WordPress is the blogging tool that is hot right now. It’s leaving it’s mark on Internet marketing like nothing else before. It can seem daunting to understand WordPress; however, this can be overcome by gaining the right insight. Keep reading to learn some excellent advice about making WordPress do what you want.
Make sure you use “title” and “alt.” When you are adding images to your posts, don’t forget to use titles and alt text. Not only do these fields offer more opportunities to stuff in more content specific SEO keywords, but they also allow users who can’t load images to know what they can’t see on your site.
Teach yourself everything you can prior to using WordPress. If you plan ahead, things will flow better once you get started. Learn what you can about SEO, or search engine optimization, and find out how to create engaging content for visitors. Learn how you can use WordPress to the highest advantage. That will help make sure that you don’t have a tough time when you start.
Take the time to research WordPress prior to working with it. Plan in advance so that you can be ready for anything. You need to know how to produce great content and about SEO or search engine optimization prior to your blog launch.
Remove special characters from your blog post URLs. This can make it hard for search engine spiders to search your site, so delete them. It is also a good idea to shorten URLs to keywords.
Clean up comments and content that don’t add anything to your website. That will help you to keep the site friendly to people who are looking at it. Use Akismet if you need a plugin to do this.
You may change your blog and update it, but then notice nothing has been saved. That’s not necessarily the case. To deal with this issue, clear your browser cache. When you refresh your browser, hold the “shift” key.
Remove any special characters in the URLs of your blog posts. This can hassle those search engines, so the characters are best removed. Your URLs should also be shortened to just include keywords, so they do not overwhelm your visitors.
Do many people leave comments on your posts? It can be hard to look through all of them, for yourself and others. You can install a simple plugin that will put page numbers into this section. It will be easier to navigate your site, and it will look more organized.
There may be times when you devote hours to your WordPress blog only to believe that you neglected to save your changes. That is probably not the case. Clear the browser cache to see if it helps. Save changes by holding the ‘shift’ key while refreshing the browser.
Ensure that users have the ability to email your posts to themselves. This is essential so that they can easily share your content with others. You can use a plugin called WP-Email to help you do this.
Unless you change it, posts will appear chronologically. If you want to rearrange some posts, you will have to modify the date of your post. Open any of your individual posts and go to the date near the top right-hand corner to change the date. Change its position by clicking the date, changing it, and saving the post.
Do not make something such as “admin” your own username. Having admin or administrator as your username makes your blog more likely to be successfully attacked by bots. This is a risk to the security of your site. If you see these usernames on your pages, delete them. Choose another username altogether.
Do your posts attract lots of comments? If you do, it can be cumbersome to sift through all of them. Use a plugin that adds pages to your blog comments. This makes for a more organized site that is easier to navigate.
Use targeted descriptions and titles. Your potential readers see these first because of search engine listings. This is why they are important. In order to customize them to your needs, Scribe, which is SEO software, can help. This will allow you to edit the items and, in turn, attract more visitors.
Improve your position in the SERPs by spending time posting your pictures correctly. Use the alternate text and title tags on each one. If someone uses Pinterest to pin your image, the title will be captured by the pin.
Make sure your library of media is organized. Uploading images without thinking of organization can cause havoc to your site. Make sure to incorporate folder structures that allows you to categorize properly. If you’d like to use an image again, you can find it easily.
Allow users to email your articles if they want to. This is critical when it comes to sharing too, because those who do not have access to social media at work may still want to send your articles to their friends. You can do this by using a WP-Email plugin.
Try keeping the plugin installations on your WordPress blog to a minimum. Remember that your site’s load time increases for every plugin you install. This can impact how your site ranks on search engines. Slow websites tend not to rank as well as ones that have been optimized for performance.
Only use WordPress plugins that you absolutely need. Although plugins can be a lot of fun, the reality is that web sites load slower with more plugins. They can slow down your site to the point that will negatively affect your search engine rank. Websites that load slowly do not fare as well in the ranks as those that are optimized efficiently.
Use a plugin that builds internal links among your posts, thus improving the reading experience of your audience. These plugins will let you add links to the bottom of your posts.
Always use the newest version of WordPress. Updates offer patches that will strengthen the security of the site. Utilizing older versions leaves you vulnerable to malware. That’s why you should always download WordPress updates, to make sure your website is secure.
