7 Tips for WordPress Beginners

If you’re new to WordPress, you’ve probably realized that WordPress can have a bit of a learning curve when you’re first starting out. We know that sometimes it can be hard to choose what’s best for your WordPress website so that you can get the most out of it. Here we’ve gathered 7 tips for WordPress beginners to help you start off on the right foot.

  1. Sidebar Areas

Have you ever gone to a website and tried to navigate its sidebar and noticed that you can’t actually find anything because it’s so jam packed? Your sidebar area should be clutter free and have links to what you want your visitors going to the most. A good rule of thumb here is to pare down your sidebar area to links that help your business/cause reach its goal.

 

  1. Media Library

Your media library should contain just one folder. Try not to separate your media uploads by months or years as this can make it hard for you to search by keyword and find the image you’re looking for. Under “Settings and Media” you will want to uncheck the box that says “Organize my uploads into month -and year-based folders”.

 

  1. Permalinks

Having clean permalinks can help your site be more easily read by search engines and people. One of the first things you’ll want to do is to set your permalinks to be by post name. You can do this under Settings>Permalinks>Post Name. Now that you’ve done that, when you are writing a new post and creating a permalink, it’s a good idea to not clutter up that permalink. Try to use keywords in your permalink as a description for what’s in your blog post.

 

  1. Titles and Descriptions

Another place to make sure you include your keywords from your blog post, is to use them in your titles and descriptions. This will help your visitors identify what they’re about to read when they click on your link. Titles of pages are also important when it comes to SEO. Make sure they are clear, concise, and attract people to your site.

 

  1. Image Keywords

Your images can also be used for SEO, as well. In the title and alt text of your images, you can place keywords in them so that when someone hovers over your picture, they will see the title and know what it is (this is especially important if people are viewing your site with assistive technology). Your image titles and alt text need to describe what your picture is in just a few words.

 

  1. Landing Page

Having a focused landing page will help with your conversion rates. A landing page can help remove distractions so that you get your visitors to complete your call to action (sign up for a newsletter, buy a product, share a link, etc).

 

  1. Footer

The footer can often be forgotten but it can be such a valuable tool when used correctly. Your footer is a great place to put copyright information, your contact information, quick links to important pages, and your social media links. Many people will look in the footer area to help them determine if you and your site are safe to use so it’s important to remember to make the footer area look professional and clean.

 

If you have any questions about these 7 tips for WordPress beginners or if you would like any other WordPress support, please give us a call at 877-844-9931 or email us at richard@wptrainingcourses.com