If you’re in D.C., chances are you’re a wonky person with something to say. You dream of a massive online platform, and yet looking under the hood of a WordPress site fills you with angst and trepidation. Fear not, I can demystify the process. As a self-described chump with zero IT credentials, I built a successful WordPress site. I’ll tell you what worked for me, and offer some trial-tested advice of what NOT to do.<\/p>\n
Topics include:
\n– SEO — you don’t buy it, you earn it. How to build it organically using your theme and plug-ins.
\n– Finding your niche (i.e., the world does not need another mommy blog). How to distinguish yourself in a world clogged with content.
\n– Slaying trolls. Popularity comes at a price. How to moderate your site with help from the Discussion settings.
\n– Plug-ins — What happens when they don’t place nicely together? How many do you really need anyway?
\n– How much traffic do I need before I can monetize this thing?
\n– Reader engagement — how to lure timid commentators to your site
\n– What I Really Want Is a Book Deal — can a blog make that happen? (No, your writing makes that happen, but your platform can help a lot.)
\n– Social media, you don’t need to join every single thing, just master one or two and let WordPress help you.
\n– Graphics, you need them — make your own, or buy it. Never steal it. Always attribute.<\/p>\n
And Q&A from someone who doesn’t have all the answers, but probably messed it up once herself and can tell you what didn’t work (and where to look for help).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you’re in D.C., chances are you’re a wonky person with something to say. You dream of a massive online platform, and yet looking under the hood of a WordPress site fills you with angst and trepidation. Fear not, I can demystify the process. As a self-described chump with zero IT credentials, I built a … Continue reading “How to Build a Popular Blog and Master WordPress Even If You’re a Liberal Arts Major”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15473608,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_wcpt_session_time":1500139800,"_wcpt_session_duration":3000,"_wcpt_session_type":"session","_wcpt_session_slides":"","_wcpt_session_video":"","_wcpt_speaker_id":[725],"footnotes":""},"session_track":[13412,5545],"session_category":[],"class_list":["post-726","wcb_session","type-wcb_session","status-publish","hentry","wcb_track-track-2","wcb_track-user"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8gcWY-bI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"session_date_time":{"date":"July 15, 2017","time":"1:30 pm"},"session_speakers":[{"id":"725","slug":"tracyschorn","name":"Tracy Schorn","link":"https:\/\/dc.wordcamp.org\/2017\/speaker\/tracyschorn\/"}],"session_cats_rendered":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dc.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dc.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dc.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wcb_session"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dc.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1392,"href":"https:\/\/dc.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/726\/revisions\/1392"}],"speakers":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dc.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speakers\/725"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dc.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wporg\/v1\/users\/tracyschorn"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dc.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wcb_track","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dc.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/session_track?post=726"},{"taxonomy":"wcb_session_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dc.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/session_category?post=726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}