10 Feb 2026, 3:00 pm

Our new course — Monetize Your Website — helps you turn the value you’re already creating into sustainable income, using the built-in tools available on WordPress.com.

Whether you share knowledge, create content, or offer services, this course walks you through practical, beginner-friendly ways to get paid. No traditional eCommerce setup required.

The course is fully self-paced, so you can dip into individual lessons as needed or follow along from start to finish at your own pace.

What you’ll learn

Across a series of practical lessons, you’ll learn how to:

• Understand your monetization options — explore the different ways WordPress.com lets you earn, and choose approaches that fit your goals and audience.
  
• Accept payments with confidence — set up simple payments for products, services, or donations without building a full store.
  
• Offer paid content and subscriptions — use memberships and subscriber-only content to monetize your expertise.
  
• Create value people will pay for — package your knowledge, content, or services in a way that feels natural and worthwhile to your audience.
  
• Set realistic expectations — understand how monetization grows over time and how to avoid common pitfalls.
  
• Build a sustainable approach—choose tools and strategies that can evolve with your site and audience.
  

Why you should take this course

If you’re already creating something valuable, this course helps you take the next step in a way that fits your site. 

You’ll learn what’s possible on WordPress.com and get practical steps you can use right away, without setting up a full commerce store or reworking your site.

More video resources to explore

If you’re new to WordPress.com or ready to keep leveling up, check out our other popular courses and video tutorials:

• Grow your website’s audience 
• Intro to SEO course
• Create a Website course
• Start a Blog course

9 Feb 2026, 3:00 pm

There are thousands of WordPress plugins out there. But to get started, you really only need a handful. 

We pulled real usage data from WordPress.com sites to see which plugins people rely on, and we selected the ones that address core website needs. Then, I personally tested each plugin and looked at user reviews.

This guide covers the most essential WordPress plugins. These are helpful if you’re launching your first WordPress site, filling gaps in your current setup, or something in between:

1. Jetpack: For all-in-one site management
2. Akismet: For spam protection
3. Page Optimize: For site speed
4. Crowdsignal Forms: For user feedback
5. WooCommerce: For e-commerce
6. Gravatar Enhanced: For user profiles
7. Yoast SEO: For search engine rankings
8. Google Site Kit: For analytics
9. WPForms Lite: For building forms
10. MailPoet: For emails and newsletters
11. Imagify: For image optimization
12. All-in-One WP Migration: For site migration

Let’s explore each of them in detail.

1. Jetpack: Essential all-in-one site management 

• Key focus: Use it for ongoing site security and maintenance.
• Price: The core features are free on all WordPress.com plans, with advanced features available on Business and above.
• Best for: Website owners who want a full solution for security, speed, growth, content, and more are the ideal users.

The Jetpack plugin is a comprehensive suite of tools that help launch and grow your WordPress site, which essentially replaces five or six separate plugins. 

Instead of installing separate tools for backups, security, speed, and analytics, you get everything in a single dashboard. 

I like that the essential features activate with one click — no digging through settings:

Unlike smaller plugins that can go months without updates, Jetpack is actively maintained.

You’re not left dealing with compatibility issues or security gaps when WordPress releases new versions.

Key features

• Security: It provides brute force attack protection and spam filtering on all plans, real-time backups, one-click restores, malware scanning, and WAF on Business and above.
• Performance: It offers image CDN, video hosting, and custom site search.
• Growth: It includes site stats, SEO tools with automatic XML sitemap, and social auto-posting.
• Content: It comes equipped with an AI writing assistant, forms, payment buttons, and newsletter signups.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

If you’re new to WordPress or just don’t want to spend hours researching plugins, Jetpack covers the basics in one install — security, speed, stats, and content tools. 

You can always add specialized plugins later, but Jetpack gives you a solid foundation to start.

2. Akismet: Essential for spam protection

• Key focus: Keep spam, ads, and inappropriate content out of your comment sections.
• Price: It’s free, included for all WordPress.com users.
• Best for: It’s ideal for sites that allow comments, user-generated content, and/or submissions.

Akismet filters out over 99.99% of spam comments, form submissions, and texts, keeping your site and inbox clean. 

The best part of Akismet is that you probably won’t even notice it’s there. 

Occasionally, I review blocked comments, but I find it to be so good at its job that I do it more out of curiosity than necessity. 

Tip: Akismet is included in Jetpack Security, so if you’re a WordPress.com user on any plan, Akismet is already installed on your site. 

Key features

• AI-driven filtering: Akismet uses machine learning to determine which comments are spam and blocks them before they appear on your site.
• Analytics: The plugin tracks the total number of spam comments it has filtered and its accuracy in your admin dashboard.
• Customizable settings: Akismet can automatically filter and delete comments (this is the setting I use) or hide questionable comments until you review and approve them.
• GDPR compliance: If you have European visitors, cover your bases with Akismet’s GDPR notice on your comment sections.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

If your site allows comments or form submissions, spam is inevitable. 

Akismet handles it in the background, so you don’t have to manually filter through junk — or worse, let it pile up and make your site look neglected.

3. Page Optimize: Essential for site speed

• Key focus: Keep your site’s code optimized for blazing fast speeds.
• Price: It’s free, included for all WordPress.com users.
• Best for: It’s ideal for non-developers who want to automatically clean up their site code and theme for optimal performance.

Page Optimize speeds up your website by removing unnecessary site code to reduce processing time. 

It also optimizes which elements of your site are processed first, so users never see a blank screen.

My years of working with web developers taught me that not all code is created equal. There are many routes to the same destination, but some are more efficient than others. 

With third-party themes and plugins adding extra weight, Page Optimize helps keep things clean on the backend.

Key features

• Concatenate HTML and CSS: Page Optimize strings together all of your site’s code, removing comments and unnecessary spaces for quicker processing.
• Execution timing: It also adjusts the timing of non-critical JavaScripts to either run asynchronously or at a delay.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

Page Optimize removes unnecessary code and optimizes script timing so your pages load faster — and since it’s built into WordPress.com, there’s no setup or configuration required.

Site speed matters more than most people realize: visitors bounce when pages take too long, and search engines factor load time into rankings. 

A faster site means better engagement, lower bounce rates, and more visibility in search results.

4. Crowdsignal Forms: Essential for user feedback

• Key focus: Embedded and pop-up user polls are the focus.
• Price: It’s free for up to 2,500 signals, and then it’s $15–$45/month.
• Best for: Get ongoing customer feedback or improve site engagement with polls.

Crowdsignal Forms is a WordPress plugin that lets you add custom polls to individual pages or as pop-ups on your website.

Polls are one of the easiest ways to boost engagement — readers can respond to your content with a single click and see how others voted. 

They’re also great for collecting feedback. Unlike emails or comment boxes (where you mostly hear from unhappy people), quick polls have low friction, which means higher response rates.

For example, a recipe website could create pop-ups with simple questions like “What’s your favorite meal?” to gain real insight into its audience. 

Key features

• Polls: Crowdsignal Forms lets you add multi-select and single-select polls using the Poll block.
• Customization: You can also customize your poll to match your site colors and styling for a cohesive look.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

Crowdsignal Forms helps boost user engagement, which is a vital element of successful websites. 

This plugin is a low-lift way to make your site visitors feel like their opinions are valued.

It can also provide critical information about visitors that might not be available through traditional analytics tools.  

5. WooCommerce: Essential for e-commerce stores

• Key focus: Create and sell products on your WordPress website.
• Price: Use this tool for free.
• Best for: E-commerce stores, small businesses, and websites that want to sell custom merch will find it most helpful.

WooCommerce lets you turn your WordPress site into a full online store — product pages, a shopping cart, checkout, and other essentials.

And unlike selling on marketplaces like Etsy or Amazon, you don’t pay a built-in marketplace commission on each sale — though standard payment processing fees still apply.

The setup walks you through the basics, and there’s a massive ecosystem of extensions if you need extras like subscriptions, bookings, or gift cards.

Key features

• Product management: Create listings with images, pricing, categories, stock levels, variations, and custom configurations.
• Built-in shopping cart: Customers can browse, add items to cart, and check out — all without extra plugins.
• Guided setup: A step-by-step onboarding flow gets your store running in minutes.
• Massive extension ecosystem: Hundreds of add-ons are available for subscriptions, bookings, gift cards, shipping integrations, and more.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

If you want to sell online with WordPress, WooCommerce is the standard. It’s open-source, so you own your store and data — and with thousands of extensions available, you can add pretty much any feature you need as your business grows.

6. Gravatar Enhanced: Essential for user profiles

• Key focus: It creates clickable profiles for WordPress users.
• Price: It’s free, included for all WordPress.com users.
• Best for: It’s ideal for websites with multiple contributors or large, active digital communities.

Gravatar Enhanced humanizes WordPress writers and commenters with customizable and clickable profiles.   

If you write for a larger blog with multiple authors (like I do here at WordPress), your Gravatar will show up alongside your posts. 

Gravatars are also used for commenting in forums and on your blog posts in the WordPress reader. 

Key features

• Custom avatars: Users can upload a custom image, add a public display name and bio, and more.
• Profile blocks: The plugin lets you add profile sections to posts and pages to showcase author information, including bio, social links, and recent posts.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

Gravatar Enhanced puts a face and bio behind every comment and post, which helps build trust and a sense of community on your site.

7. Yoast SEO: Essential for Search Engine Rankings

• Key focus: Optimize your website to improve search engine readability and rankings.
• Price: Use the standard option for free, and pay $99/year for Premium.
• Best for: Use this if you’re a website owner who wants better visibility in search results for organic traffic.

Yoast SEO optimizes your website’s content and structure to improve search engine rankings.

Some of this happens automatically — like generating XML sitemaps and adding schema markup so that search engines understand your content. 

Other features work in real time as you write: Yoast flags missing meta descriptions, analyzes keyword usage, checks readability, and suggests improvements before you hit publish.

If you’re new to SEO, it’s a practical way to learn about what matters without getting lost in technical details.

Key features

• Automatic structured data and sitemaps: Yoast generates XML sitemaps and adds schema markup behind the scenes, so search engines can crawl and understand your content without you touching any code.
• Real-time SEO feedback: As you write, Yoast flags missing meta descriptions, grades your keyword usage, and suggests improvements.
• Readability analysis: Get real-time suggestions to simplify your writing, improve flow, and keep readers engaged.

Tip: If you don’t want a separate SEO plugin, WordPress.com includes built-in SEO features powered by Jetpack — including SEO titles and descriptions, sitemaps, social previews, and AI writing assistance.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

Search is still one of the main ways people discover new websites. If your content isn’t optimized, you’re missing out on traffic. 

Yoast gives you clear, actionable feedback on every page — so you can improve your rankings without needing to become an SEO expert.

8. Google Site Kit: Essential for analytics

• Key focus: Add Google’s comprehensive site analytics to your WordPress dashboard.
• Price: Use it for free.
• Best for: Try it if you’re a website owner who wants to track key metrics like site visitors and engagement inside WordPress.

Google Site Kit is the official WordPress plugin from Google that brings multiple Google tools into one dashboard.

Instead of logging into separate accounts for Analytics, Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, and AdSense, you can see everything in one place — right inside WordPress.

You can track how people find your site through Google Search, which pages get the most traffic, how fast your pages load, and how much you’re earning from ads. 

If you’re not a data person, don’t worry — the dashboards focus on the metrics that actually matter without overwhelming you with charts you’ll never use.

Key features

• One-click Google setup: Connect Google Analytics, Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, and AdSense to your WordPress site.
• Unified dashboard: See traffic, search performance, page speed, and ad earnings in one place — no need to jump between Google accounts.
• Built into WordPress: Access all your data directly from your WordPress dashboard, right where you’re already working.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

Understanding your audience and site performance is critical for growing your website. Without this data, it’s hard to know what’s working and what isn’t.

