Wordpress and Content Distribution / Sharing.

The following is a simple guide to setting up a Wordpress powered website which utilizes some neat ways of distributing/sharing your content automatically.

The Goals -

Your goals and objectives will no doubt vary, but I had some specific needs from this project based on it being for a specific client.

1. I need to have my content distributed to social media and social bookmarking websites like Facebook, Twitter and Digg.
2. I want my static content pages to have some dynamic content to keep them fresh and updated, but I'm lazy so I just want the pages to update when I make blog posts into specific categories
3. I want to have the ability to update my blog easily on the fly, when I'm traveling our just hanging at the bar!
4. I have no interest in 'optimizing' my web content, I need a system where the SEO is basically set and forget.
5. I want a website which is completely 'white hat', I don't want to be worried about upsetting the Google gods.
6. I want to avoid custom coding. I may change my template/layout at some point and I don't want to have to worry too much about updating core Wordpress files when I change my blog.
7. I need all the hooks, triggers in place for good visitor interaction with my website including effective means of content sharing by my visitors.

The Setup, Wordpress and Getting a Template Designed

The key to a good Wordpress website is its functionality followed closely by its visual styling. Many of the free WP templates are heavily slanted towards blogs and newsletter layouts, but what if you're trying to retain the styling of a 'real' website? On that point, many people miss the fact that Wordpress can be used as the backbone of a traditional website and not just a blog. You can control Wordpress in the same way as any other CMS, like Joomla or Drupal for example, so for all intents and purposes your Wordpress powered website doesn't even need to have a blog!

But back to styling and template design - I generally use the product 'Artisteer' to build Wordpress templates. It's a very easy to use design package which will allow you to create a visually appealing design without the hassles of coding in the Wordpress elements. Artisteer Download

You can create a Wordpress (or HTML, Joomla etc) theme in just a few minutes, export it as a zip file then install it through the Wordpress Theme section in the admin area of your Wordpress powered website.

Of course you don't have to use an Artisteer generated template for this tutorial, you can install any of your favorite templates/themes as you would with a typical WP install.

For the remainder of this tutorial I'm going to assume that you've installed and configured WP, installed a suitable theme for your website and that you have sufficient admin privileges to install and configure plugins and widgets.

Plugins

To get the functionality we need from Wordpress we're going to be using several 3rd party plugins. In case you're unfamiliar with the concept of 'plugins', they're basically software blocks or modules which expand the functionality of the core WP software enabling very specific features. You can download plugins from a variety of sources but I always try to download directly from Wordpress.org so that they're free from spyware/malware and have some feedback from the WP community.

It's common to install and configure a plugin, then download, install and configure the next. For the purpose of this tutorial I'm going to have you download and install all the necessary plugins first, then we'll go through and configure them later.

To install a plugin you can do it in one of several ways. Most plugins these days can be installed directly through the WP admin without needing access to an FTP program, so we're going to install all the plugins we need in this way. Also, you can download the plugin file onto your desktop/folder and install it by locating the file and uploading it, or you can use the plugin search box and search wordpress.org from within WP admin and install the plugin directly. I'm going to be using the first method, downloading the file from Wordpress.org first and then uploading them through WP admin.

So, go ahead and create a folder on your desktop called 'Wordpress Plugins'.

Now follow each of these links one by one and click the 'download' button on each of the plugin pages, then save each one into your new folder.

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The remarkable thing about this whole process is that it came about practically without cost. Even more remarkable is that there are even more ways to expand this model of information distribution which are not covered above.

By using this system you're developing an extremely powerful way to accomplish SEO without really having to think about SEO. The 'FAQ builder' plugin is a simple method of building relevant content and targeted traffic. Its SEO benefits come from the questions you can easily stage yourself. For example, if you're operating a local business directory a question might be "can you recommend a good golf course in the [area]" The detailed 'Answer' provides plenty of opportunity for you to name-drop local businesses, building keyword-rich content designed at opening up your website to a broader range of search traffic. This simple yet effective strategy can be applied to any business model.

To conclude - the technology on your website collects a simple incoming post from a smartphone and distributes the post to a blog, into specific sections of static web pages, to Facebook, Twitter, Digg and almost 50 other social bookmarking websites. As website owner you can focus on building your site content in a format which is ideal for SEO, without having to worry about SEO. This type of website checks all the right boxes for Google. It's heavily social media oriented with fresh/new content appearing regularly around the website, and not just in a blog section. Its evolution will be natural and 'unforced', with no obvious effort to manipulate search results by unnatural content or backlink building tactics. It's the perfect SEO website without the need for SEO.