12 Reasons Why Mortgage Professionals Should
Have A WordPress Website

If you're using an out-of-the-box Website building system, or have paid someone to develop a hand-coded (HTML editor) type Mortgage Site for you, and all is working well for you...continue on.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a change...WordPress may just be the answer. In fact, if you ask me...WordPress and Mortgages are a match made in mortgage marketing heaven.

Just so you know...all links in this article are for your information. There are no affiliate links or commissions earned as a result of you visiting these Sites.

Consider this...

1. WordPress is free and open source.

WordPress is now the world's number one open source content management system. Mortgage Professionals have found it in droves, and are using WordPress every day as the backbone of their entire Internet marketing program.

WordPress has an unbelievable community of users as well as outstanding documentation. It’s simple, immensely powerful, customizable, yet easy to use.

You can view the main Site at WordPress.org. There's no need to download the software just yet...we'll cover that a little later (#6 below).

2. WordPress has a small learning curve.

Building and running your Mortgage Website doesn’t have to be a chore. Ever heard the old adage, “Work smarter, not harder?” I’m pretty sure they were talking about using WordPress to run your Website, because there’s no simpler, cheaper, or more powerful way to build and manage a Website today!

3. Google absolutely loves WordPress.

The simple layouts of WordPress, the permalinks it uses, and the easy linking in WordPress are naturally attractive to Google and other Search Engines. Google will index your new WordPress Website and make it available using search terms, in just a few days.

Many companies doing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of Websites actually recommend a conversion to WordPress when doing SEO.

4. Your WordPress site can grow with you.

Your WordPress site can grow with you over the years. You can easily upgrade it with new features and security. You can add a new theme (a new look) without redoing your whole site.

You can add new plugins for enhanced functionality (add e-commerce if your business grows, focus more on search results, add a store finder, etc.). WordPress.org is used by millions of sites, from the simplest little blogs to huge brand names like the New York Times blog, People, Flickr, and more.

5. WordPress is easy to keep secure.

While WordPress has always bragged about its “Famous 5 Minute Installation” using your web servers, it is also surprisingly easy to update for security and new functionality.

When a new version is available, WordPress will give you an easy link for a one-click upgrade.Warning: We always recommend backing up your Website before doing an install in case something goes wrong. The actual backup takes only a minute or two and is handled by a backup plugin that's also free.

6. WordPress is inexpensive to host.

Some Mortgage Professionals pay reputable mortgage web vendors $100 to $300 a month to have their site hosted. WOW! With WordPress, hosting can be relatively inexpensive.

A $4.95 per month hosting fee with HostGator.com would probably suffice for most Mortgage Professionals. HostGator uses cPanel and with the Fantastico software service...you can install the latest version of WordPress with just a few clicks.

7. WordPress Themes let you style your Mortgage Site.

Because Themes are open source, you can buy or download them...then modify them to your heart’s content. Remember, themes are independent of your content, so...you can edit or swap out themes at any time and keep your content and functionality in place.

If altering your Theme is more than you counted on...there are thousands of folks willing to take on the task for you at a reasonable price.

8. You can easily add a Blog to your Site.

The blog functionality of WordPress is still the best in the business. With categories, tags, threaded commenting, gravatars, easy theming, widgets, fantastic moderation controls, anti spam solutions, and plugin infrastructure, you can’t find a better blog solution.

Adding a blog to a WordPress site is a great way to attract and involve visitors, and to keep Google paying attention.

9. WordPress plugins give you unlimited functionality.

Plugins allow you to add great photo galleries, sliders, shopping carts, forums, maps, and more great functionality to your Mortgage Website.

There’s a searchable, one-click install directory of plugins (think App Store for WordPress). Their code is riddled with “hooks” that allow developers to add their code to virtually any aspect of WordPress without editing the core. As a result, there are over 4,000 Free down loadable plugins available for WordPress and your Website.

10. WordPress saves you money on website maintenance fees.

The same Mortgage Professionals in #6 above who were paying huge fees for hosting, were paying $100 or more an hour every time they needed something done on their site. With WordPress, learning to create or edit content is generally fairly simple.

Yes, there are things that can be complicated and a little intimidating, but finding free or inexpensive WordPress help is no big deal. Just type “need wordpress help” in Google or in a social networking site and see what happens.

11. WordPress is extremely conducive to the creation of neighborhood, Loan Officer/Mortgage Broker type niche Websites.

If you wanted a new “short sale” Website to drive local distressed property owners to, or a “Reverse Mortgage” Website, you could build you a “site” in relatively short order.

Why? You wouldn’t really be building a new site. With WordPress, you can aggregate content onto a single page, customize a header, sidebar and navigation...all under the same install and domain...no big deal.

12. WordPress will enable you to establish a local market.

WordPress will enable you to establish local market dominance by taking advantage of Mortgage Professional generated content in a way that’s infinitely more efficient than your current situation!

There you have it...12 Reasons Why Mortgage Professionals Should Have A WordPress Website. When you're surfing...scroll down to the bottom of the Website. You'll be surprised how many folks use WordPress as their platform.

You can view a few a couple of my sites (they're all a little different) using WordPress at:

TheReverseMortgageMentor.com,
ReverseMortgageDomainNames.com,
TomDomin.com,
MortgageDomainsForSale.com,
TheDiplomaDepot.com,
ChasewoodNewsAndViews.com.

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Tom Domin is the author of "101 Ways to Originate Mortgages" and publisher of "Tom's Mortgage Tips" a twice monthly Mortgage Newsletter available at http://www.MortgageMarketingToolKit.com/. In addition, he is also a founder and contributor to http://www.TheReverseMortgageMentor.com/ a site geared towards training Reverse Mortgage Professionals.

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