XSite Pro Web Sites vs. WordPress Blogs–Which is Better?
ByOne of my subscribers wrote and asked this good question about web sites vs. blogs. I thought I’d share my answer here.
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.)
22 Comments
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:39 pm
[...] First Xsitepro is a website editor that builds static website pages. It’s good for the newbie and experienced website builder, especially with the advent of Xsitepro Version 2.0 and WordPress is a blogging platform. WordPress is more of a dynamic type of website. Actually, it would be smart if you learned how to do both, because you can use static websites and a dynamic websites together to create a flow of traffic to the website that makes you money….whether it be a blog of static website. XSite Pro Web Sites vs. WordPress Blogs–Which is Better? [...]
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
That’s a very good point about using both, which I do. There’s a place for each type of site, and they work together beautifully.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:15 am
Xsitepro looks a good product and amazing value. However what I think makes Wordpress better for new users is the ability to utilize the smart offline desktop blog editor tools like Windows Live writer. This free software makes adding images and videos to any blog a breeze, 100x better then using the old backend dashboard or web browser site editors.
Wordpress with live writer also solves most font and styling problems, even when content is cut and pasted from other applications like word. The text and fonts don’t go crazy on you when you publish.
This means the site always looks professional and doesn’t suffer from the occasional article having the wrong font size or style, often seen on Xsitepro sites that always appear somewhat amateur in appearance compared with wordpress sites.
Overall, with a few free plugins, there’s nothing in the features list of Xsite that can’t be done with Wordpress, only better. However to have this done properly, it would likely be more expensive with Wordpress, which I guess is why many would go with Xsitepro.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:25 am
Funny, I have found the opposite–my WP sites were more difficult to get font size right, but then, that was before I got some of the great plug-ins that are out there.
Your last sentence holds the key for me: “To have this done properly, it would likely be more expensive with WordPress.” Precisely. I am continually learning about WordPress, and have been cautioned about plug-ins, upgrading when new versions are available, etc.
So far in working with XSP V2, everything I can do with WP plugins I can do in XSP–without having to upload any plug-ins, check whether they’re good ones, etc. etc. I can choose social networking sites and insert the links with a couple of clicks.
I like WP, and I like XSP. I just like the latter a little better! I think it’s the easiest and most cost-effective software out there.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Here is a terrific template for newbies.It can be reconfigured in itself or in an html editor to enable it to be anything you want. Use it to announce,sell or give away products and information.
You can even sell the template itself.
I have used it for several different projects online and it is the quickest way I have found to get started or update my sites.
August 27th, 2008 at 2:49 am
[...] have a follow-up to the (very popular) post on which is better, XSite Pro site or a WordPress blog [...]
December 11th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Great article and informativ. I have this bookmarked. Thanks
July 13th, 2009 at 1:27 am
Hi there, I do almost all my clients websites using Xsite Pro, but I also custom match their blogs to the sites using Wordpress. Many people use Wordpress as their only website now and it works great. Matt Cutts the google guru still thinks having both is the most valuable.
I have convinced many of my clients to buy Xsite after I complete their new sites, or redo an old one, so they can run thier own site. That is really the power of Xsite Pro, you can easily make changes and run your own websites with one click. People love it. We all like to be in control. lol
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I have always designed my sites with Dreamweaver but it is so much work. I recently bought XSP and found this page since I am also installing a WPB right now. Thanks Diane for the information and that both platforms are recommended. Thanks to each of you for your input. I will use both.
May 18th, 2010 at 4:04 am
You cannot believe how long ive been searching for something like this. Browsed through 5 pages of Yahoo results without finding anything. First page of bing. There was this…. Really have to start using it more often!
September 11th, 2010 at 6:31 am
I have been using x site pro for over 2 years, I can say this is amazing software made so far for web publishing.
September 14th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
I must say that Xsite pro looks like it could be the answer to my prayers. I’ve been using wordpress for a while now but at times find I need to learn some new technical aspect I struggle with. I love the way Xsite pro 2 takes you by the hand and shows you step by step how to set up a well optimized site. Great article by the way.
September 14th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Wordpress keeps getting more complicated. The only “negative” about XSP is that you can’t get comments. Otherwise, XSP has everything all of the added plugins for WP has, and you don’t have to constantly update, learn new things, etc. I think hard before I decide whether my site MUST be a blog, and if it doesn’t (i.e. does not need to have comments enabled), then I always go with XSP.
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:40 pm
You can get a script for comments like a blog from xsitepro affiliate centre http://www.xcommentpro.com/index_r.html?p=webcreation
This seems a good idea as you would receive less spam than wp
December 23rd, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Diane, You can now get comments on XSP websites using XCommentPro, it works great with XSP as it is made by Intellimon the makers of XSP.
December 23rd, 2010 at 4:02 pm
I know. I used it for a while, until I got a zillion spam comments and there was no way to delete them in bulk. So I don’t use it anymore. If XSP would fix that, it would be great! I still love the software.
January 8th, 2011 at 8:39 am
I have used both XSitePro and WP and I have to agree that XSitePro is by far the easierto use. I hear lots of comments about SEO-friendly WP is, but I haven’t found it to be that good. It’s also not that easy to change things around. I think people love WP because they don’t realise that there are great tools like XSitePro around.
January 8th, 2011 at 10:46 am
I agree. XSP is far easier to use and it is at least as good, if not superior, in terms of SEO. The main issues of SEO have more to do with content than the platform. My content-rich XSP sites do very well in the search engines. Blogs tend to have more content and/or be updated more frequently, both of which would lend them SEO ranking. But if you add content regularly to an XSP site and update it, you will get superior ranking.
Just search for “healing code book” in google and my XSP site (www.thehealingcodeinfo.com) comes up #1, even above amazon! I have lots of content and info on the book, it’s not just an ad. XSP is very powerful, but also, so easy to use that you can easily update it and create content.
February 20th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
Xsite Pro hands down for ease of use and SEO. Better security than WP because it is html. And much quicker and smoother to update or add new pages.
I have finally converted all my WP sites to Xsite Pro 2.51.
My wife has a high ranking netball WP site now converted to Xsite html. I kept all the urls in tact and the ranking hasn’t changed and we always stays at #1,2 or 3 position in Google.
However, for pure traffic generation to a website, WP wins hand down because of the plugins designed for this type of marketing. But they are costly. $300 for a proper SEO plugin and about another $600 for other SEO plugins. Have a traffic WP blog setup correctly and you push a ton of traffic to your website.
But I would not setup a traffic blog as a main website or money page not professional looking.
February 21st, 2011 at 10:20 am
Just discovered another great feature of XSP. For some reason, I had trouble publishing my site. Put in a support ticket, exported the site so they could look at it. They were able to publish a test site fine, because–and this was my fix too–XSP’s importer fixes all known errors on the file. Isn’t that cool? In two minutes my problem was fixed and the site published fine. (http://healingcodescoaching.com)
November 15th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
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January 20th, 2012 at 1:40 am
Xsitepro is best for me but there templates or boring and I think wp wins here.
Easy to add affiliates and absence with xsitepro is a big bonus.
Mike