Using WordPress – A Small Business Guide
Special Report From: Tools for Social Media.com
If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner who wants to leverage the power of the Internet, then it’s worth your time to learn about WordPress. Many business owners have started using WordPress, a web publishing platform, because it offers simple ways to boost your site’s visibility to search engines—and that, in turn, drives more customers to your website. Here are just a few of the advantages of WordPress that will help you create a professional and profitable web presence: Permalinks: Short for permanent link, this is the name for the specific web address, or URL, that appears in the address bar of each particular page. There are two kinds of permalinks.
Tools for Social Media | 1
A default permalink, which typically contains a random number, is generated when you create a page or post. The challenge with these numbers is that they don’t tell the search engines anything about the content on the page, so it takes them longer to list that page in their search results. A custom permalink is a URL that contains specific information, such as a blog post title, describing the content. One of the keys to WordPress search engine optimization is to turn on the feature that creates these search-engine friendly custom URLs. One of the advantages of WordPress for small business is that one of the custom permalink options will automatically insert the title of the page or post and the date as part of the URL. Tags: Web crawlers, the computer programs that search engines use to find web content, use tags, or special keywords, to search your site. Look for special plug-ins that help you add tags to your WordPress content management system. (A plugin is a specialized program that allows you to customize your WordPress site). Page & Post Titles: When it comes to SEO tips, one area that’s overlooked is the value of a compelling headline that includes at least one targeted keyword. And, if you’re using WordPress permalink options to make page titles part of the URL, web crawlers will pick up those additional keywords. Be Tools for Social Media | 2
careful though—don’t pack page and post titles with so many keywords that they read like gibberish to your customer. Relevant Posts: Take advantage of WordPress search engine optimization features by using the option to add a list of related posts underneath each new post. This will help web crawlers identify your site’s pages more easily. Google Sitemaps: If you’re using WordPress, be sure to incorporate the Google Sitemaps tool, which is a way to notify the giant search engine about all the pages on your site, including those that might be missed by their web crawlers. Categories: This is a way to organize the site’s content. One feature of WordPress search engine optimization is the ability to boost SEO by using keywords to name sub-categories and sub-sub-categories. Ping: Post an update? Edit a blog page? This WordPress search engine optimization feature notifies sites, like blog site Technorati, that you’ve updated your small business website. Autolinks: If you’re interested in more SEO tips for using WordPress, consider adding an autolink plug-in. This will automatically link keywords and phrases in your post with other content on the site, such as posts, pages, or categories.
Tools for Social Media | 3
There are so many resources available to learn Wordpress quickly and easily. Whether you use a free resources or take a Wordpress tutorial, take the time to learn the basics of Wordpress and how it can be used to your advantage in terms of driving traffic to your website. The WordPress content management system offers the SEO tools individuals and small businesses need to drive traffic to a website. Whether you want to launch a new website or re-envision your current site, using WordPress is a smart place to start down the path to online marketing success.
Tools for Social Media | 4