Wordpress comes in two flavours.
Wordpress.com is the hosted blog community, where your blog can be cross-related to others. Good for traffic and community. BUT Terms of Service restrict commercial use and you risk being shut down.
Wordpress.org is about the version you can download to your web host, if they don't already have it in their library. You need to drive all your own traffic, but it is under your control and doesn't risk being suspended.
There is a vast range of free and low cost templates and themes for Wordpress. These provide sophisticated look and feel, style, navigation and much more. They can make your site look very professional for very low cost.
You choose whether you want your site to look like a 'company' website, like a newspaper, like a product promotion site and so on. templates range from Free through to $100 or so one time cost.
To add another dimension there are also things called Frameworks. For example Thesis is a Framework which provides additional functionality as well.
From a lay-mans perspective think of it as a layered approach:
Wordpress entry level
Wordpress.com + blog style - within the Wordpress hosted community. You don't need, or get, your own domain, so the URL is your chosen name as a sub-domain ie. www.mayname.wordpress.com. Simple style and function - fairly limited options but easy to start and get going. A good way to start to become an authority and build your personal brand. Just don't try to be too commercial or 'Spammy'. Use this approach with a soft-sell to refer traffic to your website.
Wordpress intermediate level
Wordpress.com version on a hosting platform of your choice + a theme. More style options to choose from with some additional configuration options.
There are dozens of web hosting companies to choose from, buy I've used
Midphase for a few years and have been pleased with service and support.
Wordpress advanced level
Wordpress + framework (ie Thesis) + theme - a sophisticated option, perhaps more suited to a developer or serial web builder/marketer.
The choice of templates, themes and frameworks risks being overwhelming actually. They also can take some getting use to, to find your way around not just the Wordpress set-up configuration but also the Template additional configuration.
From experience, don't take the 'Instant Website' at face value. Sure, it's just a matter of a few clicks of the buttons to install wordpress and your template. BUT you then need to configure and customise it, and then put content into it.
If this is your first project then schedule a few hours to choose the template then a few more hours to find your way around the basics of Wordpress and the basic customisation options, along with the additional Template configuration and customisation options.
Gaining guidance
Alternatively find a digital marketer who can quickly understand what you want to achieve for your business, add value to your ideas, and guide you through the maze.
It will save you time in the long-run, time that you can spend focusing on winning customers and delivering your service.
Examples of Wordpress theme suppliers:
Example Web Hosting providers:
- Midphase - I've used for several years
