1. WordPress For Beginners
Brian LaFrance
Twitter

2. Why WordPress?
Community
Features
Customization
Cost
Quality

3. Getting Started Self vs. managed hosting Required features
Choosing a theme
Stock WordPress installs won’t cut it

4. Hosting Self hosted – Best for tinkerers, low cost
Managed hosting - Less worry, more cost

5. Required Features Plugins – SEO, gallery features, caching
Design needs – Portfolio, contact form
Some managed hosts ban certain plugins

6. Choosing a Theme Avoid bloated themes that do everything
Frameworks – Genesis (Studiopress)
Child Themes
Page builders (ex. Divi)

7. Genesis Child Themes

8. 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

9. Site Setup Basic settings Add plugins
Create main pages (About, contact)
Navigation
Widgets

10. Users Don’t use “admin” as username
Permissions – Only as much as is needed

11. www vs. non-www

12. Time & Date

13. Permalinks

14. 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

15. Adding Plugins

16. Yoast SEO Optimize site for search engines
Site wide and page level settings
Connect to Google and track site errors
Social settings
Sitemaps

17. Page Titles

19. Form Plugins Gravity Forms & Ninja Forms
Makes it simple to create a form
Add-ons available

20. 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

21. Security Plugins Managed hosting handles some of this
WordFence or Sucuri
Login lockdown

22. Page vs. Post Page – Static items – Contact, about
Post – Blogs, news, categorized items

23. Creating Pages

24. Creating Pages

26. Creating Posts

27. Categories & Tags Categories for organization and nesting
Use tags sparingly
Be careful to avoid duplicates (ex. plural vs. singular)

28. Creating Posts

29. Improving Category Pages

30. Improving Category Pages

31. Contact Page Tips Add a map Use a form in addition to email address
Use structured markup

32. 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

33. 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

34. Recommended Tools Google Analytics Google Search Console
Keyword data– SEMrush, SpyFu, KeywordTool.io

35. 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”

36. WordPress For Beginners
Brian LaFrance
Twitter