WordPress is a brilliant, trustworthy and versatile website platform. With its intuitive backend and straightforward structure, WordPress websites can be built by almost anyone.

It’s no surprise that WordPress is the world’s most popular CMS, with more than 64 million sites using it. In particular, because of its user-friendliness, it’s often a first-choice software for website beginners.

WordPress websites can be created quickly and easily. There are thousands of options and add-ons to choose from, making it easy to set up and customise a site.

However, many WordPress website-owners don’t have the coding skills needed to adapt their site for their unique requirements. Therefore, a page builder often seems like a great option to gain more customisation options and control over webpage design.

A page builder can be added to your WordPress site as either a plugin or theme. Some of the most popular page builder plugins are Divi, WPBakery, Elementor and Beaver Builder.

With a page builder, you can create tailored, innovative and exciting website content without any technical knowledge. The only design limits are your imagination and time.

Sounds great, right? Yes, page builders can be brilliant – but they come with problems too…

when to use a WordPress page builder

1. you need rapid web building

A page builder has an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that can be used to design visually-appealing layouts for your WordPress website. This means that page builders are ideal for creating special offer pages, event information, or promo sites that need to be produced rapidly.

2. for lots of premade options & functionality

Page builders come with loads of premade layout options and functionality. This means you can include a wide variety of features and page designs on your website without needing to pay for or install multiple plugins.

3. to save money

With a page builder, customisation options that would otherwise only be open to WordPress developers are accessible to everyone. This means that web design work can be done by non-technical staff, potentially saving substantial costs. It also gives you more options for creating different types of content in-house.

4. for user-friendliness

Creating webpage designs with a WordPress page builder is very user-friendly. You can see exactly how your pages will look on the front-end, and ensure your design is just right before publishing.

when to avoid a WordPress page-builder

1. speed matters

Most page builders include extra code which is embedded in your website and impacts loading speed. Having a slower website is not only frustrating for users but also negatively affects your search engine rankings.

2. you want flexibility later on

Page builders are great when you’re using them but don’t allow for flexibility later on. If you decide to switch to a different WordPress design or theme, you’ll probably be left with a mess of broken pages and code errors. This means you may have to re-create each webpage again from scratch.

3. branding errors could cause problems

With a WordPress page builder, you can make sweeping changes across your whole site. Of course, this is a brilliant way of saving time, but also means that site-wide design errors can be made by mistake. Similarly, page builders give individuals significant power to break away from a website’s brand, such as by changing colours and fonts – which often leaves things looking messy and fragmented.

4. options feel overwhelming

Whilst design options can be wonderfully liberating and exciting, they can also become overwhelming. If you want to focus on publishing great WordPress content without being distracted by hundreds of layout options, then a page builder isn’t for you.

page builders: in conclusion

WordPress page builders are wonderful things, but they’re not a one-size-fits-all solution.

They’re great for producing relatively simple sites or special offer pages, and for individuals and small teams who have the time to invest in learning how to use them effectively. In these scenarios, they enable innovative web design layouts and features to be produced quickly and at relatively low-cost.

However, organisations looking for core web platform, page builders aren’t the best long-term solution. A web developer or WordPress agency will be able to ensure your site includes the right branding, functionality and design for you without reducing speed or limiting options for future changes.

not sure what’s best for you?

We provide award-winning WordPress support and WordPress design – please get in touch to discuss your website or project.

For more expert WordPress tips, check out our Ultimate WordPress Optimisation Guide and other WordPress blogs.

1. install an image optimisation plugin (or two!)

An image optimisation plugin is a great way to ensure your WordPress images are compressed and resized for your webpages. We recommend Smush – it’s award-winning and totally free, so win-win!

Images are often responsible for slow loading times on WordPress, as they tend to be the heaviest website elements. Therefore, Smush compresses images into smaller versions for more rapid loading.

Smush also has several other handy image optimisation features. In particular, the lazy loading feature is well worth activating to improve UX and site speed, as it delays the loading of offscreen images until users scroll down.

Another great image optimisation plugin is WebP Express. It speeds up your site’s mobile performance by re-encoding images into super-quick webp versions for mobile browsers.

