Module 6 contains:

This worksheet plus 4 video tutorials (additional tutorials for each plugin are listed in the Tools and Resources section below):

 

• Updating plugins and themes and installing Updraft Plus backup plugin, connecting to Dropbox, and automatic backup settings, Wordfence, Yoast WordPress SEO, Magic Action Box and Editorial Calendar
• Activating Jetpack for additional functions and easy analytics monitoring
• Yoast WordPress SEO plugin and WP Editorial Calendar plugin for planning, writing and formatting blog posts
• Activating the Magic Action Box with Mailchimp and creating a new opt-in form to add to a blog post

 

 

You can watch the videos on this page, or if you want to see them in a larger screen format, you can choose to watch them on YouTube instead.

 

I have set up a Website in a Week (WIAW) playlist, so you can click here to watch them on autoplay on YouTube.

 

 

 Creating and planning blog posts with Yoast SEO plugin and Editorial Calendar plugin

 Wordfence plugin brief overview

 

You can download the pdf of the worksheet 6 here.

 

DIY Website in a Week course module 6 – plugins, SEO, Updraft, Yoast, WordFence, Magic Action Box, blogging calendar

 

By now you’ve created you main web pages and maybe even written a few blog posts. WOO HOO, congratulations!
You can probably start sharing your website link with the world.

 

This module focuses on website security and maintenance, SEO and analytics, and blog post writing tips and plugins for organizing your content and for writing to rank higher in a Google search (better SEO) AND improving readability for human visitor.

 

 

This worksheet plus 4 video tutorials:

 

• Updating plugins and themes and installing Updraft Plus backup plugin, connecting to Dropbox, and automatic backup settings, Wordfence, Yoast WordPress SEO, Magic Action Box and Editorial Calendar
• Activating Jetpack for additional functions and easy analytics monitoring
• Yoast WordPress SEO plugin and WP Editorial Calendar plugin for planning, writing and formatting blog posts
• Activating the Magic Action Box with Mailchimp and creating a new opt-in form to add to a blog post

 

What’s covered in this module:

• The essential WordPress plugins that every website should have for security and backup, SEO and lead generation
  • Updraft Plus (website backup with one-click restore)
  • WordFence (website security and monitoring
  • Yoast SEO (write better content on your posts and pages to help you get found in a Google search)
  • Magic Action Box (opt-in form to collect emails and grow your list)
  • WP Editorial Calendar (to organize your posts visually in a drag-and-drop calendar format, instead of as a list which is the default for WordPress)
• Downloading and installing plugins
• JetPack for additional functions and easy analytics
• Dropbox (required for most website backups – links to Updraft Plus)
• When you need “no follow, no index” (ie for hidden pages like the WIAW course, or your opt-in lead magnet or freebie)
• Keywords, header tags (H1, H2), excerpts and Google search

 

 

Actions:

• Install and set up the recommended security and maintenance plugins to protect your website. You’ll need Dropbox or Google Drive, then install and activate Updraft Plus and Wordfence.
• Consider adding regular blogging (at least a few times per month) to your marketing strategy. Install and use Yoast SEO plugin to help with keywords and organic search optimization. Install and use WP Editorial Calendar plugin to organize and plan your blog posts in a more natural way.
• Add opt-in/lead capture forms to grow your email list. You can use Divi’s “subscribe” module (see video in Module 5) or you can design custom opt-in forms to add to your home page and blog posts by installing the Magic Action Box.

 

 

Tools, Resources and Links:

 

Updraft Plus – free WordPress plugin for backing up your website, as well as a one-click restore and ability to clone/migrate your entire website (files and web design) to another location. (You will need to set up Dropbox or use your Google Drive or Amazon S3 account to store website backups from Updraft Plus.)

https://wordpress.org/plugins/updraftplus/

 

Dropbox** – free online storage in the cloud. Recommended for your website backups, and useful for saving your work to access from anywhere, or for large photo files for downloading and sharing.

https://db.tt/oRTxsUAy

 

Wordfence – free WordPress plugin for website security and monitoring.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/

 

WordPress SEO by Yoast – free WordPress plugin that helps write blog posts or web page content with a better chance of ranking well in an online search such as Google, Bing or Yahoo. Includes web page/post analysis and suggestions for your focus keywords and shows a search preview snippet.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/

 

Magic Action Box – free and paid version. Easy to use plugin that lets you design custom opt-in boxes (lead capture forms) that you can put on your home page, sidebar widgets, or at the beginning or end of a blog post. (You’ll need a Mailchimp or another email marketing service to connect to Magic Action Box and direct subscribers to your email list).

https://wordpress.org/plugins/magic-action-box/

 

Mailchimp** – email marketing (newsletters), list-building and auto-response emails. Free version is good to start building your email list, but I recommend the upgrade ($10 or so per month) so you can set up an automatically generated email series that will save you a heap of time, as well as your regular newsletters. You’ll need Mailchimp or another email service for your Magic Action Box plugin.

http://tiny.cc/getmailchimp

 

 

Tutorial and setup videos for the plugins in this module:

 

• Updraft Plus (website backup with one-click restore) – setup is covered in the plugins video in this module
• WordFence (website security and monitoring) http://website-superhero.com/2014/01/21/free-plugin-secure-your-wordpress-site/
• Yoast SEO (write better content on your posts and pages to help you get found in a Google search) https://yoast.com/wordpress-seo-tutorial-videos/
• Magic Action Box (opt-in form to collect emails and grow your list) http://www.magicactionbox.com/quick-start-guide/
• WP Editorial Calendar (to organize your posts visually in a drag-and-drop calendar format, instead of as a list which is the default for WordPress) Tutorial video at top: https://wordpress.org/plugins/editorial-calendar/

 

 

Further reading:

 

Keyword research and organic SEO – a whole series of blog posts by Yoast that will help you get better rankings in an online search such as Google, and help you use the Yoast SEO plugin. These 4 are especially useful for “SEO newbies”:

https://yoast.com/branding-keyword-strategy/

https://yoast.com/keyword-research-basis/

https://yoast.com/focus-on-long-tail-keywords/

https://yoast.com/focus-keyword/

 

SEO checklist for your blog post or page:

http://dan-nolan.com/15-point-quick-seo-audit/

 

If you want to know what “no index, no follow” means to Google search and SEO, explained in simple terms (you’ll need this to make a secret page for your opt-in freebies and for example, the course content for WIAW)

http://dan-nolan.com/what-is-noindex/

 

Using heading tags (H1, H2, etc) for SEO and for better blog post readability for humans.

http://www.hobo-web.co.uk/headers/

 

 

** Note: If you purchase through this link (marked with **), I will get a referral commission. I only recommend products and tools I use myself, and you do not pay more for using this link.