What is WordPress?
As the world’s most popular website framework, WordPress is the usual choice for building websites at Web Geeks. It is a free and open-source platform allowing our website designers to develop a website, blog, landing page or online store without coding knowledge. Initially released in 2003, WordPress has since grown to power over 30% of all websites. So why is WordPress so popular, and how can it be used to create a successful online presence?
The main reason WordPress is so popular is its ease of use. It has a user-friendly interface that allows our team to create a site quickly and professionally. Its wide range of themes and plugins can be used to reimagine the look and functionality of a website.
WordPress is also highly customizable. Built on a modular architecture that allows our designers to extend its functionality easily. WordPress can create any website, from a simple blog to a complex e-commerce store.
Another benefit of using WordPress is its search engine optimization (SEO) capabilities. WordPress is designed with SEO in mind and has features that make optimizing a website for search engines easy. We can create custom URLs, titles, and meta descriptions for each website page.
WordPress is also highly secure. We love that WordPress is regularly updated with security patches and has a large community of developers who work to keep it safe. Combining this with our secure hosting platform can further enhance a website’s security.
Using WordPress to Create a Website
Creating a website with WordPress is faster than with many other options. We start by installing the WordPress framework on our servers. Once WordPress is installed, we add the Divi theme and builder to customize its appearance. The Divi builder allows us to create a website with minimal custom coding.
After creating our theme, we can start creating pages and posts. WordPress also has a built-in editor that makes creating content for a website easy. Users can add text, images, videos, and other media to their pages and posts.
Extend Website Functionality with WordPress Plugins
WordPress also has a vast range of 3rd party plugins that can add functionality to a website. For example, there are plugins for contact forms, social media sharing, e-commerce, and more. Users can browse for plugins in the WordPress plugin repository and install them with just a few clicks.
Plugins are add-ons to the WordPress platform that add extra functionality to a website. They are designed to be easy to install and use, and thousands of plugins are available for WordPress, both free and paid.
Plugins can be used to add almost any functionality to a website. For example, there are plugins for contact forms, social media sharing, e-commerce, SEO, security, and more. Some plugins are designed to improve a website’s performance, while others are designed to enhance the user experience.
Plugins are easy to install and use. To install a plugin, users can search for it in the WordPress plugin repository and click the install button. Once the plugin is installed, users can activate it and configure its settings to meet their needs.
Plugins are powerful tools for building websites. They cost-effectively improve the functionality and performance of a website while making it easier to manage. With thousands of plugins available, there is almost no limit to what can be accomplished with WordPress.
Tips for Creating a Successful WordPress Website
Creating a successful WordPress website requires more than installing a theme and adding content. Here are some tips for creating a successful WordPress website:
- Choose a responsive theme : A responsive theme adjusts the website design to fit the device it is being viewed on. This is important because over half of all website traffic comes from mobile devices.
- Optimize for SEO : Web Geeks uses the Yoast plugin to help optimize your website for search engines. This includes creating custom URLs, titles, and meta descriptions for each page and post.
- Use high-quality images : Use high-quality images optimized for the web. Big images will slow down a website and hurt its performance.
- Use a caching plugin to improve the website’s performance. Caching is the tool used to store a copy of your website in memory, making it faster to load for visitors.
- Use security plugins : Use security plugins to protect your website from hackers and malware. Popular security plugins for WordPress include Wordfence and Sucuri (although not all plugins are compatible with all hosting platforms).
How to Build a High-Ranking Website with WordPress
Creating a website that is ranked highly by search engines can be challenging without experience. Still, some essential considerations will help improve a website’s SEO – search engine optimization (and increase its visibility to your customer or site visitor). Here are some of the keys to making a WordPress website that is highly ranked by search engines:
- Choose the right keywords : Optimizing a website for SEO starts with choosing the right keywords. This means identifying the phrases and terms people are searching for products or services you provide. The Google Keyword Planner and other tools can help with this process. Our SEO process begins with keyword analysis and selection.
- Optimize your content : Based on your keywords, you should optimize your content to include them. Metadata is still a consideration, and it is essential to have your keywords in the page titles and descriptions, headings, and throughout the content of your website page. Still, it should be done using “natural language” because although you want the search engine to promote you, you are writing for people.
