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BasicThingsYouMustPutinPlacebeforePublishingaPoston

YourWordpressBlog

Letmebehonestwithyou,WordPressisabrilliantplatform forcreatingwebsitesandblogs.It’srelativelyeasytomaster,itpacksatonoffeatures,andontopofallthat,it’salsoreallycustomization-friendly,sotospeak.

Inotherwords,ifyouwanttochangeanythingaboutit–andIdomeananything–WordPressallowsyoutodosoinonewayortheother.

Thefollowingguidecoversalotofground,andgetsyouthroughtheprocessofWordPresscustomizationfrom starttofinish.

Let’sbeginwith:

AfterYou’veInstalledYourWordPressWebsite(oraBlog)Okay,soatthispoint,youhaveyourwebsitelaunched–asin,madeavailable fortheworldtosee–youhaveyourWordPressthemeselected,andeverythinglooks moreorless likeyouimaginedit.

Sonowisthetimetotakecareofsomeimportant,yetnotthatobviousstepsthatwillhelpyoumakeyoursitelookexactlylikeyouwantit,makeitsafer,easiertomanage,andoptimizedforthesearchengines.

Herearetheindividualsteps:

1.SetpermalinkstructureOrrather,set correct permalinkstructure.

ThethingisthatWordPresscomeswithdefaultpermalinkstructureoutofthebox,butit’snotthemostoptimizedone.That’swhyyoushouldfixitrightuponmakingyoursiteavailabletotheworld.

Ifyougotoyour wp-admin/Settings/Permalinks, you’llseethis:

This“Plain”permalinkstructuredoesn’tletyoucreatedescriptiveURLsforyourpostsandpages,whichisbadnotonlyforSEO,butalsoforyourvisitors.Changethatsettingtotheone labeled“Postname”(visibleabove).

2.MakesurethesiteisvisibletoGoogleThisisaquickcheck,butaveryimportantone,ifyouwantyourwebsitetoeverrankinGoogleforany

keyword.

Goto your wp-admin/Settings/Reading, andmakesurethatthefollowingcheckbox remainsunchecked:

3.GetsitebackupstakencareofBackupsarealwaysyourmostimportantassetincaseanythingbadhappenstoyoursite.

Whoknows,maybeonedayyourhostingplatform failsandyou’lllosethesitetemporarily.Ormaybeitfallsvictim toahacker’sattack.Thosethingssometimeshappen,buttheyarelesspainfulifyouhaveaworkingbackupstoredsomeplacesafe.

Theeasiestwaytohavethistakencareofistoinstallabackupplugin,andthenletitworkonautopilot–backingupyoursiteeverydaywithoutyoursupervision.

Forafreesolution,tryout UpdraftPlus.Foratop-tiersolution–onethatalsooffersarangeofadditionalsecurityfeatures–gowith VaultPress.

4.EnabletrafficanalyticsAsawebsiteowner,youneedtoknowhowmanyvisitorsyouactuallyhaveatyoursite,andhowtheyareaccessingit.Butthat’sonlythetipoftheiceberg.There’sso,somuchmorethatyoucanlearnaboutyourpeople.

Luckilyforallofus,themostin-depthanalyticstoolisavailableforfree.I’m talkingaboutGoogleAnalytics.

Youcanhookituptoyoursitebygoingto GoogleAnalytics’officialwebsite andfollowingtheirgettingstartedguide.

Tomakethefinalintegrationstepseasier,getthefree MonsterInsights plugin.

5.GetasecuritypluginInallofWordPress’glory,it’salsoaplatform that’softenavictim tohackerattacksormalicioussoftwarethattriestotakeadvantageofvarioussecurityholesinonewayortheother.

Unfortunately,duetoWordPress’popularity,thoseattackshappenmoreofteneachyear.Eventhoughtheplatform itselfisnotwhatyou’dcallbadintermsofsecurity,wecanstillmakethingsalotbetterwithanadditionalsecurityplugin.

