Improving the aesthetic appeal of your WordPress blog isn’t the only improvement you need. Creating an effective, successful website is more than just appearance. It’s about following optimization strategies that win the hearts of your audiences and help you rank high in search.
Are you here because you’re looking to push your blog to new heights? If you haven’t seen any progress in terms of user engagement, sales, and SEO performance, we’ve prepared this article for you. Below, you’ll discover 7 simple techniques that will effectively transform your blog.
Tip #1: Choose a responsive WordPress theme.
Your blog should not only look good, it must also fit your visitors’ screens no matter the device. 80% of online searchers nowadays own a smartphone. There are tons of WordPress themes that ensure that your blog remains readable so your users wouldn’t have to zoom in and out to view a piece of content.
When selecting a theme, make sure to check whether it’s designed with SEO in mind. Also, it must have tons of customization options to meet your branding needs.
Tip #2: Keep your blog lightning fast.
One of the things you need to do when you learn how to start a blog is to keep it fast. Speed matters more than you think it does. People get frustrated with a slow website because it prevents them from reaching a goal: To buy a product, read an article, watch a video, and more.
To speed up your blog, avoid using too many plugins. Decrease the file size of your images but be careful not to reduce their quality. You can also use a free caching plugin such as W3 Total Cache. Lastly, choose a good host that offers free CDN.
Tip #3: Create useful, compelling content.
WordPress is an amazing CMS that supports the content marketing needs of bloggers and business owners. This is a huge advantage for you if you’re capitalizing on content to attract more audiences and increase your conversions.
Remember to write content that seeks to address your readers’ pain points. Use benefit-based headlines. Link out to authoritative websites. If you haven’t heard of Yoast SEO, it’s a plugin that checks your content for SEO and readability improvements in real-time.
Tip #4: Make it easy for readers to share your content.
If you’re not using social sharing buttons, you’re missing a lot of opportunities to increase your brand exposure. An amazing piece of content would be useless if it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. You can’t just sit and wait for readers to find you – you need to get out and spread the word.
Social sharing buttons should be added to all your WordPress blog posts. Choose a sharing plugin that allows you to display your share counts (for social proof) and select from a variety of social networks. You might want to install a paid plugin rather than a free one since the paid version has more options.
Tip #5: Grow a massive email list.
Would you believe that money is in the list? Most bloggers wish they had started building an email list sooner. After you’ve set up your WordPress blog and installed the necessary theme and plugins, your next action would be to monetize it.
By growing an email list, you’ll be able to build a solid relationship with your audience through your messages. Win their trust until they’re ready to buy. Try using AWeber or Mailchimp to create beautiful sign-up forms that capture email addresses.
Tip #6: Be proactive about your blog’s security.
When you’re new to blogging, security may not be on top of your list for blog optimization. A hack is a huge nightmare you’ll want to avoid. Imagine losing all your important information and your customers’ trust! There are many ways hackers access a WordPress blog: Through unsafe plugins and themes, weak hosting, and brute force attacks.
Protect your blog by being careful with the themes and plugins you install. They should be from a known and trusted provider. Avoid using a simple username and password. Delete any old data you no longer need. That includes your apps and backup files.
Tip #7: Build meaningful connections with other bloggers.
Last but not the least, you cannot build a successful WordPress blog without establishing connections with others. Every blog thrives on a constant stream of traffic and connecting with people outside your site allows you to achieve that.
Start joining blogging communities like Triberr, Blokube, and Blogengage. These sites let you discover great content from other blogs and share it with your audience. In return, other bloggers will share your content as well. More ways to build connections include guest posting.
Conclusion
There you go, our 7 simple and effective tips to improve your WordPress blog. Remember that blogging success happens only when you are consistent with your efforts. How about you? What strategies are you using to boost your blog today?