Working at a web design company for so long, I have realized something – working on websites takes a lot of work! It’s something that you constantly have to keep up with. When you’re working on a website from the ground up, it also can take up a lot of time.
Due to this, I’ve found some strategies that have helped me throughout the years with getting pages up faster, blogs written more effectively, and SEO implemented more strategically.
Here are a few pointers I’ve gathered to pass on to others that are looking to make their lives a bit easier.
1. There’s a plugin for that
The majority of times someone comes to me looking for a certain new look or functionality that is not a part of WordPress’ core capabilities I say to myself “there’s probably a plugin for that”. I immediately start looking through the WordPress Plugin directory trying to find a perfect fit and then, if needed, I get my Google on and do the same. The WordPress plugin directory helps find you a solution almost 90 percent of the time, but if you can’t find the right fit for you within it, there are developers that build custom plugins and sell them online. Codecanyon has a big database of plugins from a variety of different developers that might be the right fit for you, but at a bit of a price
2. Every once and awhile, it’s okay to use a page builder.
The majority of times you are working on a web page you might be fine with a basic interior page design layout that is set as your interior page’s “default layout” but if there’s an opportunity that arises that you need a very specific interior page design, use a page builder. There are a lot of page builder plugins that are available these days including WP Bakery, Divi, King Composer, Elementor and more! Some are free, but the advance ones such as WP Bakery and Divi do cost money, but are more than worth it with the amount of time you will save without having to develop a new page template by coding it out or writing in-line HTML and CSS styling.
3. Don’t reinvent the wheel each time, Duplicate it!
Sick of building page after page from the ground up when they all look the same, the content is just a bit different? One of my favorite time saving plugins is Duplicate Page. With this plugin you can duplicate pages, posts, custom post types, and products with the click of a button. Then all you have to do is go in there and edit the existing text/imagery. Huzzah!
4. Schedule things out in advance
Somedays in the office you might have a little more time than others, so why not knock out a blog or two in one day rather than try and schedule one in during a week when you’re crammed with tasks and “to dos”? Luckily, this functionality is built into WordPress, but a lot of people forget it exists. When going to “publish” a post change the time from “immediately” to a week or two from now! That way, you can schedule mosts out weeks in advance and be able to focus on your extensive workload when necessary.
5. Yoast can help
Ever optimizing a page and aren’t sure if you’ve hit the spot with your content or keywords? Use the Yoast plugin! Yoast is up to date with current Google algorithms to know if your page is hitting the mark and gives you suggestions if you aren’t. Aren’t much of a writer? Yoast scans through your content letting you know the readability of your page/post when doing so, acting as a teacher to help guide you through your content writing journey.
Whatever your web journey may be, there are resources out there to help. You just have to do some digging to find the right solution for your problem. Doing so can help save you time and get you on the right path for doing things correctly and efficiently the first time.