Tip: If you don’t need the full Google toolkit, WordPress.com includes Jetpack Stats on all plans — a simpler way to track visitors, top content, and traffic sources without connecting external accounts.

9. WPForms Lite: Essential for building forms

• Key focus: Create no-code contact forms, surveys, and lead capture forms.
• Price: Use it for free, but for advanced features, upgrade to WPForms Pro, which starts at $50/year.
• Plugin rating: 4.8/5
• Best for: It’s ideal for structured data collection, like potential customer info, surveys, special event forms, and more.

WPForms Lite is a beginner-friendly form builder that lets you add professional-looking forms to your site in minutes.

Forms are useful when you need specific information from visitors, like contact details from potential customers, project specs from partners, or applications for review.

Instead of messy back-and-forth emails, you get structured submissions with the fields you need — and since forms send to your inbox without exposing your email address, you avoid spam and scraping.

Key features

• Drag-and-drop form builder: Create forms by simply dragging fields onto your form canvas — no coding required.
• Templates: Start with pre-built form templates for common use cases like contact forms, newsletter signups, and feedback surveys.
• Spam protection: Built-in anti-spam features keep junk responses out of your inbox.
• Mobile-friendly: Forms automatically adjust to look great on mobile devices.
• Email notifications: Receive instant notifications in your inbox when you have a new form submission.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

Every website needs a way for visitors to get in touch. Forms let you control that process — you decide what information to collect, and submissions arrive organized and ready to act on. 

10. MailPoet: Essential for sending emails and newsletters

• Key focus: Use for email marketing and newsletter management.
• Price: It’s free for up to 500 contacts, with paid plans starting at $10/mo.
• Best for: Use it for sending regular email communications to customers and subscribers.

MailPoet is an email marketing platform built into WordPress. You can send newsletters, one-off campaigns, or automated emails — all without leaving your dashboard.

Because it lives inside WordPress, there’s no need to sync contacts or set up integrations with external tools. Your subscriber data and site activity are already connected.

This WordPress plugin also includes signup forms, pop-ups, subscription blocks, and automated workflows that are all drag-and-drop, with no code required.

Key features

• Drag and drop email builder: Design emails, forms, popups, and more with drag and drop tools inside WordPress.
• Newsletter subscription: You can create a pop-up subscription block or banner to encourage new subscribers. Subscribers will be automatically added to the newsletter segment.
• Automated emails: The plugin also lets you send emails automatically when readers complete specific WordPress actions, like signing up for your newsletter or purchasing an item from your store.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

Email is still one of the most direct ways to reach your audience. Regular newsletters keep your site top of mind and bring readers back, turning one-time visitors into loyal followers.

11. Imagify: Essential for image optimization

• Key focus: Automatically resize and compress images for quick website loading.
• Price: Use up to 20MB/month (~200 images) for free; paid plans are available for higher volumes — up to $10/month.
• Best for: Use for sites with photo galleries, product images, or lots of visual content.

Imagify automatically compresses and optimizes images, dramatically reducing page load times. High-resolution images can significantly slow down your site, but Imagify works in the background to shrink file sizes while keeping images sharp. 

I especially appreciate that it can retroactively bulk optimize existing images — you don’t need to manually compress or re-upload every photo you’ve already added to your site library.

Key features

• Bulk image optimization: The plugin compresses all existing images on your site with one click and automatically optimizes new uploads.
• Format conversion: It lets you automatically convert images to WebP format for even faster loading.
• Smart compression: You can choose from three compression levels (Normal, Aggressive, and Ultra) based on your images and quality needs. Imagify uses intelligent algorithms to reduce file size without visibly reducing image quality.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

Oversized images are one of the main culprits for slow sites and one of the easiest things to fix. Imagify handles it automatically.

12. All-in-One WP Migration: Essential for site migration

• Key focus: Use for site migration and backups.
• Price: Use it for free (with size limits); paid extensions are available for larger sites, cloud storage, and automated backups.
• Best for: Use it to move your WordPress website from one hosting provider to another.

All-In-One WP Migration creates complete site backups that you can export and import with a single click, making it simple to move your entire WordPress site between hosts or keep a backup on hand.

I’ve used this plugin multiple times to move my personal website and client websites between hosting providers.

In addition to your site design, All-In-One WP Migration exports databases, downloads media files, and recreates admin settings automatically in the same file, making migration seamless. 

Key features

• Single-click migration: You can export your entire site (database, media files, plugins, themes) as one file, and then import it to a new host with one click.
• Backups: It also lets you create full site snapshots before making major changes or updates.

What makes this WordPress plugin essential

Having a full site backup is critical if you want to change hosting providers or make significant changes to your site. With one click, you can save and re-upload your site design, content, and data. 

Bonus: The 11 most popular WordPress plugins

In addition to the essential plugins listed above, we’ve compiled the most downloaded (and beloved) plugins on the WordPress.com Plugin Marketplace — removing any popular plugins that come pre-installed for our users.

Explore this list for further inspiration:

1. Elementor: Design more flexible, free-form drag-and-drop pages with advanced styling options that go beyond Gutenberg’s base capabilities.
2. AMP: Optimize your website pages and design for mobile and alternative screen sizes to improve mobile user experience and search rankings.
3. WooPayments: Accept a variety of payment types in your WooCommerce store, including credit cards and Apple/Google Pay.
4. Contact Form 7: Create lightweight forms with HTML and text editing for users who are comfortable with basic markup.
5. Google Site Kit: Track comprehensive analytics from Google services directly in your WordPress dashboard.
6. Classic Editor: Disable the visual Gutenberg Editor and re-enable the Classic site editor, for those who prefer the traditional WordPress editing experience.
7. WP Forms Lite: Create flexible website forms with a drag-and-drop editor and collect information from site visitors.
8. Insert headers and footers: Add custom code snippets in your header and footer sections without editing theme files.
9. Google Analytics for WooCommerce: Connect your WooCommerce store to Google Analytics to track e-commerce performance and customer behavior.
10. WooCommerce product add-ons: Create product add-ons, like gift wrapping, personalization options, or extended warranties, for products in your WooCommerce store.
11. Google for WooCommerce: Sync your WooCommerce products to Google Merchant Center and run Google Ads campaigns directly from WordPress.

How to choose the right WordPress plugin

To select the best WordPress plugins, start with what your site actually needs, use what’s already built in, and be selective. 

The right plugins solve specific problems without adding risk or complexity.

1. Determine your site’s goals: Before installing anything, be clear on what your site needs to do. Are you collecting leads, selling products, or building a community? Your goals should determine which plugins you install — not the other way around.
2. Check your website’s out-of-the-box functionality: Many hosting providers include built-in features or preinstalled plugins. For example, WordPress.com users get Jetpack features for security, performance, and content by default, so you may not need additional plugins for that. Higher plans include even more functionality.

3. Vet plugins before installing: Any developer can publish a WordPress plugin, so take a minute to evaluate it. Check user ratings, recent updates, which WordPress version the plugin is compatible with, and the available support. Plugins that aren’t actively maintained may break or cause compatibility issues with newer WordPress versions.

4. Keep your plugin stack lean: Install only what you truly need. Too many plugins — or multiple plugins doing the same job — can slow down your site. It’s also a good idea to make sure you have a recent backup before adding anything new. On WordPress.com Business plans and higher, backups are handled automatically.

Get started with WordPress.com

The easiest way to try these essential plugins is to start a site on WordPress.com. 

You can explore the plugin library directly, see which tools are already built in, and add only what your site actually needs.

WordPress.com plans also include Jetpack features, professionally designed themes, and an AI website builder so you can launch and extend your site without piecing together separate tools.

6 Feb 2026, 2:18 pm

Andrew Adetitun runs The King’s Monologue, a media network teaching African history to over 160,000 followers across different channels. 

He noticed that African history wasn’t just underrepresented — it was actively obscured. Achievements credited to the wrong civilizations. Truth buried in books most people would never read.

So he started making content. First on TikTok. Then YouTube. One video went viral — a few million views in days. The audience grew from there.

From a viral TikTok to 160,000 followers

What started as a few videos turned into something much bigger:

• 120,000+ YouTube subscribers
• 160,000+ followers across platforms
• A library of documentaries and original research
• Museum visits, trips to Egypt, academic papers

Andrew is a qualified teacher by training. He spent years teaching high school. 

But his real passion was history — specifically, making African history accessible to people who’d never pick up a niche textbook.

There’s a lot of truth hidden in books. But most people aren’t book enthusiasts — they come across things in their day-to-day life. YouTube is probably the most powerful medium for reaching them.

YouTube became his classroom. Documentaries became his lesson plans. And the community that formed around The King’s Monologue became his students.

Why Andrew needed a website

Social platforms are borrowed land. Andrew knew that.

When you’re on social networks, there’s always that thing in the back of your mind — if they one day close or cancel your channel, where is everyone going to go?

He wanted a home base. A place he actually owned. Somewhere to:

• Host images from museum visits and statue reconstructions
• Publish academic papers and articles
• Build search engine visibility so his content would rank
• Support initiatives like his Kickstarter book launch

A Linktree wouldn’t cut it. He wanted control.

A former WordPress developer who didn’t have time to develop

Here’s the twist: Andrew used to be a WordPress developer. He knows how to build sites from scratch — find hosting, install WordPress, customize themes, write code.

But he didn’t have time for any of that.

Even just thinking about it was giving me a headache. Finding hosting, installing WordPress, going through all that rigmarole.

So he went the simpler route. He signed up for WordPress.com, saw the AI website builder, and gave it a try.

You bring the idea — AI makes it real

Use our AI website builder for free today.

Try it now

The structure of his new website came together in minutes. No code. No theme hunting. Just prompts and tweaks:

It was like working with a theme and being able to customize it on the fly without knowing any code.

He kept the design simple — limited colors, consistent thumbnails — and let the builder do the rest.

The website builder did most of the work. I just stuck to a strict theme for fonts and thumbnails, and it gave the whole site a professional look without me doing much at all.

What the website does today: Funding the Kickstarter and creating organic content

At the end of last year, Andrew launched a Kickstarter for his book on African history. The website was the launchpad.

I had a page set up — tkmedu.com/book-launch — and a lot of traffic came through that link, which then took people to the Kickstarter.

The campaign was successfully funded.

The website was a big part of that. It’s done its job so far.

Besides, the site is an educational resource, which includes:

• Articles and original research
• An image gallery with museum photos and reconstructions (optimized for search)
• A donation feature for supporters

From here, Andrew wants to expand. He already hired a website admin to help populate content — transcribing his videos and livestreams, editing, and posting. 

Next, he plans to attract contributing authors — vetted and edited — filling the site with hundreds, eventually thousands of articles. 

A searchable archive of African history that ranks in Google and serves researchers, students, and curious minds.

Your story deserves a home, too

Andrew is a former WordPress developer who chose not to build his site the hard way. 

WordPress.com gave him a faster path. The AI website builder got the structure up in minutes. Managed WordPress hosting also means he’s not dealing with updates, security, or server maintenance.

He focuses on the mission. The platform handles the rest.

Andrew’s story started on TikTok. It grew on YouTube. But his website is the place he actually owns — and the launchpad for everything that comes next.

Yours can be too.

You bring the idea — AI makes it real

Use our AI website builder for free today.

Try it now

5 Feb 2026, 1:50 pm

WordPress.com has launched an official connector for Claude — the first of its kind for a WordPress host.

This means that you can now safely connect Claude to your site and know that the integration is officially supported by both Anthropic and WordPress.com.

