How to Find and Remove Broken Links in Your Website

Broken links are links that lead to pages that do not exist. When clicking on a broken link, the page you land on is called a 404 error page, a standard HTTP response that indicates that the requested URL doesn’t exist.

What do you do when you happily surf the web and suddenly come across a 404 error?For most of us, the immediate response would be to simply leave the current site in favor of another one because both people and search engines consider broken links as unprofessional.

404 errors and broken links also have negative effects on your search engine rankings so it is quite reasonable to be proactive in avoiding them to improve exposure and increase site traffic.

Note: there are terms and methods presented in this tutorial that address WordPress bloggers, however, this article is relevant to any website owner.

Bloggers update their blog’s content more often than other site owners do. Therefore, there is a higher chance for them to have broken links found throughout their website.

For WordPress blogs, there are two types of plugins that can be used to deal with those links:Plugins that detect broken links in your site like Broken Links Checker.
Plugins that manage 301 redirects automatically like Redirection.

As a plugin minimalist, I always insist on doing things manually to avoid using and installing plugins. In this case, you can be rest assured that having the ability to deal with these problems efficiently is worth installing another plugin. 

Whether you use a plugin or not, I highly recommend checking your website occasionally for broken links and 404 errors.


Detecting and removing invalid URLs using Google WebMaster Tools

There are two reasons why pages are indexed in Google even though they don’t exist in your website:You referenced an invalid internal link by mistake because of a typo. This is the time to recommend a very simple yet essential plugin for post authors – the Link to Post plugin for avoiding such mistakes).
You published a post and decided to change its permalink afterwards (the post’s URL) after Google has already indexed the original link.

The best way to detect these errors is by using Google Webmaster Tools. If you haven’t done so already, register your site there. It’s an essential tool to have for anyone running a website.

One of the most important tools provided in GWT is the Remove URL tool, which allows you to remove invalid pages from Google search results.

Let’s see how to remove those bad URLs from Google’s index.
Detecting invalid pages that are indexed by Google

Once you have signed up for Google Webmaster Tools and have set it up and verified your site (see Google’s Getting Started guide for GWT), here is the process for finding invalid pages.

1 Click on Diagnostics from the left menu and select Crawl Errors.

2 Select the Not Found category.

3 If available, click to view which page contains the broken link.

4 To make sure that the URL is indeed indexed in Google, copy and paste the URL into Google’s search and see if any result comes up.


Removing URLs from Google’s search results

1 Click on Site Configuration, and select Crawl Access.

2 Select Remove URL.

3 Click on New removal request.



4 Select the first option to completely remove a page from Google search results.

OR

Select the fourth option in case you want to retain the page in search results but would like to remove the cached version of the page. This is useful in case Google displays an outdated version of the page in the “cached” link.

5 Click on Next.



6 Type the URL of the page you would like to remove from Google.

7 Make sure the first option is selected and then click on Add.

8 The URL to be removed should now appear in the list. If you want, you can add more pages for removal.

9 Click on Submit Removal Request.



Your request is now pending—in most cases, it only takes 2 to 3 days for Google to remove the URL.

10 Click on Site Configuration and select Crawl Access.

11 Select Remove URL.

12 Make sure the URL you requested to remove does not appear in the list of pending requests.

13 Click on Removed URLs to see that the URL is now listed there.

To make sure that the URL was indeed removed from Google, copy and paste the URL into Google’s search box and see if any result comes up.


Detecting Broken Links using Xenu Link Sleuth

Another excellent tool I like using for hunting down broken links in my websites is Xenu Link Sleuth. You can download it here.

Unlike the WordPress plugins mentioned earlier in this article, Xenu is a standalone desktop application for Windows that outputs all your site links—whether they’re valid or invalid links—and groups them into a very readable fashion.



After you install Xenu, using it is really easy.

1 Click on File and select Check URL.

2 Type your website’s URL (e.g. https://www.bloggerinstinct.com/blog/web-design/.

3 Wait for all links (site wide!) to be checked.

4 When Xenu asks whether you want a report, click on Yes.



You can enter your FTP server details, but I simply click on Cancel and Xenu generates an XHTML report locally (it opens a dialog window automatically).

In the generated report, click on Broken links. Sort it by link in the table of contents to see all the pages that have broken links in them (and the broken links of course).

