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Installing a blog like WordPress can seem like a simple task at first glance. It includes a simple install script that creates the database tables, an administrator, and provides a password for you to get started right away. However, setting up a blog should not stop here. There are several optimizations that should be implemented prior to getting started with posting to save yourself headaches in the future. For those bloggers who haven’t made these changes, it’s not too late. Here are some key pieces of advice to get you going in the right direction.

1. Enable permalinks. When WordPress installs, it’s set up to make posts access through URL’s in the format of http://www.mydomain.com/?p=123. While this is rather short and fairly simple to the human eye, the part beginning with the question mark — the query string — can negatively affect your blog post’s scores within search engines. The reason is two-fold: for one, search engines at times do not [bookmarking/remembering] Web pages that include query strings; additionally, the number representing the post index within the URL provides the search engine with no information regarding what the post is about.

So how can you fix this? Fortunately, WordPress includes the option of turning on permalinks. Permalinks are a way of representing a URL in a friendlier fashion such that it represents what the page actually contains. For example, a post named “How to Use Digg” could have a URL in the format of http://www.mydomain.com/how-to-use-digg/ as opposed to the numeric format mentioned previously.

To turn on permalinks in WordPress, open your administrator area, click the “Options” link, then click the “Permalinks” sub-link. There are several formatting options provided in addition to a means by which to customize permalinks. I recommend utilizing the provided “date and name based” format (/%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/) or a custom format that simply includes the name (/%postname%/).

2. Optimize your HTML title tag. By default, WordPress displays the title tag in the format “Blog Name » Post Name”. This is nonsensical from an SEO perspective. When viewing SERP’s, the end users don’t care what the name of your blog is; they only care if your page is about what they’re searching for. As such, a much better format for blog titles would be “Post Name « Blog Name”. This can be achieved easily with the use of the Optimal Title WordPress plug-in.

After installing, you’ll need to open your WordPress Theme Editor (under “Presentation” in the administrator area) and make a slight modification to your header.php file. Simply locate the line that looks something like this:

<title><?php bloginfo('name'); ?> <?php if ( is_single() ) { ?> » Blog Archive <?php } ?> <?php wp_title(); ?></title>

And change it to look something like this:

<title><?php if ( function_exists('optimal_title') ) { optimal_title('«'); bloginfo('name'); } else { bloginfo('name'); ?> <?php if ( is_single() ) { ?> » Blog Archive <?php } ?> <?php wp_title(); } ?></title>

While on the subject of optimizing your page titles, the SEO Title Tag is another handy WordPress plug-in that falls into the same category. In short, it allows you to “override a page’s or a post’s title tag with a custom one.” An example might be a page named “Advertising” that you wish to have a more elaborate title such as “Advertising and Marketing Opportunities on MattHuggins.com”. The title that includes more detail is more likely to have a better SERP ranking and receive more visitors.

3. Utilize a Sitemap. Search engines have become big on using Sitemaps to quickly find information used to crawl websites. Sitemaps are XML files that provide search engines an overview of what files exist, when they were last updated, and how often they are updated. WordPress does not include a default means of generating a Sitemap, which is why the Google Sitemap Generator plug-in is so unique and oh-so useful. What’s especially great about the plug-in is that it will automatically regenerate the Sitemap file when a new post is created, and it will even go the extra step of pinging Google to let them know that your site has been updated. What more could you ask for?

4. Caring means sharing. More inbound links usually means more traffic. It also tends to result in higher ranking by search engines. By allowing your blog posts to be shared on the plethora of social websites such as Digg, reddit, and Netscape, you’re enabling the growth of inbound links. The Share This WordPress plug-in is a simple way to allow visitors to share your blog posts with the world.

5. Help readers to find related posts. I’ve mentioned this before, but the Related Entries WordPress plug-in is an absolute must. In addition to giving your readers a chance to find related content on your own site instead of searching elsewhere, it also provides spiders the chance to determine how your pages relate for inclusion in SERP’s.