How to Update Your Website Using WordPress
WordPress is the most popular blogging platform around. It’s free, open-source, and extremely flexible. What’s not to like?
Often times we come across websites that are essentially unmaintained and unresponsive to updated technologies. No matter how much we want to help, there’s only so much we can do until the owner decides to renew the domain and repoint it with a new website.
With WordPress, the feeling of frustration is all but eliminated. The CMS (Content Management System) allows users to easily update content and make changes to the site without needing specific programming knowledge. As a result, it’s very easy to maintain a WordPress website.
Keep reading if this sounds good but don’t forget about these useful tips before you proceed.
Pick A Theme That Suits Your Needs
Before you begin making any changes, it’s important to consider what theme you should use. In the WordPress world, there are hundreds of themes to choose from, and it can be overwhelming to decide which one is right for you. If you’re looking for a completely free solution, try out Bootstrap 4’s basic theme or if you need something more custom, explore the premium options available at ThemeForest.
What we recommend is to begin with the basic theme and then update it according to your needs. For example, if you need the blog to function a certain way, dive into the code and make changes as necessary. Alternatively, you could use a tool like StudioPress’ WP Curve to design and build your ideal website right from the get-go.
If you’re looking for an elegant solution, consider using a premium theme that’s been designed according to the best practices for creating high-quality and functional websites.
Use An Online Resources Platform To Build Your Blog
Now that you have your theme picked out, it’s time to move on to the next step. With your WordPress blog, you have the option of either using a third-party plugins or building one from scratch. Since we highly recommend building one from scratch, let’s take a quick look at why.
There are many benefits to building a plugin from scratch which are much more flexible and powerful than using a third-party plugin. For example, if you decide to use an online resources platform like Gengo’s Ghost Platform to build your blog, you’ll have the option of turning your blog into a money-making machine by setting up affiliate programs and shopping portals for higher commissions.
If you’re looking for a one-stop-shop for all your web-related needs, consider using a premium theme that comes with built-in support for various online resources platforms like Google Analytics, WooCommerce, and others.
Get The Perfect Looking Blog With These Tips
With the right theme, all you need are the right plugins to make it look fantastic. To get the perfect looking blog with these tips, you’ll need to follow the guidance of WordPress experts like Michael Hyatt and Luke Battersby. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time formatting your blog to look perfect, use a tool like Google’s Structured Data Lab to easily create and apply semantic markup to your content. With tags and categories in place, you’ll simply need to populate your content with relevant and high-quality links.
As a blogger, you’ll need to constantly be looking for ways to improve the quality of your content and make it more engaging. When it comes to creating content that will engage readers, the most effective method is through effective use of keywords. You can do this by using a tool like Keyword Planner from FindKeywords.com to find the most popular and effective keywords you should be using in your content. Once you have a list of keywords, you can create compelling and informative content that will engage your readership and drive them back for more.
Make Changes To The Blog Without Hitting The Cracks
Since you’re the one who set up the blog in the first place, it’s your call when it comes to what changes you want to make. However, due to WordPress’s incredibly flexible nature, you should consider making changes to the blog in a way that won’t break the back-end. This way, when you do make changes, it’ll be a simple matter of hitting publish and your new content will be live
As a WordPress user, this is all you need to do to make changes to the blog; edit the content and then hit publish. Alternatively, you could use a plugin like Yoast’s Schema for WordPress to automatically add the appropriate markup to your content.
Avoid The Black Hat SEO Techniques That Will Hurt You
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a continuous process of improving your blog’s rankings in search results. Many people think that the only way to do this is to use “black hat” techniques to game the system. While this may be true for webmasters who want to cheat their way to the top, it’s certainly not the case for those who want to do things the right way. Using black hat SEO techniques can actually do more harm than good, as you’ll upset the algorithm of the search engine you’re trying to rank for and even drive away traffic.
Fortunately, you don’t have to cheat to improve your blog’s SEO rankings. With a little bit of research and some old-fashioned elbow grease, you’ll be able to find the right way to optimize your blog for the search engines.