Serve WebP images in WordPress to improve pagespeed up to 300%
When you think of a website, what do you think first? How does it look? How many resources it’s using? Videos? Images? A few of our readers asked us to write a tutorial on the WebP image WordPress plugin. This article will outline the basic of WebP, why it was invented, and how can you implement webp images in WordPress.
Research says that you only give a split second to decide if you are going to read something on the web or not. Images play a big part to catch your attention. Since, the growth of the internet, we are taking billions of images and photos each day. Since May 2017 Google announced that over 1.2 billion photos are uploaded to the Google Photos every day, But images take a lot of bandwidth when you post them online, resulting in a slower than usual web experience.
You know JPEG, PNG, GIF right? There is a new kid in the block. WebP! Yes, that’s right. WebP is a next-generation image format developed by Google, the company we all love for their other products like Google Maps, YouTube, and Google Search.
Easily add WordPress Social Share buttons to your website using our step by step tutorial.
More than 3.6 billion people in the world use at least a single social media. With almost half the people of the world using social media, there’s no wonder that it plays a significant role when it comes to promoting your content or website in the current age.
So naturally, if you are looking to add social share buttons in WordPress, you might be already confused by thousands of WordPress plugins. Fear not, in this article we are going to cover three easy ways to add social share buttons in WordPress.
Why Do You Need Social Share Plugins for WordPress
Social Share buttons are links to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. These buttons help users to share an article on relevant social media websites with ease. One can share an article using just one click using social share buttons.
Image: Social Share Buttons in WordPress – See it in Action
The world is in social media craze for quite a while. So there’s no better place to share content than social media. As WordPress is a CMS and depends on plugins to extend its functionalities, you will have to use plugins to add social share buttons on your WordPress site.
These plugins will let you add social share buttons in WordPress without any coding skills. Moreover, the best plugins also offer a whole range of social media support. So if you want to add social share buttons in WordPress, plugins are the way to go.
What are the Best Social Share Plugins for WordPress?
Over time, there have been many social share plugins for WordPress. Some plugins were left unattended by developers; some are still used by thousands of users. While writing this blog, we tried all sorts of social share plugins.
And here is the final list of 10 best social share plugins for WordPress.
Know a great social share plugin that can squeeze in this list easily? Let us know in the comment section. Until then, let’s show you the easiest ways to add social share buttons in WordPress.
Easy Ways to Add Social Share Buttons in WordPress
Most of the social media plugins operate in quite the same way. So we’ll not show you how to add social share buttons with all the plugins. Rather let’s show you three of the easiest ways to add social share buttons on your WordPress website.
Now we will start with the number one point – how we can add socila share buttons in WordPress using Jetpack.
1. Use Jetpack to Add Social Share Buttons in WordPress
Jetpack is a great plugin that packs tons of features. The plugin was created by Automattic (parent company of WordPress.com) for WordPress.com websites. Jetpack has many different sections.
For example, site stats, optimization, comments, SEO, and sharing. The sharing module of Jetpack allows one to add social share buttons to WordPress easily. Your readers can instantly share your content on their social media channels.
Currently, Jetpack supports:
Twitter
Facebook
Google+
LinkedIn
Whatsapp
Telegram … and many more networks
Set up Jetpack to Enable Social Share Buttons
Setting Up Jetpack Social Share is pretty easy too. To install the Jetpack plugin, you can simply search and install the plugin. If you do not know how to install the WordPress plugin, refer to Install WordPress Plugins in the easiest way. To begin, select Plugins → Add New from your WordPress menu.
Type Jetpack into the search function and then select Install Now → Activate.
You will now be asked to connect your website to WordPress.com to enable Jetpack to work on your site. To do so, you will need to register with WordPress.com, or simply login if you already have a WordPress.com account.
Next, you will be asked to Approve the syncing of your website with WordPress.com.
Once connected, click the Start for Free button to continue (you don’t need to pay for the Sharing functionality). You will now be returned to your website where you will find a Jetpack menu has been added to your WordPress dashboard.
Activating Social Share Buttons in Jetpack
To activate sharing buttons, navigate to Jetpack → Settings → Sharing.
Here, under Sharing buttons, turn on the Add sharing buttons to your posts button.
Next, from your WordPress menu, select Settings → Sharing.
Under Sharing Buttons, drag the services that you want to add in the Enabled Services box. There is also an option to hide services behind a generic share button.
You can also do the following from the settings page.
2. Use AddtoAny to Add Social Share Buttons to WordPress
AddtoAny is a great social sharing plugin that has been around for a long time. We have used the plugin on and off during the years. It is a simple and intuitive plugin that lets you add social share buttons with ease.
Once installed, you can go to Settings → AddToAny to configure plugin-specific settings.
Add to any offers a tremendous amount of customization. As you can see from the image, the plugin supports more than 96 social networks. So you have got all your sharing buttons under one service.
There are many reasons for using this plugin. Below are just a few of them.
Great customization
Icon sizing
Hiding other social networks behind a convenient button
Custom CSS Support
Moreover, if you want to cover more social media, then AddtoAny is surely the right choice for you.
3. Our Favorite: Nobs (Formerly Juiz Social Post Sharer)
Nobs which was formerly known as the Juiz Social Post Sharer caught our eye recently. It is a great plugin to add social share buttons in your WordPress site.
If you are looking for something less sophisticated, but fast and simple, then do this underrated plugin a try.
You can add smartly designed buttons after/before your posts to allow visitors to share your content (includes no JavaScript mode & counters). This plugin has 4.5 stars due to the incredibly fast loading time. Most of the social sharing buttons use Javascript to add social sharing functionality. However, if speed is your primary concern, then Nobs can be very helpful for you. Certainly, a fast-loading website matters more! Check out the best tips to speed up your WordPress website.
Nods currently supports the following social networks
Facebook
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Tumblr and more.
So you don’t have to worry about the support of prominent social medias.
Configuring Nobs
To configure the plugin, go to Settings → Nobs Share Buttons
If you go to settings, you can choose from the eight sleek looking different designs that the plugin offers.
The X Factor
The coolest thing about this plugin is the slid animation. You can check the demo on our website.
To enable this animation, you have to enable “Show only social icon” from the WP Admin Dashboard > Nobs Share Buttons > Display Settings.
If you are into cool design customization and animation, this is a really great plugin that you can use.
There are thousands of WordPress social plugins out there. So we wanted to make your choice easier. That’s the reason for choosing the best social share plugins for WordPress. From the most popular to almost unknowns, we featured the plugins on the basis that they do great at what they are supposed to do!
If you think we have missed any of your favorites, do let us know via comments.
Also check out our coverage of the best WordPress plugins of this year, where we featured some of the best plugins from each category. If you are concerned about your website’s security then check our WordPress Security Guideline to fix vulnerabilities of your WordPress website.
Nothing can be worse than forgetting passwords. If it comes to your phpMyAdmin and WordPress admin password, it can get even more frustrating.
While you can reset phpMyAdmin password in a couple of ways, we have shown you how to do that on XAMPP, which is one of the most popular software packages to create a local WordPress site. You can easily do the same using other localhost services or web services as well.
