs right on their websites, making it easier for users to find and engage with your posts. Within your blog, you can share long-form articles that over topics your target audience may want to read or learn about.
How do I start a website? ›- Make a plan for your website's structure and content.
- Register a domain name – ideally pick a .com.
- Find a website builder (or CMS/hosting provider) to create your site.
- Optimize it for search engines.
- Launch your website.
However if you're looking for the best WordPress alternatives, then we believe that Web.com is the best WordPress alternative. HubSpot and Wix are also among the popular WordPress alternatives that some small businesses owners choose for their website builder.
Is WordPress hard to learn? ›The short answer is: it depends. While a novice webmaster may be able to get their website online without deep technical expertise, the truth is to become a WordPress developer requires a much deeper skill set. With some patience, you can learn basic WordPress skills and have your website online in very little time.
How many websites can you create on WordPress? ›Would I be able to manage all of my websites under 1 WordPress account? You can have as many websites as you want under one WordPress.com account. The paid plans are applicable per site basis so you would need to pay separately for each website (in case you want to use a custom domain and other paid features).
Is WordPress a HTML? ›WordPress and other content management systems use HTML. The long answer is that WordPress is not primarily written in HTML. Its core software — as well as WordPress plugins and themes — are primarily written with PHP, a programming language that controls how a WordPress site interacts and connects with its database.
How do I know if my site is PHP or WordPress? ›
After logging into your WordPress admin, go to Tools > Site Health > Info > Server. There you'll find the PHP version on which your WordPress site is currently running.
How do I know if my website is HTML or PHP? ›If the HTML is generated on the client-side, then you can easily tell which language by looking at the source in your web browser. These languages include: ruby on rails, javascript, java, etc. On the client-side the source is open to the user, and it must be honest about which technology it is.
What is the difference between WordPress website and blog? ›A WordPress website is the things you see when you visit a particular domain or website address. When it comes to comparing a WordPress blog vs website, the simple truth is your blog is on your website, and your WordPress website comes with a blog. Tip: A post loads into the blog portion of a WordPress website.
What is meant by blog in website? ›Definition of blog
(Entry 1 of 2) 1 computers : a website that contains online personal reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks, videos, and photographs provided by the writer also : the contents of such a site.
You can use your domain as a custom domain for a blog hosted on Blogger. Learn how to set up your domain with your blog. You can also link Blogger sites to specific subdomains of your domain.