Make-A-Website-With-Traffic.com
Is Now Running On WordPress

After running Make-A-Website-With-Traffic.com on a different platform for all of its existence, I decided to switch it over to run on WordPress instead. Here’s why I did it, and what it took to get the job done…

It’s not that I was unhappy with the previous platform. In fact, I’m still running one of my other websites, Fun-Things-Texas.com, on Site Build It. Because this site is more a “labor of love” than anything else, I decided to find a way to cut down on hosting expenses.

My choice of using WordPress as the new platform also gave me the chance to experiment with WordPress and learn how to use it as a CMS, i.e. use it not only as blog (its traditional use), but also to recreate a traditional website.

Why WordPress?

I had previous experience with WordPress because I used it to set up a self-hosted blog. So I knew it was easy to install and set up.

The other attraction was all the “extras” that are freely available for WordPress thanks to so many people out there who develop these “extras” for the pleasure that it brings them.

WordPress Themes

There are a boat-load of very nice-looking WordPress themes available that will satify a wide variety of  website “look & feel” needs. The themes are all easy to install and extend, and when you want to change themes for a new “look & feel“, it is easy to do too.

WordPress Plugins

WordPress plugins are used to extend the basic WordPress template to add all the extra functionality you need. Here you also have lots to choose from, and the plugins are mostly installable by the simple click of a button. Occasionally a plugin will require that you make some manual changes to one of your WordPress source pages, but there is usually clear instructions on what to do.

As you can see here, I was able to recreate the previous version of the website in WordPress (see the Menu on the right), and gain a blog in the process. The fact that my visitors can comment on most of the content on the website, is a big bonus to me. I think that the conversations that develop in this way add value to the original post, and everybody gains from that.

Coming soon… In the future I plan to write an article outling all the steps that I had to take to recreate my website in WordPress to use WordPress like a CMS.