Adding Content to Your WordPress Site, the Basics

We’ll cover here both the basic steps and your thought processes that will make your content Search Engine Friendly.   First off, you need to determine if the new info that you are adding should be put on a “page” or a “post.”  The process for both is almost identical, but there are a couple of differences to be aware of.

You should put your new info on a page if:

1. The information is relatively static – directions to your business, contact information, return policy for example.
2. The topic answers common questions your customers have – store hours and method of payment for example.  Essentially, info about “how” you do business.

You should put your new info on in a post if:

1. The information is the “latest installment” on a topic that you cover regularly – my latest advice on improving your website, the newest fashions at your clothing boutique, or your thoughts on last night’s basketball game.
2. Most of the information that people would be searching for your site, covering “what you do” should be in posts as this format lends itself to making your site Search Engine friendly.

In this post we’ll cover the specifics of how to enter a post as this will cover your most common tasks.

First, on your site’s dashboard, go to Post → Add New.  This will open up the form that you will use to write your new post.  Depending upon your site’s theme and the plugins that you have installed, your form may look slightly different than what is shown in this example.  However, the four steps that I’m about to show you are universal and needed for every post on any site for proper Search Engine Optimization.

Your second step will be to enter the title of your post.  The photo on the left will show you where the title goes.  When writing your title, please remember that you have two audiences. 

Your title needs to first and foremost be meaningful to your audience.  It should be catchy, brief, and meaningful so that your busy readers can quickly know that this post contains the info they are looking for. 

Your other audience is the search engines.  Post titles are very helpful to the search engines, particularly if they contain keywords – phrases that your customers would type into a search engine when looking for you.  Good keywords in your title can help boost your search engine ranking.  However, we’ve all seen sites where the writer was clearly writing for the search engine at the expense of his actual audience.  The writing just doesn’t flow, appearing to be simply a long string of keywords.  Sure his site might rank highly initally, but you don’t stay on a site like this for long as he clearly is more interested in the search engines and making a quick buck off of you – not truly meeting your needs.  And the search engines are starting to dock sites like this more and more.

Don’t make that mistake!  If you can write for both audiences that is preferable, but if you have to choose between the two, write for your human audience primarily.  Search engines are becoming smarter all the time, and a well written post on a properly organized site will outrank one that attempts to be clever in very short order.  Fit your keywords in, but only where they make sense in a grammatically correct sentence.

The second section of the form to attend to is the body of the post.  This is the large box on the left hand side of the form.  Here you enter your text, modifying it as needed with the WSIWYG buttons just above. 

Of particular note are the buttons on the upper most row here.  Place the cursor where you would want to add any media, like a picture or video, in your post, then by clicking on these buttons will allow you to upload the appropriate one.  I’ll get to the specifics on these buttons in a later post, but in the meantime know that you can try what you think might work, then back up or undo if the results aren’t as you planned.

Note:  I find it easier to write longer posts, such as this one, in a word processing program such as Word, instead of directly creating them here in Word Press.  The primary advantage of doing this is because of the powerful spell and grammar checking capabilities of a program like Word.  This is particularly important if you don’t have an editor that works with you on your site. 

There are two particulars that I’ll caution you on should you choose to follow my lead on this one.  (1) Make sure that the writing you do in Word is done in the default font.  Importing formatted text into Word Press can wreck havoc with your template.  (2)  Add all formatting, links, and images after the text is imported into your site.  The formatting will be much, much, much more consistent throughout your site if you make these arrangements within the confines of the site.  I’ve tried to short cut this system.  I really have.  When I find a way, I’ll let you know.  In the meantime, just chalk this up to the joys of working with an Open Source platform.

The next step is to assign your post to a category.  Each post should get one – and only one – category.  Here’s how to pick.  The category function in Word Press mimics the traditional, top-down structure of older websites.  Think about the core theme of the current post.  What category would this theme fit into? 

Can/should these main categories be subdivided?  If so, “child” categories are possible.  For example, a clothing store might have categories of Men’s, Women’s, and Children’s clothing.  Within the Women’s category, there might be sub-categories such as Dresses, Tops, and Pants.  And within the Pants category, you might have further divisions like Jeans, Slacks, and Capris.  The point is your post belongs in only one of these.  You wouldn’t have an item categorized in both Dresses and Jeans.

In the category box in your Post form, simply check the box of the appropriate category.  If the best fit isn’t available, simply move to the bottom of this box and add what you need.

The last item you need for a complete post is to add the pertinent Post Tags.  The idea behind Tags is to give further categorization of your posts, using terms that your customers may use in the search engines.

You should give each post at least one, and as many as 10 tags.  Ideally, you’ll use the same tags over and over again, so start this part of your process by clicking on the “most often used” link within the Tag box.  Click on each tag to use them again.  Need more tags, simply type them in at the top of the box and then click Add.

Following our example from above, a post in the Jeans category may have tags about the fabric (Denim), color (Blue), fit (Relaxed), size (Size 6) and perhaps more. 

These additional tags work for you in two ways.  (1) They act to emphasize these keywords to the search engines and help bring more traffic to your site.  (2) The info within your site can be easily organized by your customers along these lines.  A customer, for example, can quickly review your entire inventory that matches her Size 6.  This convenience saves her time while shopping your site and increases the likelihood she’ll find what she is looking for.

Congratulations!  When you’ve completed these steps, click on the Publish button and your new post will show up on your site nearly immediately.

So there you go.  Give it a try.  Did I miss something?  Maybe I skimmed over a topic you need more info on?  Please help me to make this post better by letting me know the questions you may have.