Blog

In case you’re going to set out alone WordPress Project or contemplating beginning up your own particular blog, at that point this WordPress agenda will come in exceptionally convenient!

It can be overwhelming building your own WordPress site or blog. That is the reason we have delivered a straightforward well ordered check rundown of the considerable number of errands you have to do keeping in mind the end goal to make a completely useful and extraordinary looking site.

This is a completely progressive (2017) Start a WordPress Blog/Website cheat sheet which will no uncertainty turn into a No.1 asset for WordPress Designers, Developers and bloggers alike.

We’ve plot everything about pre-advancement organize directly through to dispatch and past. We have a definitive agenda to help you through the potential hair hauling out assignments of building your own particular WordPress site.

Pick the right Directory

Choose a directory and install the files under public_html.Make sure you do not use ‘root’ or ‘WordPress’.

Update Blog Title

Very important to update the blog title and tag line appropriately under setting > General.

Change DB Table names

Use random letters/numbers_table names instead of the default wp_table names. Checkout change DB Prefix Plugin.

Change Media Settings

Under Setting > Media, unchek the “organize my uploads into month and year based folders” option if you would like to save all the images under ‘uploads” folder. Be aware that large sites with 1000’s of images will make this folder very heavy.

Use Unique Login/Password

Refrain from using admin/admin as admin login/password. Alternatively, you may follow these examples;
Username- CMW (e.g)
Password- (Use Strong Password Generator Plugin).
You may also use your email as login with WP Email Login Plugin.

Change Blog Category

Similarly, under Posts > Categories, rename the ‘uncategorized’ to set up a default category for Posts.

Hide your Test Website from Search Engines

Make sure you hide your website from the search engines by checking the option under Setting > Reading “Discourage search engines from indexing this site”.

Lock Down Your Demo Site

Increase the security for your demo website by installing the Password Protected plugin.

Additional Steps

Once the installation is complete , here are some of the additional things you should do.

• Create a “Coming Soon” page with the free SeedProd Coming Soon or WP Maintenance Mode Plugins.
• Now, you will need to make some changes in the settings under General category.

Choose a www or non-www URL for the WordPress as well as site address.

Delete Sample Config File Finally, don’t forget to remove the sample config file, WP-config-sample.php in your root under public_html.

Additional Steps

• Enable the debig mode
• Use as many WP default-included third party JS libraries as possible.
• As the admin, you should be able to upload/remove media and install new plugins as per your requirements.

Set Default Date & Time

Don’t forget to update the Time Zone, Date/Time under Settings > General.

Remove Default Content

Chevk that you have removed the WordPress default content like posts, comments and more.

Change Blog Category

Similarly, under Posts > Categories, rename the ‘uncategorized’ to set up a default category for Posts.

Create a Sitemap

Next, create a logical sitemap in Notepad, Word or Excel and add pages like About us, Contact us, etc, accordin to this sitemap.

Style Sticky Post

Style the sticky posts well and make sure they function well.

Use Dash for URLS

Make sure to use “-” in your URL’s instead of “_”.

Check for content Overflow

Make sure there are no posts with pictures that break the content column. In that case, make Overflow: Hidden in your CSS.

Add Blog Categories

Under Posts > Categories, add appropriate blog categories.

Highlight Author’s Comments

Ensure that the author comment is highlighted differently

Use Gravatars

Check that the User Avatars or Gravatars are displayed properly.

Update Menu

Then, as per the Sitemap, add Menu under the Apppearances > Menu section.

Add Comment Closed Message

The comments display form is replaced with a “comments Off” message or something simmilar.

Use ALT Text

Don’t forget to add alt text to all the website images. You may also use the Search Friendly Images Plugin.

Test Search Page

Please check if the search page is accesible to users. You can check by navigating to http://yoursite.com/?s=Test.

Make a Plugin List

• SeedProd Coming Soon
• WordPress SEO by Yoast
• Google Analytics by Yoast
• BackUpWordPress
• WordPress Backup to Dropbox
• Broken Link Checker
• Redirection
• Contact Form 7
• BBQ : Block Bad Queries
• WP-Optimize
• WP-PageNavi
• WP Super Cache
• iThemes Security
• Revision Control
• Error Log monitor

Use & Test Pagination

Test the Pagination using WP-PageNAvi plugin.

