WordPress is the most popular blogging website for a reason. The program is easy to use and provides so many options for making your blog stand out and look just the way you want it to. However, you need to know how to use the site to get the most from your experience. Follow the simple tips below to make WordPress work for you.
Make sure you have a landing page. This will ensure that visitors arrive at a specific page instead of directing them right to your most recent posts. A landing page will help your site gain an air of authenticity and helps it to look a little more professional than it would have otherwise.
When you use different tags for the topics on your blog, keep in mind that these are strictly for searching the content on your blog. These can’t be used by search engines. If you want your pages to be searchable on Google, you have to install an SEO type plug-in such as Headspace.
You can insert media into your posts just by pasting the URL where you’d like the media to appear. For example, paste in a YouTube video just by putting the URL within the text where you want the video to play. Be sure that the URL doesn’t turn blue – if it does, highlight it and click the unlink button.
Know that you can write posts and send them in the future via WordPress. All you need to do is change the post from “Publish Immediately” to a specific date and time in the future. This way you can write posts and have them set up to go out even while you are on vacation!
Control unruly spam not by turning off comments, but by installing the right plugin. Aksimet’s anti-spam plugin is exceptional at keeping your site on the up and up. You can also add Recaptcha which adds a captcha to the comments box on your site, ensuring no bots can leave a message.
Use targeted descriptions and titles. When prospective visitors use search engines to find your pages, these are among the first things they see. Therefore, they are quite important. Check out Scribe, which is an SEO software that gives you power on your site. You can get more visitors by editing these things.
Your WordPress is nothing without plugins, and lucky for you, there are plenty to choose from. However, it is very important that you use caution when installing plugins and keep in mind that they aren’t disposable. You can uninstall them, but most of the time they will still affect your content and leave shortcodes behind.
Update your plugins regularly. WordPress plugins can add unique features to your site. However, as with any other software, there are updates. Not updating your site means you will not have access to upgrades and the plugins may not work as they should.
Choose a focused keyword for each post or page you create. What would someone be searching for if this is the exact content they wanted? Be sure to make your key phrases targeted as simple queries, such as “sailing tips”, are already overrun by thousands of competitors and their websites.
So, what is the difference between tags and categories and why should I care? Categories are broad and house many posts which fall into the same genre, such as “cleaning tips”. Tags are more targeted, detailed words which describe what is in the content of a post, such as “removing blood stains” or “getting out grass stains”.
You can easily get rid of external text formatting in WordPress. You may need to copy text from Word. Many times, it inserts characters that don’t display properly, even with “Paste from Word” option. Select the “Show/Hide Kitchen Sink” option to show another row of buttons. Highlight the problematic text. Click on a button called “Remove Formatting” to fix it.
If you want to put two images side by side, try using an invisible table in your WordPress post. You can create a one row/two column table via your post editor and then embed a photo into each cell. You could take the next step and add another row underneath to add captions below each photo.
Are the pictures on your site too big? Or, are you concerned that your visitors cannot see them clearly? Click on “settings” and then on “media.” You will be able to adjust the default size of your pictures. Spend a little time playing around with this to see what suits you, and your site, the best.
As stated above, there is a reason WordPress has become the leader in blogging websites. The many options and easy experience makes the website more popular than the competitors. Use the tips above to learn how to use the platform. They also help ensure that you are getting the most from the popular blogging website.