Cornerstone content

Building a valuable website requires a lot of attention to detail.
To rank well in SEO there are many pieces of the puzzle that require attention. Building WordPress website-Cornerstone content is just one more element to success.

I wrote recently regarding website categories and how important they were to your Posts pages.

Categories group like subjects into a page on their own linking to each other with just one post being
dominant and that is your cornerstone post.

On any website, you may have many categories running down the page grouping all your selected content into one area.

What the heck is cornerstone content?

Your cornerstone content is the leading article listed under a category.

Your categories may consist of several or many posts that really rank in importance.

At the top of the tree is your main or best article which covers all the points under the category

Every new post, and old for that matter, should link to your Cornerstone product.

Are categories important, you can read more on that here but yes they are. So your Cornerstone is the pre-eminent post in that category setting up a natural hierarchy.

With one or two posts it means little but as you grow your site you need to build it systematically so that it is easy to follow. If you do this early in the cycle it is just another task on the post you write.

It is nearly as important as your title and keyword structure because it makes the whole Posts are work for you

Under Yoast SEO, if you are not using it you should be, there is a tick box for your cornerstone post.

You have one cornerstone post for each category on your page that you link to.

Your cornerstone posts should be a complete page meeting all the requirements of a good post.

Starting with WordPress? No better place for training than at Wealthy Affiliate.

Here we look at a lot of reasons why.

Peter Hanley

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WordPress Org Is 15 We Look At The History To Benefit You.

WordPress Org- 15 years on

On 27 May 2003, software developer Matt Mullenweg launched the first version of a computer programme which went on to revolutionise publishing. 15 years later, WordPress is the engine behind 30% of the world’s websites, powering major media and e-commerce sites, as well as small blogs – the personal projects that inspired its creation.

And after fifteen years, it’s still very much a community project: open-source, free to all, maintained and developed by volunteers. No one company ‘owns’ the WordPress software in the way, for example, that Microsoft Office or Apple’s iOS are licensed and sold. Instead,

A public licence

WordPress is licensed under the GNU General Public License, which requires that it be free for anyone to copy, distribute or modify the software.

That’s part of its success, of course. Free to download and easy to install, WordPress was built to run with other open-source tools, on what is known as the LAMP stack: Linux (operating system), Apache (web server), MySQL (database), and PHP (programming language). All of this software is free to copy and install and has gone on to dominate the web world for similar reasons. (Almost half of all web servers run on Apache).

To that essential package of free website software, WordPress added a killer application: a content management system (CMS).

Web pages are made of text, pictures, and increasingly, audio and video. When Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, its essential feature was Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): a collection of text ‘tags’ which tell a web browser how to arrange and display the different pieces of the page: how to format text; where to put the images; where the links should be – and what they should link to.

Can you learn HTML

HTML isn’t difficult – most people can learn to hand-code a basic web page in under an hour. But it’s tedious and repetitive – even with the visual editors and integrated development environments which soon came along to lighten the load. And as web pages got richer and more elaborate, it became obvious that there was a need to separate the code from the content.

The growth of blogging ushered in an era of self-publishing and the first stirrings of social media that became known as Web 2.0. Sites like LiveJournal, MySpace and Bebo let users type their thoughts and click publish. But, though free, they remained proprietary, like Facebook is today.

For those who wanted complete control: to publish and easily maintain a website, on their own hosting and domain name, WordPress completed the picture.

Bloggers were the start

“The initial movement came from bloggers who had outgrown those services and wanted more freedom to develop their sites. But we soon saw small businesses and website developers turn to WordPress also, not just because it was free, but because it was powerful and flexible as well”.

The familiar WordPress dashboard was easy to master and teach so that relatively non-technical people could control their own content and keep their websites up to date. But the back-end familiarity didn’t come at the price of forcing everyone to be the same.

From its earliest days, WordPress was designed for extensibility. A proliferation of independently developed themes and plug-in brought support for a variety of types of website. WordPress became more than an application: it is a platform for any type of web application you can imagine.

Not all open-source projects are a success, of course, but the growth of WordPress suggests a careful stewardship of the project amid the sometimes competing interests of the various users, developers, businesses and other stakeholders. And while WordPress itself is an unqualified success, what of its founder and his company?

Who else is WordPress

Automattic, the company founded by Matt Mullenweg, has invested millions of dollars worth of development effort into WordPress over the years – a product which it does not own, and which is given away freely. So how does that work?

At the heart of the open-source idea is that the code is community property. So, while it is true that one contributor may not exclusively reserve the benefits of his or her work, it is a corollary that all the contributors benefit from everyone’s contribution. Open-source software, in particular, is often considered to be of a higher quality than proprietary code, simply because it is open to scrutiny by a much greater number of ‘eyeballs’.