From MCP access to an official connector

A few months ago, we introduced MCP access to let AI agents work with real WordPress.com site context — something most standalone AI tools don’t have.

With our recent addition of OAuth 2.1 support, those integrations became both more secure and easier to authorize using the agents you already rely on.

This partnership builds on that foundation by bringing WordPress.com into Claude’s connectors directory — a curated set of trusted tools with clearly defined permissions. 

For WordPress.com users, this removes the setup hassle. You can connect Claude to your site in a few clicks and always see what it can access.

Let’s get connected

Ready to use the WordPress.com Claude Connector? Here’s how to get set up:

1. Enable MCP on your WordPress.com account. Note that MCP access is only available for sites on paid WordPress.com plans.
2. Specify which tools you want to make available to Claude. A full reference of tools can be found in our developer documentation.
3. On Claude desktop or web, go to your Settings. Click Connectors, and then click the “Browse connectors” button.
4. Search for “WordPress.com” and click the + button to connect.
5. You’ll be prompted to log in to WordPress.com and grant secured access to your sites, thanks to OAuth 2.1.

This connection gives Claude read-only access to your site content, meaning it won’t be able to create, delete, or update content. You can also revoke Claude’s access at any time by removing it from your connected apps in Claude or disabling MCP access on WordPress.com.

What this partnership unlocks for you and your site

Once set up, Claude can answer questions using your real WordPress.com site data, not estimates or generic guidance.

For example:

• “Show me my site’s traffic for the last 30 days.”: Identify traffic insights for your site in just a sentence.
• “Summarize recent comments across my site.”: See what readers are responding to and where conversations are happening.
• “Which posts haven’t been updated in over a year?”: Surface content that may need refreshing based on publish and update history.
• “Show me pages with high traffic but low engagement.”: Spot opportunities for improvement using real site data.
• “Looking at my last 10 posts, generate a document reflecting my writing style.”: Create a style guide you can reference to keep your voice consistent.
• “Based on my last 10 posts and recent trends online, what should I write about next?”: Spot content gaps where your unique perspective meets current demand.
• “Read my last post and suggest resources I can link to.”: Tighten your narrative with relevant supporting articles.
• “Find posts with broken external links or outdated information.”: Keep your content credible and your readers’ trust intact by catching link rot before they do.
• “Which posts mention topics I’ve written about elsewhere but don’t link to them?”: Build internal links and surface old content to your readers.

These prompts are grounded in the same data and tools you already use in WordPress.com — they’re now all easily surfaced through the Claude interface.

For more ideas, explore the set of example prompts in our documentation.

What’s next for WordPress.com and AI?

We’re thrilled to share this partnership with you, and we encourage you to connect Claude to your WordPress.com sites today for easier site analysis and site-specific insights.

And because this connector is built and supported in partnership, it’s designed to evolve alongside both platforms.

You can connect Claude to your WordPress.com site now, explore the documentation to get started, or share feedback with us as we continue building deeper AI integrations into WordPress.com.

You bring the idea — AI makes it real

Use our AI website builder for free today.

Try it now

4 Feb 2026, 3:00 pm

Finding your next favorite blog shouldn’t feel like scrolling through an endless feed, hoping something good appears. And for creators, getting discovered shouldn’t require figuring out an algorithm.

Back in 2009, WordPress.com launched Freshly Pressed, a curated collection of posts that entertained, enlightened, and inspired. It was our way of saying “we like you, we really like you” to creators, and amplifying their great work for others to find.

We paused Freshly Pressed a few years back, but the idea never really went away. And the case for human-curated discovery is stronger than ever. 

It’s time to bring Freshly Pressed back.

What is Freshly Pressed?

Freshly Pressed is where we highlight standout content in the WordPress.com Reader. Unlike algorithmic feeds that reward engagement metrics, Freshly Pressed features posts because they’re genuinely good. Thoughtful, well-crafted, and worth your time.

You’ll find a blogger sharing travel stories next to a hobbyist breaking down sourdough science next to a poet who just hit publish for the first time. 

Where to find it

• The WordPress.com Reader: Featured posts appear in Discover with a dedicated section. This is the best way to discover Freshly Pressed alongside everything else you follow.
• Freshly Pressed webpage: Visit the Freshly Pressed page for the full collection.
• Your RSS reader: Enjoy the best of WordPress.com in your favorite RSS reader. Simply add the URL of the Discover page or the RSS feed link to your feed reader.
• Jetpack mobile app: Coming to iOS and Android in the next release. Stay tuned!

Be discovered in the Reader

Freshly Pressed lives in the WordPress.com Reader, where your post reaches readers who are actively looking for new voices to follow. When you get featured, you’ll see it — in traffic, in new subscribers, and in comments from people genuinely interested in what you have to say.

How to get featured

Want to get featured? Just keep publishing. There’s no application, no special settings to enable. If you’re on WordPress.com or use the Jetpack plugin on your WordPress site, you’re already in the running. 

We’re drawn to posts that surprise us. If it made you excited to hit publish, we want to read it.   

We look for posts that:

• Tell a compelling story or share a unique perspective
• Show care in the writing and presentation
• Stand out with humor, originality, or strong points of view

When your post gets featured, you’ll receive a notification and a boost of traffic and subscribers from readers actively looking for quality content.

Not publishing on WordPress.com yet? Get started for free and your next post could be the one we feature.

Discovery without the anxiety

There’s no engagement score. No trending algorithm to chase. Freshly Pressed is a slower, more deliberate kind of discovery — one that rewards the writing itself. We think that’s worth protecting.

• Ready to discover something new? Find your new favorite blog.
• Ready to be discovered? Start publishing on WordPress.com.

3 Feb 2026, 3:00 pm

WordPress powers everything from personal blogs to large-scale community projects — but the most interesting sites aren’t always the biggest ones.

In this guide, we’ve handpicked 15 unique WordPress website examples that stand out for their ideas, storytelling, and design choices.

Some attract significant traffic, while others serve smaller but highly engaged communities. All of them use WordPress.com in thoughtful, creative ways.

Along the way, you’ll see practical design and content ideas you can apply to your own site, whether you’re starting fresh or refining what you already have.

1. Hidden Gem Animal Rescue: Foster-based rescue organization

• Website type: Nonprofit
• Theme: Custom 

Logan and Murphy founded Hidden Gem Animal Rescue out of a shared love for animals.

While many animal welfare websites rely on gloomy colors and emotional imagery to drive support, this animal rescue takes a different visual approach. 

Working with Automattic’s Special Projects team, the organization chose a soft pastel palette that feels optimistic and hopeful, bringing youthful energy to a serious cause.

Because the muted colors feel quieter, bolder tones stand out — the founders’ picture and mission statement catch your eyes instantly.

The playful language reframes the tough realities of pet adoption into celebratory moments.

For example, Hidden Gem Animal Rescue describes the adopted kittens as “Rescue Graduates.” 

It calls to mind our college graduation, a universally joyful milestone — exactly how adoptions should be.

What we love about this website

• The Welsh Corgi separates the hero section from the remaining content. It adds adorable appeal, unlike a standard divider line or color block. 
• Hidden Gem Animal Rescue deliberately chose an image of a Corgi with its head tilted. The dog’s gaze refocuses your attention to the call-to-action (CTA) button, nudging you to adopt a pet.

Tip: WordPress.com supports all types of websites. With pre-built templates, styles, plugins, and patterns, you can quickly design a personal, small business, or ecommerce site. Paid plans include managed hosting, unlimited bandwidth, and expert support.

2. Job.blog: Personal and professional blog

• Website type: Personal and business blog
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five

“Focus on one topic to build an authoritative blog,” — that’s the common advice to new bloggers.

Job’s blog goes against the grain.

A longtime WordPress.com user before joining the company, Job wrote about theology and culture.

These days, he blogs about technology and leadership as the Chief Customer Officer at WooCommerce. It’s rare to hear from a customer, let alone an employee deep in the ecosystem.

The website serves as a creative outlet for Job to express his opinions freely. 

Fun fact: Job created his blog via the WordPress.com Site Editor with no custom code.

What we love about this website

• The masonry layout of photos is a visual feast. Despite the different heights and widths, the photo journals flow organically, creating a scrollable experience.   

• The 404 page injects humor to ease frustration when users can’t access a page. The Pulp Fiction “Looking Confused” GIF acknowledges the awkwardness and lightens the mood.

Tip: Likewise, you can use humor in your 404 page to show your personality. To customize the default 404 error page template on WordPress.com, go to Appearance → Editor and edit the Page: 404 template.

3. PostSecret: Community mail art project

• Website type: Community-driven blog
• Theme: Custom 

PostSecret publishes anonymous secrets that people around the world mail in on handwritten postcards. It shares these secrets exactly as submitted.

Founded by Frank Warren, the project spotlights deeply human stories from all walks of life.

The site’s minimal text and design are intentional; as you scroll, handmade postcards — from childhood memories to heartbreak — take center stage.

These unfiltered confessions keep people coming back to the point that PostSecret has attracted 881,000,000+ visitors, a rare milestone that the site footer notes.

Today, the 21-year-old community art project has grown into a global movement, raising over $1 million to support suicide prevention.

What we love about this website

• All eyes are on the postcards, thanks to the single-column layout against a plain background. Each postcard resembles a framed artwork in a modern art museum. 

• PostSecret relies on its community to keep the project alive, directing you to its Patreon — a platform for recurring creator support — near the end of the page. The community’s support also keeps PostSecret free of ads, creating a pleasant user experience. 

Tip: Want to sync your Patreon posts with WordPress.com? Install the Patreon plugin to connect your site in a few clicks.

4. Bedfordshire Bird Club: Birdwatching community

• Website type: Knowledge base and membership
• Theme: Custom 

Bedfordshire Bird Club is an ornithological community that started in 1992. After a collaboration with the Automattic Special Projects team, the new website now boasts a striking brand identity.

Most importantly, its birding sites deserve a deeper look. 

The location search bar is prominently displayed, allowing birdwatchers to easily plan their next visits.

Each birding site provides extensive information like interactive maps, GPS coordinates, viewpoints, and the bird species you can see during each season. This allows you to easily explore the birdwatching spots.

What we love about this website

• Bedfordshire Bird Club spotlights members’ photography to foster community. The credited photos instill pride and motivate continued engagement with the site.

• The homepage adapts its bird sightings to the current season. Bedfordshire Bird Club can keep its content fresh and timely all year round.

5. Engnovate: English and IELTS resource hub

• Website type: Online courses and e-learning
• Theme: Astra

Engnovate is an online IELTS test preparation platform with over 1 million monthly learners — and over 350K in monthly traffic according to Semrush.

At first glance, Engnovate resembles most test preparation platforms: writing tasks, speaking evaluation, grammar checker, etc. 

Yet as you scroll through the site, you notice a differentiating feature: interactive elements and AI. 

The self-introduction exercise, for instance, assigns an AI English coach. Like one-on-one guidance in a professional school setting, it evaluates and deepens your English skills in real time.

What we love about this website

• The hero section promotes Trustpilot reviews, but the CTA is intentionally muted so it doesn’t compete with learning-focused actions.

• The site offers ungated interactive tools that help you practice. These tools function as traffic magnets that encourage you to explore and stay longer.

• Because task answers are public, learners can see real examples from others, compare approaches, and understand how their own answers measure up.

6. Cozy Grove Camp Spirit: Mobile game microsite

• Website type: A site to promote a mobile app 
• Theme: Custom

Cozy Grove Camp Spirit is a cozy adventure game, and its website pulls you into that world from the start. Whimsical visuals — from character art to a hand-drawn forest landscape — evoke childlike wonder and invite exploration.

The premise is simple and intriguing: You play as a Spirit Scout helping friendly ghosts on a haunted island.