- Use an SEO plugin : An SEO plugin can help to automate some of the SEO tasks on a website. Popular SEO plugins for WordPress include Yoast SEO and All in One SEO Pack. These plugins can help to optimize your content, create sitemaps, and more.
- Use a responsive theme : A responsive theme automatically resizes and adjusts the layout presentation to fit the size of the device screen it is being viewed on. This is important because over half of all website traffic comes from mobile devices. Google also favours mobile-friendly websites in its search results.
- Use internal linking : Internal linking links one page on your website to another. This improves the visitor’s experience and helps search engines understand your website’s structure.
- Use social media : social media can help drive traffic to your website and improve its visibility in search engines. By sharing your website content on all types of social media platforms, you can generate quality links to your website page, which will help improve your website’s rank in search engines.
- Traffic analysis tools, including Google Analytics, which we include with our website projects, will help marketers collect and analyze website traffic, user behaviour, and more. Measuring website traffic will help you understand how people find and use your website. This data is used to optimize your website for search engine performance and ranking and improve its visibility in search engines.
Creating a WordPress website that is highly ranked by search engines requires a combination of keyword research, content optimization, responsive design, internal linking, social media, and analytics. Focusing on these critical factors can make all the difference in your website’s SEO and increase its visibility in search engines.
Using Divi Builder for Fabulous WordPress Design
The Divi Builder is a game changer. It is a drag-and-drop page builder for WordPress. It is a popular tool for creating beautiful, responsive websites without coding knowledge. The Divi Builder is a part of the popular premium WordPress theme, which includes a range of pre-built templates and layouts.
As website designers, we really appreciate the vast selection of design modules (included and 3rd party) that help designers add “flare” to the website content, including fun graphics and icons, text handling, image presentation, video presentation, animations, backgrounds, and optimization for browsing devices. The Divi Builder allows our designers to create incredible page designs by dragging and dropping elements onto a page. We can also customize the appearance of each module using the built-in design settings.
One of the benefits of using the Divi Builder is its ease of use. Its terrific, user-friendly interface makes it much easier to create wonderful page layouts without any coding knowledge. The Divi Builder includes a range of pre-built layout and design templates that can be used as a starting point for a website.
The Divi Builder is also highly customizable. It allows designers to create custom layouts for each page on the website, meaning each page can have a unique design. Designers can also customize the appearance of each module using the built-in design settings.
Another benefit of using the Divi Builder is that it is responsive. This means that websites created with the Divi Builder will look great on any device, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile machines.
Divi Builder is a powerful tool for creating beautiful, responsive websites without coding knowledge. It is easy to use, highly customizable and includes a range of pre-built layouts used as a starting point for website design and then easily modified to meet specific requirements for the site.
Create Shopping Experiences with Woo Commerce for WordPress
WooCommerce is the premier platform for most businesses to create and manage online stores. It is a powerful, customizable platform that can be used to meet the needs of any company.
WooCommerce is built on WordPress, a user-friendly platform that is easy to navigate. This makes it easy for businesses to set up and manage online stores with little technical expertise or training.
WooCommerce showcases many features that make creating incredible online shopping experiences easy. It includes various customization options that allow businesses to create unique and engaging stores that stand out from the competition. Some features include product management, payment processing, shipping options, and tax management.
Another benefit of using WooCommerce is its flexibility. WooCommerce is an open-source platform, meaning developers can customize it to meet the unique needs of most businesses. An extensive array of plugins and extensions (both paid and free) can be used to add functionality to a store.
WooCommerce also offers excellent customer support. The support team is knowledgeable and responsive and can help with any issues.
Overall, WooCommerce is an excellent platform for businesses that want to create incredible online shopping experiences. Its ease of use, flexibility, and range of features and functions make it a good choice for companies of all sizes.
Using Google Analytics with WordPress Websites
Google Analytics is a web data tracking service made available by Google that allows website owners to track and analyze their website traffic. It is a popular choice for monitoring website traffic because of its ease of use, powerful features, and robust reporting capabilities. Here are some of the reasons why Google Analytics is an excellent choice for tracking website traffic:
- It is free : Google Analytics is a free tool that can be used by anyone with a website. There are no fees or costs associated with using Google Analytics.
