Wordpress 101 for
Small Business Owners
Presented by:
Lindsey Tyner, President & Founder of Alt Creative
www.alt-creative.com | @alt_creative
WORDPRESS 101
About Me & Alt Creative
• Originally from Sugar Land, Tx and moved to Austin to attend
University of Texas.
• Spent the beginning of my career in UI Design, Web Development
and Marketing.
• Became a full time freelancer in 2005.
• Started my own business, Alt Creative, in 2008 to focus on
working with small businesses, entrepreneurs, and non-profits.
• Began working almost exclusively with Wordpress in 2009.
• Member of the Wordpress Users Association since 2013.
• Member of the International Webmaster Association since 2005.
WORDPRESS 101
What is Wordpress?
WordPress is an open source website platform designed to allow for
easy website creation and administration. It's considered the most
powerful and extensible website content management system (CMS) in
existence today.
• Started as a blogging tool in 2003. • New York Observer, New York Post, TED,
Thought Catalog, Williams, USA Today, CNN,
• Built on PHP programming language and Fortune.com, TIME.com, National Post, Spotify,
MySQL database. TechCrunch, CBS Local, NBC all use WordPress.
• Is open source meaning anyone is freely • Around 15,886,000 websites on the entire web
licensed to use, copy, study, and change the use WordPress.
software in any way, and the source code is
openly shared so that people are encouraged • 22% of new domains in the US are run with
to voluntarily improve the design of the WordPress.
software.
• 120 languages are in use at WordPress.com
• As of February 2016, WordPress is used by sites.
59.1% of all the websites whose content
management system we know. This is 25.8%
of all websites.
WORDPRESS 101
Why is Wordpress a good choice for
small businesses?
It’s free. Powerful
There are some costs associated Wordpress has a large network of
with running your website on developers who are constantly
Wordpress, but the software is making it better and more
free. powerful.
Easy to learn Extensible
Managing a Wordpress site is There are thousands of plugins,
intuitive, making it easy to use. themes, and tools to add
functionality to your Wordpress
site.
Secure (mostly) SEO friendly
Wordpress is developed with Wordpress is built with SEO in
security in mind and is battle- mind and uses SEO-friendly
tested. permalinks.
WORDPRESS 101
Which Wordpress is right
for your business?
WordPress.com is a commercial site WordPress.org is where you can
where you can host your own site for download a copy of the WordPress
free, but with some limitations.Started as software for free. There are less
a blogging tool in 2003. limitations, but more expertise and setup
is required.
• Limited to WordPress.com themes – you can’t
upload your own. • Installing and setting up your WordPress site.
• No custom plugins. • Purchasing and setting up hosting.
• Limited storage space. • Regularly updating your WP version, themes,
• Limited control of your content, i.e. you must and plugins.
pay to remove ads. • Keeping your site secure for your visitors and
• No FTP access to your files. protecting your site against hackers and spam.
• Backing up your whole site regularly in case it
breaks.
• Resolving problems with your site and server if
they arise.
WORDPRESS 101
Comparison Chart
Wordpress.org Wordpress.com
E-commerce Allowed through plugins Functionality does not exist
Full maintenance of WP, themes, and
Included Maintenance None. Unless you hire a developer.
plugins included.
Customize look and/or functionality Download, install, and/or create your No custom themes or plugins
own themes and plugins. available.
Control the amount of storage for
This is determined by the host your
videos, images, etc. Limited amount available.
choose.
Buy your own domain (cost vary) and Buy your domain via Wordpress.com
Custom web address (url)
point it to your host. and point it to your account.
Scalability Scalable and extensible Not scalable
None included. Unless you hire an
Website support Full support included.
expert (additional cost).
WORDPRESS 101
Installing and setting up Wordpress
WordPress.com is a commercial site where you can host your own site for free, but with
some limitations.Started as a blogging tool in 2003.