On top of the above, we have also guided you on how to reset the WordPress admin password on phpMyAdmin, using XAMPP.
The Real Scenario behind Resetting phpMyAdmin Password and WordPress Admin Password
Having access to phpMyAdmin is essential when you manage a WordPress site. WordPress uses MySQL as its database management system. We use phpMyAdmin to handle the administration of MySQL. With the help of phpMyAdmin, we can create, update, drop, alter, delete, import, and export MySQL database tables.
So you might find yourself desperately looking for ways to reset your phpMyAdmin password if you forget it. As without phpMyAdmin, you can not perform the important database-related tasks.
Another important topic that we will go through today, is how to reset the WordPress admin password. As WordPress admin is the person who administers a WordPress site, admin forgetting the password and losing access to the website can be catastrophic.
If you have already lost your password for either phpMyAdmin or WordPress Admin dashboard, then stay with us for the easy and step-by-step guide to reset it.
How to Reset phpMyAdmin Password on XAMPP
Now let’s get to the point. In order to reset phpMyAdmin password using XAMPP, first launch the XAMPP control panel. Wait till the following screen opens up.
Once this screen pops us, Start the Apache and MySQL service. After that, click on the Admin button of the MySQL.
Now you will be redirected to the login page of phpMyAdmin page. From here, we can log in to phpMyAdmin page.
However, we are assuming you lost the password, so let’s get back to the XAMPP control panel popup.
Now click on the Config option of the Apache service. You will find a couple of settings. From here, choose phpMyAdmin (config.inc.php).
Now set your password to anything you want. Also, make sure to set the auth_type as cookie.
Once you successfully reset phpMyAdmin password, login with the newly set password and your existing user name.
You can easily reset phpMyAdmin password using other localhost services or web services by following the same procedures.
Resetting WordPress Admin Password from phpMyAdmin
Learning how to reset WordPress admin password from phpMyAdmin can be useful for a couple of reasons. You might want to set a new admin password. You might also forget the password, while also losing access to the mail connected to the account. In times like these, resetting the WordPress password from the database can become the last resort.
Thus you might want to use phpMyAdmin to enter the database and reset your password.
You can access the phpMyAdmin in a couple of ways. Follow whichever method is preferable to you. Here, we will access the phpMyAdmin through XAMPP. Now let’s get to the tutorial.
In order to reset phpMyAdmin password, first launch the XAMPP Control Panel and start the Apache and MySQL services.
Now click the Admin option of MySQL service and it will lead you to the login page to get inside the phpMyAdmin dashboard.
If you haven’t set up authentication, you will be directed to the phpMyAdmin dashboard straightaway. Now click on the Databases option.
Find the database of your website and click on it.
Go inside wp_users and you will be able to see all the users of your site. You will also find an option called user_pass, which contains the passwords of all the users.
You can double-click on the admin password and reset it easily.
Congratulations! You have successfully done the job of resetting the WordPress admin password from phpMyAdmin.
Conclusions
If you are an avid user of WordPress, then you have to remember a lot of passwords. Thus, it’s not very uncommon to forget passwords from time to time. Forgetting phpMyAdmin and WordPress account passwords are two very common occurrences.
While it is very easy to reset phpMyAdmin password and WordPress account password, you might have to face unnecessary hassle if you don’t know how to do it.
So we showed you the way to reset phpMyAdmin password, as well as the way to reset the WordPress password. We have used XAMPP or local sever to do both. You can do it on your cPanel or another web server in the same way.
If you have any trouble with the whole process or need further assistance, please feel free to ask for help in the comment box.
Typography is an essential aspect of your website design. Elegant and beautiful typography provide users a better user experience, increase engagement to your site. This overall leaves a long lasting good impression.
Great WordPress blogging themes usually have built-in support for Google Web Fonts or custom font support. However, there are some excellent plugins to include external support for web fonts.
Why is Typography Important?
Many people do not give much attention to typography however typography plays a significant role to improve the user experience. A more legible website will get more readers and traffic than a site that has a lousy user experience. It also enhances the design of your website. Typography helps to build brand recognition.
You cannot ignore typography, because it is everywhere.
Just like colors convey meanings, typography has meaning too. If there is text, there has to be some typography involved in it. It doesn’t matter if it is just text, or visual design or brochure, or brand – typography is everywhere. Choosing an excellent font for your website is one of the key ingredients behind your success.
What Does Your Typeface Communicate?
Typefaces are not a random play of words. Fonts are supposed to convey a message. If you do not put thought while choosing a font for your brand or website, it doesn’t help you to grow.
Type is a visual voice. Without reading, it imparts its message”
— Laura Worthington
If you want to pick the best font, it is necessary to focus on your audience.
You cannot choose a typeface like Comic Sans MS for a professional book. It would look very odd.
Best WordPress Typography Plugins
Many WordPress plugins can help to improve your WordPress website design and typography. A well-chosen font with optimal line spacing, text spacing can enhance your user experience a lot.
We are listing some of the best WordPress typography plugins for 2019.
Earlier in 2010, Google first started its Google Web fonts initiative to make use of beautiful fonts on the web. Initially, it was released as a beta. Now, Google fonts contain more than 800 web fonts for free.
The premium version offers more customization like line-height, font-size and more.
After installing the Google typography plugin, you will see a new option under the Appearance section of your WordPress Dashboard. You can customize the fonts of your headings and body using this plugin.
Use Any Font is one of the most well-known WordPress typography plugins in the WordPress repository. The plugin allows you to upload any custom fonts on your WordPress website.
You can use any custom font you want by using the plugin. For example, the plugin supports TTF, OTF, WOFF, and other font formats. Suppose you want to use a custom font that is not available on Google web font. You can use this plugin to upload your custom font and later use it on your website.
Besides the plugin makes sure that your custom font works without issues on all the web platforms. The plugin works regardless of themes, plugins, website builders and browsers.
Easy Google Fonts allows you to use Google web fonts on your WordPress website. You can choose which fonts to use from your WordPress theme customizer.
If you want to use fonts in advance cases, you can use the Chrome Inspect Tool to find out the CSS classes you want to target. The plugin also allows you to create control rules from the admin area without any coding. You can even live preview the font changes before saving.
Before Google web fonts, there was Typekit Fonts. Typekit is now known as Adobe Fonts. However, like Google fonts, Typekit is not free. Typekit has one of the largest font repositories on the internet.
Typekit for WordPress plugin allows you to connect your WordPress website to Adobe Fonts. Typekit has a massive font collection of beautiful paid and premium fonts. You can use all of those fonts if you have access to Adobe Fonts.
Zeno Font Reizer is a WordPress typography plugin that enables you to resize fonts on the fly. For example, if your visitors want to read the text in larger or smaller fonts, they can adjust the size. By doing this, you are giving your reader more choice. More choices mean better response from users.
The plugin uses javascripts and cookies. So, if your user changes text size and comes back later – the plugin will still remember the user’s preferred font size. It is an excellent option for people who have a visual impairment. Adding the plugin to your website also gives you a bonus point for interactivity.