2. crop & edit images before uploading

As well as using an on-site image optimisation plugin, it’s also a good idea to crop and compress images off-site, before uploading to WordPress.

There are lots of great free tools which do this, such as Pixlr and Resize Image. With these, you can edit your image into the exact size and shape you want, and also substantially reduce file size.

It’s also worth considering, and sometimes changing, the file type for your image. Jpg images are usually the lightest, most practical file type for most photos. However, if your images are graphics or have transparent backgrounds, then a different file type will be needed.

3. always include alt text

Alt text is a short description that explains what’s happening in an image. This text is key for SEO and web accessibility, and will also appear if an image is unable to load.

Make sure to complete the alt text box whenever you upload an image to WordPress. Try to use clear, descriptive language to help both users and search engines understand your images.

You can add alt text to existing images in Media > Library on your WordPress dashboard. Once there, simply click on any image, and complete the ‘Alternative Text’ box.

4. add a favicon

A favicon is a thumbnail image that represents your website in web browser tabs and bookmark lists. It should be an instantly recognisable symbol for your brand and website, such as the multicoloured ‘G’ favicon for Google below:

We recommend either using a square version of your logo or choosing another image that works well in a small format.

You can add (or update) your favicon in WordPress by going to Appearance > Customise and then selecting ‘General Settings’ and ‘Site Identity’. Make sure your chosen image is at least 512 x 512 pixels in size, or it will appear blurry.

5. check for unoptimised images

We recommend regularly checking your website for unoptimised images. You can do this using an image optimisation plugin, such as Smush, or with a free online speed checker such as GTmetrix.

With GTmetrix, simply type in your WordPress website URL and click ‘Test your site’. A performance report will then be generated with two different speed scores. You’ll also find detailed recommendations for improving your site’s speed, with any bulky, unoptimized images highlighted.

6. clean-up your Media Library

Our final tip for optimising WordPress imagery is to clean-up your Media Library.

Whenever you upload an image or file in WordPress, several copies are made for different purposes. Some plugins and themes also duplicate image files.

This means that every time you add a website image, the size of your site grows substantially – using up more space on your server, reducing page speed, and taking longer to backup.

We recommend regularly clearing out your Media Library (in Media > Library) and removing any duplicate, old or unused image files. To delete a single image, simply click the ‘Delete Permanently’ option in red at the bottom of the screen. You’ll also need to click ‘OK’ in the WordPress popup.

Alternatively, you can delete images in bulk, by choosing ‘Bulk Select’ at the top of your Media Library page. Just tick any images you’d like to remove, and click ‘Delete Selected’. Once again, you’ll need to press ‘OK’ in the popup message to complete the process.

want award-winning WordPress support?

Our expert developers have built, supported and maintained hundreds of WordPress websites – from updating messaging for JRRT to launching a bold and fully-responsive site for Anti-Slavery International. For further information about our WordPress support and maintenance services, please get in touch.

Or, for more expert WordPress tips, make sure to read our Ultimate WordPress Optimisation Guide and other WordPress blogs.

1. it’s free

Unlike many other website content management systems, WordPress is free. It’s an open-source platform, which means that anyone can use it to create a blog or website without charge.

As running a website can be expensive, with domain registration, web designer fees, hosting and other costs, choosing WordPress helps keep things affordable.

2. easy setup

WordPress websites are constructed using design templates called themes. Not only are there are thousands of free themes available to choose from, but many of them can also be adapted to your unique requirements without needing any technical knowledge or code writing skills.

Because of this straightforward structure, WordPress websites can usually be setup more quickly and easily than with other CMSs.

3. versatility

Whilst WordPress was originally a blogging platform, its versatility and wide range of features mean that it can now be used for almost any kind of website.

WordPress is a great platform for lots of different purposes, including informational/brochure sites, jobs boards, e-commerce stores, forums, directories and more.

4. plugins

Plugins are small software components which add additional features. There are a vast number of plugins available which can be used to customise your WordPress site for exactly the design and functionality you want.

Additional functionality can include fundraising, event booking, social media integration, photo galleries and much, much more. Plugins are very easy to install and add-on to your WordPress site, and many are free too!

