davo

Who can tell me about Wordpress Direct from actually using it? Looks pretty flash but at a monthly fee, it aint cheap.

upnorth

I never used WordPress Direct.

But I visited the site, looked at the themes and watched the video.

And I am familiar with Wordpress ( I do have a few Wordpress sites that are doing very well ).

I could not see anything interesting about their offer. In my opinion this is way overprice.

Maybe I am missing something but I could not see anything that can already be done free with WP.

Of course, they will attract the newbie crowd ( which is most likely a good share of the 30 days challenge group) and that is a lucrative market.

naonline

I use it. It's too early to say whether it's worth the monthly subscription but they do offer some great additional software and plugins. Wordpress itself isn't the most user friendly of apps but WP Direct allows fast blog creation if you want to test a niche. Their support is excellent as well. I'm sure there is a free trial option if you want to test it.

Anything you want to know, please ask.

I did the 30DC and I am a relative newbie so I take slight offense at the implication that we are a "lucrative market". i.e, easy pickings!

Nick

davo

No Scotsman has ever been "easy pickings", but perhaps you're a canny Englishman? ;-)

As for 30Dc it looks good, and I'm doing some of their stuff. However, I am trying to do Adam's 90-Day-Challenge. (He uses some of the 30DC stuff too.)

I need to stay focused and not spread myself too thin!

Cheers,

Davo

naonline

Ha! There's no such thing as a canny englishman.

A 90 day challenge? That's dedication. Focus on 1 thing and take action Davo.

Do you have a link for the 90 day?

youngsequan

What is Adams 90 Day Challenge?

davo

Sorry guys, that was slack of me.

Adam (Warrior Name = Nico52) has a popular WSO, with more than 200 Warriors joined already. It's here:

http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...ake-money.html

blogvibrations

Wordpress Direct is a waste of money unless your a newbie!
If you want a REAL Blog, then use wordpress.org!

DiamondRN

I am a complete NOOB and I love Wordpress Direct. The SEO stuff is all there in the plugins.

I'm running three sites, two of them are on page one or two on Google within just a couple of days.

Bob Diamond

Bob the Pharmacist.com

bobbyp21

Hey Bob the Pharmacist,

I'm doing the 30DC right now, on day 7 and they just showed Wordpress Direct and make it out to be FANTASTIC. I went to your site, it looks good. But what are you selling? I read that you are on page 1 of Google, which is fantastic, but I couldn't figure out what you are selling.

I don't mean to be critical, but I thought the point of 30DC is to sell something.

Joel O

Actually... you can use wordpress.org (your own domain and own hosting) with Wordpress Direct.
I am not a newbie, but I have 3 blogs using WPD, all with my own domain name.
But it is great for newbies.

I like it because it allows very quick blog creation (I thought setting up my own WP blog before was quick), this is way faster with all kinds of good SEO plugins already installed, with other features too.

The main use for it for me is for the SEO benefit that it has (with my own domain and hosting). I could do it all myself, but it would take a lot longer. All of my 3 WPD blogs are on the first page for their chosen keyword. (one of them is on page one of Google for a broad search of 9.6 mill that I set up a few days ago)

So far, I like it a lot.

For newbies, it is good for the fast and easy site creation, and not needing your own domain or hosting if you dont want, plus all the other features.


Joel

yrre7

Can't you just use the plugings that are available for Wordpress. Is there any feature that Wordpress Direct has, and Wordpress's plugins can't offer?

Joel O

If your blog is for commercial purposes like you said, then you need to get your own web hosting and domain name. If you dont, it could come across as unprofessional, by just using free methods.

If your blog was just a personal thing, then it wouldnt really matter.

Here's the differences between the WP's...

Wordpress.org: This is where you go to download the "real" wordpress blog platform to use on your own web site (own domain and hosting). Doing this you will be in total control over your web site and the blog.

Wordpress.com: This is like blogger.com, where you can sign up for free to get a blog. In this case, they are using the WP blog platform to host the blogs for you for free. This isnt as good since you do not own the blog, you cant do anything you want with it. However it can have some good SEO (search engine optimization) aspects to it.

