Here’s a simple change to include the Wordpress sidebar on all single post pages
Edit the “single.php” template.
Change this line at the top:
To this:
and to the bottom of the file, add:
above the similar call for the footer.
That’s it.
You can also make this change to the other pages that display without a sidebar by default.
Here’s a few quick and easy changes you can make to your fresh Wordpress installation to help improve future search engine ranking results.
1. Setup Permalink Structure
note: Only change this option if your install is new - breaking old permalinks would be silly.
It’s a well known fact that including relevant keywords in your page URL can improve search engine rankings for those terms. In Wordpress under “Options” and “Permalinks” there are a number of default options to choose from to enable these “search engine friendly” URLs. Personally, I choose to remove the date from the structure, but your specific formatting is up to you and will probably make little difference. The important part is to include /%postname%/ in the URL to make your post title part of the path to the page.
2. Reverse Default Title Order
By default the title of your blog will appear first followed by the post title between the <title> </title> tags. This is the string shown at the top of your browser window and in tabs if you’re using a browser that supports them. Reversing the code in your “header.php” template to display the blog post title first not only makes it easier to work out what each specific page is about in search results and when open in tabs but can also help improve search engine positions for relevant search terms.
The code to change is between the title html tags in header.php:
Changing it the following should do the trick:
3. Use descriptive “title” and “alt” attributes when entering links and images
Search engines thrive on keywords. Each attribute you skip is a missed opportunity to increase your keyword density and thus increase your rankings. Assuming search engine results are what you’re after.
4. Create a Sitemap
Google offers the opportunity to submit a sitemap for your site to enable the spiders to better understand your pages. There’s a nifty sitemap plugin for Wordpress that enables you to generate this effortlessly. Why not?
5. Enable Pinging of update services
By default Wordpress will notify http://rpc.pingomatic.com/ whenever you post to your blog. This notifies various sites about your new post and encourages indexing in search engines and blog indexing sites. There are many additional services which you can find listed in the extensive update service list in the Wordpress Codex. Add these to the “update services” list under “Options” and “Writing”.
