DivingDeeperintoYourWordPressBlog

1.YourWordPressblogisflexibleandcustomizable.Let’sexplore!

3.Clickthethreedotsnexttoyourname,thenchoose“EditIcon”tonavigatetotheWPAdminDashboard.

2.SignintoWordPress.com

andclicktheblueMySitebuttonin

theupperleft-handcornerof

thepage.

4.ThisisamoreextensiveversionoftheMySitesDashboard.Fromit,youcanedityourblog,viewcomments,createpollsandmore.

AnytimeyouwanttoaccessyourWPAdminDashboard, justreplacetheredcharactersofthefollowingURLwithyourblog’sname:https://NAME_BLOG.wordpress.com/wp-admin.

WewillexploretheWPAdminDashboardlater,afterfirstgettingmorefamiliarwiththeMySiteDashboard.Remember,anytimeyouwanttonavigatetothisdashboard,clicktheMySitebuttonintheupperleft-handcornerofthepagenomatterwhichDashboardyouareon.Bydefault,youwillautomaticallylandontheStats page.Sinceyoujuststartedblogging,youwillnothaveverymanystatsdisplayed.Eventually,thislinkwillshowyouhowmanypeoplehaveviewedyourblogposts,thecommentsthosepeoplehavemade,alistofyourFollowersandmore.

BasicMySitesDashboard

ClickontheBlogPostslinktoviewPublishedposts,Scheduledposts,DraftsofpostsandDeletedPosts.Clickonthetabsatthetopofthepagetonavigatebetweenthetypesofpostyousee.Searchthetabyouhaveselectedbyclickingthemagnifyingglass.

ToaddanewBlogPost,clickthewhiteAddbuttonnexttotheselectedBlogPosts link.YoucanalsoEditapost,Viewapost,viewapost’sStatsormovetheposttotheTrashfromthelinkscontainedunderyourblogposts listedonthispage.

BlogPosts

ClickthewhiteAddbuttonnexttotheselectedBlogPosts link.HooverovereachtoolintheToolbartoreadashortdescription.Clickthethreedotsontheright-handside,theToggletoolopensuptheAdvancedtoolbar.

Hooverovereachoneofthetools intheexpandedtoolbarandreadtheshortdescription.Clicksomeofthetools inthetoolboxtoseewhatoptionstheyofferyou.Youcanchangethecoloroftext,insertspecialcharacters,cleartextformatting,adjustthetextjustificationandsomuchmore.

ExploringtheBlogPostEditor

Toincludeahyperlinkinablogpostoronablogpage,typethenameofthe link,forexample“ImagesofAmerica:CarlinvilleFacebookPage”or“ContactmeonFacebook”or“FollowmeonTwitter.”Thenhighlightthetextyouwantyourreaderstoclicktoaccessthe link.Withthetexthighlighted,selecttheInsert/edit linkbutton.

CopyinpastetheURLintotheInsert/edit linkdialogboxandincludeatitleforyourlink.Pleasenote,thetitledoesnotchangethetexttowhichyouappliedthelink.ChecktheOpenlinkinanewwindow/tab boxsoyourblogwillremainopenwhenpeopleclickthelink,andclicktheblueAddLinkbutton. Youcanalsolinktoexistingcontentonceyourbloghasotherposts.

ExploringtheBlogPostEditor

YoucanselecttextandassignitaHeadingstylefromtheparagraphdropdownmenu.

AddPhotosbyusingthe imagebutton.

AddvideosbysimplycopyingandpastingtheURLintothetexteditor.WordPresswillautomaticallygenerateavideopreview.

IfyouknowhowtocodeusingHTML,youcanclickontheHTMLtabtoopenuptheHTMLtoolbarandtexteditor.

ExploringtheBlogPostEditor

Wheninsertinganimage,youcaneitherclicktheAddNewbuttontouploadafileorchooseanimageyouhavealreadyuploadedfromtheImagestab.Onceanimageisloaded,hooveroveritandclicktheeditbutton.

Besuretoincludeatitle,caption,alttextanddescriptionwhenuploadingaphoto.Thetitleandalttextcantypicallybethesame,whilethecaptionanddescriptionarealsonormallythesame.YoucanalsolinkbacktothephotosourcewithacustomURL.

ClicktheInsertbuttonandyourphotoisnowembeddedinyourpost.Youcantypetextaboveorbelowthephotointhetexteditor.

InsertinganImageintoaPost

Ifthephoto isnotanoriginalphotograph youtook,youmustciteyoursourcebothinthecaptionandwithalinkembeddedinthephoto itself.Afteryouplacethephoto intheblogpost,clickonthephoto toopenupaneditingmenu.Clickthecaptionbubble toaddacaption.

CitingYourPhotoSources

Afteryouenteracaption,selecttheimagesourcetextandusetheInsert/editlinkbutton tolinkbacktothesourceURL.

