WordPress - It's Not Just for Bloggers Anymore
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I've been a webmaster for over 12 years. And in that time I've used just about every HTML editor, CMS and page generator that was ever released.
Today, I use WordPress to develop 99.5 percent of the website projects I work on. The SEO, Web 2.0 and content management features make it so easy to deploy and market websites there's really no need to use anything else. Almost anything you could want from a website can be easily plugged into WordPress.
With WordPress you can edit your website from any computer with an Internet connection. Change and add content, navigation, interactive features or even modify the design of the entire site in a matter of minutes. You can do it on a Mac, a PC or even a Linux box. It doesn't matter because it's all done over the web.
No more hassling with expensive software and updates. Everything you need is built in.
You'll notice I'm using the word "websites" and not "blogs".
"But I thought WordPress was blogging software?" you ask.
It is blogging software. Arguably the best blogging platform in the known universe. But, it can also be used as a robust content management system with or without blogging features enabled.
Imagine being able to give your secretary or assistant the login to your WordPress site and him being able to update content, add pages and upload photos in less time than it takes you to go to Starbucks and back.
Do you know how many hours I've spent training administrative assistants and church secretaries on how to use Dream Weaver or Front Page to update their websites? More than I care to remember. The sad fact is that most of those sites were never really kept up-to-date and therefore never really lived up to their full potential.
Let's face it. For the average person editing HTML, even in a WYSIWYG editor, and uploading files to a server via FTP isn't really easy. Not to mention most of them have better things to do than sit around trying to figure out their FTP connection.
Now you may be saying to yourself, "all of these WordPress sites look the same. They look like ugly blogs. I can't have a business website that looks like that!"
Well, until recently I would have agreed with you. Even though there are a ton of really nice templates out there most of them look like "blogs" rather than "websites". And if you wanted a WordPress site that didn't look like a blog you either had to be a very good coder and designer or you had to hire one.
Well, I'm glad to say that is not the case anymore. The increase in availability of high-quality, coded and designed, premium WordPress themes makes it possible for any size company or organization to have a great looking website built on the WordPress platform.
Here are three examples of premium WordPress themes I use to build websites and blog/website "hybrids".
 WPRemixThis is probably one of the most versatile WordPress themes available. You could make 50 different sites using this one them and very few people would be able to tell that they all came from the same theme.This theme does take some know-how to get it setup. But,once it is configured anyone can take it and run with it. |
Just look at these features:
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Brian Gardner and Corey Miller just released the new WordPress iThemes. These WordPress themes are specifically designed to look, feel and function like a traditional website, each theme in the Essence Series includes:
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 The WordPress Dream ThemeI've talked a lot about the WordPress Dream Theme in the past and it's still one of my favorites. The WordPress Dream Theme is the most unique out of the three because it includes free setup and customization.If you're not a "do-it-yourselfer" but you want a great looking premium WordPress site then this is a good choice for you.Ben Cope, the creator of the WordPress Dream Theme, is not only "The Internet Genius", he's also an honest, hard worker. I've heard nothing but positive feedback from the clients I've referred to him.
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New iThemes |
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[...] With WordPress you can edit your website from any computer with an Internet connection. Change and add content, navigation, interactive features or even modify the design of the entire site in a matter of minutes. … read more [...]
[...] WordPress: Not Just for Bloggers Anymore [...]
This is awesome … I am very interested in web design myself and this is a real eye opener here. Excellent stuff. I think more needs to be written on using Wordpress beyond creating blogs.
Wow! That's amazing. Your blog is incredibly helpful for upcoming webmasters. Thanks for sharing your valuable insights.
This looks great, but I have Word Press.org…………I've attempted to find a way to even upload plugins but unable to figure it out so far. Do your tutorials work with WP.org as well as WP.com……..and what is the difference?
TeriE's last blog post..Buyers! More Pending Contracts on the Market Than a Week Ago
TeriE,
Thanks for your comment. It's a very good question that you ask.
Almost all of the WordPress info on this site assumes that you are using WordPress installed on your own domain. It can be downloaded at http://www.WordPress.org
WordPress.com is a free service that hosts a WordPress blog for you.
Some of the advantages:
1. Access to pre-installed themes, plugins, statistics counters that are both checked & working
2. Always updated to keep up with any changes in the wordpress software
3. Free for all users
4. Full time support for the servers & wordpress account
5. No coding language skills required, even the most non-tech savvy person can start a blog on wordpress.com
6. Quick to setup, within a matter of minutes
Disadvantages:
1. Cannot edit CSS, until the recent addition of PAID editing
2. Lack of plugin addition to the site
3. Limited to what wordpress.com offers you in terms of free services
4. The limited choice of themes/layouts - Cannot use Premium Themes
5. When moving to a hosted account from wordpress.com, you will take a huge hit in terms of Google ranking & SEO due to the change of domain names.
6. You are totally dependent on wordpress.com to keep your account active and hosted, which isn’t such a bad thing, but again, out of your control
7. You must use a user.wordpress.com subdomain for your blog address.
The above lists were quoted from:
http://www.attackr.com/hosting-your-own-blog-versus-wordpess-com/
The main reasons I use WordPress hosted on my own domains are brand, customization and virtual real estate. You have complete control over all of these factors when you host it yourself. If you use WordPress.com you don't.