Stephan Spencer's Scatterings

The Scattered Wisdom of a scientist turned web marketing virtuoso

August 2008
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Your website, powered by WordPress

Remember those old commercials... "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs." ? Well, if you do, then just imagine a take-off on the commercial... "This is your website. This is your website on WordPress." But in this version, imagine the latter is an Olympic weightlifter on steroids. If I hadn't made the case enough for WordPress as a CMS for regular websites (not just blogs) in this recent post and in this recent case study, then I guess the traffic increases must not have been impressive enough for ya! ;-)

So we decided to start experimenting with WordPress on microsites for clients. The first client guinea pig was Countrywide, and the site was Credit Demystified. I don't have any Before and After stats to share on this one, because the site was launched under WordPress from the get-go. Once we have a bit of a track record going (the site is less than a month old), I'm hoping that our client will give me permission to share some metrics here. So stay tuned. And in the meantime, check out the site. Any feedback is welcomed!

Here are some of the advantages of a website powered by WordPress:

  1. tag clouds -- which provide keyword-rich text link navigation, which link to...
  2. tag pages -- which contain excerpts of posts/pages that are related (by the fact they have the same tag in common)
  3. RSS feeds -- which help with link building and garner you visibility in the feed/blog search engines like Feedster and Google Blog Search
  4. Technorati tags -- to garner visibility on Technorati's tag pages, thus delivering you Google visitors too by the fact that Technorati tag pages tend to rank really well in Google
  5. keyword-rich, search-friendly URLs -- that are spider-friendly and tend to be indexed and ranked better in search engines than the complex, dynamic-looking URLs that are typical of content management systems
  6. content-rich, search-friendly HTML -- thanks in part to the presentation layer (usually) being cleanly separated from the content layer, along with semantic mark-up, which gives the search engines good clues as to what copy is important and what is not
  7. visitor participation -- through comments, trackbacks, and pingbacks
  8. post-dating of content -- to automatically "go live" on a scheduled date
  9. ease of maintenance -- with no, or minimal, HTML skills required
  10. extensibility -- through plugins (it's pretty easy to write your own. Heck, I I managed to), sidebar widgets (like the Swicki buzzcloud**), and direct hacks to the open source PHP codebase.
  11. easy handling of "rolling events" -- like speaking engagements, news releases etc.
  12. free support -- from the very responsive developer and user communities

The first six of the above list are of primary benefit to your site's SEO.

These were compelling enough reasons that search marketer Alan Rimm-Kaufman is porting his corporate site to WordPress. Good on ya, Alan! Now who else can I count on to make the switch? :-)

So remember, you don't have to have an actual "blog" to reap the benefits of having a "blog". I recommend you peruse both Netconcepts.com or CreditDemystified.com and prove it to yourself.

** Footnote: In case you were wondering what the heck a swicki was, it is a custom search engine, like this one, and a buzzcloud is a tagcloud type thing, but of popular searches rather than tags, that displays on your site along with the Search box, like the one displayed in the right column on my daughter's Neopets Cheats site.

Posted by Stephan Spencer on 12/29/2006 | Permalink

Comments (38)| Comments RSS | Filed under: Search Engines, Content, Blogging cms, content management, microsites, seo, tagging, wordpress            

34 comments, 4 pingbacks

  1. Thanks for mentioning us, Stephan.

    If your readers are interested, we're up to the third installment in our migration-to-WP-as-a-CMS blog series. Folks interested in technical detail should check out this post:

    http://www.rimmkaufman.com/rkgblog/2006/12/30/wordpress-cms-breadcrumbs-nav-plugins/

    Cheers

    Alan

    Comment by Alan Rimm-Kaufman [Visitor] Email · http://www.rimmkaufman.com/rkgblog — 12/31/06 @ 14:09


  2. Those are the great features, you have explained about wordpress blog. But what about backing up your wordpress blog? I have heard that it is still not an easy to backup just your blog if it is in wordpress. Is that right?

    Comment by sanderson [Visitor] Email · http://www.webhosting.uk.com — 01/06/07 @ 09:15


  3. [...] As a precursor to my blog entry that you’ll see in a few days, here is an excerpt from Stephan’s blog entry: “Here are some of the advantages of a website powered by WordPress: [...]

    Pingback by Business Services, ETC - A Virtual Assistance Company - Giving Business Owners Freedom by Managing t [Visitor] — 01/06/07 @ 12:49


  4. Hey Stephan,

    Thought I'd let you know you should get in touch with your http://www.creditdemystified.com/ client as the Tag Cloud widget's background doesn't repeat-y and it looks terrible! If you convert the Tag Cloud widget's HTML to include a content background - set repeat-y on the background - and below a bottom background it'll solve your issue.

    I'm planning to blog the Search Engine Room 2007 you're attending in March, think we're allowed to audio/video record the sessions?

    Comment by Michael [Visitor] Email · http://michaelvisser.com.au — 01/15/07 @ 05:57


  5. Thanks Michael for the heads up.
    I have no idea about the Search Engine Room recording policy. That'd be a question for Martin, the conference producer.

