If you are an avid Internet user, you are probably familiar with blogs. WordPress, a blogging platform, probably supports many of them. If you want to blog, then you have to know WordPress, and this article is going to pave the way for you.
Make sure you have a unique template for your WordPress blog. It can be tempting to do this since it saves lots of time, but it will not give users the best impression of you. Take the time to create a unique site that reflects you and your business.
Make sure that you do not choose the same design as everyone else that has a WordPress site. Although it can save time to use a standard design, you won’t have a professional image. It is imperative to make a site that highlights your individuality and the personality of your business.
If you have a long title on a post, be sure to clean up your permalink. Avoid cumbersome URLs like “The Ten Ways Intelligent Parents Manage Their Children.” Use just your keywords and improve your search engine rankings.
A clean permalink will make it easier to post blogs with long titles. Using too many words will make a clunky URL. Choose something simpler like “intelligent-parents-manage-children”.
When you are using WordPress, get familiar with the tools and features available in the application. For example, clicking on KITCHEN SINK gives you many more choices in formatting and importing that set your posts apart. Also, notice SCREEN OPTIONS on your administrator pages. Using this will help you better manage any formatting issues.
Learn everything you can about WordPress choices to use it most effectively. For example, if there’s a Kitchen Sink button you click, you’ll be able to get a bunch of other choices that allow you to format and import what you want so posts can be unique. You also may notice that there’s a Screen Options tab where your admin pages are. It is possible to control a number of formatting elements with this.
Be sure to make use of Title and Alt. When putting images in a post, you can write text. These areas allow you to add even more SEO key phrases to the content of your page, plus they allow viewers who have images turned off to know what they’re missing on your site.
When you are set to post, set a schedule. If you schedule when things must be posted, you’re more likely to actually post them. You can actually make all of your posts for a week in one day. You can then schedule it so WordPress will upload some of these posts at a later date.
It is simple to add video to a site created with WordPress. This will require you to spend more time prepping, but this is worth it. Visuals grab your readers’ attention. One powerful tool is video because it can convey messages more clearly than the written word.
Sometimes you might think some changes you’ve made weren’t saved. If changes are not being saved, there is probably a different problem. To deal with this issue, clear your browser cache. Save changes by holding the ‘shift’ key while refreshing the browser.
Clean everything that adds no value to your site, such as extraneous comments and content. That will help you to keep the site friendly to people who are looking at it. An excellent plugin that can aid you in removing spam from your site on a daily basis is Akismet.
Do many people leave comments on your posts? It may have become a challenge to sift through all of them. You can install a simple plugin that will put page numbers into this section. This makes your website easier to navigate.
Posts are filed chronologically by default. First you must modify the date, then you can rearrange the list. To do this, open a single post and look for the date near the top right. Click the date, choose a new one and save the post to alter its position.
Help users easily send articles to you when they want. This is a good way to share, especially with those who are not using Facebook or Twitter. You can use the Email plugin in WordPress to do this.
Do you have lots of comments? If that’s the case, it may be hard for you or your visitors to sift through those numerous comments. Consider a page number plugin to simplify this. This makes for easier navigation and a more organized site.
You shouldn’t pick a username such as “admin”. You are risking bot attack if your username is something generic like administrator or admin. This is a major security risk. Go to your account page and delete usernames that are generic. Choose names other than these.
Better your search engine rankings by taking a couple minutes with pictures before uploading them. Be sure to add alternate and title tags to every picture. If someone decides to pin your image to Pinterest, your title is what will display on the screen.
Security is of the utmost importance in WordPress, so never share your password. Before installing plugins, make sure to read reviews. Otherwise, your site may run into a virus.
Allow visitors to email your articles to themselves. There are some people who cannot look at Twitter or Facebook in the office;however, they want to share your information with others. Set this up using a WP-Email plugin.
Keep the plugins at a minimum. Some are enjoyable, but each ones adds to your site’s load time. You may decrease your search engine rankings and popularity because your site takes too long to load. Websites that are slow usually don’t rank as highly as sites that are optimized for speed.
Do not make something such as “admin” your own username. Bots will attack your blog if you make your username ADMINISTRATOR or ADMIN. Using these usernames can put your site at risk. Delete usernames that appear with “administrator” or “admin” on your user pages. Choose a unique username to increase the security level of your site.
Make sure you are always using the latest WordPress version. Updates will eliminate vulnerabilities. Your site can be at risk for malware attacks if you’re not using the most current version. So keep your website’s WordPress install up to date to make sure you are as secure as can be.