Bonus Tips: Use Gutenberg Editor to Enable Dropcaps and Cover Text
WordPress’s new release has added a few more sleek new options inside the Gutenberg Editor. WordPress 5 has enabled built-in support for cover texts and drop caps. You can check our coverage on WordPress 5 Review to know how to use drop caps and cover text options.
It always matters how you present your content to your readers. It is also critical how you present your content to search engines. Hence, you need to balance both user experience and search engine optimization. Follow our tutorial on Ultimate WordPress SEO Guide | 19+ WordPress SEO Tips to have a piece of in-depth knowledge on SEO.
Step by step tutorial to easily create an online marketplace like eBay with WordPress.
eBay is one of the most popular marketplaces in the world right now. Every day millions of people buy things from the website. Thousands of sellers sell products and earn revenue through eBay every day. If you want to create a site like eBay, searching for eBay like a website template in WordPress, you have come to the right place. We are going to show you how to create an online marketplace like eBay.
WooCommerce is currently the most used eCommerce software on the planet. It holds a staggering 14% of the total internet. 21% of the top million websites are being built with WooCommerce. You can use WooCommerce to make an eCommerce shop easily with our step-by-step tutorial.
You have written a blog post, it’s really well and informative. You believe it will add value to your readers. So, should you publish the post right away?… No! There are many things you need to check before hitting on the publish button.
Over 2 million blogposts got published everyday just on WordPress. So, you have to consider how to stand out.
Writing is obviously the main part of blogging but that’s not all. Before making it public you need to check some certain things to ensure the quality and better user experience.
Here we described a 37-point blog writing checklist to make sure your efforts are not ruined. This checklist will cover from the start of your writing to publishing it.
37 Point Blog Writing Checklist for Beginners
The points got divided into three parts to make them easily understandable.
Primary Considerations and Content Outlining
Points related to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Useful tips to boost your content further
Now, let’s start with the part.
Primary Considerations and Content Outlining
1. Consider Target Audience before Planning
Considering the target audience group before preparing the content outline is a must. Every blog topic is meant for some specific people. If you write a blog post and think everyone is going to come and read then you are mistaken.
When you pick a topic up you need to identify your audience first. That will help you have a clear goal in mind and you will write keeping those specific readers in focus. Your information will be precise and you will find the right tone for your blog as well.
2. Define Your Top Goal
You should write a blog post keeping a marketing plan in mind. So, you need to realize the purpose of your topic. Like, generating traffic, SEO boosting, creating brand awareness, lead generation, etc.
We are going to start by giving you some pointers on how your structure of the content will look like.
3. Create An Outline For The Post
The next point on our blog writing checklist is, you need to create an outline for your blog post. Assuming you have already locked in on the topic. Now, an outline will contain the whole idea of your blog. The problems you are going address and how you are going to solve them, all this will be in the content outline.
When you will write a blog with a huge word count, the outline will help you keep track. Otherwise, it will be easy to get confused in the middle of writing.
4. Choose A Catchy Headline
After the outline, you need to choose your initial headline. Pick a headline that is true to your blog topic and also creates urgency among the audiences. Locking in on the starter headline will help you get a more clear idea of the topic and you will easily know what to write.
For example, if you want to write about the bad effects of smoking you can choose your headline to be “How Smoking Reduces Your Life Span By 10 Minutes Every Time“. This title will help the readers immediately realize that you are going to talk about the bad effects of smoking.
5. Provide Self-explaining Subheads
If you are writing a post that has more than 500 words, then you should use subheadings to split up the content. It is boring if you just write paragraph after paragraph without giving an insight.
That way the readers will get lost and will get bored quickly. So, to create engagement and give your readers the chance to understand your content more easily use subheadings throughout your post to break up sections of text.
6. Content Should be above 300 Words (1500+ is Best)
Don’t hold back while writing. Write as many words as you can. But make sure your whole topic is covered. Use facts, statistics, quotes, ideas, solutions. Writers often makes the mistake of thinking that audience like short contents because they don’t like to read long contents.
That is not true. When you find content that answers all your questions regarding the topic will you feel bored? Not at all. Rather you will appreciate the blog post and the writer. The same goes for Google and other search engines as well.
However, don’t fill your content with unnecessary information just to make it longer. The audience will get irritated.
7. Break Up Content Into Paragraphs
If this article was being written without any break you would have gotten bored reading the first 200 words. That is why it important to break up your content into paragraphs and white space.
Because digital contents should be skimmiable.
8. Stats & Facts Adds Value To The Post
Stats, facts, takeaways, news helps prove your point. That means if you are trying to show something or make your audience believe something uses facts or stats. Then you will come out as more believable to your audience and it will definitely add value to your post.
9. Add Use Cases, more and more Examples
Show, don’t tell.
It is one of the main factors of the blog writing checklist. When you use more use cases or examples than the audience will easily understand your point and will absorb the facts quite easily. Also, they grasp the message you are trying to share and convey to them.
Like, when you write about the bad affect of smoking you should examples like,
Every 15 cigarettes you smoke will cause a mutation in your body, mutations are how cancers start.
10. Use Active Voice
One of the first things you will learn as a blog writer is to use active voice while writing. Because active voice,
Uses fewer words, so that makes the writing more concise and efficient
Has a faster-moving narrative, which makes for easier writing and more engaging reading
Cleans up the sentence and
Helps prevent grammatical mistakes.
Also, active voice makes the sentences sounds more interesting and exciting rather than passive voice.
11. Write So That Even An Eight Standard Could Understand
We have included this point to the blog writing checklist so that you understand the importance of keeping the content simple. When you are writing a topic make sure it not only understandable by you but also by everyone.
Use simple words, don’t over complicate things, keep the structure simple. The quality of the writing should be high but simple.
12. Strictly Avoid Duplicacy
Always create original content. It is natural to look at other contents during researching. But, you should pick up ideas and what is lacking on that blog not sentences. So, rewrite the sentences in your own way and add more information if you can.
Not only audiences but Google doesn’t like plagiarism as well. You could be penalized as well.
13. Add Relevant Images, Infographics
Blog is not only about writing, it’s also about how present the information to the reader. One thing we have said repeatedly throughout the this blog writing checklist guide, never let your readers get bored.
So, if you fill-up the blog with words then no matter how interesting the topic is, it will not hold the excitement of the readers. So, you should include relevant images, infographics in order to spice up the visualization of your blog.
14. Link to Relevant-Valuable Sources
We told you to provide facts, stats, quotes to add more value to your content. But remember to give credit and provide links from where you picked up the information.You need to provide proper citations.
15. Important Information Should be Marked
When you will provide a lot of information, you want some information to catch the eye of your reader. Because you have worked hard to find that information. That is why that information should be highlighted.
But don’t go highlighting every single information.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Practices
You need to make sure your audience finds it and Google along with other search engines acknowledges it. That is why you need to perform SEO. So, what should you do?
16. Analyse Keywords before Writing
Next on our content writing checklist is selecting your primary keyword. It is important why? Well how else audience is going to find your blog. That is why you need to find a keyword that represents your topic and also help you rank higher in SERPs.