In a world of spyware and security concerns, open-source has come to stand for trustworthiness and reliability. When anyone can view the source code in which a programme is written (and compile it themselves if they’re especially paranoid!), it becomes impossible to deliberately insert a back-door. And a global army of volunteers keeps vigil for vulnerabilities, which are quickly patched.

Successful open-source companies like Automattic don’t charge for their code – but they can and do make money from their expertise. While WordPress.org is the home of the open-source project, WordPress.com is Automattic’s revenue source: a hosting platform which uses essentially the same open-source code to run millions of websites; from small blogs hosted for free, to large commercial media sites like Time and Fortune, and everything in between, including yours truly: Irish Tech News.

Branching out

And it has branched out into related areas, such as the new .BLOG domain name which is run by a subsidiary company.

WordPress.com is now the sixth largest web platform in terms of traffic with 141 million unique visitors per month, and Automattic was valued at $1.16 billion in 2014. Yet it has just 720 employees, most of whom work from their homes, spread across 50 countries around the world.

WordPress users and contributors around the world will celebrate the anniversary this weekend with numerous meetups as well as online events. However, while there are more than 200 WordCamp conferences held each year, only the Belfast one coincides with the actual anniversary itself on Sunday. It’s sold out: 150 people are expected to attend the two-day event at the Peter Froggatt Centre in Queen’s University, and the organisers are inviting others to participate by submitting ‘video selfies’ – messages of friendship from across the world.
Original article by Alison McGuire Irish Tech news.

What should you do now?

at the Wealthy Affiliate, we do everything WordPress

. Domain names, hosting, training, security, page builder and more.

Peter Hanley

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Best Hosting Websites- the need to choose carefully is a title of immense importance for both daily applications and long-term value growth.

What is web Hosting anyway?

. Web hosting is basically a service that stores all the data from your website and delivers the requested information when anyone online tries to access one of your pages. If you choose shared hosting, you can usually expect your website to be stored on a large server in a data centre. There is also the option of dedicated web hosting where you have your own server, but this is only really practical if your website has millions of visitors a month.
Wikipedia

Paid hosting sites

If you search google you will find hundreds of hosting companies that you can choose from. Lots of top 10 sites or top 5 sites so the choice is really wide. It is now down to what you want or are provided with in terms of facilities and storage. Go Daddy is probably the number one but later costs creep up.

Free hosting sites

Generally available for smaller sites or specific purposes. Some with advertising some with few features. Now, this may be the way to go but read on for my answer.

Page builder intro.

In many cases, you will be introduced to a funnel or page builder site to use the wonders they have to offer. Guess what they are generally associated with a hosting site they own, maybe even at a premium

Self Hosting

This is often done for high volume sites that have huge traffic and storage. Not for the amateur or minor user.

Multiple domains

Back in the olden days ( like a couple of years back) some sights were single domain hosts. When you started a new domain you needed a new service.

Moving a website to a new hosting provider.

The first thing to do is record what Theme you are using because they are not all compatible. You can then go into Tools download on your dashboard and save your details.
Apply to your new host and set up an account before asking the old provider to forward your website to them.
Your domain name needs to be redirected to the new host from the current domain Host. This may be different from your web host. They will have the details.

Now you are there download your theme  and go to tools/ upload chose your file and you are back in operation

Why is choosing a good host so important?

You are going to put considerable effort into a web page in the hope that it will deliver prosperity for you. Therefore you don’t want any roadblocks down the way. Slow site, no Security tags, flaky or going out of business.

The benefit of using different hosting companies.

As we built websites and increased our knowledge we tended to gather new hosts that offered a value greater than we were getting. I confess to still having three hosts because I am arguable to too lazy to consolidate.

Most hosting opportunities now allow multiple domains on the one account so it is easy to manage your sites.

Who would I pick as a host?

Read on for my advice but support is the number one issue. Cost is not a consideration.

Best hosting websites.

There is one that stands out from the crowd in my opinion. This is based on what they deliver. Yes, they are free but only for your first two domains, if you want to grow then you need to start paying. I wrote recently about what they provided at  Free website hosting

So now I declare my hand. I host with them and have done for many years with the complete package ahead of anything else.
HTTPS certificate
Speed Boost
Page builder
Training
50 domain capacity
Affiliate income
Site report
Live Chat
Support that works
Training and more
Free Keyword tool Click the key on the side to try it out

Yes, Wealthy Affiliate, the hands down number 1 web host company.
Over 300, 000 fans can’t be wrong.

Peter Hanley

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Want Free Website Hosting To Start Now?

You have come to the right place and all the right answers to find a free website. In fact, you can find many places that will supply this but with the usual tricks and traps for the young player.

See a list here on the well-known site at Wikipedia. 

They highlight many of the options and exclusions so you can understand that you have a difficult choice.

My choice of hosts is the Wealthy Affiliate and I will give you a few ideas to provide a Valid comparison.

You will end up taking unlimited hosting at a small fee. its a choice, but as you build your skills you will need more
to take you to a level you never thought possible.

