Manu’s Menu

Authentic Italian Home Cooking & More

  • Home
  • About
    • About me
    • About this site
    • About my photography
    • Privacy and Disclosure Policy
  • Recipes
    • Visual Archive
    • Regional Italian Recipes
  • Books
    • The Cool Side of Summer
    • Manu’s Christmas Menus
    • MsM’s Mobile App
  • Work With Me
    • Affiliate Sign-Up
    • Featured On
  • Out & About
    • Africa
      • South Africa 2019
    • Americas
      • Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize
      • CHILE AND ARGENTINA 2018
    • Asia
      • India
      • Japan 2015
      • Japan 2017
      • Japan 2018
      • Singapore
    • Europe
      • Slovenia and Croatia 2019
      • Italy 2019
    • Oceania
      • French Polynesia (Tahiti) 2017
      • French Polynesia (Tahiti)
      • New Caledonia
      • New Zealand
      • South Island – New Zealand Guide
  • Blogging Tips
    • Blogging Platform
    • Web Hosting
    • Technology Tips
    • Food Photography
    • Increasing Traffic to your Blog
    • Links
      • MsM in Your Kitchen
      • Events
        • 150 years of the Unification of Italy
        • Olio, Erbe e Fantasia – LILT
  • Tips
    • Techniques
      • Pasta and Gnocchi
      • Pizza and Other Doughs
      • Sauces and Other Basics
      • Decorations
    • Cake and Cookie decoration
      • Cake & Marshmallow Pops
        • Flowery Cake Pops
        • Hello Kitty Cake Pops
        • Dorothy the Dinosaur Cake Pops
        • Christmas Tree Cake Pops
        • Sea Marshmallow Pops
      • Fondant Cakes
        • Moo Cake
        • South Pole Cake
        • Lola Cake
        • Hello Kitty Yogurt Cake
        • Dorothy the Dinosaur Cake
        • The Little Mermaid Yogurt Cake
        • The Little Mermaid Fondant Cake
        • Sweet Sushi Mini Fondant Cakes
        • Peppa Pig Cake
        • Tinkerbell Cake
        • Miffy Cake
        • Olaf Yogurt Cake
        • Frozen Cake
      • Sugar Cookies
        • Heart Sugar Cookies
        • Dorothy the Dinosaur Sugar Cookies
        • Christmas Tree Ornament Sugar Cookies
      • Eggless Sugar Cookies
        • Chinese New Year Cookies
        • St. Patrick’s Day Cookies
      • Shortbread Cookies
        • Shortbread and Chocolate Hearts
        • Baby Shower Shortbread Cookies
        • Flounder Shortbread Cookie Pops
      • Easy Chocolate Cookies
    • Conversion Tables
    • Gift Ideas
      • Christmas 2010
      • Christmas 2011
      • Christmas 2012
      • Christmas 2013
      • Christmas 2014
      • Christmas 2015
    • Ingredients
    • Where I Shop for Italian Food in Sydney
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Blogging Tips / Technology Tips

Technology Tips

Tech Tips

After installing WordPress, you can easily customize it to give your site the look you prefer and to improve your readers’ experience.  Here are a few tips on how to do it.

Theme

You start by choosing a Theme.  I am using Weaver II and I really like it as it is highly customizable and very easy to use.  You can get many things done via the admin panel, without having to know any CSS and other technical stuff. Click here to visit Theme Weaver.

Other two themes I have heard great things about are the Thesis Theme and the Genesis Framework, both highly customizable and with great support forums.

There are also other themes specifically for food blogs, like FoodBlog, though I haven’t tried it out myself.

Plugins

Plugins are the best part of WordPress… as they make many things possible for people (like me!) who are not technology savvy.  Just remember that the more plugins you install, the slower your site will load… so only install what you really need!