TheoneIrecommendiscalled iThemesSecurity –afreeplugin.Thegoodthinghereisthatitoffersmostofitsmagicrightoutthebox,sothere’snearlynone initialsettinguptodo.

6.EnablecachingandconnecttoaCDNThosetwotechnologiesusuallygotogether,sincetheybothimpacttheperformanceofyoursiteanditsspeed–thetimeittakestodeliverthesitetoyouraudience.

Inshort,whenavisitorenterstheaddressofyoursiteintotheirbrowserbarandpressesEnter,alotofthingshappen.Manyofthem canbeoptimizedtoeffectivelymakethewaitingtimeshorter.Andthatindeedmatters.Forinstance,it’s reportedinastudy that47%ofpeoplewon’twaitlongerthan2secondsforawebsitetoload…whereby“won’twait”Imeanthattheywillleaveandgotosomeothersiteinstead.

CachingandCDNsaretwoofthemosteffectivewaystofixthat.

First,caching.Initself,it’safairlyboringtopic,butitscoreisthatittakessomeofyourwebsitecontentandstoresitinawaythatallowsthatcontenttobeservedquickerwhenthenextvisitorasksforit.

ACDNstandsforContentDeliveryNetwork.Basically,it’sanetworkofserversthattakeyoursite’sstaticcontent(suchasimagesorothercontentthatdoesn’tchangethatmuch)anddeliverittoyourvisitorsfrom theserverofthenearestgeographicallocation.

Now,howtogetallthatgoodness:

Cachingissomethingyoucanenablebyinstallingaplugincalled W3TotalCache (free).It

worksmostlyonautopilot,sothere’snoneedtogothroughitsmanypagesinthe

WordPresssettingsmenu(butIstillrecommendyouatleastreadthem tofindout

what’spossible).

WhenitcomestoaCDN,Ihavetwoalternativerecommendations(getjustone):

o Ifyou’relookingforafreesolution: CloudFlare (suitablefornewWordPresssites).

o Ifyoudon’tmindinvestinginyoursiteperformance: KeyCDN (greatevenifyour

sitestartsgrowinginthefuture).

Iurgeyoutoreadsomemoreaboutbothofthesetopics.Allthesolutionsrecommendedheredoquiteabitofexplainingintheirdocumentations/ websitematerials.

7.CreatenewuseraccountsAftertheinitialinstallationofyourWordPresssiteisdone,youendupwithasingleuseraccount–themainadministratoraccount.

Firstorderofbusiness:makesurethattheusernameissecure.

Yes,theusername.We’renotevengettingintothepasswordsyet.

Longstoryshort,ifyourusernameisanythinglike“admin”,or“siteadmin”,or“administrator”,oranythinglikethis,itispoorforsecurityandyouneedtoscrapit!

Todothis,youactuallyneedtogoto wp-admin/Users/AddNew, andaddacompletelynewAdministratoruseraccount.Onlythistime,maketheusernamenotobvious.

Deletetheoldadminaccountonceyouhavethenewoneadded.

Secondorderofbusiness:makesurethatyourpasswordfortheadminaccountissafe.Here’sa great

quickguideonthat.

Thirdorderofbusiness:createaseparateEditoraccountforyourself.Thisaccountyouwilluseforallcontentcreation/editingpurposes.Anapproachlikethatismuchsaferthanusingyouradminaccountforeverything.Thiswayit’slesspossible tomesssomethingupbyaccident.

Todothis,gotoyour wp-admin/Users/AddNewagain,andcreateacompletelynewaccountselectingtheuserroleofEditor:

 

CustomizeYourThemeThispartisprobablythemainthingonyouragendawhenitcomestolaunchingaWordPresssitethatfitsyourneeds100%.

Imean,witheveryWordPresstheme,nomatterhowqualityitisandwhatawesomefeaturesitoffers,there’salways something.There’salwaysthatlittle,orslightlybigger, something thatyou’dliketochangebeforeyoucanhonestlycallthefinalresult“yours”.

