Setting up a new WordPress blog is usually a mystery for many users as they are immediately faced with hundreds of options and possible plugins. But the truth is that only a few steps are involved for an good blog setup.
This article combines all the 'powerful' plugin recommendations in one place, with a special accent on SEO concepts.
Setting up permalinks
Right after you installed the blog, first thing should be to set the permalink structure. This is done in Settings->Permalinks menu by choosing "Custom Structure" option.
My favorite setting is just "/%postname" which will make your URLs look something like "yourblog.com/post-title".
Recently I am more inclined to think that using %category%/%postname% may yield you better results if category names contain keywords you want to rank for.
Setting up plugin installation
Next comes the installation of standard plugins. These plugins will help you with every day blog tasks and generally make your job easier.
I always install Plugin central plugin first, as it allows me to easily install all other plugins, with just a few clicks.
Installing plugins
Set of plugins I use allow the blog to start working immediately. The plugin generally work out of box and in most cases you should just visit the configuration pages to see what is going on there.
- Google Analyticator allows me to quickly add Information for Google Analytics. You can not run a successful site without an insight to the website analytics.
- Google XML Sitemaps allows me to automatically generate sitemaps and submit it to different search engines. This equals old method of manually submitting your site URL to the search engine, only it is much more effective in terms of what it does for your site. Good and easy install&forget plugin.
- Plugin Central makes the work of installing new plugins and updating old a breeze.
- SEO Friendly Images automatically optimizes all images on the site so I do not have to worry about it.
- Similar Posts allows my posts to have automatically links to the similar posts. This is good for both the reader and the search engines. Requires Post-Plugin library to be installed.
- Theme Test Drive - Usually I will be trying several themes for the new site so I use Theme Test Drive plugin to make the job easier
- WP-SpamFree is anti-spam plugin that unlike the popular Akismet plugin, requires no key to use. That means it is convenient for quick setups. It creates good results but for prolonged uses I ultimately like using them both together.
Additional plugins to consider
After setting up the blog with basic plugins I after install a couple of other plugins that are not SEO related but help the life of the blog.
- Instant Upgrade makes updating WordPress couple of clicks away. Will automatically download and install the latest version of WordPress for you.
- WP-DBManager manages backups. Key features are automatic regular backups to your email and periodic database optimizations.
- WP Super Cache make the blog less susceptible to high traffic and CPU consumption issues by caching the WordPress output.
- FeedBurner Feedsmith is a plugin that automatically links your feeds to Feedburner service
- Inisghts make blog posting a breeze by adding direct access to Youtube, Flickr, Search and Google maps services
Conclusion
This article points out several key plugins and setup options for a typical, if a little bit advanced, blogging setup. Different bloggers use different tools but the methods and plugins presented here fullfil mostly used tasks in an everyday blogging environment.
Suggested reading:
- SEO Smart Links and Category Search plugins
- WordPress plugin recommendations
- Optimizing WordPress Permalinks
Posted in: SEO, WordPress
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60 Comments
Jean, it's too specialized.
I'm curious, why your own plugin "seo automatic links", didn't make your list?
PluginCentral is new to me...even though WordPress does a decent job oh installing/upgrading the plugins I felt there is always room for improvement and PluginCentral seems to fill that gap. Thanks for letting us know.
Great Post
Hi Vladimir,
I sure wish I would have known about permalinks when I started. Now I am afraid to change them because of loss ranking and broken links. I happened to pick an ok permalink structure though so I am fine with it.
Cheers,
Jeremy
Nice post man. This was a great backdown for new users and advanced users.
Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to put it together.
-JR
Thank you for the post Vladimir. I'm fairly new to WordPress but have learned quite a bit from reading not only this post but many on your site.
My favorite setting is just “/%postname” which will make your URLs look something like “yourblog.com/post-title”.When you do that, WP ads some lines in your .htaccess file.
As a side effect, you don't have a 404 page any more, since all the /asdf's are redirected to /.
Now if you use Google webmaster tools, and you you use "upload a file" to verify the ownership, that won't work. Google apparently tests if you use 301 - moved instead 404, and in that case you cannot use this authentication method. Unfortunately, Foofle will not explain this to you in so many words.
STUMBLED!
The permalink tip is a definite must and a major improvement for SEO.
Good information. Answered some of blog problems. Vladimir keep sharing your knowledge.
Thanks,
Nathern
This article is definitely a template to starting any site. It's great to see others doing the same.
Great post! I think it´s good information even for people who has been using WordPress for some time (like me).
lots of information
I have been using WordPress for quite a while now, but have never heard of Plugin Central - thanks Vladimir! :)
Great post, I've learnt something I didn't know before, thanks!
I have heard a lot about WordPress but did not know any practical information about it. Now I'm very tempted, thanks to your informative and well-structured article.
The various tool links are equally useful.
I have heard a lot about WordPress but not know anything about it. Now I'm very tempted, thanks to your informative and well-structured article.
The various tool links are equally useful.
I am a new WordPress user, and this information is very timely. You are right about the many options in WP that can seem confusing to begin with. I just keep telling myself, that if I hang with it - it will become more comfortable to use.
Thanks for the great advice:-)
Kathryn
The permalink structure is a most to optimize your chances for success.
I would like to warn you agaisnt WP super cache, especially if you're new or fairly unexperienced with WordPress. It gave me a major headache on my blog a few weeks ago and from what I read, I'm not the only one. Just get a good hosting plan!
Thx for the post. This is very informative.
I hope that you continue to share your knowledge with the others.
Well, this list of plugins is more or less common knowledge. I would really like to hear some more about how to configure those plugins, as the installation alone does nothing really. Another thing, I didn't see anything related to tags, which has a real SEO importance.
Anyway, good post and thanks :)
That is just the way to do it!
I wish I had seen this when I had gotten started.
I love my wordpress theme and how easy it is (now) to get things done. This will surely help the new folks out there.
Cheers
George
@Ron Williams - You can read download the latest version of plugin and read this post: http://www.prelovac.com/vladimir/embedding-youtube-video-deep-linking-with-smart-youtube-plugin
How do I use Smart YouTube to take advantage of the new Deep Linking feature that YouTube just added last week?
the way you press is very very useful to the freshman,i like to view your blog,ican learn many things about wp here.