This week Microsoft announces it is closing its Windows Live Spaces blogging platform and moving all it’s 7 Million+ users over to WordPress.com This is a dramatic move but is a clear statement about how web users (bloggers) have made WordPress such a valuable commodity. Microsoft has jumped all over it.
This is what Dharmesh Mehta, Director of Windows Live Product Management had to say:
"As we looked at customers’ blogging needs and what different companies were providing, we were particularly interested in what WordPress.com is doing. They have a host of impressive capabilities – from a scalable platform and leading spam protection, to great personalization and customization. WordPress powers over 8.5% of the web, is used on over 26 million sites, and WordPress.com is seen by over 250 million people every month. Not only that, Auttomatic is a company filled with great people focused on improving blogging experiences. So rather than having Windows Live invest in a competing blogging service, we decided the best thing we could do for our customers was to give them a great blogging solution through WordPress.com."
Those Worldprofit Members who are graduates of Worldprofit’s Certified E-Business Consulting Program are already familiar with WordPress. Worldprofit Inc., incorporated WordPress into it’s integrated Member services early last year. George Kosch, Director of Website Development at Worldprofit Inc., had this to say.
"We are really excited to learn about Microsoft’s decision to move to the WordPress blogging platform. We already have countless numbers of our Members using WordPress resources. In a tech company decisions for corporate growth can be based on trends but sometimes they have to be based on gut, and user feedback. Blogging has grown far faster than I originally thought possible. When we noticed how badly the web community wanted easy-to-use customizable formats for blogging and web applications we decided to move on integrating into our Member services. We got on board with WordPress last year and were very happy with the scalablilty, the theme options, the anti-spam integration, and the oh so important search engine friendliness. As a company that helps our members build an online home business, blogging as part of this strategy cannot be ignored especially when it comes to search engine marketing. Microsoft’s announcement reinforces for us that we are moving the right direction. What WordPress and Microsoft decide to better profit from ad revenues remains to be seen. For now, what it means for bloggers, and for Worldprofit Members in particular is that applications will continue to be developed with more scope and as they are, Worldprofit Developers will continue to find ways to help our Members exploit these options for their business’ bottom line. Already being familiar with WordPress and it’s capabilities puts our members in a very unique advantage point.