Step to Updating Your WordPress Website
The workings of the web are changing at a quick pace, and it seems that websites change just as quickly.
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What might be a streamlined way to design a website one minute may be slow and outdated the next.
If you’re operating a WordPress website, then it is critical to your website’s success that you keep your website updated on a regular basis in order to keep your site’s audience coming back for more.
Here we discuss what you can do to update your website which in turn will drive more traffic.
Email Signup Forms
Keep your email signup updated by creating custom forms. This is a fairly simple thing to do by utilizing a plugin such as WPForms and will make your email signup more efficient. Keep your form simple.
Typically, a first name and email address are all the information that you should ask a potential subscriber for. Signup forms can be created via widget or directly from a plugin.
There are a variety of options that you can customize to match your site’s colors and logo.
Security Settings
Security plugins which are out of date are one of the number one reasons that WordPress sites won’t load or load very slowly, which will deter visitors and subscribers from returning.
Security settings and plugins are important because they prevent your site from being hacked. So, you need to make sure you have the most up-to-date version of the security plugins that you’re using.
You should also update your password regularly. Be sure to create a strong password that will be difficult for any hackers to figure out.
By updating passwords and backing up your site, you can protect yourself and help keep your website shareable.
Themes and Feature Plugins
If you aren’t updating your themes and plugins, then your website visitors will have a difficult time trying to accomplish anything when visiting your website. This will keep traffic away.
By updating plugins, such as social media plugins, you’ll be able to share your content efficiently across multiple channels, which will drive traffic. Updated sharing plugins are designed to work with the latest editions of Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. and will make promoting your content much easier.
Your theme affects the overall look of your website and the layout, and when it isn’t up-to-date, your website will not work with current browsers.
To keep your website looking streamlined, update your theme on a regular basis. You also want to make small changes from time to time to keep your visitors from getting bored with your website’s layout.
Plugins also operate many of your website’s features, such as popup greetings and widgets. You want these features to work well, so you need to update them. And don’t just update your popup plugin; update the content it features as well, especially if you’re offering a freemium in exchange for email subscribers.
Slightly different offers will appeal to different people, which will draw traffic to your site because of what you’re offering.
Updating your theme and plugins can be made pretty simple. Just set your WordPress theme and plugins to update automatically. You’ll save a lot of time and your website audience will be happy.
Read: Ways An Outdated Website Can Hurt Your Business
SEO
This one is vital when it comes to the process of driving traffic to your WordPress website. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves the use of keywords as a tool to make your website more discoverable in a Google or Bing search.
A post with the keyword “gluten free cookies” integrated into the post five times will show up closer to the top of search engine results for that group of keywords than a post that mentions those keywords only once.
You can also use image tags to boost your SEO rankings. You should be aware though that if you’re looking for long-term boost in traffic, then stay away from stuffing keywords on your website.
Yoast SEO is a WordPress plugin that can help you make the most of SEO. It lets you know if your content is discoverable and helps you determine the appropriate keywords for that specific piece of content. Utilizing SEO will greatly boost your website traffic.
Gallery Plugins
Galleries are a great way to display your work, graphics which link back to your best content, or even just pictures relating to your blog niche. This feature also makes your WordPress website even more interactive and helps you show your brands features your audience.
WordPress has a variety of plugins available, for example EnviraGallery, to help you create a custom gallery that website visitors will love.
People love pictures and love to share them, so adding pictures to your website in this manner provides a feature that your audience will want to share. The more features that you have that visitors love, the more momentum your website will build over time. Just be sure to provide quality features over quantity features.
Regularly Updated Content
While this may seem to be a no-brainer, it is vital that you update the content on your WordPress website on a regular basis. This includes reviewing old content and checking it for outdated offers and broken links.
Updating your website’s content regularly also helps your site show up in searches and social media when you post about the trending topics in your niche. If you’re using SEO on these posts, then you could reap a big return in traffic on your site.
You also want to give your subscribers a reason to come back for more, whether it’s adding posts or products. Brainstorm some ideas for new posts, and publish a post at least once a week to see an increase in traffic.
New content helps you stay relevant, and allows you to increase your online presence.
Google Analytics
While this could be a separate post altogether, you should be made aware that you need to make sure you’ve got an updated Google Analytics plugin on your WordPress website.
Google Analytics is truly more than just numbers, it’s a means of tracking what you’re doing well and what you need to improve on your website. One plugin worth considering is MonsterInsights for WordPress.
You can take a look at specific ranges of time, such as 30 days. You can then see what publishing days are best for traffic, so you can be sure that your newest posts are seen by the most audience members, which also means your content is more likely to be shared.
With some simple updates, you can boost your website traffic. WordPress also offers some features such as auto updates, which can help you keep your website updated with minimal work on your part.
Just as you would update your house because you want to have a nice place to live, you should see your website as though it’s your online home, and you want to be ready when guests arrive. So, make your website visitors feel more at home and start updating your WordPress website today!
Sonnal S Sinha is a passionate writer as well as WordPress and WooCommerce rockstar who loves to share insights on various topics through his engaging blog posts. He runs a successful website design and digital marketing company. With 15+ years of experience in WordPress theme development, he strives to inform and inspire readers with his thought-provoking content. He helps thousands of small and medium businesses and startups create a unique online presence. Follow Sonnal S Sinha for your regular dose of knowledge and inspiration.
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