Aside from having the website and a developer to maintain it, there is quite a lot that clients can do to make sure that they get the most value out of their WordPress site. Chances are, you suggested them a WordPress site based on a few factors – likely, they wanted to be able to update the site themselves, required a blog, and probably required some sort of “contact me” functionality. They might have needed a newsletter, or maybe they just heard how “easy” WordPress is and decided “that’s what I need”.

But beyond the technical knowledge, there are quite a few things clients can do to make sure they’re getting value out of their site. Unfortunately, 99% of the time, you can’t just set up a WordPress instance for a client and send them on their way. Most of the time, they’ll need to learn how to use WordPress – at the very least, how to maintain a blog.

Using The Blog

Using the blogroll is really easy and holds high value. A continuing flow of content keeps readers engaged and encourages crawlers to continue indexing the site. Keeping SEO in good standing will increase visitors and will likely increase your client’s customer base.
Using the Blog Correctly
The post editor is feature-rich and easy to use – with a little training and Q&A, you can teach your clients how to use the blog to the fullest advantage. Using an SEO plug-in such as Yoast, utilizing images, featured images, categories, tags, post-types, and in some cases, custom fields, can really help your clients connect with their customers.

Using the CMS

WordPress offers a lot more than just a blog. It offers management of the blog, images, comments, pages – all of the content. Managing the blog is the first big step to using the CMS – but it’s not all. Managing images can help your client’s site show up in image searches. Managing comments by removing spam & linkback comments can ensure that the site doesn’t get flagged. Keeping pages updated helps the business ensure the correct information is being relayed to the customers. Managing the content as a whole ensures good SEO and connection with customers.

Keep it Updated

 Keeping WordPress updated ensures quick load times. In the modern age, search engines are discounting sites that take too long to load. Research also suggests that users on a slow site would rather find a different way to obtain the information they need than wait for a slow site to load. Keeping WordPress updated helps ensure better SEO and a lower bounce rate.
In addition to practicality, keeping up with updates also ensures good security practices. WordPress releases multiple security updates every year, and reports on the vulnerabilities found. Because of this, older versions of WordPress are targets of attacks more often.
In addition to security, keeping WordPress updated also ensures that your users are getting the best experience possible. New core features, theme features, and plug-in features help ensure the best all-around user experience.

Extracting Further Value

 By combining WordPress with other powerful tools, even more value can be extracted.
Google Analytics is a great way to help understand how users are browsing the site. Figuring out what pages and content is most popular can help you determine what pages/pots are most valuable to advertise on, promote, and keep updated.

Using an ad provider is a great way to monetize content that is otherwise free. Most of the time the process to set up ads on a WordPress site is quick & easy – some providers even have plug-ins. I use Chitika, but something else may suite you better.
YoastSEO is a great plugin that helps you understand the best ways to improve/ensure good SEO on a post-by-post basis.

Be a Resource

Clients will always have a lot of questions for you. Never be hesitant to show them how to use WordPress and always be a resource for them. As a last resort, point them here!

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