Does your blog get very little traffic? Considering starting a blog but aren’t sure how to get started? You need to be diligent and also know what you’re doing to run a good blog. This article will provide you with some smart ideas to get you started.
Clean up long titles in the permalink. Avoid cumbersome URLs like “The Ten Ways Intelligent Parents Manage Their Children.” Be sure to select only the keywords from your long titles to create your permalinks.
If your post contains a long title, be certain to adjust your permalink. A lengthy URL would be created by a title like “How Wild Children Can Be Made to Behave by Outsmarting Them.” You can change that permalink to ” parenting-tips-unruly-kids” or similar based on SEO keywords.
Make it a point to become familiar with all options and tools that are available for working with WordPress. You will get more choices when you do this. It will make your posts different than others. You should also see a Screen Options on the Admin page. Use this section to change many of your formatting elements.
Use Alt and Title tags. text as you are uploading images to your posts. These can help you add more SEO descriptions to pages, which lets those viewers that don’t wish to see images know what the images are.
Be sure to make use of Title and Alt. This lets you add text to your posts. This will give you more space to use for SEO phrases. Additionally, it will help viewers whose images are turned off know what is on the page.
Sometimes you might think some changes you’ve made weren’t saved. That is probably not the case. Clear the browser cache to avoid this issue. Press and hold the Shift key when refreshing the browser for changes to show.
Remove any special characters in the URLs of your blog posts. These characters are hard for search engine spiders to decipher. Use short URLs that don’t baffle and confuse your readers.
Better your search engine rankings by taking a couple minutes with pictures before uploading them. Always remember to add alternative text and title tags. If your image goes on Pinterest, you will get more exposure.
The posts that you make appear in the order you make them, unless you specify. You must alter the date if you wish to reorder the list. Upon opening one of the posts, you can view the date in the right-hand top corner. Select the date and make your changes; then, save the post to make the position change permanent.
Do not use “admin” as a possibility for a user name. 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. Go to your account page and delete usernames that are generic. Choose a new username.
Do many people leave comments on your posts? If that is the case, sorting through the many comments can get difficult both for you and your visitors. Use a plugin to add page numbers. It will be easier to navigate your site, and it will look more organized.
Organize your media library and keep it that way. You can lose track of your files if you upload them into the library directly. Place images into proper folders. This makes it easier later on if you’d like to reuse images.
You can improve search engine rankings if you take some time with your pictures while you’re uploading them. Use the alternate text and title tags on each one. The title you add will be what appears on Pinterest if someone “pins” your image.
Make sure that your plugins remain up to date. Plugins are a smart solution for making your site unique and highly functional. But like any other software, it is important to update it. Not keeping up with the latest versions can mean that versions you have now will suddenly stop working or cause other problems.
Don’t use something boring, such as “admin”, as the name you use on your site. This can make you more susceptible to bots. That’s a security risk. Look at your users page and delete any usernames that are “admin” or “administrator”. Select a different user name.
Always utilize the most current version of the WordPress program on your site. Updates usually contain patches that solve security issues and get rid of vulnerabilities. If you use an older WordPress version, it opens your site up to attacks of malware. Install every update possible that you can.
Make sure plugins are always up to date. The plugins are what makes WordPress so great. However, as with any other software, there are updates. Failure to stay abreast of update installation could result in you missing out on critical upgrades. It is even possible for the plugin to stop working altogether.
Always save a backup copy of your blog. Do it regularly. Use a plugin like Xcloner to help you with the process. For added security, use plugins to make backup copies of your blog on several different locations. It would be pretty depressing to lose your blog.
Only install the necessary plugins that you need. Although plugins can be beneficial, too many can slow down your site’s load time. The web site will load more slowly and 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 to link your posts. This allows the reader to enjoy more content. These plugins will let you add links to the bottom of your posts.
Check that you are using the most up to date WordPress version on your site. Updates include patches that make your page less vulnerable. Older versions can make you vulnerable to malware. So, make sure you’re installing all updates that are rolled out.
Schedule your posting times on WordPress. You can set it up so that they will be posted at very specific times. Go to “Edit”, and then find the “Publish” option. Beneath that, look for “Publish Immediately.” Select the time and date you want it to be published. Approve the selection. When the screen that says ‘schedule for’ pops up, choose it and click on ‘schedule’ if everything is right.