I personally think that the following plugins are must have’s:

  • Aksimet (a spam filter)
  • All in One SEO Pack or Yoast’s WordPress SEO
  • W3 Total Cache
  • Easy Recipe
  • Google XML Sitemaps
  • Google Analytics

SEO

Up until a little while ago I was using All in One SEO Pack and loved it.  It’s very easy to use, it’s free and it gives great results.  You just need to fill some data in every post and your posts get optimized for search engines.
I recently switched over to Yoast’s WordPress SEO as I was having a problem with my site description and keywords not showing up in search results (the posts would show up perfectly, but my homepage wouldn’t).  As I only recently did the switch, I cannot say which one is better, but they work similarly, in the sense that you just need to fill in some data in your individual posts to have them optimized.
I find these plugins indispensable, especially when you think that the majority of my traffic comes from search engines.  When you write a post, you ideally want it to come up in search engine results as high as possible… you’d want it right at the top, or at least in the first search page!

Caching

Plugins and images can easily slow your site down and to minimise this problem, you should install a caching plugin.

I use W3 Total Cache and never had a problem with it.  It does help to reduce loading time.

Another good caching plugin is Super Cache.

Easy Recipe

Easy Recipe is a great plugin that puts all your recipes in rich snippets.
I am using the “plus” version that let’s you add images inside the recipe box (I need this feature for the step by step instructions), but there is also a free version that works just as well.  I also get a nice picture of the dish alongside my post when people search for it on search engines, like google and I LOVE this.

Search

Sitemap

You will also need to create a Sitemap of your site for SEO purposes.  When you have a Sitemap, Google understands how to crawl your site. Read more about it, here.  I use Google XML Sitemaps plugin to do this.

Google Analytics

Once you start building your readership, you will want to monitor your traffic and analyse what people like (or don’t like) etc.  Google Analytics is a free tool that lets you do all that!  Simply create your account and follow the instructions to start tracking your site’s analytics.  There is also a WordPress plugin to help out with this.

Filezilla

Filezilla is a free ftp software.   It is very easy to set up and that’s what I use to back-up my site.  My suggestion is to back up your site often and regularly!

 

*In the spirit of full disclosure, this page contains some affiliate links, which means that I may get a commission if you decide to purchase anything from the sites above.

 

Next: Food Photography

Share

Related Posts:

  • No Related Posts

Comments

  1. Gary Lum says

    January 26, 2014 at 10:54 am

    Happy Australia Day Manu
    Thank you for these technology tips.
    You make them sound easy.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Welcome to Manu’s Menu!

Hi! I am Manu, the author of Manu's Menu. I was born and brought up in Italy and my blog can show you how to create authentic Italian food in your own home! Read More…

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

HOMEMADE PASTA MADE SIMPLE – THE BOOK. CLICK TO BUY IT FROM AMAZON NOW!

Homemade Pasta Made Simple

Archives

Categories

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Video Recipe: Orecchiette with Crudaiola Sauce

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqSyzFElbRY
foodgawker bowls-150x150
tastespotting150
Tasteologie badge
Pasta & Gnocchi

The Cool Side of Summer e-Book – Click to buy it now! On SALE for only $9.99!

The Cool Side of Summer e-Book

MsM’S EBOOK – CLICK TO BUY IT NOW!

MsM’S EBOOK – CLICK TO BUY IT NOW!
Genesis Theme Framework for WordPress
Community Table Contributor Badge
Sunday Supper Movement

manusmenu

Now on the blog - Low Fodmap Vanilla and Miso Cara Now on the blog - Low Fodmap Vanilla and Miso Caramel Cheesecake Slice.  Clickable recipe link in my profile.

#recipes #manusmenu #manusmenucom #instafood #instayum #foodbloggers #foodstyling #baking #lowfodmap #lowfodmapdiet #miso #cheesecake #cake #dessert #japan
Now on the blog - Low Fodmap Ragù Bianco. A tradi Now on the blog - Low Fodmap Ragù Bianco. A traditional pasta sauce from central Italy. Clickable recipe link in my profile.