Wordpress Direct: This is NOT run by the official WP people, unlike the above two. This is simply a service that you can use to install and run your own WP blog. You can use it as either of the two above ways (free, on their hosting on their domains - or use it on your own domains and hosting).

What makes WPDirect cool is that when they install your blog with them (either of the 2 ways) they will automatically install all kinds of SEO features, to help get your blog ranked good in the search engines. Of course though, you need to pick good keywords to begin with.

WPDirect is great for beginners who dont know what to do to make a WP blog SEO'd. But also for people like me who do know what to do, but just don't want to spend all the time to do that, and can simply start a new WPDirect blog in minutes, all done for me.

But seriously consider getting your own hosting and domain name. Domains are like $10, and hosting can be as little as $5 a month. With the right keywords, you can make that back in your first month.


Hope that helps

Joel Osborne

MarketingNut

I have to say that I am far from a newbie when it comes to making websites. I seen that it was free to join so I thought I would give it a go since I am always looking for cool things to write about to my marketing list.
http://www.howtocopyxboxgames.com/wpd.jpg
After taking a look around I have to say that you can find most of the things Word Press Direct offers on the web for free. However it is apparent that using Word Press Direct will save even the most advanced WP users quite a bit of time.

Getting the gold membership might be a little stretch for those of us who are on a tight budget or know allot about how to install and customize WP. However for those who do not have much technical knowledge or simply would rather pay to save some time I could see this being a very valuable resource.

It is define tally worth making a quick blog post about and sending out a letter to my list. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

Heimdall

I would be interested in knowing which Wordpress plugins allow adding content automatically and backdating the posts.

Thanks.

Angela Neo

I'm looking at Wordpress Direct as well. How does WPD compare with Firepow? Both enable quick WP creation with seo benefits... and a monthly fee.

tommyfocus

Hmmmm.... I'm not that impress with it so far. I have been using it since I did the 30DC in August. I think for the price per month, it is expensive.

Joel O

I'm not actualy sure how much WPD is right now. They may have raised their prices after launching, I'm not sure. But there are 3 levels, free, silver, and gold.

If you sign up for free you should then be able to see the info about upgrading.


XSitePro and WPD are two different things (kind of).

- XSitePro creates web sites with good SEO. You still need your own content and have to upload new content whenever you need to. XSP sites are generaly static sites (sites that dont change much). You need your own hosting and domain name to use XSP.


- WPD creates blogs with good SEO. Blogs are a lot easier to upload and add new content to. Using WPD you are using their service to set up your blog, but you can stop using them and still have your blog if you want. WPD sites are all blogs, which are meant to change often with new blog posts. You dont need your own hosting and domain (although I would suggest you do).

For the beginner, I would recommend WPD.

Joel

Joel O

I haven't been using the new version of XSitePro, so I can't really comment on that. But I have used version 1 of XSP.

From what I know about XSP, I would say that WPD sites would rank better. Simply because it's a blog that would be updated more then a static XSP site. But with the right work and updates to the site, a XSP site could do better.

WordPress Direct, as the same says, only installs a WordPress blog. But here's the thing... WP blogs can be static sites if you want, you can use it either way. I often times decide to use a WP blog just because of the ease of install and set up, so I dont have to mess with html code.

It does depend on the type of web site that you want to make, and what your plans are for it in the future, as to if you should use WPD or a static html/php site.



Joel Osborne

magentawave

Some are saying WPD isn't worth the price. Others are saying its only for newbies. Some non-newbies are saying WPD is worth the price because of the huge time savings. Okay, so how much does WPD cost per month for all levels?

Thanks.
Steve

rocky882

I have a project for someone who might be interested.

I am looking for someone to populate my wordpress site. I thought I would post in this thread bcuz its about a similar topic.

PM me if interested. I will pay for this project.

Thanks,
Rocky

Joel O

Wow... there is a lot of missing information in that post.

First, I think you have the Gold WPD account right? There is also a Free and Silver membership as well. So you don't have to spend $127 a month for it.

