Wordpress websites - bad idea?

[The Topcopy]

Hi all. I am getting my website redesigned, and since I wanted to incorporate a blog and be able to update the whole thing easily and regularly myself, I was advised that having the whole site in Wordpress was the way to go.

It's nearly finished so I couldn't change it now even if I wanted to, and I think it looks fab (it won't replace my current site until the New Year) but I wondered what your thoughts were on Wordpress websites in general?

It's a copywriting website so doesn't need to do anything flash other than be updated with new items for the portfolio and new blog posts.

Thanks

Claire

 

[Calibre Designs]

Claire,

If this is executed in the right way, it is certainly the way to go!

Well done.

 

[crossdaz]

Claire,

If this is executed in the right way, it is certainly the way to go!

I agree, getting everything right in Wordpress can be a pain in the bum but worth it in the end.

 

[sm1]

I hope so, we're having a WordPress site as well. I think it's good.

 

[The Topcopy]

Thanks everyone! That's very reassuring. Good luck with your site too Stefan.

 

[sm1]

Cheers and you

 

[scrizzle]

Wordpress is ACE! Get everything right and new post can be indexed within 5-6 mins of posting! I've never been indexed in less time.

 

[F1SEO]

It's a bit tricky to work accurately with the WYSIWYG editor because it filters out a lot of stuff. Any fancy formatting or out of the ordinary tends is meddled with. It can be a rewarding system though, with top-notch blog - and the admin panel is a dream compared to some others.

 

[UKSBD]

I would never use Wordpress 100% always best to save your root for
other purposes and put wordpress 1 in (in my opinion)

 

[An Oasis]

...always best to save your root for other purposes and put wordpress 1 in (in my opinion)

put wordpress 1 in :|You been eating too many chickens?

 

[Interconnect IT]

As a WordPress specialist I'll cheerfully say that it's a wonderful, lightweight CMS. That makes it good simple sites, but also for large sites where ease of publishing is important.

Looks like we're about to convert an industry leading site over to WordPress. Basically, it's getting great credibility.

BUT... it's not necessarily as easy for a web designer to create a powerful website with WP as it is with other engines. You have to understand and be aware of an awful lot of hooks and facilities. The idea of WP is to make it simple for the user, not necessarily the developer or implementor.

 

[ozbon]

Personally, I'd say that if you're having the entire site done in WP, you're best off ignoring the advice from UKSBD above, and just let WP handle the entire thing.

If you were just having a blog controlled by WP then it's absolutely better to have WP in a subdirectory, so that you just go to www.site.com/blog for the blog part of the site.

But if the entire thing's managed by WP, having it in a subdirectory is a nightmare for organisation purposes.

 

[Gillie]

Go for wordpress ... I did!! All of my links below are wordpress based sites ...

 

[Interconnect IT]

Hi Gillie - you know you should use a 'remove page from navigation' plugin to get the About page removed as that content is already on the landing page.

But you're right - WP is a great tool. We like it, and as more businesses succeed in using it the people wanting to develop with it are growing. One of the developers has, effectively, created a complete CMS development framework which means a lot is possible - and we're enjoying the boom

 

[24x7 Exchange]

It definitely seems to be a growing trend and gaining in credibility. For small to medium sites without too much clever wizardry requirements I think it's the way to go

 

[mannakin]

I have been using WP for years and absolutely love it. Highly recommended.

 

[MikeH]

WP will be absolutely fine. There are loads of developers out there that can help you if you need to modify the site. Anyway, as you say you are commited to the site now so stick with it and rest assured it can do what you want. It just needs the right developer.

 

[Interconnect IT]

Oh, but one word of advice... beware the scourge of 'plugin-itis.'

People get carried away, add loads of plugins, and security practices aren't brilliant in the plugin world. Most are fine but it's worth looking for support enquiries and, if you're not confident of your ability to rescue your site from a hack you need to go for stable, well respected plugins.

Also, stick to reputable sites for your themes... sites like ours and WordPress.org are good, as are those of well regarded and long standing theme developers. But be careful of generic template sites that anybody can set up using GPL themes - some carry payloads. Be careful.

 

[wood1e2]

Go for wordpress ... I did!! All of my links below are wordpress based sites ...

