WordPress is a free open-source content management system and is the most popular blogging system in use on the web at more than 60 million websites. WordPress powers over 24 percent of the internet for consumers and web professionals which rely on the platform to create a unique online presence. With a wide variety of templates, plugins, and other choices, WordPress is the platform I recommend to small businesses wanting to create a site. Here are some tips to keep in mind when creating and managing your site:
- Be strategic and plan how the site is organized. This will affect your Search Engine Optimization (SEO), user load times, and how long visitors stay on the site. Take time to choose the best theme for your WordPress blog. Free WordPress themes can be found at WordPress Themes Directory. Themes can also be purchased by theme providers like: Elegant Themes, Themify, or ithemes.
- Add tags with keywords to content including photos on site.
- Use the Broken Link Checker plugin to search all links within the WordPress site to get notified about broken links by email or via the dashboard so that these may be corrected as soon as possible. Having broken links on a web site affects SEO and may discourage viewers from continuing to visit the site.
- WordPress is constantly rolling out updates and bug fixes to its platform. It is critical to keep the backend updated to prevent sensitive data and files from being vulnerable to malicious activity.
- Use an analytics program like Google Analytics that offers a wide range of free services that can be used to monitor website traffic, keep track of visitor behavior on the site, and monitor keywords that can generate more traffic to a site. Google Webmaster Tools is also recommended to get data, tools and diagnostics for a healthy, Google-friendly site.
- Use Plugins like BackUpWordPress to back up files and databases from web site and allow future backups to be scheduled automatically.
