WordPress sites are just about everywhere, and it’s not hard to understand why. For many, they represent the ultimate in good looking, “have it now” sites. In fact, on most hosting panels, it can be installed in just a few mouse clicks.

Instead of having to pay a designer, work on layouts and revisions, and then finally uploading your site, the budding online marketer can simply register a domain, install WordPress, pick a theme, and start selling on the web. Sounds just about perfect… right?

As someone who has designed websites and helped business owners to meet their marketing goals for more than a decade, I’m not so sure. The whole thing makes me more than a little concerned. There are a lot of reasons to think that WordPress sites might not be the fantastic value it seems to be at first sight.

Consider this:

Instant WordPress sites are easy, but they are usually far from customized. Just because something looks good at first glance doesn’t mean it’s right for your business. That’s especially true when dozens, hundreds, or thousands of other business owners might be using the exact same template. Do you really want your website to look like your competitors?

Consider also that your Calgary WordPress developer may be designing using non-design tools or WordPress theme generators that will undoubtedly restrict the potential creative outcome. Where the design and creative of a marketing website plays such an important role in converting visitors to potential clients this has to raise a red flag or two. The fact remains, just because you can open pictures on a computer and manipulate them, does not make you a designer.

And that limitation doesn’t just stop with aesthetics, either. Different sites, in different businesses, need different features and functionality. While WordPress has a large community of plug-in developers, finding, implementing and designing the look or plug-ins is not for the faint of heart.

Security can be a concern. An improperly installed WordPress installation can be a hacker magnet, not to mention a spammers heaven.  A seasoned website application programmer can insure that your WordPress installation is not vulnerable to attack.  Having a proper backup strategy and the ability to recreate your website should it be destroyed by a hacker is critically important and it requires someone who has more than an entry level knowledge of web applications to accomplish.

Deploying a cheap templated WordPress blog might be right for your budget now, but they’re usually wrong for the business. When it all comes down to it, this is really the big issue. For most businesses – even the small ones — the money that will be saved by using a cheap or free WordPress template isn’t ever going to come close to the amount they’ll lose by not having a professionally designed WordPress installation. While there are a lot of great ways to save cash when searching for web design or online marketing, going with something generic shouldn’t be one of them.

I can understand the pull of WordPress sites; they’re quick, cheap, and easy to put in place. But, just like most other things you could get for your business, the best investment usually isn’t the one that costs you the least and comes to you the fastest.

To answer the question, “But is it Effective?” – Yes, WordPress is hugely effective if it is properly deployed and designed with purpose.

Having a professionally installed and custom designed WordPress blog theme still does not have to break the bank.  The eKzact team can help you.

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David West began began his career as a freelance designer, later launching a full service website design and development company (eKzact.com) in Calgary, Alberta. He firmly believes that quality traffic is better than quantity, and has always used “coaching” approach to the development online strategies for his business clients. David’s clients especially love his “non-tech” way of talking about technical issues.

eKzact is sponsoring a new Calgary networking opportunity for Entrepreneurs who are blogging for business. This is not just another “bloggers” group…  Our focus is very much on business.

Who is this Calgary networking opportunity for?

If you are a Calgary business blogger or if you think you would like to better understand the power of blogging, then this group is for you.

Blogging for Business is a powerful way to generate valid traffic to your marketing efforts. By brining together a large group of Calgary bloggers we plan to work together by sharing ideas and by blogging about common topics. Furthermore, by blogging about each other we and help our members to leverage the power and ease of cross-optimization for each others blogs and marketing efforts.

Come and share writing ideas, tips and tricks. Build relationships and start cross-optimization of your blogs and business websites by writing about common topics!

This meetup is being co-hosted by me, David West a Calgary website design company owner and Stuart Crawford of Bulletproof Info Tech, a Calgary IT computer support company.

All people who Blog around a “business topic” or are interested in becoming a “Business Blogger” are welcome!

To learn more and join this group – click here and start blogging today!

We presented the first Blogging for Business seminar in Calgary on February 19^th and received excellent feedback from the attendees. In fact one of the participants was so pleased by the value and quality of the training that she insisted on sponsoring another session for her networking group.

