55+ Most Wanted WordPress Tips, Tricks, and Hacks in 2024

WordPress powers over 40% of all websites on the internet. With such a massive user base, there are hundreds of tips, tricks, and hacks that can help you get the most out of using WordPress. In this comprehensive guide, we will share some of the most useful and practical WordPress tips that both beginners and experienced users need to know.

Customizing Your Website

Here are some of the most wanted WordPress tricks that give you better control over customizing your website‘s design and functionality:

1. Use a Custom Homepage

By default, WordPress displays blog posts on the homepage. You can easily change that and create a custom landing page for your site. Simply create a new page and select it as the static homepage from Settings > Reading. You can also create a custom homepage template from the Site Editor.

2. Show Images in Grids

Instead of stacking images on top of each other, display them side by side in a grid layout using the Gallery block. You can create custom image sizes and add multiple image blocks to control the layout.

3. Use a Sticky Navigation Menu

A sticky menu stays fixed at the top when users scroll down the page. This improves navigation and user experience. Use a plugin like Sticky Menu or add custom CSS to create a sticky menu in WordPress.

4. Add Icons to Navigation Menus

Display icons next to menu links by adding custom classes and uploading SVG icons. This enhances visual appeal and usability on mobile devices.

5. Enable Full Screen Search Overlay

The full screen search overlay slides down a search bar over your content when clicked. Install the WordPress Fullscreen Search plugin or use custom CSS to recreate this effect.

6. Display Social Feeds

Promote your social media profiles directly on your website with live feeds from Instagram, Facebook, YouTube etc using Smash Balloon‘s social media plugins.

Boosting Performance

Slow page speeds hurt conversions and increase bounce rates. Here are some hacks to improve site speed and performance in WordPress:

7. Install a Caching Plugin

Caching stores rendered pages so repeat visitors don‘t have to wait for WordPress to rebuild the same page again. This dramatically improves site speeds. Use a caching plugin like WP Rocket or WP Fastest Cache.

8. Optimize Images

Heavy image files account for most of the page weight. Optimize images with EWWW Image Optimizer or ShortPixel plugins. Also enable lazy loading with a plugin like BJ Lazy Load.

9. Minify CSS and JavaScript

Minification removes extra spacing and shortens code to reduce file sizes. Use Autoptimize or WP Fastest Cache plugins to minify and combine CSS and JS files.

10. Enable GZIP Compression

GZIP shrinks files by compressing text content. Most hosts have it enabled, but you can verify with Pingdom Tools. If not, enable it via htaccess or PHP.

11. Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A CDN stores static files across global servers to deliver them from the closest location. This reduces latency and improves speed. WP Rocket and Cloudflare offer built-in CDNs.

Securing Your Website

Website security should be the top priority. Here are some WordPress security best practices:

12. Limit Login Attempts

Brute force attacks try to crack passwords through unlimited login attempts. Install the Login Lockdown plugin to limit failed login attempts after which the user will be locked out.

13. Use Two Factor Authentication

2FA adds an extra step to logins by requiring a code from your mobile device. The Google Authenticator or Duo Security plugins let you set up 2FA in WordPress.

14. Change Default wp-admin URL

Obscuring the default wp-admin login URL makes it harder for hackers to find. Use the iThemes Security or WPS Hide Login plugin to change wp-admin to a custom URL.

15. Automatically Update Plugins

Outdated plugins and themes are security risks. Enable auto updates for plugins and themes from Dashboard > Updates to ensure you always have the latest secure versions.

16. Schedule Regular Backups

Regular automated backups let you quickly restore your site after an attack. Use a backup plugin like UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy to schedule daily backups to cloud storage.

Enhancing User Experience

Here are some neat tricks to improve user experience on your WordPress site:

17. Add Click-to-Call Buttons

Insert clickable phone number buttons that let visitors instantly call you from their mobile devices using the WP Call Button plugin. This improves conversions for local businesses.

18. Display Related Posts

Relevant related posts keep users engaged. YARPP and Related Posts for WordPress automatically display related content at the bottom of posts based on keywords and categories.

19. Show Author Info Boxes

Build authority and credibility by adding author info boxes with social profiles. Use the Easy Author Box plugin to display author bio data on posts and pages.

20. Add Previous/Next Post Navigation

Allow readers to easily navigate between series or connected content using previous and next post links. The WP Post Navigation plugin automatically adds this functionality.

21. Create A Sitemap Page

A sitemap page links to all the important pages on your site. Manually build a sitemap page or generate an XML sitemap using the Google XML Sitemaps plugin.

22. Add Table of Contents

Long articles and guides benefit greatly from linked heading anchors to sections. The Table of Contents Plus plugin automatically generates TOC lists.

23. Display Last Updated Date

Showing last updated date builds trust and informs users of freshness. Use custom PHP to dynamically get and display the latest modified date.

24. Show New and Popular Badges

Highlight new and trending content for visitors using eye-catching new post and popular post styled badges. The Post Types Order plugin has these built in.

