WordPress Guide : What To Do After WordPress Installation?
October 25th, 2016 | by Ravi Chahar || 16 Comments |
Every now and then people start a blog with WordPress. They try hard to do the best for their blog. But there are a few things which should be known.
Do you know what to do after WordPress installation? What are the things which can make your blog perfect with WordPress?
How are you going to manage the blog for the better SEO with proper settings? In this tutorial, you will learn everything. You will learn what to do after WordPress installation.
The Most Important Things To Do After Installing WordPress.
There is always a fear of starting a blog. But WordPress makes it so easy that even a non-techie person can create the best blog ever.
People try hard to drive traffic to their blog. But how are they going to get the results if the initial settings are wrong?
Let me provide you the required list.
1. Check The Permalink Structure.
From SEO point of view, the first thing is to set the SEO friendly permalinks. It would help you to get the positive results and the organic traffic.
There are different types of permalinks but you should always prefer the custom type or we call it pretty permalinks. It contains the post name.
2. Choose A Perfect WordPress Theme.
It’s important to have the right WordPress theme for your blog. The design of your blog matters a lot. People like to visit a blog with the better-looking theme.
There are many free and premium theme available in the market. But there are many things to know before buying a new theme.
It should be SEO friendly, mobile friendly, light weight, and more.
3. Add The Title And Tagline.
For every blog, there is tagline and the title of the blog which should be filled in the WordPress settings. You will find it in the settings>>general.
This is required because of the SEO. When your website gets indexed in Google then the title and the tagline would appear in the results.
4. Add A Favicon.
People ask what to do after WordPress installation. They search for many things but most of the people forget about the favicon.
Have you added a Favicon to your blog? Do you know what is a Favicon? It helps you to build your brand. You should always add a Favicon to your blog.
5. Delete Extra Themes.
When you first install WordPress then you would find the default theme of WordPress. After installing a theme, you should delete all the extra themes.
It’s because poorly coded themes can be the reason of your website to get hacked. And you won’t want that. It’s always important to be safe.
6. Delete The Default Post.
Just like the theme, you will find the “Hello World” post. Why would you want to publish that post? So just delete it.
If you keep that post then your SEO plugin will index that post in the search engine and no professional blog shows such types of posts.
7. Install An Anti-spam Plugin.
The worst thing is that people and the bots will comment to your blog. You will get many spam comments. Get an answer for “What to do after WordPress installation“?
Install Akismet and protect your blog from the spam comments. Though there are many plugins which can help you to get rid of spam comments but still, Akismet is one the best plugins.
8. Have A Caching Plugin.
There are many plugins to install but to boost the performance of your blog, you should install a caching plugin.
There are many caching plugins including W3 Total Cache, WP Super cache, etc. You can choose any one of them. But for the better speed, W3 Total Cache is recommended.
9. Increase the Security.
Though WordPress is one of the securest platform but still, you should improve the security of your blog. You should disable PHP execution for your files. Disable directory browsing using the .htaccess file.
You should change the default username and password. There are many WordPress security tips and tricks to follow including the permissions settings and all.
10. Install Google Analytics.
It’s always important to keep an eye on the stats of your blog. For which, you should install Google analytics which would help you to analyze your blog’s growth.
Though you can measure your blog’s growth without any tool but still, it would help you to know the perfect results.
11. Change The Time Zone For Your Blog.
According to your country, you should set the time zone of your blog. It can be done in settings>>general>>timezone.
It’s important because the post you publish to your blog will show the time according to the time zone filled in WordPress.
12. Update Reading Settings.
You may have noticed that most of the blogs show 5 to 6 posts on a blog page. You should set the number for your blog post.
And if you have a static home page then add it from the readings area. Choose the display feature of your latest posts to the home page.
13. Add A Gravatar.
People ask what to do after WordPress installation and get the results to add a Gravatar. But do they all know about it?
It is the image you should with your posts and comments. It would help you to build your online brand. People trust others by checking their image.
14. Create An About Us Page.
People like to know about you and your blog. For which, you should provide the details with the help of a page “About Us” or “About Me”.
It’s important from the SEO point of view. Even the search engine checks it and the Google AdSense checks this page before accepting your ad request.
15. Add A Contact us Page.
Improving the user experience is important for a WordPress user. You should add a new page to your blog so that people can contact you.
Maybe your readers would want to ask something related to the content you have to your blog. Provide them a medium to contact you by creating a page.
16. Update The Profile.
Below every blog post, you will see an author info box which will show all the details of the author including the gravatar.
You should update your profile by connecting the gravatar. Add the personal information about your experience and everything.
