Lynette,
You’re right – Wordpress has evolved into more than a ‘mere’ blogging platform. It is a CMS now, that can handle any type of website you can think of.
I used Joomla! in the past, but IMO, Wordpress is easier (and faster) to use.
Cheers!
The Many Applications of WordPress
It is no secret that I like and regularly recommend WordPress to clients. Not because it is the popular software although that carries some weight. As a developer WordPress is easy to understand and easy to get your hands dirty with.
One of the biggest frustrations for any developer is having a client who uses proprietary or lesser known technology and the client expects you to ‘fix it’ to do what they want.
Problem is, because the technology is proprietary, or is lesser known, you are either limited to what you can do with it or there just isn’t enough documentation on it for you to take it further. Sure, the developer can spend time understanding it but guess who’s picking up the tab?
Another reason that closely hinges on the first – user community. A more popular software has a larger user base, more knowledgeable developers who work on it and understand it than a less popular software. So even though the technology is open source, you get to tap into a large knowledge base pool. Don’t believe me? Just ask a question about WordPress on Twitter. You’ll probably get tons of responses.
From of this large community, there naturally comes a large number of plugins. These plugins, along with some creative thinking and a skilled WordPress designer makes the system highly customizable, allowing you to literally mold it and power all kinds of web sites, not just blogs.
I was asked how many ways a small business can use WordPress. When I listed them out, I came up with close to 40 uses. There’s probably more. I’ve fleshed out the first 10 of them and packaged them as a downloadable PDF for you. You can download it here.
Author: Lynette Chandler (24 Articles)
Lynette Chandler is a mompreneur who has a knack for teaching other entrepreneurs about the technology and how to recognize and apply its power and trends to their marketing. Lynette brings to the table a marketing career of sixteen years as well as four years of experience doing technical management. She is the owner of TechBasedMarketing.com and is a married mother of 3, living in Eastern North Carolina.
13 comments - add yours
Noobpreneur
January 8, 2009
Lynette Chandler
January 8, 2009
Hi Noobpreneur, how’s the New Year going for you? I think Wp is easier and faster too. I’ve used Joomla before but found it can get complicated/confusing quick.
Pinny Cohen
January 8, 2009
Lynette,
My sentiments exactly. I like using wordpress for clients when possible because it’s fairly secure, it’s got tons of plugins to save the client costs, and it’s very well supported.
Technology, Business & Internet News - Barry Wheeler
January 9, 2009
Well, being new to WordPress, I am quickly falling in love with this piece of software. So much easier to use and so friendly. I was a Joomla Junkie up until these last few weeks, and now can’t wait to learn everything I can about WordPress.
I’ve designed in Joomla pretty much from the getgo, and WordPress is by far easier.
Jessica W
January 11, 2009
Totally agree with you. Wordpress i great blog/site platform that can be used even by small business firms, because it has small learning curve and it very to customize it and upgrade features with different plugins.
Lynette Chandler
January 11, 2009
Hey all,
I came from the same direction as Barry. I started using CMS’s when everyone was still publishing on FrontPage. The problem was and still is, a lot of them are bloated and takes some technical knowledge just to work it the way you want. WP was a nice fresh direction.
Of course not every single site works best on WordPress but for small business web presence, it definitely is one of the best choice.
Internet Marketing Strategies
January 14, 2009
Wordpress is an extraordinary platform and I cannot imagine why anyone would use ant other for blog development.
Thanks Lynette
JR
The Blogger Source
January 23, 2009
It truly is the best blogging platform. Very easy to use, most especially 2.7, a never ending amount of plugins and themes.
pro v1 golf balls
August 4, 2009
Yes totally agree. Wordpress is an excellent tool and I will be using it to make all of my web sites in the future. The plugins are great and the number of themes available to purchase make a site look even better.
Sonal Sinha
June 23, 2010
WordPress is a state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. What a mouthful. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time. More simply, WordPress is what you use when you want to work with your blogging software, not fight it.
Regards,
Sonal Sinha
Lynette Chandler
June 24, 2010
I agree Sonal. Thanks for taking the time to write.
Omair
July 2, 2010
nobody can stop me from loving Wordpress. Agree with Sonal that it all comes free of cost. Wordpress is the only reason why i started blogging =)
wholesale shoes
July 29, 2010
I really enjoyed this post, especially the “examples in this post” portion which made it really easy for me to SEE what you were talking about without even having to leave the article. Thanks