Finally, once you’ve detected all broken links, what is left to do is to navigate to the posts and pages containing references to broken links. You should either fix or remove those links.

What are your own techniques and tools for finding broken links? How often do you search your site for broken links? How important is it to eliminate invalid links, and why?

How to Make your Blog Stand Out from the Competition

Do you want your blog to stand out from the pack? Getting your blog or other content marketing noticed requires three distinct elements; developing the best content you can, leveraging your resources to promote your blog or content and making your blog sharable so that readers persuade their friends and colleagues to read it. This holds true for B2C, B2B, not-for-profit and personal blogs.

Here are thirty-one ways to increase your blog (or other content marketing) visibility. Create strong content that stands out.

Use killer headlines to lure readers in. Face it. Without a strong headline, your posts’ chances of getting read are greatly diminished. It’s worth your effort to spend time crafting the best headlines you can.

Have a professional looking blog design. First impressions count! Regardless of whether you use your blog for personal or professional reasons, show readers you’re committed to blogging by incorporating strong blog design.

Write about juicy topics. Think trending topics. Boost your content’s talkworthiness. There’s a reason that gossip and politics are hot blogging topics.

Tell great stories. We’ve all been taught to listen to stories since we were young. Integrate stories into your posts to make them memorable.

Incorporate keywords in your posts. Content, especially when delivered via a blog, supports search optimization. Focus each post on one keyword.

Add visuals to attract attention. Humans are visual beings. Take advantage of this by using photographs and graphics in each post.

Include other media formats. Use of video, audio and presentations helps get attention and supports your search. Of course, it critical to associate related text.

Make content easy-to-scan. Big blocks of tiny text scare readers away because they look onerous and require extra work to read. Use short paragraphs and bullets to help readers.

Link out to other blogs. Pointing to other relevant information and sources is integral to blogging. It also helps you get noticed by relevant content creators.

Cross link to other relevant information on your website and blog. It’s also good to link to appropriate product information or articles on other parts of your website.

Keep a consistent publishing schedule. Many new bloggers follow a laissez-faire approach to blogging and wait until the spirit moves them. While it’s your blog, if you don’t have a regular publishing schedule, readers will think that no one’s home.

Invite guest bloggers to write for your blog. This is particularly helpful if they have strong writing skills and large followings that compliment your point of view.

Interview well known people in your field. Find a good reason for interviewing someone well known in your category to get visibility. You can get their input via email or video as well.

Review new books (books and e-books) in your category. Give your take-aways on the latest reads in your target segment.

Promote your blog. Let prospects know that your blog exists.Let readers receive posts via email. Offer readers the option of reading your content via email. This helps you expand your reach.

Offer RSS feeds. Make it easy for readers to get your content via the method of their choice.

Share your posts via social media platforms every time you publish. Use all of the major social media sites but avoid the me, me, me syndrome by also sharing other content relevant to your followers.

Add your blog’s URL to your social media profiles. Take advantage of getting your blog seen by more people.

Write guest blog posts for other related, non-competitive blogs. The idea is to give away your best writing to get your name in front of other bloggers and their readers.

Acquire blog bling. Get your blog recognized as top in its category. (For example, this blog was short listed as one of the top social media blogs by Social Media Examiner.) Let your readers know by displaying the badges you’ve earned.

Use other forms of internal media. Promote your blog across all of your internal communications and promotions. Think company emails like customer service, catalogs and flyers.

Add a link in your email signature files. Instead of your company website, include your blog address.
Include a link to your blog on your business cards. Promote your blog while you’re handing out your card. It’s a subtle way to get colleagues to pay attention.

Run a contest. Have a special give away to get potential readers engaged.

Socialize your blog content. Make it easy for other people to share your content.Spotlight customers and others on your blog. Give your readers their fifteen seconds of fame. This gets people in your audience involved and spreads your name across their social media connections.

Incorporate social sharing in every post. Place social sharing at the top and bottom so that readers can share it with their colleagues.

Comment on other blogs. Don’t just leave spammy comments with links to your blog. Instead, contribute to the conversation. Build a relationship with the blogger and his readers.

Respond to comments on your blog. Answer people who take the time to read your content. This shows that you’re part of the social media ecosphere. Go beyond just saying thank you for your comment.

