wordpress workshop with tadpole, satw 2013 conference

WordPress Workshopwith

Tadpole Collective

Society of American Travel Writers

2013 Conference

Biloxi, MS

Tadpole Collective

● WordPress Support● Website Hosting● WordPress Training● Custom Website Development

www.tadpole.cc hello@tadpole.cc Twitter: @TadpoleCC

Agenda

● Widgets & Plugins● Choosing & Customizing Themes● Managing your Media● Security & Best Practices● SEO for WordPress* ● Multiple authors blogs*

*Included in Full Day Sessions

Tell us about yourself

● What do you do?

● Do you already use WordPress?

● How hands-on are you with your site?

● What specific topics of interest should we

try to cover?

Widgets & Pluginsto enhance your site

● Publicize/Sharing● WordPress.com Stats● Subscriptions● Carousel/Tiled Gallery● Spelling & Grammar● Contact Form● Extra Sidebar Widgets● VideoPress/VaultPress & more...

http://jetpack.me/http://wordpress.org/plugins/jetpack/

Pros & Cons

● Mega-plugin that has lots of features in one.

● Some features you can’t get anywhere else.

● Requires a WordPress.com account.● Too much if you only want 1-2 features.

Using Forms

• Free form plugins:– Contact Form 7– Fast Secure Contact Form– Contact Form by ContactMe– Custom Contact Forms– Visual Form Builder

• Paid form plugin:– Gravity Forms

Why pay for Gravity Forms?● Great selection of field types● Multi-page forms● Integrates with e-commerce● Conditional logic● Limit entries● Lots of additional GF add-ons to integrate

with your website/blog: polls, quizzes, coupons, Freshbooks, SalesForce, MailChimp, etc.

Paid Plugin: Gravity Forms

Paid Plugin: Gravity Forms

If they have a website, I want to collect the URL.

Advertising on Your Site

Advertising on Your Site

• CMP (cost per impression)• CPA (cost per acquisition)• CPC (cost per click)• Sponsorships / Sponsored Posts (advertorial)• Text Links• Directories / Classifieds• Newsletter Advertising• Video Advertising / Image Ads

• Ad Networks:– Google’s AdSense– Chitika– BlogHer

• Ad Management Tools:– Ad Rotate– BuySell Ads– Simple Ads Management (SAM)

Advertising on Your Site

Ad Management Using theSAM Plugin for WordPress

• The main component of the ad plugin is the “Ads Place.”

• Each Ads Place is a container for multiple advertisements of the same size/shape.

• The Ads Place is where you set the rotation for multiple ads that appear in the same place on your site, but despite its name it doesn’t have anything to do with the actual placement of the ads on the webpage.

Ads Places (Simple Ads Manager)

Set the size of the ads appearing in this Ads Place:• Standard sizes from

dropdown• Custom Sizes

Set the “patch” that should display if you have no active ads in your rotation.

Ads (Simple Ads Manager)

Ads (Simple Ads Manager)

Ads (Simple Ads Manager)

Going Social

• Social Media Channel Integration– Allowing visitors to Follow, Like, Connect, +1, etc.

on your site– Sharing Facebook status updates, Tweets, Pins,

etc. on your site (and vice versa)

• Discussion/Commenting• Sharing Related Content

• Display your social activities with plugins:– Rotating Tweets / MP Tweet List– Facebook (official plugin)– Google+– Pinterest– Simply Instagram– Linked In

• Or use an integrated solution, like Social Sharing Toolkit

Social Media Integration

Social Sharing Toolkit

Social Sharing Toolkit

Discussions / Commenting

• Everything you can do with Posts you can do with Comments:– RSS Feeds– Social sharing

• Other things you might want to do:– Limit length, extend with smileys, allow ratings,

disallow links, send automated “thank you’s”

• Disqus

The Disqus Discovery Box

Organic Discovery: Content recommendations are either• Specific to your site• From other sites that are using

Disqus

Promoted Discovery: Recommendations point to content that Disqus advertising partners pay to distribute in relevant places. You earn a revenue share from Disqus for each click on a promoted content link.

Related Content

• YARPP (Yet Another Related Posts Plugin)• Link Within• Outbrain• nRelate

• Super easy to use with flexible options• Better for SEO (does not direct users

back to their own site before delivering requested content)

• Additional add-ons to deliver “Most Popular” and “Flyout” content

nRelate Plugin for WordPress

Display WidgetsSomething simple that makes life so sweet:

• By default, “Hide on Checked” is selected with no boxes checked, so all current widgets will continue to display on all pages.

• Either include/exclude widget from pages or posts, or by category or on special pages (archives, search results, etc.)

