Tag: building a website

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Guest Posts

WordPress Performance Tips for the Everyday User

No matter what you do for a living, there is a big chance that you are running a website dedicated to your business. After all, the number of websites keeps growing steadily as there are now more than 1.7 billion sites on the Internet.

Now, every website runs on a content management system (CMS) and WordPress is by far the most popular choice among webmasters of all levels of knowledge and skills. A report reveals that WordPress powers 34% of all websites on the Internet, but the platform’s market share goes as high as 60%.

Users love WordPress because it’s simple and easy to figure out, but they still need to know a few basics in order to keep their sites running smoothly and efficiently. In this post, we will show you nine WordPress performance tips that are suitable for everyday users. Let’s take a look!

Find a Reliable Hosting Provider

Many webmasters make a simple mistake of choosing cheap but unreliable hosting providers. A typical user does it because he/she is not expecting a huge amount of traffic and therefore is not willing to invest in WordPress hosting.

Jake Gardner, an essay writer in charge of IT topics, claims this is a big mistake: “As soon as you create an army of loyal fans, you will notice that your site is slowing down. This is why I recommend you to pick a well-known provider such as Page.ly, WP Engine, or Bluehost.”

Pick a Good Theme

A theme is a collection of templates and style sheets used to define the appearance and display of a WordPress powered website. As such, it has an overwhelming impact on website performance because people love to see a beautiful online presentation.

Now, you can find a lot of WordPress themes with “one size fits all” solutions. While it may seem tempting, we encourage you to opt for a specific niche-focused theme. How come? Generic themes are covering all sorts of features – even the ones you don’t really need.

For this reason, you should pick a narrow theme that suits your business needs. If you visit a website such as Best Essays,  EssayTyper.com or EssayEdge, you will realize they use the same sort of theme because it gives them only those features academic writing agencies might need.

Choose the Right Plugins

WordPress themes determine the appearance of your site, while plugins help you to make the website better and more efficient. Just like a theme, you should also be smart enough to choose the right tools for your business demands. Generally speaking, almost every website needs plugins to enable search engine optimization, online security, contact forms, email marketing, content creation, and similar.

Remove the Plugins You Don’t Need Anymore

Everyday WordPress users are known for their “set it and forget it” philosophy. This often turns out to be a disastrous habit because hackers take advantage of outdated plugins to attack WordPress websites. If you know that over 50% of WordPress vulnerabilities come from plugins, then you understand how important it is to uninstall the tools you’re not using anymore.

Take Advantage of Excerpts on Homepage and Archives

Another thing you can do to make the website more functional is to take advantage of excerpts on the homepage and archives. Namely, WordPress will automatically load and display the entire content on a given page, which is a surefire way to degrade website performance.

If you really think that visitors should read the whole thing, then you can leave the function as is. But if you think excerpts are enough, then follow this pattern:

  • Settings → Reading → For each article in a feed, show Summary

Minimize the Size of Images

Visual content is always burdening WordPress websites, so you should consider minimizing the size of your images. Photos that are too big will make the site slower, which is a big deal in the world where almost 60% of visitors leave a page if it takes longer than three seconds to load.

The easiest solution is to use lighter images and avoid gigantic files. Another option is to install a plugin such as Smush Image Compression and Optimization to make visual content go easy on your site.

Split Comments into Pages

When your website becomes very popular, you can expect people to start writing lots of comments all over the place. While this is a sign of professional success, it can also jeopardize performance because comment loading increases the overall speed of your website. If you want to prevent this problem, go to Settings once again:

  • Settings → Discussion → Break comments into pages

Optimize a WordPress Database

As you keep creating new posts and adding fresh content to the website, you can expect WordPress to get slower gradually. In such circumstances, you should not hesitate to optimize a WordPress database because that’s where all the information is stored.

You can do it manually through settings, but a much simpler solution is to install a WP Sweep plugin. This tool will help you to get rid of many redundant features in these (and many other) segments of the site:

  • Auto drafts
  • Deleted comments
  • Revisions
  • Orphaned user meta
  • Transient options
  • Unapproved comments
  • Unused terms

Keep Your System Up To Date

Do you know that almost 40% of hacked WordPress websites were using an outdated version of the platform? This means that webmasters who neglect updates are likely to suffer from malicious attacks.

The only logical response to the threat is to keep your WordPress system up to date. Every time you see there’s a new version available, take your time to upgrade and solidify both the performance and security of your website.

Conclusion

WordPress is responsible for the functioning of more than a third of all websites currently available online. Users appreciate the platform because it’s super-easy to figure out, but some of them are still not able to identify the most important functions of the CMS.

In this article, we analyzed nine WordPress performance tips suitable for everyday users. Remember our tips and make sure to leave a comment if you need additional explanations – we would be glad to help you out!

