WordPress is the biggest and best blogging platform because:

• WordPress is easy to use so new bloggers and non-techies can start playing round with it and updating their blogs straight away;
• WordPress is powerful enough to host blogs for mega sites like CNN, Reuters and Ebay.

For small business ^[1] owners and writers ^[2] that means that if you need to upgrade or expand your blog or website in the future you can do that easily with WordPress. In fact, you can do anything in WordPress, from setting up an online store with secure sales (see one my company set up here ^[3]) to hosting a private membership only area or forum (here ^[4] is one my company set up).

7 Reasons I Love WordPress (and You Will Too!)

1. Easy to use – You can set up a free blog at WordPress.com like this ^[5] and get it live immediately. You won’t have your own domain name (like www.successfulblogging.com) or a professional blog design but you will be able to write ^[6] new posts, edit them and publish them. If you like WordPress then you’ll get best results if you hire a professional for your blog design ^[7] leaving you free to do the fun bits – writing blog posts ^[8] and finding blog readers ^[9].

2. WordPress has the widest range of plug-ins – These are add ons which upgrade your blog for more functionality and ease of use. Examples include plug-ins to allow you to add Twitter ^[10] or Facebook share buttons to your blog or to create a blogging editorial calendar ^[11]. Many plug-ins are only available for WordPress.

3. Robust – WordPress can do whatever you want it to do so you’ll never need to change blogging platform again.

4. Great for websites too – Even if you only want a static website WordPress is still an excellent content management system which will allow you to update every page of your website yourself.

5. Totally flexible – You can do anything you want online with WordPress.

6. WordPress is free - Yes, you read that right.

7. Huge choice of themes – A blog theme is the template used to create the way your blog looks and feels. There are thousands of themes to choose from, many free and other premium themes which you pay a little for.

Thesis Theme for WordPress

Both my blogs are run using WordPress and the Thesis ^[12] theme.

3 Reasons I Love Thesis

^[12]1. Superior search engine optimization – Unlike many other free WordPress themes, Thesis is optimized for search engine optimization ^[13] so if you want to rank well with the search engines Thesis will give you a head-start and make search engine optimization easier.

2. Reliable – Thesis uses bulletproof code that’s been refined to perfection over the last few years for maximum performance and durability.

3. Design - Thesis is a theme framework that will allow you to create a unique look and feel for your blog.

That just scratches the surface of why I love and recommend Thesis and WordPress but you get the idea.

This year I’ve helped several business owners (including Seana ^[14], David ^[15] and Kimberley ^[16]) make the switch from Blogger (on Blogspot) to WordPress because they couldn’t get the results they wanted with Blogger.

Like many bloggers I started my blogging journey with Blogger too but outgrew it quickly.

If you need a hand switching from Blogger to WordPress I can help you but if you haven’t started blogging yet use WordPress.

And if search engine optimization is important to you choose the Thesis ^[12] theme.

That’s all!

What’s your take on blogging with WordPress and Thesis?