Welcome to WordPress.com! This guide will walk you through the essential steps to get started with WordPress.com, from understanding what it is to launching your first website.
WordPress.com is a website-building platform that handles hosting, security, and maintenance for you — so you can focus on creating content and growing your audience. WordPress.com offers several plans, from free options for personal projects to advanced plans for businesses. Learn more about our plans.
WordPress.com is a hosted platform that handles the technical side for you. WordPress.org is free software you download and install on your own hosting, where you manage security, backups, and updates yourself. Learn more about the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
WordPress.com offers three approaches to get started:
- AI Website Builder: Answer a few questions and get a complete site in seconds. Build a website with AI.
- DIY setup: Choose your own theme and build step-by-step. Build your website in five steps.
- Express Website Design Service: Have our team build your site professionally. Learn about our Express Website Design Service.
WordPress.com is organized into three main areas:
- Site dashboard: Individual control panels for each website.
- Sites list: Your central hub for managing all sites and account-wide settings.
- My profile: Your personal account settings and preferences.
Learn how to navigate between these areas and find specific features in our navigate WordPress.com guide.
WordPress.com organizes content into posts and pages that serve different purposes on your website. In this section we will introduce you to the basic functionality of your WordPress.com site.
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Consider taking our free Create your website on WordPress.com video course for a guided, step-by-step approach to building your first site.
Posts are for dynamic, time-sensitive content like blog articles, news updates, or announcements — they appear in reverse chronological order and can be organized with categories and tags. Learn how to create and manage posts. Pages are for static information that doesn’t change often, like an About page or Contact page — they typically appear in your site’s navigation menu and represent the core structure of your website. Learn how to create and manage pages.
The WordPress Editor (also known as the block editor) lets you build content using individual blocks — each paragraph, image, heading, or video is its own block that you can rearrange and customize. Follow our step-by-step guide to using the WordPress Editor.
The Site Editor controls your website’s layout and consistent features like navigation menus, using the same block editing functionality as the WordPress Editor. Choose from over 200 themes for your overall design, customize templates for different page types, and build your site’s menus to help visitors navigate.
When you create a site on WordPress.com, we provide you with a free site address that includes .wordpress.com or wpcomstaging.com as part of the address. You can change the address people use to access your site by registering, transferring, or connecting a domain name to your site.
Learn more about domain names.
When you first create a WordPress.com site, it starts in “Coming Soon” mode. This means only you can see your site while you’re building it. When you’re ready to make your site public, you can change it from “Coming Soon” to “Public” in your settings.
Learn the complete launch process in our launch your website guide.
Promote your new website to grow its audience and boost visibility, revenue, and engagement. Focus on quality content, SEO, and social media to broaden your reach and achieve your website’s goals.
Discover strategies to attract more visitors.
WordPress.com provides comprehensive support through guides, video tutorials, courses, community forums, and direct assistance on paid plans.
You can access help anytime by clicking the help icon in your dashboard or browse all options in our help and support guide.
