In this presentation we cover the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. We then move on to some tips on how to choose and register a good domain name as well as finding the right hosting provider.

1. WordPress.com vs WordPress.org
+
Tips on Choosing a Domain Name
and Hosting Provider
By Chris Burgess, @chrisburgess
(Slides will be posted on Meetup after the talk)

2. Who am I?

3. what my family thinks I do
what my clients think I do
what my friends think I do
what co-workers think I do
what society thinks I do
what I actually do
Image credit: http://twistedsifter.com

4. Chris Burgess
• Worked in IT with a passion for
web technologies for almost 20
years.
• Run my own business helping
clients tackle the web and run a
few of my own websites.
• Run training workshops to help
keep me on my toes!
• Regularly go to Meetups and comanage WordPress and
Melbourne SEO Meetups.
@chrisburgess

5. What am I
going to
cover?

6. I’ll cover…
• What is WordPress?
• What is WordPress.com?
• What is WordPress.org?
• WordPress.com VS WordPress.org
• Domains
• Hosting

7. What is
WordPress?

8. WordPress…
• Started in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg
• Single bit of code to enhance the typography of
everyday writing
• Now grown to be the largest self-hosted CMS in the world
• Used on millions of sites
• Seen by tens of millions of people every day
• Everything from the documentation to the code itself, was created by
and for the community.
• WordPress is an Open Source project
– hundreds of people all over the world working on it (more than
most commercial platforms)
– free to use it without paying anyone a license fee and a number of
other important freedoms
Source:
h*ps://wordpress.org/about
Image:
h*p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma*_Mullenweg

9. There are LOADS of CMS platforms…

10. WordPress is the most popular by far…
Image:
h*p://trends.builtwith.com/cms

11. How do I get WordPress?
There are 2 flavours …
images.goodfood.com.au/2013/10/18/4840227

12. WordPress.com
and
WordPress.org
(commonly referred to as self-hosted)

13. WordPress.com

14. WordPress.com

15. Example of a WordPress.com site
Image:
h9p://tpvswp.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/blix.jpg

16. WordPress.com
Get a free website. Some limitations.
•
Commercial enterprise owned and run by Automattic a company that was
started by the founder of WordPress
•
Shared hosting platform that uses WordPress
•
Anyone can get a FREE hosted version of WordPress
•
Uses the same WordPress software that you can download from
WordPress.org
•
Great for people new to websites
•
Easy to setup from many different themes available
•
Spam protection, backups, security and upgrades are looked after for you
•
There are ads with the free account
•
You can upgrade to a paid account within WordPress.com if you outgrow your
free account
•
You can migrate to self hosted site at any time

17. WordPress.com prices

18. vip.wordpress.com

19. What is
WordPress.org?

20. WordPress.org

22. WordPress.org…
Free download and DIY. No limits.
• You’ll need a domain name and hosting (we’ll cover this
later).
• Ability to use free (and paid) WordPress plugins (software
functionality) and WordPress themes (look and feel)
• Support forums and the WordPress Codex
• You have more flexibility with this option
• You may need some technical knowledge (or help) to be
able to set up and run the website
• You are responsible for backups, upgrades and security
of your site (although most hosts help with this)

23. WordPress.org typical pricing
• It’s free to download a copy of WordPress
• Pay around $10 per year for a domain
• Pay around $100 per year for “basic” website hosting
• With some technical knowledge you can learn to do
updates, backups, maintenance and monitoring
otherwise you may need to allocate some time or budget
to get professional help when needed

24. Which one should
I use?

26. WordPress.com
WordPress.org
“I just want to blog
– can’t someone
manage the hard
stuff for me?”
“I need more
functionality,
control and a
professional site”
Beginners
Hobbyists
Limited Budget
Businesses
eCommerce
Community
Applications

27. WordPress.com
• Free
• Free hosting (limited
storage)
• Free wordpress.com
domain
• Looks after all the
updates, backups and
security
• Paid upgrades available
WordPress.org
• Free to download,
but…
• Pay for hosting
• Pay for domain name
• You need to look after
the updates, backups,
maintenance,
monitoring and security

28. WordPress.com
• Easy to setup and
maintain
WordPress.org
• Harder to setup and
maintain (although not that
hard if you come along to these
meetups!)
• Need some technical
knowledge
• Need to have access to your
cPanel and/or FTP to be able
to install
• Some hosting providers do
offer a one click install

29. WordPress.com
• Generally free account not
seen as very professional
• Displays ads on your site
(could be your competitor)
• A subdomain doesn’t look very
professional e.g
example.wordpress.com
• There are premium upgrades
you can use to achieve some
customisation e.g own domain
and remove ads
WordPress.org
• Looks more
professional
• Complete control of how
your website appears
• Remove footer links
• No ads (unless you want
your own)
• Complete control to
extend and integrate
with other systems

30. WordPress.com
• Harder to modify
• You can’t modify the
source code
• You can’t use plugins
• Restriction on themes
WordPress.org
• Easier to modify
• You can modify the PHP
source code
• You can use/buy a theme
and upload it or build your
own (using PHP, CSS etc.)
• You can use plugins to
extend the functionality of
your site (in my view the
most important feature!)

