WordPress.com is a lovely tool for putting a web site out there, but it doesn’t allow for access to Google Analytics, which is a little like sending Achilles out to war wearing armor everywhere but on his heel. It’s just not going to get you far if you want to market and understand what’s happening on your site. So now that we’ve gotten comfy, it’s time to uproot and pick a hosting partner, then hope I can pick up a thing or two about web design. This is where it’s handy to be a quick learner, and thankful that there is a Google, and there are wonderful things called plugins that make life very simple for someone who’s not a programmer.

The blog now has swanky new digs at Bourbon and Bluegrass, with minimal disruption and all the Google analytics data I can get my hands on. Initial site setup includes social media follow and share buttons on the sidebar and RSS feed call to action. I’ve installed a few SEO plugins that give me more control on titles, meta descriptions have been installed, and I edited the page links of previously posted blog entries to optimize for relevant keywords. The only major hiccup has been a Flickr sidebar plugin, which would theoretically demonstrate timely photos on my photostream, which will not function.

Once I have completed my Digital Media certifications over the next couple of weeks, I’ll focus on generating more content and seeing what I can whip up with a small PPC campaign to drive more traffic to the blog!