The Wealthness Blog Launches With WordPress

We wanted to have a world-class website without the designer price tag.

At New Zealand based Gauk Media a question constantly asked is “how to get a great website up and running?“ BUT when the quote for an all-singing-all-dancing solution is emailed there’s often an audible intake of breath.

Building an elegant, sophisticated website that will not only achieve the publisher’s goals but be scalable and stand the rigors of sustained traffic is a complex process.

Then there are the issues of updating content. Without a powerful content management system (CMS) a publisher is required to go back to the designer each time something needs to be changed.

Over the last couple of years there have been a number of DIY web-builders developed around the world, each with their list of pros and cons.

Having tested all platforms gauk Media concluded that a CMS web builder called WordPress is by far the most extensive, durable and just plain classy solution out there.

WordPress is based on an ‘open source’ platform which, in ‘normal person speak’, means it’s code is available to any ‘geek’ who wants develop it further. At any one time there are literally hundreds of top programmers donating their time for free to develop the application.

An open source project vs a commercial operation is differentiated by the philosophy that the effort is for the greater good of the application rather than the need to generate profit.

So why is WordPress the best choice for a Website you might ask?

From Humble Beginnings…WordPress was first launched in 2003 for bloggers.

Now, however, this has changed. In the last few years WordPress has grown to become the Big Daddy of CMS systems capable of acting as the backbone for all kinds of different websites. It’s now used by names as big as Samsung, Forbes and CNN.

You only need look at some of the advanced themes now available for WordPress to see just how much it can do. As well as an army of programmers working on the core software there are literally thousands of designers developing add ons and ‘themes’ giving infinite functionality, look and feel possibilities.

Want to add a newsletter? Simply plug one in. Want to add a booking form? Just activate the plug in. Want to display a gallery of media? … you get the picture.

For those looking to get onto the net the reasons for choosing WordPress appear compelling.

*WordPress is now packed with standard features yet has retained ease-of-use the features list has grown exponentially.

*The learning curve is just right – Creating a new page or post in WordPress and uploading images and video is simplicity itself, to the point that real technophobes can use WordPress without feeling intimidated.

*The theme selection is as good as it gets – There are thousands of great WordPress themes available.

However, it’s at the premium (commercial) end of the market that things get really interesting. Some of the premium WordPress themes essentially work like Web design construction kits in their own right and give you the ability to create sites that look truly world-class – at an average price of about $50!

*WordPress is easy to monetize – Whether you are selling products directly from your site, or monetizing with ads and referral offers, WordPress makes it easy.

*There are some superb plug-ins – There are so many quality plug-ins for WordPress that you’d be hard pressed to think of any functionality you cannot quickly add to a WordPress site.

*Updates just keep coming – As WordPress is so popular, work on the platform never stops. While this sometimes means that keeping on top of updates feels like a never-ending job, it also makes for a system that’s constantly evolving and improving, with new functions being added all the time.

*Support is second-to-none – As you would expect from such a popular platform, the support community is active and huge. Aside from the dedicated WordPress support resources, you’ll find an abundance of third-party forums and other options for assistance. If you have any question at all, you can be pretty sure that somebody has already answered it somewhere.

*Getting found by Google is made as easy as possible – WordPress is inherently Search Engine Optimisation friendly, but with the addition of a couple of plugins, such as the Google XML Site Map and the All-in-One SEO pack, a publisher can maintain good SEO discipline giving their site the best chance of good search results.

*Setting up a WordPress site is inexpensive – WordPress is open source, so using it costs nothing. Even with the addition of a hosting package and a premium theme, you’re still looking at very little money to get a quality WordPress site up and running. The fact that many great plugins are free helps too.

*The Design of Your Website is 100% Customisable – WordPress acts as the engine for your website. The look and feel of the site can be 100% customised so your brand can shine through on your site and provide a unique experience to your visitors.

However, there does appear to be one significant downside to choosing WordPress. Setting up and maintaining a WordPress site requites ‘some’ technical know-how sufficient enough to be beyond the average marketeer.

Our brand new system takes care of the set up, installation and publication of a WordPress Website. As part of the low cost packages we also take care of the hosting, security and development updates seamlessly. We even test and interrogate third part plug ins and themes before making them available ensuring only the best make it into the add on library.

We love it!