Tips And Tricks For Improving Your WordPress Skills

WordPress is one of the most powerful and flexible tools out there for bloggers. When you choose to use WordPress, you have at your fingertips a vast array of features you can use to customize your blog. To learn more about these options, you should read the advice in the following article.

Make sure that you do not choose the same design as everyone else that has a WordPress site. Although it can save time to use a standard design, you won’t have a professional image. You need to spend the time to create a design that evidences your own creativity.

Try to use a landing page when you are using wordpress on your site. This is a great alternative to displaying your current posts as it gives your site flavor and pizzazz. You can even use Premise for WordPress, which is a premium solution that can get you started with the process.

Be sure to stay on top of updates! Many updates to add-ons or WordPress itself are security-based, meaning your site could be compromised if you don’t update the software. If it’s telling you a new update is available, install it as soon as possible to protect your site from harm.

Make sure your sidebar is not too cluttered. The sidebars on most WordPress blogs are a chaotic mess, full of social media icons and ads and links. Prioritize what goes in your sidebar. Make sure visitors to your blog don’t have to search for anything they might be looking for.

Add page numbers at the bottom of your comments section if you have a very active community. This is important as it will allow your users to be able to sort through the material and information easier. Make sure that the page numbers are easy to see for the viewers.

Set a publishing time for your blog posts. When editing an article for publication, you can select when it will be published. It’s a good idea to set regular updates for a specific date and time. To really stay on top of keeping your blog up to date, put your blog posts in ahead of time and let WordPress post them to your blog for you.

Most templates come with a landing page built in, so make use of it. This stripped down page allows you to focus their intention on exactly what you want them to look at, be it a sign-up form or a “Buy Now” link. This ensures they take the actions you want them to.

When you use different tags for the topics on your blog, keep in mind that these are strictly for searching the content on your blog. These can’t be used by search engines. If you want your pages to be searchable on Google, you have to install an SEO type plug-in such as Headspace.

Make use of a landing page. Instead of coming directly to current posts, users will pass through this landing page first. You can use this for a variety of reasons, whether for promoting a product or promoting yourself. Many themes feature a landing page; however, there are also paid options.

Write a personalized greeting near the top of your blog. This makes things a bit more personal with readers since you can make a message that shows how others found your site. This helps things look natural and you can find it on the plugin called WP Greet Box.

If you upload changes to your WordPress site, but they don’t appear to have taken effect, try to refresh from a clear cache. Hold shift as you click the reload icon in your browser, or hold shift-ctrl-r at the same time. This will give you a clean version of your site which should be updated.

Include useful links at your footer. The footer is located at the bottom of your site. Most sites include contact information, copyright information and links to other sites in the footer. By including useful information in your footer, you can increase the sales, referrals and traffic to your site.

When looking for a template, look for one that has the basic layout and design that you desire for your site. This way, you would not have to customize it too much in order to give it the look that you want. This will cut down on your site development time.

If you are new to WordPress, explore the dashboard of your WordPress installation asap. It may feel daunting the first time you see that dashboard, but with just a little time you’ll get it down. Don’t be afraid to type in a few test posts and pages to see how things work.

Always back up your WordPress files and database regularly. Although your website has backups, they may not do backups as frequently as you would like. You can find plugins that can make the back up process much easier. When you have your files and database backed up, you can easily restore your site if anything happens to it.

Do you want to get rid of the WordPress clutter? Eliminate a few of the boxes appearing on the page. You can do this with the top WordPress button labeled “Screen Options.” Click on this and a drop-down menu will give you the option to turn boxes off.

Make use of the footer section of your site. Many blogger neglect this area, especially beginners. Put information about yourself in this area, links to any of your other websites and links to important pages in your blog. It is important to make use of any area in your blog.

You do not have to do it all yourself. If you can recruit a volunteer or hire someone who has the skill to do the work, you will save time and money in the long run.

Getting started with WordPress is not difficult. The program is easy to use, and anyone can start blogging in a few minutes. However, some of the program’s more powerful features may take some more time to learn. Use the advice that you have read in this article to get the most out of WordPress.