Locatethemenudowntheleft-handsideofthepagewhileintheBlogPostEditor.OpentheTags&Categoriesmenu.TagsaredisplayedinyourTagCloudwidgetandhelppeoplefindyourposts.Categoriesareawayoforganizingyourposts.TheyappearinyourCategorieswidget.ClickAddaNewCategorytoaddcategories.ClickinsidetheTagsbartoentertags.Pressenterafterenteringatagtocommittoit.

ExploringtheBlogPostEditor

OpentheFeaturedImagemenutoaddauniquecustomheaderimagethatwilldisplayforthatspecificpost.

WordPresswillautomaticallyshareyournewpostsonyoursocialmediasitesifyouconnectyouraccounts. Ibelieveyoushouldcreatespecializedmessagingforeachsiteandphysicallyshareyourposts yourself.Whileinthiscourse,pleasedonotconnectanyofyouraccountstoautomaticallyshareposts.

ExploringtheBlogPostEditor

YoucanadjusttheformatofyourblogpostfromthePostFormatdropdownmenu.Choosedifferentformatsandpreviewthembeforesettlingonone.

OpenuptheMoreOptionsmenu.Fromhereyoucanaddaslug,whichappearsattheendofyourpost’sURL.Youcanalsochangepostformatandvisibility.Youcanalsoaddanexcerpt.

ExploringtheBlogPostEditor

Youcanaddalocationtoyourpostfromthismenu,too.

Excerptsareusedtoshortenyourblogpostssothatonlypartoftheentry— usuallythe introductionorasummaryofthepostyouinserthere— isdisplayed,insteadoftheentireentry.Whenyouclicktheposttitle,you’retakentothefull-lengthpost.Usingexcerptsiscompletelyoptional.

Youcanalsoturncomment,pingbacksandtrackbacksonouroffformthismenu.Apingbackisatypeofcommentthat’screatedwhenyoulinktoanotherblogpostwherepingbacksareenabled. Trackbacksareawaytonotify legacyblogsystemsthatyou’velinkedtothem.IfyoulinkotherWordPressblogsthey’llbenotifiedautomaticallyusingpingbacks,nootheractionnecessary.Thinkoftrackbacksastheequivalentofacknowledgementsandreferencesattheendofanacademicpaperorchapterinatextbook.

Atthetopofthetexteditor,youwillfindMarkassticky(thispinstheposttothetopofyourblogroll),Editvisibility(youcansetposts topublic,privateorpasswordprotected)andtheSendposttotrashbuttons.

Previewyourblogbeforepublishingit.Noticeyoucanalsosaveyourblogandfinishitlater.

Youwillberequiredtocreateanewblogpostthis week.Usesomeofthetoolsandoptions inthisslideshowtoenhanceyourpost.Besuretopreviewyourblogbeforepublishingit.Don’tusetextcolorsthatmaybedifficulttoread.Douseheaderstobreakupcontent.

Yoursecondblogpostwillneedto includeatleastoneproperlyattributedphotoandonelinkinthetextbody.Pleasenote, likeallsoftware,WordPresssometimesglitches.BesuretosaveadraftofyourblogeverynowandthenwhileworkingonitincaseWordPressfreezesuporyour Internetconnectionfails.

ExploringtheBlogPostEditor

ClickonthePageslinktoaccessyourPublished pages,DraftsofpagesandDeletedpages.Clickthethreedotsnexttothepagenamelinktoopenupadropdownmenu, fromwhichyoucanopenthepageforEditing,ViewthePage orMovethepagetothetrash.

Thepageeditorissimilartotheblogposteditor.Youcanchangethepublish apage,rearrangepageorder, selectafeaturedimageforapageandadjustapage’sadvancedsettings.

Pages

Let’sgobackandfinishexploring themenudowntheleft-handsideofyou’reMySitesDashboardpage.FromthePersonalizesectionofthemenu,youcanchangeyourblog’sThemeedityourblog’sdefaultMenus.

FromtheConfiguresectionoftheBasicDashboardmenu,youcancontrolSharingoptions,addorinviteotherUserstoedityourblog,addadditionaldomainsandchangeSettings(likeyourblog’s title,tagline,languageandvisibility).

MySitesDashboardMenu

Tips for Posting

Keepinmind,wereadcontentonlinedifferentlythanwedoinpersonwithprintmedia.Youmustmakeanefforttowritepoststhatreaderswillstartandfinish.

Makeyourpostsscannable soonlinereaderscanskimthem.Useshortparagraphs,lists,headings,boldanditalicstodrawthereader’seyethroughthepost.

Breakuplongerposts intoaseriesofposts.Aseriesfillsmoreslotsinyoureditorialcalendarandiseasilyread.Seriesworkbestfornarrativesortipsthatcanbebrokenupintosmallerpieces.Usecliffhangerswithyourseriessoreaderswillwanttocomebackformore.

