WordPress – Website Builder and Content Management
Today, July 4, I opened one of my WordPress Websites and discovered that they have just implemented WordPress 3.2 – the Gershwin…
The interface has changed fairly dramatically, but not in a disconcerting way. So far, I have been able to find my way around with no problem and i suspect that once I get used to it, I will like it a lot.
In the WordPress Documentation, they said:
QUOTE:
Version 3.2 is our fifteenth major release of WordPress and comes just four months after 3.1 (which coincidentally just passed the 15 million download mark this morning), reflecting the growing speed of development in the WordPress community and our dedication to getting improvements in your hands as soon as possible.
This speedy development and implementation is just one of the factors that makes WordPress a good bet for small business. and it one of the points I had been planning to make in the article I had logged in to write! 
So, without further ado, and using the newest version of WP, let the article commence!
WordPress is an excellent web building solution for small business
Currently, and for the foreseeable future, WordPress is one of the best website solutions for a functional, effective website.
It may not be appropriate for a site needing an extensive shopping cart solution or other complicated communication options.
However, for the majority of small businesses looking for a flexible solution with a fairly easy learning curve, WordPress may be IT!
WordPress ticks several boxes on my GOTTA HAVE List:
- Fairly Search Engine Optimized (SEO), right out of the metaphorical box The SEO can be easily maximized with a few tweaks and plugins
- It is OPEN SOURCE and has surely reached critcal mass in terms of devoted developers.
This means that it is likely to continue evolving for a long, long, time. Unlike solution created by For Profit companies, where a software might be dropped with little warning
- It is extremely flexible
There are thousands of themes available or you can have a unique one created for you.Layouts are also flexible, with 2 and 3 columns being the most common. Multiple navigation options are available, depending on the theme.
- WordPress functionality is also very flexible
Tens of thousands of plugins (both free and premium – paid) add many options ranging from shopping carts to extensive post scheduling.
- WordPress is easily integrated with Facebook and Twitter
This is no small matter, at this point in Web 2.0What it means is that you can take one action and have it extend to multiple sites.For example, a POST made on a WordPress site can also appear on Twitter and Facebook, automatically, if you have everything set up correctly. This is a powerful Three For One for any small business.
- Many WordPress Themes are Mobile Ready with little to no tweakingMobile friendly is an important consideration, especially for brick and mortar business. WordPress offers a number of solutions that can be fairly easy to implement.
All in all, WordPress is a website building, content management solution that deserves careful consideration from any small business owner!
Sharing the Road to Success!
Tink
2011 Will be a Make It or Break It Year in How Small Business Owners Embrace Mobile Technology
We’ve all heard the phrase: “Leaving money on the table”. It means
neglecting opportunities to make as much profit as possible with products or
services you already sell. But how does this apply to mobile websites?
Think about your mobile phone. It’s good for more than just sending Tweets while you’re out and about.
How often do you check websites on your phone? You may be thinking “not
very much”, but it’s still probably more times than you realize. You might use it to:
- Get directions
- Find stores or restaurants
- Play games during involuntary waits
- Connect with social media
Those examples are just a warm up…
Now that it is no longer necessary to be physically connected to a plug-in source of electricity, wireless technology has changed internet usage forever, in a big way.
People are relying on mobile devices more than ever – and less on their PCs (Personal Computers). You may not be one of them, but that makes it even more important that you realize these devices are changing and evolving all the time.
The offline business owners who take notice and position themselves at the leading edge of this unstoppable trend – by creating and utilizing mobile websites – will benefit with the lion’s share of the profits to be made.
We’re not just looking at monetary gain here.
Think about it…
If you position yourself at the head of a new major trend and direction change, you set yourself up automatically as being one of the premier authority *go to* sites… so that when others catch up and the market quickly becomes saturated – an all-too-familiar pattern – you’ll already be firmly established at the top.
As an offline business owner, if consumers are used to using YOUR mobile website, you have a major advantage, even when you competitors (finally) get on board the mobile bandwagon!
This month, the topic here at SurviveAndConquerCoaching is Mobile Websites.
There are 7 Cheat Sheets, a Short Report (this post is the Intro from that) and a longer Special Report.
Please, login to access these Resources. If you aren’t a member, the Basic Level is free and will give you access to most of these Resources!