• Helps you avoid creating multiple sidebars and keeps the sidebars clean.

Integrating Newsletter Sign-Up

• Constant Contact• Emma• Vertical Response• MailChimp

MailChimp Plugin for WordPress

MailChimp Plugin for WordPress

http://wordpress.org/plugins/mailchimp-widget/

MailChimp Plugin for WordPress

[shortcodes]

• WordPress Shortcodes• Column Shortcodes• Shortcodes Ultimate

Shortcodes Ultimate

Shortcodes Ultimate

Shortcodes Ultimate

• Tabbed Content• Callout Boxes• Pull Quotes• Spoilers• Columned Text• Google Maps• Tables• Highlighted Text

• Accordions• Dividers• Lists• Buttons• Google Docs• Sliders• Carousels• Private Content

Selecting a Theme

Free Commercial• Try as many as you

want.

• Generally not supported by author.

• Thousands from WordPress.org/themes

• Are supported by the theme author.

• Not necessarily better than free themes.

• Sometimes have too many features.

What to Consider?

Layout

Theme Options

Documentation/Support

Comments/Reviews

Responsive/Mobile Design

Are you going tocustomize your theme?

BewareOption-itis!

My Custom CSS

Where to learn CSS: http://www.w3schools.com/css/

WP Google Fonts

Typekit for WordPress

AnyFont

Managing Mediain WordPress

Managing Media

Editing Media

Editing Media

WordPress Galleries

WordPress Galleries

WordPress Gallery Plugins• NextGen Gallery• Grand Media Gallery• Lightbox Gallery

Embed mediafrom other sources

Embed mediafrom other sources

• Youtube• Vimeo• Hulu• Tweets• Flickr• Instagram

• PollDaddy• SlideShare• Rdio• SoundCloud• Spotify• More...

Adding Categories to Mediahttp://wordpress.org/plugins/media-categories-2/

WordPress BestPractices & Security

Akismet

• Requires WordPress.com Account• Learns to recognize “Spam” and “Ham”

based on input from millions of users.

SI Anti Spam Captcha

VaultPress

Backup Buddy

• Keep everything up to date.• Don’t use “admin” user.• Use a secure password.• Create a non-administrator user.• Use a secure password.• Practice safe browsing.• Plugins like “Better WP Security”

WordPress Security

Better WP Security

SEO (with WordPress)

• Basic SEO concepts

• Keyword research: How to select effective keywords

• Keyword implementation: Understand the purpose of each implementation location, and learn how to use the Yoast SEO plugin

• Learn More About SEO (Free Tools and Resources)

SEO (with WordPress)

Search Engines vs. Users

Search Engine Optimization

Search Experience Optimization

Search Engines Users

Love content. Love content.

Use keywords to generate listings. Use keywords to find information.

Can’t access a poorly designed site. Hate browsing a poorly designed site.

Everything you do on a website should have the dual purpose of satisfying USERS and search engines (yes, in that order!)

SEO is OK with Google

Many people confuse search engine optimization with spamming. Spamming and SEO are two totally different things. A recent announcement from Google contains a statement about “white hat” SEO:

Effective search engine optimization can make a site more crawlable and make

individual pages more accessible and easier to find…

“White hat” search engine optimizers often improve the usability of a site, help

create great content, or make sites faster, which is good for both users and

search engines.

Watch Google’s Matt Cutts talk about SEO on YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BS75vhGO-kk

How Do I Improve My Ranking?

On-Site Factors:

• What you say about yourself– Keywords you use on your website

Off-Site Factors:

• What other websites say about you– Inbound Links (and words they use in the link)

On-Site Factors for SEO

1. What keywords to use?– Targeted (to a specific product/service/audience)

– Traffic-bearing (Average Search Volume [ASV])

2. Where to put them on your site?– Page Titles & Meta-Description Tags…

Keyword Research

What keywords to use?

– Targeted (to a specific product/service/audience)

– Traffic-bearing (Average Search Volume [ASV])

– Not ridiculously competitive

• Brainstorm, but keep it simple.

• Don’t spread yourself too thin.

• Be specific about what you’re selling.

TIPS!

Keyword Research

• Google’s Keyword Planner

• Google Insights for Search

• Google Trends Keyword Demand Prediction

• Microsoft Advertising Intelligence

• Wordtracker’s Free Basic Keyword Demand

Implementation LocationsWhere should I use keywords?

1. Domain name (http://www.YourDomainName.com/)

2. Sub-page URLs (permalinks):

(http://www.YourDomainName.com/YourPageName)

3. Title

4. Meta-Description

5. Headers (h1, h2, h3; descending importance)

6. Internal links

7. Website copy (written content on the page)

8. Bold text

Keyword Implementation Rules

• Don’t overdo it!