What you need:
• A registered domain name
• A good Linux-based hosting company
• A strong password
Options for setting up Wordpress:
• Set it up manually via FTP (requires some expertise in server administration).
• One-click install (if available on your host). GoDaddy and Bluehost have this option.
• Hire an expert to do it for you.
WORDPRESS 101
Primary Content Types in Wordpress
POSTS
01 Typically used for blog posts, announcements, content that is available for
comment. Can be categorized and tagged.
PAGES
02 Typically used for static content such as the homepage, about, contact, etc. Can’t
be categorized, but can be structured with subpages.
MEDIA
03 Images, videos, documents, and other content that may be contained in a page or
post but is not text.
WORDPRESS 101
Primary Content Types in Wordpress
WORDPRESS 101
Creating Posts & Pages
WORDPRESS 101
What are themes?
A WordPress Theme is a collection of files (called template files) that work together to
produce a graphical design interface for a Wordpress website. A Wordpress theme
modifies the way the site is displayed, without modifying the underlying software.
Most WordPress themes provide the overall design or style of your site including:
• font styling
• colors
• page layouts (or templates)
• styles for blog posts and blog archives
• additional stylistic details
WORDPRESS 101
Choosing and installing a
Wordpress theme
• You can choose from over a thousand free themes from the WordPress Theme
Directory or invest in premium, or paid themes. However, when choosing a theme for
your small business website, make sure to carefully consider how it fits with your
company’s brand and target audience.
• You can install Wordpress themes from the Wordpress Theme Directory from directly
inside your Wordpress administration area. You can install premium themes my
uploading the theme files in the administration area.
• Remember that not all themes are created equal. We recommend only downloading
themes from the Wordpress Theme Directory or popular premium theme libraries like
ElegantThemes.com or ThemeForest.net.
• Once your theme is installed and activated, you will likely need to make some updates
to your site structure and page content to fit the theme layout. This often requires the
expertise of a developer.
View the directory at https://wordpress.org/themes/
WORDPRESS 101
What is a plugin?
Plugins are ways to extend and add to the functionality that already exists in WordPress.
The core of WordPress is designed to be lean and lightweight, to maximize flexibility and
minimize code bloat. Plugins then offer custom functions and features so that each user
can tailor their site to their specific needs.
Wordpress plugin examples:
• WooCommerce - extends Wordpress to allow for e-commerce capability.
• Yoast SEO - adds SEO specific input fields to the page and post editor to allow for great
search engine performance.
• Backup Buddy - adds functionality to allow for automatic backups.
• Contact Form 7 - adds functionality to embed contact forms into your pages.
• AddThis - Sharing buttons to allow visitors to easily share your site content on Social
Media.
WORDPRESS 101
When to hire an expert
The power of Wordpress comes from its extensibility and flexibility. Because of that, there
are several ways to accomplish your goals, but you may need to invest in working with a
Wordpress developer to get things done correctly. After all, a Wordpress expert can likely
get things done faster and without the frustration of you having to research plugins,
themes, etc.
When to hire a developer:
• When purchasing a new theme and you need help configuring it to your content/
brand.
• When you want to add functionality to your site such as e-commerce through a plugin.
• When you know you don’t have time to maintain your site, you can hire a developer to
do periodic maintenance such as updating your Wordpress version and plugins while
testing your site functionality.
WORDPRESS 101
Recap
• Wordpress is a powerful tool for your website.
• There are two ways to use Wordpress (.org and .com) depending on your site goals.
• It can be extended through plugins.
• You can easily create layouts using themes, but make sure to consider your brand
and audience!
• You can create pages, posts, and add media such as images and videos.
• Wordpress must be maintained to function properly and remain secure.
• A Wordpress developer can be a valuable resource.
Get in Touch
Want to know more? Alt Creative provides professional design
services, expert WordPress development, and reliable on-
going maintenance solutions tailored to your brand.
Alt Creative
[email protected]
512-535-0444
www.alt-creative.com
@alt_creative
