Helpful Tips & Tricks To Help You Level Up Your WordPress Game
WordPress has established itself as one of the top content management systems (CMS) available today, and it’s no wonder why.
Not only is WordPress free and open source but it’s also incredibly user-friendly, flexible, and comes with a ton of features “out-of-the-box.”
In 2022, the platform is being used by 43.2% of all sites on the web. This is a remarkable feat considering that’s nearly half of all the websites in the world.
But, as with any digital marketing tool, you have to know how to maximize its potential if you want to see results. Here are some helpful tips and tricks to help you level up your WordPress game:
Invest in Your Website Hosting
If you want to make sure your WordPress website is running smoothly, one of the best things you can do is invest in quality hosting. Cheap hosting might seem like a good deal at first, but it can cause a lot of headaches down the road. Slow speeds, frequent downtime, and security issues are just some of the potential problems you could face.
A quality host will provide fast speeds, reliable uptime, and top-notch security features to keep your site safe. You’ll also get access to helpful customer support if you need it.
Look for Mobile-Friendly Themes
More than half, specifically 53.74%, of total web visits are currently done on mobile devices as of August 2022. As such, it’s now more important than ever for businesses to have a mobile-friendly website.
One easy way to make sure your WordPress site is mobile-friendly is by choosing a theme that is designed with responsiveness in mind. If you’re not sure whether or not your current theme is responsive, you can always view your domain on multiple devices and see what it looks like.
Take note that some themes are better optimized for mobile devices than others. If you want to give your visitors the best possible experience on your website, it’s worth looking for a theme that looks good when viewed on any device.
Check Permalinks and Search Engine Indexing Settings
WordPress has pretty decent permalink and search engine indexing settings right out of the box. Permalinks determine the format of your site’s page and URLs, while search engine indexing settings specify whether or not search engines should index your content.
To check your permalink settings, go to Settings > Permalinks. The default setting is “Plain,” which uses WordPress’ ugly default URL structure (?p=123). If you want human-readable permalinks, select “Post name.”
To check your search engine indexing settings, go to Settings > Reading. Under the Search Engine Visibility section, make sure the box next to “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is unchecked.
Optimize Your Site To Improve Speed
Speed is a crucial factor when it comes to WordPress websites. Not only does it affect your search engine ranking but it also affects the user experience on your site.
One in four web visitors confirmed that they would abandon a website if it took over four seconds for the page elements to load. Additionally, 46% of web users don’t return to poorly performing sites.
These are two ways to optimize your site and improve its speed:
Compress Images
Lossless compression of images can save you a lot of space, which can improve your site’s loading speed. You can use an image compression tool to reduce the size of your photos while retaining their quality.
Reduce Script-Loading
Use a WordPress plugin like Autoptimize or Async JavaScript to optimize and asynchronously load your scripts. This will ensure that only the necessary scripts are loaded and that they are loaded in a way that doesn’t slow down your site.
If you’re comfortable working with code, you can also edit your theme’s functions.php file to load only the scripts that are absolutely necessary. This method requires more technical knowledge but can be very effective at reducing JavaScript loading times.
Add an SSL Certificate
An SSL certificate is a must for any WordPress site. It helps keep your site secure by encrypting information that is sent to and from your website. Not only does this ensure the security of your business data but it also improves user experience and trust. Google also gives sites that use SSL a ranking boost, so it’s definitely worth the investment.
You can purchase an SSL certificate from your web hosting company or through a third-party provider. Many web hosting providers offer free SSL certificates with their plans, so it’s worth checking with yours to see if they offer this service.
Maximize Plugins
One of the best things about WordPress is that it has a lot of plugins, which can make your website more powerful and customizable. Yoast SEO, for instance, is a plugin that can help you optimize your website for search engines.
Another useful plugin is W3 Total Cache, which can help you speed up your website by caching your pages and resources. You can also use a plugin like Gravity Forms to create custom forms, or WP Smush to optimize your images for faster loading times.
However, too many plugins can actually slow down your website. So, it’s important to only use the plugins that you really need.
Test Landing Pages and Blog Titles
You know what they say, first impressions are everything. The same goes for your website. If you want people to stick around, you need to give them a reason to do so from the get-go. A great way to do this is by A/B testing different landing pages and blog titles until you find what works best for your target audience.
You can do this by using a plugin like Optimizely, which will allow you to change small elements on your page and see how it affects your overall traffic and engagement. This is a great way to fine-tune your website and make sure that you’re putting your best foot forward.
This way, you can grab the attention of potential customers and retain their interest enough to get them to stick around and explore your site further.
Integrate Your Sales CRM to WordPress
WordPress also makes it easy to integrate your website with popular CRMs like Salesforce, Zoho, and Hubspot. Doing this allows you to track leads and customers from your WordPress site directly in your CRM. This gives you a 360-degree view of your sales process and helps you close more deals.
You can use a plugin like WP Leads to make this integration process super easy. WP Leads automatically captures lead information like name, email address, and phone number and syncs it with your CRM in real time.
Now, you can monitor your leads’ progress from start to finish and make sure they don’t fall through the cracks. As a result, you will see a significant increase in your website’s conversion rate.
Takeaway
A website is a valuable tool for any business. If you opt for your domain to be hosted on WordPress, you can enjoy a number of features and functionalities. Nonetheless, you need to put in some effort to make your website stand out from the rest and offer a great user experience.
References:
https://neilpatel.com/blog/wordpress-marketing-tips/
https://fitsmallbusiness.com/wordpress-tips-and-tricks/
https://colorwhistle.com/wordpress-for-digital-marketing/
https://wperp.com/28512/wordpress-digital-content-marketing-tips/
https://premio.io/blog/7-content-marketing-tips-for-small-businesses-using-wordpress/
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