Participate in Twitter chats. Don’t push your blog posts, but rather introduce yourself when you enter the chat. 

Answer questions on Q&A sites such as LinkedIn and Quora. Use question and answer sites to show your expertise.

Advertise on social media networks to drive readers. Use advertising on selected platforms such as Facebook to engage prospects.

To get your blog (or other content marketing) noticed takes a combination of great content, letting people know your blog exists and making it easy for readers to share it with their friends and colleagues.

Is there anything else that you’d add to this list to get your blog greater visibility?

13 Effective Blogging Tips for Beginners You Must Know

Want to get into blogging but not sure how to begin? Wouldn’t it be nice if your blog simply appeared with the wave of a wand?

Writing blog posts may not be as easy as bippity boppity boo, but the good news is that creating your blog can be thrilling when you have the right tools.

To avoid common blogging mistakes, we’re providing the proper guidance to help you start your blog strong.

In this post, we provide you with 21 useful tips on how to get your blog started and how to maintain it once it gains momentum.

1. Target topics people are searching for

If you want consistent, passive traffic coming to your site, the best way is to rank high on Google. To do that, you’ll need to target topics people are searching for.

Here’s how to find these topics:

• Enter one or a few relevant keywords into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer
• Go to the Matching terms report
• Switch the tab to Questions

Ideally, you’d want to tackle topics that are:

• High in Traffic Potential (TP) – TP is the estimated amount of search traffic you can potentially gain if you rank #1 for that topic. We calculate it by estimating the amount of search traffic the #1 page currently gets.

• Low in Keyword Difficulty (KD) – KD is how difficult it is to rank for the keyword in the top 10 organic search results.

You can narrow down the list by using the filters. For example, you can set a KD filter to a maximum of 10 and a TP filter to a minimum of 500.

2. Run a Competitive Content Marketing Analysis

By analyzing your competitors, you can get a deeper understanding of what’s trending in your niche. It’ll also help you see what kind of blog topics and formats resonate with your audience.

If you’re not sure how to analyze your competitors, use this free template for competitive content analysis and focus on the following:

• Identify the key websites creating content in your niche (even if they’re not your direct competitors)
• Analyze the content categories they have on their blogs, the most popular pages, and the keywords they are ranking for
• Find out what makes each of them unique and what their differentiation points are
• Assess their tone of voice, the visual look, and overall formatting
• Learn about ways they are monetizing their websites
• Examine their social media channels

For example, imagine you wanted to see which topics and keywords perform well for Growing Your Craft’s competitors.

First, manually inspect their websites to find the most popular/trending blog section or identify topics they seem to target the most.

If you are not sure how to find your competitors, you can start by googling the most important keywords related to your business (e.g. “etsy courses") and analyzing the websites ranking on the first pages.

To make this process more data-driven, head to the Organic Research tool and enter your own domain.

Then, head to the “Competitors” tab to see the websites in your niche that are competing with yours.Then, click on any of those websites to learn more about each competitor.

You can use the “Pages” report to find the pages (and keywords) that have been performing well for each of those websites.

3. Find “easy to rank” topics

Links are an important Google ranking factor. Generally speaking, the more high-quality links you have, the higher your page will rank.

Let’s extrapolate from that idea. If a page doesn’t have many backlinks but still ranks high on Google, it means it’s a low-competition topic. And we can find these topics using Ahrefs’ Content Explorer:Enter a relevant keyword

• Set a Referring domains filter to max. 10
• Set a Page traffic filter to min. 500
• Click Details and then the Organic keywords tab to see which keywords those pages are ranking for.
• These are potential keywords you can target.

4. Be mindful of search intent

Google aims to provide its users with the most relevant results for their queries. So if you want to rank high on Google, you need to be the most relevant result.

In the real world, that means creating content that matches search intent.

What is search intent? Search intent is basically the why behind a query. And since Google works to show the most relevant results, we can look at the top-ranking pages to figure out the three Cs of search intent:

• Content type – Is there a dominant type of content on the SERP, such as blog posts, product pages, videos, or landing pages?
• Content format – Is there a dominant content format on the SERP, such as guides, listicles, news articles, opinion pieces, or reviews?
• Content angle – Is there a dominant angle on the SERP, such as freshly updated content or content aimed at beginners?

