I’ve made it a tradition to attend WordCamp Lancaster every year. It’s a forum that provides nearly everything you need to know about the blogging platform WordPress.org and its updates from the experts.
2017 WordCamp inspired me to update the theme of The Age of Grace with a fresh look and a better mobile viewing experience. After blogging for five years, I’m still learning WordPress basics. I now know the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. WordPress.org allows more flexibility with themes and plugins and more control to update the platform as needed.
Website owners and developers taught a full day of classes. I sat in on all the website owner presentations, and afterward, I gave myself a few new challenges. The first one is to update my site with an SSL certificate, meaning HTTP to HTTPS because Google ranks websites without HTTPS lower. A side note: you know your site is secure with the green padlock and “secure” message in the browser.
My second challenge is using the free Gutenberg Editor Plugin with full integration with WordPress.org platforms. I utilize Grammarly as my premium online grammar checker. As bloggers, we all know rich content is just one factor considered in the SEO strategy. I will have the ability to disable Gutenberg. Hopefully, I won’t find that necessary.
To have the best website you can, use the checklist below to make sure you’re optimizing everything:
♦ Is your website mobile-friendly? Test here. The answer will be yes or no.
◊ How fast do desktop and mobile sites load? Starting in July 2018, page speed will be a ranking factor for mobile searches. Check speed scores here
♦ Use this free site to help shrink images as large images slow down the site loading speed
◊ You can look closely at What URLs Google indexes for your site through a “site.”
Did I mention the class only $20 and a nutritious lunch? Click here to find one in your town. I hope you find this information helpful; it’s nearly everything you need to know about WordPress.org updates.
Have a fabulous week.
