Last time I told you how to add a new user in WordPress and we talked about the importance of not using the default "Admin" user.
Today I'm going to talk about several more optimal settings you should use in WordPress before you start blogging. (The most important one is at the end so don't miss it!)
Can't see the video above? Watch it here.
Video Notes
We will be working in the "Settings" area of our Dashboard. To get there, log in to your Dashboard (yourdomain.com/wp-login.php) and then click "Settings" in the left column. Once you click "Settings" you'll see an expanded menu.
These are the settings I am always sure to change and I recommend you do as well:
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Under Settings–>General
Change "Blog Title"
This is very likely already changed to reflect your blog's title (which you specified during the WordPress installation process). If however, it's not, this is a good time to do it.
Change "Tagline"
The default tagline here is "Just another WordPress blog…" and you definitely want to change it. Shoot for a good, succinct description of your blog, packed with some great keywords; it'll be good for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) which we talked briefly about in Understanding Keywords.
By the way, this can be changed at any time, so don't stress too much.
Change "E-mail address"
The default here is you@yourdomain.com. Make sure you change it to an email address where you can get emails about the administration of your site.
Save your changes!
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Under Settings–>Writing
Change "Update Services"
Copy the list of pinging services at DailyBlogTips (yes, the whole list), then paste it into the field under "Update Services."
Pinging services act like a notification system when you add new content to your blog. Basically, they help spread the word that there's new stuff to read on your blog.
Save your changes!
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Under Settings–>Permalinks
Change "Common Settings"
This is the most important optimization setting of all because your permalink structure will directly impact your Search Engine Optimization (SEO), HOWEVER, I do have a warning: If you have already started publishing posts on your blog, do not change the permalink structure now. It may result in broken links. You might try the Change Permalink Helper plugin. I have not used it myself and have never found a plugin that does this seamlessly, but this is the most recent and highest rated plugin I can find currently. Please oh please be sure to backup your blog before making any changes such as this. Another option might be a service like Tweaky. I have not used their service personally, but they charge $25 per tweak to your blog and have a money-back guarantee. Might be worth a shot if you're not comfortable dealing with it yourself. (P.S. If anyone has used them, I'd love to hear your feedback!)
Alright, for those of you who have a brand new blog, let's proceed…
Do not use the "Default" structure: http://yourdomain.com/?p=123
Opt for one of the structures below instead:
- Day and name – good for multi-author blog or single-author blogs with many posts per day or may have duplicate-titled posts
- Month and name – good for single-author blogs who post daily or less and may have duplicate-titled posts
- Post name - this is probably the best for SEO and a good choice if you aren't too worried about inadvertently naming your posts the same thing (this is what I use)
- (Custom Structure – /%postname%/ – another way of writing Post name)
Save your changes!
Other posts in this series
- How to Start a Blog or Website: Intro & FAQ
- How to Start a Blog or Website: Cheat Sheet
- How to Find (or Refind) Your Passion
- How to Decide What to Blog About: What Works for Readers?
- How to Decide What to Blog About: What Works for You?
- Understand Branding: 4 Tips
- Understand Keywords: Increase the Odds of Getting Found
- Writing Great Content: 3 Tips
- How to Write a Killer About Page
- 12 Blog Organization Tips
- How to Choose a Domain Name: 12 Tips
- How to Register a Domain Name
- How to Set Up Hosting and WordPress
- How to Change Your Nameservers
- How to Add a New User in WordPress
- How to Optimize Your WordPress Settings
- How to Install a Plugin
- My Favorite Plugins
- How to Get & Optimize a Feedburner Feed
- How to Choose a WordPress Theme
- How to Install a WordPress Theme
- Elegant Themes for WordPress
- How to Install Google Analytics
- How to Use WordPress: Tips & Tricks
- How to Start a Blog or Website: 10 Tips for New Bloggers
These tips have been a godsend to me as a new blogger. Thank you!
Glad they're hepful!
Hi Amy – thanks for the tip on the ping services. I've updated my list in WordPress. I'm excited to monitor my traffic over the coming months to see if I get a boost from this.
I agree with Mandy! Great list…
Great advice from you, as usual! Thanks!
Thank you for the ping services list! So helpful!
Done for today! Thanks!
I'm excited to implement the ping services but when I look under settings/writing, I don't have a field for update services….is this for the ".org" WordPress? Or did I miss something?
Unfortunately, WordPress.com blogs, don't have this option. You can see my explanation of the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org blogs on my FAQ page. If you're interested in a self-hosted WordPress(.org) blog, I'd suggest starting at the beginning of the step-by-step guide to get started!