#recipes #manusmenu #manusmenucom #instafood #instayum #foodbloggers #foodstyling #Italian #italy #italianfoodbloggers #italianfood #pasta #pastasauce #ragu
Now on the blog - Trieste, Italy Guide. A surprisi Now on the blog - Trieste, Italy Guide. A surprising city. Come check it out. Clickable link in my profile.

#manusmenu #manusmenucom #travel #travelblogger #italy #tourism #Europe #trieste #holidays #beautifuldestinations #history #food
Now on the blog - Sausage and Potato Sourdough Cre Now on the blog - Sausage and Potato Sourdough Crespelle. The best comfort food. Clickable recipe link in my profile.

#recipes #manusmenu #manusmenucom #instafood #instayum #foodbloggers #foodstyling #baking #sourdough #sourdoughstarter #crepes #crespelle #food #foodgram #italianfoodbloggers #italianfood
Now on the blog - WWI, Italy Guide. A guide about Now on the blog - WWI, Italy Guide. A guide about some of the most important landmarks of the Great War. Clickable link in my profile.

#manusmenu #manusmenucom #travel #travelblogger #italy #tourism #Europe #cividale #friuliveneziagiulia #beautifuldestinations #war #history
Now on the blog - Sourdough Crêpes. So good. Use Now on the blog - Sourdough Crêpes. So good. Use up some of your #sourdough discard to make these delicious sweet or savoury crêpes. Clickable recipe link in my profile.

#recipes #manusmenu #manusmenucom #instafood #instayum #foodbloggers #foodstyling #baking #sourdough #sourdoughstarter #crepes #crespelle #food
Now on the blog - Cividale del Friuli, Italy Guide Now on the blog - Cividale del Friuli, Italy Guide. Clickable link in my profile.

#manusmenu #manusmenucom #instafood #instayum #foodbloggers #travel #travelblogger #italy #tourism #Europe #cividale #friuliveneziagiulia #beautifuldestinations #history #food #italianfood
Now on the blog - Hugo. A refreshing Italian cockt Now on the blog - Hugo. A refreshing Italian cocktail and an alternative to your everyday spritz. Clickable recipe link in my profile.

#recipes #manusmenu #manusmenucom #instafood #instayum #foodbloggers #foodstyling #Italian #hugo #spritz #prosecco #drinks #cocktails #elderflower
Now on the blog - Low Fodmap Pork Meatball Satay S Now on the blog - Low Fodmap Pork Meatball Satay Stir Fry. So good. Clickable recipe link in my profile.

#recipes #manusmenu #manusmenucom #instafood #instayum #foodbloggers #foodstyling #lowfodmap #lowfodmapdiet #satay #stirfry #pork #meatballs
Now on the blog - Quick Pickled Cucumbers. So crun Now on the blog - Quick Pickled Cucumbers. So crunchy and refreshing. Clickable recipe link in my profile.

#recipes #manusmenu #manusmenucom #instafood #instayum #foodbloggers #foodstyling #picklingcucumbers #pickles #pickling #garden #cucumber #vegetarian #vegan #video
Now on the blog - Coffee Panna Cotta. Wobbly and d Now on the blog - Coffee Panna Cotta. Wobbly and delicious. Clickable link in my profile.

#recipes #manusmenu #manusmenucom #instafood #instayum #foodbloggers #foodstyling #Italian #pudding #italy #italianfoodbloggers #italianfood #coffee #pannacotta
Now on the blog - Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls. Recipe Now on the blog - Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls. Recipe adapted from the wonderful @jennifer_rodda. The best way to use up some of your Sourdough discard. Clickable recipe link on my profile.

#recipes #manusmenu #manusmenucom #instafood #instayum #foodbloggers #foodstyling #baking #sourdough #sourdoughstarter #pastry #cinnamonrolls #teatime #breakfast
Follow on Instagram

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2011-2020 - Manu's Menu and Manuela Zangara. All rights reserved.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkRead more