In this post – 13 Fitness Website Design Tips I have stressed the importance of using Wordpress for your fitness blogs in number 4. If you’re just getting started and you have your own website already, than there is no reason not to have Wordpress. The software is free from Wordpress.org and most hosting companies these days have simple 1 click installation.
Hosting through Easy Fitness Websites has this simple capability as well. You simply go into your sites control panel, click Fantastico -> Wordpress -> Enter Your name and email (basically) -> Install. It’s really that simple. Check this post for detailed instructions – Wordpress Plugins Are Easy To Install
In tip #5 from the 13 Fitness Website Design Tips post I mentioned running plugins that help the functionality of your blog. Currently there are over 8,000 plugins in the Wordpress codex. That sure is alot of plugins to go fishing through.
Luckily you can find tons of posts on the web with top10 lists and best 49 plugins for your blog. But why go pilaging the internet when you can get 3 right here that will add functionality instantly to your fitness blog.
Lets jump right into it.
Plugin #1 – Google XML Sitemaps
A sitemap is defined as: “Sitemaps are a way to tell Google about pages on your site we might not otherwise discover. In its simplest terms, a XML Sitemap—usually called Sitemap, with a capital S—is a list of the pages on your website. Creating and submitting a Sitemap helps make sure that Google knows about all the pages on your site, including URLs that may not be discoverable by Google’s normal crawling process. from – Google“
So you should understand that a sitemap is a way for search provider (Google, Yahoo, etc) to quickly and easily crawl your site to locate your content. The benefits of this plugin are that each time you create a new post, the sitemap generator will automatically rebuild the sitemap and submit it to Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Ask.com. Gotta love automaticity.
So in short, get this plugin to help you with search engine rank and traffic.
Plugin #2 – Thank Me Later
This is a great plugin that can automatically send a thank you message via email to someone who leaves a comment on your fitness blog. It won’t look as cool as the above thank you image, but either way it does a few things for you.
- Makes the reader feel appreciated by getting a customized email thanks. Not many other people are doing this.
- Including the link to their comment and your site gives them a chance to come back and read more, sign up for your newsletter, etc. This can help from having commentors who just bounce after the comment.
- Back to #1, it sets you apart.
If you need help with the customization of this plugin, check out this post – Using Thank Me Later
Plugin #3 – Cute Profiles
Have you noticed the social bookmarking icons floating on the left side of your screen? These little icon links are courtesy of the Cute Profiles plugin. This little plugin has the ability to hold 50 different profile links. You only see six in the image above, but you can also add your De.lic.ious, Digg, Skype, etc to the list and they will float right there for someone to click.
This plugin is very simple to use and has no complicated options. So this way, you can have your RSS feed, Facebook Fan page, and Twitter links right in the side. Just do not put it on your salespage if you use Wordpress! Links away from your site are not going to help you make sales.
So there you have it, 3 plugins that running on Easy Fitness Websites blog right now that can help you. Remember if you need help installing these plugins (which are all listed in the Wordpress Codex) than see the instructions here – Wordpress Plugins Are Easy To Install
Any other plugins you use or want some feedback on, leave a comment below.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome site! Could the thank me later tag be annoying to users? I think it looks like a really neat plugin, but some have suggested that I do not use this.
Loved your ideas on social bookmarking plugins and on using the more tag to get more comments.
The thank me later plugin email if used correctly shouldn’t seem spammy. You wouldn’t set it to send out an email after every comment, but here it is set to 1 every 2 weeks.
There are many options and that post is coming soon. Thank you for your comment.