I got caught up today and have done all of the above! I've wanted a wordpress blog for such a long time, it really was so exciting to log in!
So, is it safe to start posting? I don't really want to direct any traffic to my blog yet, since it doesn't look very nice and is not ready.
Thanks so much for all this. It is great!
I would say, as long as you have changed your permalink structure, you're good to go!
Thanks Amy!
Question for you Amy: in the next week or so, I'll be migrating my site from TypePad to WordPress. I have nearly 1,800 posts moving. Should I go ahead and change the Permalink settings now – in preparation for the move? Thanks – enjoying your blog so very much!
I thought there might be others who had the same question, so I made my answer into a whole 'nother post: Moving from Typepad to WordPress, but the gist of it is, you're probably better off consulting this guide.
Thank you Amy! Today was a day I felt like I made no progress with my migration and this video really helped!
Just a step at a time. You'll get it!
what about when moving from Blogger to WP? Should I wait on changing permalink until I migrate posts?
Hey Sara, migrating from Blogger to WordPress is tricky. Unfortunately, you can't just import your posts, change your permalink structure and you're good to go. This will result in numerous broken links since now all your existing links will no longer be the same. The other thing you'll most likely lose is any Google "juice" (ranking) that you've built up on your Blogger blog. Again, this is because all addresses previously associated with your blog will now be different. It's also typical to lose followers as well.
Therefore, if you can spare some cash, I HIGHLY recommend you get someone to do it for you — someone who will make all the necessary coding changes in the back-end to ensure your links are forwarded properly. Joy at Five J's charges $150 for this service and, if you have established a decent following and have a lot of posts to move over, it'd be worth every penny. She routinely moves people over with nary a hiccup.
If, on the other hand, you are a new blogger and are willing to start fresh, with a clean slate and a new blog (and save some money), you could import your posts, put a note on your Blogger blog that you have moved and start again on your new blog.
I am currently moving my Blogger to WordPress. I am just cutting and pasting posts into drafts. My blog is sort of young-6 months going-so I figure now is as good a time as any. I am not seeing some of the options above like "Permalinks" and "Update Services" where I can post the list of pings. Why is that? I am going to buy my domain, but haven't done so yet with WP. Should I do that first?
Are you using WordPress.com? If so, that is one of the limitations unfortunately. I recommend a self-hosted WordPress blog.
Are you saying that it's possible to transfer all your posts and comments to WordPress from Blogger without paying anybody and without copy/pasting? That's what I want to do! How do you import?
It is possible to move all your posts over in a few minutes (Dashboard –> Tools –> Import) but be aware that this method WILL NOT bring over your subscribers or followers. Nor will it redirect your old blog to your new one. That means if someone lands on your old blog, they won't automatically be forwarded to your new blog…and if they see that the old one hasn't been updated in a while or there's no clear "I've Moved" post, you might lose 'em. Did you read my Blogger to WordPress series for options?
Oops! I see you have read that series (sorry, just realized that now).
I hope it was helpful!
I knew about most of this, but not about the pinging services. Is this one of the blogging "secrets" that usually don't get told?
PLEASE NOTE: If you have already started published posts on your blog, do not change the permalink structure now. It may result in broken links. You will need a plugin to avoid this problem. We’ll cover plugins next week.
Which plugin do you suggest we should use if we have started posting? I can't seem to find your answer. Thanks, Amy
Amy… your site is SO helpful! I gives me hope!
I am trying to switch to the Atahualapa theme. I did this in wordpress using a subfolder. For all of the sample posts I put in, the home page is showing the "read more" tag on all of the posts, even though I have the settings marked to "full text" (not summary). Help!
Thanks!
just when I gave up! I figured it out by going to the Configure Excerts tab! thanks anyway!
Woohoo! See? You're a genius.
Amy,
I have a permalink question that perhaps will show that I don't understand what one is…
I have sometimes changed the titles of posts and then have edited my permalink to reflect the change. Is that a problem?
For example, today I linked some of my recipes to other blogs. I then realized that I should have changed some of my titles. If I change the title to my post and then change the permalink, then I assume that readers will not be able to access my post, correct? Is there a way to handle this? Should I just change the title but leave the permalink the same?
Thanks so much!
Yes, you should just change the title but don't touch the permalink. The reason is, once you change the permalink, any links out there on the internet will no longer be valid. Good question!
Thanks, Amy.
Is there any way to see if I have broken any links by changing permalinks? I may have done it already. And do you have SEO friendly recommendations for setting up permalinks? Have you done this yourself?