    Comment by Stephan Spencer [Member] Email — 01/16/07 @ 15:13


  6. Hi sanderson,

    It is easy to back it up. Just use the WordPress Database Backup plugin.

    Stephan

    Comment by Stephan Spencer [Member] Email — 01/20/07 @ 00:57


  7. [...] No es ninguna tontería. Ya se que existen paquetes orientados específicamente a la gestión de contenidos y no a la edición de blogs, pero tras leer este artículo de Stephan Spencer, un especialista en SEO y blogs, la verdad es que tiene bastante sentido plantearse esta plataforma como web corporativa siempre que uno tenga voluntad de alimentarla con cierta frecuencia. Ahi van algunos de sus argumentos: [...]

    Pingback by CODIGOxGRAFICO Blog » Blog Archive » Utilizar Wordpress como CMS [Visitor] — 01/24/07 @ 10:44


  8. Good post. Without any doubt, wordpress is the modern CMS of our days. Like the old phrase "from 8 to 80", wordpress is for the new and for the old, everyone can use wordpress and do a beautiful and powerfull blog.

    Comment by Jonix [Visitor] Email · http://birds.allaboutthese.org — 02/02/07 @ 13:15


  9. I love wordpress I use it when I feel lazy I don't have to edit what it does to much to get valid code. I think your doing a great job here with yours installation loks fantastic. I only wish I could get mine looking this good. I will be back to check you out for more info.

    Comment by TJ Short [Visitor] Email · http://ausis.info — 02/06/07 @ 03:16


  10. I'll second Stephen on the Wordpress Database Backup plugin.

    Lee

    Comment by Lee [Visitor] Email · http://www.findatriathlon.com — 02/18/07 @ 21:06


  11. welcome to wordpress - its a great CMS program to use - I have just recently switched and I find it better than my past 2 CMS programs I used!

    Comment by Ian is a Failure [Visitor] Email · http://www.ianfernando.com — 07/01/07 @ 16:53


  12. [...] last year there was a great amount of talk about using WordPress as a CMS. Stephan Spencer has always been an advocate of using WordPress as a [...]

    Pingback by Use WordPress as a CMS to manage your content - WordPress Plugins [Visitor] — 07/27/07 @ 04:44


  13. Wordpress is the way to go for sure. It takes a little while to figure out but once you do it is great.

    Comment by DayJobNuker [Visitor] Email · http://www.dayjobnuker.com — 08/07/07 @ 20:51


  14. WordPress is great. I have it running my blog and am planning to use it for a video site that I have in mind. What I really like about WordPress is that there are so many available plugins. Most of them free as well.

    I'm still learning a lot about what Wordpress can do and how to make it do what I need it to do. I can see the possibilities that Wordpress has and I am excited.

    Comment by Robert Eilers [Visitor] Email · http://www.roberteilers.com — 10/24/07 @ 00:22


  15. I would pay thousands for Wordpress. That is how valuable it is to me.

    Comment by Internet Marketing Blog [Visitor] Email · http://www.ryaneven.com — 11/03/07 @ 02:30


  16. Recently installed a WP blog. Really appreciate the info you have provided. Thanks.

    Comment by James [Visitor] Email · http://www.where-to-find.net/blog — 11/05/07 @ 14:01


  17. Hi, thanks for the info.
    I do have a few Wordpress sites and search engines do seem to prefer them. Though I believe that some sites are just too custom or complicated for WP.

    Comment by List of [Visitor] Email · http://www.listomi.com — 11/06/07 @ 20:18


  18. "visitor participation — through comments, trackbacks, and pingbacks"

    I have been doing sites in Dreamweaver and prefer to create each page and make it a unique optimized beast - but COMMENTS is what makes using a blog so attractive. If it weren't for that - I'd most likely stick with hand made sites. They make more money 99 times out of a 100 :'>

    Cheers! Mike

    Comment by Mike Liebner an Internet Marketing Guy [Visitor] Email · http://www.mikeliebner.com/ — 12/02/07 @ 15:24


  19. I fail to see how you can lose with WordPress whether you use it as a blog or a website. Comments build community on a blog, but that's not the main thing that makes them attractive - it's the consistent updating.

    Also, in terms of making money ... it's down to one thing ... CONTENT but more importantly readable, quality information. People who don't make money with their blogs just don't know how to, just like people who don't know how to make money with their websites.

    I believe some people think of blogs as second rate websites and if you remove that mindset, you have a beast of a platform for making money - especially when combined with mini sites.

    Trish Jones

    Comment by Trish Jones [Visitor] Email · http://www.trishjones.com — 12/03/07 @ 06:45


  20. [...] has a plug-in for WordPress: SEO Title Tag 2.1.2 I’m not certain, but I believe this is the Stephan Spencer article Matt Cutts was referring [...]

    Pingback by   Matt Cutts 3 step process to building up a really good site and getting a ton of traffic&nbsp [Visitor] — 12/09/07 @ 23:08


  21. Stephan, I'm really intrigued by the CreditDemystified example but have a question. I don't see visible tags on any of the pages, yet the tag cloud is clearly tied to a tagging system. How does that work?

