Using WordPress as your CMS

With the arrival of WordPress in 2003, the future of content management systems was revealed. Few would have thought that in seven years, WordPress would develop into the premier CMS for individuals to use and, by 2010, would be responsible for managing 2% of the top 10,000 websites on the Internet. Like it or not, WordPress has become the top program to use and amazingly, it has stayed free for over 202 million websites worldwide to take advantage of.

Using WordPress, therefore, as your content management system should be a no-brainer. It allows someone with very limited web skills to begin publishing content almost immediately after installing the program – albeit, it would be nice to have a solid theme on the site as well as some basic search engine optimization. More importantly, though, it allows for changes to the site to be done with minimal coding skills. Why then, would anyone not want to use it?

If you’re honestly considering using WordPress as your CMS, skip the free route of WordPress.com and go with the self-hosted version. Purchase a domain name, get some hosting and then install the program. Don’t worry about difficulty because WordPress has amazing tutorials on how to do just about anything. Once you’ve got the site set up, there are a few things that are absolutely necessary pre-launch.

• Publish some initial content. You want there to be articles on the site immediately so that when readers come to it, whether it is one or many, they have something to read and engage with.
• Get a theme set up. There are free ones available; however, if you’re going for the professional look, consider getting a custom one done. That’s something ThoughtMechanics.com does.
• Put a newsletter on the site. If you’re looking for clients, a newsletter is the best way to get return visitors.
• Start working on SEO. This includes, but is not limited, to purchasing links, doing article marketing and getting your name out there while building link juice for your site. This is something that ThoughtMechanics.com does as well.

WordPress is an incredible program to use for your site. It is sleek and well constructed. Using it for your CMS can take the hassle out of running a website. Following the basic tips provided above is an effective method of launching your site properly. The goal is to get new business and more money; WordPress is a great way of accomplishing that.