Thanks again!
I think there's a broken link checker plugin. I'd do a search in WordPress. (I haven't used one myself.) When you say SEO-friendly recommendations for setting up permalinks, do you mean how you should set them? I like the /%postname%/ setting myself since it gets rid of extraneous info in the permalink. However, there may be times when you'll want to go a different. I was just reading a post about this on ProBlogger and why he uses the permalink structures he does.
I don't think BL Checker would work in this instance. From what I understand it is only to check your blog….it would't be a way to find out if someone's link to you isn't working, right? There probably isn't a way to do this…just thought I'd ask.
I did look at the Problogger link….but I don't think that applies to my blog since my posts aren't really going to become irrelevant like a tech blog would.
Let me know if you have more thoughts on the link/permalink checker situation.
Thanks!
Ah gotcha. Yes, a broken link checker only checks broken links on your own site. It won't locate links on other sites which are directed to a defunct page on your site. There are certainly ways to find inbound links to your site, but trying to get those changed by contacting the site owner, etc. etc. would be a major hassle. You could try creating a 301 redirect in your .htaccess file for those posts which you have changed. (You might try this tutorial.) A 301 would be an especially good idea if you have changed the permalinks on pages that had a lot of traffic. If not, I don't know that I'd worry about it. Instead, you might just add some post suggestions to your 404 (Page Not Found) page just in case someone ends up on that page from a bad link elsewhere.
Hi Amy! I just did this and I got a message saying that I should update .htaccess. Is there anything else I need to do? Thanks in advance!
Hi
I just changed my permalink settings and got the same message. Wondering what that means too and if I need to do anything else.
TIA!
See if this tutorial helps you both.
Amy,
I am starting a new blog and loving all your tips and tutorials. Thanks so much!
I thought I would comment real quick in case someone had the same problem I was having.
I have a network on WordPress.org and they removed the Update Services in the network version for some reason. I found a plugin that adds it back after about an hour of thinking I was crazy.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/activate-update-services/
Activate it for the network and then add your ping list in each individual site. Pingomatic is on there by default so you'll at least have that if you forget to update it with the list. After two or three months I think I am going to trim down my ping list, but for now I want to get it out there.
I am following along with all of your advice. I setup my blog w/ WordPress, I purchased URL from GoDaddy.com, I bought hosting from HostGator – but when I follow along with your video I can't find any options for inserting the PingBacks. Is there a plugin I am missing or do I need to purchase a theme to have these options?
This is under Settings in the left column. If you click the down arrow the right of "Settings" do you not get a list of options there that includes both "Permalinks" and "Writing" (for the pingbacks/update services)?
I took a screen shot that I can email to you. I don't have any option for parmalinks in my settings and when I click on writing I have an almost empty page – not many options.
Hmmm…I wonder if something went wrong with the install. Doesn't sound right at all…if you want to email, I can look at it. I'm thinking maybe an re-install might be best though.
Okay, this person's issue is exactly my issue! I can't see Permalinks, neither do I see the PingBack setting! I used your instructions all the way up to 11, using GoDaddy and HostGator. How did the last poster fix it? How would I do a reinstall? Thanks!!
Oh – and I have no "permalinks" listed either
I've been following your tutorials to this point. Thank you for making something that I would otherwise get lost in, doable.
My question is in regards to the Permalink settings. I choose custom…but when I saved my changes they defaulted to the 'day and name' setting. I noticed that below under 'Optional; the the following is found:
If you like, you may enter custom structures for your category and tag URLs here. For example, using topics as your category base would make your category links like http://example.org/topics/uncategorized/. If you leave these blank the defaults will be used.
Soooo do I need fill in the Category Base and Tag Base in order to keep the custom selection?
This portion is a bit confusing.
Thanks, Amy! You're amazing!
In the newest version of WP, you do have the option to use just the post title (and not have to enter it as custom anymore). Do you see that option? If that's the structure you'd like, choose that and leave the other fields blank (i.e. category base and tag base). Does that help?
Yes…that helps tremendously. It's funny how it seem obvious now. Some of this is a training of the mind, isn't it?
Glad to help!
Just what I needed a video of step by step. You are amazing. Thanks so much for making this blog it's so helpful for the Newbies like myself who are clueless on how to start a blog & get it out there. Off to the next step.
My pleasure!
Hi Amy,
I did something profoundly un-smart (trying not to say, "Stupid") and managed to accidentally sign up for a wordpress.com instead of wordpress.org account. I've used it for all steps up to step 11 on your How to Start a Blog link. Now I'm not sure how to undo what I've done and change it all to .org. Is there an easy fix here? Thanks! MC
Oops, I'm okay, I just figured it out!! Thanks!!
