My WordPress Tutorial

Posts Tagged ‘SEO’

From Deep Linking to Do Follow v. No Follow links in your comment section, the use of links is an important aspect of SEO. WordPress makes it easy to add links to your business partners, resource sites, or any other website that your site’s visitors might find of interest. In this tutorial you will learn how to add links to your sidebar’s blogroll. The image at the bottom of this tutorial is ‘clickable’ (and will open a larger version in a new window).

To begin with you MUST be logged into your Dashboard. Once logged on this is the path: Dashboard>Links>Edit or Add New (depending on which you are doing).

I am going to approach this tutorial as if you are adding new links. Editing links works the same way you just have to select ‘Edit’ under your list of links that you wish to edit.

1. After clicking on Add New a screen will open that looks like the screen in the image at the bottom of this post. This is where you add links.
2. The first field on this screen is the Name field. This is where you enter the name of the website you are linking to; this does not have to be the site’s actual name but the best name that you and your site visitors will recognize and remember. NOTE: This is not where the URL goes.
3. The second field on this screen is the Web Address. This is where you enter the actual URL of the website you are linking to.
4. The third field on this screen is the Description. This is a completely optional field. Anything you enter here will appear when someone hovers over the site’s name on your website.
5. The fourth field on this screen is the Categories. This is where you organize your links. Many people choose to place all of their links in the Blogroll category. If you want to organize your links in a more specific manner this is where you can add the various categories you want to use. NOTE: You can put a link in multiple categories if you want.
6. Though this isn’t the last field on this page, the fifth field Target is the last field that most people utilize. The target field allows you to determine how your link will open. I always recommend that you check the top option (_blank) as this option has your links, when clicked on, open in a new window rather than in the same window (_none).  The advantage to a link opening in a new window is that your site’s visitor who clicks on a link is NOT taken away from your site.
7. The final step is clicking the Add Link button to place and activate the link on your website.

Many people are intimidated by the prospect of actually writing a blog post, writing does not come easily to everyone. The best advice I can give about actually writing is to write about what you know and what your site visitors will be looking for. Also, the more you write posts (a.k.a. blog), the easier the process will become.

Technology can also present a barrier to writing a post. On the actual subject of using the technology I can be more of a help. Below you will find a step by step guide on how to use the technology to write a post. Be sure to check out the image at the bottom of this post, if you click on it, a larger version of it will appear.

1. Login to your Dashboard.
2. From your site’s ‘Dashboard’ you can access the screen where you write a post in two ways (SEE THE RED IN THE IMAGE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST). Under the ‘Posts’ header on the left hand side of your ‘Dashboard’ you can click on ‘Add New’ or you can click on ‘New Post’ in the upper righthand corner of your ‘Dashboard’.
3. You now want to enter the title of your post.
4. There are two different modes you can write your posts in: Visual (SEE THE GREEN IN THE IMAGE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST) and HTML (SEE THE BLUE IN THE IMAGE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST). The Visual mode is the the easiest to use, especially if you are not familiar with writing in HTML code. The visual mode allow you to insert media, change font size, use bullet points, and other options (SEE THE LARGE GREEN BOX IN THE IMAGE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST). The HTML mode is great if you are familiar with writing in code. Select which writing mode you are most comfortable with by clicking on that tab.
5. Once you have selected your writing mode you can now write the body (content) of your post. *IF YOU NEED HELP INSERTING PICTURES, CLICK  HERE FOR A TUTORIAL*
6. Once you have written your post, you want to remember to use tags and categories (SEE THE BLACK BOX IN THE IMAGE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST). *IF YOU NEED HELP WITH CATEGORIES (CLICK  HERE FOR A TUTORIAL) OR HELP WITH TAGS (CLICK HERE FOR A TUTORIAL)*
7. Once you have written your post, you can now ‘Preview’ it prior to publishing it (SEE THE PURPLE BOX IN THE IMAGE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST).
8. Once satisfied with the post, you simply click the ‘Publish’ button (SEE THE PINK AND YELLOW IN THE IMAGE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST).