Tips for WordPress Beginners

We have all had it happen. You meet someone new who says all the right things. They pour on the accolades and compliments, but something vaguely annoys you. The words don’t fit the actions. They forget much of what they say, and sometimes they are downright mean. Eventually, you see that person for who they really are.

Lesson learned: Words need to match actions. In so many ways, this defines your hosted WordPress website, especially if you are just beginning. You can talk about how great WordPress is, but you need to know how to make it work for you. To help you out, NOYO Web Development has compiled this list of WordPress tips and best practices to use (not just read about) to ensure that your website functions the way you need and want it to. WordPress beginners who integrate these helpful tips at the start will set themselves up for success and faster results.

1. Your sidebar is crucial. The sidebar is not the area to stuff all your important elements. It’s like an overstuffed closet that when you open the door, all the things on the top shelf come tumbling out.
   Many beginners stuff their WordPress sidebars with ads, social media icons, links to recent tweets, photos of Facebook fans, and so on. Buried amid all that information may be the most critical link that you want your visitors to actually click on. But, they can’t find it. So you may as well not have it there. Solution? Keep your sidebar clean and streamlined with only the essentials.
   Become very familiar with Appearance & Widgets and delete everything except the widgets that actually produce a function that helps your cause or business. If a widget doesn’t add money to your bank account, add people to your email list, or prompt someone to take action, remove it.
2. Make the library easy to search. Your media library should be one integrated folder where you place all your media makes it easy to search: just plug in a keyword and you’ll have the file you’re looking for in no time.
   In order to set up your WordPress site so all media files go into one folder that is searchable by name, go into Settings & Media and uncheck the button next to “Organize my uploads into month- and year-based folders.”
3. Create clean permalinks. You work hard to create compelling content for your site, or you may have paid an expert to write your content. You want Google, Bing, and Yahoo to find it. Make it easy for them by using short “road signs” that point to your information.
   This is a good time to learn the basics of SEO Copywriting. One important improvement you can start making immediately is to use the built-in WordPress permalink field at the top of the editing page to revise your links before you publish them. Delete unnecessary words and make intelligent use of keywords in the description. However, don’t stuff it with keywords. Google may actually punish your site for doing so. Keep it straightforward they way most people do actually searches.
   • For example:
     yoursite.com/7-tips-to-improve-your-SEO-on-your-WordPress-website
     becomes …
     yoursite.com/tips-to-improve-SEO
     And this:
     yoursite.com/the-best-methods-to-attracting-more-clientele-and-increase-revenue
     becomes
     yoursite.com/attracting-clients

The objective is to create a compact permalink that tells search engines what your post contains quickly, and helps drive your ranking for the keyword most helpful to your business.

Another way to optimize your WordPress site is to hire NOYO Web Development. We have decades of experience with WordPress having created sites for both enterprise-level, global conglomerates and SMEs. Contact us today for your free, no obligation quote.