WordPress: Smart Blogging Platform for Growth and Change

There are many places on the internet to put your blog. Blogspot, Typepad, WordPress and  Yola are 4 commonly used sites. There are many others and more popping up every day. Reality is this though: WordPress cannot be beat. Why?

  1. the site stays cutting edge with all social media trends and technologies.
  2. search engines love wordpress sites (probably because of their editing system) so posts rank better.
  3. it is easy to change your look at feel of the site as you evolve and not lose content.
  4. it is easy to brand.
  5. it will grow and evolve as you grow and evolve.
  6. it gives you plug-ins that help with your SEO (search engine visibility), when you use them of course!

The great thing about WordPress if you are willing to learn it (or hire someone to set it up -I have a GREAT person that I’m happy to refer) is it can develop into a full website that you can sell product, create a membership group and much more!
With other sites you might gain ease of use but give up visibility and flexibility.  Which I do not recommend!  That means you might have a slight learning curve, but long term it will be worth every minute.  Therefore I recommend WordPress.
I tell all my clients to play around a bit, and first just build a free site on WordPress.  You can play with themes and changes. And as you build your brand you will be happy you used wordpress. Eventually, if you want to be taken seriously, you will want to host your wordpress site (the difference is the URL: annevanston.wordpress.com is free, annevanston.com is hosted) Once you host your site, you will be even more thrilled with the add-on’s changes and true branding you can create!

Review 1 or 2 blogs that you like.  You can go to Google and search for them by topic or industry if you like.  You can also take a look at Blogger Monday with Ann Evanston, we have TONS of blogs to look at over there..  Review the blog and ask yourself:

1.    Which platform (tool) are they on?  One of the 4 above?  Another? Was it privately developed? I look at the bottom of the page.

2.    How often does the owner of the blog post?

3.    Does the owner create links within the blog with searchable key words?

4.    Does the blog have a subscription button?

5.    Does the blog have a blogroll?

6.    What to you like or dislike about the blog?

These questions are a great way to get you started to make your transition over to WordPress so you know what you want!

 

Ann Evanston, MA, has been named by About.com as one of the Top Six Marketing Consultants, Feb 2011, and recognized in the Huffington Post for her unique approach in using Facebook to increase profits though giving. In October 2008 Ann created the Social Networking Coaching Club, a forum where you get personalized support to learn how to “discover your REAL edge” and make more online in less time with integrity.
  • Charles Baratta

    I always encounter a major problem about WordPress which is the “wp-comments-post.php error” I have already took off the plugins which was one of the advice given to me but still not working.

    Charles Baratta
    http://www.merchantloans.com

  • Julie Labes

    I don’t know what you mean by “get your hosting first”

  • Anonymous

    The switch to Worpress is at the top of my todo list in 2011. While playing blogger Monday the last couple of months I have noticed all the great differences in the WordPress blogs and really like the interactivity of commenting section that I don’t have and am REALLY looking forward to. I’ll be posting lots of questions to make the switch happen after the new year. Thanks for the great list and as always for the wealth of information.
    Yvonne Hall
    http://www.facebook.com/wildforwildtree

  • http://MagnoliaJazz.com/ Robbie Schlosser

    Hi Ann,
    Thanks for this post! Most thorough, and I heartily concur with everyone praising WordPress. Several years ago, I started blogging with Blogger, which I described as “WordPress with training wheels” when I switched to WP a year ago. Now my entire website (http://MagnoliaJazz.com) is a WP blog. Not entirely sure how everything there operates, but the excitement of tweaking and customizing it is a breeze. Reminds me of my car: Once I used to enjoy changing the spark plugs myself, and now when I look under the hood I can barely find them. Still, I know that when I turn the ignition key, the engine will start, like magic.

  • http://twitter.com/WPWebmaster Gary Glasscock

    I use WordPress on my sites and I build WordPress sites for others (TheWordPressWebmaster.com). I love WordPress and so do my clients. One of the things that makes WordPress so appealing is it is very easy to use. Yes there is a learning curve, but just buy the book “WordPress for Dummies” and you’ll be headed in the right direction. After you get past that learning curve though you will love WordPress like so many others do.

