WordPress for Business Bloggers

Paul Thewlis has worked as a web communications professional in the public and private sectors. He is currently E-Communications Manager for a multinational transport company based in the UK. He began his web career as a Technical Editor, working on web design books for a well-known publisher. He has extensive experience of many content management systems and blogging platforms. He is an expert in the use of social media within corporate communications, and blogs about that subject, as well as WordPress and the Web in general, at http://blog.paulthewlis.com.

Chapter 1: A Blog Less Ordinary What Makes a Great Blog? In this chapter we examine different types of business blogs. You will be shown a selection of great business blogs and see what you can learn from them. Chapter 2: Introducing Our Case Study: ChilliGuru You will be introduced to the case study blog and go through the process of developing strategic goals and your blog plan. You will learn that the planning process is important, even if your blog is already up and running. Chapter 3: Designing Your Blog In this chapter you will learn the basics of blog design and work through a brief introduction to HTML and CSS. You will see how easy it is to create your own custom design using the Sandbox theme. Chapter 4: Images and Video Here you will learn some advanced image and video handling techniques. Chapter 5: Content Is King This chapter focuses on techniques and methods for creating the best possible content for your business blog. Chapter 6: Search Engine Optimization This chapter covers some of the most important SEO strategies and how to apply them as well as how to submit your blog to the search engines. Chapter 7: Supercharged Promotion You will learn some advanced blog promotion techniques, including: advanced RSS with FeedBurner; using Internet Explorer 8 Web Slices; submitting to the blog search engines, like Technorati; using social networks, like Facebook and Twitter; using social bookmarks, like Digg and del.icio.us. Chapter 8: Connecting with the Blogosphere You will learn the importance of connecting with other bloggers and playing an active role in the blogosphere to promote your business blog. Chapter 9: Analyzing Your Blog Stats This chapter will teach you how to analyze your blog's performance using tools like Google Analytics and WordPress.com Stats. Chapter 10: Monetizing Your Blog This chapter introduces a variety of strategies to help you generate revenue from your blog, like using advertising and affiliate programs. Chapter 11: Managing Growth You will learn how to manage the growth of your blog by optimizing it for high traffic and introducing multiple authors by using WordPress MU.