Nitty-Gritty WordPress Site FAQ
Okay… Ohhhh-Kaaaay. Okey-Dokey! Seems I am saying these words more and more often as potential entrepreneurs ask me questions about getting a WordPress site, having a successful Web program, how to market effectively.
Why am I okey-dokeying all over the place? Presumably I am asked questions about having a successful WordPress site because I have years of proven experience, skills and expertise to answer them. When challenged because the inquirer may not “like” my answers or prefer to believe other information that is not credible, as difficult, expensive and/or requires less effort on their part – that’s when the okey-dokeying kicks in. Is the hype and hooey ruling the day?
“It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.”
~ H. L. Mencken
Below is my list of the most frequently asked WordPress questions which produce answers that clearly based reaction are not what the questioner wanted to hear. I’ll give the Short Answer, which is generally what many prefer or assume my response should be, then the Long Answer I actually provide that causes some to cringe.
Although some of my answers may not match the hype and hooey to be found elsewhere, at the very least the truth allows me to leave each day, look in the mirror and know I’ve done the best job I can. (Although, as of late, I get the impression the truth is not necessarily desired.) If you want to succeed online, the truth is your friend. So let’s get to it!
“When I tell the truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it, but for the sake of defending those that do.”
~ William Blake
- I want to do my own WordPress site maintenance and add ons. That should be no big deal, right?
Short Answer: No problem; it’s easy!
Long Answer: While WordPress makes the maintenance of your site as easy as it is going to get, you will need to understand and learn how to use the WordPress dashboard and understand how WordPress and plugins work enough to accomplish your tasks. Yes, there is some learning required, however, you’ll find WordPress is pretty straightforward and intuitive.
“The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
~ Oscar Wilde - I don’t want to pay for a premium theme. Why can’t I use a free theme?
Short Answer: You can.
Long Answer: If you can’t afford a premium theme that costs less than $100, maybe you should rethink if you are serious about your program. While there are some great free themes, when you break your theme or WordPress updates and your theme is not compatible — good luck getting the support you desire. With free you get what you pay for! You’ll need the quality, support and updates that reliable Premium Theme developers offer to allow you and your site to evolve with technology.
“The best way to save money is not to lose it.”
~ Les Williams - Since I have to have a Blog, and don’t like or want to write, can I just use my Blog to talk about myself and post our latest advertisements?
Short Answer: Sure.
Long Answer: Your Blog can be a great promotional tool. But not if you hard sell. Who wants to sign up or come back to read a one-way conversation about how great you are? Instead you should Blog about industry info, what your company is up to, stuff you know your target market is interested in because they ask you about it all the time! There is no value in the “all about me” approach.
“The caterpillar does all the work but the butterfly gets all the publicity.”
~ George Carlin - I already have a WordPress site and want to hire you to do Search Engines.
Short Answer: Great!
Long Answer: Well, you don’t DO search engines — ironically they DO you! You are putting the cart before the horse here. What good are good rankings, if your site looks like doo-doo and has non-focused, irrelevant, poorly written dribble?
Although I can coach you on how to attain rankings over time, after a quick review, your site doesn’t give the perception of credibility and legitimacy that lends to attaining any decent rankings.
If you would like to partner with me on your Web program, I need to recommend you get a new professionally created and structured WordPress site, with unique well-written content in place as a solid foundation. Only then can you hope to attain any relevant rankings over time.
“It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar.”
~ Jerome K. Jerome - I need my new site up in less than a month. Can you guarantee this turnaround time?
Short Answer: Sure can!
Long Answer: I hear this quite often and my short answer, from my point of view is accurate. If provided the info I need I can have your project up and running within that time-frame. But be warned — clients are always surprised when they realize what has to be considered (navigation, core pages, policies, contacts, bios), investigated (keywords, competition, usability) and created (theme design/tweeks, graphic enhancements, starter content). There are core staples we need to have in place to ensure your brand is taken seriously. If you commit to your project and work closely with me, we can do this — but don’t kid yourself as to the amount of work and time that will be required by you to get me the info I need to pull this off.
“This one step — choosing a goal and sticking to it — changes everything.”
~ Scott Reed - I need to be on the least expensive hosting — what do you recommend?
Short Answer: I don’t.
Long Answer: WordPress has unique database and resource needs. If you are serious about your project, hosting is not where you shop on price alone. I learned the hard way many years ago when I had all my WordPress sites on a host that offered WordPress installs but did not support WordPress’ resource needs. As soon as my sites started growing and gaining traffic — the sites had problems and support service-wise sucked. I have also had the pleasure of working on client sites whose hosting platforms either choked when WordPress starting cooking or the support staff didn’t know enough about WordPress to answer the most basic of questions. I only recommend the products I use on my own sites — you’ll see those in the right sidebar of my site.
“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.”
~ Samuel Johnson - How can I get Google AdSense on my site in the most places to help monetize my site?
Short Answer: There are WordPress plugins to help you do that.
Long Answer: Monetize means to basically turn something into money. How can you turn a no-nothing site into money? You can’t — even if you plaster every square inch with advertisements.
Just look at all the junk sites out there that have fallen for this hype? What do you do when you land on them? Do you stick around and click on the ads — nope you jump for the back button! If you are creating a new WordPress site purely for AdSense revenue creation — good luck with that.
I caution new sites from having any form of advertising until which time you have an established site with a solid following and then if you have to add AdSense, only do so very selectively.
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
~ Aldous Huxley - How long before I get my first comment? My friend got 10 comments the day he launched!
Short Answer: Only 10? We should be able to double that!
Long Answer: Did those 10 comments come from actual engaged visitors or people he knew or were they spammers who were link baiting? If the comments were so generically complimentary that they could make your teeth ache with user names that were keywords and the verbiage could apply to any blog post online — you’ve got a spammer. Delete!
New sites take time to get “out there” and build an audience before you’ll get the exposure to get comments. In addition, I believe in quality not quantity in everything I do. And when it comes to comments, I have a strict comment policy to ensure the conversation here is of value. I recommend all my clients put a similar policy in place.
“A lie told often enough becomes truth.”
~ Lenin (Vladimir Ulyanov) - Since you don’t have to know code to have a WordPress site, I can modify my own theme right?
Short Answer: Sure.
Long Answer: Basic HTML and CSS is certainly a benefit so you can add some formatting here or there when needed. Understanding CSS will allow you to be able to modify your theme’s global CSS file which handles layout, fonts and color details. Then, if you really want to modify your theme, you need to understand PHP. If you go into your theme’s PHP files and don’t know what you are doing you can irreparably break your theme.
“Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.”
~ Sophocles - “I don’t wanna do social media — do I hafta?”
Short Answer: Nope.
Long Answer: Social media is here to stay and is a viable marketing tool. The neat thing is there are tools and plugins that allow auto-posting of your content to Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn. But that in of itself isn’t being social nor is it enough to engage interested parties and form new relationships. So no, you don’t hafta — but you will get spanked by your competitors who do.
“Good questions outrank easy answers.”
~ Paul A. Samuelson
These are the top 10 questions whose answers I am told make WordPress more difficult than it has to be. I don’t look at it as being difficult — I look at it as helping to be a counterpoint to all the hypey sale pitchey noise out there.
For those business savvy professionals who are truly sincere and dedicated to their own online success, the above long answers produce a response of gratitude and satisfaction because — as is all too common when participating in technology — you learn something new every day!
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.”
~ Aldous Huxley
At your service,
Judith
Your WordPress Consultant
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