Almost all of my blogs are powered by the free, open source blogging tool called WordPress. In my very humble opinion WordPress is the very best tool for maintaining a powerful blog presence for both individuals and businesses.

There are many points I can make that justify this position, not the least of which are:

* It’s free to use under a GPL license.
* A robust community developing plugins to extend the functionality.
* Spam protection via the included Akismet plugin.
* Advanced features like pinging, trackbacks and image upload support.
* Support for RSS 2.o and Podcasting.
* Wide variety of themes freely available to allow for a unique look and feel.

That stated, creating a powerful blog/podcast site with WordPress is not necessarily a slam dunk. Every step of the way there are choices to be made that will affect the the impact of your new site.

1. The Install - Installing involves uploading files to the web via FTP and creating a MySql database. Customers of Dreamhost (like me) can install WordPress and about fifty themes with just a few clicks.
2. Configuration - You can’t really start blogging with WordPress until you set up some basic items like adding a few categories, creating a blog description. adjusting your permalink preferences as well as checking your syndication and comment moderation setup.
3. Plugins - Plugins are programs that extend the functionality of WordPress beyond the basics. The Akismet spam filter plugin is installed by default and should be configured right away. Other plugins can do things like email posts, conduct polls, create iTunes compatible podcasts, show recent posts and provide detailed stats. Lists of plugins can be found on the WordPress Codex and WP-Plugins.net sites. Which plugins will you need to power your site?
4. Themes - Themes define the look and feel of your blog/podcast site. The look of your site should be professional and represent your brand well. I like to start by trying out different themes over at Alex King’s WordPress Theme Browser site. Try to find a theme close to a look you like and then make some modifications.
5. Graphics - Custom graphics can easily be added to WordPress themes so that the theme represents your brand. Adding a header graphic or logo to your site is the quickest way to spruce up your site.

If you want to have a pleasant experience implementing WordPress then think about these issues prior to working on development. Because while WordPress is a simple tool to use, there are choices to be made that will affect the quality of the sites appearance and the usability for both the visitors to the site and the operators of the site.

Consider consulting with an experienced implementer of WordPress (like Awakened Voice) prior to making an investment of time and resources. After all, it would be ashame for a positive Social Media project to be scuttled due to a poor site design or features that don’t work allow an active conversation.

The bottom line message is this. You can achieve an excellent result for your site with WordPress if you invest in a planning process and allow for time to get the job done right prior to the launch of your blog/podcast site.

[tags]Social Media, Blogging, WordPress, Implementation, Best Practices[/tags]