A single-column layout uses gameplay videos and screenshots to show daily quests like fishing, crafting, and rebuilding the island — moments fans recognize from the original game.

What we love about this website

• The microsite mirrors the game’s distinctive charm. It delights fans and new players alike.
• Vivid phrases like “soothe the local ghosts” position you as the hero, while playful section dividers act as Easter eggs.

7. Brodo: Bone broth ecommerce store

• Website type: Ecommerce shop
• Theme: Custom

Marco Canora founded Brodo after turning to bone broth during his own health recovery — and the website now attracts over 40K visitors monthly according to Semrush.

On the website, that personal story takes a back seat to conversion. Instead of leading with a mission or ingredient sourcing, the homepage quickly highlights a starter box with a default “Subscribe & Save” option.

For this direct-to-consumer brand built on subscriptions, this sales-first layout supports Brodo’s core revenue model.

To drive subscriptions, Brodo anchors its pricing by listing the same product at a higher one-time price. Paying 20% more for a single order makes the subscription feel like the better deal, as do the additional sign-up perks beyond delivery frequency:

What we love about this website

• There is a “Shop all broths” CTA in all customer reviews, creating a frictionless shopping experience. Spotted a review that resonates? Just click the link below to order.

• Each expert testimonial features a specific benefit of bone broth, addressing different customer segments. For example, Bobbi Brown’s testimonial about protein targets athletes who want to increase their protein intake and build muscle growth:

8. The King’s Monologue: African history resource hub

• Website type: Knowledge base and creator site 
• Theme: Assembler

The King’s Monologue uniquely redefines the participation of indigenous Africans in the global history of Black people. Andrew Adetitun-King, a reconstruction artist, researcher, and YouTuber with over 100K subscribers, is its founder.

The site features thoughtful essays, such as critiques of Eurocentric interpretations of the Tomb of Seti I, offering perspectives that standard history curricula rarely cover.

Beyond the content, the activist-focused language shines. 

The 1,000 book giveaway callout urges you to support Andrew’s new book, Reconstructuring Egypt:

Fun fact: Andrew created The King’s Monologue on our AI website builder in just one day. Your new website is also only a few prompts away.

You bring the idea — AI makes it real

Use our AI website builder for free today.

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What we love about this website

• The site’s visual identity and content are tightly aligned. The regal imagery, typography, and academic tone reinforce the project’s mission to reframe African history through a research-driven lens.

• By placing the full name and initials around the site icon, the circular logo reinforces brand recognition across the site and beyond.

9. ArtLesson: Illustration website

• Website type: Blog
• Theme: H4

ArtLesson offers free creative art ideas for teachers and students. The site skips a traditional top menu, instead using colorful doodles below the hero section and in the sidebar as navigation.

Clicking the green “Year 4” icon, for example, takes elementary school teachers to current lessons like color blending and pattern drawing.

What we love about this website 

• Doodle-based navigation makes it easy to find popular illustration, cardboard sculpture, and lettering lessons while reinforcing ArtLesson’s visual identity.

• You can’t help but smile scrolling through ArtLesson; it feels like you’re learning from your favorite teacher.  

Tip: To replicate ArtLesson’s creative approach, use graphic design platforms (e.g., Canva) or install a graphic plugin to customize images directly on your WordPress.com site.

10. Jia: Writing portfolio

• Website type: Portfolio
• Theme: Custom 

Jia Tolentino’s website opens with an artistic portrait — a bold choice in a space where most writers rely on standard headshots.

The minimalist design keeps the focus on her work, stripping away distractions like subscription boxes or social feeds. The result is a clean, calm space that supports a text-heavy biography and curated writing clips.

What we love about this website

• The vertical artistic portrait resembles a magazine cover and creates a strong first impression. It suits Jia’s line of work because she’s written for magazines like The New Yorker and The Hairpin. 
• The two-column layout breaks up the long text, allowing you to pause between lengthy paragraphs. Note how the empty columns provide a natural stopping point.

It’s a simple trick with minimal layout edits — and you can easily create these columns on WordPress.com.

11. BCSP: Academic center website

• Website type: Academic 
• Theme: Custom 

BCSP curates its extensive psychedelic research into one compact website. Each section features bold fonts and neon headers, creating an uncluttered user experience — even a layperson can navigate with ease.

The groovy design echoes a trendy digital magazine, not a research center’s website. The varying blocks of copy are evenly distributed, maintaining your interest.

What we love about this website

• The custom clinical trial map for therapists and patients to navigate past, ongoing, and future trials. It’s intuitive to add filters like eligibility criteria and trial status thanks to the user-friendly interface.

• The menu gives a bird’s-eye view of BCSP’s content. Once clicked, it opens and displays all links in a structured panel. To highlight the researched substances, BCSP assigns each compound a unique neon color button.  

12. Fit For Golf: Golf app website

• Website type: Website to promote an app
• Theme: Custom 

Fit For Golf is a golf training app focused on strength and mobility. Mike Carroll, a fitness coach for PGA and DP World Tour players, founded the app. Fit For Golf’s website relies on workout GIFs to immediately show how the program works:

Mike demonstrates the workouts himself, adding a strong personalized touch. He also personally answers all training-related questions from app subscribers. This quick access to an experienced coach is a huge selling point. 

What we love about this website

• The 4.9-star rating pop-up on the bottom left instills trust, but its small size doesn’t interrupt the user experience. 

• The video testimonials and highly specific results customers achieved boost credibility. Pairing each golfer’s testimonial with their workout results creates an emotional connection through a relatable journey.

13. This Sweet Life: Luxury family travel blog

• Website type: Blog
• Theme: Veni

Travel blogs need to inspire exploration while making trip planning easy — and This Sweet Life does both.

Natalie Sullivan, a traveler who’s visited 40+ countries, founded the blog. It blends luxury family travel with personal experience, from five-star stays to hotel collaborations as a mom influencer.

Natalie focuses on four passion-led topics — luxury family travel, mentorship for mom influencers, Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, and party planning — capturing the everyday celebrations of a vibrant life.

What we love about this website

• The clever use of negative space highlights the hero image and vivid copy in a balanced way. The beach background elicits feelings of escape, while the candid shot of Natalie’s family adds warmth. The core message is clear, triggering your wanderlust.  

• The lead magnet, The Influencer Starter Kit for Moms, drives subscribers and nurtures them for a paid upgrade. It allows Natalie to build her email list and earn revenue simultaneously.

Tip: You can replicate This Sweet Life’s paid upgrade using WordPress.com’s Paid Content block. It lets you accept one-time, monthly, or annual payments for access to your exclusive content. 

14. Robert Brancatelli: Personal essays

• Website type: Personal
• Theme: Hermes

Robert Brancatelli’s life as a professor, author, and taxi driver shapes the offbeat voice he uses across his blog.

 His magazine-style site publishes recurring features on a set schedule, building anticipation over time.

The “Mittwoch Matinee” series, for example, ties each post to a notable event from the publication date — like an October 8, 2025, essay reflecting on Don Larsen’s perfect game in World Series history.

What we love about this website

• The sidebar display of subscriber avatars shows you that the site has an active, engaged readership.

15. Maybe It’s Just Me: Health, wellness, and self-improvement website

• Website type: Personal and portfolio
• Theme: Custom

Maybe It’s Just Me is a personal health and wellness site by journalist Kaitlin Vogel, who showcases her magazine bylines across the site. By blending professional credentials with personal storytelling, the site clearly establishes her expertise — an important signal for a creator working with wellness brands.

“Maybe it’s just me” is Kaitlin’s signature phrase, repeated throughout her writing — much like Carrie Bradshaw’s recurring “I couldn’t help but wonder” and “just like that.” 

In her Summer Reading List post, for example, Kaitlin opens with it before sharing her book recommendations: 

What we love about this website

• Generous spacing and simple typography make longer wellness posts easy to read, supporting a calm, distraction-free browsing experience.

• Many websites prioritize popular content to prevent newer posts from burying it, but Maybe It’s Just Me shows the newest blog posts by default to drive quick buzz. 

Tip: That said, you can pin any post to the top of your WordPress.com blog by marking it as “Sticky” in the post’s Status settings.

Launch a unique website on WordPress.com today

Building a site that stands out takes more than a good idea. Design, content, and structure all play a role in how people experience and remember your website.

These 15 examples show there’s no single formula. Some stand out through storytelling, others through design, navigation, or community. What matters is choosing the approach that fits your unique story.

WordPress.com gives you the flexibility to start with a template and shape it over time, whether you’re building a personal blog, a small business site, or something more experimental. 

Behind the scenes, reliable hosting matters too. WordPress.com includes managed hosting, security, and performance features to keep your site running smoothly as it grows.

2 Feb 2026, 3:00 pm

WordPress has evolved far beyond its blogging roots and can now power almost any kind of site — from personal sites and portfolios to memberships, news sites, and full business websites.

And with its new AI website builder, designing a website has become even easier — simple text prompts are enough to turn your ideas into a working site for any need.

I challenged myself to build 21 different types of websites using this tool. 

Here are the results, along with pro tips for prompting, design, page structure, and more.

1. Portfolio website

A portfolio website helps share your creative work, whether that’s writing, photography, design, video production, or something else. 

You can send it to clients to highlight your expertise and share work samples.

Here’s the prompt I used with the AI site builder to build a portfolio site:

“Create a portfolio website called ‘Rochi’s Portfolio’ to display my long-form writing services for tech companies. There should be five sections on the site: Introduction, Work Samples, Testimonials, How I Work, and Contact Form. Use warm colors, a minimalistic design, and a friendly tone.”

In under five minutes, I got a clean, ready-to-use portfolio site that I could refine with the AI chat by adding content, examples, and customizations.

Key pages and features of portfolio sites

• Work samples: Add a dedicated page showing your work samples, or use a new section in a one-page website to showcase your top portfolio pieces.
  
• Service details: Add a page or section about the services you offer, including your timeline, working process, and prices (if you’re comfortable). This gives a potential client a good idea of what they can expect while working with you.
  
• Contact methods: Make it clear how visitors can inquire about your services. You can mention your email, or better yet, use a Form block so leads can fill out the necessary details without leaving your website.

You bring the idea — AI makes it real

Use our AI website builder for free today.

Try it now

2. Resume/CV website

A resume website is your CV in digital form. It offers a unique and interactive experience for hiring managers and more room for creativity when showcasing your skills.

Here’s the prompt I used in WordPress.com’s AI website builder to create a resume site:

“Build a resume website for Rochi Zalani to showcase my abilities as a content writer. The design should feel professional, minimal, and easy to scan. Include four pages: Home, About, Testimonials, and Contact.”

Key pages and features of resume/CV sites

• About page: Your homepage is your resume itself. But beyond that, it’s a great way to demonstrate your personality and skills beyond the work-related confines of a CV. You don’t need to complicate it — talk about your hobbies, interests, and professional journey.
  
• Testimonials and endorsements: Ask your previous employers to write a brief testimonial about what it’s like working with you. Add a new page or a section on your homepage with their endorsements. This social proof will help you build trust with future employers.
  
• Contact methods: Use a Form block or include your email on your homepage so prospective employers can easily reach out.

Tip: Keep your initial prompts detailed and specific, but focused. Always use the AI chat to refine your initial site — add pages, adjust content, request new features, and ask for improvement ideas.

3. Personal website

A personal website can be anything — a blog about your hobbies, a creative outlet, a journal, a place to build your side projects, etc. It’s your own corner of the internet and helps you connect with people who share your interests.

I wanted to create a personal website documenting my travel experiences and recommendations. 

