5 Typical uses for WordPress in a small business

Posted on November 17, 2012 by chris

As you all know WordPress has tons of uses. Its original purpose started out as a blog. Since WordPress originally launched back in May 27, 2003, by Matt Mullenweg, 16 versions later WordPress has transformed into a well tuned machine that can be transformed into pretty much everything. Below are the top 5 uses Hardin Marketing has implemented over the years.

WordPress as a blogging system

Obviously this is what WordPress was once created for, so its part of the core installation. Its easy to setup and get going in no time. Unlike wordpress.com, it is fully customizable and can be trasformed into any shape or size you want.
View Live Example of WordPress used as a Blog

WordPress as a business Website

WordPress allows users of all skill level to have complete access to control the content on each and every page of their website. Its a very cost effective way of launching a website. Adding and managing pages are as simple as adding a new blog post. With the new menu builder feature it makes navigation a breeze. More than half of our business focus goes to customizing WordPress as a Website. The site your on is a great example of WordPress used as a business Website. View Live Example of WordPress used as a business website

WordPress as a shopping cart

WordPress has evolved every year, and as demand for eCommerce solutions grew so did the plugins for adding on a shopping cart to WordPress’s core functionality. My favorite is Shopp Plugin. Its simple and easy to get going. Low overhead, and accepts multiple forms of payment. view a working example of Shopp

WordPress as a portfollio

Doesn’t matter what your industry, WordPress makes a great portfolio tool. There are several free and paid themes to get you going. If your adventurist, you can create your own custom post-types and theme the functionality in yourself. Many photographers, landscapers, home builders etc, use WordPress as their portfolio showcase. View Live Example of WordPress Portfollio

WordPress as a community site.

The WordPress plugin repository offers several options for extending the functionality of your basic WordPress installation. BuddyPress is a great example of how a plugin can transform your site into a mule-user community.

How to setup a WordPress Server Locally

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Chris

Have you ever wished you could develop WordPress on your computer? Well I have some good news for you! You can, and have been able to do it pretty much since the concept of WordPress went live. Its ok if your just now finding this out. I want to hold your hand and guide you through the proper steps to get a perfect local WordPress development environment setup.

Deciding MAMP or WAMP

This one is easy. Are you a MAC User or a Windows User? If your a MAC User you will need to install MAMP. If your a Windows user you will install WAMP.

Step by Step Directions how to install MAMP

Download the software http://mamp.info/en/ Click Download Now button. It’s a big download, so it takes a while to complete. (MAMP is free, but the download also includes the commercial product, MAMP Pro, which makes administering MAMP easier. You don’t need MAMP Pro for this tutorial, and you don’t have to install it either.) Once downloaded, the file will be in your downloads folder. Click it and it will extract itself, and have another folder where you can select 32bit or 64bit. Select 64 bit, then click the icon inside MAMP.pkg this will open and you will see below.

Continue to install it as you would any program. After its completely installed you can find it in your Applications folder. Find the MAMP folder and click on the icon inside of it to launch your new server. (I suggest making a shortcut to your htdocs as well as a shortcut to the MAMP icon that launches the program as shown below)

Configure MAMP Configuring MAMP is simple, click on the preferences button on the launch screen.

You will see a few tabs with multiple options.

As you may or may not know, port 80 is the standard port for web servers. That being said you will need to change the port 8080 to 80. This can easily be done by clicking Set to default Apache and Mysql ports!

Now that everything is configured click the open start page button.

Now that your up and running create a new database using the phpmyadmin link. Then download the newest version of WordPress and place it in the htdocs folder that can be located by going to Application/MAMP/htdocs. This tutorial is just an intro to getting a local Apache Mysql PHP server running. If you need help installing WordPress on MAMP, there comment below. If I see theres a need, I will create another post on how to install WordPress on MAMP.

Step by Step Directions how to install WAMP

Download the software http://www.wampserver.com/en/ Click Download Now button. It’s a big download, so it takes a while to complete. Locate the downloaded zip file and extract it. Then launch the installer.

