I’m not the most popular blogger in the world. *scratches head* Actually I’m not popular at all, come to think of it. And I’m sure are plenty of other more informed bloggers out there that you would rather be reading right now. 
And I know there are other more informed articles from those bloggers dealing with the same thing here. But I just want to add my two cents into the mix for a minute or two. And since I’m the one of the more… unnoticed people in the blogging world, I think you’ll be interested in what I have to say, don’t you think? Kind of a “second opinion” if you will.
So if you’re a WordPress user, or considering moving to WordPress and/or your own host, here’s some things I can suggest you add to your site! 
Plugins
Simple URL’s -This one is for the sites filled with affiliate links (you know the buttons with the ugly urls?) You might want to visit this little diddy. I found it on Yoast.Com one day. And it’s basically a plugin to hide these ugly and penalizing URL’s from Google, because you know how the internet “gods” look down upon that kinda stuff and give all us good people bad stats and PR’s. So let’s be clever and fix that!
All in One SEO – this plugin is god for bloggers. Each time you post, this will make keywords out of your post title, pick keywords out of the post itself, and/or use any kind of keywords/descriptions you specify for the post. It also goes through all the different types of archives (categories, tags, etc.) to help your site be seen more.
XML Sitemaps – this’ll help Google index your site by signing up for Google Webmasters and adding it to your sitemap list. I love it ’cause it let’s me exclude the sponsored posts category Yea, I’m sneaky but hey! It’s all about the PR right?
CommentLuv – This… is a plugin everyone seems to like. And it apparently encourages visitors and commenter’s to return to your site because when you comment it adds a link to your latest post (pulled from your site/blog feed) so that the site owner and/or other commenter’s can visit their site/blog. I haven’t added it here yet ’cause I can never get the styling to work right and it’s just ugly otherwise.
Themes
When you want to have a successful blog or whatever you’re going for with your site, people like it better when you have a nice layout or theme on it. And there are plenty of places to get them for free or you can go the way of the premium theme. 
WordPress – We’ll start with the wordpress site itself as a resource for free themes. They have a lot of good ones (and yes some bad ones). I’ve personally used it in the past to pick a theme and modify it to the point of being almost not the same theme anymore. A lot of people do this and you can to (if you’re good with that kinda stuff). Or you can ask or pay someone to do it for you.
Theme Forest – Here is where we get into premium themes. This site is LOADED with themes of all kinds, including themes for other CMS’s. I’ve always been impressed and inspired by stuff I find here and I think you totally will be too. All you gotta do is look! And if you’re going to buy a theme, well, the price(s) aren’t that bad.
WooThemes – This is a nice place to get free and premium themes. They have a nice selection of both Especially the gallery theme. It’s been an inspiration to me in the creation of my own showcase site (even though it’s not finished at all).
Resources
Yoast – I never really paid attention to this site until recently. I heard about it again through Sarah who recommended using it for SEO learning and such, so I decided to check it out once more. He really has some neat ideas and a lot of the stuff he writes about has worked for me. Definitely something to look at.
WordPress Recipes – Another great site to see if you’re looking for that certain code or plugin for your site that you can’t find anywhere else. I have used a lot of them to cut down on repeating stuff and helping out my SEO.
WordPress Codex – Let’s not forget the all powerful guidebook to wordpress itself. Everything you wanna know about your favourite CMS is in here. And trust me, this is where it all comes from!
So those are my (current) 10 choices for getting started with WordPress. You’re not gonna get popular and all right away. That takes time. It doesn’t matter who you read or what you do, but all this will get your started. So get out there and set up that site! And if you’re stuck on something don’t be afraid to ask someone for advice.
Good luck!
Wow! Lots of good ideas. Thanks. I’m thinking about the move to WP and this helps.
Hmmm…I’ve wondered about going to wordpress myself. My husband is a web designer, so he could probably help me. I just like being able to do my own thing and just keep it simple on Google Blogger…thanks for the post tho! Good things to think about if I do go the route of wordpress!
I’ve never ever used WordPress. I remember when everyone defunct from Blogger to WordPress but I just never followed for some reason. I like Expression Engine now
You’ve mentioned some nice plugin’s – I’ve only seen a couple of them before.
I wish I had more time to work on my site. The best way to get visitors really is to spend time visiting and commenting on other blogs. That, and being worth reading so when these people stop by, they stay.
I do neither of these things.
I barely ever do either only ’cause I spend to much time on WoW lately (since the expac is coming soon!)
Awesome resources. Thanks so much!
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Hey, at least you’re not talking to yourself here
I’ve seen sooooo many blogs that have no comments at all, so you must be a bit up the popularity ladder.
Great tips too. The WordPress Codex has been my bible ever since I started working with WP <3
Great tips. Thanks for sharing. I want to check some of this out. I like the All in one SEO plugin idea. I think I’d heard of it before but didn’t see the need when I was much smaller.
One of the many reasons why I like wordpress blogs is because they are easy to use (once you practice using them
) and I love to read other people’s blogs. They all seem to know something that I don’t.
I reckon blogging will one day become the way we all receive our news. At least that will save some trees!
Very nice post. I think it’s good to share tips that you’ve come across. You never know what you’ve seen that might help someone else.
Wow! I love your post. It’s so well written and illuminating. I’m new to blogging, but I’m learning it. It seems super exciting. You’ve provided so many tips here. Thank you so much!
Love,
Anne Gilligan
I actually appreciated this because having since switched over to my laptop there are so many sites I lost in my book marks so this is fabulous thank you miss jenniferz
I’ll have to check the WordPress Recipes site. I have used the codex before and it answered my questions very well. I learned how to put one category of posts on a page so people can click on that category and see all of them at once. I’m going to start playing around with different page & sidbar templates to make different sidebars for different pages too.
Patti B. posted..The Next Big Thing
Great tip about the simple URL plugin! I just installed it and I’m already beginning to update some of my old affiliate links! Really useful info, thanks for sharing this!
Laura posted..Weekend Links
I have just found your blog through the sits girls forum and June challenge. Thanks for the tip on commentluv…I have just added it to my wordpress blog. Do you post from the wordpress admin or have a faster method? I am quite tired of how long it takes for me to get a post ready!
Sewing Princess posted..Annie Trousers in Rome: 4 reasons why I love the Eternal City
I usually just post through the admin thing. But then again I’ve always got it open ’cause I’m always working on something on my layout
I think there is a faster way, either through the thing you put in the bookmarks bar or like Windows Live Writer (which I hate). Other then that, I think you just have to log in and post.
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