Here’s the prompt I used to create this site:

“Create a personal website documenting my travel experiences and recommendations called ‘The Nomad Freelancer.’ Include five pages: Home, About, Budget Trips, Luxury Travel, and Travel Tips. The design should be bright and colorful.” 

Key pages and features of personal websites

• About page: Include a page with details about you and your website so readers know what to expect from it. Share why you began your site, and sprinkle it with some personality.
  
• Social links: Invite visitors to connect with you beyond your site. Use the Social Icons block to integrate your social media accounts into your website.

4. Link‑in‑bio page

A link-in-bio site is mainly for social media creators who send followers to their bio to get a link, a download, an offer, etc. 

Since most platforms limit how many links you can add to your social media profile, a link-in-bio page is a great workaround. 

You can combine everything in one place and use it to share affiliate links, discount codes, freebies, and more.

Here’s the prompt I used to create a link-in-bio page:

“Create a link-in-bio website called ‘Rochi’s recs.’ Include the following pages: Home, Instagram, TikTok, Top recommendations, and Newsletter. The CTA on the homepage should be to “Stay connected,” which leads to the Newsletter page. Use bold colors and eye-catching visuals.” 

Key pages and features of link‑in‑bio pages

• Top recommendations: Add a separate page for your most-loved product recommendations. This allows your followers to find your favorite items without digging through your social media posts.
  
• Platform-specific pages: If you have built a presence on multiple social media sites, add separate pages for each platform. Your audience can easily navigate to the profile where they already follow you to find your recommendations.
  
• Newsletter: Add a newsletter to your site to grow your email list. This helps you deepen your relationship with your social media audience and connect with them beyond the algorithm.

5. Blogging website

A blogging website can be a part of a larger business or a personal endeavor. 

You can create a blog around your hobbies (similar to a personal site) or focus on a niche topic to build an audience and monetize through ads, sponsored content, affiliate links, and more.

Here’s the prompt I used to create a blogging website about influencer marketing:

“Build a website called ‘Influencing Right’ for influencer marketers looking for pro tips to improve their creator marketing strategy. Include five pages: Home, Research Reports, Sponsored Campaigns, Free Strategy Template, and About. The tone should be warm and friendly.”

Key pages and features of blogging websites

• Category pages: Use different pages to categorize various posts on your blog. For example, if you’re starting a productivity blog, you can create categories around time management, productivity tools, and organization tips. Use the Categories List block on WordPress.com to display the various topics on your site.
  
• Lead magnet page: Create a freebie that you can offer to your website visitors as a lead magnet. This lets you collect their emails so you can stay connected with readers and encourage recurring visitors to your site.
  
• About page: Explain why you’re starting the website, and establish your expertise. This helps build trust and lends authority to your posts.

6. Business website

You can also create a business website to sell almost anything — digital products, merchandise, services, etc. 

Your small business needs a site so people can learn about your products, company, or services. It establishes credibility and allows customers to learn more about your brand.

Here’s the prompt I used to create a site offering cleaning services:

“Create a multipage website for a cleaning business. Add pages: Home, About, Services, Pricing, Testimonials, Contact. Use a clean, modern layout with blue colors and simple, professional but friendly copy.”

Key pages and features of business websites

• Appointment booking: Use a scheduling plugin that allows potential customers to check your availability and book a service appointment through your site.
  
• FAQ answers: Have a section or page dedicated to answering your customers’ common questions. For example, if you sell merch, answer questions about your refund or exchange policy.
  
• Business details: Depending on your business model, create a section or website page sharing key product or service information. For example, if you have a brick-and-mortar store, enter your business hours and map location.

7. Landing page

A landing page is a single, focused page designed to drive one action — for example, collecting emails, promoting a product, booking a call, launching something new, or running paid ads.

Landing pages work well when you want a clean, distraction-free layout that guides visitors toward a single CTA.

Here’s the prompt I used to create a high-converting landing page:

“Create a conversion-focused landing page for a digital product called ‘Influencer Briefs,’ which are brief templates used by marketers. The page should include: a strong hero section with a centered headline and one CTA (‘Download the template’), a problem/solution section, what’s included, testimonials, and a FAQ. Use clean, modern design with bold accents and minimal distractions.”

Key pages and features of landing pages

• Hero section: Add a centered headline with one clear CTA, plus a short value statement that explains what the visitor gets.

• Offer overview + social proof: Combine your problem/solution, what’s included, and a few testimonials or logos into one streamlined section.

• Conversion elements: Include a simple form or repeated CTA at the bottom of the page, plus a short FAQ to resolve hesitation (questions about refunds, access, delivery, etc.).

8. Nonprofit website

Nonprofit websites can help nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) promote their work, raise funds, recruit volunteers, and provide a company history. 

A dedicated website also makes it easier to organize events and stay connected with your community.

Here’s the prompt I used to create a nonprofit website for an educational organization:

“Create a modern, inspiring website for an educational NGO called ‘Education for All.’ The site should feel hopeful, community-driven, and trustworthy, with bright, positive colors and warm photography. Include the following pages and sections: Homepage with a prominent CTA to ‘Get involved,’ Mission Statement page, Programs page, and Impact page. Make the overall site feel credible, community-focused, and mission-driven.”

Key pages and features of nonprofit websites

• Programs and impact pages: Create separate pages for future campaigns and to highlight successful past events. This can help attract more volunteers and donations.
  
• Mission page: Dedicate a page to explaining what you do, along with a brief company history. Spotlight the founders and the team to help people understand and connect to your company’s values and goals.
  
• Donate and volunteer page: Use the Donations Form block to accept donations via your site, and use a Form block for people to register their interest in volunteering.

9. Restaurant or café website

A restaurant or café site helps familiarize people with key information, such as your working hours, menu, prices, location, and special offers. 

You can also use it to encourage customers to sign up for a loyalty program, book a table, or order online.

Here’s the prompt I used to create a site for a Japanese restaurant:

“Create a clean, modern website for a Japanese restaurant called Sakura, inspired by minimalist Japanese design and warm, natural textures. Include the following pages: Home, Menu, Reservations, Contact, and Locate Us. The homepage should feature a hero image of signature Japanese dishes, highlighted specials, operating hours, and a clear ‘Reserve Now’ button. Make the website elegant, mobile-friendly, and visually focused on authentic Japanese cuisine.”

Key pages and features of restaurant sites

• Locate us: Have a dedicated page or section with your address so people can locate your restaurant or café easily. If you have multiple locations, create a dedicated page to highlight their precise locations. You can also use the Map block feature to make your customers’ experience interactive and ease site navigation.
  
• Menu: Upload a snapshot of your menu in a dedicated page so people can see exactly what you offer, including prices. Include CTA options to book a table and order online on this page as well.
  
• Special offers: Use the homepage to highlight any special or seasonal offers you’re running. Add a newsletter form or a website chat plugin encourage customers to sign up for regular updates.

10. Educational or course website

You can also create an educational site, whether it’s a knowledge base for a specific topic or a site to inform your customers about business-related topics. 

Course websites allow you to host and sell an educational course, making it interactive through features such as polls or community plugins.

Here’s the AI prompt I used to build a site selling a course on YouTube growth:

“Create a modern, conversion-focused website for an online course brand called ‘Freelance Writer Pro,’ which teaches people how to earn money via freelance writing. Include the following pages: Home, Courses, Pricing, Testimonials, and About. The homepage should highlight the main course, student success stories, and a strong CTA saying ‘Earn your first $100 via freelance writing.’ Use bold, energetic colors, clean typography, and visuals. Make the site mobile-friendly and optimized for selling digital courses.”

Key pages and features of educational course websites

• Courses or topics overview: Create an overview page or section that lists the topics of your educational site. If you’re selling a course (or multiple courses), you can create a page to describe the course’s content. This helps readers easily navigate your site and get clarity on your offerings.
  
• Pricing page: If you’re selling a course, create a pricing page with your payment policy, refund options, and FAQs. If you’re offering tiered pricing, include a table about what each plan includes.
  
• About page: Use the about page to showcase your expertise in the site topic. Explain why you’re the right person to learn from, highlighting your experience or credentials to build trust.

11. Membership or subscription website

If you sell a membership or subscription of any sort, you need a website to manage it. 

This enhances your members’ experience, makes it easy to share exclusive content, and encourages community participation.

Here’s the AI prompt I used to create a membership site for content marketers:

“Build a modern, professional membership website called ‘Content Marketer Collective,’ designed for content marketers who want ongoing training, templates, and community support. Include these pages: Home, Membership benefits, Pricing, Content library, About, Support, and Login. The homepage should highlight the core value — weekly resources, templates, live sessions, and expert feedback. Make the design clean, editorial, and conversion-focused.”

Key pages and features of membership websites

• “Who is it for” section: Add a dedicated section about who your ideal member is. This helps ensure the right people self-select themselves for your subscription, reducing your need to filter applicants manually.
  
• Membership overview: Include a page or section explaining the benefits members can expect from a membership or subscription. If you have them, add a few testimonials from existing members to build some social proof.
  
• Special features and member-only content: Offer paid content behind a paywall, run subscriber-only newsletters, and create full membership platforms with user accounts, tiers, dashboards, and restricted content using a membership plugin. 

12. Podcast website

Having a website for your podcast gives you a dedicated home for your episodes, including which streaming platforms they’re available on, and full control over your brand presentation.

You can also use it to share extra details — transcripts, guest info, sponsor notes, and more — for each episode. 

If you want your podcast to feel more interactive, enable comments and engage with your audience directly on your site.

Here’s the prompt I used to create a podcast website about a marketer’s show:

“Create a clean, engaging website for a marketing podcast called ‘Marketer Secrets,’ focused on interviewing top marketers about their content strategy and digital marketing insights. Include four pages: Home, Episodes, About, and Sponsor Us. The homepage should have a CTA button saying ‘Listen Now’ or ‘Subscribe on Your Favorite App.’ There should also be a Newsletter block in the second section.”

Key pages and features of podcast websites

• Episode archives: Have a page that contains all your podcast episodes, along with a quick excerpt for each. Use the Podcast Player block to allow your audience to filter and search the episodes (by most recent, most popular, etc.).
  
• Sponsorship page: Dedicate a page on your site to attract sponsors. Include details such as audience demographics, past results, previous sponsors, pricing, and any testimonials. This gives you a professional link to share with prospects. You can also use specialized sponsorship plugins to enable various features.
  
• Newsletter block: Include a newsletter block on your site so listeners can sign up for new episode notifications. Offer a free resource to encourage more people to subscribe.

13. News or magazine website

News and magazines need a website to host their content, connect with readers, and achieve wider distribution. 

WordPress.com is a great choice to build this type of site because it offers plenty of multimedia embed options, including podcast and video embeds, plus helpful features such as an option to add multiple authors or newsfeed plugins.

Here’s the AI prompt I used to create a magazine website:

“Create a bright, engaging website for a digital magazine called ‘Nourish Weekly,’ focused on nutrition, healthy eating, and science-backed wellness tips. Include five pages: Home, Articles, Healthy Eating, About, and Previous Issues. The homepage should feature top stories, trending topics, a featured expert column, and a clear ‘Read the Latest Issue’ CTA. Use a fresh, editorial design with clean typography, soft colors, and plenty of white space.”

Key pages and features of news and magazine websites

• Topic hubs: Use categories to organize your news or magazine content so it’s easy for readers to navigate your website and find exactly what they need.
  
• Author widget: Author widgets allow you to seamlessly indicate authorship and establish expertise. You can also use it to give credit to experts, along with pullquote blocks to highlight key quotes.
  
• Archives: Include an archives page so readers can quickly find old issues or news pieces. It’s also a good idea to use a search bar plugin so visitors can easily search through large archives.

