Is there a gap in the market for Wordpress Consultants?
Wordpress Consultants are popping up left, right and center as Wordpress moves into the spot of favourable CMS system to most web users. The main beauty being the simplicity in setting the system up and the huge support behind it in terms of development and theme designing.
So my question is quite simple, is there a gap in the market for Wordpress Consultants? I guess the first thing to do is state what exactly a Wordpress Consultant is. Short description wise, it would be someone who has a lot of experience with Wordpress with the ability to find a digital solution for a company or individual who needs a web presense quickly and effectively. The role could be a bottom to top roll involving the setup and installation of the software or simply consulting on a project where Wordpress is already running, but the person running it is unfamiliar with its true power.
I’ve done some consulting in my time and in one instance, it was exactly the case of a company having installed Wordpress and understanding the basics, but having no idea as to how to make it really work for them. I spent a great deal of time looking at their system and then putting together a list of requirements from effective search engine optimization plugins to a plan of attack for a new theme, which would lead to conversions.
The project was a big success, their traffic increased by 80% and is continuing to increase as the months go by and in terms of conversions, they are converting three times as much as they were. I have got a lot of experience with Wordpress, however, there aren’t too many of us and therefore I would say that there is a nice gap in the market still, both locally and Internationally.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, what say you?
In light of this topic, Yellow Llama and I are having an SEO-off, whereby we’re seeing who can rank highest for the term ‘Wordpress Consultant’ in the Google SERPs. Currently Mark is positioned on the front page and my blog is nowhere to be found, so he’s got a bit of a head start, but we’ll soon see :)
If you’re keen on helping me out, grab this and place it in your post:
<a href=”http://imod.co.za/index.php/2008/12/05/is-there-a-gap-in-the-market-for-wordpress-consultants/” title=”Wordpress Consultants”>Wordpress Consultants</a>
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Christopher is the founder of iMod - Most of his time is spent building websites and pushing the limits with Search Engine Optimization. You can follow him on Twitter @ChristopherM
Chris M has written: 4759 posts.
Dec 5th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
WordPress is still very misunderstood by many South Africans looking to establish a web presence.
I use WordPress exclusively myself to run my own sites and I always recommend it to my clients, however I often hear comments back that they want a “web site” not a blog.
Dec 5th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I agree, the awareness is getting there, but the actual understanding is still very lacking, which is a good thing in terms of Wordpress Consultants I guess.
Yes, changing Wordpress into a CMS is rather straight forward once you rip out all the social aspects of it..
Dec 5th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Btw, regarding Google SERP rankings, I don’t see Mark on the front page, even when I select just results from South Africa.
Otoh, do a search on the term ‘paypal’ from SA only and I (capetownnews.co.za) rank second on the list, above imod and ThoughtLeader.
So what am I doing right, Chris? Haha.
Dec 5th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Are you currently logged into any Google Services? This often changes the SERP results that you see..
Dec 5th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Am I logged into Google? Is that a serious question?
Dec 5th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Hahaha, I’m serious though, if you’re logged into a Google service, the SERP rankings can change, ran into this problem before. I don’t see CTN ion the rankings when I search ‘paypal’..
Dec 5th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Okay I logged out of google on Flock and searched for paypal in SA and I’m still no 2.
Here’s the url to my search:
http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=paypal&btnG=Search&meta=cr%3DcountryZA
Dec 5th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Ah ye, I see it now, cleared my cache, I’m using some pretty hectic stuff here on this computer for SERP rankings, determines relevancies and so forth, so my results are different.
Ye, you’re ranked nicely there. It’s hard to say why as there are so many reasons, but based on a quick look at keyword densities, your site has a good density spread for the term PayPal being in the title, content and rewrite URL compared to the other ones. Also the time that the post has been live plays a role and obviously backlinks, etc.
That’s a nice ranking! I’m ranked decently for ‘PayPal South Africa’, which is the phrase I’d like to rank for, makes most sense..
http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&q=paypal+south+africa&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
Dec 5th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Chris I totally agree with you, there is a great demand for WordPress support. And by support I’m talking the whole nine yards – conceptualisation, development, strategy, etc. As you know I was running fairly big development projects (.Net, etc) with contracted developers. I’ve totally stopped that now. The only type of development I’ll take on – whether I do it myself or outsource – is WordPress. There is such a big need for it, and it’s my core and passion too – as it fits snugly in the Web 2.0 space.
I’m getting a lot of enquiries now for people who want a new blog, and for those who want help with their current blogs. About 2 days ago a lady in our building popped into my office, and showed me her WordPress.com blog she started for her new business – but it was clear she didn’t have a clue about blogging strategy, plugins, or any of that.
Chris I’m sure you’ve seen this, but some of your readers might not have – Robert Scoble (Scobleizer) has a 2 part interview, done just a few days ago, with Matt Mullenweg of WordPress.
Part 1: http://www.fastcompany.tv/video/matt-mullenweg-reveals-future-wordpress
Part 2: http://www.fastcompany.tv/video/matt-mullenweg-reveals-future-wordpress-part-2
I found great value in these clips, enjoy! :)
May 1st, 2010 at 2:00 am
So funny, Mark now works with me at The Forge, and I’ve just done a check on the results, and I’m still on page 1 for both :P~
Proof that SEO works!