It is a very important practice for the content writers out there. The target keyword should appear in the headline of your blog topic. So, after choosing the primary keyword, go back to your title and try to include the keyword in it.
The benefit of it is Search Engines like Google, Bing, etc will know exactly what your content is all about.
18. Include LSI (Secondary) Keywords
Latent Semantic Index(LSI) or secondary keywords is an important part of the blog writing checklist. When you lock in your primary keywords, you should find some other keywords that surround your topic. These keywords can be long-tail keywords as well.
That way when people search using those secondary keywords, your blog post will still appear in the search results. Also, search engines use them to deeply understand your content.
So, it is better to select a few secondary keywords for your blog topic.
19. Make Sure Your Target Keyword Appears Within The First 100 Words Of Your Content
It is a very important practice for the content writers out there. The target keyword should appear in the first 100-150 words of the content. However, it shouldn’t look like you are forcing the idea. It should come naturally.
The benefit of it is Search Engines like Google, Bing, etc will know exactly what your content is all about and bring it higher in the search results and it sends signals to search crawlers.
20. Use Your Primary Keyword In Subheads Naturally
A part of your blog writing checklist should include adding your target keyword in subheadings. Because subheadings play a key role in optimizing the content in the best possible manner. That way subheadings will be used efficiently to enhance the quality of the content so that the content performance can be better.
21. Use The LSI keywords At Least Once
Point number 7 of the blog writing checklist, we told you to choose some secondary keywords relevant to your blog posts. Well, that was not for the show only. You need to use those keywords at least once your blog post for SEO optimization.
22. Avoid Keyword Stuffing or Black Hat SEO
It is a common idea among many writers that if you fill your blog post with your target keyword then your blog will get a higher ranking. That is absolute nonsense. The goal is to avoid using the target keyword more frequently rather than use it more naturally.
The keyword should be used naturally so that it doesn’t break the flow of the blog and readers don’t find it unnatural.
2% density is enough for a blog post.
23. Add Target Keyword At The End Of Your Blog
It is a good practice to use the primary keyword toward the end of the post to bookend the copy with references to the target phrase.
Also, it will help with the SEO and help you rank higher.
24. Add Target Keyword In The Meta Description
A meta description is used as a summary for your blog. Readers will get an initial idea about your blog by reading the meta description. So it is a good idea to use your target keyword in the meta description.
Remember your meta description should not exceed 150 words.
25. Internal Linking
It is one of the crucial point in the content writing checklist. Internal linking means when you link to other published posts on your site through relevant keyword on your blog post.
It helps in three things, boost your SEO, generates more traffic, acts as a resource guide to the readers.
26. External Linking
After internal linking comes external linking. When you write a blog you use terms that is unfamiliar and readers want to know about it more. So, it is a good practice to add outbound links to the best possible explanation for that term on the web.
The links can be to a Wikipedia page or to any relevant blog post.
27. Try To Keep The Head Keyword In The Page Title
One of the best practices in blog writing is to put the target keyword in the page title. It is a great way to boost your SEO. Also, that title needs to be unique to avoid any duplicate title tag issues that might hurt your site’s SEO.
You can make the page title the same as your headline, no problem. If you make it different make sure it stays true to your topic.
28. Add Your Target Keyword To Image ALT Tag
When you add images or any other graphics, remember to add the primary keyword to the alt tag in a natural way. It will boost SEO and also save you from copyrights.
29. Add The Keyword To Image File Name & Title
When adding images, also use the primary keyword in the original file name and the title in the CMS. This will also boost SEO.
30. On-Page SEO
Make sure to run a full on-page SEO after the blog is published. Make sure you don’t miss any SEO optimization steps. On-page SEO includes optimizing title tags, images, meta descriptions.
Useful Tips To Boost Your Content Further
31. Optimize Your Images
We all want to include high-quality images in our blog posts. But, there is a downfall to that. Sometimes it may take some time to load the whole image that can create irritation for the readers.
So, it is a good practice to resize the images for giving your readers a better experience.
32. Be Careful About The Image Copyright Issues
While writing a blog, we need to use images to convey our message. Sometimes we use images from Google. When we do that, we need to be very careful to avoid image copyright infringement. It is a very serious issue and you need to double check before publishing these kind of images.
33. Links Should Open In A New Tab
All the links, internal or external should open in a new tab. Otherwise, if the links open in the same tab, then it will drive attention away from your blog post. Which will increase the bounce rate and have a negative impact on your blog post?
34. Use CTA Buttons
CTA (Call To Action) is a great way to lead your readers where you want them to. It is better to add a CTA button at the end of the blog post. That way after finishing the blog post it will the readers what to do next.
CTA is a great way to achieve the goal you had in mind before writing the blog post.
35. Alternative Headlines
Next on our blog writing checklist is to write some alternative headlines that is more powerful and engaging. From these powerful and engaging titles choose the best one. Make sure it includes the primary keyword. Your final headline should be not more than 60 characters in order to be fully displayed in search.
You can keep the initial one as well.
36. Don’t Forget Social Sharing
Encourage your readers to spread your post on different social media channels. Create shareable contents that includes ClickToTweet links, and social sharing icons.
Also, try to promote your content through your own social channels in a regular basis.That will help create awareness for your blog.
37. Last Minute Review
You need to have your own checklist to help you find any typo mistake or spelling mistakes. Also check for grammatical errors as well. Read the whole blog post once before publishing. Don’t hit the publish button unless you are done editing.
Follow the Checklist and Stand out from The Crowd in Blogging
We prepared this ultimate blog writing checklist to help beginners and our friends who are struggling to get the desired traffic. So, when you are writing a blog post make sure to give a check to all the points mentioned here.
And feel free to suggest more considerable points if you have any in your mind.
The first hurdle for a beginner like you is to make a site looks good. Luckily, there are countless ready themes available in the WordPress repository to turn your ordinary-looking site into a beautiful one.
You don’t even need to write a single line of code to design your site. All you need to do is, download, install and activate a theme on your website.
However, as easy as it may sound, installing a theme can get a bit tricky for beginners. That is why how to install a WordPress theme is one of the questions that we often get from people who are new to WordPress.
So we have put together a detailed step-by-step guide to install a WordPress theme. Carry on reading, as at the end of the article, we have also added a section with some great themes that we think can be your starting point.
How to Install a WordPress Theme: Three Easy Ways
Let’s get to the point straightaway. As the title suggests, there are three easy ways that you can follow to install a WordPress theme.
Now, let’s get started with the first point. And don’t forget to check –
While you might not find some of the top premium themes, WordPress.org still has the best WordPress themes collection. The themes of the WordPress repository are free to use, so you certainly don’t have to think about any cost. If you want to buy a theme, trying out the free version of that theme from WordPress.org can also be a choice.
To install a theme from the WordPress.org theme directory, you need to log in to your admin dashboard first. Once you are logged in, navigate to Appearance > Themes.
From here, click on Add New, and you will be on the Add Themes page. From this page, you can search if you already have a preferred theme.
However, if you don’t have a preferred theme yet, and you’re looking for a theme that suits the type of your website, you can look for it on the Featured, Popular, or Latest theme section. One option that we suggest you to use, is the Feature Filter.
