Wordpress Optimization

If you have high traffic to your blog then you must optimize WordPress and your server to run as efficiently as possible.  This is very important and I have provided a step by step guide on how to do that. Follow and Implement. Let me know how this worked out for you.

SEO

Part 1- SEO

1. Permalinks are important so make sure you set good ones which are visually attractive.

2. Change settings with Robots- Nofollow/noindex  wp-admin, login pages, inappropriate categories etc

3. Write better titles. Make use of All in 1 Seo Pack or Platinum Seo Pack Plugins

4. Do not generate meta descriptions automatically. Write them yourself or just leave it blank

5. Create proper pagination- WP-pagenavi might help

6. Disable comments on Pages (About, Advertise, Contact etc)

7. Check out my wordpress optimization guide. Follow and implement every step you find in there.

Speed

Part 2- Speed

1. Install WP Super Cache

2. Move .htaccess directives to your server config ( only if you have the option). Disable .htaccess parsing

3. Combine CSS files into 1 big CSS file

4. Make sure that Java script is loaded in the footer

5. Use CSS Sprites

6. Add a php opcode cache

7. Replace the crappy plugins with the better ones available online

8. Switch to a better hosting. Check out the reviews at King of Hosting- Yes, this is one of my site and you are most welcome to add your reviews.

Maintenance

Part3- Maintenance

1. Use WP-dbmanager to backup your files frequently

2. Optimize and backup your database everyday if possible

3. Check your queries with the debug wordpress plugin

4. Use anti-spam plugin to kill spam in your blog comments

5. Remove any irrelevant and useless widgets

6. Track your uptime. You can use several tools to do that.

7. Check for 404 errors and fix it using redirection.  404 notifier can be helpful

8. Remove unnecessary meta tags, info or details.

Social

Part 4- Social

1. Use good social plugins that will allow your readers to submit the posts they like. Good ones would be sociable, sexy bookmarks, Digg Digg etc

2. WP greet box is awesome. Use one on your blog and greet your visitors

3. Allow visitors to subscribe to your comments with a link or plugin

4. Enable discus or gravatar to allow the readers display their avatars.

5. Add a ReTweet Button to your post

Analytics

Part 5- Tracking/Analytics

1. Google analytics is the best so far. You can use a plugin or insert the code in the footer section

2. Signup with feedburner to track your RSS

3. Use a twitter analytic to track traffic from twitter

4. Use Blog metric plugin and improve yourself everyday

I hope you found this useful. If you think I have missed any which are worth mentioning then feel free to add them in your comments.