5. SEO-friendliness

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of optimising your website so that it’s displayed higher up on search engine results pages. WordPress sites are naturally well-optimised for SEO, which means you have a good chance of gaining organic traffic without too much effort.

It’s also easy to further improve your SEO game with a WordPress SEO plugin. We recommend Yoast, which has features including showing how your webpages appear on search engines and rating the SEO quality of your content.

6. media-rich content

With its built-in media uploader which handles images, videos and audio files, WordPress is a brilliant platform for sharing rich and engaging content. It’s also super-easy to add content from social media (eg. YouTube videos) – just paste the relevant URL into your WordPress editor.

WordPress also has an intuitive backend interface which means it’s straightforward to create and update all content – even if you’re not a techie. And with WordPress 5.8, the latest WordPress software version, creating media-rich content is becoming even easier!

7. trusted by big names

Whilst WordPress started out as a platform for bloggers, it’s now the website CMS of choice for some of the world’s largest companies and brands.

We use WordPress for the Pedalo website, as do household names including Spotify, PlayStation, Beyoncé and CNN.

8. mobile-responsive

With more than half of internet browsing sessions taking place on mobiles and tablets, and mobile compatibility also affecting search engine rankings, having a mobile-friendly website is a must.

With WordPress, you don’t need to change your site to make it mobile-friendly. It automatically responds and adapts to different browsers so that users can access your content on all devices.

9. regular security patches

With bots constantly searching the internet for security weaknesses to exploit, your website needs up-to-date security protection to stay safe.

Fortunately, WordPress updates are made regularly to patch security issues as they arise. This means that as long as you keep your WordPress software updated, your site will stay one step ahead of the hackers.

10. popularity

More than a third of all websites use WordPress, with 70 million new posts published using the platform each month.

In fact, WordPress is used by more than 64 million sites! So if you choose WordPress for your next web design, you can rest assured that its popularity is a testament to its brilliance.

want help with your WordPress project?

Our award-winning team of WordPress developers have helped countless clients build beautiful websites – from updating branding and messaging for JRRT to launching a bold and fully-responsive site for Anti-Slavery International.

We’d love to chat about your next WordPress project, so please get in touch. We also have lots more WordPress tips and advice in our Ultimate WordPress Optimisation Guide and other WordPress blogs.

what is local SEO and how is it different to general SEO?

SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is all about increasing your business’s visibility on search engines. It involves optimising your WordPress website so that it’s ranked (and displayed) as highly as possible in search results.

Local SEO does exactly the same thing as general SEO – except it focuses on promoting your organisation and website in terms of its physical, bricks-and-mortar location. So if you’re based in Pimlico in London, then local SEO would include keywords and optimisation for London and Pimlico.

Local SEO is important if you want people to find your WordPress website when they’re searching ‘near me’, on Google Maps, or for a particular geographical location.

how to improve local SEO on WordPress

1) Add your site to Google My Business

Google My Business is a free tool which enables you to list your organisation on Google Maps. You can also include other useful information for local customers, such as contact details and opening hours.

With users increasingly searching on maps and Google prioritising map listings in their search results, this is a vital way to ensure your WordPress website is indexed and displayed in local searches. Once you’re listed, you can optimise your profile for SEO by including relevant keywords in your business description.

2) Install an SEO plugin

An SEO plugin is essential to maximise your WordPress search engine performance in general. But it’s also well worth adding a plugin specifically for local SEO.

We recommend Yoast, which has both a free, general SEO plugin and a paid local SEO plugin. This optimises your website and Google My Business listing(s) for your location(s), ensuring that your site is always visible in relevant local search results.

3) Get Google reviews

Google tracks ratings for businesses, placing those with more reviews and higher average ratings at the top of the search results listings.

But reviews are not only great for SEO – they also encourage user trust and increase click-throughs to your WordPress website.

4) Include local keywords on your website

Content is key when it comes to SEO, so make sure to include local keywords, such as ‘London’ or ‘Pimlico’ on your site. These could be on your homepage, location-specific pages, services information or event listings.

Using local keywords signal your location to search engines and helps ensure you appear in relevant local search results. It’s also a great idea to write content tailored to your geographical area; for example, if you run a pet shop in Pimlico, you could write a blog about the top places to walk dogs nearby.