14. Community forum website

Community forum websites help you gather a group of people with similar interests on one site. 

You can use it to facilitate discussion, share knowledge and updates, and enable collaboration among members.

Here’s the AI prompt I used to create a community forum website centered around fitness:

“Create a community forum website called ‘Female Fitness Forum,’ where women can discuss workouts, nutrition, weight loss, strength training, and overall fitness. Include five pages: Home, Forum, Guidelines, Contact, and About. The homepage should have a CTA like ‘Join the Community.’ Use a clean, energetic design with easy navigation, mobile-friendly layouts, and features like search, tags, upvotes, and notifications.”

Key pages and features

• Community guidelines: Have a page or section where you share the guidelines for joining your community and any member rules to follow once you enter the forum. Your audience will know what to expect, and moderation rules promote healthy, respectful communication.
  
• Interactive features: Allow members to interact with community posts using features such as liking, commenting, and sharing. You can use vote, poll, and upvote blocks to achieve this on WordPress.com sites.
  
• Discussion boards: Add discussion boards on your site using community plugins. Doing this for various subjects allows members to interact with each other on the topics they’re interested in.

15. Photography gallery website

Photographers can use a website to showcase their work with full creative control and create a professional home for their portfolio.

It also serves as a central hub for bookings, inquiries, and service packages. 

A site can host high-resolution galleries, content carousels, and organized albums, giving your photos the space and quality they deserve.

Here’s the AI prompt I used to create a website for a wedding photographer:

“Create a romantic, elegant website for a wedding photographer called ‘Captured Promise Weddings.’ Include four pages: Home, Gallery, Packages, and Contact. The homepage should feature a clear ‘Book Your Date’ CTA button. Use a soft, timeless aesthetic with warm tones and refined typography.”

Key pages and features of photography gallery websites

• Galleries: Add a dedicated page on your site for your photos, dividing them into categories for easy browsing. For example, a wedding photographer can use subcategories such as engagement or candid. Use photo gallery plugins to make organizing your portfolio easier.
  
• Pricing and FAQs: Include a page or section about your pricing — how you charge (by hour, project, etc.), “starting at” ranges if your price depends on project scope, and a list of services you offer. Add an FAQ section to answer common questions such as turnaround times for photos, what clients can expect during a session, and how they can help you succeed.
  
• Testimonials: Feature testimonials from previous clients to build trust and social proof. You can choose how you display these reviews on your site via WordPress.com.

16. Recipe/food website

If you create recipe or food content, a website gives you far more control and a better user experience than social posts. 

A food blog lets you organize recipes, add clear, step-by-step instructions and videos, and offer extras (such as printable recipe cards).

Here’s the AI prompt I used to create a vegan recipe website:

“Create a bright, inviting vegan recipe website called ‘Plantful Kitchen,’ focused on sharing healthy plant-based recipes for busy moms. Include five pages: Home, Recipes, Meal Prep, Contact, and About. The homepage should highlight featured recipes, trending dishes, seasonal picks, and have a clear CTA button ‘Browse all recipes.’ Use a clean, fresh aesthetic with soft greens, warm neutrals, and easy-to-read layouts.”

Key pages and features of recipe websites

• Recipe pages: Use a consistent format across all your recipes so readers can build familiarity with the structure and your work. Recipe plugins give you plenty of ready-to-use template options.
  
• Social sharing plugins: Make it easy for yourself to promote your website and recipes to social media, directly from your site. On WordPress.com, you can instantly reshare (or schedule a reshare) to any of your social media accounts.
  
• Like button: Add a like button to all your recipe pages so you can find out which recipes are the most popular. This can help you pinpoint what your audience loves.

17. Event/conference website

If you are hosting an event or conference, a site allows you to build a central hub for all information and updates, instead of attendees relying on scattered social media posts. 

Having a dedicated website also makes it easy for participants to register and sign up for future events.

Here’s the AI prompt I used to build a website for a marketing event:

“Create a sleek, high-energy conference website for a marketing event called ‘Marketing Momentum Summit 2026’ held in London for content marketers. Include four pages: Home, Speakers, Tickets, and Sponsors. The homepage should feature a bold hero section with event dates (31 Jan–2 Feb), location, and a clear ‘Get your ticket now’ CTA button.”

Key pages and features of event websites

• Tickets and pricing: Add one page for all ticket details, including pricing tiers, refund policy, venue information, and cancellation charges. Use the Payments block on WordPress.com to collect ticket fees right from your site.
  
• Agenda and schedule: Dedicate one section of your homepage to the agenda and schedule of the event or conference. Share details about what you’ll discuss each day and at what time. This helps attendees plan their day accordingly.
  
• Countdown section: Use the Event Countdown block on your homepage, which updates automatically, to garner excitement among your attendees.

18. Health/fitness website

Fitness professionals benefit immensely from having a site — it can become a singular place to update your class schedule, host memberships, upload free workouts or meal plans, and streamline booking.

Here’s an AI prompt I used to create a fitness website for a pilates instructor:

“Create a calming, elegant website for a Pilates instructor called ‘The Pilates Room.’ Include five pages: Home, Classes, About your instructor, Group sessions, and Contact. The hero image of the homepage should feature a soothing image of a woman doing pilates on a reformer and a clear CTA button ‘Book a session.’ Use a clean, airy design with neutral colors and gentle typography.”

Key pages and features of fitness websites

• Calendar block: Use a Calendar block on your scheduling or classes page to display your availability. You can combine this with a Table block to show your class schedule if you offer group classes or a set schedule for 1:1 sessions.
  
• Members-only area: If you offer subscriptions to your visitors, you can create members-only areas using subscriber logins and paywall plugins. These features allow you to host your free and paid content under one site.
  
• About page: Add a detailed about page with your credentials and certifications. Put a spotlight on your fitness journey to build trust.

19. Author/book website

A polished author website builds credibility with agents, media, and publishers. It also gives you a direct channel to reach readers without relying on third-party algorithms. 

You can use it to promote events you’re part of and publish additional writing, such as blog posts or short stories.

Here’s the AI prompt I used to create a website for a young adult (YA) fiction writer:

“Create a bold, character-driven author website for Rochi Zalani, a YA fiction writer. Include five pages: Home, Books, About, Events, and Blog. The CTA button on the homepage should say ‘Get the first chapter for free.’ Use an atmospheric, youthful design with strong typography.”

Key pages and features of author websites

• Freebies: Offer a free chapter of your book, a sneak peek into your next book, or some other incentive. Use this freebie to build your email list, establishing a direct line of communication with your readers.
  
• Books page(s): Dedicate one page to each book, including available purchasing options such as via Kindle, Amazon, or local, independent bookstores. You should also add a synopsis for each book, along with a few reviews to build excitement.
  
• Events page: If you’re doing book signings, hosting events, or speaking at conferences, use a page on your site and update it regularly. Upload recordings of past events if you can — this allows people to see what an event might look like.

20. Travel guide website

A travel recommendations website boosts visibility through SEO and gives you space for long-form guides and monetization. 

You can also offer downloadable resources, such as itineraries and checklists.

Here’s the AI prompt I used to build a travel guide site:

“Create an inspiring, easy-to-navigate travel guide website called ‘Wander With Rochi’ — focused on destination guides, itineraries, and travel tips. Include five pages: Home, Destinations, Blog, Contact, and About. The homepage should highlight featured locations, trending guides, a ‘Start planning’ CTA button, and a search bar. Use an artsy, editorial design with travel-friendly visuals.”

Key pages and features

• Strong search and filtering: Make it easy for fellow travelers to seek recommendations from you by using a search bar and filter plugins. If you want to go even further, create quizzes that readers can take to determine the type of traveler they are (adventurous, offbeat, relaxed, etc.) and customize the content they see.
  
• Map block: Use the Map block to highlight the exact locations you recommend. It makes it easier for your audience to view — and navigate to — those places directly from your site.
  
• Table of contents: If you’re writing a long and detailed guide about a place, add a Table of Contents block at the top so readers can easily jump between sections and find exactly what they need.

21. Music/band website

Musicians and bands can use their website to keep their audience informed about upcoming shows, sell tickets, and organize their albums in one place. 

A website also makes it easy to build a direct connection with fans and connect with the press.

Here’s the AI prompt I used to build a music website:

“Create an indie, atmospheric website for a musician called Rochi Zalani. Include five pages: Home, Tours, Music, Press, and Contact. The homepage should feature cinematic visuals, a featured track, and a ‘Listen now’ CTA. Use a moody, artistic aesthetic with soft colors, expressive typography, and a mobile-first layout.”

Key pages and features

• Music players: Use music player plugins so visitors can easily access and play your songs directly from your website. This removes the friction for someone encountering your work for the first time.
  
• Tour page: If you’re on tour now or in the future, add a page for visitors to see when you’re performing in their city. It’s also a great idea to include a Subscribe block so people can sign up for notifications when you visit (or revisit) their city in the future.
  
• Merch store: You can sell merch such as t-shirts, posters, and hoodies using your site. Use the Payments block to receive payments directly.

Tell your unique story with our AI website builder 

Exploring these 21 websites shows how easily you can create almost anything with our AI website builder.

No developer help, design skills, or long setup is required — the AI handles the structure, layout, and starter content, so the creative work is what matters.

Plus, nothing is fixed. You can further customize every page, block, color, and element through AI commands or manual editing.

The best part: You can launch instantly with WordPress.com’s managed hosting, built-in SEO tools, essential security and performance features, and more.

You bring the idea — AI makes it real

Use our AI website builder for free today.

Try it now

29 Jan 2026, 3:04 pm

Tammy Silva started sharing remote job opportunities on LinkedIn during the pandemic. 

When she moved back to Brazil after years in Singapore and Australia, she noticed something: most Brazilians had no idea they could work remotely for U.S. companies and earn in dollars.

So she started posting about it on LinkedIn. Job openings. Resume tips. Interview advice. All free.

“I wasn’t doing it for work,” Tammy says. “I was just trying to reach people. If I helped 10 or 20 people get better jobs, that was enough.”

But people kept following. The audience grew. What started as a side project became a full-time business — and a website she built in one day using our AI website builder.

From a side project to a full-time business

What began as a volunteer effort turned into something bigger:

• A recruiting agency connecting Brazilian talent with U.S. startups
• A growing audience of job seekers Tammy educates for free
• Speaking engagements, coaching sessions, and a newsletter
• Over 190,000 LinkedIn followers 

Tammy’s approach was simple: give everything away for free. No gated content. No paywalls. Just genuine help.

She spent hours a week hunting for remote roles that would hire Brazilians — work she did voluntarily, on top of her day job. She posted resume tips, interview advice, and job openings. 

Nobody teaches you how to build a resume. I started my career in HR — I’ve reviewed thousands of them. I know what companies actually look for. So I just started sharing what I knew.

People followed because the help was real. And what started as a passion project became a full-time business.

The inbox problem

But with scale came a problem.

Every day, Tammy’s inbox flooded with the same questions: What do you do? Can you help me? Is this free? How do I work with you?

I was getting 50+ messages a day. People didn’t understand what I offered or how to work with me. I needed one place to explain it all.

Tammy needed a website. And she’d been putting it off for too long.

From an idea to a website — in one afternoon

Tammy had wanted a website for months. But between running the business, creating content, and managing clients, it kept sliding down the list.

Then one Friday evening, she decided she’d had enough.

I didn’t want to hire a UI/UX designer plus a developer. I wanted something ready.

She opened WordPress.com, found the AI website builder, and got to work:

• The tool generated a website to match Tammy’s vision and needs
• She used the drag-and-drop blocks to further structure the site
• The AI helped her refine her copy to match her tone of voice and the visual look
• She also used AI to add extra features, like embedding a newsletter signup form
• All of it runs on WordPress.com’s managed hosting — set up and maintained for her

And of course, she picked a pink color palette to match her brand…

…and her hair:

In a couple of hours, her website was live.