The Feature Filter lets you choose the subject of your website, the features that you want, and the preferred layout of the website and show the themes that match your selection.
This way you can easily find the most suitable theme for your website.
Once you find the perfect theme for you, just hover your mouse over it and you will find the Install button. Do keep in mind that installing a theme doesn’t necessarily mean that the theme is active on your website. In order to activate the theme, you have to click on the Activate button, which can be found once you install the theme.
Once you are done with activating the theme. You can further customize the looks from Appearance > Customize. Some themes also have a setup wizard that follows after you activate the theme.
How to Install a Theme Manually Using Zip File
The second way that we will talk about, is installing a theme from a Zip file. If you download your WordPress theme from elsewhere other than the WordPress repository, you will get a Zip file to install it on your WordPress website.
To install the Zip, navigate to Appearance > Theme once again.
From here, click on Add New and then Upload Theme. The upload theme button will trigger a new section on the page, which allows you to upload the downloaded Zip theme file.
After uploading and installing the Zip file, activate the theme just like before.
Activating the theme will make it your current theme. Depending on the theme, you may or may not find a setup wizard afterward. After that, you can start customizing your theme as you want.
Install WordPress Theme from Your FTP
This is the last and final method that we will talk about. The reason behind talking about this method, at last, is because it is by far the most complex way to install a theme for a beginner.
To install a theme from your FTP, you need to have a WordPress site set up on web hosting.
At first, unzip the Zip theme file on your PC and extract on a folder.
Then login to your FTP and go to /wp-content/themes
Here, you can find all the themes that are currently installed on your website. Upload your folder here, and your theme will be installed on your website.
Now logout from your FTP and login to your WordPress Admin Dashboard. From here, navigate to Appearance > Themes, and you will see your theme ready to be activated.
Activate the theme and it will be set as the default theme of your site.
So these were the three methods you can follow to install themes on your WordPress site. However, with so many themes that are available for WordPress, you can’t just install a random theme on your website. You have to consider and ensure some crucial things when choosing a WordPress theme.
Wondering what they are? Below are some expert tips.
Things to Consider When Choosing a WordPress Theme
Here at WP Hive, we experiment with a lot of plugins and themes and check their impact on WordPress sites. As per our experience, the following are the points that should be on top of your mind while choosing a WordPress theme.
Lightweight and Fast: If you are creating a website, you want to get noticed by people. And people like to visit websites that are fast and super-responsive. Choosing a lightweight theme means that you are getting an edge on creating a fast website. Website speed is also an issue that is highly valued by Google as a core web vital.
SEO Optimized: Even if the coding structure of a theme is unorganized, it can look perfectly well from the frontend. But for SEO, this can be disastrous, as search engine spiders will have a hard time crawling and finding information from a site built with such a theme. So it’s very important to know if the theme is well-optimized for SEO before using it on your website.
Customization Opportunity: The ability to customize a theme for your website is a must-have requirement. Many themes have separate options for customizing everything from the header, footer, navigation bar, and more. These types of customizability give you more design freedom.
Responsive Design: Gone are the days of only focusing on desktop. With more and more people connecting to the internet with smart handheld devices like smartphones and tablets, it’s quite mandatory to use a theme that supports responsive design.
After-Sale Support: A lot of things can go wrong when building a WordPress website. Things like a plugin can collide with your theme, an update to the theme can cause the site to crash. Good after-sale support from your theme developer can come in really handy in disastrous times like these.
That’s why we decided to share some themes with you that are well-known for great customer support while also have some great features to make your site look good.
Let’s a take look at these themes, and know why we think they are great for a beginner.
5 Best Themes for WordPress Beginners
So, you know how to install a theme, right? It’s time to pick one and make it ready to use.
Here are the top 5 themes that are perfect for a beginner like you.
1. Astra
Astra is a theme that has been the choice for hundreds of thousands of website owners. Want to know why? That’s because it is fast, highly customizable, and packed with modern features. If you want to spend less time, yet come up with a great design with great features for your website, Astra can be an easy choice.
The price of Astra starts at a highly competitive $49/ for the premium version.
Another bestseller theme that people love. Termed as one of the best multipurpose themes for WordPress, this is one such theme that is suited for all.
Divi is fast, responsive, and highly optimized for SEO. With its large number of ready-made starter sites, you can just install and use the theme right away. But if you want to customize Divi also has one of the most powerful WordPress page builders, that will allow you to do so.
The price of the Divi starts at $89, which include the cost for premium support.
A modern theme that has it all. Blocksy free offers more options than most of the premium themes in the market. It is a minimalistic, featureful, Gutenberg block-based theme that has a custom theme customizer that is appraised by the whole WordPress community.
It has not been around for a long time and the pro version just launched in November 2020. The pro costs $49 for a single site, which we think is a great deal for such a great product.
Tesla is another veteran in the WordPress market that matured well with age. With time, Tesla has become easier for WordPress site owners of all experience levels.
It can be used in many types of websites. Whether you want a business website or a personal portfolio website, Tesla is a theme you can trust to build it. It provides a lot of simple and easy customization options that will help ease the pressure of a beginner.
Here at WP Hive, we love multi-purpose themes. Especially for beginners, popular multipurpose themes can be the easier choice, as they usually offer a couple of demo sites for a faster installation and setup process.
Ultra is one such theme from Themify. One of our most favorite themes, Ultra lets you take control of every aspect of your website. The end result is often beautiful while also maintaining a proper coding structure.
Ultra starts at just $59, just like any other theme at Themify. This price also includes the Themify Builder, an intuitive page builder that helps you build beautiful webpages in minutes.
There are a few common questions that we get from our readers regarding how to install WordPress theme, so here are the answers to those questions.
What are themes in WordPress?
Themes are a collection of files that determine how your WordPress site will look. These files are usually kept together in a Zip file or folder for a smooth and fast installing experience.
How do I manually install a WordPress theme?
To manually install a WordPress theme, simply login to your WordPress Admin Dashboard, and go to Appearance > Themes > Add New > Upload
From here, upload the Zip file, install and activate it.
Why doesn’t my WordPress theme look like the demo?
The demo sites are usually full of content and professional photograph that makes them looks appealing. However, naturally, your new site does not have any content, which might make it look a bit underwhelming.
How do I make a theme look like a demo?
Premium themes often come with a one-click demo importer or some starter sites that lets you import all the content that you see on the demo site. Importing those files will make your site look exactly like the one you see on the demo.
Why does my WordPress site look like a blog?
WordPress sites usually have a sidebar by default, which makes it look quite like a blog site. Removing the sidebar might work well to make your site look like a regular one rather than a blog.
Finishing up
If you a regular reader of WP Hive, you know we like to share information that is truly helpful. That’s because we try and test every aspect of it before writing it down for you.
How to install a WordPress theme is a true beginner’s guide, where we showed you three different methods to install themes on your WordPress site. They are – installing themes from WordPress Theme Directory, installing a theme manually using Zip file, and installing a theme from your FTP.
Apart from that we also showed you some important aspects that you should look out for while selecting a WordPress theme, while also sharing the 5 best WordPress themes for beginners.