So, on March 19^th, 2009, we are re-running our Blogging for Business seminar and are proud be be presented by Ronda Bertram and Carman LeFrance, both Publishers of WOMANITION in Alberta.

Here is what Ronda Bertram wrote;

“Do you know what google alerts, keywords and adwords are? I attended Dave’s course on February 18, 2009. It was hands down the best business course I have attended on the most up-to-date information available about blogging. This one course alone can increase your business ten fold if you follow the easy steps that Dave gives you to create your own blogs, and how to cross market yourself on the internet, search engine optimization for the lay person and how to increase your ranking on google….”

If you are not blogging for business, you really should consider joining me and the group from Womanition on March 19^th at 10:30 am.

To learn more about me and the seminar, please visit the “Blogging for Business” seminar page.

ODIOGO is a service where you can give your blog a voice… free. I like free.
With a few keyboard strokes and a quick download of the WordPress plugin I had my blog talking within 10 minutes.

From the Odiogo site… “Odiogo’s media-shifting technology expands the reach of your content: It transforms news sites and blog posts into high fidelity, near human quality audio files ready to download and play anywhere, anytime, on any device. “

So, how can something so good… be free?  Advertising revenue of course.  While it is not initally apparent, a short dig around their site and you will find that their business model includes the insertion of audo ads into the audio stream.  I will be listening for the ads in my blog stream.

As noted on the Odiogo site “The Odiogo Advertising Servers insert audio spots into the content. The Odiogo Billing Servers calculate the revenue share among the parties.”

I like cool things on the Internet that seem to have great potential.  Way to go Odiogo!

Hey – why not get Skype now and give me a call?

Cheers -
David A. West

Raise awareness of your business and services through blogging.

Basic strategies:

• Target a specific audience based on a theme or series of topics.
• Try to keep your blog on topic.
• Write subjects that make them want to read more and use catchy headlines to drive intrigue.
• Select the right blog support service. A professional Internet Consultant can help you extend your blog and help you with marketing tips and tricks.
• Ensure your blog sends alerts to blog feeds when you post a new entry, this will help build traffic to your blog.
• Ensure you get alerts when someone comments at your blog so that you can review the post and respond.

Be compelling, open in your views and sincere. Link to other blogs and topics related to your blog. Other bloggers will start linking to you, if you have quality articles.

Keep your blog up to date with fresh content. Weekly blogging or more should be your goal. This will keep your blog content fresh and interesting. Your blog can become sticky and keep people returning… but only if you make an effort.

Search engines like Google and Live will help attract viewers to your blog. Add rich keywords into your article titles and content. Use the SEO component that we install as standard with our blog service to boost your on page optimization for search engines.

Your blog should support RSS feeds for the articles and comments. This will help your readers and fellow bloggers stay up to date with your writing. RSS is simple to use and has gained huge popularity in the past several years.

Take the time to reply to blog posts, even if they are negative or offer a conflicting view. You don’t have to agree with the comment, just be honest and state your opinion or provide support material for you position. Most blog-ware allows you to hold comments for moderation. As a business blogger, you may want to moderate comments at your blog prior to allowing them to go live.

If you are not a writer and are not comfortable with blogging, ask your staff to do it for you. Ask a family member, friend or service to assist you with your writing.

One of the most difficult things about blogging is the “ideas”. Keep a small “blog book”… I call mine “my blook”. Keep your blook handy so that when an idea hits you, you can make a note of it.

Blogging is a powerful tool for small business owners to make their brand recognizable. You should position yourself as the “expert” in your industry. When you have a great blog, full of helpful articles and news, refer your clients to your blog to help answer their questions. They will appreciate the depth of your service and commitment to their needs.

A business marketing website tends to be static. The “sales” message seldom changes and they tend to lack the educational information that people are seeking on the Internet. Business owners are worried that they must give the absolute best impression at their marketing website, and I wouldn’t disagree with this thought. A blog on the other hand is a more casual writing opportunity. Your clients will get to know the people “behind” the company and your relationships can grow.

If you want to start a professional business blog, with a custom design, contact us and my team will help you get rolling.

Regards,
David A. West