Advice Archives - Beyond Blog Design

One of my favorite jobs, is tweaking and fixing people’s blogs. I love to dig into the code, pick things apart, isolate the problem and then fix it.

I love it so much that sometimes I get lost in the looking and the researching and the fixing.

But one thing stops me cold every. single. time. I pop on someone’s blog and they have no security.

Look. I get it. You’re a small blog, or you think you are. You think no one would bother hacking you. You are dead wrong.

The best blogs to hack are the little ones, you know why? They have no security.

It’s no skin off your back to lock up your site, and I’m going to make it easy for you. How about instead of giving you choices I just tell you what I do?

I am already going to assume you have an airtight password, if you don’t please go read this post on how to create a Bulletproof Password.?And that you are keeping your plugins updated, if not, read this post about updating your plugins.

[bctt tweet=”Forget the choices. I’ll just tell you how to secure your #WordPress site?in?3 easy steps.”]

3 Easy Steps to Secure Your Blog

1) Install WordFence

Wordfence is the #1 free security plugin on WordPress and there is a reason for that.

You don’t have to understand anything to use it. Out of the box it will do its job.?But it doesn’t hurt to run through the tutorial and change a few settings. Just grab a cup of coffee or tea, plan to sit in front of the computer for 20 minutes and get her done.

The best thing is the Wordfence scan. WordFence automatically runs a scan of your site. It will find any malicious code or possible breaches. And when it does, guess what? It’s also going to tell you what to do about it. Can it be any easier?

2) Install Login Lockdown

The #1 way hackers try to get in to your site is by running a program that adds /wp-admin to the end of a URL, when it happens upon a WordPress site it just starts hammering it with passwords until it gets in.

Login Lockdown says “You did not just try to login to this site 20 times, you are outta here!” I suggest changing the attempts to 5, unless you run a forum, because I’m pretty sure you won’t forget your password 20 times in a row.

3) Install a backup plugin.

Because when all else fails, you’re still okay if you have a backup.

If you’re going for free ones, may I suggest Updraft Plus Backup and Restoration?

I have noticed a lot of blogs are running WP DB Backup, in your plugin menu it will read WordPress Database Backup by Austin Matzko, please, please delete it and either use Updraft or the “real” WordPress Database Backup.?The one by Austin Matzko has not been updated in over two years and poses a HUGE security risk.

My advice? Don’t say I’ll do this later, do it now. If you know me, my broken record is my favorite hobby blog got hacked when it was getting 60 page views a day, it was teeny. In the end, it was pay thousands of dollars, or shut it down. I shut it down.

It’s better to never have to even have that conversation.

And remember, I am always around for a free 30 minutes, even if you want to use it to get some help installing these plugins.

There is also the Plugin Checkup that has saved a lot of bloggers quite a few headaches, I also throw in a page speed analysis with suggestions on how to fix it.

I’m always here, my mission is to help bloggers while staying in their budget. Let’s talk.

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Content may be king. But if you can’t get that content in front of people, then it doesn’t matter one lick what it says.

Without the right headline, no one may ever read your post. No matter how amazing and informed and funny it may be!

That’s the awful truth.

On average only 2 out of 10 people will read past your headline.

So it’s your headline, not your content, that’s going to be the reason someone sticks around to read your post, or just moves on off into the night.

There are a two basic schools of thought out there about blog post titles. One is – get your key words in there! The other is – GRAB THEM!

I tend to be of the Grab Them school of thought. If you are using a great SEO plugin like Yoast, then you should be okay for SEO even without your key words in your title. And if you can get your keywords in there and grab their attention then all the better!

(*Don’t forget you can always change your permalink to reflect your keywords even if you don’t use them in your title!)

Here are 5 sure-fire ways to rock your Blog Post Titles.

Action Verbs

Don’t mess around, say what you mean and say it like you mean it. ?Verbs like “Read”, “Learn”, “Optimize”, “Get”, are all words that make it easy for your reader to make a decision and act on it!

Make Them Want to Know

Arouse their curiosity. Use a headline that makes them have to click, because they must know what you want to tell them. Brian Clark from Copyblogger has some great ideas to pique your reader’s curiosity, so that they must click!

Offer them insider information on how to do something they really want to do, “Teach Your Child How To Read Like A Reading Specialist.” Offer them insider knowledge, “The 10 Secrets Every First-Time Mom Wishes She Knew.” Offer them something they seemingly can only get from you, “A Complete Guide to ___.”

Make a List

Like it or not, statistics show, that the most clicked on headlines involve some sort of list. “5 Reasons You Should Use Jen to Design Your Blog”, or “10 Ways to Gain More Twitter Followers.” ?”6 Signs You Might ___”

Learn From the Pros

You read blogs, right? Figure out what headlines grab you!?Create a secret pinboard and pin posts with great headlines to the board, who cares about content? Or read the paper, or a magazine, what grabs you?

Try a Colorful Adjective

Use words like “Surprising,” “Unconventional,” and “Unusual.” How about “10 Ways to Supercharge Your Love Life,” or “The Ultimate Guide to Google+,” maybe something like “12 Tricks to ___.”

[bctt tweet=”5 Ways to Rock Your Blog Post Titles! Tips to make your headline grab them!”]

It’s not always easy to create the right title for your blog post, but the more I researched, the more I realized it is the single most effective way to drive readers to your blog. Sometimes you just want to be clever, but maybe you can incorporate some of these tips and still create the desired effect. Many experts suggest writing 25 different titles for your blog post before picking one. No matter what you decide these tips will definitely help you write a title that gets noticed. And don’t forget! I’m offering free consultations to talk about taking your blog to the next level!

3 Easy Steps To Secure Your Blog