The first step toward digital success is, of course, a great website. This site will act as a digital base of operations, connecting all other online strategies, and it must be attractive, easy to navigate, and interactive for users. At the same time, it needs to be easy for you to use on the back end, so that you can create new content, make quick changes, and interact with your clients without the migraines associated with most digital endeavors. Luckily, there is a somewhat magical solution to fit those needs – it’s called WordPress.
WordPress began as a blogging platform – an online tool that simplified the process of writing personal online articles or journal entries (“web-logs” became “blogs”), organizing them on a page, and making them very easy to share with the world and be found by search engines like Google or Yahoo. Since its origins, however, WordPress has become a very powerful tool to build and maintain all kinds of websites, although it certainly specializes in websites with a blogging element. Combine this platform with the aesthetic of a well designed template for your website – called a “theme” – and you have a simple yet very powerful website.
While building a beautiful and highly functional website from scratch still takes a lot of time and know-how (which is why you should hire me to do it!), the most fantastic thing about WordPress is how simple and intuitive it is to use as a website administrator when you want to create new content or edit posted content. With some initial guidance you can become your own webmaster, and a darn good one at that.
Why I Love StudioPress/Genesis Themes with the WordPress Platform
Two of the most common pitfalls that can ruin a potentially good website are:
- Having great content that is completely disorganized. It does not matter what amazing things you say or what great products you sell if customers cannot find what they are looking for on a cluttered and disjointed site.
- Intricate and flashy aesthetics that are near impossible to update with new content. No matter how gorgeous and fancy your website is, if it is a big hassle to update, you will probably avoid doing so. As you have probably experienced in your own internet travels, you can always tell when a website has not been given recent attention by the webmaster. These kinds of sites are not the ones you want to interact with, let alone buy from.
StudioPress themes help solve both of these potential problems. All of the StudioPress themes have sleek, attractive, and intuitive layouts – making it easy to organize all of your pages, blog posts, and featured content in a way that makes sense to customers visiting your site. Additionally, all of their themes are very “clean,” in look and in the digital code that makes them easy for search engines to find. The themes team up with the way WordPress works to make it simple and rewarding to create new content – creating attractive thumbnail images for new posts, and larger featured gallery slides. StudioPress themes help keep your site looking new, fresh, and active – very important elements to portray to potential clients, donors, and fans.