Schedule posts a few days ahead for your blog in WordPress. You can easily schedule the publication of your posts regardless of where you are. You can do this by tapping into the Publish box on your edit screen. There should be an option for immediate publication. Schedule your posts with military time and the dates. Choose the “OK” option. Check the Schedule For screen and choose Schedule.
Remember to back your blog up. You need to to this with regularity. Xcloner, which is a WordPress plugin is very useful. Pick whichever plugin or site you would like to use. However, have it backed up in numerous locations. It would be disastrous to lose your whole blog.
You don’t have to manually approve comments anymore. You can use the plugin Akismet to do that work. You can receive an email every time someone makes a comment, but it’s better to have manual approval unchecked and authors with comments already approved to post. Otherwise, you are not saving any time.
If you’d like to choose a header, avoid a drop-down menu. Rather, use shortcuts on the keyboard. Pressing the Control key and the numbers from one to six will offer different options. This is a great time saver.
Are you challenged to publish on schedule? You can write a blurb ahead of time and have it posted at the date and time that you select. When opening your new post page, there is a future publication setup. Therefore, write away and get everything taken care of ahead of time.
If you’re seeking a hosting company for you WordPress site, select one that has tools for easy installation. This will help you save the trouble of creating a separate database. One click will allow you to pick a domain name and secure the database as well.
If you’d like to choose a header, avoid a drop-down menu. Instead, use keyboard shortcuts! Press CTRL then 1-6 to select different options. If you frequently use headers, this saves lots of time.
Be sure to let people comment about your blog posts. This will encourage a sense of community, and it will also help you to know more about the people who are reading your site. You can make it so that the only comments that show up are ones you approve, in case you’re worried about spam.
When searching for great plugins, make sure to read the reviews. Anyone with programming knowledge can make a plugin. A plugin could be full of bugs and problems that could damage your computer. Look for ones that have high ratings and have been heavily downloaded.
Try using different authoring tools for your blog. Do you dislike the dashboard for WordPress? Try a program such as Windows Live Writer. There are a variety of efficient WordPress-compatible tools. You have to try more than one to really know your personal preferences.
Screen Options
Consider highlighting the responses you give to the comments of others. Comments are often filled with questions and concerns. It is easy to miss something important as more and more people begin responding. To make them stand out, highlight your responses. This will make them easier to find.
Have you had enough of the clutter involved in WordPress? You need to turn a few of those boxes off that are on the page. You can do this with the top WordPress button labeled “Screen Options.” Click the “Screen Options” button for a handy drop-down menu you can use to enable or disable your boxes.
Make a plan for your WordPress site before you make it. Write down what you want out of your blog and what you want readers to gain from it. This helps you build a site with everything you need from the onset.
Choose a host for WordPress with tools that allow WordPress to be installed easily. You can spare yourself a database creation in doing so. The host will also be able to make you a blog domain.
Keep in mind, it isn’t necessary to do everything on your site by yourself. Hire or trade work with someone to get the job done.
Use a variety of blog authoring tools. Are you not pleased with WordPress’s dashboard? You can use authoring programs to write blog posts, such as Windows Live Writer. A lot of tools are out there that are WordPress compatible but far more efficient. Try several of them. Find one that works for you.
If you are working on a post not ready for publication, you can save it as a draft or in unpublished mode. You are able to make some changes, but no one else can see it. Once your post is exactly the way you want it, you can publish it.
Keep a second folder for tests made to your site before putting them out for others to see. That way, errors will not spoil your existing site.
Keep in mind that categories and tags enable you to use SEO phrases across the site. Choose a niche that helps answer people’s questions. For example, you might have found this article by searching “best WordPress plugins”.
Look for all of the advice you can get before building a WordPress site. When searching for help, make sure to check out Facebook groups, forums and blogs specializing in WordPress. Whether your issue is with themes or plugins, they help you locate your answers.
Back up your WordPress site regularly basis using the Export function. This ensures that you keep an historical database that lists site backups, allowing you to reverse course in time to go to clean copies in case of hacking or a routine backup if the server dies.
As you can see, using WordPress is easy when you know what you’re doing. WordPress can be your ticket to gaining more online exposure, making it possible for your site to be more profitable. Continue to seek knowledge about WordPress as you forge ahead with your own blog.
If you want to make your pages shorter, use the option for a “Read More” link. Find a natural break point in your text that makes the reader want to read the rest. With enough motivation to continue, they’ll be on your blog for another page.