WordPress took the blogging world by storm just three years ago. The Movable Type licensing fiasco helped boost the then-fledgling CMS/blogging app’s popularity. And it’s held its ground, and in fact, overtaken MT as the premier blogging application. So .. WP is not just for blogs anymore. And I’ve chosen ten non-blog sites driven by WordPress to illustrate just how powerful this CMS can be. With plugin development continuing at its usual breakneck pace, you can be assured of useful and practical plugins to meet the needs of most small business owners and professionals who seek an easy way to create and update web content, and not just maintain a business blog.

1 Collegian, Online Newspaper of California State University at Fresno. This is an excellent example of thinking outside the box when implementing a CMS. This is a well done four-column site with the two middle columns devoted to categorical teasers.

2 Maryland Commercial Real Estate Investors. This is a nice example of a WP-driven site that uses plugins to achieve a non-blog appearance. Here, the star plugin is the WP-Simple Machines Forum bridge that uses SMF forum software which drives both the forum and the event calendar. I’m only bothered by the red on red links in the footer.

3 San Diego Zoo Web Logs. The San Diego Zoo offers blogs contributed by members of the Zoo, the Wild Animal Park and CRES. And they’ve done a nice job of integrating the design with the rest of the web site.

4 Kauai Rentals. This is a custom designed web site that appears to use WP to drive its main content and WP’s powerful Pages to drive other parts of the site. And of course it’s using the WP-Contact Form plugin on the contact page.

5 University of Florida News. Here’s another example of a university using WordPress for its online newspaper. This is a very well designed two-column site offering podcasts and other rich media content. Using excerpts on the front page keeps that newspaper look and feel.

6 Ames Research Center, NASA, Houston, Texas. Even NASA is jumping on the WordPress bandwagon. Using Michael Heileman’s popular Kubrick K2 theme as a starting point, the site was carefully crafted to look like the rest of the NASA website. Several plugins were employed to add further functionality, including Alex King’s Share This and Mobile Edition plugins and Ultimate Tag Warrior.

7 IES Solutions. This Italian Information Technology Company uses WP to drive its entire site, employing the very powerful WP Pages feature to create its static pages. Having Archive Links on the sidebar screams blog, and unfortunately, the web site does not take advantage of the WP-Contact Form plugin for a clean, professional contact page, but rather uses the deprecated mailto link. Other than that, it’s nicely done.

8 The Village Church, Greenwich Village (NYC). An excellent example of a church web site completely driven by WordPress, wisely taking advantage of the WP-Contact Form plugin, and a subscription plugin so that parishioners can receive updates via email. And a nice ratings plugin where readers can actuallay rate the sermons! Here’s some more information about the site by the web designer responsible for its makeover. Nice work, Ken!

9 Harrington Estates. This is an Ireland-based real estate web site completely powered by WordPress. More and more business are finding out it’s easy to design for a WP site and subsequent site updates practically take care of themselves. Can this be the end of web lint as we know it?

10 Z World. This is a Houston, Texas-based automotive repair and performance shop. This design is its fourth incarnation and the third design by Pixelita Designs! Graphic artist Ivan Minic created the design and yours truly ported it to WordPress, since the site was originally driven by PHP Website. The site’s owner wanted to be able to quicky update the site with service specials and he also wanted some SEO optimization. We chose to port the site to WP simply because of its vast array of SEO and other plugins that would help him achieve the page ranking he desires, especially since there is a bit of competition for business in this automobile and fossil-fuel loving part of the country!

So you see, WordPress is more than just a tool for bloggers. It can be an excellent way for the budget-conscious small business owner or professional to have a web presence, not “just a blog.” Pixelita Designs can help you select just the right CMS for your needs and guide you through the deployment of the various plugins that your CMS offers to maximize your web potential. Contact us for a free consultation.

Next Week: Top Ten Business Blog Plugins. Stay tuned!