The odds are, if you’re swimming in a river for the first time, knowing its depth and other crucial factors relating to the river is important. The same applies for bloggers who’ve just decided to take things online. Delving into the blogosphere is not a safe action without a plan. Sure, you’ve probably read a few articles on how to start a blog, setup hosting and installation, but more is involved if you’re to acquire the best out of your online venture.
Have you decided to give WordPress a go for blogging? That’s absolutely wonderful! However, there’s more to that stunning and flexible platform that you need to know. WordPress is reliable and seamless to get around once you’ve gotten the hang of it. Not sure as to what to look out for? Here’s a quick tutorial on how to use the platform.
What is WordPress?
WordPress, a powerful content management system, spans as far back as 2001. As an open source software, the platform is renowned for its effortless and user-friendliness. This website creation tool was coded in PHP, and is the ultimate weapon to wield for bloggers. According to statistics, the WordPress platform is superior to any other content management system.
Why should you use WordPress?
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That’s quite simple. WordPress is awesome! As a beginner, coding is definitely not an expertise you possess, at least not anytime soon. WordPress resolves that dilemma. With WordPress, learning computer programming isn’t a necessity. Did I mention that WordPress was free? As an open source platform, downloading and installation is simple. Anyone can scrutinize, update and optimize the platform according to their personal preference.
In addition, WordPress was created to appease search engines; they’re search engine friendly. With coding superiority, and an exceptional semantic mark-up, WordPress acts as a magnet for search engines. To foster an even more SEO friendly environment when employing the use of WordPress, you can choose from a wide array of WordPress SEO plugins.
Furthermore,WordPress management is equivalent to the alphabet. Management is easy. For every user of the platform, WordPress was developed with an updater that ensures all your plugins and themes operated onsite is up-to-date. Notifications are also provided in cases where you’re not cognizant of an update. Securing your information is also easily managed, as you can create systematic and frequent backups.
To supplement, WordPress is a safe and secure platform; you need not worry about prying eyes. Those combined factors add to the platform’s popularity.
WordPress and Its Diverse Ecosystem
The initial creation of WordPress came as a solution for bloggers. However, with much expansion, developers of WordPress commenced creating themes and plugins. The simple platform once used for appeasing bloggers, is now the ultimate component for generating professional websites. Everything WordPress has been able to accomplish can be attributed to its themes and plugins.
WordPress Themes
WordPress themes principally appeal to the eyes and layout of blogs and websites. The theme of any WordPress website is pretty much the attention grabbing and design factor. WordPress themes are available for almost every category of online business. This includes social, commercial and the list continues. There are premium and free WordPress themes so ensure to search thoroughly for the theme that accurately suits your business.
WordPress Plugins
The process of discovering the ideal WordPress plugins to utilize often pose some technicality for beginners. This stems from the fact that they’re not cognizant of what really works and as such, might settle for mediocre plugins. There are various WordPress plugins on the blogosphere with the capacity to perform similar tasks; hence, WordPress beginners should ensure they’re getting the best to install on the platform. Among the many plugins available, you can find below a few to encourage smooth operations and easy navigation on your blog. These plugins are rated above others on WordPress.org.
- Google XML Sitemap
The functionality of this plugin might be easily expounded, but its operations span far beyond what the human mind can decipher. Google XML Sitemap is used particularly for indexing in Google’s SERP. The sitemap is used to create a special XML doc which provides a clear outlook on all the content on a website. Put simply, a sitemap aids search engines to better understand the information you have on your blog.
- Askimet
There are many marketers and publishers who’d relish the opportunity to use automated link building tools to bombard your website with automated comments and links routing back to their websites. Askimet is the ideal WordPress plugin to stop these individuals in their tracks. The plugin scrutinizes each comment made on a particular blog post and check to see if it’s spam.
- WooCommerce
Are you in the business of selling things online but is unable to set up things just the way you’d like? WooCommerce is an exceptional WordPress with the capacity to assist any WordPress beginner to sell anything online.
- Yoast SEO
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SEO is important for the discovery of any online business. If you’re thinking about adhering to Google’s Hummingbird algorithm that governs on-page SEO, it’s important to install Yoast SEO to provide clear instructions on proper keyword usage when composing blog entries.
While there are various other plugins to implement on your website, those are just a few to get you started. You can always look around for plugins, depending on what you want to use it for.
A Plethora of Websites on WordPress
The sweet allure and taste of WordPress is its power to cater for any and everyone. The types of websites you can create using WordPress is absolutely endless. Whatever business concept you have lingering at the back of your mind, it’s highly probable to bring those concepts alive on WordPress. Are you thinking about selling your products online? Why not delve into using ecommerce or shopping websites? Is it that you long for something more personal? Why not create a personal blog? Do you wish to gain exposure for your business or create a professional network? Why not create a business website to provide relevant and timely information to your customers? Are you a freelancer who’d love to display your portfolio online for clients and prospects to scrutinize? Why not create a portfolio website to get things to a jumpstart?
Whatever idea you have in mind for a website, WordPress can make that idea into a reality. Not yet convinced? Why not give WordPress a try this moment? You’ll never regret that decision.