Andthatisexactlywhatwe’rediscussinginthissection oftheguide.

1.ThelimitationsFirstthingsfirst,theindividualcustomizationsthatwe’rejustabouttogothrough,won’tbeavailableineverysingleWordPressthemeonthemarket.Basically, yourspecificthemeselectionwillhighlyimpactyourabilitytofollowthroughwithcertainchanges.

Unfortunately,oldthemes,orthemesthathaven’tbeenupdatedinawhile,won’thavethatmuchtoofferyouintherealm ofcustomization.Fornewand/ormodernWordPressthemes,thisisn’tanissue.

2.UnderstandingtheWordPressCustomizerInshort,everymodernWordPresstheme allowsyoutocustomizevariousdetailsofitsappearanceandfeaturesthroughthebuilt-inWordPressCustomizer–it’savailableinWordPressrightoutthebox.

Inotherwords,manyofthecustomizationswe’representinginthisguideinvolvetheCustomizerinonewayortheother.That’swhyit’simportanttogetyourselffamiliarwithit.

YoucanaccesstheCustomizerbygoingto wp-admin/Appearance/Customize.Thisiswhatyou’llseeintheleftsidebar:

Ontheright-handside,there’sthepreviewofyoursite–itchangesinrealtimeasyoudoanymodifications.

Dependingonthethemeyou’reusingandthe ,you’llseemoreorfewermodulesintheCustomizer’ssidebar,sodon’tworryifyoursidebardoesn’tlookquiteliketheexampleabove.

Tobegin,justspendacoupleofminutesbrowsingthroughtheindividualsectionsintheCustomizerandcheckoutwhatawaitsthere.

Okay,nextstep:

3.Setacustom headerTheheadertogetherwiththelogoare,byfar,themostidentifiablepartsofanyWordPresswebsite.

Dependingonyourtheme,theheaderandthelogomightberegardedasonething.Inthiscase,youcanhandlethem bothinoneplace,butherelet’skeepthingsstandardizedformostscenarios–henceseparatingthetwo.

Toworkwithyourheader,gototheCustomizer,andthenclickontheboxlabeledeither“Header”,“HeaderImage”, orsomethingsimilar(thischangesfrom themetotheme).

Ifit’syourfirsttimethere,you’llprobablyseesomethinglikethis–akanotmuch:

Tobegin,justclickthe“Addnewimage”button.ThisworksjustlikethestandardWordPressuploaderformedia,nothingfancy.

Thereisasmallcaveat,though.You’llnoticethatWordPresssuggestscertainimagedimensionsfortheheaderimage.Example:

Dependingonyourtheme,thosenumberswillvary.Now,thecaveatisnottopayattentiontothatatall.

Yep,you’rereadingthisright.

Whatyouactuallydoisalwaystrytopick ahigh-quality,high-resolutionimage,andthenscaleitdownafterwardsusingWordPress’owntools.

Forexample,Iwentwithaniceimagethat’s1920×1080–somorethantherecommendeddimensions.Afteruploadingit,Ijustclick“SelectandCrop”:

Atthispoint,WordPressprovidesmewithitsownsetoftoolsformakingsurethatmyimagefitsthetheme’sspacelimitations:

Andjustlikethat,Ihaveaheaderimage:

4.SetyourlogoandfaviconToset/uploadyour sitelogo,gototheCustomizer,andclickontheboxlabeled“SiteIdentity”(unlessthere’sadedicatedboxlabeled“Logo”orsomethingsimilar).

There,you’llseethis:

Twothingswe’regoingtodohere: (a) setthelogo, (b)setthesiteicon.

Startingwiththelogo.Firstoff,settingasideallthemarketingandbrandingqualitiesofyourlogo,from apurelytechnicalpointofview,agoodlogoshouldbesavedasatransparentPNGfile(asin,withoutabackground).Onceyouhavesuchanimage,justuploaditbyclickingon“Selectlogo”.YouwillagaingettouseWordPress’toolsforcroppingandadjustingthefinalimage.Here’smyresult:

Thenextstepissettingthesiteicon,alsoknownasFavicon.Traditionally,thebestideaistotakeyourlogo,removeanytextfrom it,andthensetitasthesiteicon.Thisworkswellbecausesiteiconsoccupyverylittlespaceinthevisitor’sbrowserbar,sothesimplertheyare,themorereadabletheywillbe.