The Free membership might do well for a lot of people.

As for the duplicate content, you do not have to use that part of WPD if you don't want to. You have a choice to use that or not. You make it sound like the auto generating content plugin's are the only thing that WPD gives you... please state all of the other features as well.

Some of (or maybe all) the auto content generating plugin's are only available to paid members.

I didn't think I could write so many posts about WPD, But here we go again...

I have several WPD sites on the first page of Google, with only a few blog posts on each one, WITHOUT using the auto generating content plugin's.

Please do not think that you need those plugin's to get good rankings... because you DONT! It all comes down to picking good keywords, no matter what your site is about or what software you use to make it.

In fact... I started a new WPD site a few weeks ago, and within 24 hours it had jumped to the 1st page on Google out of 9.5 mill results (broad search, no quotes). It is now #1. Plus, I did not use any auto generating content.


I hope that helps some more

Joel Osborne

jon poland

Joel:

How many results with that keyword phrase "in quotes"?

That's what I am interested in.

Thanks,

Jon

Joel O

With "quotes" my keyword has 160,000 results. Without "quotes" it was 9.5 mill, not it's showing 8 mill.

This is an Internet marketing related keyword as well, so I assume most of the competitors know some things about SEO.


Joel

magentawave

Hey Joel, or anyone else that knows...

I checked out their site but couldn't find the specifics about the differences between ALL the different membership levels.

Is anyone willing to give us a breakdown of costs and what you can do within each level?

Thanks.
Steve

magentawave

I forgot to ask Joel this before...

Joel,

My experience is that most new sites will get an initial bump from Google (which gets you all excited) and then drift away into oblivion unless you start getting some good one way back links. So how long has your site (or sites) been ranking well with Google? I am especially concerned about this issue of longevity with Google with sites that suck duplicate content off other sites like what you can do with WDP.

Thanks.
Steve

Joel O

Ya, I think right now you have to sign up (for free) before seeing information about the different levels. I actually forget what's all included in each level and how much they each are.

But from what I remember, I think the only difference between free, silver, gold, (and I think there's platinum), are two things...

- How many different blogs you can have (install) using WPD in your account,
- How many auto generating content plugin's you get.

There are many different auto content pluging's that they use, and depending what level of account you have, you may not haven any, a few, or all of them.

But like I said earlier, I do not use those at all. I'm just using my blogs as blogs that I manually post content to. So maybe I dont need to be paying for an account... maybe a free account would be fine for me... lol

I believe WPD has just launched (in August), so they might still be working on their site itself, to tell new visitors what it's all about.

Also, because they just started, by oldest blog with them is about 1 1/2 months old. This blog quickly showed up on page one, and has been 4-7th spot for several weeks now with only blog 3 posts. I have kind of let this blog slide... I expect it would be #1 or 2 if I posted to it more.

This other blog I mention at #1 for 8 mill was created a few weeks ago.

They have ranked well very quickly for me.

Remember, this is using my own content, not any of the auto generating content plugin's.

BUT... I need to make this clear... it's all about the keywords you choose, which WPD can't help you do. Like I said before, WPD isn't special in the fact that it gives some magical SEO powers, it just sets your blog up quickly with the right SEO tactics.

I expect my sites to stay ranked well for a long time to come, because I picked good keywords and I plan to keep posting to the blog once in a while.

Now everyone... go try it out already!

But I guess if you have specific questions/issues, feel free to PM me. Understand though that I do not work for WPD, so I can't help with everything.

I dont really post this much about a specific product, but I guess I just like it that much. I plan to start a blog about it actually


Joel Osborne

depotgang

I am using WordPressDirect and have build close to 75 sites with it already. It is a great tool.

I recommended it to my list and several hundred signed up for the service. The response have been very good from my own list members. And believe me they tell me when I recommend something that is crap . . .

I think it is the best tool I've purchased this year.

Robo90

I have never used it but i have several friends who have used it and they were not impressed

magentawave

Have you made any money yet as a result of throwing up 75 sites?

Which membership level are you using with WPD?

Thanks.
Steve

magentawave

Joel,

Which membership level are you using?

