This book is not for beginners trying to learn WordPress. The author makes that clear several times in the beginning of the book. But then he goes into a lengthy history of Wordpress, followed by what you need to start a website. Then more basic information on various internet terms, etc. I was more than a third of the way through the book before I saw anything that wasn't a basic primer.

The book just seemed very user un-friendly and I can't recommend it.

I've always found WordPress to be surprisingly difficult to navigate, especially when building a website for my small business. I had hoped to get more insight into making a safe, intelligible, and useful/usable website for my clients. But while this is a very thorough book with plenty of graphics and friendly illustrations, it felt like something cobbled together from various advice blog posts - and by a technical person who understands these concepts well but perhaps doesn't know how to bridge the gap between non technical person and technical speak. It all sounds so easy until you try to follow the directions and then nothing ever seems to line up.

So yes, there is a wealth of information here but I can't help but feel it needs a VERY GOOD editor to put it all together in a better fashion that makes more sense and also is more friendly to the layman. In the end, the confusion of how everything is presented really defeated me and I went in search of a different book.

This was a great and informative read if you plan on expanding your website and doing a nice upgrade. I found this book very helpful and will be referring back to it again in the future.

This was a great general overview of WordPress for businesses. There was some great advice, and it was laid out in a way that was easy to follow. One of the pitfalls, however, was that it spent a lot of time justifying a lot of its points, rather than being authoritative. There were some instances that already required a degree of prior knowledge, but all in all, I think this is a great resource.

This book is a great resource full of information and the additional resource you need for creating a Wordpress Website. It is easy to understand and implement . Thank you NetGallery for providing me with a copy of this book.

This book is a great tool to help you discover all of the things needed to make a profitable website at home. The book gives you many ideas with information on how to follow through, making it now than your typical how-to guide. It's easy to understand with terms familiar to the Internet savvy person and explaining the more in-depth details so everything is crystal clear. I will definitely recommend this to anyone looking to build a site for their business!

I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This outstanding book is full of resources & the information you don't find in most books on building sites using Wordpress, written by a man who has built many sites on this platform. It doesn't cover building the site, there are lots of other books that do that. Instead it focuses on all the little bits and pieces to make your site run better and be more effective.

I only have one big complaint. He constantly mixes up the terms "Internet" and "Web" Often he says that he's been building websites "since the beginning of the Internet." REALLY? Since the mid-sixties? That would be a trick since the Web wasn't invented yet. What he should say is that he's been building sites since the early days of the Web, meaning the early to mid-ninties. Probably his business readers won't know the difference, but computer people who have been in the Internet or Web business will and it lessens his authority. He should correct this mistake in future printing since he is also the publisher.

I do disagree with some of his recommendations, namely his suggestions for hosting platforms. But all in all, this book is an excellent resource.

This book crossed my path at the exact time that I needed it. I have been using Wordpress for a number of years on a free blogging basis, but have recently been asked to coordinate, design and build an externally hosted Wordpress-based website for an advocacy group. Everyday I was learning something new and finding that I had endless questions that needed to be answered. Wordpress Websites for Business was the ideal solution to those questions. There is something about a book that seems more trustworthy than a variety of random website sources (I guess I am a traditional librarian at heart). However, Wordpress Websites for Business has an informal, website feel to it. Short chapters and an informal, personal writing style contribute to this feeling. The author frequently references his own experiences and his qualifications for writing such a book and links to examples.

The first section of this book briefly outlines the book’s purpose, intended audience, and the author’s experience. The next section then outlines a short history of the internet, giving context to some of the techniques and technology used, CSS for example. The remainder of the book is then split into a range of sections which vary from SEO optimisation and security, to plugins and child themes. The chapter headings themselves are quite helpful, “Wordpress.com vs. Wordpress.org - Always Pick the Latter for Business”, for example.

I read the first half of this book chronologically, that is from front cover to about midway through the book. I then moved on to flicking backwards and forwards through the chapters, using the very detailed table of contents to navigate my way through the topics that suited my needs at a particular time. In that way, this book will be a valuable resource which will prove helpful throughout the various stages of website building.

I would recommend the book has another through copy edit as there were a number of punctuation mistakes, typos, and missing words, including within links. However, the copy I received may be an advanced reader’s copy and not reflect the final edition.

Wordpress Websites for Business integrates a range of recommendations for website creation, from plugins to steps to improve SEO, and includes many real-world examples. I found that a large proportion of the book is spent justifying these recommendations, which detracts from it being an easy step-by-step manual, but does offer plenty of personal experience examples. There were also a few sections where I either completely missed the point or where there were limited instructions. For example, there is a whole section on the importance of page-load speeds, with a number of seconds-to-dollars calculations, but ultimately, the only instruction I could understand was to get my hosting provider to configure it all for me. And this doesn’t work with what I need to be able to to do. However, further steps were provided in later chapters.

Overall, Wordpress Websites for Business is a valuable starting point for those who need guidance through the process of setting up a business (or other, all the points are relatable to a range of website types) website. Everything from the basics to more advanced techniques are fully justified, instructions briefly outlined, and a wide range of examples and linked further reading resources provided.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.