For example, let’s analyze the three Cs for the topic, “best wireless headphones.”

• Content type – They’re all blog posts.
• Content format – They’re mostly listicles.
• Content angle – They’re mostly fresh, i.e., updated to the latest year.

So if you’re targeting this keyword, you’ll likely have to create something similar—a listicle updated to the latest year.

5. Read Every Day

Novelists should read more books to be better authors and bloggers should read more blogs to be better bloggers. When we read other work besides ours, we are exposed to other ideas, other writing styles, other tones of voice. And all of what we read can influence how we write.

So no matter how much time you have during the day, whether it’s 30 minutes or two hours, spend some time reading through online content that interests you or is related to your niche. Even reading content outside of our interests or wheelhouse can be beneficial!

If you’re not sure whose content to read, try reading content by influencers, thought leaders, subject matter experts, publications, and even your competitors.

 
6. Build a Content Strategy

Now that you have a platform and a good understanding of your niche and audience, it’s time to start building a content strategy. Sure, you can aimlessly cover various blogging topics on the fly and see where they stick. But in the long term, that isn’t always the best solution.

80% of marketers felt their blogs performed better when they had a strategy. With a strategy, marketers can focus on goals more, find areas for improvement, and create more measurable progress. 

A good strategy also helps you establish your brand and story more clearly. That way, your audience knows who you are and what you’re about from the beginning.

Documenting your content strategy will involve listing the following items:

• Your target audience
• Primary goals for your blog (e.g., building a contact list and converting those people into paying customers)
• Metrics you’ll use to track performance (e.g., traffic and newsletter subscriptions)
• Resources and budget

Next, you’ll move to creating a content plan for your blog that will speak to specific content topics, keywords, dates, promotion tactics, etc.

7. Pick the Right Blogging Platform

What is the “right” blogging platform to use? It depends. Are you blogging for fun? As a hobby? Are you testing it out to see if this blogging thing will stick? Then look for free options.

One of the best free options is to create an account on Medium.com. It’s not only free, but it’s also super simple. And with more than 60 million unique monthly readers, there’s no need to drive traffic! So, start here first.

If you really want a website, WordPress.com has a free plan. But understand that it’s like squatting on a friend’s couch versus owning your own home.

If you plan to blog as a business, then you’ll want a self-hosted website using WordPress.org. This will cost money, but your new blog will look far more professional.

Plus, you don’t want to depend on a free platform that could kick you off at any time or that dictates what you can or can’t do. No, once you get serious, you’ll want that self-hosted site. SiteGround (affiliate link) is the web host we recommend most often to our students. To learn more about it, check out our in-depth SiteGround review.

Once you get your WordPress blog set up, you’ll need to choose a theme. Your WordPress themes will only determine your blog design, but can also affect your site’s loading speed, so choose carefully. The good news is that there are some great choices for free WordPress themes.

8. Less is More: Choose Smart Plugins

WordPress is powerful, but it can’t possibly include every feature everyone wants. Nor would you want it to — that would make the software bloated and buggy, which is nerd talk for slow and unreliable.

Instead, when you want additional functionality in WordPress, plugins can serve your needs.

Plugins are pieces of software code that you can add to your WordPress site. Many are free for basic levels of service, with premium add-ons available. Just know that they can slow down your site, so don’t use them unless they serve a clear purpose.

Each WordPress plugin you choose needs to play nicely with your theme and other plugins you’ve installed. And you’ll want to make sure the plugin is updated regularly — a sign that developers still care about it.

The safest path is to stick with well-known plugins that get high ratings from other WordPress users.

Some categories of useful or smart plugins:

• Performance optimization plugins can decrease page load times. Your web hosting company may provide one for you.
• SEO assistant plugins such as Yoast SEO help with basic on-page SEO or search engine optimization (don’t worry, we’ll cover this later).
• Automatic backup plugins create copies of your blog and upload them to Google Drive or other online storage services like UpdraftPlus, for example.

9. Make your posts easy to read

Let’s be real. No one is clamoring to read your article. They’d rather be on Netflix.

Therefore, it’s your job as a blogger to get them to start reading. As famous copywriter Bond Halbert said, “Good writing creates effortless reading.”

