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!
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Urban Knitting makes the News
I just posted this on two of the Needlework Industry business forums I belong to, and it seemed appropriate to post it here as well.
FORUM POST
The flagpole at our town library has a red white and blue sweater sheath, composed of knit and crocheted squares. I admire it on my morning walk.
Now, on a MUCH larger scale, the needlearts have hit Time Magazine!
With COOL terminology – Yarn Bombing! and an interesting personality – Madga Sayeg
This would be a good bandwagon for ANY needlearts website /blog to write about… adding content and keying into *trending* searches…
It doesn’t matter if you are a cross stitch or needlepoint site, this would be a good thing for you, both short term and ling term…for yarn sites, this really is a no-brainer!
Write a medium to long post and Search Engine Optimize the *you know what* about it… and by all means, post on your Facebook Fan Pages
Keywords to include – yarn bombing, Madga Sayeg, Knit Graffiti, Crochet Graffiti, urban knitting
Online, things have changed drastically in the last 6 months and this would be a good way to start coming to terms with the changes.
[aside]
I plan to be posting about these changes a bit later on… and offering some indepth analysis along with Q and A, because frankly, the vast majority of needlework related websites — both yarn and thread– are in severe danger of disappearing in the Search Engines as a result of these changes
[/aside]
Anyway, here is the link… look and enjoy!
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2077071_2283023,00.html?hpt=hp_bn8
Here is Madga Sayeg’s site
http://www.knittaplease.com/home.html
Here is Madga Sayeg’s blog
http://knittaporfavor.wordpress.com/http://knittaporfavor.wordpress.com/
NOTE- she is also on Facebook and Twitter (see her website for links) so be sure you Tweet about it and post about it on FB
This is a sterling opportunity to start the work needed to fend off the Google problems looming for most NW sites, no matter their focus!
Tink
Using Social Media – Facebook and Twitter – in a way that makes sense with how they work inherently
I have dual monitors so I tend to work with my current task on one and then have CNN or HuffPo or something business related on the other — ready to be read while I sit and wait for poor Freddie, my desktop, to grins along.
I was reading an interview with Candace Nelson, one of the chef/bakers behind the concept of the *Cupcakery*
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/05/17/under-wrappers-secrets-behind-a-cult-cupcake/?hpt=Sbin
It was a fascinating read… but the REAL gold was this quote:
How did you create the idea of a “whisper word?” [A word on Twitter and Facebook that is the “secret key” to daily free cupcakes.]
“Part of the idea is that we run a cupcake shop, so it needs to be fun and playful. We are fortunate that we have a good enough business that we can do stuff like that and charitable initiatives. It’s part of us following our passion versus what we were doing before, which was finance.”
The operative concept here is:
“whisper word?” – A word on Twitter and Facebook that
is the “secret key” to daily free cupcakes.
This is an excellent example of using the inherent properties of Social Media vehicles, such as Twitter and Facebook… using them to do what they (and their millions of users) do and build on how they interact.
Certainly EVERY restaurant should be using tactics like this… but I also think that many independent brick and mortar retailers could also be using this in a similar way… not necessarily to give away or discount, but, for example, to announce new deliveries, especially on items available in limited quantities!
How can you use a *Whisper Word* in YOUR business?
Sharing the Road to Success!
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