Main Website
After four and a half years we have finally made the BIG move.
Come see us at our new location: http://www.RealEstateTomato.com/blog
I had been dreading this for 3 years, but now it is over.
I've often been asked what the biggest mistake I made as a blogger has been. The answer is simple. I made the mistake of using the TypePad platform for my blogging instead of WordPress. At the beginning, I understood very little about the differences between the two platforms, and simply flipped a coin (I literally flipped a coin to decide). This turned out to be a real challenge for me as I began to use blogging to showcase an expertise and to grow an audience interested in our message.
TypePad is incredibly limited, and frustratingly so. In fact, in part, I blame the use of TP for my loss of fervor in blogging. The site I had here had me so frustrated that I just couldn't stand working with it. Yet, at the same time, I couldn't just start over somewhere else. I had accumulated thousands of subscribers, earned a PageRank of 6 and posted very competitively for search results that I couldn't live without.
The biggest frustration of all is that you can't just move the site from TP to WP and pick up where you left off. The domain structure (realestatetomato.typepad.com vs realestatetomato.com/blog) is the biggest challenge, but there are many more. I won't bore you other than to say that it has been a massive project, one that has taken many months.
During the move I chose to make a few changes:
1. Less categories.
2. Adding tags to each and every article.
3. PullQuotes in HTML vs using images.
4. More clearly showcase the Headings (H3 and H4)
Other changes are simply benefits of using the WP platform, like using PlugIns for exciting functionalities that TP could never offer.
I have also chosen to only bring over articles that had to do with blogging advice, so I left about 50% of the articles behind, and will continue to host them here.
But, by far the best thing about the change is that I am now in compete control of the design, coding, content and hosting. If I can imagine a need, I can have it developed immediately. No more hoping that TP can satisfy it with their limited, proprietary platform and templates.
Relief, to say the least!
I can now join the more than 700 sites that we have developed for our clients on the WordPress platform. Yippee.
