One of the reasons that WordPress is so popular for creating websites is the ease of website building for non techies or technophobes.
Even if you are completely ignorant about html, css, php or any other technical term you may associate with website creation WordPress renders all of this irrelevant. WordPress as a publishing platform allows anyone who can use a keyboard and a “what you see is what you get” editor to create a great website.
WordPress plugins
There is another compelling reason for the popularity of WordPress-Wordpress plugins. Plugins are simply pieces of script that you can install in one click to your website which will make your life even easier again with the promotion of your site.
There are plugins available for virtually every purpose ranging from the creation of contact forms, privacy policies, search engine optimisation, creation of site maps and so on.
The Best WordPress plugins
Too many plugins on your site can have the effect of slowing down how quickly your pages load when a visitor clicks on a link to your site. However there are a few essential plugins that I use on all of my websites including
1. All in One Seo
This is a great plugin which, once installed correctly and set up properly, will take care of the search engine optimisation requirements of your site on autopilot.
2. Contact form 7
Another great plugin which allows you to create and customise as many contact forms on your site as you wish. One of the primary goals of your internet marketing strategy should be to get people to contact you and engage. The Contact form 7 plug in does a great job in this regard.
3. Akismet
This one comes preinstalled with your WordPress installation and does a wonderful job of keeping spam at bay and queuing it up for deletion.
4. Google XML site maps
This one allows you to create an XML site map (don’t ask..). The critical point is that you can then submit this site map to Google Webmaster tools and ensure quick indexing in Google’s index and regular crawling of your site by Googlebot.
5. Google analyticator
This plug in allows you to connect your website with Google analytics. You simply install the code that Google analytics gives you when you sign up and analyticator then allows you to see all sorts of useful data about visitors to your site, keywords that your site was found for, geographical location of visitors and other great data.
6. Yet Another Related Posts Plug in(YARRP)
This is another great one which creates links at the bottom of each post/page to other relevant content on your site. This is great for internal linking on your site and search engine optimisation.
7. Add this social bookmarking widget
This one allows your visitors to share your content on popular social bookmarking sites. With the growth of social media this is a great, easy way to allow your visitors give your site a thumbs up which will not go unnoticed by Google who seems to be placing a greater emphasis on social media approval now as opposed to the importance of backlinks to your site.
The combination of WordPress and these open source plug ins is a potent one. It allows you to publish freely and often and communicate with your potential visitors and new clients.
Communication is ultimately the key to sales and the necessity of being a computer geek or technical wizard is no more when you wish to reach an audience and potential new markets.
Publish and be damned and don’t pass up this opportunity or leave it to the preserve of computer buffs-in 2012 this is no longer necessary..
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