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Introduction
WordPress for Business Bloggers provides advanced strategies and techniques to take your WordPress business blog from average to extraordinary. Whether you already have a blog, or are still in the planning stages, this book will show you how to use WordPress to create a highly successful blog for your business.
The release of version 2.6 has confirmed the status of WordPress as the leading blogging platform. This book has been written for and tested on WordPress 2.6, so all the screenshots and tutorials are accurate for users of that version of the software.
This is a practical, hands-on book based around a fictitious case-study blog, which you will build using a development server on your own computer. The vast majority of tutorials and examples will be applied to the case study blog. The case study grows chapter by chapter, from installing your local development server, right up to the finished blog.
You will be installing and configuring a selection of WordPress plugins to improve the functionality of the case-study blog. You are provided with clear instructions and detailed screenshots, so you can see exactly what to do at each step of the build. When you have completed the case study, you will have the knowledge and confidence to apply all the techniques you have learned to your own WordPress business blog.
The author assumes you have basic experience with WordPress, already know how to set up a self-hosted WordPress blog, and are familiar with the basics: creating posts and pages, configuring blog settings, and so on. By the time you have finished the book you will have moved forward from WordPress novice to an advanced user of the software in a business context.
What This Book Covers
In Chapter 1 you will examine many different types of business blogs. You will be shown a selection of great business blogs and see what you can learn from them.
In Chapter 2 you will be introduced to the case study blog, and taken through the process of developing strategic goals and your blog plan. You will learn that the planning process is important, even if your blog is already up and running.
In Chapter 3 you will learn the basics of blog design. You will work through a brief introduction to HTML and CSS, and see how easy it is to create your own custom design using the Sandbox theme.
In Chapter 4 you will learn some advanced image and video handling techniques, including setting up an image gallery and using video from third-party sources, such as YouTube and Google Video.
Chapter 5 focuses on different techniques and methods required for creating the best possible content for your business blog.
Chapter 6 covers some of the most important SEO strategies and how to apply them, as well as how to submit your blog to the search engines.
In Chapter 7 you will learn some advanced blog promotion techniques, including: advanced RSS with FeedBurner; using Internet Explorer 8 Web Slices; submitting to the blog search engines, like Technorati; using social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter; and using social bookmarks, such as Digg and del.icio.us.
In Chapter 8 you will learn the importance of connecting with other bloggers and playing an active role in the blogosphere to promote your business blog.
In Chapter 9 you will learn how to analyze your blog's performance using tools such as Google Analytics and WordPress.com Stats.
In Chapter 10 you will be introduced to a variety of strategies to help you generate revenue from your blog, like using advertising and affiliate programs.
In Chapter 11 you will learn how to manage the growth of your blog by optimizing it for high traffic and introducing multiple authors by using WordPress MU.
Who is This Book for?
This book is for anybody running or starting a business blog using WordPress. Whether you plan to use your blog for PR and marketing, or want to profit directly from blogging, this book offers you everything you need.
As we want to get into the specifics of business blogging as quickly as possible, we don't cover the WordPress basics. So it's best to have some experience with WordPress before you start with this book.
The book mainly focuses on a self-hosted WordPress installation, but most of the advice also applies to blogs hosted on WordPress.com.