Touploadyoursiteicon,justclickon“SelectImage”intheSiteIconsectionofthesidebar.Oncedone,you’llseesomethinglikethis,alongwiththepreviewoftheicon:

5.AdjustcolorsSomeWordPressthemesletyoucustomizethedefaultcolorsusedforthingslikethewebsitebackground,links,maintexts,secondarytexts,andmore,dependingonthespecifictheme.

Youcandothisallinthe“Colors”sectionoftheCustomizer:

Apartfrom that,youcanalsochoosefrom somepre-definedcolorschemes–visibleintheimagebelow.

Iencourageyoutoexperimentwiththisandselectcolorsthatgoalongwithyourbusinessidentityandbranding.

6.Setacustom backgroundAtthisstage,mostWordPressthemessupportcustomizablebackgrounds,whichincludesnotonlysettingthecolors–asmentionedinthepreviouspoint–butalsocustom backgroundimages.

ThisisdoneinCustomizer’s“BackgroundImage”section.

Onceyoupickupabackgroundimagefrom yourharddrive,you’llseethis:

Someimportantdetails:

BackgroundRepeat –thisdefineswhathappenswhenthevisitorscrollsdownthepage

andeventuallyrunsoutofyourbackgroundimage.

BackgroundPosition –prettyselfexplanatory,butswitchbetweenthem toseethe

difference.

BackgroundAttachment –here, Scroll meansthattheimagewillscrollalongwiththerest

ofthesitecontent. Fixed meansthattheimagewillalwaysstayinoneplace.

7.Additionaltheme-basedcustomizationsSincetherearethousandsofthemesavailableoutthere,andmanyofthem addtheirownblockstotheCustomizer,coveringallimaginablepossibilitiesinthisguideissimplyimpossible.

Soatthispoint,IjustwanttoencourageyoutobrowsethroughalltheCustomizersectionsavailableinyourcurrenttheme,andexperimentwithwhatyoufindthere.

Justtogiveyouanexample,here’showmanyadditionalCustomizersectionsyoucancomeacrossinsomeofthemorefeature-richthemes:

8.PluginstouseforthemecustomizationHere’salistofotherusefulthemecustomizationsyoucanenable byinstallingsomeinterestingplugins:

PageBuilderbySiteOrigin.Greatforaddingentirelycustom contentelementsandcustom

layoutstoyourpagesandposts.Oneofmyfavoriteplugins.

NextGENGallery.Createandshowcasegreat-lookingimagegalleries.

ContentViews.Nicepluginifyouwanttodisplayyourblogpostsasagrid,ratherthanthe

standardWordPresslist.

UniqueHeaders.Createoriginalheadersforindividualpostsandpages.

ShortcodesUltimate.Addcustom contentblockstoyourwebsitecontent(suchasbuttons,

lightboxes,lists,tooltips,andmore).

Portfolio.Useittoshowcaseyourwork/projects.Greatforbusinesswebsites.

RelatedPosts.Averynicewaytodisplaylinkstorelatedcontentrightbelowyourposts.

Custom Sidebars.Createuniqueandcustomizedwidgetareasthroughoutyourpostsand

pages–morethanwhat’savailableinWordPressbydefault.

EasyGoogleFonts.Trulyawesomepluginifyourcurrentthemedoesn’tallowyoutochange

thedefaulttypography.

StrongTestimonials.Acoolplugintohaveifyou’rerunningyourWordPresssitefora

businesspurposeandyou’dliketoshowcasetestimonialsfrom yourclients.

SimpleCustom CSS.Lastbutnotleast,areallyusefulpluginifyouwanttogetintosome

moreadvancedcustomizationsinvolvingtweakstotheCSSstylingofyoursite.

