Welcome to part 3 of our Traffic and Leads series through WordPress. If you haven’t read Part 1 & 2, I suggest you go back and read those before continuing because they will help shed a lot of light on the setup process of WordPress. WordPress is an awesome platform because it gives you complete control of your blogging. A website that used to take several weeks to setup can now be done within minutes. I personally created several websites for my clients in under 4 minutes simply using WordPress. Installation through hosting is very simple and theme customization can be done through simple drag & drop. However, much of the functionality of your website can only be done after installing various different plugins and the one you choose will depend on your requirements. However, keep in mind, there are some plug-ins that have to be installed no matter what and these will improve your traffic and leads retention rate.
Let’s look at the main plug-ins required for every website going forward.
All-In-One SEO –
An amazing plug-in that streamlines your SEO process and once it’s been installed, it will add the right code to all your pages. The only thing left for you is to add the correct title, description, and keywords to the bottom of pages and posts. For you to use this to its full potential, I encourage everyone to conduct extensive keyword research so you will add the right “targeted†keywords to your pages and content.
WP Cache –
Website load speed has widely been considered one of Google’s ranking factor and this plug-in will optimize the overall performance. The functionality is very simple as it will create a mock-up of your pages and display them to your users instead of having to load each individual file. However, when changes are made to the page, it will automatically update the markup to provide an updated version to your visitors. By simply creating a screenshot of your site, you are decreasing load time because files don’t have to be continuously loaded.
Backup Plug-in –
I know many of you are probably wondering what does this have to do with traffic and leads…right? The answer is simple because you are simply protecting your website by backing up all the files. In reality, a website that is no longer functioning will receive NO traffic and leads. I encourage all of you to always create a backup and this can be done by installing a plug-in to automate the entire process. I am currently using VaultPress.com, which is costing me roughly $10.00 a month. This plug-in will create backups for me daily so I have the security of knowing I can re-install my website completely if anything does go wrong.
WordPress Scheduler –
The more content on your website, the better for traffic and to generate leads. Creative bloggers know how to utilize different pages by installing different opt-in forms. It’s even been proven the more high quality content on your website, the higher the chances of generating organic traffic. However, if you’re like me, then you’ll have a problem writing content and keeping track of all your ideas. I use different WP Scheduling plug-ins because I tested which ones provide me with the best features. You can find a complete list of the ones I’m testing here but I highly recommend you install “1†to help keep track of your writing. Here’s something else…
If you’re like me and work on several different projects, then you need a handy plug-in to alert you and keep you on track to make sure you keep posting content.
WordPress Lead Pages –
This plug-in and tool has been receiving enormous praise over the last several months. For those of you not aware of what this does, it simple allows you create attractive, smooth, customizable opt-in forms in under 3 minutes. It integrates with many of the popular email service providers, easily allowing you to streamline the opt-in process for visitors. The most important thing is this plug-in provides you with a complete testing and tweaking backend by providing you in-depth statistics on your conversions. If you are looking to generate traffic and leads, then install this plug-in to streamline the testing process. I believe every website should have a solid way to capture leads because it’s a great way to build your brand and loyalty. Imagine how many people you can have return to your website by sending a simple follow-up message containing valuable content. It’s amazing and has been proven to work time and time again!
Wrapping It Up…
This is the end of Part 3 and I encourage all of you to start installing these plug-ins. Many of them work right out of the box so don’t require any configuration after they’ve been added to WordPress. All of these plug-ins will help optimize your website so you can continue to generate traffic and leads while NOT worrying about the elements that, at this point, can be automated. When I blog, I prefer to direct my attention to what’s important for my readers like a smooth interface and awesome high quality content.