Wondering How To Get Started With Wordpress? Try These Ideas!

Knowing how to create a successful blog isn't learned overnight. Fortunately, WordPress is a great blogging platform that makes being successful much easier. The key is understanding some of the tricks and tips that make it work for you, not against you. Keep reading this article for valuable tips for WordPress.
Don't include any special characters in your URLS. This can make it hard for search engine spiders to search your site, so delete them. Your URLs should also be shortened to just include keywords, so they do not overwhelm your visitors.

Write a personalized greeting near the top of your blog. This will put a personal touch to your site that you visitors will appreciate. This makes your site seem more personal.

When you are choosing a Wordpress template to use, pick something that gets frequent updates. You do not want to use a template whose creator has abandoned updates because sometimes you have to address security issues. A creator who is proactive in updating his template will give you a better product.

Be sure to back up your site often! The best way to do this is to have your host back up your site every day for you. If they don't offer this service, instead back it up yourself. There are plugins which will do the job for you, or you can just download it to your own computer.

Take the time to log out of your site every once in a while. Go back and look at it as a visitor. Doing so could allow you to see something that you are missing when you are logged in as an administrator. This step will not take very long, but it should set your mind at ease that everything is functioning the way that it should be.

Use images properly on your WordPress site. They can add everything from beauty to interest to your pages. Use their alternative text tags and title tags properly. Don't settle for generic descriptions. You need to make them specific so that your visitors know exactly what they are. This also helps them figure out what your site is about.

Do not forget to create a backup of your blog. You need to to this with regularity. Try using a WordPress plugin like Xcloner. Your choice of backup website or plugin is at your discretion, but be sure you do more than one backup location. You don't want to take the chance of losing all your blog posts.

Try to manage your comments. No one wants to look at spam. Don't let the spam in your blog's comment sections get out of hand. Try to eliminate spam entirely or, at least, keep it to a minimum. Install a plugin that can cut down on spam. Delete any spam that slips through in your comments.

Use the Evergreen Post Tweeter plugin to promote your posts automatically. It can be a chore to choose which posts to retweet daily, so let the software do it for you instead. Once you have it in place, you can literally set it and forget it and then enjoy the visitors it brings in.

Evaluate plugins carefully before you install it in your Wordpress account. Plugin creation is not regulated, and anyone in the world with the right skill can create a plugin and make it available to the public. To make sure that the source is reliable, read the reviews and pay special attention to the negative comments.

Make sure your WordPress site has a great theme. A theme can actually make or break or your site when it comes to attracting or repelling visitors. There are many great free themes out there. You can also find affordable premium themes. Just make sure your themes don't have a ton of messy code that makes loading too slow or that isn't compatible with Wordpress's current versions.

Now that you have some great suggestions about WordPress, you can better see how it can improve your blogging efforts. Take what you have learned here and build upon that knowledge. As you gain information, you will gain confidence. Soon you will be seeing more traffic and increased popularity on your blog.