Has WordPress Come of Age as a CMS?

This week I have been building a membership site using WordPress as part of a challenge I set myself for the Authority Blogger Course members. I have until 3pm today my time to finish it and get it on sale. I might actually succeed, even despite the power being off in my area all morning :)

The project is for me to create a course on setting up WordPress based websites, and it got me thinking about how WordPress is not just a blog package for many of us any longer. I have written about this a little before but I think the idea has gone from being a geeky curiosity to an established fact. Course members added lots of ideas to my already growing list of ways this application can be used.

In the last year I have set up dozens of customer’s corporate websites using the software. This is not unusual, even the Number 10 Downing Street (home to our country “leadership”) runs on WordPress.

Here is a list of types of WordPress site I managed to come up with. I am sure you will agree, it can do more than just blog …

1) Blog (text, podcast, video) - OK, this one is obvious and goes without saying, but I think it is important to note how WordPress has given content creators an easy platform that does not require being tied into gated communities and paying through the nose for the privelage.

2) Static site / company website - As mentioned above, this is so common place now that I can’t imagine using anything else.

3) Lead capture site / Squeeze page - Lately I have been using WordPress for gathering contact details through free offers (send someone to a site where they can get something cool in return for putting in their contact details). Where before I would have used a static HTML site, using WordPress allows me to rapidly test, tweak and optimize the conversion rate. Plus there are other pages like privacy page and so on that need to be set up using a similar look and feel.

4) Single product sales site – Where before I might have used a download service, one of those download protector software packages, or some other system to deliver my digitial products like ebooks and videos, now I can use WordPress plus Wishlist member plugin to protect my download products. Not only does it provide a convenient and secure download area, but it reduces customer support through having built in password recovery, and also allows me to “drip out” bonuses.

5) Multi-product ecommerce site – Once you start selling from your WordPress site, it doesn’t take a leap of imagination to start thinking about selling multiple products from the same site.

6) Reviews site – Think back to when you last booked a hotel or vacation. You probably visited at least one review site. Affiliate marketers often like to set up a site where you review products in return for a sale commission on anything that is purchased. WordPress makes building one of these sites so much easier.

7) Photo gallery – It’s not just Facebook, Flickr and Picassa that can be used to display your photography, and WordPress is ideal if you don’t just want to show off but to sell your work.

8) Twitter-style site – Automattic released a special theme just for creating an internal or group Twitter type site where you can interact with short “tweet” type posts. This is great for project management, group notifications and discussion.

9) Membership site – If you want to create a password protected client area, online course, or monthly “continuity”, as mentioned earlier, WordPress is now ideal when used with Wishlist, but also much easier and cheaper to work with than the alternatives.

10) Resume – The resume is dead. Long live the resume blog! Much like company sites, if you are not filling Google with positive references then you don’t exist when it comes to certain jobs, and it is only going to increase in liklihood that your HR rep looks first to Google before checking any of your paper credentials.

I have a couple of hours to finish this WordPress based online course. Wish me luck!

Any more ideas for how WordPress is being used over and above blogging? Please share in the comments …

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Chris Garrett 
Filed Under Blogging, Software Tools

Comments

One Response to “Has WordPress Come of Age as a CMS?”

  1. untell.com on December 6th, 2009 10:28 am

    Has WordPress Come of Age as a CMS? : Codswallop…

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