Wordpress for Business Website? (high end, server, how to, working)
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Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction here!
We currently pay a local web developer/printing company to host our business website. We had them build the website with the intention of us maintaining it. As it happens, my husband is not techie and since has been too busy to work on the website. I had a baby and the rest is history - but now she's old enough that I can spend some time working on the website (and it's currently a disaster).
Problem is, their editing platform sucks. I am not a total dope when it comes to figuring these things out, and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out with no luck. It was so frustrating. Back when we set it all up they said it would have a lot of easy drag and drop features. I found no such thing. None of it makes sense to me. So I contacted them and they said they'd give me a refresher course... that was several weeks ago and they aren't being good about setting up a time for me to come in and I've contacted them several times. During this process of communicating I did ask what they thought of switching it over to WordPress, as I've used them for blogging in the past and enjoy their setup (though I haven't used it for websites). They discouraged it and suggested it wasn't very secure. Funny thing is, our Contact form was getting spammed so bad that I had to turn it off. Ha.
SO, I want to cut out that middle man and simplify things.
- Is Wordpress a good idea or a bad idea for a small business? I'd obviously be willing to pay for a package and one that includes things like SEO.
- Would I lose our place on search engines if we made a switch like that? I think currently we are on page 2 in our area. I would seek out a package that was SEO friendly. (This same business that set us up in the first place suggested a guy *they* work with to set up our SEO in the first place. We spent almost a thousand dollars and it seems that literally nothing was done - nothing changed. He was a crock.. So their judgement is definitely in question!).
- How much time could I expect to put in to a basic website per week/month? It won't be fancy, just needs to have several pages with text and a photo album or two.
In my opinion, you can put together a really nice business site with WP if your willing to spend a bit of time and money on it.
You'll need a hosting package (I wouldn't host with WordPress.com, as they have limitations on what can be installed), and most hosts will have a one click setup to install WordPress and create the database.
There are lots of good hosts out there, and I'm sure folks will come along and suggest some. I know people that have used HostGator and been happy with both (I have my own servers so I don't use third party hosting). It looks like HostGator even has WP specific hosting for under $10 a month, and you can always start with the small package and move up if you need.
You already own your domain name, so you'll just have to point it at the new host when you get all set up, but most hosting companies and domain providers will have detailed instructions on how to do this.
For a business site, you'll probably want a theme that changes how the site looks. There are of course lots of free ones, but there are some really nice premium ones that can change how the entire site works, and you can even hire companies to build custom themes if needed. I took the middle route, and bought a theme from WooThemes. They have a lot of high end themes, they are upgraded fairly regularly, and they retire them at a certain point so that there aren't a million sites with the same theme. It's a nice middle ground to a custom theme IMO. They've also been around for quite a few years.
For security, you really just need to keep everything up to date, the installation secure, and keep passwords strong. Running the installation from the host is usually a good way to keep them secure. Dedicated WP hosting also usually includes security scans.
There are also plugins that will scan the WP installation on a daily basis, and check for issues. Wordfence is one that is popular, and has done a good job of letting me know when there were issues with sites that I manage.
I doubt that you'd lose your place in search engines. The big thing is making sure that you don't have any dead links to the old site, so you might need to have someone write a "redirect" script, that makes sure that links to your old site go somewhere if the naming isn't the same. There's probably even a plugin or two for WP that will do this for you when configured.
IMO, you could build something like this your self in a few days to a few weeks, depending upon how complex you want it to be, how quickly you "get" WordPress, and how much configuration is required of a theme. IMO WP maintenance is super easy, and requires a few minutes a month on average.
I really don't have any idea on SEO, but I know that there are plugins that will help with that as well.
SEO is expensive, but you can download a WP plug-in that will give you guidance on trying to do it yourself.
I don't like hostgator anymore because they bought "sitelock," an aftermarket they will push heavily on you that I don't think is necessary. I'm currently hosting at arvixe, bluehost, and inmotion. You can do a wordpress "5 minute install" on any of them, but it will probably take you some time to build your site. Of course, you could hire a Wordpress designer to build it for you.
Make sure you save any art assets and content you want from the old website before you change the domain pointer to the new host.
I think that WP is the best option for small business. First of all, it's easy to use in comparison with others, second, it's customizable so you can do what yu want. If you have some time you can master it and don't waste money at all. however seo might be difficult for a novice. It can be outsourced to a vendor.
I'm not an expert, but in my opinion, Wordpress is better for blogging. If you want to create a website for your business, you can choose a proper website builder. I did the same way. Also I can recommend to view the article Best Business Websites Builders- How To Create Site For Small Business? - Website Builder Box as it includes some useful information about different website builders for small business and the process of a site creation in general. It helped me to find out main important things when I was going to build my website. I hope it will help you! Good luck!
That site is "recommending" products that they make money for you signing up for (every link there is an affiliate link), so I wouldn't trust anything they suggest. That goes for any of these "best xxx " review sites that provide no information other than a review of something that they make money for suggesting.
All of the hosts / site builders listed in those articles use proprietary site builder tools that lock you into that company forever. While Wordpress may not be the absolute best for every website need, it's portable so that you aren't stuck with one company, or have to rebuild your site from scratch when you decide to find something better.
WordPress is becoming passe' for site design. Responsive sites are where it's at now. Responsive design means you can design the site once and have it work well on many devices and browsers.
Squarespace is the market leader in responsive design.
WordPress is becoming passe' for site design. Responsive sites are where it's at now. Responsive design means you can design the site once and have it work well on many devices and browsers.
Squarespace is the market leader in responsive design.
There are tons of responsive themes available for Wordpress, including the stock ones that come with it.
08-13-2017, 09:10 PM
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n/a posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bo
WordPress is becoming passe' for site design. Responsive sites are where it's at now. Responsive design means you can design the site once and have it work well on many devices and browsers.
Squarespace is the market leader in responsive design.
Wholly irrelevant.
A responsive layout has nothing to do with the backend. Get a theme.
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