WordPress is popular for good reason. It can help you accomplish a lot. Create things you haven’t imagined and let the options inspire you to do more. Read on to find out how to have a successful WordPress blogging experience.
WordPress makes video blogging easy. The time spent in preparation is time well spent. Visitors to your site will appreciate how visual a video is. Videos can sometimes convey information more quickly and effectively than the written word.
Select a unique design when creating your site. It can be tempting to do this since it saves lots of time, but it will not give users the best impression of you. Creating a site that showcases the uniqueness of your business is critical.
Learn what you can before installing WordPress. The more you plan, the better your results will be. Research SEO, WordPress and content generation before starting to develop your site.
Learn everything you can about the tools available on WordPress. Use the Kitchen Sink icon to see all the extra things you can do with your blog. This can be used to control several formatting elements.
Ensure that it is possible for users to forward articles from your site to their email easily and at will. This is essential for sharing purposes, since not everyone uses Twitter or Facebook while working. Try using a plugin like WP-Email.
Use Alt and Title tags. text whenever you upload pictures. You can put SEO phrases in these places, and those people that can’t see pictures on your site will know what should have been there.
Never use a word like “admin” as your username. Having terms like administrator or admin as your name will make your blog much more attractive to bots who will attack and access your site. This is a security risk. Take a look at the users page to get rid of any names such as “admin” or even “administrator.” Use a different and unique username.
WordPress can help you include video blogging on your site. This can involve a bit of a learning curve, but it is well worthwhile. Visuals grab your readers’ attention. A video is able to show people what words cannot, and that is why it’s so powerful.
Security on your WordPress site is very important, so make your password strong and keep it secure. Also, only use plugins from sites of good repute. Everything will be lost if your site is hacked.
Do not automatically assume your changes were not retained when making adjustments to your site. That is usually not the case. Try solving this problem by clearing the browser cache. Just press and hold your “shift” key while refreshing your browser and your changes should appear.
Use targeted titles and descriptions. People will first see these through the search engines. Don’t overlook the importance of this fact. To get more control over such things on your own WordPress site, consider using Scribe software. It allows you to edit these parts of your pages to get even more traffic.
Unless you change the settings, all your posts will be listed in chronological order. You must start by altering the date. To demonstrate that, open a post and notice the date on the upper-right-hand corner. Click and change the date, then save the post. This changes where its position will be.
Make sure your library of media is organized. Sure you can just throw images in there, but it may become overwhelming pretty quickly. Instead, make folders and organize your pictures that way. You’ll be able to find what you need much more quickly.
Do your posts have many comments? If you do, scanning through every comment can be hard on you and on your other readers. A plugin including page numbers will organize this section. It will make your site more organized.
Only install the plugins that you really need. Although plugins can be beneficial, too many can slow down your site’s load time. A slow site can negatively impact how your site ranks on some search engines. Slower sites don’t rank as high as sites that are performance-optimized.
Provide a link that allows all your users to easily email themselves a copy of your articles. This is crucial for sharing purposes. Visitors may not have access to sites like Twitter or Facebook at work and need a way of sharing your article with others. Try using a plugin like WP-Email.
Never use an outdated version of WordPress. There are security patches in updates, which decreases vulnerabilities. If you use an older WordPress version, it opens your site up to attacks of malware. Therefore, always install any updates that WordPress rolls out to ensure that your site is secure and tight.
Don’t use something boring, such as “admin”, as the name you use on your site. Words like “admin” or “administrator” often attract malicious bots who are seeking security breaches. This is a risk to the security of your site. Look at each individual page on your site and change admin or administrator usernames. Use something else.
Use a plugin that builds internal links among your posts, thus improving the reading experience of your audience. It will put a list of links under an article leading to relevant content.
Keep your WordPress plugin installations to the minimum you need. Plugins are cool and all, but they can make your site load at a snail’s pace. They can slow down things considerably, impacting your search engine rank. Websites that perform better rank better.
Approving comments manually is an outdated practice. Aksimet will take care of it all for you. 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. This will end up saving you quite a lot of time.