31. In summary, it comes down to your
specific needs.
For more help on using WordPress visit:
http://wordpress.org/support
http://codex.wordpress.org
http://easywpguide.com

32. Domain Names
and Hosting

33. Jargon Buster!

34. What is…
•
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
•
World Wide Web (www)
•
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
•
Web Server
•
Web Browser
•
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
•
Domain Registrar
•
Domain Registry
•
Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML)
•
PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)
•
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
•
IP Address (192.168.1.212)
•
Domain Name (example.com.au)
•
Web Host
•
Content Management System (CMS)

35. Think of it like a house…
Image:
h9p://dodynamic.com/latest-­‐news/a-­‐website-­‐is-­‐like-­‐a-­‐house/

36. Domain Names

37. The address the
internet uses to find a
website

38. Common domain name extensions…
.com.au
.asn.au
.id.au
.net
.com
.org
.io
.info
.co
.org.au
.net.au
.tv
.me
Soon you can get .anything

39. Examples of good domain names
• Here’s a list from DNTrade of the Top 10 domain sales
over the last few years in Australia:
1. CarLoan.com.au $200,000+
2. Cruises.com.au $110,000
3. HomeLoan.com.au - $100,000+
4. Hobart.com.au - $65,000
5. HomeLoanCalculator.com.au - $33,001
6. CarInsurance.net.au - $30,001
7. MySuper.com.au $28,001
8. CreditReport.com.au - $27,500
9. CurrencyConverter.com.au - $27,500
10. CreditCards.net.au - $22,002

40. How to choose a domain name
• Keep it short
• Clear business use
• Easy to spell
• Easy to remember
• Passes the radio test
• Usually best to try avoid using numbers and hyphens
• Unique
• Generally most prefer a .com for an international business and .com.au
for an Australian business
• Check the domain is available. Type it in to your browser or check
availability at your registrar
• Check out local marketplaces for ideas or to make an offer on an
existing domain

41. Some popular domain name registrars and
prices for an available .com.au
ears
$19.95
2
y
ars
.95
2
ye
$49
ars
19.98
2
ye
$
ars
95
2
ye
$49.

42. Some popular .au domain name
marketplaces…

43. How do I register a domain name?
• Get an account with one of auDA’s accredited registrars
• Check the registrar offers the domain extension that you want and the
price for registration
• For an Australian country code top level domain (ccTLD) like a
a .com.au or .net.au you need to:
– Be an Australian resident with an ABN or ACN
– For .org.au you must be a non-commercial organisation (e.g charity)
– Domain must have a close and substantial connection with your
business
– Visit the auDA domain name eligibility and allocation policy rules for
more information
• No restrictions for registering Top Level Domains (TLDs) like .com, .net
or .org

44. How much does a domain name cost?
• If it’s not currently registered typically around $10 per
year
• If it is currently registered you have a couple of
options:
– Choose different extension or domain
– If the domain is not being used yet you could approach
the owner to buy it (you can do a WHOIS search at
AusRegistry to get the contact details)

45. For more help and info on domains visit:
http://ausregistry.com.au/
http://www.auda.org.au/
https://www.dntrade.com.au/

46. Hosting

47. Image:
h9p://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/3712908/burnt+bitch/31#31

48. How to choose a hosting provider
• Server location: Australian vs International
• Features: What storage, bandwidth, email and other
quotas do you get? Does it offer cPanel?
• Price: How much do they charge? (Expect to pay around
$100 per year to get basic hosting)
• Support: What support do they provide and how? Tip:
Test it out before you buy to see how they respond to you.
• Feedback: Check out the online customer reviews and
feedback (talk to the people at this Meetup!)
• Platform: Recommend Linux/Unix platform.

49. Popular Hosting Providers
Check
out
my
blog
post
on
Australian
hosPng
providers:
h9p://chrisburgess.com.au/australian-­‐web-­‐hosPng-­‐providers/

50. Monitoring
• Free uptime monitoring for 1 website with Pingdom

54. For more help on Aussie hosting visit:
http://www.webhostingtalk.com.au
https://www.dntrade.com.au/hosting
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/116

55. Recap time!
• What is WordPress
• What is WordPress.com
• What is WordPress.org
• WordPress.com VS WordPress.org
• Tips on choosing a domain name
• Tips on choosing a hosting provider

56. The end…
Hey Chris!
I want more!

57. Get
yourself
along to the
WordPress
Meetups
☺

58. Question Time!
Other
Sources:
h*p://en.support.wordpress.com/com-­‐vs-­‐org/
h*p://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/com-­‐or-­‐org/
h*ps://wordpress.org
h*p://wordpress.com