Justin Osborne is a writer at dissertation help and research paper writing service, he loves to share his thoughts and opinions about education, writing and blogging with other people on different blogs and forums. Currently, he is working as a content marketer at online assignment help and Edubirdie reviews.

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Blogging Basics

A First Time Blogger’s Journey To Success

Evelyn Mann has been blogging for eight years, with over 1 million hits sharing her experience as a special needs mom of a miracle boy who was born with a rare form of dwarfism.

I started blogging after going to a writer’s conference. Encouraged by the feedback, I set out to follow the offered advice. Before searching out a web designer, I had to determine what I wanted to write. What was my passion? What would readers want to read and enjoy?

Your Blogging Topic

What is your passion? For me, it’s writing. Since I could remember, I wrote in a journal. I joined my high school newspaper and published three travel articles in the local newspaper. Now, fast forward several decades, my love for writing had turned into a first draft sharing the story of my son’s miraculous survival from a rare form of dwarfism.

After coming home from my second writer’s conference, I decided to create a blog about raising a miracle. Next step, find a web designer to take the technical work out of creating a home for my blog. After many suggestions and searching, I found a young and upcoming website designer who would hold my hand throughout the process.

Web Designer

We met on a sunny Florida day in my home office. With a pad of paper in his hand, Pavel asked me questions about my book, what I wanted to achieve and then turned to discussions of color and layout. With those questions answered, we talked about pricing and shook hands. That was the start of a beautiful business relationship, one that has served me well over the years.

In today’s tech-savvy world, you could design your website using Wix or a similar site, but choosing to DIY or delegate this rather daunting task, I leave the design (and the work) to the experts.

Do It Yourself

Check out this link for a list of Website Builders for 2020:

For website builders in your area, search Google for website designers in your area. Another resource is an app called Fiverr. This app pairs customers with sellers who work from all over the world. When selecting a seller, note the customer reviews, the location of the seller, seller level, and response time.

As of this writing, Fiverr’s suggested a Seller who is top-rated, six years’ experience, a fifteen day turnaround, has over 500 reviews at 4.9 out of 5, located in Pakistan. With prices ranging from $100 to under $400, you would receive a three to ten-page website depending on the package selected.

Pavel is also available to craft and create a tailor-made website. Click here: 

My First Blog

After my website went live, it was time to post my first blog; an introductory blog to share the reason for my passion. On May 23, 2012, I posted a blog titled Samuel’s Diagnosis. Being new to crafting words in blog form, I made many newbie mistakes.

  1. No pictures
  2. No Headings
  3. No Outbound/Inbound links
  4. No Call To Action
  5. My Category showed as Uncategorized

I did not know what I didn’t know. But, I accomplished the goal of getting my blog started. If you’re in the same spot right now, pat yourself on the back. You can always update an old blog to add the style points I missed above.

For more tips on updating an old blogs.

In my second blog, I added an outbound link. Success. But I still didn’t know that doing this would help with my Search Engine Optimization. Now that I’ve been blogging for several years, I look for a natural opportunity to add an outbound link which fits in with my topic.

Surprise, Your Photo’s Are Gone!

I added a plug-in which placed a watermark on all the photos of my blog. Since I share precious pictures of my son, Samuel, I thought this to be a great addition. That is until I woke up the morning before being interviewed on live television only to find all my blog pictures gone! In a panic, I called Pavel, and he pulled me out of the proverbial frying pan and fixed everything. Lesson learned.

Find tips about popular plugin’s and how to choose them here.

Another Blogging Hurdle

What else could go wrong? Some of my photos were posting sideways.

Has this happened to you?

Frustrated, I scoured the internet to find an answer to this hair pulling problem. I discovered if I uploaded the picture and edited it ever so slightly, and then re-submitted in WordPress, wah-la, all fixed.

The free resource I use to re-size my photo’s is: picresize.com/

If you’d like an easier solution, you can add a plugin called Fix Image Rotation in WordPress.org. This app fixes the mis-orientation images taken using mobile phones which is most of my images.

Marketing Tip

Once my blogs posted, I found a technique to share my heart felt, sweat of my brow words and passion. Posting on social media helped to spread the word and engage new readers. Want to learn how? Read about my secret sauce here.

Over the years I learned through trial and error. And I still have more to learn as the technical landscape continues to change. My blogging journey far from over as I continue to share my passion with others. How about you? Where are you on this journey? Share your thoughts below. I read each one.

Evelyn Mann is a mother of a miracle and her story has been featured on WFLA Channel 8, Fox35 Orlando, Inspirational Radio and the Catholic News Agency. A special interview with her son on the Facebook Page, Special Books by Special Kids, has received 1.4M views. Along with giving Samuel lots of hugs and kisses, Evelyn enjoys hot tea, sushi and writing. Visit her at miraclemann.com.

Categories
Writers Chat

Writers Chat Recap for October

Writers Chat, hosted by Jean Wise, Johnnie Alexander, and Bethany Jett, is the show where we talk about all things writing, by writers and for writers!

