Select a unique design when creating your site. While copying someone else's design is quick, it doesn't make a good impression. Take the time to create a unique site that reflects you and your business.
Remember to make your sidebar as concise and clean as possible. You don't want it to be full of 100 links, ads and buttons. Instead, only put what is important in your sidebar and, if you need more links, put them into submenus which appear when the user mouses over your main menu.
If you want to easily be able to search through the media you upload, such as videos or photos, put it all into a single folder through Wordpress. To do this, go into Settings & Media and then uncheck the box which sets WP to sort your media into folders based on the date.
Ensure that it is possible for users to forward articles from your site to their email easily and at will. This is essential so http://shop.oreilly.com/category/browse-subjects/web-development.do that they can easily share your content with others. Use a WP-Email plugin to make this happen.
Use your footers wisely. People often scroll to the bottom of a page to find out who runs the site, how to contact the owner or to see how fresh the content is based on a copyright date. You can even include a short biography or other information you feel is pertinent.
Let your users easily share your content via email. This is crucial for sharing purposes. Visitors may not have access to sites like Twitter or Facebook at work and need a way of sharing your article with others. You can use a plugin called WP-Email to help you do this.
If you don't like your theme, change it! There are thousands of free themes available online which allow you to quickly and easily change the look of your site without having to know much about HTML coding. Be sure to choose themes from reputable sites to ensure they don't affect the security of your software.
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You do not have to depend on a drop-down menu for headers. Use keyboard shortcuts instead. Push down "control" and then choose a number ranging from 1 up to 6. If you frequently use headers, this can be time saver.
Learn how to make your WordPress blog posts more SEO-friendly. There is a free plugin called Yoast that can do this for you. It does auto checks of your pages' SEO, canonical, breadcrumbs, sitemaps, permalink, and more. Using the data that it provides, it teaches you how to optimize your blog posts properly.
Make use of the footer section of your site. Many blogger neglect this area, especially beginners. Put information about yourself in this area, links to any of your other websites and links to important pages in your blog. It is important to make use of any area in your blog.
The only way to learn Wordpress is by practicing it. You can sign up for a free account in Wordpress.com and start experimenting with its multitude of features. Change images, background color, font sizes, etc. The more you get your hands on it, the more comfortable you will feel about using it.
Don't forget that it is not necessary for you to build your site all by yourself. Either hire someone or ask someone to help you. They can do some of your work, which may be worth the price you will pay them.
The potential that Wordpress offers bloggers these days really is boundless. The key, however, to really making it work well is to acquire a good amount of knowledge before attempting to put it to use. Hopefully this article has provided a terrific starting point for those interested in producing great blogs.