Startstrong.Yourfirstparagraphshouldcreativelyusekeywordstodrawreadersintoyournarrative.

Endstrong.Whatdoyouwantyourreadertodoatyourendofyourpost?Howdoyouwantthemtoengage?Thelastparagraphofyourpost isachancetouseaclearandconcisecalltoaction.Youcanaskreaderstoleaveacomment,readanotherpost,signupforyournewsletter,visityourFacebookpage,buyyourbook orproduct,orvisityourwebsite.

Tips for Posting

Keepyourpostsshortandsweet.Asageneralrule,ablogpostshouldbe300to600wordsandincludeatleastoneimagewithacaptionwhenpossible.Yourpostsshouldbelongenoughtoexpressyourthoughts adequatelybutnotanylonger.Editoutallthefillerandthefluff.

Useinternallinkstopostsorpagesonyoursite.Hopefully,readerswillstickaroundyourblogandexploreadditionalpostsandpages.Makeyourhyperlinksinteresting.Don’tuseURLs.Usestrong,hyperlinkswithkeywords. Strayawayfrom“ClickHere.”Linkingtoapagewithitstitleboosts itsSearchEngineOptimization.

Makesuretousegoodhyperlinkswhenlinkingexternally,too.

Interactwithyourreaders’comments.Peoplewillbemorelikelytoleavecommentsifyouengage.Youcandevelopagoodrelationshipwithyourcustomersandcultivatesuperfans.

Includepromotingyourblogcontentonyoureditorialcalendar.Scheduleandshareyourblogacrossyoursocialmediasites.

Search Engine Optimization

Searchenginesuseelectronicspidersthatcrawltheinternetconstantly.Theirsolepurpose istovisitandrevisitwebpages,index,categorizeandorganizetheinformationcontainedonthosewebpages,andfilethatinformationawaysowhensomeoneissearching,itcanbefoundquickly.

SEO,orSearchEngineOptimization,isthepracticeofpresentingandtweakingyoursiteinvariouswaysso itisrecognizedandrankedmorefavorablybysearchengines.ManyoftheseSEOfactorsareoutofyourcontrol.However,therearesomethingsyoucandotoincreaseyourchancesoflandinginafavorablespotinsearchengineresults.

Search Engine Optimization

Keywords arethemaintermsyouuseinyoursearch.Ifyou’reablogger,keywordsarethewordsspidersassociatewithyourwebpage.Usekeywordsinyourblog.Thinkabouthowsomeonewouldsearchforthe informationonyourblogandusethosekeywordsastagwordsandinyourblogname,yourposts,yourpagesandyourlinks.Thiswillincreaseyourchancesofgettingassociatedwiththosekeywords bythespidersandlandclosertothetopofthesearchresults.

Forexample,ifsomeonewantstostartablog,theymighttypeintoGoogle,“howtostartablog.”So,ifyourblogisaboutbloggingyouwillwanttousethatexactphraseinsomeofyourposts,pagesandlinks.Makesurenottousetoomanykeywordstothepointthatyourpostsno longersound conversationaloryourblogfeelsunauthentic.

Oncetheyareposted,neverchangeyourpermalinks.(Inotherwords,onceablogpostispublished,donotedityourslug.)YourpermalinkstructuredetermineswhatyourURLswilllooklikeforeachofyourposts. ThisisoneofthemostimportantoptimizationsettingsbecauseyourpermalinkstructurewilldirectlyimpactyourSEO.

Let’sgetsomekeywordsstraight.Domain =www.lc.edu.URL =http://www.lc.edu. URL+permalink=http://www.lc.edu/green. Changingthepermalinks(akaslugs)ofablogwillresultinbrokenlinks.YourpermalinksshouldreflectyourposttitleforthebestSEO.

Mostimportantly,writegreatcontent.Writefromanauthenticplaceanduseanoriginalvoice.Educate,entertainandinteractwithyourreaders.Becreativeandconstantlyrequestcommentsandfeedback.Remembertolisten,andhavefun!

Whendecidingwhattowriteaboutconsiderthefollowing:

oReaderswanttosolveaproblem.oReaderswanttoconnectwiththebloggeronapersonal level.oReaderswanttobeeducated.oReaderswanttoreachagoal.oReaderswanttobeentertained.

ShoutitfromtheMountainsPromoteyourblogonallyoursocialmediasites,businesscards,letterheadandinemailsignatures.Leteveryoneknowaboutit.Sparkpeople’scuriositywithteaserstoyourblogpostsonyourothersocialmediasites.Don’t forgettocreatequalitycontenttokeepyourreaderscomingback.

WWW.WORDPRESS.COMWWW.AMYLYNNANDREWS.COMLOUISE JETT

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