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Matthew Mullenweg, creator of WordPress

Along with Google and Facebook and Twitter, I have to say that WordPress, developed by Matthew Mullenweg, must go down in Internet history as one of the most significant events and turning points in the development and proliferation of the world wide web.

The reason is simple

…and the key word here is “simple”.  Creating a website using WordPress is simple.  Installing a blog using WordPress is simple.  Implementing an easy-to-use, search-engine-friendly (SEF) content management system (CMS) is simple.  Getting found on Google is simple.  Starting a business and getting your website up and running quickly and cost-effectively is simple.

WordPress allows anybody, without any technical knowledge of HTML, Javascript, PHP, ASP.NET, CSS, XML or a host of other technical acronyms to be able to launch a professional looking website in a couple days for a couple hundred dollars.

I was at a PubCon expo in Vegas a couple years ago as listened to Matt Cutts of Google respond to a question from the moderator, Guy Kawasaki, “if  you were to start an online business today, what would be one of the first things you would do?”  Without hesitation, Cutts said that he would create a WordPress blog.  Now that’s a great endorsement.

Other reasons to choose WordPress as a content management system (CMS) or blog:

• It is FREE open source software
• You can make it do almost anything that is possible to do with a website
• You can make it look almost any way that a website could possibly look
• There are thousands of FREE and powerful plugins that provide enhanced functionality
• There are hundreds of FREE WordPress templates and FREE Wordpress themes
• There are thousands of relatively low-cost premium Wordpress themes
• There are thousands of talented WordPress designers and WordPress experts
• There are hundreds of thousands of people using WordPress
• It is well supported and frequently updated
• It is safe and secure and getting safer and more secure all the time

You can get up and running with WordPress by following these easy steps:

1. Register your domain name on GoDaddy
2. Purchase a Linux hosting package (about $5/month)
3. From GoDaddy…
   1. Pull down the Hosting menu option
   2. Select My Hosting Account
   3. Click Manage Account
   4. Click Your Applications
   5. Enter “WordPress” in the search box and click [Go]
   6. Click on the WordPress link
   7. Click [Install Now]
   8. Once installed, upload a professionally designed WordPress theme
   9. Start creating pages and posts
   10. Publish!

I’ve gone through all 10 steps in less than 3-4 hours.

SEE: Wordpress User’s Guide

Powered by Wordpress

These are some of my favorite Wordpress websites powered by wordpress

meta name=“generator” content=“WordPress”

WordPress Theme: Summer 2009

This Free WordPress theme is bright, colorful and cheerful. It is search engine optimized (SEO) out of the box and features a traditional two-column format. Using the WordPress world-class blog platform and content management system (CMS), you have extraordinary flexibility over the content of your site.

WordPress Flexibility

You can easily add WordPress plug-ins and widgets such as calendars, contact forms and tag clouds. Visit the WordPress Plugin Directory to see a growing and dynamic list of widgets and plug-ins. Third-party widgets and plug-ins also exist all over the net.

WordPress Scalability

The beauty of WordPress is that is dynamically delivers content using a relational database management system (RDBMS) called MySQL, which is a free open source software that is now owned and supported by Sun Microsystems. As long as you have disc space and bandwidth, there is virtually no limit to the amount of content and the ease with which you can manage that content online using Wordpress and MySQL.

How to use WordPress themes

1. First, you have to register a domain name
2. Purchase hosting
3. Install MySQL
4. Install Wordpress
5. Download the free WordPress theme
6. Unzip the file
7. Copy it to the wp-content/themes/ directory
8. Select the theme from within your WordPress Dashboard

The easiest way that I have found to do this is through GoDaddy.  With GoDaddy, you can do everything and they help automate the process with one-click installs.  If you haven’t already registered a domain name, it costs about $10/year through GoDaddy.  Hosting is probably no more than about $100-$150/year (be sure to get Linux hosting).  Once you are hosted, you can automatically install the latest version of WordPress.  You can get to this point from start to finish in about 30 minutes.

If you run into any trouble or this whole process seems overwhelming or too technical for you, give me a call and I’ll either walk you through it or do it for you.  Our WordPress theme is free but if you need installation assistance then we will invoice you for no more than one hour’s work.

For you convenience, I have also included some WordPress tips and a user guide:

• Getting started with WordPress
• WordPress Quick Start guide
• WordPress User’s guide
• WordPress content management system (CMS)

WordPress theme: Summer (Preview)

Click here to see the demo of this Free Wordpress theme

WordPress Template Designs

When most people think of WordPress, they think of it as a blog software or web application used for blogging. But, WordPress is much more than that. For one, WordPress is an easy-to-use content management system (CMS). It has a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editing interface and thousands of wonderful plug-ins. Moreover, there are hundreds of free and low-cost pre-built WordPress templates out there that you can upload.

WordPress as a Content Management System (CMS)

WordPress can manage all of the content on your website. Take a look at www.BlueSEO.com, for example. This is a 100% WordPress implementation. Not a single line of HTML was coded for this website. It is delivered purely by WordPress. Mark Deming of BlueSEO simply logs into his WordPress admin panel and can add, change, delete, or modify any piece of text, photos, or videos on his website without knowing a single line of HTML or CSS code. It is simple, effective and easy.

WordPress for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

I was a PubCon in Las Vegas last December 2007 and listened to Matt Cutts from Google.  The moderator, Guy Kawasaki, asked Cutts what he would do if he were starting a new business right now and wanted to get SEO some traction fast.  Without hesitation, Cutts said he’d start a WordPress blog and write some controversial stuff on it.  Matt said that WordPress was, by far, the most SEO friendly blog software available.

Sample WordPress Template Designs

• www.ReelEnglishCoach.com – Hollywood Accent Reduction Coach
• www.Adalius96.com – New England Patriots Professional Football Player
• www.inQbation.com – Los Angeles Website Designer
• www.BlueSEO.com – Los Angeles SEO
• www.ArtistsCafe.com – Washington DC Wedding Photographer
• www.EverythingTia.com – Musical Artist
• www.DragoVista.com – Hollywood Film Production Company
• www.WayneLWilson.net – Author, Screenwriter
• www.Fifteen-Degrees.com – Solar Powered Lighting
• www.AthletesMark.com – Professional Sports Marketing