Amy,
Hello! I recently got a domain (with a temporary address), set up hosting and switched to wordpress.org. I am going through your optimization posts. I have about 73 blog posts already. I would like to change my permalinks; however, I know you don't recommend that. Is there any solution to this? Where I could change them without messing them up? Or am a stuck with have the default ones? Thanks so much for your blog btw!
Sarah
Are the posts already published or just in the wings. If they are already published, I'd get someone to help you like Joy. She can make sure there are no broken links. You can also try to find a "redirection" plugin, although they tend to be buggy and not 100% accurate so be sure to check for broken links afterwards.
Hi Amy, thanks for your great help…
I am just setting up my blog and realizing I have been things backwards. If I have published only 1 post, the "welcome to my blog" type and 1 fixed page, can I just delete/move to trash them and do the permalink change without a problem? or is it too late already? I published those only yesterday….
thanks
So helpful! Thank you!!
HI Amy,
i don't see Update Services on my wordpress at settings – writting.
what i see on my site is: size of the post box, formatting, default, post categorry, default post format, default link category and press this.
dan
Hi Amy,
Thanks for the mention of my pinging list! Much appreciated and hope it helps your readers
Keep up the good work with the blog.
Andrew
Thank you for this list, Andrew!
Hi Amy:
I'm getting ready to dump "wordpress" from my blog address… should have done that when I started blogging. Some of your suggestions above are not available to me like "Update Services" or "Common Settings". Is that because I'm not paying for a domain yet? On another note… I'm good friends with Annelise and I understand you two are going to a blogging conference this wknd! How exciting… have a wonderful time together!!
Amy,
Thanks for the informative video. I'm changing from Blogger to WordPress. So if I use a 301 redirect, will that redirect magically forward old links to their new home? I have a feeling they will not, but thought I'd ask.
I followed these customizations when I first started my wordpress site. I made them before I did anything. Now when I try to set up feedburner it tells me the url for my feeds is invalid. Did I cause this when I changed the permalink? The only post showing when I made the change was the wordpress default initial post. Thanks.
Hi Emily, whenever I get a specific warning or error I google it in quotation marks like this. So often others have experienced the same thing and I can find a fix that way. I hope that helps!
Hi Amy
I am attempting to copy the pinging list from Acorn SEO and it says to continue reading for the list but doesn't take me to it? Any thoughts?
Thanks much for all your wonderful support and advice, you rock!
Jill
Found it-nevermind!!!! Can you say learning curve?
Woot!
Hi Amy,
I'm just getting started, so I'm going back through all your email one by one and making the changes you suggest. BTW, I added my child theme to the free twentyeleven theme and it worked just like you said. I don't know what I would do w/o you!!!!! I have so much to learn. Like adding the social media buttons, how to get people to sign up and email etc. Thank you so much.
Kathleen
You're more than welcome, Kathleen. Way to go on your child theme!
Way to go on the child theme, Kathleen!
Hi Amy–I attempted to change from my temporary url to my permanent one and it now gives me a 404 error every time. Do you have any hints or suggestions on how to fix this??
Hey Katie, call your host and they'll be able to walk you through. Don't worry, you'll get it!
Thanks Amy! I actually got it sorted out already– I just had to uninstall wordpress… I love solving problems:)
Katie
Woot! Way to go.
I am moving our high school website from wordpress.com to a self-hosted wordpress site on Bluehost. Is it normal for widgets and themes not to work transferring the data base. OK, I guess I deal with that, but my real question is can I safely change the permalinks at this point?
I am encouraged that I have done quite a few things right on my personal blog http://crazyoldmaraman.wordpress.com and look forward to utilizing many of your techniques when I move to a self hosted site. It is going to be labor intensive since I have been blogging for quite a while. Thanks for all of your insight.
Hi Chuck. I would just import your posts/pages form your WP.com site to your new one, but I wouldn't change the permalinks of your existing posts, otherwise they will be broken links (if someone tries to access those posts/pages from your other site). You could set a 301 redirect for those posts/pages if you wanted. That would permanently redirect anyone to the new page. An easy way to do this is to import and then use Yoast's SEO plugin which gives you the option to 301 redirect any post to a new URL. Of course, this could be cumbersome to do if you have a lot of posts/pages. The fortunate thing is that an import from WP.com to a self-hosted WP site is much easier than say, a switch from Blogger to a self-hosted WP, so you might just want to import your posts using your existing permalink structure and call it good.