Custom WordPress sites get noticed

by Jen Pennington and James McGrath

We’ve been quietly experimenting on some really amazing new sites including our own. Our work over the last six months is more focused on creating great custom designs using WordPress blog technology to allow our customers access to their content. It’s not just for blogs. That’s right, we’re teaching our clients how to make updates and we proudly admit it.

The money you save by learning how to update your site yourself or through an employee means you can use those funds for help with direct email marketing, print ads, social media areas, or adding new useful features to your site. It’s about looking at the big picture, not just your website. We’ve put together a few questions put forth to us by some of our customers. We hope you find it useful.

Screenshot of the admin used to create this article.

What is WordPress?
While initially created as blogging software, WordPress makes a great light version of a CMS (Content Management System). The software is free, and is supported by most good web hosting companies. It is also fairly straightforward in terms of installation and administration. WordPress has a large, active user community that provides forums for tips and support. When the code running your site is up to date it helps prevent security risks. Because the software that runs WordPress is open source, any amount of customization is possible and in fact, encouraged. If you really get into it, you can even blog by downloading an app for your iPhone.
Can I still have some bells & whistles?
Absolutely. Plugins can be installed directly in the WordPress admin and there are thousands to choose from. Some examples are site stats, e-commerce, image galleries and site security. By making use of plugins, users can customize the performance of a blog or site according to need. Some famous plugins are All in one SEO, Akismet, Robots meta, and the SEO friendly images plugin.
How does search engine optimization work in WordPress?
Out of the box, WordPress is a pretty well optimized system, and does a far better job at allowing every single page to be indexed than some other CMS systems out there. It also allows you to put in keywords for pictures or blog entries so people can find you. At Rhizome we have seen a dramatic increase in site traffic for clients who move from a traditional website to a customized WordPress site.
Can I interact with my customers? What about social media?
WordPress allows you to directly interact with your clients. By allowing comments, visitors have a voice on your site. By making an RSS feed available clients can easily see when the site has been updated. Social media applications like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn also tend to dovetail nicely with WordPress sites, for example, your blog postings can be set to automatically update your Twitter account.
How do I update my site to a WordPress site?
Just ask us how. It doesn’t take us very long to take an existing site we may have done for you in the past and upgrade it. Chances are we can get it done within a week or two depending on the complexity of the site, as long as there are no other major design modifications. We set everything up and then arrange a time to tutor our customers on how to use it.
But what if I mess up my site?
Trust us, you won’t mess up your site. We’ve already put this through the “Emily-Corey-fear-of-html” test. Emily is a writer who wanted to be able to put in articles and posts for clients. After we talked her through how to do it, she is zipping right along, fear-free. What we call the “shell” of the site is hard-coded and will not be affected by any of the content text you wish to publish.

Below are some examples of our latest sites employing great custom design with WordPress technology. Feel free to peruse them and get some ideas for yourself.

Bill Nye the Science Guy
A site worth experimenting on, I challenge you to take the POP Quiz. It’s really tough! Find your favorite episode guides and see what’s brewing inside Nye Labs. This customized WordPress theme allows for video, a database, custom PHP scripts, and flash elements. In the first month this site received over 15,000 visitors. The stats have steadily climbed to over 72,000 a month.

Valley Cultural Center
VCC provides one of the largest outdoor Summer concerts and movies in the park in Southern California with over 50,000 visitors in a season. Being a non-profit does not always mean no profit, and better online functionality proved to be a prudent decision. New event features, and an online marketplace directory for those businesses in the San Fernando Valley that support the arts through VCC were included. This provided an alternative revenue flow for VCC, making it possible to bring their site to the next level and fundraise with firepower.

NBIS
James recently updated the entire Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability website in two weeks. We had originally created the site in standard HTML, but because NBIS needed multiple admins for different events, and pages, we needed to make it easy. In the course of upgrading the site, we now have featured company profiles automatically available on home page, as well as feeds for Ecozome Journal articles. We kept our news feed powered by Google AJAX and databases for the Resources and Members pages.

The Gear Works
One of the largest industrial gear manufacturers in North America, we helped TGW reinvent their brand through a new logo and matching communication materials. As part of the scope of this project, we were asked to work closely with an employee there who would be managing updates and content for the site. Their new site brought back to life old newsletters through an online WordPress blog area. A Flash showcase allows the users to take a tour of their facility complete with captions and thumbnails.

Robert Loe and Associates
As Robert Loe, our CPA likes to say, “accounting is boring, but important.” But there’s nothing boring about this website. In fact, the look is quite fun. We used nostalgic ledger-style art with new-fangled technology to create a contrast between old-fashioned common sense and a modern way to communicate to clients. BTW, there’s lots of love in this site, because Robert has been my accountant since I moved to Seattle 16 years ago.

Kenyon Homecare Consulting
We just launched this very elegant site about two weeks ago. This Homecare Consulting agency needs to add content frequently to its news section, and WordPress allows them the flexibility of having staff add content directly into the site.