Review the your common Yoast SEO Settings mistakes!
If you are using WordPress, Chances are you are using an SEO plugin to boost your online presence. Today, we are covering how to install and set up one of the best WordPress plugins for SEO – the Yoast SEO plugin by Team Yoast.
If you are not optimizing your content for search engines, you are missing out. We have previously covered the best WordPress SEO Guide where we discussed in-depth about the Do’s and Dont’s of WordPress SEO. In this article, we will illustrate the top 11 Yoast SEO settings mistakes that people regularly do.
Need a cheap and secured WordPress hosting providers? Checkout our best WordPress Hosting Providers.
Choosing the best WordPress hosting is very important for your WordPress site. Your website’s performance and health totally depend on the hosting provider you are using. There are different types of WordPress hosting options available such as Free, Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and managed WordPress hosting. In this article, we’ve picked out the best WordPress Hosting Providers to point you in the right direction.
Things to Consider When Choosing the Best WordPress Hosting Providers
Whichever hosting you’re going to choose, keep in mind the five most important factors:
Server Requirements – Should meet WordPress’s latest server requirements (PHP, MySQL, HTTPS support, and Nginx or Apache with mod_rewrite module).
Speed – Should faster. Loading time considered to be 1 second. If your WordPress site loads slowly then you should change the hosting.
Uptime – If your hosting uptime is below 99.95%, you should switch it. Uptime is the most important factor while choosing the best WordPress web hosting.
Customer Support – Customer support is another important factor while choosing the best hosting providers. They should help you with any WordPress-related questions, preferably through 24/7 live chat.
Pricing – Pricing is also important. It should be fair and clear. Some web hosts “hide” their renewal fees or unclear about certain features.
Top 10+ WordPress Hosting Providers
Below I’ve highlighted some of the best WordPress site hosts you’ll want to consider throughout your search for the perfect hosting providers. These are the top 10+ best WordPress hosting service providers in 2021.
Now we’ll take a deep dive into this list and eventually find out which one is the perfect solution for you by checking their features, pricing, and stability.
1. Bluehost ($2.95/mo): Most Cost-effective WordPress hosting
Bluehost is the top WordPress Hosting and web hosting companies. They offer cheap and high-quality WordPress hosting plans to individuals, bloggers and small business owners all over the world.
Bluehost doesn’t offer a monthly package. Their hosting plan lengths are between 12 and 36 months, so they do require a longer commitment. They are offering a strong money-back guarantee policy that I liked personally.
With speed monitoring tool Pingdom it is found that the average up-time is 99.99% with only 24 outages and an average page loading speed is 390 ms for the last 12-months.
Key Features of Bluehost:
One-click WordPress installation and auto-updates
Free domain name registration and SSL certificate
Quick scalability, you can upgrade to a VPS solution with a single click
Unmetered MySQL DB, site analytics dashboard, and unlimited parked/sub-domains
An easy to use cPanel for easy website management
The Plus plan which starts at $5.45 per month for the first term, adds unlimited websites and SSD storage, and additional features like spam protection, free CDN and WP staging environment. If you need more power, BlueHost has another plan called WordPress Pro that has been optimized for WordPress websites, with prices starting at $13.95 per month. These plans have many additional features like unlimited everything, malware detection and dedicated IP and more.
2. Kinsta ($30/mo): Best Performance Among Managed WordPress Hosting
Kinsta is a managed web hosting provider specialized for WordPress-hosted sites. It’s a low-cost budget hosting. Kinsta has the full power of the Google Cloud Platform. It doesn’t use the traditional cPanel UI, but instead gives users a custom panel that puts focus on what’s important while hiding everything else.
The response times are even more impressive. The average up-time is 99.99% and an average page loading speed is 160 ms. The loading times are great – below 1 second.
Key Features of Kinsta:
Cloud-based infrastructure made for speed
99.9% uptime guaranteed
Awesome technical support
Simple set-up and migration
Great for traffic spikes
Optimized for e-commerce
In addition to the Starter plan, they are also offering Pro, Business and Enterprise plan. Price varies from $600 to $1500.
3. HostGator ($2.75/mo): Most Popular Mainstream WordPress Hosting
HostGator is another well-known hosting provider for the beginner. Similar to Bluehost, HostGator also offers specialized WordPress hosting solutions, such as “WordPress Hosting.”
Their average up-time is >99.99% with only 24 outages and an average page loading speed is 369 ms for the last 12-months. Their total yearly downtime is only 22 minutes, which is rather outstanding.
Key Features ofHostGator:
An easy to use WordPress installation and cloud interface
Built-in cPanel WordPress installer
Improved site performance with Global CDN
High-level security protection
Easy to scalable to adjust to higher levels of traffic
45 days money-back guarantee
HostGator generally offers powerful hosting plans for a fair price and its managed WordPress hosting is no exception. Its Starter plan only costs $5.95 per month, and you will get a free site migration, an SSL certificate, automatic malware detection and removal, unlimited email addresses and unmetered storage and bandwidth, and it can handle up to 100,000 visits a month.
4. Hostinger ($0.99/mo): Fast and Secure WordPress Web Hosting
Hostinger is one of the cheapest web hosts for WordPress websites. It is designed to be as user-friendly as possible, allowing you to get your site set up in only a few minutes. Each WordPress hosting plan offers access to a one-click installer that already has several performance-based plugins.
Their average up-time is 99.93% with only 24 outages and an average page loading speed is 339 ms for the last 12-months.
The built-in caching plugin works well with the service. If you need more performance capabilities, it offers speed optimization features as well.
Key Features of Hostinger WordPress Hosting:
One-click easy WordPress installer
Cloudflare Protected Nameservers
WordPress Acceleration (LSCWP)
Daily backups available
Pre-installed caching plugin
Free domain with 24/7/365 Support
Hostinger also offering some powerful web hosting plans. Premium Shared Hosting plans cost $2.89/mo with an unlimited number of websites, email accounts, bandwidth, MySQL Database, FTP accounts, and Cronjobs. For daily backups, they are offering Business Shared Hosting which costs $3.99/mo.
5. A2 Hosting ($3.92/mo): Fast WordPress Web Hosting Solution
A2 Hosting is a relatively new provider when looking for the best WordPress hosting. On their homepage, they are claiming of being 20x faster than any other hosting.
According to up-time speed tests, A2 Hosting indeed is the fastest shared WordPress hosting provider at 295 ms.
Key Features ofA2 Hosting:
Available Turbo Servers
WordPress, Drupal & Joomla optimized
1-Click website staging
Unlimited storage and bandwidth for shared WordPress plans
Free SSL certificate
Free Cloudflare CDN and unlimited SSD storage and bandwidth.
Their cheapest WordPress plan starts at $3.92/mo for a minimum of 36 months. You will also get 25 email accounts and unlimited website transfers. A2 hosting might be a convenient host for someone who owns many WordPress websites. They offer anytime money-back guarantee.
6. GreenGeeks ($2.95/mo): Best Green-powered WordPress hosting
GreenGeeks is fast, secure, scalable and established web hosting for WordPress users. The biggest advantages of the company is that they’ve been implementing an environmentally friendly approach to hosting websites.
