Blogging software

Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
1,581
Location
Nottingham
i recommend my own script that a wrote myself. Failing that i have used czarnews in the past just a simple news script with and admin section simple to use and all you do is use a php include to include the news.php in whatever page you want.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
5 Feb 2006
Posts
129
Location
Birmingham
Well thanks for the advice, but i think i am going to dust down my copy of zend studio and put together somthing of my own as the features are simple enough to code!

Just basic news updates and links.
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Dec 2003
Posts
16,522
Location
London
Rather than reinvent the wheel, I'd recommend Wordpress and then writing plugins to extend it as you see fit. You can do pretty much anything you want with Wordpress's plugin system.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
31 Jan 2004
Posts
16,335
Location
Plymouth
anotherF said:
Well thanks for the advice, but i think i am going to dust down my copy of zend studio and put together somthing of my own as the features are simple enough to code!

Just basic news updates and links.
Simple, sure, but will you end up with something better in terms of the setup time (installing Wordpress versus writing your own)? Doubt it :p

Custom software is always better than pre-written software if you're a competent programmer with the time, though.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
5 Feb 2006
Posts
129
Location
Birmingham
my problem with wordpress is that they all seem to look the same. The functions i actually require are extreamly basic. Although as some one said above it is re inventing the wheel. May be i will try word press, how easy is it to edit the look and feel of it?
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Nov 2003
Posts
6,674
Location
East Sussex
I have been told that a blog could improve my business websites ranking on search engines. My web manager dood wants to charge me ~£600 to set one up.
1) Will this really help my site?
2) Is £600 reasonable?
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,950
Location
Bristol
It might help your site... but don't pay £600 until you've spent a hour working out whether you can do it yourself. Wordpress is very simple and you should be able to get the look and feel similar to your current site. Mine's in sig.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
31 Jan 2004
Posts
16,335
Location
Plymouth
Firstly, I'd be dubious about adding a blog causing your rankings to jump...most likely this theory exists because blogs get linked to (as is the whole point of them really) by people who read, which increases popularity...but I don't see how that would link to your business site unless the blog was a feature of the site.

Blog software like Wordpress is totally free and there's robmiller's link to customising it there, so if you want to fiddle yourself by all means go for it.

£600 is a reasonable rate for some quality work depending on exactly what you'd like doing....I'd expect a fully integrated blog customised to your exact needs for that price :)
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
5,464
Location
London Town
Blog content and links from blogs are supposed to be considered more natural, and therefore given better weight when ranking a particular page or link.

However, a blog with little or poor content is useless for SEO purposes. Paying £600 for a blog will get it built, but it won't do anything to improve ranking. Working on your blog and frequently submitting fresh content will. In addition, with good content, it's likely to improve repeat-traffic and therefore boost the usage and popularity of the parent site. It won't directly improve the main site, but it will drive targeted traffic towards it, and that should really be the aim.

The design and functionality of blogs is of very little importance outside the world of web designers who use it as a showcase. The content, like all the web, is the most important thing. I'd recommend setting up a basic blog yourself, and then spend the cash on getting a good copywriter to author some relevant articles to start you on the way.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom