secrets of wordpress success - blueglass la
DESCRIPTION
My slides from the BlueGlass LA presentation on WordPress. Geared towards marketers and users (not developers) it gives a good look into strong site management.TRANSCRIPT
Presentation Overview
What Really Matters
ContentDesignSpeed*SEO
Content
Ditch The Buttons
Content
Ditch The Buttons• Focus on sharing options where your visitors are active• Code them straight in the theme whenever possible
– URL encoded links and titles– Proper image sizes
• If you don’t set them, you’re relying on the site to guess
– Excerpts
ContentTest, Test Test
Content
Test, Test Test• Don’t assume the site knows what you want.• Keep up with changes to specific site changes
– Example: Facebook recently changed the minimum size for thumbnails from 150px squares to 200px squares
• Compare button code to “bookmarklets”• Pass the correct data
– Facebook URL linter– https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug
Design
Ditch The Clutter• Multiple calls to action confuse the visitor• Say goodbye to Web 2.uhhgg• Mo’ pieces, Mo’ problems
Design
Sidebar & Footers• Are they helping?• Are they relevant?• Do they maintain the expected flow or interrupt it?
Design
Readability• Is your site actually READABLE by human beings?
– Font sizes / line height– Forget the fold, find the flow– Tests:
• Zoom in and out• Load different OS, as fonts will render differently• Load browsers you don’t use (yes I mean IE)
Design
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle• Ditch images whenever possible• Replace old methods with CSS3 and HTML where apparent• Use sprites and a CDN• If you don’t need it, don’t load it
Design
Mobile• Not everyone needs a good mobile site, but NO ONE can
afford a bad mobile site– Mobile “splash” pages– Immediate information
• Compare analytics to ensure you’re providing the best experience for your visitors
• Responsive Design tests– http://mattkersley.com/responsive/– http://www.benjaminkeen.com/misc/bricss/
Speed
Foundations• A cheap host will cost you more in lost traffic than you
could ever save• Use CDNs for image heavy sites• Set up caching
– W3 Total Cache• Consider a WordPress specific host
– Most will have built-in controls and services to handle issues
Speed
Plugins• Do A/B testing on new plugins
– Is the plugin benefit worth the performance hit?• Look for ‘single serving’ plugins whenever possible• Move simple functions from plugins to theme whenever
possible• Check for poorly coded plugins
– Multiple javascript calls– Items loading on every page, regardless of whether or
not it’s needed