This past weekend, I had the opportunity to speak at Los Angeles’ WordCamp about my experience with WordPress and how we’ve developed countless websites for individuals and businesses using this amazing platform.

WordPress Design

While talking about design, I used one of the latest websites that Bravo Design, Inc. created for World Wide Digital Services, a film rental equipment company that commissioned a new website for their expanding entertainment industry connections. This website was used as an example of what WordPress can do and how it can break the mold of what people have come to expect from the open-source blogging CMS.

This WordPress theme was custom designed and developed by Bravo Design, Inc. starting from WordPress’ basic Twenty Ten theme.

“Oh, that’s like a blog isn’t it?” Yes, but that’d be like saying: “Wow, that’s a pretty nice Maserati… that’s like for running errands isn’t it?” There is much more to WordPress than the platform’s original blog functionality.

WordPress Search Engine Optimization

So we know that WordPress is ideal as a blogging platform, and it’s true that WordPress is already pretty optimized for search engines straight out of the box. So let’s just have a quick recap of what the search engines like, and what they like about WordPress, shall we?

Search Engines Love Keyword Relevance. Probably more than anything, search engines love finding people results that are extremely relevant to their search query. But the trick, well not really a trick, is finding how the search engines rate/rank relevance. So here’s a breakdown of where to put your keywords throughout your site.

1. Domain Name / Subdomain
2. URL of a webpage
3. Title of a webpage
4. Meta data of a webpage (description, keywords)
5. Tags on the webpage (h1, h2, a)

So while these are some good places to put a small and specific assortment of your keywords (usually no more than 5-6 per page), the search engines (primarily Google) place a greater importance on a website’s traffic, PageRank (the number of quality websites linking to it), and how frequently it’s updated. Important stuff to remember.

Using WordPress puts you in a great position to compete on the search engines: 1. Blog = Frequently Updateable 2. Keywords / Custom Themes = Great Keyword Placement / Usage 3. SEO = Great plugins for updating search engines about website changes. All that’s left is providing your website visitors with interesting and useful content they’ll enjoy and share with their friends (Traffic / PageRank; it’s not all easy but it doesn’t have to be hard).

Selling WordPress

Probably the greatest way to “selling” a client on WordPress is simply providing them with a demo. The biggest hurdle that a lot of young designers and new upstarts have trouble with is finding the right client. Selling WordPress should not be hard, finding the right client is what will take up your time.

I’m a fan of the soft sell when dealing with WordPress. Does the client need a new website? Does the client need a new design? How is the client competing on the search engines with other businesses in their industry and approximate location? Once these questions have been answered you can make your judgement on client. Not everyone needs a website (well, that’s not true, but not everyone realizes that they need a website) and trying to force a website on a client is counter-productive. Oftentimes, I’ll meet with a client, we’ll talk about websites and WordPress but they’ll pass on the job. Maybe a month will go by and the client will get back in contact with me ready to get a website going.

Plant the seed, give it a little water and let it grow into a stronger desire and understanding of websites and the internet environment. Provide them with resources to do more research on their own; be helpful; not forceful.

Finally, be nice. That’s it. Be patient with your clients. They don’t know as much as you (that’s why they are coming to you), and it’s your job to show them how they can improve their business with a customized and focused web presence. Your job is to help them, and convert them to the web way of life (sometimes easier said than done).

The slides from my WordCamp LA 2011 Presentation are available for download, here.