WordPress has become one of the most popular blogging platforms on the internet, because it’s open-source, has clean architecture, and is very flexible and expandable. Each new version has great out-of-the-box additions, which if used correctly can help your blog be indexed properly by search engines and become a tool for increasing subscribers and overall stickiness. For those of you new to WordPress, you can download it here.
1. Permalinks: Allow URLs to be indexed properly and make sense to your readers.
Permalinks make all of your pages have friendly URLs which will contain important keywords for Google, as well as make more sense to your blog readers. For example, if you create your 3rd post with the title “Welcome to my blog”, on a stock WordPress install, the URL to that page will be: yourblog.com/?p=3. It doesn’t make any sense to a human reader and won’t make sense to Google. Rather, if you set the correct options within WordPress, the URL to that same page will be: yourblog.com/welcome-to-my-blog/
It’s easy to see that this URL would be more beneficial to your readers and search engines.
To make this change:
After logging into your WordPress installation, click on the “Options” link at the top. Then click on “Permalinks” from the darker blue sub-menu bar. You should then see the heading “Customize Permalink Structure”. Click the radio button next to “Custom, specify below”. Then in the box to the right of “Custom Structure” type in the following:
/%postname%/
What this does is create a rule that will allow the title of any post you create to become the URL to that page. Keep in mind, you can’t have any two blog posts with the same title, and you can also make your URL different then your title if you want, by changing the slug.
2. Akismet will save your life.
There is a plugin that comes with a stock install of WordPress called “Akismet”. It is a plugin that checks your blog’s user comments to see if they contain spam or not, using Akismet web services. All you have to do is get a key (API) that will allow you to use it. To get a WordPress API key, go here. After you get your API key, in your WordPress Admin click on “Plugins”. Then in the darker sub-menu click on “Akismet Configuration”. Then put in your API key that you received from WordPress and then click “update options”. You are all set.
So now what?
Anytime someone makes a comment to one of your blog posts, the Akismet API will be used to check whether it looks like spam or not. If it does, it will be moved into a special section under comments called “Akistmet Spam”. At anytime you can click on “Comments” and then “Akismet Spam” to see them, or delete all of them. What is refreshing is it works really well. Since I started my blog, it has saved me from having to moderate 14,729 comments. As your blog grows in popularity, you WILL receive spammy comments. But don’t worry, because Akismet works and will save you time.
3. Google Sitemaps is a must have for new content.
Blogs are dynamic, or always changing. If you become a very dedicated blogger, you might be writing a post everyday. Writing a new post is like adding a page to your website everyday. Google, like other search engines loves new content. That is one reason it loves blogs. There is a plugin called “Google Sitemaps” which keeps an updated sitemap file for Google, which contains the links to ALL of your WordPress articles, past or present. It also contains information about when a page was last updated, how often it is updated, and its importance compared to other pages on your site. This allows search engines like Google to crawl and index your blog pages more intelligently.
Great. How do I install it?
I would recommend reading the author’s information about installation and configuration here. Keep in mind, to install this or any other WordPress plugin, you need to be familiar with FTP. For more information about installing plugins and how they work with WordPress, you can read more here. Once you have it installed it will keep the sitemap updated and tell Google anytime you have a new post. You can also add the sitemap to your Google Webmaster Tools account to get more detailed information regarding how Google is using it, and if there are any errors.
4. All in One SEO Pack to further indexing.
A plugin was created that furthers your options and abilities to have your pages indexed properly. It is the “All in One SEO Pack” which you can download and get installation instructions for here. After you have it installed, it’s important you configure it properly.
Configuration Tips:
After installation you can install it by clicking on “Options” and then “All in One SEO”. For brevity, I am only going to cover some important points. Make sure to check the boxes next to the following: “Use noindex for Categories”, “Use noindex for Archives”, and “Use noindex for Tag Archives”. This is a great feature which is going to help you not get dinged for having what is called duplicate content. Basically, your category and archive pages have different URLs then your article pages, however contain the same content. This will make Google think that you have a bunch of pages on your site that are the same, and it could hurt your rankings. It’s better then to allow users to see them to help with browsing your blog, but not search engines. By checking the options as described above, you will ensure search engines won’t try to index those pages. You can decide how to use the other options as based on your blog’s needs.
