Book Review: Create a Wordpress Business Blog
"Does This Blog Site Make My Wallet Look Fat?" A Wordpress Guide
Jan 15, 2009
A business blog can be a powerful way to establish yourself as an expert, attract clients and make money online. But which blogging platform do you choose, how do you create a blog that looks good and what features should it include? Sandra De Freitas, WordPress Expert, explains all of this, and provides straightforward advice and step-by-step do-it-yourself instructions to get your blog site started quickly in her book, Does This Blog Site Make My Wallet Look Fat? (vervante.com, 2008).
Why WordPress for Your Business Blog Site?
Ms. De Freitas makes an excellent case for choosing the free WordPress blogging platform for your business blog, pointing out further that its flexibility and features make it possible to dump your website in favor of a WordPress "blog site". A blog site can do everything a website can do, only better. And you don't need a webmaster to design it or make changes to your blog site content.
Getting Started With WordPress
There are some technical terms you'll need to learn to install WordPress yourself; Ms. De Freitas makes them easy to understand. A checklist helps you determine if your host will meet the minimum requirements for operating WordPress. Several well-known hosts provide one-click install. For other hosts, WordPress provides 5-minute install instructions. Links to these resources and recommendations for two necessary tools (FTP program and an Unzip program) are provided.
Designing Your Business Blog Site
Next, choose a design from among the thousands of free "themes" available online. These many designs offer dozens of different design options such as graphics, color scheme, menus, a subscription form, search capability, and many more -- built right into the design. Ms. De Freitas offers step-by-step guidance, including screenshots, for sorting through and choosing your theme. Detailed instructions on how to download, install and activate your theme are included.
Adding Content to Your Blog Site
Your blog site will consist of two basic types of content: static pages and blog posts. Static pages are for information that doesn't change and needs to be always available, such as About, Contact, Services, Products, etc. Detailed instructions walk you through their creation. Then, write your first post, create a category for it to live in, and select options to allow comments and trackbacks.
Advanced WordPress Blog Capabilities
Additional WordPress features allow you to set up posts to publish in the future, and add plug-ins, widgets, password-protection, a subscription box and a blogroll. You can customize the order of items in your sidebar (your blogroll, list of categories, etc.) WordPress also allows you to include Web 2.0 features like video, audio, bookmarking, and even ecommerce capabilities. Wrap it all up with a search engine optimization plugin and you are ready to go!
A Complete WordPress Guide
It's hard to believe, but in just 100 pages of normal-sized type, this book can walk you through the creation of your WordPress blog from start to finish! Everything is clearly explained in the briefest, simplest language, with the exact links to click and screenshots, so even non-techies can feel comfortable diving into WordPress. At the same time, advanced capabilities are included so long-time WordPress users can get even more out of their WordPress blog.
Purchase the book and get additional WordPress tips and resources
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