Here’s how you can transform your user’s reading experience:

• Use short paragraphs – Huge chunks of text daunt readers, but short ones invite them in. Use Hemingway to fix this.
• Break up long sentences – Long sentences are hard to follow. Break them up by finding instances where you used words like “and,” “because,” and “that.”
• Insert multimedia – Videos, images, GIFs, etc., can help illustrate your points without adding more words.
• Use formatting – Bold, italics, quotes, and lists break up chunks of copy and add extra emphasis.
• Read your copy out loud – This pinpoints areas where your content doesn’t flow smoothly.

10. Create Enticing Titles To Increase CTRs

It’s essential that you create engaging blog titles that capture the reader and increase the click-through rate (CTR) on search engines and other channels.

There are variations of articles that get more clicks than others because of how their titles are formatted. Here are some generic variations you may have clicked on yourself:

• “How To…”
• “Everything You Need To Know About…”
• “A Guide to…”
• “3, 5, 7, or 9 Things You Should…” (odd numbers in posts get clicked more)

According to our research, “Everything You Need To Know” titles and comparison articles generate the most unique monthly pageviews on average.

Besides, “Mistakes To Avoid” articles and guides get the most shares.

A few attributes of engaging blog titles are:

• Specific: Let the reader know right away what to expect
• Actionable: Show the reader the value they’ll get from reading the article
• Catching: Hook your readers right away while also keeping them intrigued

For example, imagine you are writing an article about beginner vegan recipes for people on a gluten-free diet.

It’s important that your headline showcases that these vegan recipes are easy to cook and fit the gluten-free diet.

You might also want to share the number of recipes and highlight the uniqueness of your selection.

For instance:

“20 Vegan & Gluten-Free Recipes You Can Make in 15 Minutes”

Or:

“20 Easy-to-Make Vegan & Gluten-Free Recipes [With Video]”

Remember, your blog’s page title should be between 50 and 60 characters long. It’s also important to include your target keyword(s) in the headline.

11. Consistency Is Key

Let’s be honest. You chose blogging because you love to write, but we all experience those days where writing is the last thing we want to do.

Writing can be tough at times.

A day or two off is not a big deal, but it puts you at the risk of losing momentum. Days become weeks, which then turn into months.

To prevent this, don’t write only when you feel like it. Write on a schedule. Be consistent.

As a new blogger, you have a decision to make: How often are you going to create new posts? Weekly? Monthly?

Decide on how often you’ll post and stick to that decision. Readers need that consistency.

12. Build an email list

If you’re building your following on third-party platforms like Twitter or YouTube, don’t be surprised if they suddenly ban you, delete your account, or limit your reach.

They have their own policies, and control is out of your hands.

The best way to combat this is to build an email list. For as long as your fans are subscribed to you, you can communicate with them anytime.

Building an email list requires two ingredients: traffic and something of value.

Following the blogging tips in this post will get you the traffic. This means what you need is something of value to persuade your readers to join your list. At Ahrefs, we keep it simple by offering to deliver more of the content they loved to their inbox.

But the world’s your oyster. You can offer a free ebook, the PDF version of the post, an email course, whatever. All you need is a bit of creativity.

13. Get feedback on your content

If you’re writing alone, it’s easy to make mistakes and miss things. So it’s worth getting a second pair of eyes on your content before you hit “publish.”

We do this all the time. We take turns to read each other’s content and offer feedback. We identify areas that can be added or removed, points that can be clarified, and sentences that can be worded better.

We’ve even reflected that in each of our blog posts.

Final thoughts

Blogging is hard work. But the good news is that you’re not alone.  Plenty of bloggers have gone through the ups and downs. With that hard-won experience, they’ve charted the path for you.

Remember to remain consistent, be authentic, do your research, and always be willing to learn and grow.

But most importantly, don’t give up. When it feels like you’re not getting back what you’ve invested, just keep going. 

How to Fix Duplicate Meta Description for Blogger

Some times ago, I confuse with my blog () meta description that duplicated. I am know it when I check my blog on. see my blog have too many duplicate meta description. I also see and wonder why when I share my posts to facebook, my posts always have same snippet description.
Masters of SEO said that Meta description is most vitals meta tags. If we have many duplicate meta description, our posts with same meta description will considered duplicate content by search engines. by it, our Search Engines Result Page(SERP) will down. it also danger because if we have many duplicate content, we at risk to banned by google. Duplicate meta description is forbidden in SEO. I am so confused and worried..

