Last month, I put out a call for business submissions asking people who use WordPress or another blogging application for their company websites (not just business blogs) to submit their URLs for a new series here on BusinessLogs that showcases businesses using blogging applications in cool ways. [Read more…] about WordPress for Business Websites – Le Tutor
Blog Design
Brand, Design and Usability – 3 Keys to Business Blogging Success
The success of your business blog is dependent on multiple components, and three of the most important components are: brand, design and usability.
Think of it this way — your business blog content is only as good as how it is received by visitors. That means you need to not only write shareworthy content, but you also need to adhere to your brand promise by presenting a business blog that is well-developed and designed. In other words, brand, design and usability must live cohesively in order for your business blog to be the best it can be.
Let’s look at those three keys to business blogging success more closely:
1. Brand
Your business blog is an excellent channel to communicate your brand promise, messages and image and enables you to connect with and build relationships with consumers around the world. It gives you a unique opportunity to develop loyal brand advocates who will help you spread the word about your brand, defend your brand, and build your business both on and off the social web. Follow the link to learn about business blogging and brand building. [Read more…] about Brand, Design and Usability – 3 Keys to Business Blogging Success
WordPress for Business Websites — Accelerated Business Results
Recently, I put out a call for business submissions asking people who use WordPress or another blogging application for their company websites (not just business blogs) to submit their URLs for a new series here on BusinessLogs that showcases businesses using blogging applications in cool ways.
Today is Day 1 of the new WordPress for Business Websites series, and the first company website to be highlighted is Accelerated Business Results.
When Laura Mattis of Accelerated Business Results provided the URL to her company website, which is built on WordPress, here is what she had to say:
“My company just recently updated their website. We made the move to WordPress and have been thrilled. We’re doing some creative and valuable things on the web-front these days, especially in the SharePoint and WordPress spaces.”
Take a lesson from Accelerated Business Results, and check out the screenshots and commentary below to see just how great WordPress can make a website look! [Read more…] about WordPress for Business Websites — Accelerated Business Results
Five Ways to Tweak a WordPress Theme
Ah, free WordPress themes. I’m convinced they’re one of the biggest reasons WordPress is the most popular blogging platform today. From one-column minimalism to grid-based magazine layouts, photoblogging styles to made-for-Adsense themes, there are free WordPress themes for every taste- just download, install and activate!
But to set your blog apart, you’ll want to tweak that theme- and when I say tweak, I mean make small changes here and there. To make these tweaks to your theme of choice, a tool like the Firebug extension for Firefox can be very handy- but, really, any text editor will do.
- Tweak your header
Usually the first place new visitors will look, and a good place to start. Some themes include “theme options” pages that show up when you’ve activated the theme, and others include banner photos or graphics that can easily be replaced with your own. If you’re using the default WordPress theme Kubrick, the aptly named Kubrickr will automatically find photos on Flickr for you to customize your header with. To get more in-depth, I recommend reading through WordPress’ official codex page on Designing Headers. - Play with your widgets
Most WordPress theme designers “widgetize” their themes, and for good reason: widgets are probably the quickest way to personalize a WordPress theme. Built-in widgets, available in every fresh installation of WordPress, include widgets for displaying your Archives, Calendar, Recent Comments and so forth- and And if the theme you love isn’t widgetized, you can do it yourself. - Experiment with color
Even slight changes to the colors on your site can have a big impact. Online tools such as the Color Scheme Designer can keep you busy for hours, or you can check out pre-made color schemes at sites like colr.org and GenoPal. - Change your fonts
We used to have just two choices when it came to web fonts: serif or sans-serif. Today, we have methods like sIFR and FLIR, which replace your fonts using Flash, the newish Cufon, which doesn’t require Flash, and CSS3’s @font-face, which works by downloading the specified fonts. - Personalize your About page
This one, which requires no CSS tweaking at all, just might be the most important way of all. Tweaking your About page, the only page that comes pre-built with WordPress, is where you can truly let your personality shine through. A photo of yourself is always good, but you should feel free to add anything here that shows the world- or your readers, at least- who you are. You can read more about tweaking your About page in a previous post of mine.
Of course, we’ve only barely scratched the surface of the ways you can tweak your WordPress theme. For more ways, the WordPress Codex is an excellent place to start.