Especially if you manage a handful of sites that run on WordPress, it is a good idea to develop a specific routine for getting started. This not only helps you get WordPress up and running, but also ensures that you are not leaving out any vital components.

Get the backups set up

The first thing you want to do is ensure that you do not lose all your hard work. For complete peace of mind, you can decide between a double backup combination that may include BackupBuddy and WordPress Backup to DropBox. If you are constantly working on your site, you know that losing even a day of your work could have dramatic results. Depending on how often you update your site you can decide how often a backup should run, whether it is daily or weekly, just remember that you need a regular backup schedule that matches your needs.

Get your SEO started

You can get pretty much everything you want in Yoast’s excellent SEO plugin. Even though it is going to take some time to set up, you are going to find everything you need with this plugin. Remember that just having a plugin is not going to help your SEO. You have to use the plugin and do some research yourself. It may take a few more minutes of your day, but if you are not going to take the time to update your SEO settings, you may as well not bother with the plugin at all.

Get some cache

You need a cache on your WordPress site, the recommendation here is W3 Total Cache. This is the plugin of choice for a number of different reasons. Not only does it do the traditional cache, but it also provides CDN support, browser caching, and minifying. It takes only a few short minutes to set up and once it is installed, you can just leave it to do its thing. Remember, only install cache if you know what you are doing and how to set it up – otherwise it may be a useless plugin that is just taking up space or worse yet, slow down your WordPress!

Get rid of wp-content for uploads

It looks much nicer to have images and other media stored in /media/ instead of /wp-content/uploads/. This is especially true if you have people look at image sources, because it allows for higher resolution screens. It is a small change and easy to do. You can decide to put the upload path anywhere you like, just go to Settings – Media – Store Uploads In This Folder and decide upon the name of your new upload folder. Once you save your changes, you are on your way to a more professional look.

These are four quick tips that are guaranteed to give you a smoother WordPress experience right from installation. If you have any tips of your own that you use or would like to see mentioned here later on, stay in touch!