  • Donna McCord

    I am using WordPress, but since my blog was set up by my Web site designer, didn’t know about some of the other points you make such as having a subscription button, blogroll (what is that?), and I know I am not blogging as frequently as I should. I am also not sure about the hosting — I think my web site guy set it up on GoDaddy. Am looking forward to learning more about the whole blogging experience when I get to that in my SNCC studies. Thank you for raising my awareness!

  • http://www.warrior-preneur.com Ann Evanston

    Sounds to me like you did not set up the correct spam plug-ins and comment filters!

  • http://www.warrior-preneur.com Ann Evanston

    Julie you won’t loose everything by moving to a hosted site on WordPress. Of course it is always recommended you back everything up just in case something goes wonky with technology. I recommend a host on http://www.socialnetworkingcoachingclub.com/ in the WordPress group. Get your hosting first. If you want someone highly talented to do it for oyu, I have a guy I can refer you do- he did this site and Louise’s

  • http://www.warrior-preneur.com Ann Evanston

    You will love all you can do with the hosted version!

  • Julie Labes

    Ann i have the free wordpress. I bought fierceover50.com at Godaddy and forwarded the domain..do you recommend I get the other word press site or should I keep the free one for now..it does not allow plug in so I can not add video and other content..what do you think? and if you think I should upgrade…how do I do that without losing all my blog posts?

  • http://www.myshoppinggenie.com/pstd Lisa Ann Landry

    I’m using Yola and when I began using it totally a newbie getting everything set up was like having a baby – days of labor & many labor pains. Now that understand things much better I might be able to make a graceful transition over to WordPress. Hopefully by doing so my blog will show up in LinkedIn because I cant get it to show up using Yola.

    Lisa Ann Landry
    Vibrating Positive Energy
    http://www.imagedevelopmentgroup.com

  • http://home-decorating-makeovers.com/ Jennifer Duchene

    I use a hosted wordpress site, and I love the ease of use for a total non geek like me. Good to have a list of items that work or help you business. I am so glad I switched from blogspot. Clients and potential clients love being able to explore.

    Jennifer Duchene
    Home Makeover Mixtress
    http://home-decorating-makeovers.com/

  • http://www.patzahn.com Pat Zahn

    I used to have my blog at squarespace, and as an ex-nerdy engineer type & do-it-yourselfer, I had fun with it. However, at the same time I needed to deal with a change of hoster, I was realizing that I could get a LOT more help if I switched to wordpress. I have been happy since I switched and find it mostly easy to use (I always seem to test the boundaries of every system.) I was also happy (to both squarespace and wordpress credit) that I could export my blog articles and import them intact, with a few small tweaks (I didn’t have very many). Blog spammers found me immediately when I was never “found” on squarespace – I took that as vindication for the right decision.

    Pat Zahn Photo Solutions Superhero
    http://www.patzahn.com

  • Fittingsites

    In my *excitement* I failed to add my URL correctly:
    http://fittingsites.com

  • Fittingsites

    All of the reasons you state above encapsulate why I decided to standardize my business (web design) on WordPress; It offers so many competitive advantages not just to other blogging engines, but also other content management systems (traditional “websites”) and even hand-coded sites.

    As a developer I will add that, beyond the ease of use and set-up that are the hallmarks of WordPress, WordPress is a powerful and flexible system creating custom solutions as well. For pretty much anything a client can imagine, there is a better way to do it in WordPress; It saves us from ton of hand-coding and ultimately that is a savings for our clients as well.

    As someone who works with WordPress every day (on the code-level) I can’t stress enough how elegant, smart, SEO friendly, and modern this platform is. A great post, and one that I hope will encourage lots of readers to make the switch; they’ll be glad they did!

    Jerry Bates
    http://fittignsites.com

  • http://twitter.com/joypoulsen Joy Poulsen

    I am falling in love with wordpress and the flexibility it offers each and every day! Widgets, themes, plug ins – what more could a girl ask for :) With a little help from a friend, I was able to get my blog (http://joypoulsen.com) up and running in less than a week!

