# What is WordPress?

> WordPress is free, widely used website software that runs a large share of the world's websites and is extended with themes and add-on plugins.

- Source: https://nerdsharks.com/glossary/wordpress
- Publisher: Nerdsharks (Exeter, Devon, UK)
- Updated: 2026-09-26

Also called: WP, WordPress.org, WordPress.com.

WordPress started as blogging software and grew into the most common way to build a website. The software itself is free; you pay for hosting, and often for a theme (the design) and plugins (add-ons for things like forms or SEO).

WordPress.org is the free software you install on your own hosting. WordPress.com is a separate paid hosting service that runs it for you. People mix them up constantly.

Its popularity is both its strength and its weakness. There is a plugin for everything, but every plugin is more code to keep updated, and out-of-date WordPress sites are a common target for hackers.

## Why it matters for a small business

A WordPress site is only as good as its upkeep. Left without updates, it becomes slower and more vulnerable over time. If an agency builds you one, find out who is responsible for updates and backups after launch, and what it costs.

**Example:** A builder's WordPress site has not been updated in three years. An old plugin is exploited, and the site starts redirecting visitors to spam until it is cleaned up and restored from a backup.