Domains

You must have a domain and this can be done in two ways.

1. Buy a domain with a keyword around what you are selling or promoting. Cost about $10 a year.
   Whether you have dot com. or dot net or dot.biz will probably depend on availability even adding a county code like Au for Australia. If you are in the world market use a single code or if local use the country code.
2. At Wealthy affiliate free service, you can use one of their domains for free. Your business name@siterubix.com

This is fine for a simple blog or funnel site. I use both depending on my needs

Hosting for Free.

We are talking free hosting so again The wealthy affiliate site lets you host two domains and a SiteRubix for free

Not only that you get all the following included

Page builder

When you are starting out a page builder leads you to all the correct setup procedures and provides a chance of success.
It can be a Blog page, a full company website or a funnel it is your choice.

Templates

You need templates for certain pages to easily build your site following a few basic rules. pages like ABOUT ME or  Privacy page are constructed very easily.

Training

There is so much training, chat and support on any subject you choose relating to anything website. A full course or pick a subject, written, video and tests are all included.

Cost of connection

No cost of connection, pricing varies at other sites but at Wealthy Affiliate, you can start a new or transfer a domain into WA
at no cost

Security with free https

All sites will need to be HTTPS compliant in just a few years time. The free version at WA is not compliant but the paid version is. What does all this mean? Basically, the S adds a level of security where others can not see your site unless done in the proper manner. When you get up and running and making money just upgrade to the premium version

Page speed

webpagetest.org
Check out our speed against other well-known sites. We tell you the best ways to premium speed and what you should do to achieve it. This matters, your whole website SEO is based on speed.

SEO

Search engine optimization is about getting found on the net. This is the motor that delivers hungry customers to your site. You can be stalled in Pitt Lane or zooming along like a formula one car. How do you do it, You guessed it. The training at WA leads you to great success using plugins like Yoast SEO to guide nearly every keystroke, BTW there is a free version for you.

Training

Where do we start, Over 220 information packed training modules that can guide you to be a successful site builder?
Weekly live classes and live blogs complete the circle. No one provides so much for free anywhere

Support

Live support, Q and A, chat support it is all at WA. Support is no good unless it is backed up by good resources and it is here in spades. You will get issues along the way so a quick chat can overcome most questions.

Free email addresses

Furthermore, this is only with the premium package but great for when you update.

In conclusion, now that we have covered a few of the basics and included items you will agree that Wealthy Affiliate is the Best free web Hosting package available with even a better premium package.

Peter Hanley

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Creating email addresses

First off all in creating email addresses we need to look at what you need an email address for. Home or mobile,  business or website.

Simple mobile phone address using G mail, Outlook, Hotmail or an
address at any of the carriers, Peter@virginmobile.co as an example.

These are easy to set up on your mobile or computer by following simple instructions
of the carrier.

Every mobile phone should have an Email address to both send and receive mail.
The problem is getting an address you want and they will all end with the provider name.

You may have to settle for peter82654@gmail or something equally as non-personal.

It should be noted that most emails can be forwarded to another location so this helps keep everything together. You could have a Hotmail and a Gmail address going to a business address as an example.

So you want a business email with a range of options.

First up is the Microsoft office 365 package that comes with free email.

What we are looking for here is a range of choices.

Peter@newbusinessonline.net not peternewbusinessonline@gmail.co or similar
Sales@newbusinessonline.net
accounts@newbusinessonline.net on and on.

Here we need a carrier to host them. My choice is probably a local internet carrier in a city near you.

My reason for this is a local customer service number. Prices will only vary moderately from city to country but you have better control than going for a cheap cloud provider.

Email addresses are important for a business and last for a long period of time, therefore, service and support are essential.

Outsourcing

For an outsourced host, I pay an annual fee of au$100 for a choice of 5 email addresses which is under US $6 a month and that is the top end of charges you will encounter.

Furthermore, many domain hosts add a free Email for you. So if your Domain name is your business name like this one is newbusinessonline. So I can have Peter@ or Sales @ all generated from the website.

These will be pointed to a generic name to your computer or free Gmail account.

I use wealthy Affiliate as my domain host and can set up an email in approx 2 minutes, it is that easy.

Having several websites operational I point them all to one of my hosted names

It is preferable or really essential to have your business name in the email. It is all part of branding and image building your name.

Technical

Email servers work on a couple of different protocols and here I note a bit of advanced training for those seeking more. POP 3 or Post Office Protocol is the host that handles your email traffic. Don’t get hung up on it, pick a provider and let them do the tech stuff.

Finally, we recap for you;

If you want a basic email just get a Hotmail or similar from the web.

Microsoft 365 has it at a cost. Check here.

Find a local provider and do a deal.

Check your domain host for an option.

It is an important part of your business and branding. With a bit of effort, you will be plain sailing

Peter Hanley

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