- It is easy to use : Google Analytics has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to track and analyze website traffic. Users can set up an account, add a tracking code to their website, and monitor their website traffic in just a few minutes.
- It provides detailed reports : Google Analytics provides detailed reports on website traffic, including information on the number of visitors, page views, bounce rates, and more. These reports can identify trends, track user behaviour, and optimize website content.
- It integrates with other Google tools : Google Analytics integrates with other Google tools, such as Google AdWords and Google Search Console. This integration allows website owners to track the marketing performance of their campaigns and monitor their website’s search engine rankings.
- It provides real-time data : Google Analytics provides real-time data on website traffic, allowing website owners to see how users interact with their website.
- It is customizable : Google Analytics is highly customizable, allowing website owners to track specific metrics and create custom reports. This customization enables website owners to follow the most critical metrics for them and their businesses.
GA is an excellent option for tracking your website traffic because it is free, easy to use, provides detailed reports, integrates with other Google tools, provides real-time data, and is highly customizable. You will gain valuable insights into how site visitors interact with their website and use that information to optimize it and improve its performance.
The Importance of the Google Tag Manager Plugin for WordPress Sites
Google’s Tag Manager is another free tool the Google team offers that makes it easy to manage and deploy tags on a website. Tags are snippets of code added to a website to collect data and track user behaviour. Here are some of the reasons why using Google Tag Manager can be beneficial for website owners:
- It simplifies tag management : Google Tag Manager simplifies tag management by providing a user-friendly interface allowing website owners to add, edit, and manage tags without coding knowledge. This means website designers and marketers can quickly and easily deploy tags on their websites without needing a developer.
- It improves website performance : Google Tag Manager helps enhance website performance by reducing the number of tags that need to be added to a website manually. This helps reduce the page load time of a website, which is a crucial factor in website performance.
- It reduces errors : Google Tag Manager will help marketers reduce errors by providing one centralized location for managing tags. This means website owners can only add tags manually, which can be prone to mistakes.
- It provides version control : Google Tag Manager includes version control, which allows website owners to manage multiple versions of their tags and revert to previous versions if needed. This can help to ensure that tags are deployed correctly and without errors.
- It provides data consistency : Google Tag Manager ensures that tags are deployed correctly and consistently across all website pages. This helps ensure that data collected from tags is accurate and reliable.
- It integrates with other Google tools : Google Tag Manager integrates with other Google tools, such as Google Analytics and Google Ads. This integration allows website owners and marketing teams to track their visitors’ behaviour, measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns, and more.
Google Tag Manager can benefit website owners because it simplifies tag management, improves website performance, reduces errors, provides version control, provides data consistency, and integrates with other Google tools. By using Google Tag Manager, website owners can improve the accuracy and reliability of their data, as well as optimize their website’s performance.
Why we Chose WPEngine as our Hosting Partner for WordPress Websites
WP Engine is a premium managed WordPress hosting provider specializing in hosting high-performance WordPress websites. It is one of the top choices for businesses and organizations that need a fast and reliable hosting solution for their WordPress websites.
WP Engine focuses on performance and safety. WP Engine is built on a high-performance infrastructure optimized for WordPress. This means websites hosted on WP Engine will load much faster and perform better than those hosted on other hosting providers.
WP Engine offers features and tools to manage WordPress websites more efficiently. Its user-friendly interface allows users to manage their websites, including updates, backups, and security. WP Engine also includes a range of tools and WordPress plugins that we use to enhance the functionality of a website.
Another benefit of using WP Engine is its security. WP Engine includes a range of security features that help to protect websites from hackers and malware. This includes automatic updates, malware scanning, and firewalls.
WP Engine also offers excellent customer support, which is essential to us. We can reach their support team 24/7; their expertise is a beautiful extension of our support team. They are knowledgeable and responsive and can help with any issues.
WP Engine has been a great website hosting partner for Web Geeks’ WordPress websites. Its focus on performance, features, security, and customer support makes it a popular choice for businesses and organizations that need a fast and reliable hosting solution for their WordPress websites.
At Web Geeks, we strive to offer the best website design and hosting experience. We want sites that look good, perform well, and appear in the Search Engines, which is why we have invested so much into our WordPress website offerings.