That’s it – four simple ways to boost your local search engine rankings and increase organic traffic on WordPress!

For expert WordPress website management or any other help with your WordPress website, get in touch and we’ll be happy to help. Please also check out our Ultimate WordPress Optimisation Guide and other WordPress blogs for more expert tips.

what is a WordPress backup?

A backup is an exact copy of your WordPress website files and content.

Having a backup means that if your site ever gets hacked, infected with a virus or encounters other major problems, you can overcome these issues by reinstating the latest version.

Without a backup, you could lose all your site data and need to rebuild everything from scratch. You might also be without a live website for a significant period of time – meaning you’ll be losing traffic and potential business.

when to backup on WordPress

There’s no set rule about when to backup your WordPress site.

The more regularly you backup then generally the less data you’ll lose if your site ever crashes or gets infected. This is because any changes/additions made since the last backup won’t have been saved and therefore can’t be reinstated.

We recommend always backing-up before upgrading your WordPress site or adding any new plugins or themes. These are common times when things go wrong, so it’s essential to have a recent backup ready just in case!

Otherwise, backing-up your WordPress site daily or weekly is likely to be adequate, depending on how frequently you make changes. Bear in mind that making a backup usually temporarily reduces site speed, so it’s a good idea to schedule these for during low-traffic periods (such as 2am).

We recommend always keeping at least three recent backups. These should be stored in different locations – for example, on cloud accounts, different computers, hard drives or your server. This will ensure your site can still be reinstated even if one backup fails or gets accidentally deleted.

backing-up your WordPress site

Please note that how to backup your site depends on the type of hosting you have. It’s therefore a good idea to speak to your hosting provider before following the guidelines below.

To backup, you need to copy both your WordPress website files and your database.

Your files comprise your WordPress core, plugins, themes, images and code files (such as JavaScript) – the elements which create the design and look of your website. Your database contains your content – the text, blogs, pages etc on your site.

1. Backing-up your WordPress files

There are a two main options for backing-up your WordPress website files. You can:

• Copy files yourself using FTP or shell access
• Or, ask your hosting provider to give you a copy of your files

2. Backing-up your WordPress database

The easiest way to backup your WordPress website database is using phpMyAdmin. This can be done either via your hosting provider or through a control panel:

• Plesk: Go to ‘Websites & Domains’ and click the ‘Open’ button next to the correct wp_database
• Ensim: Click the MySQL Admin logo and choose ‘MySQL Administration Tool’ under ‘Configuration’
• cPanel: Find the MySQL logo on your control panel, and click through to MySQL Databases
• Direct Admin: click the ‘MySQL Management’ button on your account page
• vDeck: Select ‘Host Manager’ and then ‘Databases’ in your control panel, and then choose ‘Admin’

Once you’ve reached phpMyAdmin, click on ‘Databases’. Find the database that holds your WordPress data (the one you created when installing WordPress) and click on it. This will take you to the ‘Structure’ tab. Next, click ‘Export’ and then ‘Go’ to save the database to your preferred location.

automatic WordPress backups

If you’d rather schedule automatic WordPress backups, there are a number of ways to do this:

• Via your WordPress agency – their service is likely to include regular backups as well as help restoring your site from a backup if needed
• Using a backup plugin – we recommend UpdraftPlus as it’s free, reliable and highly-rated; with a plugin, you’re in total control over when backups are made and how they’re stored
• Via your hosting provider – many include full, daily backups of WordPress sites as part of their packages

need help?

If you’d like help with backups or any other aspect of WordPress website management, please get in touch or sign up for our on-demand WordPress maintenance services. We also have lots more tips in our Ultimate WordPress Optimisation Guide and other WordPress blogs.

an important reminder

Before we start, a quick reminder to backup your WordPress site regularly.

Backing-up involves making and storing a copy of your site’s files, content and information. It means that if your site gets hacked or encounters a problem, you can reinstate the backup version.

Backups are essential because often problems are totally unexpected, and they happen to every site at some point. Without a backup, you could lose everything you have ever added to your WordPress site.

The more frequently you back-up, the less data you’ll lose if your site ever crashes or gets infected. It’s therefore vital to schedule regular backups and store backup copies securely.