I built my website in an afternoon. No designer. No developer. Just me.

23K site visitors and counting

Today, tammysilva.com.br works as a self-serve hub:

• Explains who Tammy is and what she offers
• Separates free resources from paid services
• Collects resumes directly into her candidate database
• Drives newsletter signups
• Links to events and speaking engagements

The result? People now check the site before reaching out.

Now people already have all the information. They don’t need to message me to ask what I do.

Since launching in August, the website has helped Tammy achieve:

• Almost 23,000 site visits
• Monthly views reaching over 7,000 in peak months
• Fully booked 1:1 coaching sessions — 10 slots filled in 2 days
• Massive reduction in inbox volume

Before, I would have to post about my 1:1s to fill them. Now I don’t even mention them on LinkedIn. People just check the website and book.

Your story deserves a home, too

Tammy is already building her second WordPress.com site — this one for her B2B recruiting business.

She didn’t need to hire a developer for the first site. She won’t need one for the second either.

That’s what makes WordPress.com special — the AI website builder gets you started fast, and managed hosting means you’re not stuck dealing with updates, security, or backups. 

You focus on your business. The platform handles the rest.

Tammy’s story started on LinkedIn. But her website is where it all comes together — a place she owns, controls, and can grow however she wants.

Yours can too.

You bring the idea — AI makes it real

Use our AI website builder for free today.

Try it now

Where did your story start — and where does it live now? Tell us in the comments.

28 Jan 2026, 4:00 pm

If you’re launching a new business — whether it’s ecommerce, a consultancy, or a creator project — one of your first moves is to build an online presence, usually starting with a website.

Going online itself isn’t the hard part. The real challenge is knowing what to focus on first.

This guide walks through the key steps required to build an online presence, focusing on what actually matters in your first few months.

We spoke with founders and small business experts to pull together practical advice and examples you can learn from.

Step 1: Define your business in one sentence

Start by writing a one-line descriptor that clearly explains what you do, who you help, and which problems you solve. 

This sentence becomes the baseline for your homepage, service pages, and how you talk about your business everywhere else.

The most important thing is to make sure that the site clearly says what you do, who you do it for, how well you do it, and what specifically you do. Nothing else will work unless the site is clear. — Andy Crestodina, co-founder and CMO at Orbit Media

Take Coa — a platform providing a therapist-led learning experience. Its “gym for mental health” tagline works because it borrows a familiar concept everyone understands (gym as a place for regular practice, professional guidance, and ongoing improvement) and applies it to mental wellness.

Use this template to write your own one-line description:

“I/We help [who] [do / achieve] by [how you do it], so they can [solve problems or get outcomes].”

Let’s say you have a business selling ready-made meals for busy moms. Your description line could be shaped as:

“We help busy moms feed their families healthy, balanced meals without the hassle of cooking every night.”

The sentence is simple, shows exactly the value offered, and makes it clear who it’s for. 

Step 2: Focus on one audience (not everyone)

Choose one specific audience to focus on and make sure your website is built primarily for them.

When you try to speak to everyone, your messaging gets vague and harder to act on.

Prioritizing one target market early makes your site clearer, faster to build, and easier to improve.

Audience alignment is the number one and the most important thing in a strategic partnership. You have to get extremely clear on who you serve. The clearer you get on that, the easier everything else becomes. — Jimmy Newson, founder and CEO of Moving Forward Small Businesses.

To identify this ideal customer profile, narrow your focus using the criteria below:

• Who has the problem you solve: Think about who needs your services or products right now.
  
• Who can you reach: There might be a large market for your business, but think about a smaller audience segment you can reach right now.
  
• What they need: Once you’ve narrowed down your target audience, focus on understanding their pain points and how you can address them.

Kat Boogard demonstrates this on her hiring page by clearly defining the types of businesses she works with — such as software companies in the “world of work” space that already have a strategy and understand results take time:

Tip: Whenever you redefine your ideal customer profile — or learn more about your audience — make sure you update your one-line business description.

Step 3: Create a homepage that explains what you do

Your homepage should make it crystal clear what you do and who you serve within five seconds. 

This means writing headlines and copy that your target audience can understand instantly — clarity beats cleverness every time:

People are buying you. They want to like you, trust you, and understand you. If they don’t understand you, they’re not going to move forward. — Sarah Noel Block, founder of Tiny Marketing

Your homepage needs three core elements:

• A one-line description of the problem you solve and who it’s for, written as a clear, specific tagline.

• Content that shows what makes you different or better than other solutions.

• A clear call to action to buy, explore, or learn more about your products and services, or sign up for a lead magnet.
  

Using our meal service business as an example, I applied these elements to build a homepage with WordPress.com’s AI website builder using the following prompt:

“Create a website called “Easy Nourish” that provides meal services for busy moms who want to feed healthy meals to their families every night without the hassle of cooking every day. Keep the tone lighthearted and empathetic. The color palette should be sky blue.”

The homepage makes the value clear at a glance: ready-to-heat meals for busy moms, with a clear next step to try the service.

You bring the idea — AI makes it real

Use our AI website builder for free today.

Try it now

Step 4: Create niche-specific pages on your site

Next, create dedicated pages for your main offers, so visitors can land directly on what they need.

Separate your core services and offerings into their own pages, then keep foundational pages such as About and Pricing focused and easy to scan. 

This makes navigation clearer, improves search visibility for specific queries, and gives each offer a place to explain outcomes, proof, and next steps.

For example, Justin Moore has a standalone page for each of his offerings (coaching, course, and event) on his website:

When mapping out your pages:

• Write down the exact services or offers you want people to pay for (for example: career coaching, website design, tax consulting) and create one page per service.

• Focus on long-tail phrases such as “career coaching for women working in tech in Barcelona” to attract people with a clear, specific need.

• State clearly what the service is, who it’s for, and how to get in touch or buy, without making people hunt for information.

Tip: A simple way to check if your pages work is to ask a few people to click through your site and tell you what feels unclear or hard to find.

Have other people go through the site, because they’ll see things you’re blind to. You might think something is clever, but it’s actually stopping people from getting where they want to go. — Jimmy Newson, founder and CEO of Moving Forward Small Businesses

Step 5: Show the human(s) and vision behind the business

Share your story on your site — who you are, why you do this work, and what you care about — not just what you sell. 

For small businesses, trust is the differentiator and a way to compete with bigger brands. People trust people, not logos or vague brand statements.

If I were starting again, I’d put my face on the homepage. People are not buying a logo. They’re buying trust. — Andy Crestodina, Co-founder & CMO, Orbit Media

Here’s how you can achieve this with your new website:

• Include real people: Add your (or your team’s) image over stock images. It will help people instantly recognize and connect with you.
  
• Share why you care: Explain the mission behind your work. When your audience understands your why, it helps them trust you more.
  
• Add your background story: Briefly explain how you came to start your business. Use first person language if appropriate and don’t be afraid to showcase your expertise in the business.

Tammy Silva embodies humanizing your site perfectly.

Instead of hiding behind a logo or generic brand language, she puts herself front and center — Tammy with pink hair, openly sharing her goal of helping people find remote work opportunities.

The key is to write the way you speak and let your personality shine. Avoid fussing too much over sounding smart, professional, or clever.

Step 6: Set up the technical basics to go live

Your site should be reliable, secure, and easy to manage from day one, so you can focus on growing your business instead of troubleshooting technical issues. 

These technical foundations create a smooth experience for your customers while freeing you to do what you do best:

• Reliable web hosting: Your site needs to load fast and stay online 24/7.
• Tight security: An essential investment to ensure your site remains free of malware, hacks, and spam.
• Regular updates and backups: This will ensure your site continues to run smoothly and there is no risk of data being lost.
• Basic site analytics: These will provide essential and usable data on how people are finding and using your site.
  

Tip: Many small businesses choose WordPress.com’s managed hosting because these essentials are built in without extra setup. If you’re creating your site with the AI website builder, you can simply choose a relevant plan after you finish building your site.

Step 7: Create high-impact assets for your site

From here, focus on publishing a few high-quality pieces — comprehensive guides, detailed case studies, or in-depth tutorials that genuinely help your audience.

It’s tempting to pad your site with lots of surface-level blog posts just to “have content,” but that often backfires. 

Thin, semi-useful pieces quietly erode trust and leave visitors unimpressed. Quality beats quantity every time.

Don’t start with thin content. Start with something big. Publish the detailed thing that explains your thinking or what works based on research. — Andy Crestodina, co-founder and CMO at Orbit Media

Take The King’s Monologue, for example.

Instead of publishing dozens of thin articles on history, the site only shares deeply researched, well-written, in-depth articles and academic papers:

As a starting point, concentrate your efforts on three or four core topics you can cover exceptionally well — fewer pieces, higher standards, and content that actually earns attention.

Step 8: Join the conversation in your niche

Build relationships in your niche by joining communities where your target audience already gathers — both on public platforms such as LinkedIn and in smaller, targeted communities.

This helps you build an online presence through real relationships and understand your niche on a deeper level.

Show up consistently, pay attention to what people are asking, and contribute helpfully before promoting anything.

The new currency is community. Instead of trying to blast a message to thousands of people, have real, direct conversations with people in the places they already show up — whether that’s private groups, forums, or smaller communities. — Jimmy Newson, Founder & CEO, Moving Forward Small Businesses

Here’s how you can build a network strategically:

• List the people who lead or influence communities in your niche.

• Send personalized connection requests focused on starting a conversation, not making an ask.

• Show up consistently over time so your feed reflects the people and topics you actually care about.
  

Tip: Look for the smaller, intentionally-built communities where your target audience gathers.

The best clients come from small, private communities. Slack groups, invite-only groups, places you can’t just search for. You don’t find them through Google. You find them by asking people: where do you hang out online? Ask your customers or peers what communities they’re part of. If you’re a good fit, you’ll often get invited. — Sarah Noel Block, founder of Tiny Marketing

For example, The Mom Collective is a community of moms in Barcelona where participants discuss the challenges they are facing, share new things they’ve learned, and organize meet-ups. 

If you’re running a business catering to this audience and you meet the criteria, it’s a good idea to join this group.

Step 9: Contribute to external sources to boost your visibility

Instead of waiting for people to find your site, borrow attention from places your audience already trusts. 

This can include guest appearances on podcasts, writing for industry blogs or newsletters, being quoted in articles, or collaborating with complementary businesses.

Podcast guesting is the main reason my website ranks so well. I have hundreds of backlinks because of those guest appearances, and my last clients all came from that. — Sarah Noel Block, founder of Tiny Marketing

Visibility opportunities will come your way organically when you focus on building a community in your niche. To take a more proactive approach:

• Research the intricacies of the influential voices and platforms in your niche — what do they publish, which topics they cater to, what is missing from their catalog, and what value can you add.
  
• Pitch yourself as a guest by showcasing the value you bring to the table — highlight your unique perspective and explain why you’d be a good fit in the community.

For instance, marketer Katelyn Bourgoin has appeared in many podcasts, provided insights for articles, and partnered with other companies — not just to gain early traction, but to sustain momentum as her business continues to grow.

Step 10: Treat effort and consistency as your KPIs

In the early days, measure your success by effort and consistency — not external metrics.

Traffic and subscriber metrics take time to grow. In the early days, it’s more useful to measure your effort with internal benchmarks such as:

• Content published: guides, service pages, or guest posts you’ve published.
• Collaborations initiated: podcast appearances, guest articles, or partnerships started.
• Real conversations: calls, DMs, or feedback sessions with customers and potential partners.