5. Burn that Feed.
One awesome feature of WordPress is its built-in RSS feed creator. You are probably familiar with RSS feeds, as they are becoming increasingly popular. Basically, it is a format that allows people to subscribe to your blogs’ content without actually visiting your blog through the browser. As blogs are becoming more popular, there are services that allow users to display the content of multiple blogs through one program, which allows them to see the latest posts from all of their favorite blogs.
How do I burn my feed?
First, get an account at FeedBurner. This is a free service bought by Google that allows you to get information about your feed. You can see how many people subscribe to it, how often people use it, as well as get some basic statistical information regarding your site's visitors. After you create an account, you will need to put in the URL to your feed. It’s easy, just take your blog URL and add “/feed/rss2/” at the end of it if you have changed the permalinks like I described above. If not, you can add “/wp-rss2.php” at the end of your blog URL.
Now all you have to do is provide a link on your blog that allows them to subscribe to your FeedBurner feed. The best way is by installing the plugin provided by FeedBurner. You can visit the page here. They provide information regarding installation and configuration that will get you all set up to start burning that feed, and tracking subscribers. Along with this, I would recommend using the “Subscribe Remind” plugin to remind visitors to subscribe to your blog. You want as many subscribers you can get, and a simple reminder can go a long way.
6. Add a contact form, but not form spammers.
As people read your blog, they may want to contact you directly. Especially if your blog promotes your profession or services. If you place your email address on your blog, it is guaranteed that it will be picked up by spammers and added to a list of emails that they will spam frequently. It’s better to provide a contact form, where you can somewhat regulate the information they send as well as prevent spammers from sending you messages.
Here is how:
You can read more about the plugin here, as well as get documentation about installation and configuration options. This will become a lifesaver as your blog becomes more popular, and help those you may want to hear from, contact you directly.
7. Start tagging now.
You may have heard the term “Tagging” or seen “Tag Clouds” on websites or blogs. Tags are basically key words that are related to page content or topic. The latest version of WordPress allows you to tag your posts, which means adding specific keywords people may be interested in. For example, for this blog post if I was going to add tags, they might be “WordPress tips, important WordPress plugins, blog seo” etc… By adding these when I create a post, WordPress will assign these tags to that post. When you publish your post, at the bottom it will show related tags, and then list the tags you created as links. If a user clicks on these links, it will bring up a page that has all of the posts you have created where you assigned the same tag to the article. It’s a great feature for a time where tags are becoming increasingly popular.
The reason I say start tagging now, is if you don’t get in the habit now, you will be in trouble if you want to add tags later. My brother who has a blog with over 400 posts didn’t do tags from the beginning. He now wants to add them, and is forced to edit each post individually and add the tags associated with that post. A big time waster which can be avoided if you get in the habit now. Also, there are some great plugins that work off of the tags you create, and I am confident many more are on their way.
8. Keep the design simple
Another great feature of WordPress is the ability to add templates easily, without having to change your content. Because I am a web developer, I would always recommend having a custom WordPress template created that matches your style or brand, and is effective in displaying the meat of your blog along with other features to enhance experience, without taking away from your content. You could easily find someone capable of designing such a template, by posting a job on Elance saying you want a “WordPress theme”. Make sure to request to see past templates the developer has created. If you have a low budget at this time, there are many free templates out there. Try visiting this page on the WordPress website.
Some more tips
Blogs should have a fairly simple design. Because blogs are made for reading, a lot of reading, you should make sure the text isn’t on backgrounds that are hard to read like blue, orange, yellow or red. The last thing you want is people leaving your blog because it gives eye strain. Also, make sure people can get around your blog easily. Have at least two columns. One column that can display your posts, and the other column to display your categories, advertisements, search box, links etc…
About
Patrick Bennett, a WordPress Guru since 2006, has created over 15 custom WordPress blogs for his clients. Patrick is the owner and head web developer of http://www.modernblue.com. He has a passion for usability and design and has been trusted by many companies to overhaul their web sites, blogs and user experience.If you have tips you’d like to share or other comments, please post your thoughts on the Elance Blog.
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