Also, the company claims that for every bit of power that’s used, they re-invest three times as much back into the grid through renewable energy via the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
The performance speed is 375 ms and up-time looks very reliable which is 99.99% – only 36 outages, with a total of only 1 hour of downtime per year.
Key Features ofGreengeeks:
One-click WordPress installer with automatic updates
Daily backups to prevent data loss
Customized security systems
Free SSL certificate and a domain name
Improved global performance with a CDN
Free site migration and the choice of over 5 different data center locations
Their cheapest WordPress plan starts at $2.95/mo. The Pro version costs $5.95/mo and the Premium version costs $11.95/mo. Their money-back guarantee is 30 days, but if you took their ‘free’ domain name offer, your refund would be deducted by $13.95 for a domain registration fee.
DreamHost is another popular, well established hosting service provider. Like Bluehost and SiteGround, they are also recommended WordPress hosts by WordPress.org website.
Their page speed time is 569 ms and up-time of 99.92%. There’s no option to choose server locations outside the USA.
Key Features of DreamHost include:
One-click install option
Easily scalable servers
Cloud server technology
Real-time malware scans and site fixing
WooCommerce integration and support for eCommerce store owners
DreamHost has “high performance” managed WordPress plans which are more expensive, $16.95/month. Their cheapest plan starts at $2.59/month for 36-months. DreamHost also gives out 97-days money-back guarantee. Email accounts will cost $19.99/year extra and the free domain for a year renews $15.99/year.
InMotion offers a lot of hosting options. With InMotion, you will get access to a WordPress optimized server environment along with a dedicated support team. It also offers a variety of WordPress-specific features like WordPress pre-installation, drag and drop theme support, along with a selection of free WordPress themes to choose from.
Their up-time is 99.95% and average speed is 767 ms during the last 12-months. One of the drawbacks of InMotion Hosting is that there’s no instant account access.
Key Features of InMotion:
Pre-installed WordPress with auto-updates
Free daily offsite backups
Web Application Firewall
Unlimited disk space, bandwidth, and email
Unlimited amount of Data Transfer per month
24/7 support from WordPress experts
InMotion offer WordPress Hosting, WordPress VPS Hosting, Dedicated WordPress plans and Shared hosting starting from $6.99.
Namecheap is a veteran in the domain name field, but it is also not too far behind in hosting as well. They offer some of the most attractive managed WordPress hosting packages on the market, with incredible free offerings like free domain name*, free SSL*, and many more.
Their up-time is 99.9% and load time is o.7ms ms which is one of the fastest around. And at this price range, it is certainly very competitive.
While the starter page doesn’t offer much, Namecheap certainly has what it takes to compete with the industry’s best-managed WordPress hosting services with the Turbo and Supersonic package. Three of their WordPress hosting packages cost $3.88, $7.88 & $11.88 respectively.
11. iPage ($3.75/mo): WordPress Hosting with a free Domain
Though iPage doesn’t offer as many WordPress plans as its other competitors. But they offer other features like popular pre-installed plugins and a customized control panel.
Their up-time is 99.94% and load time is 709 ms which aren’t bad, the performance, in general, isn’t as good as other WordPress web hosting providers.
A knowledge, helpful and responsive support team behind your site
They have 2 WordPress plans which cost $3.75/month and $6.95/month, both plans come with a free domain name for 1 year. The main goal of iPage is to ensure the best possible experience, from registration to customer support.
Difference Between Normal Web Hosting And WordPress Hosting
You can host your WordPress website on a normal web hosting like shared hosting.
The difference between normal web hosting and WordPress web hosting is that WordPress servers are finely tuned to deal with sites that run on the WordPress platform.
Features of WordPress hosting are:
Speed and Performance: Performance (load time) much better as there are more server resources available.
Servers are specifically configured to work with the demands of a WordPress site.
Upgrades are faster due to the server being set up to only deal with WordPress sites.
Expanded PHP memory.
Types Of WordPress Hosting
There are different WordPress hosting services available. In this section, we’ll discuss the key differences between the various WordPress hosting types available.
Free WordPress Hosting
If you want free hosting for your WordPress site, then you have to go through WordPress.com. With free WordPress hosting your domain name will include the wordpress.com extension, like ‘yourdomain.wordpress.com’.
If you’re not sure you’re ready to commit to run your own site on a dedicated domain, then using this hosting option can be a good choice. The downside to this approach is that you don’t have your own dedicated domain name.
Shared WordPress Hosting
Most website owners like shared hosting. Typically it’s one of the cheapest options and offers a lot of resources to help beginners to get started. Shared hosting means your site will be on the same server that hosts hundreds of other sites, so you’ll be sharing the same server resources, but it also helps to bring individual costs down.
In addition to the cheapest cost, you get access to some pretty powerful and useful hosting features. Shared plans are generally sold with ‘unlimited’ bandwidth and storage.
Shared hosting provides you with a web-based interface like cPanel, so you can easily manage your server environment. You’ll be able to create domain-specific email addresses, set up databases, and easily install WordPress on your site.
A VPS hosting is a great solution for sites that might have discontinued a shared server, but aren’t quite big enough that they need their own dedicated server. A VPS hosting is still technically a shared hosting, but it operates similarly to a dedicated server environment.
There are some benefits of using a VPS setup, over something like a shared hosting. For beginners, you’ll have much more control over your server environment and you’ll have more options to configure the server. A VPS is expensive than a shared hosting plan, but you’ll have much more server power and overall flexibility at your disposal. Finally, VPS hosting operate in an isolated server environment, so you’ll have improved security overall.
Generally, VPS hosting typically comes equipped with a control panel like WHM, which will make server control and configuration much easier.
Managed WordPress Hosting
If your site continues to grow both in terms of size and traffic, but you don’t have the ability, time, or skills to manage your own server, then managed WordPress hosting can be the perfect solution for you. Managed WordPress hosting is available as dedicated, VPS, and cloud hosting plans.
Managed hosting can be a great choice if you don’t have the skills to effectively manage and optimize the server environment.
With managed hosting, you’re not only paying for the server space, but you’re also paying for the support and maintenance. Depending on the managed hosting plan you choose you’ll have access to different levels of support, but you’ll typically find the following features included in your plan:
Software installations and free upgrades
Site troubleshooting and regular maintenance
Server hardware repairs and daily server monitoring
Fast load time
Higher-level security features
One of the biggest reasons to consider a managed WordPress host is the ability to have your problems handled quickly and effectively. The support team behind you will have in-depth knowledge of WordPress and your server environment, so your site can overcome issues rather quickly.
Dedicated WordPress Hosting
Dedicated hosting is the top of the types when it comes to hosting and the reasonable next step for those who want complete control over their server environment. If your site running with a huge success, then you’ll ultimately want to upgrade to a dedicated server.
A dedicated hosting offers you an entire physical server hosted with your provider. This will give you complete access to your server space, processing power, memory, bandwidth, and more. In addition, you’ll have complete control over your server security.
