WordPress can be confusing for novice bloggers, and it can even trump those who have been using this platform for quite some time. If you ever feel lost or just want to learn more, you have come to the right article. Compiled below, you will find some great advice to help you feel more assured about using WordPress.
Make your theme current on your website to draw more traffic. Switch to a new theme that accentuates your colors and logos. Also, you may want to opt for a more professioanl theme if you are planning on showing your site off to a high volume of potential customers each day.
When using WordPress, you can even add videos to your site. Spending a little extra time preparing your website will save you time in the long run. Visuals grab your readers’ attention. Videos can sometimes express more than written words, which can make them very powerful.
Clean everything that adds no value to your site, such as extraneous comments and content. In this way, your site will be inviting and comfortable for your users. One great plugin to help remove spam from your site is Akismet.
If you haven’t customized your WordPress sidebar, it could be cluttered with useless items that are doing nothing but confusing your readers. Your sidebar should only contain things you actually want visitors to click on. Navigate to Appearance & Widgets to edit the appearance of your sidebar and remove anything there that doesn’t actually benefit you or your visitors directly.
Look into other themes for your WordPress blog. Sure WordPress comes preinstalled with a few excellent themes, but there are many more options out there. Many are free and then there are premium themes as well. These premium themes are very well designed and let you add more advanced aspects to your blog with ease, such as e-commerce plugins.
Have an easy to find library. Time is money and you don’t need to check tons of folders to find one thing. It is easier to find things in your WordPress theme when everything is in one integrated folder. This makes searching through your Media Library much easier since it only involves inputting a keyword for what you’re looking for.
Keep close track of visitors to your blog. This is the only way you will be able to improve it to please your reader more. Free WordPress bloggers can use Jetpack stats to do this. Both free and paid bloggers can use Google Analytics. Be sure to make good use of both services if you can because they offer slightly different advantages.
Don’t forget to spellcheck your WordPress story. WordPress makes that easy through a spellcheck button on the editor itself. Look for a button that has the letters “ABC” on it. It’ll then scan your post for spelling and common grammatical errors. Check any word or phrase that has a red squiggly line under it.
Incorporate a social sharing plugin for your WordPress blog. Integrating social media with your blog will be a great boon to your traffic. Your users can instantly share your article through Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Look for a plugin that will allow liking and sharing, since both will be beneficial.
Be sure to back up your site often! The best way to do this is to have your host back up your site every day for you. If they don’t offer this service, instead back it up yourself. There are plugins which will do the job for you, or you can just download it to your own computer.
If you want to have a landing page as the front page of your site, you will first need to create a “home” page and then a second page for your blog. Next, go into Reading Settings and click the static page radio button. Choose your home page for the front page and your blog page for the posts page.
Use a security plugin. Keeping your blog secure is important, and there are plenty of plugins out there that promise to do just that. Try a plugin you feel you can trust. Wordfence is a good choice. It offers a firewall, does virus scans, blocks any malicious networks, and is free.
Schedule posts a few days ahead for your blog in WordPress. You can schedule them to auto-post any time you like, even if you’re away from your computer. Find the Publish option from your Edit screen. Find ‘publish immediately’ under this. Schedule your posts with military time and the dates. Choose the “OK” option. Make sure the information on the “Schedule For” display screen is correct and then hit “Schedule”.
It is important that if you’re serious about blogging, then you really research all there is to know about WordPress. Anything about blogging can become confusing or appear to be hard, but knowledge is your key to success. Just by reading this article, you have taken the first step to becoming a great blogger.