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Understanding WordPress Structure: Content vs. Sidebar

November 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

No matter what type of WordPress site you are setting up, every WordPress blog has some structural things in common.  One of those is the way the pages/posts are set up visually.  WordPress has the main part of the content on every page or post in the main part of the page, while there is also a sidebar on the right or left of the page with standard inserts.

Before I go on, let me preface my information by saying although this is the usual way a WordPress site is set up, with some themes, you can do away with the sidebar completely, have more than one sidebar, or have the sidebar on the bottom.  However the jist of the information that I will give you here will not change.

To understand how a WordPress page or post is set up visually, here is a post from Writing Online:

For this website, we have chosen to put the main content on the left of each page.  For English readers, or readers from any language that is read from left to right, it is natural to start on the left side of the page.  That means that you should put your most important content, pictures or information on the top left side of a page.  (For this discussion pages and posts are the same because they appear the same visually to the public.)  For Writing Online the most important information is the page content, which might not be true on another site.

Our sidebar is on the right side of the page which lists the search bar, login space, ads, and feed from our other sites.  This set up was a deliberate choice for our readers made by us taking into consideration the data of how people view a page on the internet.

So what do you want to include in your content which will appear on the main part of the page?

Content should be what includes your keywords, your main topic, what the search engines will find and what your readers will read.  If you have Adsense on your site, Adsense will also put ads on that match the content on your page.

What goes in the sidebar?

The sidebar on a WordPress site is populated by widgets.  Widgets can be may different things, but I usually include featured posts, ads, and a search bar, and sometimes a directory of how the site is set up.  While you do not want to overwhelm your pages with ads, remember that ads near the top will get clicked on the most.

Over time, I have found that the simplest looking WordPress sites are usually the best, because people do not get distracted by anything that will stop them from reading, clicking and buying from you.  My best sites are the ones with either a black, gray, or white background, and very little distractions from the content.  As I update my sites, that is what I am changing them all to, because they load faster, and they get a better response from readers.

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Understanding WordPress Structure: Plugins and Widgets

November 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One of the most difficult concepts of WordPress to understand is the difference between plugins and widgets.  Once you understand, you will smack yourself on the head and say, “that is so easy, why didn’t I get that?”  But don’t feel bad, because I didn’t understand it either, and I don’t usually think of myself as a dumb person.

First of all, definitions:

Plugins:

WordPress plugins are addition code that you add to your WordPress site that give your site added functionality.  They allow you to do more than the WordPress shell does.

Widgets:

WordPress widgets are moveable blocks that you can place in specified places on your WordPress theme that function in different ways.  These include text, RSS feeds, links, and more.

Adding Plugins

To add plugins, go to your plugin page inside the back end of your WordPress blog.  It looks like this:

To add a plugin, you need to click on the Add Plugin button at the top left of the page.  It will take you to a search field to find the plugin that you would like to add.  Once you select a plugin, then click on the Install link to install the plugin.  Plugins are not activated immediately.  You can activate them one at a time, then work with them to see how they function.  This is a good idea if you have never worked with the plugin before.   Each plugin you add will add a function to your blog, but it is possible that some plugins do not work well together.  For the best efficiency, it makes sense to use the least amount of plugins possible to get the effect that you want on your WordPress site.

Here are some free plugins that I use routinely that work well together:

Akismet

All in One Favicon

Anti Feed Scraper Message

Google Analyticator

Quick Cache

SEO Friendly Images

SEO Search Terms Tagging 2

WP-DB Manager

XML Sitemaps

Yet Another Related Post Plugin

There are many free plugins that you can use to add to your WordPress blog, and there are some paid plugins.  However, I do not recommend using paid plugins at first, until you understand how WordPress works.  One paid plugin that I have started using is phpBay and phpZon.  These allow you to create modules like on Squidoo, Hubpages, or Wizzley for Ebay and Amazon to sell products. You can buy one or the other or both.

One you activate a plugin, the plugin will show up on the left side of your dashboard as a back end page.  Usually they are in the settings section, but not always.  You may need to configure the plugin to get it started.

Adding and Using Widgets

Adding and using widgets is a whole different ballgame.  Your WordPress site comes with some default widgets.  Others are added when you install plugins.  To work with your widgets, you need to go to the Widget page in the back end of your site.  It looks like this:

Adding WordPress Widgets

All of the widgets that are available for use are in the large center box that says “Available Widgets.”  To add them, you just click on an available widget and drag it over to the appropriate section on your right sidebar.  Each theme will have different useable widget areas.  This particular one has a space for a widget on the header, which you can see has a text widget placed there.  Once you place your widget, just open it up by clicking on it and set the settings.  Most themes will at the least have space for widgets in the sidebar, and you can place any widgets you like there, rearrange them, or take them back out until you are happy with the arrangement.

The theme I am using on this example is a Genesis theme by StudioPress, which is a paid for theme.  It has more functionality than most free themes.

Widgets are used for inserting ads, feeds, links, and page and category lists in most blogs.  You can also feature pages and posts in many themes, or an author on your site.