Steve

Joel O

Hi Steve,

I am a Silver member right now.


Joel

Boadicea

Hi Joel,

Thanks for your info on WPD - I found your explanations very helpful. Do you (or anyone else here) know whether the WPD themes only allow for text-based blogs (I have the silver membership level)? I'm trying to choose a theme out of the several hundreds on their site, but the demos of the themes don't have photos in (except in the title banners - if that's what they're called - I'm a newbie). WPD don't give any guidance in the faqs & they don't have a forum. People searching with my keyword phrase would expect to see photos, not just words, in the affiliate ads.

Joel O

Yep for sure you can add pictures into your blog posts!
Just start a new blog post like normal, and right above where you enter your main text for the post, are little icons. There is an icon there of a tree.. that is the image icon.

Click it, and then it will ask you for a link to the image, somewhere where it's already uploaded online.

Then it will place that image within your blog post.


Joel

Boadicea

Thanks so much Joel! There's no WPD forum - weird or what?

Btw, I've found some interesting & useful discussion on WPD in FriendFeed rooms. For example:

http://friendfeed.com/search?q=wordpress+direct+themes

I'm not 100% sure if everyone can view that page, since I have a friendfeed account and I'm a member of the room that is talking about WPD.

fthomas137

I haven't read the whole post, but I can offer up my experiences with wordpress direct.

AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE

Did I say that loud enough? I tried hard to work with them and in the end, I had repeated problems with their product, it is expensive and you are tied to the hip with them. You can get pretty much everything they offer at a fraction of the cost. BUT, it will cost you some time.

Since trying them, I've been able to successfully light up over 100 wordpress sites with all the same bells and whistles plus things that are critical that they don't have!

Do yourself a favour and learn wordpress. The best way to learn wordpress is to plunk down $10 with godaddy and $10 with hostgator (I wouldn't use godaddy for web hosting but domain names, they are great), and play with wordpress. You may just surprise yourself!

Frank

Boadicea

Frank, that's just not a fair assessment. It is NOT expensive - you can use it for FREE. Did I say THAT loud enough?

When something is offered for free so that you can try it out indefinitely with 2 or 3 blogs, is it a bit short-sighted not to take advantage of it?

So you paid a lot of money for something you could have got for free to try out. Is that their fault?

For a newbie, as has been said in this thread several times, WPD is a quick way to get a blog up and running.

Perhaps you *should* read the whole post & thread before you post here Frank.

artgirl

Hi Joel:

I appreciate your explanation of the different Wordpress platforms!

You stated earlier and I quote:

"Wordpress.org: This is where you go to download the "real" wordpress blog platform to use on your own web site (own domain and hosting). Doing this you will be in total control over your web site and the blog.

Wordpress.com: This is like blogger.com, where you can sign up for free to get a blog. In this case, they are using the WP blog platform to host the blogs for you for free. This isnt as good since you do not own the blog, you cant do anything you want with it. However it can have some good SEO (search engine optimization) aspects to it."

I have a ton of niches and tons of "low hanging fruit" keywords including misspellings that I would love to target with their own Wordpress blog.(approximately 550)

If I decide to use Wordpress.org, this will result in a LOT of money to purchase a domain name for each keyword.

Question 1:

Can I use the SEO plugin with the free Wordpress.com platform?

Question 2:

If not, what route would you recommend to obtain page 1 rankings when you have approx. 550 closely researched targeted profitable keywords? 550 x $9 = lot of money for domain names.

Thank you so much for your help.

Joel O

Hi artgirl,

I don't use wordpress.com much, but I dont think you can install your own plugins to it. You can just use it as is, you dont have control over how it runs.

Yes, ultimately, having your own domain names would be the best, but it would cost a lot of money.

Here are a few ideas...

- If some of the keywords use similar words ("dog training tips", "dog training help"), then maybe get a domain for the similar/same words that the keywords use ("dog training"). Then target the specific keywords in the blog.

