WordPress is the most popular content management system for good reason. Unlike many other options, it is 100% free and offers many useful features that are easy for even a novice to use and understand.
Around 34% of all websites on the internet use WordPress. That equals around 75 million websites.
One thing that you need to understand is that WordPress.org, the content management system (CMS) and WordPress.com, the blog hosting service are two different things, and we will tell you why.
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
The major difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com is who hosts your website.
On WordPress.org, you host your own blog and website using a hosting company of your choosing. But with WordPress.com, WordPress takes all the responsibility for your hosting.
With WordPress.org you download and install the software on your hosting account’s server. However, in the case of WordPress.com you don’t have to find, pay for, or manage a server because WordPress hosts your files for you.
You can use either one of those depending upon why you need it for and what kind of features are you looking for. WordPress.com might make sense if you’re learning about the CMS or running a personal site, whereas WordPress.org is used for more professional sites where you want to maintain more control.
How to Gain Followers for Your New WordPress Blog
If you’re looking for creative ways to attract traffic and grow followers for your new WordPress blog, we have some tips for you.
Share Content on Social Media by Using the Publicize Tool
Using the Publicize tool, you can connect your blog to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and LinkedIn, and you can publish your new blog posts to these social media networks and attract an audience.
Pay for Traffic
If you are willing to spend money, then you can increase your followers through paid promotions and ad campaigns. Google Ads is one advertising network to consider.
Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
You can use SEO to make your WordPress blog more visible on search engines. This involves using keyword phrases people actively search for, building backlinks, and optimizing on-page SEO such as page titles and meta descriptions. A plugin like Yoast SEO can help.
Interact with Other Bloggers
Interacting with bloggers that post similar content can get you followers as well as exposure to your blog.
Tagging and Scheduling Posts
Posting regularly and on-schedule is very important. This practice can capture your audience more easily and also increases your credibility.
Managing Spam Comments on Your New WordPress Blog
Once you have set your blog up, you might notice that you start receiving spam comments. If you allow them to be published, these can hurt your SEO by filling your page with irrelevant content.
This is especially important for small business owners who are spending money on things like CRM software where they don’t want to negatively impact the reader experience.
To protect your blog from these spam comments, you can use a WordPress spam plugin that will block spam comments without letting your readers ever see them in the first place. One example is the WordPress Zero Spam Plugin.
The configuration of this plugin is pretty basic. First, go to the plugin section in your WordPress admin area and click on “Add New Plugin”. Then type “WordPress Zero Spam” in the plugin search bar. Install the plugin and then activate it.
Once activated, go to the WordPress settings section and click on ‘Zero spam.’ After that, you can configure the settings to prevent further spam.
Follow these tips, and you’ll be off to a good start in building your new WordPress blog, gaining new readers, and avoiding the common pitfall of spam comments.