Find out more about how to back-up on WordPress in our Ultimate WordPress Optimisation Guide.

the top 6 WordPress errors

1. The White Screen of Death

Are you seeing a white or blank screen instead of your website? This White Screen of Death (WSOD) is probably the most common WordPress error.

Here are the most frequent causes and solutions:

• Plugin issues: If you’ve recently added or updated a WordPress plugin, try deactivating it or reverting to your last backup. Alternatively, you can deactivate all plugins in the ‘Plugins’ section of your WordPress dashboard or via phpMyAdmin. For the latter, navigate to the SQL tab, type in UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = “WHERE option_name = ‘active_plugins’; and then click ‘Go’. You can then reactivate your plugins individually to find the source of the problem.
• Theme problems: If you’ve just activated a new site or new theme, try reverting to the default WordPress theme in your WordPress dashboard. Alternatively, you can use FTP access. Simply go to the /wp-content/themes/ folder and either temporarily rename your new theme directory or move it outside of the WordPress root directory.
• Code errors: Even mistyping just one or two characters in your WordPress code can cause the WSOD. If you’ve been manually editing your code, revert to a backup and then try re-editing. It’s also a good idea to make manual code edits on a test version of your site before going live, to avoid similar problems in the future.
• Memory limit exceeded: When you exceed your PHP memory limit, which is usually 64MB by default, you might find the WSOD appears sporadically or on specific site pages. Where this is the case, ask your hosting provider to update the PHP memory file on your server. You may also need to upgrade your hosting package.

2. Internal server error

It’s usually a corrupted .htaccess file that’s responsible for internal server errors on WordPress. To overcome this issue, rename your .htaccess file to .htaccess_old using FTP. This will automatically generate a new .htaccess file, and you can then try re-loading your site to see if the error has cleared.

Alternatively, an internal server error may be caused by a plugin issue, theme problem, or lack of PHP memory – follow the guidance in point 1 (WSOD) above for help with these.

3. Connection timed out

The ‘connection timed out’ error message occurs when your hosting provider can’t meet your website’s demands quickly enough. This is usually because you’ve exceeded your server memory limit – a common problem for large or busy websites on shared hosting packages.

To fix the issue, ask your hosting provider about switching hosting package or increasing your memory capacity. Alternatively, you can increase the maximum execution time, which gives your website longer to load before the ‘connection timed out’ message appears. If you choose this option, bear in mind that your page speed is likely to be slow, which has a negative impact on your user experience, conversion rate and search engine rankings.

4. Error establishing database connection

Unsurprisingly, this error message means there’s a problem with your website’s connection to your database.

This is most commonly caused by an error in your wp-config.php file. To fix things, go to your wp-config.php file (using FTP access) and ensure your database name, username, password and host are all correct. You may also need to reset your MySQL password.

5. Compromised website

A compromised WordPress website can be caused by hacking, a wp-config.php issue and/or hosting problems. To fix the error, try the following methods, checking after each to see whether your website is working again.

Firstly, check your wp-config.php file and make sure all the information is correct. Secondly, scan your WordPress site with WordFence or Sucuri to check for hacking.

If your site has been hacked, you’ll need to reinstate a backup version and follow the hacking advice on WordPress.org. You’ll also need to run a full anti-virus/malware scan on your local machine.

Finally, ask your hosting provider if there are any server problems. If there are, they should be able to help fix any issues.

6. Maintenance mode

The last common WordPress website error is when your site says it’s undergoing maintenance, even when it isn’t.

When WordPress is updated, a .maintenance file is installed. This needs to be manually deleted for manual updates, or should be automatically deleted for automatic updates.

If you’re getting this error, it’s likely that the .maintenance file hasn’t been removed. To overcome the problem, simply delete the .maintenance file from your WordPress directory.

want expert WordPress support?

If you’re having any trouble getting your website working correctly or need more detailed analysis into any problems, please contact us. There’s also a handy page on WordPress.org with more information about overcoming WordPress website errors.

We’re award-winning WordPress developers who love helping clients create the best possible websites and achieve their digital goals. If you’d like expert WordPress support and maintenance for your website, give us a call on 020 8747 3274.