Setup“Menu”and“Widgets”Idon’tthinktherearemanywebsitesouttherethatdon’thaveanymenusatall.Maybethosesmall,business-card-likeonepagers,butthat’sreallynottheeffectwe’regoingforinthisguide.

So…youneedmenus!

Here’showtoworkwithmenusinWordPress:

Gotoyour wp-admin/Menus.Thisiswhereeverythingtakesplace.Beginbycheckingtheindividualpagesthatyouwanttohaveinthemenu,andthenclick“AddtoMenu”,likeso:

Atthispoint,youwillseeyournewpagesontheright-handside.Thecoolthinghereisthatifyouwanttorearrangethepages,everythingworkswithdrag-and-drop.Butthemainthingtodohereistoassignthemenutooneoftheavailablelocationsandsaveit.Likeso:

Rightnow,youhaveyournewmenucreatedandassignedtothemainmenuarea.

Formorevariety,youcanalsocreateseparatemenusforthingslikeyoursocialmediaprofiles,oranythingelsethatmakessense.WordPressdoesn’tlimityouinanywayhere.

Butwheretodisplayallthoseadditionalmenus?–youask.Thisiswherewidgetscomeintoplay.

AllWordPressthemescomewithatleastonewidgetarea,butusuallymore.Widgetareasdefinethespecificspaceswithinyourthemedesignwhereyouareallowedtodisplaycustom blocksofcontent.

Youcanseewhatthisisaboutbygoingto wp-admin/Appearance/Widgets.Thereareavailablewidgetsontheleft,andwidgetareasontheright.Whatyoudoisquitesimple:justgrabablockfrom theleftanddraganddropitsomewhereontheright.

Reallycoolstuff,andeasytouse.Followingthispath,youcan,forinstance,takeallofyouradditionalmenusanddisplaythem aswidgets.

Butwidgetsgoactuallywaydeeper.Ihighlyencourageyoutocheckoutthewidgetsyoucurrentlyhaveavailable(dependsonyourthemeandplugins),andseewhatcoolstuffyoucanplacethroughoutyoursitedesigntomakeitmoreinterestingtothereaders.

Confirm YourWebsiteis“Mobile-Friendly”PleasebearwithmeasIsaythis,butinmyopinion,makingsurethatyourwebsiteisoptimizedformobileviewersismoreimportantthanmakingsurethatit’soptimizedfordesktop.

It’snotthatIwholeheartedlybelieveintheprincipleitself,butIdobelieveinrawdata.Itjustsohappensthatmobiletrafficisnowbiggerthandesktoptraffic(dataconfirms).Thismeansthatbynothavingamobile-optimizedsite,you’repotentially losing websitetraffic.

Okay,enoughpreaching.Sowhatto do?

First,youneedtocheckifyourcurrentdesignismobile-friendly.Thereareacoupleofwaystodothat:

1.Gotoautomatedtests.Twopopularsolutionsinclude:

Mobile-FriendlyTestbyGoogle

MobileFriendlinessTestToolbyBing

There’snoinferiortoolamongthesetwo.It’sagoodideatouseboth,andseewhattheyhavetosayaboutyoursite.

Simplygotoanyoftheabove,enteryourwebsiteURL,andwaitfortheresults.Takesonlyaminute.

Ifyou’relucky,bothGoogleandBingwillsaythatyoursiteisoptimized.That’sgood.Youcanstopreadingthissectionoftheguide.

Ifnot,youwillbegivensomesuggestionsandtipsonwhatyoucandotoimprovethesituation.I’m notgoingtogothroughthosehere,sinceeverywebsitescenarioisdifferent,andanythingI’dshareherewouldn’tbeapplicableinmostcases.Soinshort,justfollowthetipsgivenbyGoogleandBing.

Note.It’sworthtochecknotonlythemainURLofyourwebsite–thehomepage–butalsoasmallsetofsubpages,particularly:

yourbloglisting,

examplesingleblogpost,

examplesinglepage,

anycustom landingpageyouhave.

