9rules memberWordpress as a CMS
June 10th, 2008 | Categories: SEO, blogs, content, design, launch, marketing, networks, strategy, usabilityMost people recognize Wordpress as a world class blogging platform. What most people don’t realize is that Wordpress can be used to quickly and easily set up a website. In other words, the blogging platform doubles as a simple website CMS.
Unlike many of the other CMS solutions available, Wordpress is relatively easy to install and requires very little technical expertise to use. Functionality and features are robust and flexible, yet the average user is greeted by a simple interface and intuitive design. What’s most impressive is that the hosted version of Wordpress is free for all to use.
Personally, I like the subtle, built-in marketing factor that Wordpress offers. Page and URL structure bode really well for search engines. I’ve had a lot of success leveraging the Wordpress platform for SEO purposes.
The point is that Wordpress can (and should, in my opinion) be used for simple websites. It is easy to install and configure. Furthermore, editing, publishing, and marketing are simplified as well.
Tags: blogging, cms, content, design, flexibility, functionality, installation, platform, SEO, websites, wordpress
June 11th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Who would do this? Wordpress is one of the most insecure and badly coded web apps known.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:26 am
@anon
Obviously, others will disagree. Many of the top blogs rely on Wordpress.
For a simple, multiple-page website, Wordpress is a quick and easy solution. Furthermore, no-one needs to know that Wordpress is running on the back-end.
Cheers,
Aidan
June 11th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Does anyone have any comments on Wordpress’ ability to handle multiple languages?
June 11th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I am using the free core version of Expression Engine fro my blog. My only problem with using a blogging platform like this for a CMS is that it can be overly complicated to hand over to the client. Do they want/need to know about templates etc?
Anyone got any solutions?
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:31 am
@Felicity
Well, its rather clear the author of this post recommends WordPress as a solution. I’ve used both WP (as a CMS) and other CMS’s, and it seems no matter what there will be some learning curve for the client, but I’ve definatly seen WP to be the easiest for a novice to use.
What some professionals I know have done is make their own nice little guide to using WordPress, customized for each client. Once you’ve written it once I is easy to tweak it for each client and makes you look very professional. It also gives you a point of reference when talking to them. I have yet to make my own guide, but its on my short list.
July 8th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Works fantastic for podcasting too with the plugin PodPress. I’ve gotten podcasts up and running for people complete with RSS feeds, itunes details, and everything from start (no wordpress install) to finish in less than 10 minutes using wordpress. I worked at a company in the past that gets 10s of thousands of episode downloads per day and for a long time the entire website was using wordpress (including all the premium content which had interactive exercises to go with the podcasts). So i’m a WP believer… hehe
July 27th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Regarding Felicity’s comment, I’ve used ExpressionEngine for a number of client websites, and have yet to receive any complaints about it being too complicated or frustrating to use.
For starters, I don’t necessarily turn everything over to the client. One thing I like about EE is that it’s easy to hide or restrict access to parts of the CP. If the client doesn’t need (or want) to worry about templates, or installing and configuring modules, or some other aspect of EE, I just turn it off so that they don’t even know it’s there. In addition, there are a number of third party add-ons that can further simplify the CP, making it accessible to even the most technically challenged of users.
At the same time, I also train my clients on using EE, with the training and documentation geared towards their particular site and what they’re doing with it.
I would imagine that developers using WP do much the same thing with WP and their clients’ sites.
September 24th, 2008 at 7:39 am
В студенческой столовой можно заморить не только червячка.