Add Favicon

Add custom Favicon using Custom Favicon plugin.

Use Breadcrum

Don’t forget to use Breadcrumbs for easy navigation. it’s a part of WordPress SEO by Yoast Plugin

Link Logo

Link the company logo to the Homepage.

Remove Lorem Ipsum

Lastly, make sure you remove all the Lorem Ipsum text on the website.

Add Social Icons

Add social media icons/links for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Linkedin, etc. You may use AddThis, ShareThis or Share Bar Plugins.

Create Social Profiles

Facebook Fan Page
Twitter
Google Plus
Pinterest

Do Regular Backups Of Your Site

Once your website is launched, its vital that you take regular back-ups. Use free plugins to back-up like; BackUpWordPress & WordPress Backup to Dropbox.

Check Content Structure

Check the structure and content for everything including pages, categories, URL’s, submission forms, etc.

Update Admin Email

Also, under Settings > General, check social links, contact info and admin email.

Test All Web Forms

Make sure all forms on your site are submitting data correctly and that form emails are sent to the right places.

Check Loading Speed

Improve the page loading speed by using Google’s Page Speed Insight.

Compress Images

Reduce all the image sizes by almost 50% by compressing the PNG & JPG files using TinyPNG or WP Smush it plugin.

Use Latest Version of WordPress

Make sure you are using the latest version of WordPress. If not, ensure that you upgrade before you go live.

Upgrade Plugins

It is also important to upgrade all the plugins on your website before going live.

Open URL in New Tab

Check if all your external links are working by opening them in new tabs. Use code similar to this for links.

Ensure Crose Browser Compatibility

Check if your website is cross browser compatible by extensive testing . Free Trial with Cross Browser Testing.

Enable Site to be Crawled

Uncheck the option under Settings > Reading of “Discourage search engines from indexing this side” and make website visisble to search engines.

Disable Coming Soon Page

Launch the plugin SeedProd and disable the “Coming Soon” Page.

Test for Responsiveness

Test your website is mobile friendly. Run Google’s Mobile Friendly Test to determine the same.

Implement Security

Make sure you have all the security in place, like password strength, files and folder permissons, etc. using the iThemes Security Plugin.

Test Social Buttons

Check wheather social sharing is in place, working properly, and includes the right platforms and profiles.

Check Broken Links

it’s essential that you check for broken links on your websie before going live. Use Broken Link Checker Plugin.

White Label (Optional)

If you are developng the WordPress website for a client, implement branded WordPress login page using White Label CMS Plugin.

Test Out Feeds

If you have RSS, news,social, or other feeds on your WordPressite, ensure they are working as they are supposed to before site launch

Adhere To Accessability Guidelines

Don’t forget to make sure your site is fully accesible to everyone. Make sure your site adheres to the WCAG.

Manage 301 Redirects

Manage your 301 redirection with the help of user Redirection Plugin.

Make Sure Your Site Can Be Crawled

Site visibility can be turned on under the setting > Reading. By default this is set to enabled. but if not just uncheck “Discourage search engines from indexing this site”.

Use H1 Tag

Include just one H1 tag on each of your pages.

Use H2 Tag

Use H2 tag only within the content for headers.

Use Alt text On All Images

Add in ALT text to all images on your site. There’s a WP plugin to help you called “Search Friendly Images Plugin.

Text XML Sitemap.

Check if the Yoast’s WordPress SEO Plugin’s in-built sitemap is working or else install Google XML Sitemap Plugin

Check Robots.txt

A correctly placed and optimized Robots.txt file is important aspect of new website.

Compress Images

Make Sure you reduce the size of the images on your website. Use a plugin called WP Smush it

WWW or non WWW

Redirect the ‘www’ to ‘non-www’ or vice versa but stick to one

Signup for Webmaster Tools

If you have found any issues with the website so far, sign up for Google’s Webmaster tool and fix those issues. Ensure that you have submitted both the’www’as well as the ‘non-www’ versions.

Test Breadcrumb

Ensure that links on Breadcrumbs are working.

Limit Meta Title

Make sure that the Meta Title remains only 55 characters long, including the spaces.

