February 21, 2015

How to Set up WordPress Blog

Installing a WordPress blog is so easy that anyone can do it, and here at EASKME we have already covered installation guides. Before we talk about WordPress checklist, you should refer these installation guides:

    How to Install WordPress on Bluehost
    How to install WordPress manually on any webhosting

To be successful in blogging the very first thing is that you should create a blog right now. It can take an hour or two. If you have gone through EASKME, previous guide on WordPress post installation essential process then go to this next step. Today we will discuss about a list of checklist. You should follow this checklist to make WordPress blog.

WordPress Blog Setup Checklist : eAskme
WordPress Blog Setup Checklist : eAskme
Other people are reading : A DIY Guide for WordPress Blog SEO Tutorial

Some of these are not necessary steps, but I recommend you  because every step has its own benefits. These steps take you one step ahead of those WordPress blogs who are missing these elements.

How to Setup a Blog on WordPress Platform:

You should install WordPress blog, deleted default page and default “Hello world” post. Now check exclusive list of WordPress setup checklist.

WordPress setup checklist

Submit sitemap:

The very first thing is to create and submit sitemap to Webmaster tools. This is an easy process which also search engine bots to index your blog. Use Google XML sitemap plugin to create and submit sitemap to Google webmaster tools. Update WordPress ping list for faster indexing.

About page:

About page is required for every blog. This page is good for readers to know what your blog is all about. Your blog about page will be the most viewed page of all time. So focus on it and write it in a way to gain more subscribers. You can get some inspiration by looking at EASKME about page, where Gaurav have beautifully personalized the page.

Contact page:

A blog is a communication hub. A contact page allow your readers to contact you privately. It also help advertisers to contact you directly. The most common type of contact page is which have contact form only.

Customize permalink structure:

Customize permalink structure : eAskme
Customize permalink structure : eAskme
WordPress’s default permalink structure is both not SEO friendly and not user-friendly. You can refer this post about customizing permalink here. Read: Which is The best WordPress Permalink Structure for SEO.

Categories:

Categories provide better navigation, so create a few categories even before you start writing.

Anti-spam plugin:

Use Akismet plugin, which is bundled in WordPress installation to get rid of spammers.

Cache plugin:

Caching blog will reduce the load on server and make blog load faster. W3 Total Cache plugin is the best choice for this purpose.

Blog statistics:

Use Google Analytics, which is a free service to see in-depth statistics and information about visitors. You can use Jetpack plugin to see analytics status on your WOrdPress dashboard.

    Complete Blog Backup:

    This is the common mistake that blogger do, wehn they do not take backup of their blog. Taking backup help blogger to deal with issues like website crash and corruption. You cna use wp Time Machine plugin for this purpose, which automatically take the backup and upload file to Dropbox.

    Theme:

    A premium and unique design always help to make your blog a brand. Your theme should be SEO friendly and fast also. I recommend you to use thesis or genesis theme.

    The Optional setup tips for WordPress

    With keeping above tips in mind your blog must be ready till now. Now these are few other things that are extra add-on to your blog.

    Social media buttons:

    Social media buttons makes it easy to share your posts by your readers. Facebook ike, Facebook share, twitter tweet, pinterest, and SU buttons are the example of few popular buttons that most of the popular blogs have. Everyone like to share what they liked to read. Social media buttons increase sharing of your blog.

    Blog account on social sites:

    Register blog’s brand name on social sites like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. It hep you get more followers. You can create Youtube channel, get YouTube subscribers and direct YouTube subscribers into blog readers also.

    FeedBurner or Aweber:

    With the begining of social networks, the popularity of “subscribing to RSS” has gone down but still it is necessary to track its statistics, especially on blogs. Always give Email subscription feature on your blog so your readers can suscribe and get updates in their inbox.  You can also you Aweber for this purpose.

    These are the best WordPress set up tips that you should follow. You can also add your suggestions via comment. Don`t forget to subscribe eAskme feed to get updates in your inbox. 
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