To help get the difference between plugins and widgets straight, you can remember that plugins add the function, and widgets are one way to add building blocks to your theme.

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Beginners Blog: How Much Does It Cost?

November 2, 2011 By 2 Comments

This week we answer another Beginners Blog question that many people have asked me over the years. If you have been following the series, you know that my husband has been thinking about starting his own blog and asked me some really good questions about how to go about it. This series of questions and answers about beginning a blog was generated because my partners and I thought that many people have the same questions.  So, this week we look at:

How much does it cost to blog?

Many people think that they have to purchase a domain name and find a hosting company in order to have a blog. You can certainly go that route, but you do not have to. There are many free blogging platforms that can be used and I would advise using a free one when you are first beginning to blog. Once you have figured out how to blog, promote, and get a steady following; you can always change over to your own domain and find a hosting company. It just isn’t necessary to begin with.

We use WordPress for Writing Online and many of our own personal blogs, as well.  I can tell you from my own personal experience that it was very simple to transfer a WP blog over to my own domain when I was ready to do that.  WordPress is also very simple to learn, too. Paula has a series of posts here that offers a great tutorial on how to blog using WordPress.

My recommendation is to find a Multi-User site like Writing Online to begin a blog. In the past, I tried going solo and it was very difficult to get a following that way. The advantage of using a multi-user site like ours is that you have somewhat of a built in following from the other members of the site. You will also benefit from the page rank that the site has by having a blog in the WPMU format. My most successful blogs were started on a multi-user site and then switched to my own domain once I started to generate a decent income and following.

So, the short answer is: Your blog does not have to cost you anything in the beginning. We invite you to try starting one here at Writing Online. Beginners and veteran bloggers can find help in the forums and start to build relationships with other members.

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Understanding WordPress Structure: Pages and Posts

September 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For new bloggers, the structure of a WordPress blog can be especially confusing.  When I first started using WordPress, my biggest confusion was the difference between a page and a post.  The confusion is understandable because there are a lot of similarities, and pages and posts can sometimes be used interchangeably.  When blogs were first introduced, there were no pages.  Blog authors could only use posts to offer information, and they could link back to another post, but the post was still in the sequential order of posts.

Definitions:

Page–a WordPress page is a static page.  That means that the page literally stays in one place.  You can make the page part of your tabbed menu or linked menu or not.  But the page is always there in the same place.  Pages are listed in a hierarchy of the author’s determination.

Post–a WordPress post is the originally mainstay of any blog.  This is a sequential post, that will move in sequence with other posts as you continue to add posts.  However, you can link to it in a tabbed menu, or linked menu like a page. Posts are listed in a sequential hierarchy. Traditionally, a tabbed menu is made up of pages, and a linked menu is made up of categories that posts are written under, but that is not always the case.

Application:

Does this sound confusing?  Well, it is, especially when you consider that with all the advancements that WordPress has added to their blogs, it is hard to tell the difference unless you are a WordPress expert.

On this Writing Online Network blog, the static pages are listed on the black bar at the top of the page, and sequential post categories are listed in the light gray bar underneath the black bar.

Once you understand the difference between a post and page, the question is how will you use them in your blog?  While many bloggers use the posts and pages in a traditional manner, similar to how we are using them on this site, you do not have to do that.  You can create a WordPress site that is only made up of pages or only made up of posts.   You can also use posts as articles, and pages as selling pages.  The best thing is to experiment with different ways to use the structure until you find one that is comfortable to you, and the topic of that particular site.

I like to try different configurations and uses depending on the site and the purpose of the site.  One of my most complex WordPress sites is Antique Vintage Gallery.  On this site, the intention was to create pages similar to what you see on Squidoo, Hubpages, and Wizzley using modules that includes links to Ebay and Amazon.   To create this effect on the posts, I added two plugins called phpBay Pro and phpZon Pro.  As you can see this adds the module look to the posts that people can use to buy straight from Ebay, as well as a slightly different look for links to Amazon.  In another experiment on Antique Vintage Gallery, I added shopping pages to related items.  For these, I used a tool called Popshops which creates grid pages of items from affiliate companies.

Plugins add functionality to pages, posts, and can also add functionality to the WordPress structure.  More about plugins in future posts.

As you build a site of your own, you can decide how to configure the structure of your site to its best advantage.  However, the flexibility of the WordPress structure while confusing at first, is a big positive in making a blog or website work just exactly the way you want it to.

 

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The Debate Between Using Paid vs. Free WordPress Themes

April 24, 2011 By 2 Comments

If you would like to really create websites of your own using WordPress as the base, the first big question you have to ask yourself is whether you want to use the free WordPress themes that are available for download from WordPress or if you want to buy a paid for theme.

Almost everyone in the world starts out using free WordPress themes because they are free, and because they do not understand why they should pay for a theme if they can get one for free.  And for beginners, the free WordPress themes are fine.

