WordPress Blogging Pointers to Help You Get Started

If you want to start a blog, WordPress is most likely the easiest and most user friendly program you can use. There are even more straightforward choices -for example using a free online blogging service such as Blogger.com, but you really don't have much control on your own site.

With WordPress, you receive the best of both worlds -an easy to understand platform and infinite features that enable you to raise your site and include bells and whistles as you learn.

WordPress.org vs WordPress.com

To begin with, I must point out that there are two WordPresses. They're run by precisely the same firm, but WordPress.com is a service that hosts your blog for you -like Blogger, Tumblr and other third party websites. These are often referred to as Web 2.0 websites. There's nothing wrong with creating your site this way, but it will limit you in certain ways.

When you use WordPress.com or some other Web 2.0 site, you don't own the blog. This means that the host can delete your site at any time. For example, WordPress.com will not allow you to produce your blog commercial in any way. So in the event that you would like to start a business or even make a few added bucks each month, this is not the thing to do.

Another reason WordPress.com and other similar sites aren't perfect is that you will get a more difficult time with SEO and creating traffic than if you owned the blog. That is because most of the"link juice" generated by your article will visit the host as opposed to your particular website. That's why WordPress.org is exactly what I will concentrate on here. This is when you purchase a domainname, get hosting and start your own blog.

Choosing a Domain and Internet Host

Your domain name is your URL -the address of your site or blog. If you haven't selected one yet, you will have to do so first. If you don't have wordpress hosting providers, you'll also require this. You can combine these if you'd like.

When choosing a web hosting company, it is good to pick one with a great deal of experience with WordPress. If you truly wish to be certain of this, you could go with WP Engine, a business which specializes in WordPress. They are, however, a bit more costly than many web hosts. If you would like to save money, you can still find a fantastic web host that may support your WordPress website. Bluehost, by way of instance, is recommended for this. They are even recommended by WordPress itself.

One suggestion I will make here is that, whatever internet host you choose, try to select a plan which gives you infinite domains/websites. Occasionally 1 host will provide several distinct plans. The difference in cost is generally only a couple dollars per month.

The purpose is that making WordPress sites could be addictive! You will probably not need to stop with you. So you may as well have a hosting plan that lets you produce as many as you want. When selecting a domain, try to keep it short and easy. If you want your site to rank well in the search engines, then choose some great keywords in the title. These are phrases that individuals will actually look for when searching for advice.

If your domain name is something like Bobsblog.com or even Marysblog.com, you will have a personalized title but none that is likely to help you with SEO (search engine optimization). This is of special importance if you intend to sell something. If you only need a blog to share with your friends, family , co-workers, etc. then it is not important.

How to Install WordPress

You usually use a script installer such as Fantastico or Softaculous (your site probably has just one of these -look on your own control panel). You can then install WordPress in a few clicks.

I don't want to waste too much space here describing the steps of installing WordPress, because it is possible to get this at your hosting company. There are also numerous articles and videos on this topic. This does not seem like it ought to be a problem, but many people experience"blogger's block" after writing a post or two. I'm assuming that you've already picked your subject. After all, even if you can not even think of a subject, it is not a really good time to start a blog yet!

But even when you have a topic that interests you, it can be difficult to consider actual articles to write. For this, you may have to do some research for inspiration. Here are a few ideas. Establish Google Alerts -You are able to get emails from Google which will deliver information to your inbox according to some keyword phrases you choose. Also take a look at their magazine section! Other Blogs -check out Google Blogs and see what others in your market are writing about. You don't want to copy thembut you may get ideas you can put your own twist on.

Offline Books and Magazines -Go to the library, bookstore and magazine department in Barnes & Noble (or where magazines are sold). Read newspapers. All of these are great sources for ideas. In case you've got a site, then you have to write blog articles! This is actually the main"key" to having a successful website, believe it or not. You hear a lot about"quality content," that is, of course, important.

If you're populating your blog with auto-generated or spun content (in case you do not know what's, don't be worried about it -you're better off!) You won't get very far. Forgetting about the search engines for a moment, when a visitor sees that a blog has not been updated in months, he or she's likely to conclude it isn't very active or applicable. You probably do the same whenever you're looking up new sites online.

Search engines also love sites which are frequently updated. Additionally, it provides you more information to allow them to index. Let's mention a couple of words about SEO, so long as we're on that subject. As soon as you get more familiar with WordPress, you might choose to begin looking into more innovative features. This frequently means adding plugins. These are tools that you upload to your own WordPress site to execute many different functions.

Plugins may be used for security, SEO, to create forums or membership sites, to place contact forms on your website or a large number of other things. Plugins give you the capacity to achieve many tasks that would otherwise need complex knowledge of programming. There are so many plugins for WordPress it would not be possible to keep them up all. At first, you may not believe you want any plugins -and this is accurate. Yet it's really simple to use them that you may as well get your feet wet and install some fundamental ones. It is possible to get into the plugins settings from the WordPress dashboard.

There are directions about the best way to perform this.

Google XML Sitemaps -This makes it simple for Google and other search engines to index your own posts and pages.

W3 Complete Cache -This really is a fantastic plugin to assist your site load faster and function more effectively. It does so by caching articles, pages, databases, scripts and other components which take up space.

BulletProof Security -helps keep your site safe from attacks. This is important, as hackers often target WordPress sites. The above is a really abbreviated list of everything you can do with plugins. For those who have any particular requirements or ideas for special features to your blog, chances are there's a plugin which can enable you to attain this.

WordPress: The Ideal Place For Your Website to Evolve

What makes WordPress so great for bloggers is that it can assist you at any stage of your blogging career. For rank beginners, it makes it easy to set up a barebones site. Advanced users may play with all the plugins and configurations. Nevertheless WordPress is still only a tool. It's your choice to think of awesome content so individuals have a reason to visit your blog!