WordPress powers over one-third of the websites on the internet. The reasons are its ease of use, flexibility for customization, more control, and well-established online support. But hold on here – there are two types of WordPress with almost identical names. Do you know the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? Which one is a better option for your eCommerce website? If No is the answer then don’t worry as we will shed some light on this common confusion.
Choosing the right platform is crucial for your online success. Before you start an online store, you must know what are the best possible options you can pursue. It’s important to know which of the two types of WordPress will favor your needs and requirements for an eCommerce store.
We will highlight the key differences between them, so you can choose the right platform that best suits your eCommerce website. Having said that, let’s start our exploration journey.
Key Difference
Here are some basics to get started.
First thing first, the .org and .com in WordPress.org and WordPress.com stands for ‘organization’ and ‘commercial’ respectively. There is a difference in hosting for both. With ‘WordPress.org’ you host your own site with hosting providers like Bluehost, Hostinger, NameCheap, etc. On the other hand, it’s WordPress.com that will host and takes care of your site on using their service.
With WordPress.com you don’t need external hosting while on WordPress.org you can make your website but for running an online store you have to pay for a hosting account.
Both of them will give you the same user experience however, the difference lies in some customization abilities, need for external hosting, cost, and others.
Fun Fact
This may be surprising for you to learn that WordPress.com and WordPress.org are not the same company. Yes! They are two different companies. They only share the same name, WordPress, a registered trademark of WordPress Foundation.
Customization Ability
a. Theme Support
Get full theme support on WordPress.org instead of limited theme support on WordPress.com. Full theme support allows you to add custom themes and all other free/paid themes that exist. You can also modify the themes of your online store.
With WordPress.com you can use only those themes that are present in its repository. Unlike WordPress.org, you will not be allowed to customize the available themes.
b. Plugins Allowed
For plugins, you can upload any free, paid, or custom plugins of your choice on WordPress.org. Plugins will provide added functionality to your online store. The recommended plugin to run an eCommerce website is WooCommerce. A variety of plugins are available which can help you to run your eCommerce store effectively and advertise your products online.
Make use of themes and plugins to perform customization of your choice. With WordPress.com you can only use built-in themes and plugins. The free version of WordPress.com will not allow you to do so, and that’s a pretty big loss.
c. SEO Feature
WordPress.org will give you the ability to improve the ranking of your eCommerce store on Google using SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques. For this utilize the best SEO plugins available and rank higher in Google search results. Since you cannot install SEO plugins on WordPress.com you would have limited SEO control there.
d. Maintenance
With an online store on WordPress.org, you are responsible to keep your site updated and safe from vulnerabilities. You should have regular backups and have an optimized eCommerce website.
Don’t worry about the above stuff on WordPress.com. The automatic staff will take care of updates, backups, security, and more.
Cost to Run Online Store
You need to monthly pay for your web hosting on WordPress.org. Many hosting providers will give you a free domain name for the first year, next year you have to pay for the domain name on a yearly basis. The cost would go higher for high traffic sites.
WordPress.com offers free hosting up to 3 GB of storage. You can display ads on your website, however, your website URL will contain a subdomain (WordPress.com) at the end just like ‘mywebsite.wordpress.com’. You will have to bear with WordPress.com’s own ads and branding on your site.
Considering the per month hosting cost and yearly cost of the domain, WordPress.org is a cheaper option. To start an online store, you need to pay in the range between $40 and $60 annually on WordPress.org. Ecommerce plans of WordPress.com cost $540 per year which is a hefty amount if you are just getting started. It is still limited in features and you must follow the terms of services of WordPress.com for your eCommerce store.
Monetization Freedom
You can sell ads in an amount of your own choice and can use any ads service you want while riding your eCommerce website on WordPress.org. You can also receive a 100% return of your earned money through ads.
WordPress.com has a very restricted monetization policy, they didn’t allow to sell ads on websites. They will offer features of advertising with revenue sharing in case of high traffic websites (25,000 monthly pageviews).
Membership and Payment Methods
You cannot create a membership site on WordPress.com unless you invest $300 per year in its business plan. After that you will be allowed to provide access to your registered members. Furthermore, you can’t accept any kind of payment either if you use the website free of cost.
On the other hand, set up powerful membership sites with WordPress.org having features of restricted access, dip content, learning management system, etc. On WordPress.org you can enjoy receiving payments via PayPal, credit card, bitcoins, bank checks, etc.
Use of Analytics
Utilize powerful Google Analytics to track visitor’s location, behavior, and the time they spend on your website backed by WordPress.org. For more insights make use of MonsterInsights and ExactMetrics.
With WordPress.com you will have to stick with its built-in stats. You can’t install third-party plugins for in-depth analysis.
Conclusion:
As you see is a small business owner, WordPress.com doesn’t have the features or flexibility to build an eCommerce store. If maintaining your site and creating regular backups sounds more daunting to you, then WordPress.com is the option for you. It allows you to set up a basic blog/website free of cost which can’t be used for online selling. For just $8/month you can do advertising and affiliate marketing.
If you want a fully controlled online store to sell the bulk of products, then WordPress.org is the best bet. It offers the best possible features to sell your products, analyze your progress, and create new customers.