Use Latent Semantic Indexing Keywords(LSI)

LSI Keywords are very important for SEO. Make sure you include enough in your content. Find LSI using Google Keyword Planner, Uber Suggest.org or Gooogle Search

Permalinks

Make sure the permalink structure is set to your liking and that each page URL contains its main keyword.

Check Duplicate Content

Your content has to be original and that you have no duplicate content on your website. Use CopyScape.om

Interlink Content

Interlinking your content with contexual links is a must when it comes to properly optimizing your website for SEO

Links to External Links

Make sure you link out to other resourceful websites, within your content. If it’s relevant, then link to it.

Optimize Site

Another high priority is to optimize your website. Use GTMetrix for HTML and Pingdom for WordPress, and it will help you to effectively clear errors.

Improve Page Loading Speed

Speed is everything. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insight to improve your page loading speed.

Get Web Responsive

UseGoogle’s Mobile Friendly Test to make sure your website is responsive and mobile device ready.

Schema Creator

Schema Creator Plugin is a great tool to use to add structured schema data to your content

Create Short URL

Use a shorter URL for the pages.

Submit for Local Listings

Submit your site to Google Business if your site is about locally related content.

Check Analytics

Get insightful data on your site by adding Google Analytics.

Check Onpage Content

Check all the aspects related to OnPage SEO before going live.

Proofread Content

Make sure you proofread the entire website to check for spelling and grammer errors, before going live.

Use a CDN

Use a CDN like MaxCDN to ensure better speed and usability.

Keyword Focus

If you are using an SEO plugin, each post and page should also have a defined focus keyword. This will give you important information on how to further optimize them.

Exclude Ip from Analytics

Exclude home and office IP addresses in Google Analytics Help Section

Add Social Sharing Icons

Don’t forget to include Social Media icons on all pages of the WordPress Website. You may use AddThis, ShareThis or Share Bar Plugins.

Block Directory Access

To prevent access to all directories, you need to place this code inside your .htaccess file.

Keep An Eye On Your Site Performance

Get regular and up to date reports of your website’s performance with this handy plugin – Plugin Performance Profiler Plugin.

Delete Install & Upgrade Files

Be sure to delete /wp-admin/install.php and /wp-admin/up-grade.php after every WordPress installation or upgrade.

Limit Suspicious Login Attempts

USe Limit Login Attempts or Login LockDown Plugins to limit the number of login attempts possible both through normal login and using auth cookies.

iThemes Security

The most comprehensive, watertight security plugin around is, iThemes Security plugin. It’s free and takes care of almost all the security issues on a website

Secure your wp-config file

Wp-config.php file contains a lot of confidential details of your site, so it’s vital that you protect it with your life! The way to protect this file is to simply place the following code in your .htaccess file on your server.

Disable Theme and Plugin Editor

If you want to stop the editor links from appearing in the admin area you can add the following to your wp-config.php file so people cannot edit the theme directly in the admin area

Hide your WordPress Version

It is important that you hide your current WordPress Version from the hackers Add the following code to your function.php

Hide Login Error messages

Error login messages may expose your website and give hackers an idea if they’ve gotten username correct/incorrect, vice versa. It is wise to hide it from unauthorized login. To hide login error messages, simply put the following code in functions.php

Go live

Once all these things are in place, you may either go live at this stage and follow the SEO Checklist after or vice-versa.

Empty Spam Comments

Tackle an attack of thousands of spam comments with the help of Delete Pending Comments Plugin.

Test Contact Forms Every Week

Test the functioning of your Contact form by sending an inquiry through it.

Check Broken Links

Look for broken links on your website with the CheckMyLink Extension for Chrome & Broken Link Checker for WordPress.

Post Revision Control

Gain total control over your post revision system with Revision Control plugin*.

Reply to comments

Make sure you check your comments section and answer questions & interact regularly with your readers.

Update Plugins

Keep a tab on plugin updates and upgrade them regularly.

Take Regular Backups

Don’t forget to take backups of the latest databases and files using BackUpWordPress(Free) | BackupBuddy (Paid) | WordPress Backup to Dropbox (Free).

Clean Spam Comments

Manage the thousands of spam comments with the help of Delete Pending Comments Plugin or Akismet.

Check Google Analytics

Check Google Analytics regularly.

Review Webmaster Tools

Similarly, check Google Webmaster Tools periodically.