Using WordPress may seem a little overwhelming at first. That is because there is so much you can do with the blogging platform. Luckily, it is fairly simple to learn all the ins and outs of the platform. Use these tips when using the popular blogging site to make WordPress work for you.
If you plan to start a WordPress blog, make sure that you offer readers more than just content. Even if you say many useful things, it may be quite difficult to engage readers with text. It would be a great idea to implement videos and pictures since this is a great attention grabber.
With WordPress you have lots of choices in themes so you can have a really good looking blog. Take plenty of time to peruse all of your choices so that you can select just the right one to suit your style and your topic. For a truly unique theme, select a premium theme. This will really help your blog stand out from the crowd.
Allow all of the users that visit your site the ability to comment using Facebook. This is a very important tool that will get your name across to hundreds of thousands of people. The Simple Facebook Connect plugin can be used if you want to install this feature on your site.
Spend some time getting to know all of WordPress’s tools and options. Look around and familiarize yourself with all of your formatting options. Use this section to change many of your formatting elements.
Take the time to research WordPress prior to working with it. Increased planning leads to a better executed blog. Learn about SEO, creating effective content, and using WordPress and its many features to help ease your workflow.
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.
Remember to make good use of the footer area at the bottom of your WordPress blog pages. In this area you can include additional information about yourself and/or your copyright. You can also add a link to another page if you wish. Different themes give you more use of this area, so choose your themes carefully to maximize the value of your page footers.
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.
Having a theme for your WordPress site can make it much more professional. There are plenty of websites that allow you to download themes for free. However, it is very important that you download themes from a trusted source. Not doing so can result in you installing outdated or malicious codes.
When you are choosing a WordPress template to use, pick something that gets frequent updates. You do not want to use a template whose creator has abandoned updates because sometimes you have to address security issues. A creator who is proactive in updating his template will give you a better product.
Differentiate the look of your WordPress blog. It may be tempting to just roll with the standard WordPress themes, but you’ll look like many other blogs out there. Consider a few other themes. Even install them so that you can preview them with your current crop of content. It can make all the difference to audience engagement.
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”.
If your WordPress site is running rather slowly, consider adding in a caching plugin. These plugins speed up page loads by caching pages that are rarely changed. This means that your site can increase in speed by 20% to 30% just with the plugin installed. There are a few different options, but W3 Total Cache is very popular.
Evaluate plugins carefully before you install it in your WordPress account. Plugin creation is not regulated, and anyone in the world with the right skill can create a plugin and make it available to the public. To make sure that the source is reliable, read the reviews and pay special attention to the negative comments.
WordPress.com has limited functionality for its users, yet it does have advantages. When your blog is hosted on WordPress.com, WordPress will take care of spam filtering, backups and restores, and address any security issues on your site. However, if you are hosting WordPress yourself, you will have to deal with these issues yourself.
WordPress comes with a anti-spam plugin called Akismet. This usually works to block the spam comments from posting on your blog, but some people find it lacking. If you want extra spam protection, install Growmap. This plugin adds a check-box for the poster to click to confirm that it is not a bot.
Avoid WordPress hackers by having a secure web host. There are a multitude of web hosting services available; however, if you go with simply cheap, you can put yourself at risk. Look at Internet reviews about the host you are considering. Make sure they have a strong, stable and secure presence on the Internet.
Although WordPress seems overwhelming to begin with, it really is not all that complicated to use. You just have to get used to the controls and tools available on the blogging site. Remember the helpful tips above when using WordPress and keep yourself updated to have the best experience with WordPress.
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