Titles and targeted descriptions ought to be used. These will be the first things your audience sees when discovering your blog via a search engine. This gives them great significance. To have more control over these items on your WordPress site, you can use the SEO software, Scribe. You can get more visitors by editing these things.
Do not waste your time on reviewing comments before they are posted. Instead, use a plugin entitled Akismet. You can save time by getting e-mail alerts when comments are posted and unchecking manual approval. Failing that, you won’t really save any time.
Always keep your library of media organized. While putting a bunch of pictures right into the library might seem the way to go at first, that turns messy before you know it. Instead, create folders and place your images in the appropriate folders. If you’d like to use an image again, you can find it easily.
Is it hard for you to post at the times that you promise to? It is possible to write something ahead of schedule and have it post on a selected date. When you make a new post, you have the option to publish it at a future date. That way, you can write things in advance and post them later.
Keep WordPress updated to the latest version. Updated versions will give you more security. You can be at risk for malware if you use an old WordPress iteration that hasn’t been updated. Therefore, always install any updates that WordPress rolls out to ensure that your site is secure and tight.
When searching for great plugins, make sure to read the reviews. Keep in mind that any programmer can make a plugin. Check the reports on issues, flaws, and bugs. Look for plugins that are highly rated and that have been downloaded many times.
Use WordPress to schedule your blog post’s publication dates ahead of time. This way, your posts will be published while you are doing other things. Visit the “Edit” screen, and find the box for “Publish.” There should be an option for immediate publication. Put your times in with military format, particularly the years, months and days. Then you just select “okay.” When the screen that says ‘schedule for’ pops up, choose it and click on ‘schedule’ if everything is right.
Use comments on WordPress websites. This lets you connect with your readers more. There are plugins for approving comments before they post on the site, which can help you avoid spammers and advertisers.
Nobody wants to manually approve comments anymore. Let Akismet handle that task for you. You can have an email sent whenever someone makes a comment, however, it might be best to deselect manual approval for posting. Failing that, you won’t really save any time.
Use a variety of authoring tools. Do you dislike the WordPress’s dashboard? Try a blog authoring program like Windows Live Writer. Lots of tools can work well in conjunction with WordPress in this way. Give some of them a try, and you will surely find just the right tools for you.
Do you want to get rid of the WordPress clutter? You need to turn a few of those boxes off that are on the page. Look for your “Screen Options” at the very top of the page. Clicking on it results in the appearance of a drop-down menu on which you can click boxes that you do or do not want to appear.
You have the ability to add a button to Read More. It is a huge turn-off for a visitor to see a seemingly infinite amount of text when they arrive at the front page of your blog. Give users the option to read more, should they choose to, by clicking on a button. Not doing this can make your blog unappealing and rather uninviting.
Get a webhost that is able to install WordPress by simply clicking a button. This will prevent the need to create a separate database. The host will also be able to make you a blog domain.
Put images on your site. Pictures really are worth a thousand words. Pictures add a lot of drama and excitement to your site. Make sure to take advantage of title as well as alternate text tags when describing the picture, making it clear for your readers and search engines.
Make sure that you include images in your site. One image can convey many ideas. This will give your site much more flair. Improve your website’s standing on search engines by using alternate text and title tags on images.
Remember that categories and tags permit you to utilize SEO keywords throughout your site. In fact, good category names could just be what others want to get when they’re doing a Google search. For instance, you may have found this article by searching for “beginner tips for WordPress” or “plugins for WordPress.”
Plugins that cost money to download may still be of value. Compare the value of your time to that of the plugin’s cost, and decide on the right approach. If there are many features offered at a low price, this is a great investment that can save time.
Be sure you’re backing up your site by using the Export function. That way, you will have a database of backups so that you will be able to access a clean version if you are the target of hackers or the victim of a failed server.
Remember, you are not required to handle all the work on your site by yourself. If you could bring on someone, either voluntarily or for hire, who can save you time by getting the work done right the first time, it’s worth it to get them to join you on your project.
Whether you read blogs, write blogs or just like to post on them, WordPress can help you. When you know more about the program, you’ll be better off. Remember the information you learned here when you start your new WordPress blog.
Learn where to go if you run into difficulties with your site. One thing you can do is look for good social media forums where you can get your questions answered. Whether your issue is with a theme, plugin, or general knowledge, they can help you figure your problem out.