Getting More Traffic

Growing your site‘s traffic begins with proper on-page and off-page optimization. Here are some key tactics:

25. Optimize Posts for SEO

Target relevant keywords, craft SEO titles and meta descriptions, interlink internal content, optimize images, and include keywords naturally in content to improve Google rankings.

26. Create Snippet-Friendly Content

Google displays snippets of content in search results. Make the opening paragraph tight, descriptive, and catchy to maximize click through rates.

27. Link to Authoritative External Sources

Citations from recognized media publications and respected websites in your niche boost credibility. Manually link out to authoritative sources when relevant.

28. Guest Post on Related Sites

Reach new audiences by contributing guest posts to websites in your industry with a link back bio. Stick to reputable sites relevant to your target readers.

29. Promote Content on Social Media

Share new posts on social media and engage followers. Use scheduling tools like Buffer or Hootsuite for efficiency. Implement social sharing buttons on posts.

30. Build Backlinks Through Outreach

Personalized blogger outreach and guestographics (infographics with a guest post spot) are excellent for acquiring editorial backlinks. Focus on quality over quantity.

Email Marketing and Lead Generation

Expanding your email list and generating leads is vital for business websites. Here are some proven tactics:

31. Add Email Signup Forms

Use opt-in forms to convert website visitors into subscribers. Embed forms created with Mailchimp, ConvertKit, or similar programs into sidebars, posts, and popups.

32. Offer Lead Magnets

Lead magnets (like guides, courses, templates, etc.) encourage subscribers by offering valuable free resources in exchange for their email address. Create and promote yours.

33. Insert Calls to Action

Well-designed CTAs inspire visitors to take action. insert buttons and strong verbs telling users what to do – Subscribe, Register, Download, Learn More, etc.

34. Collect Data With Surveys

Surveys provide insight into your audience. Embed forms using Typeform or SurveyLegend to ask questions and capture user data. Offer an incentive for participation.

35. Retarget Site Visitors

Remarketing ads keep you site memorable after users leave. Facebook, Google, and other platforms allow you to target visitors with customized ads.

WordPress Troubleshooting

Even experts encounter the occasional hiccup. Here is how to tackle common WordPress obstacles:

36. Fix Error Establishing a Database Connection

This critical failure prevents site access completely. It‘s usually caused by an expired or changed MySQL password, faulty server config, or unsupported PHP version. Verify database credentials, server settings, and up-to-date PHP version to resolve.

37. Increase PHP Memory Limit

Running intensive processes in WordPress can exhaust PHP memory resulting in crashes and failed processes. Many shared hosts set the PHP memory limit too low. Increase it to at least 128MB, or ideally, 256MB.

38. Debug JavaScript Errors

Unresponsive menus, slideshows, forms, and other JS-driven elements point to JavaScript errors on your site. Open the browser console to find and fix JS errors.

39. Reset WordPress to Defaults

If your site is too broken to use normally, reset WordPress back to factory settings by deleting all files and folders except wp-config.php and reinstalling WordPress from scratch.

40. Switch from HTTP to HTTPS

Today, all sites must be served over secure HTTPS connections. Use a plugin like Really Simple SSL to force HTTPS URLs sitewide or request SSL from your web host.

Optimizing Your Workflow

Streamlining your workflow will make managing WordPress sites much easier:

41. Install a Better Writing Tool

The default WordPress editor is very basic. Replace it with distraction-free writing apps like Writer or Stackable for an enhanced editing and creation process.

42. Assign Metadata with Bulk Actions

Applying categories, tags, authors etc to posts one by one is tedious. Select multiple posts then choose ‘Bulk Actions‘ to update them together.

43. Save Content with Content Blocks

Reusable content blocks let you quickly insert elements like opt-in forms, call to actions, content, etc into multiple pages. The Gutenberg and Stackable block editors have these built-in.

44. Manage Media Libraries

Organize images and files using the Enhanced Media Library plugin. It adds folders, bulk editing, renaming, galleries, and more to make asset management easier.

45. Install Admin Enhancements

Plugins like Admin Menu Editor and Admin Columns give you greater control over customizing and arranging the WordPress dashboard to suit your preferences.

46. Set Default Terms for Posts

Pre-populate categories, tags, authors etc when creating new posts to save time. Enable default terms in the Posts Settings screen under Settings > Writing.

47. Find Content Quickly with Search

Quickly search for published posts, pages, media, comments, plugins, and more from the enhanced sidebar search in the Toolbar Search plugin.

48. Create Saved Replies

Answering the same questions/comments repeatedly is draining. With Jetpack or Quick Saved Replies, write canned responses and insert them instantly when needed.

49. Schedule Social Media Posts

Plan, schedule, and publish social content right from WordPress with tools like Buffer or Social Pug to queue posts and stay consistent. Connect accounts only once.

50. Enable Post Revision Tracking

Post revisions let you view and restore previous unpublished versions of content. Enable revisions under Settings > Writing to recover lost changes.

Wrapping Up

I hope this exhaustive list of the most useful WordPress tips, tricks, and hacks has given you plenty of ideas to try out. Implement the ones that are most relevant to your website and WordPress goals.

Let me know in the comments which new tips you plan to use right away!