To link your blog posts on your blog or website, make use of a plugin that will allow you to do just that. This will attach links to the bottom of your posts based on tags that will show users other blog posts you’ve written that may interest them.
You no longer have to manually approve comments if you don’t want to. Let Akismet filter out the spam for you. You can moderate comments individually, but it’s advisable to switch off manual approval and let visitors comment freely. Pre-approving every post can consume large amounts of your time.
Nobody wants to manually approve comments anymore. Instead, let Akismet perform that job for you. You can choose to get emailed whenever a comment is left, but should not use manual approvals. You are not actually saving time, otherwise.
Is it hard for you to post during the times you intend to or when you plan to? You can write it in advance and have WordPress post it for you at a preselected time. When opening your new post page, there is a future publication setup. You can write your posts without worrying about remembering to post them.
Your drop-down menu should be ignored when it comes to selecting the post’s header. Instead, use keyboard shortcuts! A variety of options are available by holding down the CTRL button, then choosing a number between 1 and 6. This will save you time if you’re constantly using headers.
Screen Options
Rather than simply downloading a WordPress plugin as soon as you find it, look for reviews on that plugin first. Don’t forget, anyone who knows programming can build these plugins. You should stay away from plugins that are full of problems. Look for ones that have high ratings and have been heavily downloaded.
Do you have too much going on with the functions in WordPress? Toggle off the homepage boxes you don’t need. This can be done with the button labeled “Screen Options” atop the window. Click the “Screen Options” button for a handy drop-down menu you can use to enable or disable your boxes.
If you need a WordPress blog host, only choose from those that feature a simple click function to install WordPress. This makes sure that there isn’t much hassle when you are setting up your blog. A good host will create a blog domain on your behalf and a database to go with it.
If you are looking for a host for your WordPress blog, choose one that has installation tools that can install WordPress for your with just a click of a button. That way, you will avoid a great deal of trouble that comes with creating a database on your own. With a single click, you will receive a blog domain, as will the associated database.
Your WordPress site should have comments enabled. You will foster a feeling of connectedness, and give yourself insight about your readership. You can make it so that the only comments that show up are ones you approve, in case you’re worried about spam.
It may be worth your while to highlight comments that you make in a blog post. The comment section is where many readers will leave comments or questions. It’s easy for comments to be overlooked if there are many other comments. You should use a different font color for the author’s comments. You will be able to see them clearly and find them when you need to.
There are a variety of blog authoring tools; check them all out. Do you dislike WordPress’s dashboard? Try a blog authoring program like Windows Live Writer. WordPress is compatible with a variety of tools that make it more efficient. Give a couple of them a try to figure out which one is most effective for you.
Create a plan before starting a WordPress website. Write down everything you’d like your website to do and what visitors would enjoy finding. That allows you to build a site which can accommodate your needs without you having to add stuff later.
Even though a plugin isn’t free doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth using. Consider how much time it will save you and determine how much that time is worth to you. If the price is low and it provides important features, it may be worth the cost in the time you are saved.
Incorporate a “read more” link if you want to save space. If your front page is covered with text, it can turn off readers. Let visitors decide how much they want to see. Avoid over cluttering your blog and making navigation difficult.
Open your blog in another folder as a duplicate to avoid making changes that go live immediately. This way, if you make a mistake, it won’t wreck your site or embarrass you.
Make sure your sites always have images. Pictures are more appealing than words. Your site will have that much more drama to it. Use different tags for the pictures so the search engine can easily understand them.
Look for tutorials and help pages before setting up your WordPress site. For instance, search for online communities, groups in Facebook, and other WordPress blogs where you can pose a question and get advice from professionals. The community can help you with questions around a theme, a plugin or any other WordPress related issues.
Know you have a general understanding of exactly how the WordPress application works. Start using the advice right now. You can get more visitors to your online content. Plus, users will love it more. Bookmark this page so you can refer back to it later. As soon as you’ve applied what you’ve just learned, your site is going to be much improved.
If you’re not ready to post what you’ve written, store it as unpublished until you are ready. You can still modify them, but the public can’t see them. Only publish when it’s finished.