‘The Practical Marketer’ Website launched on WordPress as a CMS
When Bill Simon came to me for another website design for his new business site, the challenge was to give it a fresh, fun look while still imparting the image of a solid PRACTICAL business site, since the name is “The Practical Marketer“. Bill also needed a lot of flexibility in growing the site, since the plan is to leverage it with adspace at some point in time. We chose WordPress, not just because of its ease of use and Bill’s familiarity with the platform, but also because it’s the best tool for the job.
I set up WordPress as a CMS (content management system) by giving it a custom homepage template so that Bill could state his site’s mission in “static” text, yet still leverage the constant freshening of content on the homepage that the loop gives to the “Newest Articles” section. This Custom WordPress Theme is totally widgetized so that Bill has control of the sidebars and can add adspace or other content as he wishes to those areas. He also has the ability of using additional widget plugins at any time to add functionality to his site, and in most cases will not need my help to do so.
Bill also has complete control of all content and how it’s organized. He can create the categories under which his articles reside, and he can create the content and choose where it resides in the site hierarchy. The only time he needs my help is if there’s the odd plugin that needs a small template addition or if he wants to change the look of the site. Changing the look is a simple wordpress theme swap, and there is no disruption in the site’s functioning nor in the URL structure when the site’s frontend is redesigned. No redirects will be needed, and no Search Engine Positioning will be lost with a WP site’s design upgrade, which is a huge benefit compared to a static site.
Using WordPress as a CMS is a smart way for Bill to ensure that his site is spidered by the major Search Engines quickly and as often as he adds content. With WordPress websites, there is no such thing as a Google Sandbox. Even better, the proper configuration of WordPress allows his keywords and keyphrases to show in his URLs, and to be picked up as tagged by different site update services, creating targeted backlinks every time he posts content. I’d say that’s the first step in being a Practical Internet Marketer, wouldn’t you?
Does your small business need a custom website? Or do you already have one that’s underperforming? Let’s talk.
[tags]Custom WordPress Theme, WordPress as a CMS, WordPress Web Design, The Practical Marketer[/tags]
