You also get to ask Cathy or me a question, before and during the teleseminar.

Just go here at noon Central (1pm Eastern, 10am Pacific)for details and to ask a question.

In addition to answering questions, Cathy will give you a taste of her upcoming Wordpress Workshop–which I highly recommend. I’ve taken Cathy’s other courses before, and she is always very thorough and clear.

If you want a sneak preview of the workshop, which is limited because of the personal attention you’ll get, go here.

I do hope you’ll join us! This is your chance to find out more about one of the pillars of being a successful author. Blogs are the main way the main way that authors and would-be authors can create a following.

In fact, someone wrote me just today about how she had been in contact with several agents about her book, and how nearly all of them emphasize how important it is that an author have a website for their book.

You know I tout two kinds of websites, and Wordpress blogs are one of them. It has one advantage over the other kind, and that’s that people can comment on your blog. There can be a dialogue, and that’s hugely important. With Wordpress, you can also have your Twitter tweets posted, and so much more.

Every author needs a blog! And the best kind of blog to have is a Wordpress blog.

Find out tomorrow why. Noon central, here. Ask your question right now, okay?

It would have taken me 5 minutes at most to do the same thing in XSite Pro, the web design software I use for most of my sites.

People keep telling me WordPress blogs are better, so easy to use.

My experience has been: I could not even have a WP blog without Cathy Perkins, “the wordpress wizard.” I listen to her free weekly teleseminars and without those, and her expert help when needed, I’d be lost.

On the other hand, I’ve had very few issues with XSP. I can put up a web site in minutes. This one I put up in 10 minutes. The template came with the program. It was a matter of copying and pasting the copy I’d already written in Word. (And unlike copying and pasting from Word to a WP blog, I have little to no issues with formatting.)

What about search engine ranking with XSP vs. WordPress? Well, when I put in the keywords ‘develop your audience” into Google just now, my WP blog (this one, which I’ve been posting on for years) came up 3rd, and my NEW site (the XSite Pro site, www.developyouraudience.com) came up FIRST.

That’s because the search engine optimization is built into XSite Pro and it’s entirely controlled by me. Very easy to do, too. With a blog, supposedly it’s “built in.” There are plug-ins you can use to optimize. But that involves, again, a whole lot more work than what I have to do with XSite Pro.

AND, the work I did do on my new blog page, I had to know html to figure out how to format the look. I don’t have to know one thing about html to use XSite Pro. If you can use Word, you can use XSite Pro–they are that similar.

So, again, I have to say I much prefer XSite Pro web design software. It’s a very small investment to make for software that will save you gobs of time on creating a website. You absolutely do not need any webmaster with XSite Pro. Their support is fantastic if you do have problems. It’s honestly one of the best products and companies I’ve run across–period.

And I’m pretty picky.

Carol’s question:

“I understand the difference between a website and a blog. Is XSite Pro for a static website or can it be used as a blog? You said you use Word Press for your blog. If I purchase XSite Pro, can I use it as a blog to post and update frequently?”

My answer:

XSite Pro web design software is not something you can use with or as a blog. A blog is a completely different kind of software platform. XSite Pro creates stand-alone web sites that you can make as small or large as you like.

I have just been looking at XSP V2, and I like it better than a blog in many ways.

The features are very powerful and easy to use (great documentation, with screen captures to walk you through each segment). A lot of what XSP does, you can do with WP plug-ins, I think–if you know how to get them and use them. If you tend to be techy, you might prefer WP blogs. My techy friend likes finding all these cool plug-ins. Me–I prefer to click a few buttons and let the program do it for me.

(By the way, their support is great, too. Fast turnaround, and clear instructions. I tested this recently because I just got a new computer, and needed to know how to get my stuff from old computer to new and integrated with V2.)

The ability to easily update content is one of the main attractions of blogs, and that’s why search engines love blogs. However, if you have a “static” web site where you can easily update content, you have the same search engine advantage.

With XSite Pro web design software, it’s extremely easy to update content AND optimize it for search engines at the same time. It’s just like typing something in Word, and then you click the Publish button and it’s on your site. But better–you have complete control over the keywords and page descriptions. With WP (which I like and do use), I have to trust that the search engines are picking up on the right keywords. Or, I use a plug-in (I think it’s called Header2 and there’s also one called SEO pack), but I have to go back and put the keywords in. I posted on both my blog and site last night, and with XSP it was much faster and easier to do. I find that XSP saves a lot of time.

Also, there are ways to add content automatically to your site, through RSS feeds and other ways I’m just learning about, with XSP. You can do that same thing with WP, I understand–again, IF you know the plug-ins and where to go. With XSP, it’s all in one place, there’s a manual to consult, and once you learn it, you get it working on all your sites.

Another thing that I like better about XSP is the control you can have over each page of your site. For instance, if you have an opt-in or squeeze page, you can make one page be that. With a blog, you likely need a whole new url to point to that squeeze page. And it’s another site to maintain, rather than a page over which you have complete control in XSP.

WordPress is good, and I have several WP blogs myself (this is one of them!). It just requires more techy skill and it seems like there are always upgrades and things you have to know. I listen to Cathy Perkins’s Wizard Weekly teleseminars on WP, and don’t know where I’d be without her help. I just learned I have to do all these things to my blogs before I upgrade to the new version so the sites won’t “break.” Yikes! And of course, I should upgrade because otherwise, something terrible might happen (what, I’m not sure. Something about security). So–I like  much better for all these reasons.

If you’re not sure about whether XSitePro web design software is for you, why not attend one of the upcoming webinars? No cost, and you’ll get a feel for the features. You can sign up here. http://www.wordstoprofit.com/xspweb.html Dates are July 2,4, 8, so do it now if you’re interested.

I just upgraded to XSP V2 and so am just exploring the new features, but so far I’m liking what I see very much! I was just reading about adding a “site search” for visitors. Very cool. I have one on my blog, but my site actually has more content, and I want people to be able to search it.

(My full review of XSite Pro is here, if you care to learn more about my perspective, having used V1 for some 4 years now.)