The key to making an impact online is in having a great website. There is more to website ownership than design, but that’s where it all starts. The format is important too. The format of your platform or templates that are included in your editor determines where and when you can place your images, text, and other content on your page.
Your hosting solution is a part of this too. Many people prefer the WordPress platform for its ease-of-use, ability to use original content, and professional look. They also have many different themes that can emphasize virtually any business that you have and that you want to promote.
WordPress is a valuable tool for both small and large businesses. It allows anyone to promote their business or their brand in a way that gains them followers and customers, as well as helps them to promote their articles, blogs, and ideas.
Some of the most influential media publications, as well as some of the best brands, use WordPress to boost their brand.
Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is the most popular financial magazine in the United States that reports daily stock activity and business trends. People rely on the information they get from the Wall Street Journal to make important investment decisions and to help them predict what the market may do. They host their site on WordPress and utilize their features that help them create engaging content for their articles and posts.
Forbes Magazine
Forbes Magazine is another high-profile publication that uses the power of WordPress to promote their publication and house their content. They have chosen a newspaper-like theme that features a navigation bar at the top of the page, and they utilize a bottom news need that lists other articles they have published on the bottom to increase views to their other content. It also appears they may be using some native advertising on the right margin to make money on ad revenue.
The NFL
Believe it or not, even the NFL uses WordPress. They use a WordPress theme that allows them to post updated scores from around the NFL in “real time” on their website. The NFL site has a format that more closely resembles an online newspaper and the site is highly informational.
The theme of the NFL’s page, of course, centers around the world of football and keeps football fans up on the latest news affecting the sports industry.
Mashable
Mashable also uses WordPress for their world-famous publication, and it works nicely with their content. Mashable is the online equivalent of a famous newspaper, and their focus is on social media news.
They use a WordPress theme that allows you to place blocks of news stories throughout the page and integrate social media sharing features within the platform.
Perez Hilton
Before Perez Hilton became the household name he is today, he was once a fashion guru and independent blogger of his very own gossip site — which eventually became what you know today as PerezHilton.com.
Over the years, the site has generated billions of visits and millions of dollars for Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. (now known as Perez Hilton). With the core concept of the site simply being on celebrity updates and paparazzi pics, a platform like WordPress has made it extremely easy to not only create and run the site, but also manage and scale it over time.
Dole Bananas
Did you ever wonder if there was a Dole Banana site just dedicated to bananas? Well, there is, and it is located on a WordPress site. They have a business-themed site that allows customers to select from an online tour, recipes using bananas, and awards that the company has received. Now, granted you cannot download a banana from the internet. They don’t sell bananas on their site. But they do have an avid awareness of the importance of a website to promote their brand, and they use their resources to do that. Their site is simple, but it gets the point across.
When it comes to bananas, Dole doesn’t monkey around. They rake in over $7.2 billion per year in banana sales, and their WordPress site helps them do it.
TechCrunch
Another well-publicized site is TechCrunch. They focus on technology news, and they have a live ticker that keeps you in the know on the latest technology events all over the world. Major companies are often highlighted that people come back to in order to keep their tech knowledge sharp.
Some of the stories they had running at the time we wrote this article are ones about IBM’s new DataWorks project that promises to enterprise data a new name, and Honeywell’s new Smart Thermostat technology that controls your home’s temperature for maximum efficiency.
At the top navigation bar, you can select “Video” or “Events” as well as other choices to navigate around the site, and the bottom section features a list of recent videos that you can click on to see what is trending. TechCrunch, a highly-successful online publication that focuses on the world of technology, relies on WordPress as a platform on which to carry their message to the world.
Why WordPress?
These seven brands, many of them world-famous publications, use WordPress’s platform to carry their information and message to their readers. The WordPress theme seems to work nicely with online publication type sites because of its formatting features. But you will notice that other types of businesses also use WordPress to help with their branding and promotions.
Using WordPress can help you present your brand in a professional manner that will increase your reputation and credibility by improving your image online.
Of course, using WordPress is just one way you can create a website. You can also use other hosting sites and various business templates and incorporate them into your site.
A Holistic Approach
What is needed to ensure that you make the biggest impact is a holistic and integrated approach. By using a web design team that focuses on creating a professional website that engages and informs your audience.
The web has made us all performers. It is almost as if we have to “put on a show” for our key prospects to get their attention. It has to be informative. It has to be interesting. But it also needs to be professional.
The overall look of your website is important. So is the content. Everything you do online should be based on sound principles of marketing and presentation that help you draw attention to your brand.
At WebDesignTeam.com, we understand what has made these companies, and many of them successful. It’s not just WordPress. That’s just the platform. WordPress is a great format to put your site on and it can be a stable platform to house your content.
But there are many other tools that you may want to utilize also. We have been helping businesses create and maintain great websites for awhile now, and we’ll be glad to do the same for you.
Remember that your web design is just the framework for your brand online. But it needs to be done right. We can incorporate video, animation, blogs, and many other tools that will help you make the right impact with your customers and help you generate leads.
After all, you’re in business to make money, right? Let us show you how we can design a site that will get you leads and customers and increase your bottom line. We also do graphic design so you can have a custom-made page that is fully integrated with WordPress or any other platform that you want to use for your company’s online presence.