WordPress Takes Over the World!
Today I attended a pre-conference day for the inaugural “The Business of WordPress” conference, put on by Mike Schinkel and Marna Friedman. They decided to put this conference on a year ago, after realizing that WordPress wasn’t just for blogs anymore – it’s evolved into an ideal platform for any type of website. (You heard it here first…if you didn’t already hear it from Mike and Marna!)
The Business of WordPress - Boardroom Pass Roundtable
WordPress’ newest version (3.0) was made available for download just yesterday, which gives users even more flexibility and options. Reasons that web developers and website owners love WordPress include:
- It’s flexible enough to still be good for the 10th iteration of your site. You’ll be able to re-skin it, upgrade it, add more plug-ins, and build on the content. You’ll never have to toss it out and start from scratch.
- Relatedly, you’ll never be tied to any one developer using some proprietary coding.
- Once a developer sets up the site for a business user, it takes no time at all to teach that user to make updates themselves. The developer doesn’t have to constantly get involved with updates or questions.
- Content creators can upload posts or other website content directly from Word, the iPhone, the iPad, or a myriad of other platforms.
- Think of plug-ins like mobile apps – there are new ones coming out all the time that can easily add new functionality and features. They’re easy to install and usually free or cheap.
- There’s a large community of support – post a question on a forum and you’ll have an answer in an hour.
- You can use custom designs, so website visitors won’t even know that WordPress is your back end.
Currently, 9% of the top 1 million sites on the web use WordPress, and that number’s expected to grow. This blog uses WordPress, which is one reason I’m attending the conference, but we also are here to be prepared for when our clients’ sites start converting over to WordPress. The good news is, it’s a very search engine-friendly platform, so we’re ready for it!
The Business of WordPress - Stacy Williams & Mike Schinkel
(If you’re interested in attending tomorrow (Wednesday, June 23), it’s not too late. Click here to register, and feel free to use my discount code (prominentplacement) for $75 off the registration fee.)
