It’s a Blog. It’s a Website. It’s Marketing… It’s WordPress! A beginner’s guide on why to use and how to use WordPress Dr. Richard F. Gaspar, Professor of Mass Communications Hillsborough Community College 1

What we will be discussing: The difference between Blogs and Sites Wordpress – Why it is useful – A glance at how it works – Steps to get started 2

3 It’s A Blog: Examples Sample Category SectionA Standard Post

Why use a blog? Communicate – More insight Allows your readers to give feedback – Learn more about reader’s wants/needs – Provides ideas for blog content and direction 4

It’s A Website 5

How does a Website differ from a Blog? Traditional Websites: – A set of ‘static’ pages Content does not change often (or at all) – Tends to be more sales oriented – Typically does not offer a way to interact with its visitors – Often needs a web designer to make even minor changes or additions Traditional Blog: – Fresh Content, changes often Newest posts appear highest on the page – Tends to share insights and ideas – Typically offers a space to post comments and continue the conversation – Offers ability to add content quickly 6

Wouldn’t it be great to combine the benefits of both a site and a blog into one full featured solution? Each offers valuable information and compliments the other 7

It’s Wordpress 8 WordPress.com (Hosted by Wordpress) WordPress.org (Self-Hosted)

What is Wordpress? Created as a Blog Software, in 2003 Open Source (free) application – Lots of developers came together and volunteered their experience – Lots of folks continue to create additional tools and add-ons (i.e. themes and plugins) – Anyone can use this software free of charge 9

Uncovering the Hidden Advantages Wordpress let’s you add web pages, not just blog posts – This allows you to build your site and blog with one toolset You can maintain your site, yourself, without a designer – Easy to add new pages, video, images… Search Engines (like Google) love Blogs – Fresh, relevant, original content is important 10

It’s a Marketing Tool Gets the word out: Distribution/Syndication – Your posts are instantly sent to the world with RSS Allows search engines to receive notice of new content – Gets you ranked higher, quicker – People find you easier Allows visitors to receive future posts automatically Offers interaction with your community People can post comments Helps you understand what they want and gives ideas for future posts Provides more exposure for your E-newsletters Feature articles can be referenced in s and linked to a post online – Brings readers to your site – Allows new site visitors to see what you’ve written about – And articles are syndicated for you with RSS 11

Extending Reach of Marketing 12 Example A: Newsletter Example B: Feature Article Teaser in Example C: Full Feature Article As it appears on site Example D: RSS Feed Reader

A Look at the Software’s Backend: WP-Admin and The Dashboard 13 ^ Example B: Dashboard Overview - Content Management < Example C: Write a Post – Visual Editor

A look at Writing Content The administrative section is where the pages and posts are prepared 14 Preparation of Page Page Presentation to Visitors

Overview: Why Use Wordpress? Changing Your Content is easy: Visual Editor – Page and posts can be written without HTML – It’s easier than creating a Word Document Managing Your Content is a snap: Content Management System (CMS) – Finds pages or images quickly and easily 15

More great things about Wordpress Plugins: Tons of free plugins are available – Think of mini-applications that automate an action Sell from your site with the wp-commerce plugin Get site stats with the Google Analytics plugin Show your most read posts with the popularity plugin Easily add Scripts and 3 rd party applications – Amazon.com affiliate program scripts – Constant Contact Sign Up boxes Customization – You are free to customize away – You may need to hire someone to create a truly custom look or if you don’t want to try to figure it out yourself 16

WordPress Basics So, how do you get started with WordPress?

Stage One: Sign up! 1.) Head to WordPress.com and click on the “sign up now” button:

Choosing a Username 2.) Choose a unique username that will identify you in the WordPress.com community.

Choosing a Password 3.) You’ll need to enter the same password twice, and the little “strength” bar will tell you if you’ve chosen a strong password or not.

Contact Information 4.) Next up, add the address you’d like to associate with your account.

Terms of Service 5.) Check out the terms of service if you’d like to, and tick the appropriate box.

Are You Ready to Blog? 6.) Select whether you want a blog or just a username. – “Just a username” is for people who want to comment on specific WordPress blogs, but not create their own blog.

Naming your Blog 7.) On the next screen, choose a domain name for your first blog.

Giving Your Blog a Title 8.) Pick a title for your blog.

Choose Your Preferred Language 9.) Change your language if the correct one isn’t displayed by default.

Public vs. Private 10.) If you want people to be able to find your content via WordPress.com or search engines, make sure that you check the appropriate box. If you’re planning on running a private blog, you’ll want this to be unchecked.

Almost there! 11.) Click on “sign up,” and WordPress will send you a confirmation . You’ll need to respond to this to verify that you’re human.

Congratulations! You have successfully made your first Blog!

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