• Do you want to be able to update your own content?
• Do you want good search engine optimization (SEO) without knowing the first thing about it?
• Do you want awesome valid semantic code without even trying hard?

We’ve been using WordPress for years to build business websites. Years ago, in our quest to find a simple-to-use, open-source content management system for our small business clients, we tried just about every platform out there. Everything we tried (I’m not naming names, but you know who you are) was OVERKILL (meaning confusing and overwrought) for our clients who just wanted to be able to update their own pages and keep a blog for events and news items. In addition, many of the other CMS programs we tried produced the most heinous code, full of table tags and in many cases, code that would not validate without a major overhaul.

WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms on the web.  But what many people don’t know is that it is also a powerful, user-friendly, FREE Content Management System (CMS) that can be used for much more than just blogging. With WordPress you can build a blog, a website, or both.

By using WordPress for your small to medium business website, you also get the following:

• Search Engine Optimization – WordPress provides REALLY good search engine optimization (SEO) right out of the box.
• Control of your content –  It is easy for non-technical users to update content on a WordPress website without knowing HTML. Do you have to wait for your webmaster every time you want to make a small change to your website? Once WordPress is set up for you, you can easily create new pages or edit existing pages using a simple rich text editor.
• Did we mention it’s FREE? – WordPress is an open-source platform, which means you don’t have to shell out big bucks for a license to use it for your website.  It’s ideal for small to medium size businesses who don’t have a huge web budget.

WordPress 3.0 launched June 17th and we are very excited about the new features. Look for an upcoming post with highlights about the new version and how they can be leveraged by business websites.