There are several good free themes, but the one I like the best is the 2010 Weaver, which combines the features of the 2010 and the Weaver themes.  You can customize the theme in several ways, and the theme does not have the hidden traps and links that many free themes have.  2010 Weaver works well with most plugins and also allows you to upload a custom header.  The theme comes with several already configured customizations, or you can add your own to make the site look the way you want.  For free themes, this one is the best one I can recommend, and if you need backend help, you can consult with Anne at SEOPraxis who is an expert on this theme.  This blog, Native American Totems, is using a 2010 Weaver theme.

For professionals, who are looking to put up several sites, who want the best SEO optimization built into their site, and who want a truly professional look to their sites, one of the best companies to deal with is StudioPress.

StudioPress offers you the ability to buy one theme or a package with all of their themes.  The package is the best deal if you will use more than one theme.  Once you buy a theme, you can use it on as many sites as you like; there is no limit.  So if you buy only one theme, you can use it on several sites, and many of the themes allow different colors or customization.  StudioPress themes come with the themes already set up for SEO, so you don’t need to add a lot of plugins, although you can still add plugins for features that you want to add.  Most of the themes come with specialized widgets that show up on the home page, making it look more like a site, and less like a blog.  And the themes are very professional looking, designed by paid professional graphic designers.

You do have to learn to use the themes, but once you do, they are easy to use.  I have installed StudioPress themes on several websites in the last few months, and I can attest that the themes are well designed, look great, and pages index extremely quickly on Google.  Here are two sites that are using StudioPress themes:  Cleveland OH Visitor, and Pro Hubpages.

There are other companies that create paid themes, but I only have direct experience using StudioPress.  I would investigate and use the one that fits your situation the best.  In essence, I think that if you are creating a blog for little traffic, and backlinks, then the free themes are fine, but if you want to drive commercial traffic to your site, then you should invest in a paid theme.

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How to Place Effective Advertising on WordPress Blogs

April 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For those of you who are creating WordPress blogs, either as separate websites, or to promote your lenses, there is significant money to be made from Google Adsense.  Recently, the question has come up as to how to earn money from Adsense, and I will address that in this post.

I have had a blog for my gallery for at least 5 years.  During that entire time, I had an Adsense account, but for the first two years, I made almost no money from it.  I think in two years time, I accumulated about $12.  Google Adsense requires a minimum of $100 for a payout, so you can see why I was not excited about the $12.

However, in the last 3 years, I have learned a lot more about how to earn with Google Adsense, and while I am not a complete expert, I can tell that I have made well over payout month over month for about 18 months now.  That is a significant change, and I would like to help you achieve the same using some simple methods.

Adsense is totally free to sign up for, although not everyone gets approved.  To be approved, you need to have a website or blog of your own, but it doesn’t have to be on your own domain.  There is no question that newer Adsense publishers get less valuable ads, and you have to prove that you can send buyers to the advertisers.  So don’t be surprised at first if your clicks only get you a few pennies at first.  This is how you pay your dues as an Adsense publisher.

Adsense works best on websites that have a clear focus.  And this focus can change from post to post, but at least each post should be directly focused on one basic topic.  Adsense will try to match ads to your content.  However, depending on what your topic is, there may not be a good match.  If this is the case, then Adsense will not be the best advertiser for you.

Just like any other form of marketing, Adsense is a numbers game.  The more and better targeted traffic you have, the better Adsense matches you will get, and the more paying clicks will occur.  Adsense is a pay per click program, so people have to click on the ads for you to earn anything.  Never, never click on your own ads.  This is click fraud, and will get you banned from Adsense forever.  Google is extremely unforgiving about click fraud.  It is actually best not to click on any ad on a site that you write on.  That way, your behavior cannot be questioned.

So how do you get people to actually click on your ads.

The best way to do this is to put your ads in what I call an umbrella pattern.  That means a banner ad at the top of your page, and an ad block to the right and the left of your content at the very top of the sidebars.  One of these blocks can also be inside your content with the text wrapped around it.  This is sort of an upside down U shape.  That means that the introduction or first paragraph of your content is surrounded by ads.  You can match the colors of the Adsense blocks to match your site or blog, so that the ads look natural sitting there.

Depending on your blog or site’s layout, all these three positions may not be the best place to put ad blocks.  If you look at this example on Eco-Chic Green Fashion, you will see an ad block at the top and right, but nothing on the left.  That is because I decided that the pictures were more important here.

That is also what I am doing on Precious Metal Clay, here. On Cleveland OH Visitor, the sidebars move around.  Here is a page with ads on both sides. The primary spots for getting clicks are at the top of the page, above the fold, or above the scroll online.  This is where your best ads should go.

As your blog matures, and your entire portfolio of Adsense income matures, you will get better ads, and better paying clicks.  I have had clicks in the last year as high as $10, although rarely, but the average rate is usually around $1-$2.  These add up a lot faster than pennies.

As to how large of ad blocks to use, I like to use the largest ad block that I can in a given space, and prefer the square and horizontal ads over the vertical ones.  They seem to perform better for me.  You have to see what will work on your sites or blogs.  Don’t worry too much about readers being put off by ads.  If they are not interested, their eyes will just skip right over the ads, and go to the part of your page that they are interested in.  You are allowed to put a maximum of three Google Adsense blocks per page, no more unless you get special permission.

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