What does it take to make a good WordPress site? Do I have to take a course or read a library worth of books? The fact is that reading this article will give you the base of knowledge you need to start your new site, so check out the advice below.
Pay attention to your footer. The bottom of your page does not just have to be wasted space. Instead, put in an important link or work in a few words about who you are and what you do. You could even use the footer to tell visitors a little more about the site itself.
Always upgrade WordPress as soon as possible. Hackers will target WordPress because of the large amount of users. Updating WordPress as soon as updates are available can be on of your most valuable security tasks. The longer you wait to update, the better opportunity for hackers to get into your business.
Use the “ABC” button to spell check your posts before they go live. Many people overlook this ability, but WordPress can spell check your work for you. This ensures that you continue to give off a professional look with your posts and yet you don’t have to use a separate program to do so.
Download Akismet immediately with a fresh WordPress install. Akismet is a plugin for WordPress that basically blocks spam comments as they come in. If you don’t have it installed, you may be inundated with tons of spam. You’ll need to get a free key from the Akismet website to finalize the install.
If you want to create a line break, but not a paragraph break, hold shift while you press the enter key. This moves the cursor down to the next line without including any blank space. If you want to put a letterhead-type address on your page, this should make it a snap.
WordPress has many keyboard shortcuts which make working with posts a snap. For example, ctrl-c allows you to copy text, while ctrl-x lets you cut it. Ctrl-v will paste it somewhere else. Ctrl-b is bold, ctrl-i is italic and ctrl-u is underline. These basic keyboard shortcuts will save you a lot of time if you memorize them.
Regularly check your site and content. All your plugins and everything else you work with needs to be current. This will help ensure that your visitors have a seamless experience on your site. If you have trouble remembering to do this, consider setting your phone to alert you once a month to perform this task.
Many people are responding to video blogs, so consider this option. Video blogging is not only becoming more popular, it is also becoming much easier to use. WordPress, in its current version, makes the use of video blogging easy. This can really increase traffic by drawing those who are less inclined to read.
If you have a WordPress website, be sure to have the most engaging greeting possible. This helps your visitors feel more welcome and interested, and the messages can be personalized depending on how the visitor got there. This males you appear less robotic and you can use the Great Box plugin for this.
Get to know your WordPress WYSIWYG editor. When you write a new post, you’ll see a small bar that goes across the text input area. This is your WYSIWYG editor – meaning whatever you push will happen to whatever text you have highlighted. If you choose bold in the editor, the text you have chosen will become bold. It’s similar to using Microsoft Word.
You are unable to change the images sizes yourself if your site has its own gallery plugin. The gallery plugin automatically sets the sizes of the images, and you don’t actually have any control over this. If you really need the image sizes changed, ask your developer to help you change the settings.
Make sure you maintain an organized media library. It may be tempting to just upload images directly into the library, but things can become chaotic really quick. Instead, make a folder and place items into appropriate folders. In time, when you wish to go back and find something, it will be easy to do.
Use images properly on your WordPress site. They can add everything from beauty to interest to your pages. Use their alternative text tags and title tags properly. Don’t settle for generic descriptions. You need to make them specific so that your visitors know exactly what they are. This also helps them figure out what your site is about.
Now that you have this great advice in mind, your next step is to put it to use. Install WordPress and start to play with all of its features. Once you feel comfortable, publish your site and enjoy your new internet presence! Continue to read articles like this so you can stay on top of new advances.