Just as you have tools to manage your finances, marketing, inventory and, hopefully, social media, simply put, a blog is an online content management system (CMS).
It can be personal place in a professional world where you, the owner, can put a human face on your business, share opinions and insight, and create a dialogue with consumers. It’s your place to say what you want directly to your consumers while improving your rank in search because you’re creating content that’s relevant to your business. That may be another topic altogether, but just know it’s an outlet for you to reach and interact with potential and current consumers by sharing content, which’ll ideally show off the fact that you’re an expert in your field or maybe even a tastemaker or trendsetter.
The blogging software is the actual tool that manages this content (and enables you to edit and publish from a central interface), turning your words, thoughts, ideas, photos, videos and anything else you want to post into a format that’s easy for consumers to read and, if you’re using SEO properly, find too (because you’re also speaking the language of the Internet).
Of course, you do have choices—many choices. So, which blogging platform is right for you?
This week in Local U, NN's online small business education center, we're kicking off a series exploring the pros and cons of different blogging platforms. Whether you're concerned about ease of setup and integration, theme options, ease of use and updating, plugins, SEO tools, security, mobile or tablet capabilities (including apps for publishing), or price, we're here to help you find the best match.
First up: A look at WordPress.
The free, open-source blogging software and content management system has been powering websites and blogs for more than a decade now, and today there are almost 70 million WordPress sites in the world, from The New York Times to Forbes to the NFL and countless tech and pop culture blogs.
“WordPress is a nice solution for a small business website,” says Mathew Simonton of Formic Media, a search engine marketing agency for small businesses. You can build your entire site (blog included) on the WordPress platform or extend your current presence with a WordPress blog installation, he explains.
“With WordPress, you have two options,” explains Jennifer Rana of Made by Finch, a Portland-based website and graphic design studio that develops WordPress blogs and sites: A WordPress.com account is free and fully hosted by WordPress.com (plus, for a small fee, you can pay for a unique URL), or you can download the WordPress software (available at WordPress.org) and install it on your own site (aka self-hosting). Read more on the nitty-gritty details.
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Subscribe to Neighborhood Notes' small business education center, Local U, to read the rest of this article as well as follow our series on blogging platforms.
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