Why use Posterous over WordPress?
Right, this may sound a little strange, but why use WordPress for my main website and then use Posterous for the actual blog? Yes, it sounds odd, but there are good reasons. Whilst WordPress is turning into an all singing CMS solution that's hugely configurable, it's also not the most elegant solution for quickly putting audio, video, and documents online at the drop of a hat. Which is where Posterous comes in. Though e-mail was touted as the favoured and easiest method to get content on to a Posterous blog, now that the "Post by web" option has been implemented it's even easier.
If I want to blog I want things to be fast, simple, and easy. That way there's no halt in any creative process and I can maximise my effective use of time. And Posterous seems to fit the bill here, perfectly. And the way I decided to integrate it into my website works along the same lines. Firstly I set up a DNS account with ZoneEdit, which was simple and FREE. Then I set up a Google Apps acount for the domain, which was simple and FREE — here's a pattern forming here. Then I set up (and I know you're with me) an account with Posterous (yes, which was simple and FREE). Using ZoneEdit's control panel I created a sub domain (blog.gregwallis.net) that I pointed at Posterous's servers and then linked that domain to my blog in the Posterous admin page. All super simple, everything worked, and completely free of charge. Sure I pay for hosting the main site separately, because it's a WordPress installation running on Linux, but that's about it. And it's worth noting that Google almost instantly crawls the site and ranks it. It really is close to a perfect solution.
For those that are on a very tight budget (and no shame in that) the addition of the new Pages feature that Posterous has just added, it's possible to have a small and streamlined website for absolutely zero, apart from the cost of the domain name itself. All that's required for an extra professional gloss is the modification of an existing theme to give the site a corporate identity. Now if you look at this blog you'll notice that there's no mention of Posterous except in the footer, where I have provided a link to the main Posterous site by way of courtesy and so as to not fall foul of their terms & conditions. Â Not that I wish to hide the fact that it's run on Posterous(you'll have gathered by now I'm somewhat enamoured with it) just I hate the fly-out branding at the top of the page that is pretty much normal. Quite easy to modify and they still get a credit.
This works for me, and I think it would work for a lot of other people too, particularly very small or part time businesses. Simplicity is the key, and all too many people get carried away with the idea of building a huge flashing online presence, but I humbly suggest that starting small and simple is the best way to go.
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