Building a Web Presence with WordPress as the CMS of choice.

1. Building a
Web Presence
with WordPress
Liam Dempsey | LBDesign

2. About Liam
§ Run LBDesign, a communications
design consultancy in Philly and
London
§ Working with WordPress since 2007
§ A designer who codes
§ Run the Philly ‘burbs WordPress
Meetup
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

3. Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

4. What We’ll Cover
§ The state of WordPress in 2013
§ Presenting the case of WordPress as
a CMS of choice
§ Tips on approaching WordPress
projects
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

5. What We Won’t Cover
§ Design or development best practices
§ The nitty-gritty of WordPress
development – no talking code!
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

6. WP: Not just for blogging
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

7. State of WordPress
§ Currently 71,856,103 sites run on WP
§ 20% of the top 1 million websites run on
WordPress
§ Examples: The NY Times, CNN, Rolling
Stones
§ Supported by Automattic
§ Social is on the horizon: BuddyPress
§ Up next: WordPress as App Framework
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

8. Why use WordPress?
§ Easy for content managers to use
§ Loads of quality plugins
§ Flexible
§ Scalable
§ Very popular – so loads of great
designers and developers know it
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

9. WordPress is SEO friendly
§ Customizable permalinks = SEO
friendly URLs
§ Editable slugs
§ Plenty of SEO/content strategy
plugins
§ Even sliders are SEO friendly
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

10. What are themes?
§ Add a mixture of
design and
functionality
§ Three types:
§ Free
§ Premium
§ Starter/Custom
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

11. Thinking about themes
§ Not all themes are created equal
§ Some are more flexible and robust
§ Some are easier to use for end-clients
§ Some are downright scary!
§ iThemes, Woo Themes + StartBox are
reliable and safe (… there are others)
§ Frameworks: Genesis, WooThemes,
Headway, Ultimatum + Startbox
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

12. A Word to the Wise
Editing purchased themes
– even good ones – is
rarely a cost effective
solution
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

13. What are plugins?
§ Software add-ons
§ Plugins address many
needs:
§ SEO and blogging
§ User permissions
§ Events
§ Digital Downloads
§ Membership
subscriptions
§ Podcasts and video
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

14. Plugin considerations
§ Not all plugins are created equal
§ User-interface varies greatly
§ Shody plugins can be inefficient or
present security issues
§ Some plugins don’t play nicely with
others
§ Rule of thumb: Don’t make plugins
first option
§ Don’t be afraid to use solid plugins
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

15. Suggested plugins I
§ SEO: WordPress SEO by Yoast
§ Contact forms: Gravity Forms
§ Social Media: DiggDigg
§ Slider: Soliloquy
§ Digital Downloads: Easy Digital
Downloads
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

16. Suggested plugins II
§ Podcasts: Blubrry Power Press
§ Membership: Paid Memberships Pro,
S2 Member, Exchange with
Membership Add-on
§ Customization: Advanced Custom
Fields
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

17. Custom Post Types
§ Used for any content type with a
need for repeated instances – eg,
Recipes, Staff, Products, etc.
§ The custom post type and fields are
customized
§ Data from CPT can be displayed
across the site with ease
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

18. Why use CPT?
§ Allows content managers to focus on
content – without worrying about
design
§ Can be very SEO friendly
§ Allows for a richer user experience as
content is consistent across the site
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

19. Don’t Skimp on Security
§ Think “Safety first!”
§ Back up, back up, back up
§ WordPress is popular, ergo it’s a
target for hackers
§ Still a very secure platform
§ Pay for good hosting and keep the
software up-to-date
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013

20. Thanks!
Blog: liamdempsey.com
Work: lbdesign.tv
Quirky: chickenmonkeydog.com
Twitter: @liamdempsey
Chester County Marketing Group: October 2013