2.Domanualtests.Youcancarryoutthemanualtestsyourself.Theyaremoreaboutyourownsubjectiveimpressionofthesite’smobile-friendliness,ratherthandata-basedcalculations.

Tobegin,gototheWordPressCustomizer.There,takealookatthebottom leftcorner:

Thosebuttonsallowyoutoswitchbetweencommondevicesizes,soyoucanseehowthesitebehaves.It’saveryhandytool,anditletsyouseeifeverythingisinorder.Makesurethat:

alltextsarereadable,

imagesaren’ttoobigortoosmall,

ideally,therearenohorizontalscrollbars,

thebalancebetweenimagesizeandtextsizeiscorrect(sooneisnotoverpoweredby

theother),

themenusworkproperly(sometimesit’sanissuewithmobiledesign).

Apartfrom WordPress’owntool,youcanalsousetheoptionsavailableintheChromebrowser.Togetthegoods,gotothemainmenuandaccessthe“Developertools”,orjustpressCtrl+Shift+ionyourkeyboard(Win).

From there,youcanclickthe“Toggledevicetoolbar”button:

Afterdoingso,youwillbeabletoalternatetheviewingmodebetweenspecificpopulardevices.Forinstance,youcanviewyoursitelikeitappearsontheiPhone6Plus,iPhone5,Nexus5X,andmore.

IencourageyoutousebothChromeandWordPress’toolstoreallyexaminehowyoursitebehaves,andcheckifeverythingisinorder.

3.FixthingsIfyourcurrentthemedoesn’tpassthemobile-friendlinesstest,unfortunatelythere’snotmuchyoucandowithoutgettingyourhandsdirtyandgoingthroughalotofsourcecode.

Inanextremescenario,youmighthavetopickanotherWordPresstheme.Afterall,ifathemeisnotmobile-friendlyapproaching2017,itdoesn’tlookgoodonitsreputation.

Butdon’tpanic!Youcanstillexperimentwiththefollowing.Therearetwoalternativepathsyoucantakeifyoudon’twanttochangethemes:

(a)Experimentwith“tune-up”plugins:

EasyGoogleFonts–ThisoneIalreadymentionedearlier.Youcanuseittochangeyour

typographysettingsinordertomaketextsmorereadableonmobile.

ResponsiveMenu –It’llhelpyoufixyourmenusandmakethem mobile-friendly.

AdaptiveImagesforWordPress –It’llhelpyouloadyourimagesmoreeffectivelyonmobile.

(b)Getamobileplugin:

There’saplugincalled WPtouch.Onceenabled,itcheckseveryvisitorcomingtoyoursite,andifthey’reonmobile,itdisplaysthem aseparate,alternativeversionofyoursitedesign.

Again,ittakesovertheappearanceofyoursiteonmobilecompletely,soyourvisitornolongerseesyourcurrentWordPresstheme.

Ifyoudon’twanttochangeyourmaintheme,andyoursiteisstillnotmobilefriendly,thentheWPtouchpluginisprobablythebestsolution.

SetUpYourHomepageForalongtime,WordPresshasneglectedthewholeideaofhomepagesaltogether.Youronlyoptionsweretoeitherhavethedefaultbloglistingasyourhomepage,ortotakeoneofyourstandardpagesandassignitasthehomepage.

Thesedays,however,wehavealotofoptions.Someofthem comingfrom “team themes”,othersfrom“team plugins”.

Let’sdealwiththemesfirst.

Dependingonthethemeyou’recurrentlyusing,youmighthavesomecustom homepageoptionsavailable.Examplefrom apopularfreetheme:

Allofthosesectionsmarkedheretakecareofcustomizingaspecificpartofthehomepage.Again,thoseoptionsaredifferentfrom themetotheme,sowewon’tgetintothem.Ido,however,encourageyoutocloselyexaminewhat’savailableinyourcurrenttheme.

