Why WordPress?
After coding on a number of platforms/content management systems my preferred back end driven content management system is WordPress. The main reason is ease of use for the end user. If you can do email you can WordPress. WordPress has access to thousands of plugins available to transform your site into almost anything you can imagine. Over 25 million people have chosen WordPress to power the place on the web they call “home”.
Who Uses WordPress?
Here’s a brief list of WordPress users. For additional WordPress users check out the WP showcase.
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Here’s a few corporations Southern Bancorp Wake Forest University Wheaton College The Wall Street Journal Law Blog Inside BlackBerry Harvard Law People CNN |
Celebrities also choose WordPress |
Understanding The Scope
I’ve designed for individual to Fortune 500 companies, lawyers to construction companies. What I’m providing you is the tools to framework your marketing in creative way that allows you to compliment your existing business. I provide the framework, functionality and design. But no matter how slick I design the site – content is king. You are responsible for your content (text, images, and multimedia). I can assist in this process but ultimately you know your business better then anyone. I partner with you to get your message out.
Availability & Time Frame
My current availability is two to three weeks. To get into my cue I require 50% down. The time frame to complete a job depends on the complexity and amount of design work. Also a big part of the development time depends on the end user. Web building is a team sport. The more effectively we communicate and quicker I get the materials needed to complete the job the quicker the process goes. Generally the lead-time is 1 to 4 weeks depending on a number of factors.
Functionality
Most all sites have a unique home page and a site wide design. Usually there’s an about page, 3-5 pages outlining services and products followed by a contact page. Most my sites use a slider (Featured Story) on the home page I co-developed to give the site an interactive feel and modern look. The contact page I use a premium form commonly referred to as the most powerful form for WordPress, Gravity Forms.
End users are given login information to the back end where they can add and modify content. No longer do you have to pay a web company and wait two weeks for a modification to your website. Changes you make yourself go live immediately!
There are a number of addons that exponentially increase the power of WordPress to make it do pretty much anything you’d like.
Addons
eCommerce – Add a feature-rich online store to your website. Take e-commerce to the next level with the flexibility of customization tools that allows you to tailor every aspect of the shopping experience.
eMail Marketing – Create beautiful html email campaigns while building and managing your contact database. Send with emails with confidence while tracking your results with interactive graphs.
Vacation Home Booking - Online booking services for your site. Visitors will be able to check availability of apartments, houses, hotel rooms, or services you offer. Integrated Paypal support, your clients can pay online!
Calendar / Upcoming Events – Publicly display your organization’s calendar (daily, weekly, or monthly). Pull upcoming events to your home page or sidebar to keep pertinent information in front of your audience.
Photo Galleries – Attach emotions to your products and services with a photo gallery. You’ll have plenty of power with dozens of options and features. Manage photos, edit captions, even create a slideshow with a click.
Maintenance – Keeping your website up-to-date can be quite a chore. Don’t let WordPress and plugins become dated and vulnerable to security and coding flaws. Automated database backup also included.
Plugins
I include a suite of plugins standard on each install of WordPress.
Google Sitemap Generator: This plugin maps out your site automatically that allows Google spiders/search robots to find you content new and updated.
GravityForms: Highly customizable form. That allows end users to receive form results by email and its recorded in WordPress’ back end. Very powerful plugin.
Search & Replace: This is a plugin I use as a developer. This plugin is extremely helpful in moving websites across domain names. If you ever need mass changes to your site you’ll find this plugin a huge time saver.
StatPress:This plug gives site stats right on the WP admin panel. In addition to giving you stats, it gives you incoming links from search engines which gives you the tools to maximize your advertising dollars (if you advertise online).
WP-DB-Backup: This is a safety measure that automatically emails a backup copy of the database. The database can be emailed daily, weekly, or monthly. Databases rarely go back but when they do. You’ll be relieved to have a viable backup.