• Only target 2-3 phrases per page on site

• Don’t make text read like you are spamming!

We’re a coffee shop in New York City and our coffee shop in New

York City serves good coffee.

Keyword Implementation Rules

• Don’t overdo it!

• Only target 2-3 phrases per page on site

• Don’t make text read like you are spamming!

We’re a coffee shop in New York City and our coffee shop in New

York City serves good coffee.

Permalinks

Title & Meta-Description

Title & Meta-Description• Title is essentially #1 for keywords• Meta-Description relatively low on the list

Unless your business name is a widely recognized brand, keep it out of the Title, but

include it first in the Meta-Description

TIP!

Yoast SEO for WordPress

Headers

h1, h2, h3, h4, h5Descending weight on SEO

• h1 – One of the main keywords of page• h2, h3 – secondary/topical keywords• h4, h5 – not crucial to use/embed

Website Copy

• At least one paragraph of copy should be found on each page

• Keyword Density– Not imminently important

• Learn how to write copy for the web

Yoast SEO for WordPress

Keywords for Images

• File name…“whitesalmon-rafting.jpg”

• Alt attribute• Shows when image cannot be

loaded

• Tooltip text

alt = “Rafters plunging down Husum Falls on the White Salmon River”

• Title attributetitle = “Husum Falls on the

White Salmon River”

<img src=“/images/whitesalmon-rafting.jpg” width=“250” height=“150” alt=“Rafters plunging down Husum Falls on the White Salmon River” title=“Husum Falls on the White Salmon River”>

Internal Links

• Can be helpful within the copy, especially at the end of articles

• Should not be overused

• Should have the same anchor text as your main navigation or inbound links

This is where a “related posts” plugin comes in handy:

Update ServicesAlert update services (“ping”) that you have new content. The WordPress Codex keeps a list of valid ping services that you can cut and paste into your blog’s settings:

http://codex.wordpress.org/Update_Services

XML Site Maps

Yoast SEO for WordPress

Advanced Features

1. Robots Meta configuration

2. Canonical

3. Breadcrumbs

4. Permalink clean up

5. XML Sitemaps

6. RSS enhancements

7. Edit your robots.txt and .htaccess

Yoast SEO for WordPress

Yoast SEO for WordPress

Google Analytics

Yoast: http://wordpress.org/plugins/google-analytics-for-wordpress/Ran.ge: http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-google-analytics/Alin Marcu: http://wordpress.org/plugins/google-analytics-dashboard-for-wp/

Google Webmaster Tools

Google Webmaster Tools

Off-site SEO

How Links Affect Rankings

Search engines currently base relevancy primarily on linkage patterns. Who links to you, and how they link to you, are what determines where your site will rank for competitive search queries.

• Link building: directories, link exchange, articles, press releases, advertising, organichttp://training.seobook.com/link-building

• Social Interaction• Public Relations• Branding

SEOMoz’s Beginniners Guide to SEO- Chapter 5: Keyword Research

Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide (PDF)

Yoast’s SEO for WordPress Plugin- The Definitive Guide to Higher Rankings for WordPress Sites

Google & SEO-Friendly Page Titles (Video)

CopyBlogger Copywriting 101

Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO

Learn More About SEO

http://searchengineland.com/guide/seo

Multiple Author Blogs

• Administrator• Editor• Author• Contributor• Subscriber

WordPress Author Roles

• Complete control over the site.• Can change site settings, themes,

widgets, menus, users, categories, etc.

• Generally only one Admin per site (but can have more than one).

Administrator

• Edit/publish/delete any post/page.• Manage post categories/tags.• Moderate comments.• Can NOT control widgets/menus.

• Used as a “supervisory” role, moderating posts by other authors.

Editor

Can:

• Edit/publish/delete their own posts.• Upload images/media.

Can NOT:

• Create/publish pages.• Edit/publish other authors posts.

Author

Can:

• Create/edit their own posts before they are published.

• Submit post for Editor review.

Can NOT:

• Publish their own posts.• Upload images/media.• Edit their posts after an Editor publishes.

Contributor

Can:

• Comment on posts/pages.

Can NOT:

• Do anything else.

Subscriber

Plugins forMultiple Author Blogs

User Role Editor

User Role Editor

Edit Flow

Edit Flow

Fancier Author Box

Fancier Author Box

Thank You!www.tadpole.cc

hello@tadpole.cc

Twitter: @TadpoleCC

Andy Christian

@andrew_cpht

Melissa Cahill

@panoptic_nyc