Inanutshell,ifthethemeoffersanyhomepagecustomizations,usethem aswidelyasyoucan.

Ifnot,there’saworkaround.

Startbycreatingtwonewpages:

callthefirstoneHOME;leaveitblank(nocontent);publishthatpage,

callanotheroneBLOG;alsoleaveitblankandpublish.

Thengoto your wp-admin/Settings/Reading.There,assignHOMEasthe“Frontpage”andBLOGasthe“Postspage”,likeso:

Atthispoint,whenyougotoyourmaindomain,you’llseeablankpage.

That’swherepluginscomeintoplay.Ifyouwanttokeepthingsfreeandonabudget,therearetwooptions:

thepreviouslymentioned PageBuilderbySiteOrigin,

and LiveComposer.

I’m usingtheformer.Onceyouinstallandactivateit,whenyougobacktoedityournewHOMEpage,you’llseeanewtab:

Whenyouclickit,you’llgototheSiteOriginbuilder.Thisiswhereyoucansetcustom layoutsandcontentelementsonyourhomepage.

Someexamplecontentblocksyoucanuse(justasmallportionofwhat’savailable):

Ingeneral,Isendyouoverto SiteOrigin’sdocumentation andexamples.Thosedocswillshowyouhowtousetheplugineffectively.

Here’sanexamplehomepagebuiltthisway:

Asyoucansee,tuningupyourhomepagecanbealotoffun.Generally,Idon’trecommendyoutoworkwithyourtheme’ssourcecodetotweakthehomepagemanually.Evenifyousomehowmanagetogetthevisualeffectthatyouwanted,youcanneverpredicthowthechangesaregoingtobehaveonceyouupdateWordPress,orevenwhenviewedonotherdevices.Workingwithyourtheme’sorplugins’nativefeaturesdoesn’tcausethesameproblems.

CreateIMPORTANTPagesinWordPressSpeakingofthehomepage,it’salsoworthmentioningwhatotherpagesyoucanuseonyourWordPresssiteapartfrom themainone.

Here’saquicklist,mainlyjustheadlines–I’llletyoufigureoutwhatyoucanputonallthosepages:

About

Contact–letyourvisitorscontactyou.

Portfolio.

Servicesandproducts.

Team.

Clienttestimonials.

Toolsandrecommendations.

Coupons.

Contentarchive.

Support.

Career.

Advertising.

WordPressSEO(andwhatyouneedtodo)SEOisacrucialelementformostwebsitesontheweb,andalsoacrucialpartofwebsitecustomization. Frankly,withoutSEO,it’smoredifficult foryouraudienceorcustomerstofindyouviaGoogle.Notgood!

Now,therearetwosidestoSEO:

On-pageSEO.

Off-pageSEO.

Off-pageSEOisabouteverythingyoudooutsideofyoursite…thingsliketalkingaboutyourbrandelsewhere,convincingpeopletolinktheirsitetoyours,gettingsocialmediasharesforyourcontent,etc.

Let’sleavethatfornow.

On-pageSEOisabouteverythingyoucandotooptimizeyourindividualWordPresspagestobemoreGoogle-friendly.Thisiswhatwe’regoingtocoverhere.

WordPresscomeswithsomebuilt-inSEOoptimizations,butnotalot.That’swhyyouneedaplugintoboostthingsup.Themostpopularandthebestoneiscalled YoastSEO.

Thatpluginisincrediblyfeature-rich.Tocoverallthosefeaturesherewouldrequireaguideofitsown,soI’m justgoingtofocusontheabsolutelycrucialstuff,andthenletyoudofurtherreading/tuning-upifyou’reinterested.

Let’sbeginwithgoingto wp-admin/SEO.Thenswitchtothe“General”tab,andviewthe introductiontour.ItwillexplainhowtoworkwiththemainsectionsoftheplugintomakeyourWordPresssiteoptimized.