Installing Windows programs are thoughtless. Just continue clicking next until you finally get to the last screen. Since your running Windows, you have a Firewall setup by default. you will need to go to the control panel and disable that, for WAMP to function correctly. Once your firewall is off, your ready to start configuring WAMP.

After installation WAMP should have automatically started itself. You can find the WAMP manger down by the clock. It looks like this.

You can now configure every aspect of your local server. Click on localhost to launch the starter home page. This will be replaced shortly by your WordPress installation files.

How to disable WordPress Admin bar

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Chris

As of WordPress 3.0 there is a new admin bar that is visible from the front end that has become a bit annoying for some of us. There are several ways to get rid of this, the simplest one is on a user by user basis. Simply login as an administrator, then select users from the left in the WP-Admin area. Next select user of interest. Continue on to edit that user, in the users section.

You will see Show Admin Bar with a check box option that allows you to view the admin bar when viewing site (default) or show admin bar in the dashboard. The rest is self explanitory. Uncheck view when viewing site. That’s it. If this post has been helpful show some love by commenting below.

Wordpress Backup Frequently Asked Questions

WordPress Website Backup Frequently Asked Questions

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Chris

If you’ve made it as far as setting up a wordpress website, you are probably faced with a few questions about backing up your new installation? If you don’t have questions and just believe everything is hunkydory and your web hosting company has your back, think again. Below are some of the most common questions new wordpress users have about backing up their website.

How often should you back up?

That question depends on how often you blog or add content to your pages. For most sites that update content monthly I suggest backing up the database and wp files monthly. If you only blog ocassionally, you can probably get by with backing up quarterly. You just have to ask yourself, “Self, how much time do I have invested in this content? and what if I lost it all and had to begin again?” If neither of those questions bother you, just pick a different post to read. Backing up your site should be a priority.

What should I back up

You should back up 2 major things. Your database and your content files. That’s pretty much everything that runs your site. If you don’t attach images, and files to your post you can get away with just backing up your database, your plugins and your wordpress theme. If you have a database, plugins and wordpress theme folder, you can most likely get your site back up and running easily, then you would need your upload files, that are located in the WP-Content folder to get everything functional. You can always download the newest version of WP, connect your database, update your database, and more than likely smoothly be back up and running.

How many wordpress backups should I keep?

This question is an easy one, keep at least 2, if not more of all your wordpress files, and a copy of your wordpress database. Why 2 or more? Say you only have one backup and your database is corrupt? Your pretty much screwed! So why not up your chances of recovery by having at least 2 complete backups?

So how do I back up my wordpress website??

Learn how to completely backup a wordpress installation and database in less than 15 min

How to backup a wordpress website installation in minutes

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Chris

Backing up a wordpress installation can be easy or it can be challenging. After reading this tutorial, if I’ve done a my job, you should think its an easy process. I will be going in depth for those of you who are totally new to wordpress and don’t understand the concept of plugins and how to install and activate plugins. To completely backup your wordpress installation you will learn how to backup the database, then backup all your wordpress files. If this tutorial helps you out, please comment below and show some love.

Go to the plugin tab and search for “wp backup”

Next click on “install Now” button beside wp backup

Confirm that you in fact do want to install this plugin. Click OK

Next You will now see the plugin installing

After the wp backup plugin is installed, it will ask you if you want to activate it. Click activate plugin. The plugin is now active and ready to use.

Click on the tools menu and you will see backup

Click on the backup button and you will see the options of the backup plugin.

This part is simple, scroll down about half way and you will see, backup options. Select download to your computer and click on the back up button.

Now save the database file to your computer

I suggest creating a folder titled “WEBSITE BACKUP FOLDER – DATE” and then saving the database backup file into that folder.

Next we make a backup of all of our wordpress files

To complete this step you will need the folowing infromation.
1. Download An FTP program such as Filezilla
2. your user credentials to access your website files via FTP.
If you don’t know your FTP credentials contact your web host and they will help you out with step 2.