“Because talking about writing is more fun than actually doing it.”

Creative Website Content with Rhonda Dragomir

In this episode, Rhonda continues the series on effective author’s websites. She shares with us the current trends in site design, as well as simple ways to add effective content that will draw people back to our sites.

Watch the October 9th replay

To learn more on creating amazing website content, check out the information and resources on this week’s Show Notes and Live Chat Discussions.

Rhonda Dragomir is a graduate of Asbury University with a degree in Social Work, she is also a pastor’s wife and Bible teacher. Rhonda is an award-winning writer, with published works in Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies and Spark magazine.

How to Prep for Writers Conferences with Bethany Jett

In this episode, Asst. Acquisitions Editor and Serious Writer co-owner Bethany Jett gives wonderful tips on how to prepare for a conference and what to expect while there. She also discusses etiquette when meeting staff, either for a fifteen minutes appointment or during a meal.

Watch the October 16th replay

To get the low down on making the most of your conference experience, including a secret or two, check out this week’s Show Notes and Live Chat Discussions.

Bethany Jett is the Founder and Co-Owner of Serious Writer, Inc., and Vice President of Platinum Literary Services where she specializes in marketing, nonfiction proposal creation, ghostwriting, and developmental editing. Her love for marketing and social media led to her pursuing her Master of Fine Arts degree in Communication: New Media and Marketing. She also holds a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies: Behavioral Social Science and Humanities with a Criminal Justice minor.

How to Create Compelling Book Covers with Graphics Designer Cody Morehead

In this episode, Cody discusses why you want a trendy, good looking book cover. He shows examples of eye-catching covers and explains the importance of understanding the current book cover trends. Cody reminds us, people really do judge a book by its cover.

Watch the October 23rd replay

To learn more on designing your book cover, as well as learning what a hex code is, check out the information and resources on this week’s Show Notes and Live Chat Discussions.

Cody Morehead is the Creative Director for Serious Writer™ Inc, and founder and owner of PubZoo Creative. To get a consultation for your book cover or logo design, go to RealPubZoo.com.

JOIN US!

Writers Chat is hosted live each Tuesday for an hour starting at 10 AM CT / 11 AM ET on Zoom. Here’s the permanent Zoom room link.

Participants mute their audio and video during the filming, then we open up
the room for anyone who wishes to participate with our guests. The “After Party” is fifteen-minutes of off-the-record sharing and conversation.

Additionally, you can grow your network and add to the conversation by joining our Writers Chat Facebook Group.

 

Categories
Publicity

Why every author needs to build a strong website – Part 1

Do you need a website as an author? Let’s think about this for just a moment. In this day and age when you are curious about something don’t you resort to Googling it? The internet has dramatically changed how you research something you are interested in. What happens when someone types in your name to see if you are a Christian author? What’s the first thing they see in the search results?

I challenge you to Google yourself if you are not sure of this yet. You may be surprised by the results! Articles you haven’t thought about in months, perhaps years. The page your publisher put up that perhaps you don’t love the copy from? What does your Google search show about yourself?

An author’s website is a critical tool that is a central platform for many items that can not only help you build your brand but also to sell your books. However, a poorly constructed or “unplugged” website can also do detriment to your brand. Having worked with many publishers I can tell you that when a publishing house is looking at signing you one factor is your potential market. An author with a solid website that is socially integrated and has followers is a major bonus for a publisher or agent. This means you will be easier to market and therefore they are taking less of a chance in signing your book.

How do you get a great website? Well, first let me just say that not all websites are equal and they don’t always have to cost a fortune to be effective. I have personally run across people that prey upon authors to get “quick cash” by being webmasters that do very little or designers with price tags that cost into the $1500-$2000 range. These are more likely than not never going to make your ROI (return of investment) back. Also places that charge like that are more likely to require you to go through them for every single small change will only add onto that price tag.

Here are some tips on avoiding being put in a negative situation when having your website built:

  • Make sure you have control – With all of my authors I make sure that when my group builds a site that my business doesn’t own any of the domains or hostings. This is all done in the clients name. This protects you in the event something ever happened to the vendor. If you legally own the domain and hosting directly then you can always get someone to fix it. When someone else owns the hosting you could be left in the dark if your vendor disappears.
  • Create a site you can update/post from on your own – All the templates we use we teach authors to use. The reason for this is simple. If you want to change a color of a certain text or add a new post you are not stuck waiting for the webmaster to do it.
  • Make sure the vendor offers support – You wouldn’t buy a brand new car without the warranty would you? Make sure the vendor is able to offer support for everyday issues without too much fuss.

In my next post I will cover self-hosting on your own and the benefits of WordPress as a hosting platform for your website. If you have questions or would like a free assessment of your website please contact me at www.Meetme.so/MeaghanBurnett.