    Comment by Jim Hathaway [Visitor] Email · http://www.hyperlinkguerrilla.com — 01/07/08 @ 13:26


  22. Jim, we used the Ultimate Tag Warrior plugin.

    Comment by Stephan Spencer [Member] Email — 01/07/08 @ 14:20


  23. thanks for posting this, it was a good read

    Comment by info.isgreat.org [Visitor] Email · http://www.info.isgreat.org — 01/11/08 @ 01:06


  24. Good info,thx!

    Comment by Van [Visitor] Email · http://gutmoney.com — 01/24/08 @ 13:26


  25. you are so right. word press is the best. this cms is so great that all us web designers who use to do it the hard way are switching over and choosing wordpress.

    Comment by social network web designer [Visitor] · http://www.pearsestreet.com — 02/19/08 @ 13:50


  26. This CMS is so easy to use and being open source you can add any type of monetization you choose to. I'm starting to prefer WP to my conventional web sites. GD.

    Comment by Geoff Dodd [Visitor] · http://www.home-business-residual-income.com/ — 02/26/08 @ 08:24


  27. Stephan,

    With the shake up in the mortgage industry, is Countrywide still working this avenue? Has management directive changed since the buyout from BOA?

    Comment by matt | internet marketing online affiliate program [Visitor] · http://affiliatemarketingmasterplan.com/looking-for-an-internet-marketing-online-affiliate-program/ — 02/26/08 @ 12:13


  28. WP is indeed the best CMS platform ever created. I have my own official blog hosted on it too so I can attest to it's functionality and capabilities.

    Thanks for sharing the valuable information and insights you have provided here.

    Comment by Aurelius Tjin [Visitor] · http://www.AureliusTjin.com — 03/03/08 @ 08:21


  29. Your right on this one Stephan Wordpress can be used for a multitude of reasons. And the Site Admin doesn't need any hardcore coding experience although it is nice to know a little. Some of the styles don't fit what your looking for and have to edit CSS and so on. But for the most part having a free CMS that's constantly up to snuff makes it real nice.

    Comment by Dennis Espindola Jr [Visitor] · http://www.phatskrill.com — 03/03/08 @ 21:20


  30. I use WordPress for all my blogging. In my opinion it’s a great application, and best of all it’s free. I have to agree that it is very search engine friendly, and there are loads of great plugins you can add for additional features.

    It’s fairly easy to install especially if your web hosting company provides you with a cPanel.

    Another great thing about WordPress is that there is plenty of support out on the Web. I’ve run into technical problems in the past and have remedied them simply by doing a search. There is an abundance of information out there on all aspects of WordPress.

    Comment by DLN [Visitor] · http://www.instant-internet-business-owner.com — 03/06/08 @ 18:13


  31. Now Joomla and Wordpress together would make an incredible CMS open source platform.

    Comment by Luciano's Car [Visitor] · http://mysafecar.com — 03/08/08 @ 17:36


  32. I fail to see how you can lose with WordPress whether you use it as a blog or a website. Comments build community on a blog, but that's not the main thing that makes them attractive - it's the consistent updating.

    Comment by ankara nakliyat [Visitor] · http://www.ankara-nakliyeci.net — 03/11/08 @ 14:07


  33. I used WordPress for a blog and really liked it. However I don't currently have a blog but may use WP again if I get one.

    Comment by Ben [Visitor] · http://www.countryonsale.com — 03/11/08 @ 18:11


  34. Hi Stephan, that was really helpful. But I see this article is quite old, do you have new SEO techniques? I'll be following your weblog closely has I've just launched my website and am definately in the need for good SEO.

    Keep up the good work! :)

    Comment by Ludogames [Visitor] · http://www.ludogames.nl — 03/12/08 @ 22:12


  35. Wordpress is the way to go for blogs. The number of plugins that you can add on combined with its features and constant upgrades makes it the go-to platform for serious bloggers.

    Comment by Mattaw [Visitor] · http://www.moneybites.com — 03/23/08 @ 15:02


  36. Do you recommend tag clouds for Wordpress? I've heard that Google doesn't like them, although being one that's not the best at online stuff I have no idea whether that's true or not... :razz:

    Nice blog btw, throughly agree that WP rocks - it's the only thing I know how to use :)

    Comment by Jason [Visitor] · http://www.theuniversitykid.com — 03/23/08 @ 15:03


  37. Wordpress is a good candidate for CMS, just as good as Joomla, if you ask me. However, I wouldn't use Wordpress for a main website, due to security. Secondly, many of the configurations and tags are esoteric to someone who is used to traditional HTML.

    Comment by scoop [Visitor] · http://www.workscoop.com — 03/26/08 @ 02:09


  38. to Ludogames: here is good SEO plugin for wordpress http://wp.uberdose.com/2007/03/24/all-in-one-seo-pack/

    Comment by Walera [Visitor] · http://www.taskmanagementsoft.com/ — 04/09/08 @ 09:31


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