- You could get a domain name for each main topic (dog training), then create sub-folders or sub-domains for each of the keywords in that topic. (dogtraining .com/dogcaretips)

- Depending how long-tail they are, you might be able to get 1st page rankings without needing a domain name for it. If there isn't much competition for the, then a simple blog post on any blog might get you page 1. It just depends how long tail they are.

- Try out to see how well your keywords get traffic and if they make some money. Then you can have a better idea of how much money you might want to invest into it. A page 1 ranking is good... but if no one buys from the site, then you might not want to spend much effort on it.


Hope that helps,
Joel Osborne

digabot

Wordpress Direct rocks. Great service. You can set up blogs in about 3 mins and basically let them cook for a while and get some decent traffic doing nothing.

Auto Social Poster is also a great addition.

Cool thing about this is, you can get articles and other content indexed before the person who created the original piece.

DomainLoco

Wordpress Direct is called Splogging, meaning they simple take syndicated content from all over and post it as their own. If you ask me, this service only creates lazy newbies and bad content.

Joel O

Automated posting is just ONE part of Wordpress Direct. Automated posting is not the only thing that WPD has, like your post makes it sound like.

I have been using WPD successfully for several months now, and I have just now started to "play"/test the automated posting features.

As for the auto posting creating "bad content", you can easily delete and/or moderate the auto posted content.

Like many things, it's not that the tools shouldn't be used, it's how the individual decides to use them. If a marketer wants to create "spammy" blogs, well then that's up to them.


Joel Osborne

marshal9

I am a customer of Wordpressdirect, but have been trying to become a "former" customer. To get the best price I paid around $500 for a six month Gold subscription. I tried it and for reasons that are not pertinent here, decided to get a refund.

To date, I have sent in 3 or 4 support tickets over several weeks to the billing department. Other tickets I had submitted for support went through, but for some reason NONE of these ever were replied to.

Interestingly enough, I know my request made it through because my Gold membership was changed to a free one with all the limitations that come with the free version. But, to date I have not received any refund or acknowledgment.

Before posting this, I tried again a few minutes ago, but could not get my ticket even to enter the system. I was going to point out that they are not giving me access, but have my $500.

That does not directly answer your question about the product, but it does give you a heads up if you do not decide to keep it. I know they are about to offer a bonus to the mass control release for the new platinum level for 4 months. If you want to MC, maybe you could try it that way.

JayStarr

Most of the apps like WPDirect use open source coding and just make some minor tweeks.. i think if you are serious then spend a little time getting to know WP from wordpress.org and get the eseential plugins and save your money.

nine-yards

I started using Word Press Direct from Ed Dale's 30 Day Challenge last summer. For that program, it was great. It allowed everyone to get a site up very quickly and easily. With a time limit of 30 days, there just wasn't enough time for everyone to figure out how to set up a Word Press site on their own.

That being said, I bought Leanne King's WP for Internet Marketing through a WSO. I just spent the weekend going through that and set up a WP site completely on my own. (And I've only been through the first 2 sections so still a TON of information to go.) I didn't pick the most user friendly theme and still managed to crank out a really nice, professional looking site - MUCH better than the sites I have through WPD.

For autoposting, I just set up posts that are future dated according to information on Ask Dave Taylor dot com (couldn't post the link). Again, it took some time but its original content set to go.

I think WPD is worth it if you're really new and have never set up a site, Squidoo, Blogger blog etc up before. If you know a bit of HTML, I would get Leanne's book and invest a weekend into even a practice site. I learned a TON setting up this site, so it will be much easier and faster next time. I also know more about how WP works in general. I may have spent the whole weekend doing this but just saved a chunk of change by not having to use WPD any more.

Hope that helps.

Amy

brainworker

The sales letter says you can try it for 30 days for just $1...but if you click on payment you are required to pay full amount
bronze= $37 per month
silver= $67
gold=$147

Jmn187

you can do everything this package offers for free with wordpress and some plugins. Just google what ever it is you want to get done.

Chris

chrisclements521

What free plug ins does everyone suggest?
Chris

getinmoney

no I wouldn't use it its not worth it

uconcept

I don't see anything there you cannot do with free Wordpress.