WordPress is the most popular blogging tool for several reasons. The ease of use and versatility of WordPress is simply unmatched by anyone else. WordPress is an awesome platform to use if you’d like a professional blog. Read on for some great tips and tricks on using the website.
Don’t use a common design for your WordPress 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. Take the time to create a unique site that reflects you and your business.
If the title for a post is long, try cleaning up the permalink. For instance: “Ways Parent Can Control Their kids” is too long. Use a few words that are descriptive of the blog.
When you are ready to start posting, create a schedule. If you schedule when things must be posted, you’re more likely to actually post them. In fact, to save even more time, you can create a week’s worth of posts at once, then schedule WordPress to upload them for you automatically.
Clean up comments and content that is worthless to your site. This keeps your site clean and easier to use. Akismet is a plugin that can be used to keep spam off your site.
Blog post URLs should not have special characters in them. They can give search engines a hassle when trying to spider your site, so it is best if you remove them completely. Keep your URL’s short and to the point.
Sometimes you may spend a lot of time adjusting your WordPress blog and then mistakenly think none of your changes have been saved. This is most often not the case. See if clearing the browser’s cache resolves the issue. Your changes should come up if you simply depress the Shift key while you refresh the browser.
You must specify if you want your post to appear in other than chronological order. In order to rearrange things, dates will need to be changed. You can see the date when you open up a post. Select the date and make your changes; then, save the post to make the position change permanent.
Search engine ranks can be boosted with just a little more time spent while adding photos. Add in the tags for the alternate text and titles. When visitors pin your images to sites like Pinterest, the title you gave is what will be represented on their screen.
Work on creating a better greeting for the top of your WordPress website. Not only does this personalize your website, it welcomes guests based on how they found your blog. In this way, your page will seem more human, and it will be accessible via the plugin called WP Greet Box.
Do not make something such as “admin” your own username. This makes yourself more vulnerable to bots. This is a major security risk. Delete usernames that appear with “administrator” or “admin” on your user pages. Pick a different username.
Use targeted titles and descriptions. These details are often seen first by users who may be using a search engine to find blogs like yours. They are crucial to your site. You can use SEO software called Scribe to get more control on these elements in your site. This helps you edit these items on your pages to attract more visitors.
Make sure your plugins are updated. These are a great tool that will make your website more powerful. But as is the case with most software, they are subject to updates. If you don’t make sure you have the latest version, you may not be getting as much as possible out of the plugin.
Keep the plugins at a minimum. Plugins can add a new dimension to your website, but they also increase the time it takes for your home page to load. You may decrease your search engine rankings and popularity because your site takes too long to load. Websites that run slow get ranked lower by search engines compared to websites optimized for speed.
Approving comments manually is a thing of the past. Let Akismet handle that task for you. You can receive an email each time someone leaves a comment, but it’s more efficient to just forgo manual approvals. You will waste a great deal of time if you approve every comment that is submitted to your site.
Is it hard for you to consistently stay on your posting schedule? You can write a blurb ahead of time and have it posted at the date and time that you select. When opening your new post page, there is a future publication setup. This will allow you to take care of things in advance.
Don’t use the drop-down menus to create a header. Take advantage of keyboard shortcuts instead! To use, simply use CTRL and the numbers 1 through 6. This shortcut can save a lot of time when working with headers.
As you search for plugins, make certain to read reviews. Almost anyone can create a plugin. You should be careful with any plugin you are installing. Go for popular plugins that have a four to five star rating to be on the safe side.
Does your WordPress page look cluttered? You can turn off a number of the on-page boxes you see. Go to the “Screen Options” menu found at the very top of WordPress. Click this button to get a menu that lets you turn off any of the boxes.
Use a variety of blog authoring tools. Are you not a fan of the WordPress dashboard? Try an authoring program for a blog like the Windows Live Writer. There are a number of tools that work well with WordPress while working much more efficiently. Try several before deciding which ones to use.
You will discover the reason so many people prefer WordPress as you become comfortable with it. Use these tips to get all you need from WordPress. Before you know it, your blog will look professional. You can then concern yourself with your content instead of the more technical side of blogging.