Next we make a backup of all of our wordpress files

Configure your FTP program with your hostname, username and password, then click connect.

Copy your site to your “WEBSITE BACKUP FOLDER”

FTP is simple, everything on the left side of the screen is your local computer, everything on the right is files on your server. In the left pannel navigate to your “WEBSIte BACKUP FOLDER” then in the right panel select all the file by clicking on one file then pressing the CTRL A button on your keyboard this will select all the files on the sever side. Next right click on the server side, you will see DOWNLOAD.. Thats it click it and sit back and watch all your files copy. This could take from 5 minutes to more than an hour. It all depends on how many files you have on your server. If your blog is packed with tons of images, it will take longer.

I hope this tutorial has been educational for you. If it has helped you learn how to backup your wordpress website, please share it with others. Feel free to comment below.

Shopp Plugin Example Client’s WordPress Site

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Chris

Recently I took on a new client with a unique group of products for sale. He wanted a simple and easy to manage shopping cart system, with an integrated blog. I decided to use the Shopp Plugin for easy integration of the e commerce shopping cart into the WordPress system. Next came theming and adding products. Below is a general overview of what the client side management looks like.

The front page

TilesDirect.net WordPress Website Designs by Hardin Marketing LLC

Backsplash Tiles Shopping Page (Sortable)

Managing Products is simple

Adding a product is easy with the Shopp Plugin integrated

Manage Blog Post

Client can easily Add / Remove Pages

If you like what you see above and are in need of web design contact us If you are a wordpress website designer looking to grow your skill set we also offer one on one wordpress training and coaching in Atlanta Hardin Marketing LLC is here to help you succeed at whatever your needs are.

WordPress Admin Custom Dashboard Upgrade

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Chris

If you’ve ever installed any version of wordpress, you know that it comes out of the box fully functional packed with tons of admin widgets and admin menus. This is most wordpress designers dream, but when your ready to turn it over to the client its not the greatest presentation or functionality. Assuming when you turn the project over to your client and give them editor permissions, they are now faced with an overwhelming amount admin dashboard widgets and admin menus they may never use, or may get them in trouble.

As a Hardin Marketing Standard, we strip the admin media menu, admin links menu, admin appearance menu, admin plugins menu, admin users menu, admin tools menu, admin settings menu, and sometime the admin links menu.

We also replace the standard wordpress footer branding and replace with Custom built WordPress Solutions by Hardin Marketing LLC. We then add the following widget. This reminds the client who build the site for future upgrades, and it also lets them know that your appreciate their business.

You may also be familiar with this screen. Yep, its the wordpress admin login page.

We feel that the client’s custom built wordpress website should be fully branded to match the rest of the company. Below is what the admin panel looks like now.

If your a wordpress designer and would like to learn new ways to make your wordpress websites more branded and custom, Hardin Marketing offers WordPress Website Design Training. Learn more about Hardin Marketing LLC WordPress Coaching Services.

Learn WordPress | Atlanta WordPress Training

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Chris

Are you an established html css static website designer or graphic designer wanting to take your skill set to the next level? Hardin Marketing is now offering one on one wordpress web design coaching.

We customize the training to meet your needs. Maybe you have a client wanting to convert their current html site to wordpress, but you’ve been putting them off because you don’t know how? You may have been telling them that your super busy, but your really just been trying to learn wordpress so you can confidently tell the client “yes I can convert your existing website to wordpress”.

Hardin Marketing takes all the learning curves out. We can start from a fresh install and coach you all the way through the project, or we can pick up where your stuck and help you jump over the hurdle your currently facing.

Wordpress coaching rates start at as low as $50/ hour.

So now that you have the information, its time to decide what kind of training you prefer. One on one in person wordpress training for $50/hour or wordpress training via skype.

For more details fill out the form below and we will contact you shortly.

What is Internet Marketing? and How can I Dominate My Local Area Business?

