WordPress For Beginners Brian LaFrance brian@twogun.com Twitter - @blafrance
Why WordPress? Community Features Customization Cost Quality
Getting Started Self vs. managed hosting Required features Choosing a theme Stock WordPress installs won’t cut it
Hosting Self hosted – Best for tinkerers, low cost Managed hosting - Less worry, more cost
Required Features Plugins – SEO, gallery features, caching Design needs – Portfolio, contact form Some managed hosts ban certain plugins
Choosing a Theme Avoid bloated themes that do everything Frameworks – Genesis (Studiopress) Child Themes Page builders (ex. Divi)
Genesis Child Themes
Mobile Considerations Responsive design Search engines are moving toward mobile first analysis of pages Prioritize for better user experience Avoid loading full size images on mobile
Site Setup Basic settings Add plugins Create main pages (About, contact) Navigation Widgets
Users Don’t use “admin” as username Permissions – Only as much as is needed
www vs. non-www
Time & Date
Permalinks
Plugins Nearly 50k plugins available on wordpress.org More plugins = less security & slower site Choose wisely Plugins vs. Theme Functionality Not always one size fits all
Adding Plugins
Yoast SEO Optimize site for search engines Site wide and page level settings Connect to Google and track site errors Social settings Sitemaps
Page Titles
Form Plugins Gravity Forms & Ninja Forms Makes it simple to create a form Add-ons available
Backup Plugins Managed hosting can include backups Good to have more than one option Can help with moving a site Updraft Plus Add-ons available
Security Plugins Managed hosting handles some of this WordFence or Sucuri Login lockdown
Page vs. Post Page – Static items – Contact, about Post – Blogs, news, categorized items
Creating Pages
Creating Pages
Creating Posts
Categories & Tags Categories for organization and nesting Use tags sparingly Be careful to avoid duplicates (ex. plural vs. singular)
Creating Posts
Improving Category Pages
Improving Category Pages
Contact Page Tips Add a map Use a form in addition to email address Use structured markup
Media Tips Don’t upload full resolution images Use ImageOptim if you’re on a Mac Use EWWW Image Optimizer plugin Use video hosting sites like YouTube to host videos
Updates & Security Keep everything updated regularly Multiple sites or installs? Centralize tracking Use SSL (https) Back everything up daily to somewhere other than your server or host
Recommended Tools Google Analytics Google Search Console Keyword data– SEMrush, SpyFu, KeywordTool.io
Getting Noticed & Ranking Network with other related businesses & get links from them Chamber of commerce sites Write blog posts to look authoritative – “Best wedding photography locations in Phoenix”
WordPress For Beginners Brian LaFrance brian@twogun.com Twitter - @blafrance