Gillie on newbranch you have some code showing at the bottom...
<!--[if !vml!]--><!--[endif]-->

 

[MikeH]

Oh, but one word of advice... beware the scourge of 'plugin-itis.'
Be careful.

Will these slow the site down too if there are too many?

 

[Gillie]

Hi Gillie - you know you should use a 'remove page from navigation' plugin to get the About page removed as that content is already on the landing page.

Thanks yes, I know there are various bits to finish off on them, that being one of them! When the sites went down some weeks ago and access to the databases lost it was just important to get the sites up, but yes I need to sort!

Gillie on newbranch you have some code showing at the bottom...
<!--[if !vml!]--><!--[endif]-->

See what happens when you don't double check all the time! Thanks for that!

 

[garyk]

Love it, all my blogs run it and you can get some great templates free/cheaply and as said later versions do a blog and ping so you can get indexed quickly. Make sure you keep it upto date version wise as one of my sites got hacked recently (was just repointed to another site)

 

[The Topcopy]

Thanks everyone for all your advice, I feel completely reassured now!

It will go live on New Year's Day so I will probably post it up for review when that happens.

Claire

 

[scrizzle]

Will these slow the site down too if there are too many?

It depends on the plugins. Some plugins are purely admin-end, so this wont affect the main site. But obviously having 100's of plugins would slow the site down

 

[Ian J]

I set up a blog about the exciting world of factoring and invoice discounting a couple of years ago using Blogspot. Despite the fact that Blogspot is owned by Google I have never managed to get the site ranked by Google for useful terms like factoring or factoring blog in all that time although I did get traffic to the site for specific articles. A month ago I bought the domain www.factoringblog.co.uk and set up another blog on that using Wordpress and it is already ranked one and two on Google for the term Factoring Blog so it does seem that Google prefers Wordpress to it's own offering

 

[sabian1982]

Wordpress is a great tool either as a seperate blog or for a full site solution. Its near perfect in terms of addressing onsite SEO and very flexible for designers. If you factor in the hundreds of add-ons and plugins, this truely is a great CMS solution.

One of the other members of this forum runs his entire site through Wordpress (www.gregfindley.com), but its so well integrated that its near on impossible to tell that Wordpress is running behind the scenes! If you're designer has the inspiration and integration knowledge, Wordpress would definately be a useful CMS solution for running and updating your site.

 

[MikeH]

Agree with Ian. A stand alone domain is a lot better. I have a blog that is only weeks old but page 2 on G for my search term. Top slots should be easy (i hope).

 

[The Topcopy]

It's a shame I can't post the link now to get feedback on the work in progress, but I'd rather not until it is ready.

My designer is brilliant at the creative stuff, and also loves Wordpress so I am confident he will do a good job. He did my current site and the new one will be a very similar design, but with much better navigation (you can hardly find the navigation buttons on my existing site!). It is keeping a strong purple background with white text which I know is not recommended, but I just love it so can't bear to lose it.

 

[scrizzle]

Has any one else also found that just having a blog as an add on to you website improves its craw-a-bility by google and other search engines?

 

[sabian1982]

Has any one else also found that just having a blog as an add on to you website improves its craw-a-bility by google and other search engines?

Thats because Google loves fresh, new, unique content... every time you post you're essentially increasing the number of longtail search terms on your site hence your creating the potential to drive more traffic to your website!

 

[Mark Nagurski]

It's a Wordpress love-fest!

(My site runs off it too)

 

[MikeH]

It's a Wordpress love-fest!

(My site runs off it too)

I have never used it but I have heard good reports and seen some good examples of Wp sites.

 

[sm1]

Even if you're using WordPress as a CMS, does Google still see it as a blog (i.e. does it see normal content as blog content?)

Cheers

 

[Interconnect IT]

What I like to hear - a big chunk of our business has become based upon WordPress

@sm1 - nah, Google wouldn't be so daft. Also, it depends if the content is dated or not.

We run lots of semi-static sites of WP with no noticeable problems and most outperform their rivals.

 

[The Topcopy]

I honestly don't know why I thought people would say it was a bad idea - I think I just read something somewhere that said it was old-fashioned, but obviously I was completely wrong! I am looking forward to be able to update it with new projects as my current portfolio is hopelessly out of date.

I am also gathering lots of blog post ideas!