Posted on August 6, 2009 by Chris

Internet Marketing can be defined many ways. I define it as placement of media on the internet in such a way to gain new traffic to your site or blog. There are several aspects to internet marketing.

Information for Developing a niche

What is a niche?

In internet marketing a niche is a specific target audience. A great example of a niche is Automobile Dealers. To break the niche even down more “Ford Automobile Dealers”. By developing a niche and focusing all your efforts on just one niche your more likely to see results faster than to have 100s of random niches. Choose your niche example Home Decor, then break it down even smaller in to other categories such as office home decor, garage decor, bedroom home decor etc. This is the key to success. Start Big and drill down!

Localizing your niche

Localizing your niche , helps you target your specific geographical audience. If your a landscaper in Lawrenceville, GA your probably not going to want to target an audience in Panama City Florida. Am I right? Localizing your website, will help you obtain those local clients in your service area. One great way to do this is to add your business to Google’s local business center . Have you ever noticed the results listed below?

picture-17

This is a prime example of localizing your niche, as well as dominating your niche locally and in natural search results.

What is natural search results?

Natural search results are ranked exclusively by Google. This mean that they believe that your website is the best fit for the search the user “potential client” has executed. As you can see, I not only show up in the local business directory but I also show up in the next 2 natural search results. Not tooting my own horn but thats pretty amazing if you think about it. If the user decides to not click on my business in the business directory they have 2 more shots at it on the 1st page of Google. That’s pretty good odds that I may get the searcher to visit my site.

Dominating your niche in your local area

Most peoples goals are to dominate there nich, especially localaly. If your a roofer and there are 1000′s of roofers in your area, but your dominating the internet of your specific area your more likely to have a better return on your “time investment” than the other guys that may or may not even have a website.

I hope this tutorial has been informative. Please leave me feed back. If your interested in dominating your local business please dont hesitate to contact me. I provide personal internet marketing training as well as managing your success for you.

Thanks

Chris

Small Business Blogging Simplified

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Chris

Normal business hours are 9-5, what about all the other 16 hours in the day? You can easily market your companies services 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 day a year. Want to know how? As you’ve guessed it, having a blog to speak for you when you cant come to the phone helps drive interested clients to your site not only the 16 hours that your not at work, but the whole 24/7/365 deal. Step back and imagine coming in on a Monday morning with your inbox over flowing with interested potential clients emails.

Blogging is relatively simple, inexpensive and does not consume too much of your work day. You may ask what should I blog about? Well as an example say that you are a custom home builder and you just finished up a $3,000,000.00 job. The client is estatic about the work you have done they want to tell all their rich friends about your fine craftsmanship, but they are busy people and dont really have time to take photos and email them to their closest friends. How cool would it be if you could provide them with a link that displays your fine work throughout the whole project, from start to finish. Detailed photos of before and after. They would probably be more willing to shoot a few emails out with a link to your blog showing the process of the construction of their new pride and joy.

All this may be sinking into your head like DUH! I could really take pictures of my work and blog about the process and different options of my products or services. You can talk about how you started your business, how long you have been in business. Past clients can leave referrals. You can give directions to your store/workshop/showroom. You can give your thoughts on products you sell, give advice on maintenance of the product etc. The possibilities are endless. The best news is the more you blog the more Google can pick up keywords from your blog posting and index them for those potential clients to find

Now that you have realized this lets move on to how do I set up a blog? Do you already have a website? Do you manage your own website or pay someone to? If you answered yes I have a website and I manage it simply create a new page for each project and link them in like a portfollio. If you answered yes to one of these I can help you out. I can setup a custom blog for your business with in a 3 day turn arround. for less than $300.00 for a basic install of WordPress and theme the blog to match your current website. This is if you have your own web hosting. If you dont have your own web hosting I can recommend you some webhost and we can get your space setup and blog setup on the same 3 day turn arround time.

If your serious about growing your business online, blogging is one of the best 1st steps. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are some of the more complex social networking tools. In the next few post I will discuss the advantages to Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn.

Please leave comments and suggestions,

Chris