Build your authority by telling the people about your, your skills and your experience.
Did You Get An Answer For What To Do After WordPress Installation?
Are your ready to take all the necessary steps to start a new blog? All the things mentioned above can help you to start a better blog.
You want a blog with the better SEO then the permalinks are required. This is the first step which would increase the SEO of your blog.
Is your blog secure? Do you still use the default username? Do you know the things to do after installing WordPress? Are you still searching for the answers? Let us know.
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16 comments
Leave a Reply
Hey Ravi,
As usual, you offer awesome tips here.
There’s a lot to do when you build your blog, and everything you’ve mentioned here is necessary.
I hadn’t looked into the SEO plugin (I do use Yoast), so I’ll have to learn about it.
A lot of this, for me, was part of the creative process. I enjoy seeing how everything looks and functions after putting it all together – and when you use the “customize” function, you get to see the changes in real-time before publishing them. I love that.
Thanks for this post. Pinned and shared. Have a great week ?
Hi Dana,
All the things should be done before publishing your blog posts. If you’re using the SEO Yoast then there are a few settings which can boost the SEO of your blog.
Everything you choose from your WordPress admin panel decides the SEO factor of your blog. The reading setting is one of the most important settings,
Thanks for your wonderful comment.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Good idea to delete those extra themes! Heavy these things are, sapping up precious memory you could use for other purposes. Or, you could speed up your site dramatically by getting rid of these heavy add ons that are sitting there, collecting cyber dust LOL. Thanks for sharing!
Ryan
Hey Ryan,
No one wants to gather the extra stuff. And while building a blog, you should always take care of the cache and the themes which are not in the use.
And those useless plugins which can decrease the website speed should be deleted.
Thanks for stopping by.
Enjoy your day.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi What a great and useful post, to use as check list after installing WordPress. Could you please tell me more about disable PHP execution for your files and Disable directory browsing using the .htaccess file.
Thank you.
Hey Saurabh,
There are many files in your WordPress directory which shouldn’t be accessed to other than the admin. You should use your .htaccess file to block them.
Both the posts are written here, you can check the code and the full detail about the directory browsing and the PHP execution.
Thanks for your support.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
This is a really nice checklist for new WP installatons.
People get started with a WP blog and then they’re immediately stuck.
Step by step, this walks them through some of the more basic and necessary things they need to do.
-Donna
Hey Donna,
For WordPress users, these things should be done just after installing the CMS. People should make their blog ready for the SEO with the proper settings.
The beginners need to know about it.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Great post as always. These are awesome checklist after WordPress installation. Many people do mistake they don’t check their permalink style and leave it as default that will not only harm his ranking but also confused their readers.
I knew almost all of these tips and strongly recommend others to do so.
Thanks for sharing another masterpiece.
Regards,
Umesh Singh
Hey Umesh,
After installing WordPress, people think that everything is fine. They forget to do the necessary settings which can help them to get more exposure to their blog.
Permalink structure matters a lot for the SEO of your blog.
Appreciate you to take the time to comment.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Thanks for the awesome suggestions.
Here are few suggestions from my end
1. Add an SEO Plugin
2. Add an XML Sitemap plugin
3. Add a caching plugin
I personally feel that adding these 3 plugins really helps a blog in SEO, site speed & better user experience.
– Tauseef Alam
Hey Tauseef,
You’re absolutely right.
From all the plugins, you must have an SEO plugin. If you’re using the Thesis theme then you won’t need to do that. The sitemap of a website is important to guide the search engine.
Appreciate your comment.
Have a great day.
~Ravi
Hey Ravi,
Those are some great action items!
After installing WordPress, every small things we do actually count – like changing the admin login name, setting the time zone, filling out the user profile counts!
Thanks for making these points.
Jane.
Hi Jane,
For beginners, it’s important to know about such things. These setting are important to start a better blog. Setting the time zone is important so that people can know the perfect date.
From the security point of view, changing the default username is a must have thing.
Thanks for stopping by.
~Ravi
Hey Ravi,
With this you got me second guessing my set up lol. You laid out some quick reminders for people like me who’s been blogging for a while and above all those that are just getting started.
It’s really important to at least have some type of security plugin and Google Analytics installed on your blog. You want to definitely protect your blog and study your stats for blog improvement.
Thanks for sharing Ravi! HAve a good one!
Hi Sherman,
For every WordPress user, security should be the main concern. There are many plugins like Bullet Proof security and all. You can use them to increase the security level.
Google analytics can help you to give an idea about your audience. From where do you get the traffic and from which device.
It can help you to improve your blog for sure.
Thanks for spreading your words.
~Ravi