Old static site vs new wordpress site - Advice needed please.

20 replies
Some years ago I joined SBI and built a website (mainly to keep myself occupied). Index of /. It is not a particularly pretty site, but the information is good. It now has a google rank of 3. Unfortunately, I have never really got round to monetizing the site and nor have I done any work on it for the past 18 months.

I have already moved the site away from SBI.

Although I know nothing about wordpress, I am considering converting this old site to wordpress by simply closing it down as it exists and then posting all the original information to a wordpress site on a daily basis, either using the original name or using a more keyword targeted name.

I assume that I can then monetize the new (wordpress) site by selling my own product, affiliate products and using google adsense.

Is changing from a static site to a wordpress site a sensible move?
Is there anything else that I should have considered?

Your thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Sandy
#advice #needed #site #static #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author artwebster
    Since the site is doing so well, why not simply add a WP blog and use that for new pages and information? There is nothing stopping you from improving the appearance of the site by adding content or using different graphics.

    If it isn't broken - don't try to mend it.
    Signature

    You might not like what I say - but I believe it.
    Build it, make money, then build some more
    Some old school smarts would help - and here's to Rob Toth for his help. Bloody good stuff, even the freebies!

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  • Profile picture of the author sf_Imtiaz
    if you have built a static site in past then wordpress is going to be a piece of cake for you, I highly recommend it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Davion Wong
    Hi, if it has a pagerank of 3, why waste it? Try to monetize it.

    but since you have moved it to WordPress, it is not a bad decision also. A content-loaded WP blog can get tons of traffic from Google. I own a network of WP blogs, so I know that.

    Be focused on building your WP blog. Don't try to distract your visitors by dangling too many different ads. It will make your visitors fed-up.

    Decide on a targeted call for action, ie whether to buy your product or subscribe to your list. Just don't confuse them with tons of products like a shopping mall. Most people would not appreciate that, unless it was built for that reason.
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  • Profile picture of the author Revolves
    Well, I have not personally used SBI!'s tools. But the guides and information it gives (which is free for everyone) is great. You won't have problems moving to WordPress.

    Many people have started using WordPress for "websites" and such. Many themes give a website look to WP.

    So what you could do is, upload all content as "pages" as opposed to post. Make your blog accessible at your-domain/blog, where you will publish things that are not timeless.

    This way, your WP installation should retain a site structure and you can have a blog along with it as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author mmacken
    I was in the exact same situation as you not so long ago and I would recommend you swap over to wordpress, simply because of the ease of use. You can optimize your whole site with one plug in instead of going through and editing every page! There are 1000's of plugins, you name it you got it.

    Also updating is as easy as 123, don't think I will ever be going back to static webpages, now all I need to do is convince my girlfriend who still swears by them .
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Grossman
    You can move the site to WordPress without changing any URLs or the external appearance of any pages. Just for the benefit of managing the site and future additions through the WP backend.

    This is one of my sites where I did that. It doesn't look like a WordPress site, doesn't act like a WordPress site, and I didn't change a single URL from before it was a WordPress site:

    Website Goodies - Webmaster Resources, Articles and Website Tools
    Signature
    Improvely: Built to track, test and optimize your marketing.

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    • Profile picture of the author SandyDuPlessis
      Thanks for your thoughts everyone. I must admit I now find myself with several more questions.

      Hopefully you wont mind the fact that I will PM some of you for a little more information and clarification.

      I don't have a problem keeping my site static, but it seems to me that I have a greater chance increasing visitors and perhaps sales if I convert to Wordpress.

      Somehow I need to turn my site into something that either earns an income or builds a list (preferably both). Having a google 3 ranking is useless if I don't get something out of it.

      Sandy
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  • Profile picture of the author BurgerBoy
    I would add WP pages to your existing site.

    Simply add links to your WP pages from pages on your current site so you don't loose the ranking you have now and have to start all over again trying to get ranking for your WP pages.
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  • Profile picture of the author Platinum Matt
    IMO static is WAAAAY better than Wordpress.

    Every time I've tried to use Wordpress, I've regretted it.

    I realize I am in the minority.
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    • Profile picture of the author SandyDuPlessis
      Steve,

      Thanks or your concern, it is much appreciated. I must admit that the fact that google likes blogs does keep whispering in my ear. But I am not going to make any changes until I am certain that I am moving in the right direction.

      Matt,

      Minority or not, your opinion is just as important because I don't know very much about either static or WP sites. All I know is that I must find a way to improve things so that I can actually earn something from my site. Not being very experienced, I need the site to function in a way that I can handle it easily.

      Sandy
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    I use WordPress but I prefer XsitePro, despite it's flaws, for
    something like an authority site.

    If you want a blog with commenting and "latest news" features
    use a CMS like Wordpress.

    There is a bit of a cult around WordPress - people who love it because
    it has simplified their lives in some way. Some folks feel WP blogs
    get more traffic, but I have a theory that a lot of the traffic is just
    from bots looking for blogs to post backlinks on... so to some extent
    the SEO traffic bump you'll see from moving over to a blog does not
    reflect activity from real people with money.

    WP isn't the only CMS or blogging system out there either. WP
    afficionados love it because it has so much flexibility with 1000s
    of pluggins... it has sort of a "gadget freak" appeal that way.

    Some folks like
    CMS Made Simple - Open Source Content Management System

    Worth checking out.
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    • Profile picture of the author SandyDuPlessis
      Loren,

      Thanks. I hadn't given Xsitepro a thought, though I actually bought it some time ago on some kind of special offer if I remember correctly. I will have to haul it out, go through the turorials and play with it a bit to see if I can manage to work with it.

      Many thanks, it is good to have another option.

      Sandy
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    • Profile picture of the author WareTime
      Originally Posted by Loren Woirhaye View Post

      I use WordPress but I prefer XsitePro, despite it's flaws, for
      something like an authority site.

      If you want a blog with commenting and "latest news" features
      use a CMS like Wordpress.

      There is a bit of a cult around WordPress - people who love it because
      it has simplified their lives in some way. Some folks feel WP blogs
      get more traffic, but I have a theory that a lot of the traffic is just
      from bots looking for blogs to post backlinks on... so to some extent
      the SEO traffic bump you'll see from moving over to a blog does not
      reflect activity from real people with money.
      Loren, I like XSite Pro too and spot on about the bots.

      Sandy, one thing to realize with Wordpress going in is that security is an issue. Wordpress sites are hacked all the time. Sure there are 1000's of cool plugins, but many come with security issues and you have no way of knowing that unless you tear into the code. A static site is much less vulnerable Wordpress.
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