There are countless instructional guides out there on installing WordPress.  I highly recommend using WordPress.org’s own tutorial as a great starting point on getting a basic install accomplished.  The biggest question when installing WordPress is, “Now what?”.  I’ve been asked many times what plugins I use on this site as well as how I maintain the site daily for the best traffic.  I want to take some time to explain, in detail, how I go about setting up a WordPress install and what plugins/management I use to make my blogs more effective.

After doing an initial install you are left with a beautiful and simple WP install that can be a little overwhelming when first accessing the back-end.  There are a few sections you’ll want to pay attention to right away to get your new blog optimized and ready for search engines.

Set up your categories:

Go to “Posts” - “Categories” and set up a few basic categories you’ll likely use on your blog.  I have “Musings”, “Life”, “Review”, “News”, and more.  I recommend getting rid of the “uncategorized” category.

General Settings:

Go to “Settings” - “General” and set up your blogs name, tagline, and date settings.

Permalinks:

Go to “Settings” - “Permalinks” and change the default settings to something a little cleaner (and better for SEO).  If you select the “Custom Structure” option and add something that suits you best, it will give the links a much cleaner look.  I personally use /%postname%/ for mine as it gives each of my links the post title as the URL. (ex. http://www.coffeedharma.com/ultimate-wordpress-install)  You can add any combinitation of structures and find the one that works best for you.  I used to use /%category%/%postname%/ but found it messed things up when I later changed categories on a post.

Another big part of WordPress are the plugins.  There are hundreds to choose from and you can use a vast combination for different effect.  The best place to see plugins and get more information is from the WordPress Plugin Site.  Here are some of the ones I use, what they do, and how they can help your blog:

Adsense Manager:

Many blogs like to monetize their content through Google’s Adsense.  I find ads somewhat pointless on my site as they really didn’t raise much money and added clutter I didn’t want.  If you decide to use ads though, this plugin can make it a lot easier with quick widget support and support for quite a few ad providers.

Akismet:

Spam is the bane of my existence.  Akismet is the best spam blocker I have used.  It effectivley blocks all spam comments from being posted without any work from me.  It has blocked hundreds on this site.

All in One SEO Pack:

Your best tool in getting your blog found on search engines is setting up proper permalinks and SEO management.  This plugin makes that incredibly easy as it allows you to manage it all from one panel, including meta tags.

Google Analytics for WordPress:

Knowing where your traffic is coming from is helpful in so many ways.  You can see your target audience and where they come from, how long they stay, and where they go.  Google has made this easy with their Analytics service.  This plugin makes adding the neccesary code into your blog incredibly easy.

Google XML Sitemaps:

Google’s Webmaster’s Tools are a great way to help Google keep your blog indexed and up to date on their search engine.  This plugin helps you easily create a compliant sitemap for Google to use.

ShadowBox JS:

If you go to any of my posts with an image in it as seen here, you’ll notice the image thumbnails pop up into a nice animated larger preview when clicked.  This plugin makes that happen automatically and also lets you choose the javascript engine used, which is helpful if js conflicts arise with your template.

WordPress PDA & iPhone:

Mobile browsers are everywhere these days.  There is a good chance someone is going to view your blog via a mobile device and you want it to look its best.  This plugin offers a great mobile template when viewed on a mobile browser.  It also uses an iPhone template when viewed from iPhone’s Safari browser.  Having a great looking blog in mobile mode is not only professional but just a nice thing to do.

The other part of WordPress that makes it so powerful is the ability to custom design just about everything.  With so many blogs on the web, having a unique one is often key.  I can not express the value of a professionally designed template for your WP blog.  Having a complete design gives you a professional edge and adds significant value to your site.  If you’re up to the challange yourself, you can find many templates on the web that can be customized for your site.  There are a few key things to remember when choosing a template.

Updates:

Make sure your template is updated to work with the most recent version of WordPress.  Older, unsupported templates can give you headaches you don’t need.  Professional templates offer an edge mainly for the constant updates to the core of the theme.

Widgets:

While not always necessary, having a widget ready theme will make your blogging much easier and you’ll spend a lot less time entering code into your template.  Most themes are widget ready these days but check all the same.

Gravatars:

Gravatars are avatars linked to specific email addresses so people who leave comments on your blog can have their picture show automatically.  Your theme should either have Gravatar support built in or get one of the many Gravatar plugins available for WordPress.

There are so many options and choices available for WordPress you can make your site truly your own in every way.  Experiment with different plugins and themes until you find what works best for you.  The beauty of WordPress is the flexibility and ease of use not found on many other options.  These simple tips can help you get started on having a blog you can be proud of.  The biggest tip to remember though is blog often, blog true, and have fun!