Always save a backup copy of your blog. Back up your blog on a daily basis. One good WordPress plugin for this is Xcloner. The actual plugin doesn’t really matter, as long as it is something that you can use relatively easily. It could be devastating to lose your whole blog.
Read reviews when searching for new plugins. Don’t forget, anyone who knows programming can build these plugins. Do not use a plugin with many issues associated with it. A plugin with many downloads and a high rating is usually a safe one to use.
Use a plugin that builds internal links among your posts, thus improving the reading experience of your audience. These plugins allow you to list three or more links to each of your posts.
Does WordPress clutter fatigue you? Turn off a few boxes that are on the page. Go to the “Screen Options” menu found at the very top of WordPress. Just click that button and access the menu that prompts you to turn the boxes you like on or off.
Make sure that you write your blogs in advance. You can be sure that they are posted on a regular schedule even if you are away. You can easily do this using the Publish command located on your Edit screen. Under the Publish box is a radio button that says Publish Immediately. Next to it is a place to input time and date. Input your time in military format. Choose OK. When the dialog for schedule comes up, look it over and press “Schedule” if everything is correct.
Allow users to comment on your website. This will cultivate a community and it will give you an idea on the type of visitors that your site is attracting. You can get plugins that let you approve comment before they show up.
Do not waste your time on reviewing comments before they are posted. Akismet can take care of that for you! You can set up notifications for comments, but manual approval usually deters commenters. This will end up saving you quite a lot of time.
Write a tentative plan before starting your WordPress blog. Write down a to-do list for your site. This will let you build your site to meet the needs you have instead of you attempting to add things later on.
Don’t use the drop-down menus to create a header. Try using hotkeys. You can hold down CTRL, and choose from one to six for the different options. For bloggers who always use headers, this shortcut saves a lot of time.
Remember that you can add a “Read More” button. Not everybody wants to see a blog’s front page full of text. Let your visitors click if they wish to read more. Avoid over cluttering your blog and making navigation difficult.
When searching for great plugins, make sure to read the reviews. Remember, anyone who can program is able to create a plugin. You should stay away from plugins that are full of problems. A plugin with many downloads and a high rating is usually a safe one to use.
Incorporate images on your site. Picture can tell a lot about the information that you are trying to convey. Your site will have that much more drama to it. For your images, be sure to include the title and alt attribute so readers and search engines have better clarity.
Is WordPress clutter getting you down? Toggle off the homepage boxes you don’t need. This can be done with the button labeled “Screen Options” atop the window. Click this button to get a menu that lets you turn off any of the boxes.
Some plugins are worth paying for. Paid plugins may or may not be worth the funds. There are so many features available, it is well worth the price.
Allow comments on your WordPress site. You will start to learn more about your regular visitors and your guests will also feel like they are joining a community. Plugins allow you to approve particular comments before they show up online, so spammers and advertisers are not a problem.
Use a duplicate database to experiment with changes and new plugins before making them a part of your original site. This makes sure your main site won’t be changed if you mess up at all.
There are a variety of blog authoring tools; check them all out. Are you not fond of the dashboard on WordPress? Try a program such as Windows Live Writer. The tools can be used on WordPress, but are easier and more efficient. Give them a test run, and feel out which one works for you.
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. Whether your issue is with themes or plugins, they help you locate your answers.
You have the ability to add a button to Read More. Not everybody wants to see a blog’s front page full of text. Show your visitors a “read more” link that they can click. Without that, your blog may appear cluttered and uninviting.
You can incorporate SEO key phrases when you use categories and tags. The fact remains that distinct category names might just be exactly what folks seek when looking on Google. For instance, things like “WordPress for Beginners” and “WordPress Must-have Plugins” will be very attractive to those wanting to learn.
There’s a good reason why WordPress is so popular. WordPress is capable of many different things. Improve your blogging by utilizing the tools provided by WordPress. Follow these tips to help you achieve that.
When you use the Export function in WordPress, don’t forget to also backup all images and other files associated with your site. You can use a file transfer program or hosting account’s control panel interface to copy your content.