When you’re new, track success based on activity, not performance. It would be strange to see big results early on — what matters is staying consistently active and building the foundation. — Andy Crestodina, Co-founder & CMO, Orbit Media

Growing your online presence from zero requires time and effort and doesn’t typically provide immediate rewards — but the payoff is totally worth it.

Step 11: Build community through real conversations 

Finally, have direct conversations with your audience to understand their real needs, gather feedback, and refine your business based on what you learn.

This can include:

• Scheduling regular 1:1 calls with early customers to gather feedback.
• Participating in community discussions where your target audience is present.
• Maintaining relationships with your peers who share the same target audience and want to solve similar problems.
  

Instead of trying to reach a thousand people, talk to seven. Those direct conversations will give you more insight than anything else — and they’ll shape your messaging, offers, and direction far better than broadcasting ever will.— Jimmy Newson, Founder & CEO, Moving Forward Small Businesses

Rishabh Goyal — founder of Dodo Payments — demonstrates this well. He interacts with relevant Reddit threads without pushing his product, staying genuinely helpful and curious about solving problems.

This provides him with understanding of his audience’s real needs and builds direct, two-way communication with the community.

Build your online presence in 2026

Building an online presence for your new business doesn’t have to feel overwhelming.

The secret is knowing what to tackle first: Get clear on what you do and who you serve, create a homepage that reflects that clarity, and build momentum through real conversations and consistent effort.

WordPress.com makes this entire process simpler. 

With the AI website builder to get you online quickly and managed WordPress hosting to handle the technical side, you’re free to focus on your audience and your business.

27 Jan 2026, 4:00 pm

Version 1.7.0 of WordPress Studio is a major upgrade for anyone building WordPress sites locally, especially developers and power users who like to automate tasks and work from the terminal.

In earlier releases, the Studio CLI focused mainly on creating and managing preview sites. 

With version two, it becomes a full-featured command-line companion for much of your Studio workflow, including creating and managing local sites, running WP-CLI in the right context, connecting to WordPress.com, and more.

In this post, we’ll review what’s new and share practical ways to incorporate the Studio CLI into AI-assisted workflows. 

For the full command reference and advanced options, see the updated Studio CLI documentation included with this release.

What is a CLI?

A CLI (command-line interface) lets you control tools and applications by typing commands into a terminal, instead of clicking through menus. Developers tend to like CLIs because they’re:

• Fast: Spin up, change, or remove environments with a single command
• Repeatable: Run the same commands on any machine, or bake them into scripts
• Automatable: Let build systems and AI agents run commands for you

Even if you don’t typically work in the terminal, the Studio CLI is still worth paying attention to. 

It’s the common “language” automation tools can use to interact with Studio. Once it’s enabled, your editor, scripts, or AI coding assistants can do things like create a new site, run database upgrades, or publish a preview without you having to navigate through multiple screens in the Studio application.

Getting started with the Studio CLI

To begin using the Studio CLI, complete the following steps:

1. Open the WordPress Studio application on your machine.
2. From the main menu, open the Settings modal. You can also click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the app.
3. Enable the Studio CLI option and click Save.
4. On macOS, you’ll be prompted for your computer password to allow installation.

Once the Studio CLI is enabled, you will have access to a global studio command from your preferred terminal application:

studio <area> <command> [options]

In Studio 1.7.0, the CLI now covers four main areas:

• Authentication: Manage your WordPress.com account for features that require it
• Preview sites: Create and update WordPress.com hosted preview sites
• Local site management: Create, start, stop, configure, and delete Studio-managed local sites
• WP-CLI integration: Run WP-CLI commands inside correctly configured Studio environments, without installing WP-CLI yourself

You can see an overview at any time by running studio --help:

Most commands are designed to be run from the root folder of a Studio-managed site. 

For quick access, you can open that folder directly in your terminal by clicking the Terminal button on the site’s Overview tab.

Managing local Studio sites

One of the biggest upgrades in Studio CLI v2 is end-to-end local site management from the terminal. 

Rather than switching back to the Studio user interface for routine tasks, you can create a site, check its status, start or stop it, and clean it up when you’re finished. 

It’s a faster day-to-day workflow, and it also makes automation much easier, whether you’re writing scripts yourself or using an AI agent to do it for you.

At the center of it all is the studio site command. The available options include:

studio site status    # Get status of site
studio site create    # Create a new site
studio site list      # List sites
studio site start     # Start site
studio site stop      # Stop site(s)
studio site delete    # Delete site
studio site set       # Configure site settings

Create local sites with a single command

Use studio site create to spin up a new site in your current directory or at a specific path. Here are a few examples of what you can do:

# Create a new site with default options in the current folder
studio site create
# Create a new site with a custom domain and HTTPS
studio site create --https --domain hello.wp.local
# Create a site in a different directory
studio site create --path /path/to/site

The CLI will:

• Set up a local WordPress environment.
• Start the WordPress server.
• Open WP Admin in your browser when it is ready.

You can run this from an empty folder, or from a directory that already contains a WordPress site that is not yet registered within the Studio app.

List, inspect, start, and stop local sites

When you are working with multiple local sites, the `list` and `status` commands make management much easier:

studio site list       # Show all local sites known to Studio
studio site status     # Status of the site in the current directory

Status output includes:

• Whether the site is running
• The local URL, for example http://localhost:PORT
• Key configuration details such as PHP version and login information

Starting and stopping sites is also straightforward:

studio site start      
studio site stop

This works well in scripts that need to start a site, run tests or content operations, and then stop it again.

Delete and configure sites safely

When you are finished with a project, you can remove it from Studio and, if needed, delete all the associated files from your machine with the following commands:

studio site delete          # Remove the site from Studio
studio site delete --files  # Remove the site and files

For configuration changes, studio site set lets you adjust settings for a specific local site:

studio site set [options]

You can, for example:

• Change the PHP or WordPress version.
• Update the local domain or port.
• Toggle features that affect how the local environment runs.

Tip: Run studio site set --help for the full list of available options.

Authentication from the terminal

Some Studio features, such as creating or updating preview sites, require a logged-in WordPress.com account. 

Studio CLI v2 gives you dedicated studio auth commands so you can manage this from the terminal:

• studio auth login launches a browser flow and gives you a token to paste back into your terminal to complete the login.
• studio auth status tells you whether you are authenticated and which account is active.
• studio auth logout disconnects the CLI from your WordPress.com account and clears stored credentials.

If you run a command that needs authentication while logged out, such as studio preview create that we will review next, the CLI will guide you to log in.

Preview sites from the CLI

Preview sites are temporary, shareable environments hosted on WordPress.com that mirror your local Studio site. They are ideal for sharing work with others who do not have a local environment.

The CLI provides a complete set of commands:

studio preview create          # Create a preview site
studio preview list            # List all your preview sites
studio preview update <host>   # Redeploy changes to a preview
studio preview delete <host>   # Remove a preview site

Tip: Run studio preview list to see all previews associated with your WordPress.com account, then use the host value from that output with studio preview update or studio preview delete.

Built-in WP-CLI, configured for you

WP-CLI is the official command-line interface for WordPress itself. Studio CLI v2 integrates it directly through a dedicated studio wp command, so you do not need to install or configure WP-CLI on your own:

studio wp [<wp-cli-command>] [<wp-cli-arguments>...]

From your site’s root directory, you can run common WP-CLI tasks like:

• studio wp core version shows the WordPress version for the current site.
• studio wp plugin list lists installed plugins (and their status).
• studio wp core update-db runs any required database updates after a WordPress update.

Studio sets the environment variables, paths, and credentials for you, so these commands run against the correct database and files with no extra setup.

Using Studio CLI with AI coding tools

One of the biggest advantages of Studio CLI v2 is how naturally it fits into AI-assisted development workflows, especially with tools like Claude Code and Cursor. 

These agents read the code in your local project (including themes and plugins) and run commands in your environment, which makes it possible to offload much of the repetitive work. For example, they can:

• Use studio site commands to create, start, stop, and manage local environments.
• Run studio wp for diagnostics, database tasks, and content management.
• Create and update WordPress.com preview sites for review without leaving your editor.

Provide context

The AI tool you’re using may not automatically understand WordPress Studio or the Studio CLI. To get useful results, start by giving the AI agent a bit of context about what it’s looking at and what tools it can use.

For example, imagine you’ve opened a local Studio site folder in your terminal. 

Begin by telling the AI agent what this directory is, and that it can run the Studio CLI. 

In this example, we’ll use Claude Code and explicitly note that it can invoke the CLI via studio.

“This is the folder for a WordPress Studio site. You have access to the Studio CLI, which can be invoked by running studio. Start by exploring the available options.”

From there, you should get a response that looks like this:

With a simple prompt, the AI now has a solid understanding of the Studio CLI. This example was generated using Opus 4.5.

Automate environment setup

Once the AI understands what Studio can do, you can start handing off routine setup tasks. For instance, you might tell your agent:

“Set up a new local WordPress site using Studio with the name “Nick’s Site””

Behind the scenes, it may run something like:

studio site create --path "../nicks-site" --name "Nick's Site" --skip-browser

Here’s an example of the output from Claude Code, again using Opus 4.5.

Debugging and verification with WP-CLI

Studio also makes it easy to troubleshoot issues using WP-CLI — especially when you’re staring at an error and don’t want to manually hunt down the cause.

You might say:

“Use the Studio CLI to run WP-CLI checks and figure out why this site is failing, then propose fixes.”

From there, the agent can:

• Run studio wp commands (for example, plugin list, theme list, or core update-db) to collect diagnostics.
• Suggest (or apply) code and configuration changes based on what it finds.
• Re-run the same WP-CLI checks to confirm the issue is resolved.

If you haven’t already, check out this great overview of WP-CLI to get a sense of what it can do.

Creating preview sites

Preview sites are one of the most popular features in WordPress Studio, but creating them and keeping them updated can feel a bit tedious if you’re doing it through the Studio user interface. 

The CLI streamlines the workflow, and it becomes even easier when you pair it with an AI agent.

When you’re ready to share your work with a client or teammate, you can simply ask your AI to create a preview site:

“Can you spin up a preview site for me?”

If you’re not already authenticated, the agent will prompt you to log in, then it will create the preview and return the URL. The output should look something like this:

As you continue working locally, you can periodically ask the agent to update the preview site. 

If you’re also using the AI to help build the site, theme, or plugin, you can even add a rule like: after any major change, update the preview site automatically so your shared link stays current.

Best practices when using AI with Studio CLI

AI agents can be incredibly effective copilots when you pair them with the Studio CLI. They can speed up setup, troubleshooting, preview deployments, and run real commands against your environment. 

That said, a little structure up front helps you get the benefits while avoiding unpleasant surprises.

• Work from the Studio site root (or use `–path`). This ensures commands run against the project you actually intend, especially if you have multiple sites on your machine.
• Set clear boundaries in your prompts. For example: “Do not delete sites,” “Only run read-only studio wp commands,” or “Ask before running database migrations.”
• Double-check destructive operations. For commands like studio site delete and studio preview delete, have the agent show you the exact commands it plans to run before it executes anything.

Used thoughtfully, AI plus Studio CLI can remove much of the repetitive setup, testing, and deployment friction, so you can focus more on designing and building great WordPress experiences.

Start building with Studio CLI

Studio CLI v2 makes WordPress Studio more scriptable and automation-friendly for everyday development, whether you’re running commands yourself or working with an AI agent.

If you want to go further, the Studio CLI documentation walks through everything you can do and how to fit it into your workflow.

If you haven’t tried WordPress Studio yet, or it’s been a while, this is a great time to jump in. Download Studio, spin up a site, and take the updated CLI for a quick test drive.