The biggest difference between shared, VPS and dedicated hosting is that with dedicated hosting you have complete control over your server environment while having all of its resources at your disposal.
Most dedicated hosting providers will also offer a managed solution, which will take the burden away from managing and keeping your server up to date.
Dedicated hosting is suited for large sites having a high volume of traffic. But, you’ll need proper technical knowledge to fully take advantage of the server resources you have available.
Final Recommendations for WordPress Hosting
To sort the above WordPress hosts check out our recommendations below. You’ll find two hosts that offer shared hosting packages that is helpful for the beginners, and another that offers the best WordPress managed hosting for large-scale and growing sites.
WordPress Hosting for Bloggers
For bloggers who need a WordPress hosting option that’s both cost-effective and reliable, then Bluehost is can be a great choice. Overall, they’re one of the best WordPress hosting providers to get started and grow your site with.
Beyond its high performing servers, you’ll also have stellar uptime and a dedicated support team behind you. And Bluehost is one of the hosts recommended by WordPress.org.
Best WordPress Hosting for Growing Businesses
If your website is growing and you want a hosting environment that can keep up while improving the existing performance of your site, then Kinsta is the best way to go.
Naturally, it can be a much more expensive option than shared hosting, but it’s priced higher for good reason. With Kinsta you get a knowledgeable team of WordPress experts who are dedicated to helping your site grow.
I’d love to hear more about your experience in finding the best WordPress host in the comments below.
Engaging your readers to your site is a tough task to do. WordPress Related posts (by category) can help you to hook your readers to more content.
Let’s face the fact! We all want our visitors to stay more time on our site. As it helps us to decrease the bounce rate and increase the average pageview time that eventually leads us to improved SEO performance.
And to keep our visitors engaged on our site, we can simply make a trick. That is showing them related blog posts while reading a particular blog on our site. Just think from a reader’s perspective. Don’t you find it helpful when other posts you were looking for unconsciously comes automatically before your eyes?
Yes, right?
Then let me guide you on how to show related posts in WordPress site with ease. We’ll do it with and without using the WordPress plugins. So, follow us to the end, and let us reveal the whole trick.
Why You Need to Show Related Posts in WordPress
As you know showing related posts in WordPress means, suppose, you are reading a post about 10 amazing places you should visit before you go old. Below that articles, there may be articles on 7 haunted places you should see or places to visit in South Africa or how to pack your bag for traveling, etc.
These are the key benefits you will get if you display related posts on your WordPress site. Remember, the more pages they view, and the longer they spend on your site, the more likely they are to convert against your site’s goals.
How to Show Related Posts in WordPress
We can display related posts on a WordPress site following both of the ways – using and not using a WordPress plugin. You can choose whichever method you prefer.
At first, we will learn how to show related posts in WordPress without plugin. So, let’s get started!
Method 01 – How to Display Related Posts in WordPress without Plugin
You might be wondering why you will do it manually wherease there are number of plugins available do to thae job.
Well, the main benefit is that you don’t have to rely on a third party (the plugin developer) for your blog to function. Another reason is that you’re not to take the risk of using a bloated plugin that can slow your site. Though it’s a very rare case, there is always a possibility to face the problem if you don’t use a trusted and authorized plugin.
So, use the below-mentioned code if you want to do it manually.
<?php
//for use in the loop, list 5 post titles related to first tag on current post
$tags = wp_get_post_tags($post->ID);
if ($tags) {
echo 'Related Posts';
$first_tag = $tags[0]->term_id;
$args=array(
'tag__in' => array($first_tag),
'post__not_in' => array($post->ID),
'posts_per_page'=>5,
'caller_get_posts'=>1
);
$my_query = new WP_Query($args);
if( $my_query->have_posts() ) {
while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post(); ?>
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a>
<?php
endwhile;
}
wp_reset_query();
}
?>
Method 02 – How to Show Related Posts in WordPress Using Plugin
When you see articles below your content how do you want them to be? Do you want them to be random or to be related to the current article you are reading? You want the articles to be below your post or on the sidebar, footer, or header.
A WordPress plugin for related post determines these things. They help you organize those related articles by their category.
Here we are going to use Jetpack plugin to show related posts in a WordPress site.
Jetpack is already a brand in the world of WordPress plugins. This works in diverse fields. This is famous for scrutinizing your posts and articles. The plugin was also featured in our annual list of best WordPress plugins
You can customize the settings of related posts in this plugin. You can add as well as exclude posts while showing related posts.
Click on the Install button of Jetpack after getting the search result
Finally, click the Activate button to make it usable
Step 02 – Activate Related Posts
To activate the Related Posts module, select Jetpack > Settings from your WordPress menu
Then select the Traffic tab and scroll down to Related Posts
Activate the button next to Show related content after posts to turn the related posts feature on
You can then choose from a couple of simple customization options, enabling you to Use a large striking layout, and add a Related title to the section.
Congratulations! Now you know how to show related posts in WordPress using the Jetpack plugin.
Bonus: Top Plugins to Display Related Posts in WordPress (Jetpack Alternative)
If you don’t want to use JetPack, there are plenty of other plugins to choose from. Here we are going to introduce 5 Jetpack alternative plugins to you so that you can choose any plugin other than Jetpack if you want to.
Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP) is a popular option for displaying related posts on a WordPress website. YARPP provides some impressive features and will give you more control over the look and position of your related post section than Jetpack.
YARPP lets you select whether you want to display posts, pages, and/or custom post types, using thumbnails or a list view. You can also add a related posts section under each blog post, in a sidebar, or in an RSS feed.
YARPP uses its advanced algorithm, which considers content, post titles, tags, categories, and custom taxonomies, to display relevant content to your readers.
WordPress Related Post plugin is one of the most powerful plugins to display related post under post content on single post or page or custom post types, its also support to display related post under excerpt on archive pages.
You can conditionally choose to display related content under excerpt or content by archive pages like tag, category, date, author, search page, and custom taxonomy pages.
Inline Related Posts plugin is interesting. The name reflects how it works. Instead of showing related posts below your current content, this plugin shows the posts inside the content. This plugin is really easy to set up and makes the readers more absorbed in your content.
With more than 60,000 active installations, Inline Related Posts is already a popular plugin among those who need to show related posts on their WordPress site.
The word contextual in the name already hints you of its kind. This plugin brings out the posts that are related to the context of your text. It gives you a lot of options for controlling where your related content appears. You can automatically place them or manually place them using blocks, shortcodes, and widgets.
This is a completely free WordPress plugin that has already been installed actively 70,000 times so far.
This plugin gives you an easy way to add a related posts box with image thumbnails. If you’re just looking for a quick-and-easy solution, you’ll love this plugin. Moreover, it’s a free plugin.
However, it doesn’t include as many features as some other plugins. For example, you can base the relation on taxonomies (including categories and tags), but you can’t change the weighting or factor in other information.
Over to You
If you want to bind your readers to your site, the related post of your content is important. There was a time when coding was the only way to get this facility on the page. But WordPress plugin has changed the scenario. Now, a beginner can install a plugin and enjoy related posts by category in WordPress.
Having said that you can show related posts on your site using your coding skill as well.
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