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Simon

Why I Use WordPress

When you start out online, you may be a bit conf used as to how you are going to do it or what you need.

Basically you have two choices – a website or a blog.

Personally I pref er to use the WordPress platf orm, because it gives me the possibility of both blog andwebsite in one, and I will give the reasons below.

What’s the dif ference ?

Most people usually advise that a website is best f or a “shop window” f or products or services that you aretrying to sell.

Of course a website can also be many other things like a news, inf ormation, company, or education websitetoo, but in this post we’re concentrating on building an online business.

So if you have a list of products that you want to sell, a website is the way to go.

A Blog (Web log) is more along the style of an online diary/journal that you can quickly update with a newpost. This is great f or convenience and ease of adding new content.

There’s no need to do anything but click “Add new post”, start writ ing, and then publish it. It ’s then added atthe top of your blog page as your latest post f or everyone to read. Simple and ef f ective.

In case you don’t know, “Posts” are what makes up your blog, and each post has a date attached to it. Sothink of a post as an individual entry on the blog, like a single entry in a diary.

It ’s easy to see why so many private individuals choose blogs over websites. Google also loves blogsbecause of the constant f resh content they provide (as long as you blog regularly).

The beauty of blogs is that you can create posts about anything you like. There is no need f or anycontinuity or to f ollow-on f rom the last post if you don’t want to. You’re f ree to write whatever pops intoyour head on that day.

But don’t think when you start a blog that you can’t also create pages that are more like a website f ormat,because you can. You can have the best of both worlds – a blog and a website in one.

WordPress gives you the ability to create blog posts and individual pages.

Each part of your website can be clearly navigated around by creating a menu entry f or the blog page, anda menu entry that takes your visitors to your static page(s)

Why Would You Want That ?

Think about a website with a blog page – “www.mywebsite.com/blog” that shows all the latest blog posts.

Now what do you do if you want to create a sales page to of f er a product to your customers ? Yes youcould do that in a blog post, but usually it ’s not the way it ’s done.

With WordPress it ’s so easy to add a static page to your site with your sales text –“www.mywebsite.com/mysalespage”, and link it f rom wherever you want.

By doing that you have kept the sales page out of your blog entries, but you can link to that page f rom anyblog post you wish.

You also have the possibility to create a “secret page” that doesn’t link f rom anywhere on your website.This is very usef ul if you need to create a page f or a select f ew people to see. If you don’t include a link toit in your menu, it essentially remains invisible to anyone visit ing your site unless you give out the link tothem.

Look and Feel

WordPress works on what’s called “Themes”. A theme is a template with a certain color and built- in look andf eel. Once chosen, that theme is applied to all the posts and pages you create.

If you get bored with the way your website looks, then it ’s very easy to change the theme, and instantly youhave a new look to your website.

That really is not so easy to do if you have a website developed f or you. Most websites would take a hugeef f ort to redesign.

Premium Themes

WordPress comes with a lot of themes to choose f rom f or f ree, but what if you can’t f ind what you’relooking f or, or maybe you want something a bit more prof essional. No need to worry.

There are plenty of websites out there that sell premium WordPress themes with a more prof essional lookand f eel that’s better suited to your business.

Check out places like Theme Forest f or some great themes.

Then there’s the Genesis Framework. The way Genesis works, is that you need to buy the f ramework andinstall it , and then buy a child theme that sits on top of it.

The beauty is that Genesis is hugely f lexible, and once you have the f ramework installed you can buy anyother child theme and install it on an existing site, and the new theme will instantly f it all your existingcontent around it, making f or a simple switch over.

Stay tuned f or a review of the Genesis Framework coming soon….

In Summary

WordPress gives you the f lexibility to create a blog and website in one. You can have your static pagesof f ering products, yet still have a blog that could cover other topics in your business area, and inf ormcustomers of up-coming products or services.

A blog also provides a way f or your customers to interact with you using blog comments. That is of teninvaluable as a way to f ind out what they want and what makes them tick.

So if you want to get an online business going quickly, WordPress really is one of the f astest and easiestways f or the beginner. Plus it ’s f ree of charge. If you get your web hosting by Host Gator f or instance, thenthey provide a f ree WordPress install f or you.

Please also see my other post on how to build your f irst website.

Thanks,

Simon.

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