Afterthat,go througheachoftheothertabsandprovidetheinfoyou’reaskedfor.The“WebmasterTools”tabisparticularlyimportantasitallows youtohookupyoursitetotheGoogleSearchConsoleandBingWebmasterTools(bothdeliver crucialinsightsaboutyoursite’sSEOhealth).

Next,goto wp-admin/SEO/Titles&Metas,andfillinallyourpreferredpagetitlesandmetadescriptions.Thishelpstooptimizethedefaultversionsofthosepages.Ifyou’renotsureaboutsomeofthetoggleswitches,youcansafelyleavethem withtheirdefaultvalues.

Thenextsection– wp-admin/SEO/Social –iswhereyoucanhookupyoursocialmediaprofiles,andenablebothFacebookOpenGraphandTwitterCards–thosewillhelpyougetyourcontentmorevisibleonthoseplatforms.

Next,goto wp-admin/SEO/XMLSitemaps.Basically,theonlythingyouneedtodothereismakesurethatthesitemapsareenabled(thetoptogglebutton).XMLsitemapsareusedbyGoogletonavigateyourwebsite,andeventuallygettoyourindividualpostsandpages.

Atthisstage,you’reprettymuchdonewiththemainsettings,butyoushouldalsohavealookintoyourindividualpostsandpages,andtweaktheirspecificSEOparameterstoo. Inshort,whenyougotoeditanypostorpage,you’llnowseethisboxatthebottom:

(a)–themainSEOsnippetthat’svisibleinGooglesearches.Tweakthisfirst.

(b)–themainfocuskeywordofthepage.Setittothephrasethat’sthemostimportant

foryouwhenitcomestothatspecificpage.

(c)–tipsonhowtooptimizeyourpagebasedonthefocuskeyword.

(d)–additionaltabofferingtonsofusefultipsonhowtoimprovethepage’sreadability.

Note.It’s crucial totweaktheSEOparametersforyourmostimportantposts/pages,includingthehomepage!

AddSocialMediaIntegrationThelastthingwe’regoingtotakecareofwhenitcomestotweakingandcustomizingyourWordPresssiteisgettingsomepropersocialmediaintegration!

Socialmediaisjustessential.It’showabigpartofyouraudienceeverfindsyourcontent,anditalsohasanimpactonyourSEO(thishasbeenprovenbyMoz.com sometimeago).

Longstoryshort,yourgoalwithsocialmediaintegrationisto:

makeiteasyforpeopletoshareyourcontent,

makethoseindividualsharesoptimized,

sharecontentyourselfeffectivelyandattherighttime,

beonallthemainsocialnetworks,

makeiteasyforpeopletofollowyou,

trackyoursocialmediapopularity.

Herearethetoolsthatwillhelpyoudoso:

Share/likebuttons. Thebestwaytogetyourselfsomeofthoseistousethe ShareButtons&Analytics

byGetSocial plugin.It’sfree,anditgivesyouasetofverygood-lookingandfunctionalbuttonsfor

allnetworks.Plus,youcanplacethosebuttonsinvariousplacesthroughyoursitedesign(no

matterwhatthemeyouuse).

Postingyourcontentautomatically. Averyneattrickyoucanimplementtomakeyourworkwith

socialmediamucheasieristogetyourselfsomekindofanauto-postingplugin.TheoneI

recommendiscalled ReviveOldPost.Afterashortconfiguration,itwillpickarandom postfrom

yourarchives,andshareitacrossyoursocialmediaprofiles.

Makeyourshareslookgood. Bydefault,ifsomeonesharesyourcontentonsocialmedia,the

shareitselfincludes justthetitleofthepostandalinktoit.However,ifyougetaplugin

like WPSSO,youcanincludeimagesintothestructureoftheshares,plusmakethem muchbetter

lookingandthusmuchmorelikelytobespread.

Followbuttons. Lastly,youneedsomenicefollowbuttonsthatwillencourageyourvisitorstoadd

youasa socialmediafriend.There’sagreat generatorforTwitterhere,andaplugintogeta similar

thingforInstagram.

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