XSite Pro vs. Blog–Part 2 of the Debate
ByI have a follow-up to the (very popular) post on which is better, XSite Pro site or a WordPress blog ?
I have to say, for me (as a non-techie person who doesn’t WANT to mess around with figuring out how, for instance, to upgrade a blog)–hands down, it’s XSite Pro web design software (version 2) .
As far as I can tell, XSP can do anything a WP blog can do with the WP plug-ins that are available. Yes, some of those plug-ins are very cool, as I learned from Cathy Perkins, the WordPress Wizard .
Last week, using the HeadSpace plug-in, I posted a blog and optimized it and in a few seconds, when I checked Google for the keywords “best self-publishing company,” my site came up #4 on page 1!
However, it didn’t stay there. I have no idea why. And, I had to add keywords in around 3 places to optimize the site.
But the clincher for me was what happened when
I “upgraded” my blog. If it was up to me, I’d stay with WP 2.2 forever. However, the older version opened me up to hacks (happened twice), so I had no choice.
Cathy Perkins’s class with the “pre-flight checklist” was invaluable as a guide. Nevertheless, when I took the plunge, all sorts of messy things happened with the blog.
Depending on when you view this, it still might not look right. The header was messed up (Cathy fixed it), the sidebar categories were gone, and other things were not quite right
Without Cathy’s expertise to guide me (from her classes, free and paid), I don’t think I could manage WordPress.
On the other hand, with XSite Pro, all I have to do is put the keywords in the space provided, add a description, and it’s all optimized for search engines and humans.
With just a few mouse clicks, I can put in audio and video, add the “Share This” info, create RSS feeds, even put my site into a form that can be read on mobile phones! I can add sticky notes and all sorts of cool things. (I have a sticky note about my Abundant Gifts free book sale if you want to view a sample.
And though I have NO training in design or software, I was able to play around with my own header with XSP to create some variations.
So, my position is: WordPress is great IF 1) you like to keep up your own blog, 2) you’re jazzed by cool plug-ins, 3) you like to learn all the time and you have the time and will to maintain your blog OR 4) you have someone else to keep up with all the WP changes and maintain your blog.
If you would rather focus on creating content, don’t mind learning a few things ONCE that you can use forever (at least for the next few years until XSP does another major upgrade), prefer to have control over your own site (without having to spend a lot of time maintaining the tech stuff), all without sacrificing any search engine advantages–get XSite Pro.
I still think it’s one of the best products I’ve ever come across. I used one little feature–the email cloaking “widget wizard”–and cut my email spam by at least 80 percent.
I can even get a report that tells me how readable my copy is, how I can optimize it further.
As you can see, I could go on and on about XSite Pro! In addition to the main site, here’s a link to a webinar that explains how it works.
