“Web sites” are now “websites” and slow baud modems are now replaced by broadband. Some basic HTML skills could create a Web site that produced oohs and aahs. Today, it is WordPress garnering that reaction by assisting individuals and small businesses to have a Web site with visuals and functionality that would have cost 5 figures back in the day.

In my career WordPress has allowed me to reach goals, help others (WPVets.org) and create in ways I would have never been able to if I had to be the one to write all that whiz-bang PHP, MySQL Database, JavaScript code. Thanks to WordPress and the community of developers who create — and are whiz-bangers — small business folks have an opportunity to compete online.

What many who use WordPress don’t realize is the number of developers so passionate about WordPress that they give back by contributing to the ongoing WordPress core development. That is what has allowed WordPress to grow from an idea of one smartypants named Matt Mullenweg to a community open source project with some of the most talented and helpful folks around.

I thought I’d share with you some interesting stats on WordPress. If you aren’t on board yet, I’d love to hear what you are waiting for!

• 48% of the top 100 blogs run WordPress.
• WordPress is used by 56.9% of all the websites whose content management system is identifiable. This is 18.2% of all websites.
• Number of WordPress sites around the world – 59.4 million.
• 22 of every 100 new domains created in the US are running WordPress.
• 3.5 billion WordPress web pages viewed each month.
• An average day on WordPress sees around 500,000 new posts
• There are 19,000+ plugins freely available in the WordPress Plugin Directory and WordPress plugins have been downloaded more than 285,000,000 times.

Guess who else uses WordPress? Here’s just a handful…

1. U.S. Army
2. Ford
3. The Wall Street Journal
4. FireFox
5. Readers Digest

Pretty amazing stuff don’t you think? I look forward to what lies ahead for WordPress as I genuinely believe this platform has yet to have its full potential. Is your site on WordPress? Tell me why you love WordPress in the comments below!

WordPress is sharing its 10th Birthday with a day close to my heart. Memorial Day. While many look at this day as a day to party, picnics and have a Memorial Day Sale, I can’t forget what this day is really about. Our Fallen Heroes.

Please stop by Wounded Warrior Project and Paralyzed Veterans of America and make a small donation. Then say a prayer for our troops before you head off for your long weekend.

At your service,

Happy #10 WordPress! is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...

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Did you neglect addressing these things last week on your WordPress site?

• Update your Plugins. Plugins update for a reason. Caching plugins have been the latest target by hackers. I Tweeted about this last week. (Not following my Tweets, yet? @IStudio and @WPMuse for WP only stuff). Also delete outdated and inactive plugins — they pose a security risk.
• Post a timely and relevant Blog Post. Hey, I get it — not enough time in the day. But if you want to be followed and engage your audience, you just have to make the time! Not sure what to write about? Read: WordPress How To: 3 Easy Steps for Gathering Great Post Ideas
• Make sure prominent info is kept current. I worked on several sites last week with Copyright dates of 2010 and older. I also noted a couple About and Contact pages with outdated information. Check your About and Contact pages to make sure the most recent information is reflected. If your Copyright date is not 2013 you look like you aren’t paying attention to detail.
• Keep on top of 404s and broken links. 404 page not found errors are something that can be easily avoided as are broken links. Doing so helps provide a better user experience. Google recommends keeping on top of 404s and to some degree looks at broken links as a quality signal (as in lack thereof). Read: WordPress How To: Avoid 404 Horror
• No back-up system. Really — no backup system in place! Even with a back-up system in place, you need to make a point of manually downloading your WordPress XML file at least once each week for safe keeping. Tools > Export. Every single person I asked last week admitted not downloading their site’s XML file! I download the XML files for my sites as part of my end of the week Friday housekeeping tasks. Mark your calendar if you have to.
• FOR CONSULTANTS ONLY: Did you tell a client they weren’t doing something the way they should and how they could do it better? I do quite a bit of clean-up that wouldn’t be necessary if Consultants just took the time to proactively and constructively let Clients know what was really necessary to reach their goals — the right way! Not the easy way; not the cheap way! Not the way that caters to what you think a client wants to hear — the right way! Yes, you won’t land every client who comes your way — but guess what? That’s okay! There are a lot of great folks out there that will appreciate your candor and concern. Give it a try!

At your service,

I Saw What You Didn’t Do Last Week! is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...

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The next question was if I wouldn’t mind making some recommendations for required reading. I’ll leave out the overly techie stuff, the multitude of WordPress, Marketing, SEO and Social Media feeds that land in my inbox every day and make it easy for you by narrowing it down to the Top 5 I think that as a site owner adding these to your reading list will help keep you in the loop!

• For the Latest on Security Issues: Sucuri | The Blog @ Sucuri is on top of anything security related that you need to know about.
• For the Best in Social Media: Social Media Examiner | If you just sub to SME — you really get the whole ball of social media wax.
• For the Scoop on Search Engines: Search Engine Land | Gives you a once over of the latest trends, discussions and strategies.
• For the Best on Content Creation: Copy Blogger | Let’s face it, if you can’t write great content; you won’t get read! Honing your writing skills is an ongoing, never-ending process.
• For a Little Daily Inspiration: Seth Godin’s Blog | We all need to step back and put things in perspective. Seth is gives me my daily reality/levity check.

Add to the above your particular industry sites and feeds and you can very quickly become overwhelmed, right?

Work towards subbing to those resources you enjoy and know you can benefit from most otherwise, you just end up mucking up your inbox and gain nothing because you don’t have time to read them all. I have a bunch of resources I’ve been subbed to for years, while others fall by the wayside when I no longer find them helpful, useful or fresh.

When you narrow down your subscriptions to the core 5 or 10 you *really* need and enjoy, you’ll find you are more apt to learn from and apply that information to your program!

At your service,

Read This to Keep Up! is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...

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