    Joy
    http://joypoulsen.com
    http://inspiremejoy.com

  • http://www.kristinkonvolinka.com kristin konvolinka

    I love my wordpress blog…now. But let me tell you, the first 24 hours of setting it up made me want to hit stuff. I still wish I had a few more features, but honestly, I totally dig it today. Can you imagine how many things I would have broken if I had started with a different platform.

  • http://www.warrior-preneur.com Ann Evanston

    WordPress actually allows you to add your wordpress blog to a website, very easy to do, many of my clients have! http://codex.wordpress.org/Integrating_WordPress_with_Your_Website

  • http://www.wealthships.com Sharon Hiebing

    I absolutely love WordPress and couldn’t live without it. It has evolved a couple of times with me already, and will be doing so again shortly. Love the flexibility, the ability to do a lot of the work myself without knowing code, and they have some awesome tools and plug ins!

    Sharon Hiebing
    Follow Your Dream Compass

  • http://www.mydoggblog.com Janet

    I love WordPress. Using WordPress and a premium theme, I was able to get a fully functional store front up in 10 days! Check it out at http://www.dogbandanastore.com. Although I’ve made improvements since, 90% of what you see today was done by me, a non-technical, non-web designer with very – and I mean very – little experience with WordPress or html in just 10 days. Creating a blog is even easier, you could have one up in days. Don’t hesitate, start today.

    Janet K. Fish
    http://www.mydoggblog.com
    http://www.dogbandanastore.com

  • http://www.ourlittlebooks.com Candace C. Davenport

    Our Little Books initially had its blog on WordPress and our website hosted elsewhere. When we combined them, we went with Squarespace.com. WordPress has come a long way since then, and we are happy with what we have now, but the option is always open! My one complaint with Squarespace is that you can’t “reply” individually to a comment but apparently, they are working on it. But for people who are looking, I would agree that WordPress is a great way to go.

    Candace C. Davenport
    http://www.ourlittlebooks.com ~ Little Books with a Big Message

  • Fiona Stolze

    I agree about WordPress.com being easy to learn and practise on. I’ve had a blog there for a couple of years and am now wanting to make the changeover to a hosted site. Louise, it’s great to hear that the transition is easy.

    I think if I hadn’t found WordPress already, this would convince me to come on over.

    Fiona Stolze
    http://fionastolze.wordpress.com

  • http://twitter.com/jmundeir jmundeir

    WordPress makes it so easy to blog! I love its features.

  • http://twitter.com/backngroovemom rachel h blaufeld

    I started a blog a few months ago on wordpress, and I am really happy. Although, I think that I am moving in the direction of the hosted platform…the free site has been relatively easy to figure out for a newcomer and has given me great exposure. Plus, how cute is it that it is snowing on wordpress in the month of december? Everyone needs a reason to smile during the crazy month of December!

  • http://www.thereflectivewriter.com/blog/ Jstonegoldman

    I use WordPress and switched to the paid theme when I realized how great the plug-ins, widgets, and visual presentation were. I think the time is coming to get more paid help in expanding it, so it helps to see that recommendation/possibility, too. So glad to see you recommend WordPress–helps confirm what has always felt like a good decision.

    Judy Stone-Goldman
    The Reflective Writer

  • http://louiseedington.com Louise Edington

    I LOVE my wordpress blog and I’m so excited to be coaching blogging on your bootcamp because blogging is just my favorite thing now. I have the hosted site now as I soon realized I was serious about blogging and I do not regret it for a moment (nor do I regret learning on the free site – it was easy to switch when I was ready). I also use wordpress for my Au Pair website which I use to spread the word and find more host families to host Au pairs. I love the plug ins, love the look, love it all. Also love your (our) guy who saved the day when I screwed up my blog once – lol. Listen to Ann – go with wordpress.
    Louise Edingotn
    Facing Fears and Frontiers Over Fifty