Sharing the Road to Success,
Tink
Make Sure Your Site is Mobile Ready!
I had a phone chat with one of my coaching clients, Client C, this weekend. The focus of our chat was something else, but while we were talking, she mentioned that she had had an opportunity to view her website on an Ipad and it looked GREAT!
Needless to say, this was good news. We used WordPress to create her site. it is a combination static site and blog, a combo that WordPress handles well.
As if business owners don’t already have enough to worry about, mobile computing has become a MAJOR ISSUE. We are going to be covering the issues of Mobile Computing at least two months this year.
In fact, April’s topic IS Mobile Computing. With 7 Cheat Sheets, a Short Report, and a Special Report, you will have a good grounding in the problems and challenges involved.
Sharing the Road to Success,
Tink
Social Media and New Technology Bring Changes for Small Business
I have been doing a lot of thinking and a lot of writing about 2011 and its significance for small businesses over the last couple of weeks. As I see it, there are several factors which will be making the next year or two particularly important to offline business owners…
This Post is a Sticky Post, so it stays at the top of the page. Please, scroll down for more recent posts.
Thanks!
Tink
Social Media Marketing Opportunities for Small Businesses
I went looking online for a short, easy to understand definition of Social Media and found this analogy…
Think of regular media as a one-way street where you can read a newspaper or listen to a report on television, however, you have very a limited ability to share your thoughts on the matter.
Social Media, on the other hand, is an active two-way street that gives you the ability to communicate and respond.
While Social Media can be a major time waster, for small businesses and offline businesses in particular, Facebook and Twitter have come into their own as effective marketing tools. They are especially efficient now because they can be integrated quite nicelywith a website built using WordPress…
For instance, a WordPress Post can be set to be posted on your Facebook Fan page and Tweet on your twitter account. The Facebook Fan page and its recent posts can be displayed in the sidebar of your WordPress site along with recent Twitter Tweets. All of this can be set to happen automatically, with no additional work on your part.
So you write one thing and have it appear in two other additional venues… automatically and entirely hands off! Pretty efficient!
Mobile Marketing is Changing How We Do Business
Another important change in business is how Mobile Marketing is evolving. More and more, folks are depending on their mobile devices on a day to day basis – finding locations, reading QR Codes, even making payments…
As business owners, we need to keep up, insuring that we can benefit from the advancing technology and making sure that we have a web presence that is Mobile Accessible. As with everything internet related, there are a myriad of options and strategies available, and no one size fits all!
QR Codes Provide a Much Needed Bridge Between Offline and Online
QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) look like tiny black and white mosaics, in a square shape and with a pattern made up of even tinier black and white squares. They are actually 2D barcodes.
They are designed to be scanned by Smart Phones and other mobile devices. the device needs to have a QR Code Application installed, but more and more of them are being sold with this capacity already installed.
QR Codes are a powerful new technology from an offline business standpoint.
- They enable a consumer to do things like download directions to your shop from your website directly onto the consumer’s smart phone.
- They allow you to provide a QR Code at the register and send the customer directly to an email sign up form on your website AND join your email list while you ring up their purchase.
These are just two quick examples. Once you start thinking, I know you will begin to see the possibilities!
WordPress is now a Viable Content Management System for Small Business Websites
My last example involves the web site building software – WordPress.
WordPress was originally and specifically created as blogging software. It is now an excellent choice for many types of small business web sites. In fact, about the only thing it can’t do is run an ecommerce site with more than about 500 products.
In simple terms, a Content Management System is a web site that handles the look and function of the website separately from the actual information/content of the site.
In other words, with a Content Management System, you can make radical changes to the packaging – the theme and workings, without affecting the object inside — in this case, the website information and content.
WordPress does this easily. In addition there are literally thousands of plugins (add-ons) that will add additional functionality to a WordPress site.
WordPress is Open Source so it and many of its related Themes and Plugins are free. But, don’t limit yourself to just free. There are many fine Themes and Plugins which justify their purchase price.
As a last and extremely important point, WordPress is relatively easy to learn and use effectively. This means that a small business owner can actually have control over the company website… without expensive fees!
Look Ahead for Small Business Advantages Online
All in all, I am quite excited about the opportunities now available for small business owners. These options promise to start leveling the playing field between small business and its intimidating Big Business competition!
Sharing the Road to Success!
Tink
