There is more to online marketing than simply crafting a website and publishing content online. If you are using WordPress as your CMS, there are several things you will have to do in order to attract more visitors to your website and rank high on search results. In this article, we will be looking at the best WordPress practices.
The best thing about using WordPress is that you have access to virtually unlimited resources. This is more so when it comes to themes. There are so many themes and plugins to choose from. Some are free while others you have to pay a small fee for them. These themes will save you time that would otherwise be spent in coding.
All in all, not every theme out there is right for you. Your primary focus should be on the themes that are SEO optimized. In addition to having a clean code, you have to make sure the theme you are about to select uses:
Other than that, the theme you select has to be lightweight. You don’t want your website to take long to load up, do you?
WordPress Plugins are essential for boosting the overall performance of your website. To increase traffic by encouraging social media sharing, you have to make use of the best social media plugins. The trending plugins today include:
Each plugin has its pros and cons. Understand them before installing any plugin. You should also note that not all these plugins are free and that the overuse of plugins can slow your website’s the load-time.
Search engines look at the number of links on a website to determine its value. A site with more inbound links ranks higher because it is considered to have more value. However, not just any link will work to your advantage. You have to monitor where your links are originating from since links from sites that have been termed as spam can cause your website to be flagged as a spam site too. The social media offers the best way to create quality inbound links.
Permalinks is the structure of the URLs produced once you publish a new post on WordPress. There is a default setting for his. Choose a permalink structure that lets your visitors know what the link is all about. A great permalink should contain an easy-to-understand phrase. Adding a keyword phrase in the links will further boost SEO.
Most webmasters understand the value of using links but not all of them know how to use the links in a manner that optimizes for SEO. Here are a few links you should create:
All the links you create should contain text that helps visitors know what the link is about. You should also make sure the links you create are done in a natural way that improves the quality of your posts.
Most of your prospective clients are on at least one social networking site. You need to make sure they see your content. This is why you need to create a profile on as many social networking sites as you can. Keep your profiles active by sharing your posts on them and engaging followers through discussions.
However, for this strategy to work, you have to create content that is easily shared. To do so, you must ensure the content you create is:
A good company offering remote DBA expert services can help create quality content for your website and for posting on social media. Do not be afraid to bring in a professional.
Your website may have the best content but if you use heading tags improperly, your efforts will amount to nothing much. Use the H1 tags to house the title of your pages. H2 tags should be used for additional headings. Use H3 through H4 for subheadings.
Whether you are adding photos on your website or posting them on social media, you have to optimize them. Search engines cannot read images; they rely on description to know what an image is about. When you add a new photo, make sure it has a title, caption, alt and description. WordPress provides these fields to guide you through.
In addition to that, you should make use of thumbnails. These shows visitors what they are about to look at and also does not bloat your website’s loading speed. If you must use multiple high quality images, make sure you create thumbnails for each of them.
Last but not least, keep your website’s plugins updated. Plugins keep on changing. Make sure your website has the best plugins available on the market. However, when using pre-made plugins or creating your own, make sure they adhere to the WordPress Coding standards.
The best WordPress practices will increase social sharing, increase traffic to your website and also improve your search engine ranking. Refrain from cutting corners. The best practices will serve you for years to come.