I start to searching on many blogs/sites to find how to fix it. after I have searching long enough, finally I found how to fix it. I immediately to try it and finally it fixed.
actually it is just my error when I modify my meta tags before. and I will never to do it again. So how i solve duplicate meta description problem ?

1. log in to your dashboard.
2. go to “template” menu.
3. edit HTML. *don’t forget to backup your template before.
4. proceed.
5. find this code : <meta content=’your blog description’ name=’description’/> or <meta name=’description’ content=’your blog descriptions’ />.. you can press ctrl + F to do search.
6. after find it, insert the red code like below :

<b:if cond=’data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl’>
<meta content=’Description’  name=’description’/>
<meta content=’keyword1 keyword2 keyword3 …’ name=’keywords’/>
</b:if>

*It is mean that your blog description just for your home page description. this is exception because use <b:if> tags. by this, you post description will not use blog description as it snippet description.

7. then, save it. your duplicate meta description will fixed.

*important note : this ways just apply if you use manual meta tags description, or don’t use auto meta tags description feature of blogger. in order you more understand. I recommend you to read this article too : check it out. okay.. that’s all from me. if you have any questions, you can ask me on the comment box below. I waiting for your response.

Follow these steps to fix the pages with duplicate meta descriptions:

Step 1: Edit Custom robots.txt

Check your ROBOT.TXT file. Go to https://www.yoursiteurl.com/robot.txt

Edit robots.txt in blogger: Go to My Blogs >> Search preferences >> Crawlers and indexing >> You will find the option for 'Custom robots.txt'

Click on edit and paste the following text into it.

User-agent: Mediapartners-Google*
Allow: /

User-agent: Googlebot-Image
Allow: /

User-agent: Adsbot-Google
Allow: /

User-agent: Googlebot-Mobile
Allow: /

User-agent: Twitterbot
Allow: /

User-agent: *
Disallow: /search
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Allow: /

User-agent: *
Disallow: /*.html
Allow: /*.html$

Sitemap: https://www.yoursite.com/atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=1&max-results=500 Sitemap: https://www.yoursite.com/sitemap.xml[Change https://www.yoursite.com/ with your own domain]
Here you can also add your sitemap as https://www.yoursite.com/sitemap.xml

Now save changes and check and verify robots.txt again.

Step 2: Edit Custom robots header tagsJust below the 'Custom robots.txt' option there is option for 'Custom robots header tags'

Click on edit and make the changes as shown in below pic.

Step 3: Edit each post description from blogger HTML
Go to HTML of your website.

Find
<meta expr:content='data:blog.metaDescription' name='description'/>

And replace it with following code:
<!-- Fix Duplicate Meta Description Error from Webmaster tool Search Console -->
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;index&quot;'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;item&quot; and data:blog.pageType != &quot;static_page&quot;'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.metaDescription != &quot;&quot;'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.url != data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.metaDescription' name='description'/>
</b:if>
</b:if>
</b:if>
</b:if>
<!-- Fix Duplicate Meta Description Error from Webmaster tool Search Console -->

That's all...

All the above steps will help you to remove duplicate meta description warnings and it will be fixed after your pages get re-indexed again on Google Webmaster tool. Check your search console after a few days and let me know your website results via the comment section shown below.

How to automatically redirect Blogger blog to another blog or website

A few posts back we made an article about Blogger custom redirects in which you can redirect within your blog. That is you can redirect your specific post URL to another post or page, all 301 or 302 redirection within your blog. That will be useful for redirecting 404 error pages and broken links; however with that you cannot redirect homepage to any particular URL. Here we will show you how to automatically redirect Blogger blog to another blog or website or any URL. So with this technique you can redirect your Blogger Homepage or any particular page to external websites.

When to use this?

This one will be useful if you have just migrated to new domain with new blogging platform. You are always limited in Blogger that’s why people moving to self-hosted WordPress blogs. Usually you won’t get much traffic to your new blog when you just shifted. Also your old blog will have some decent traffic flow from organic search results as well as from backlinks. So by using this method you can drive traffic from your old blog to your new blog and also it passes all the ranking factors.
How to redirect Blogger blog to another blog / URL / Website

Here we will share three different codes that automatically redirect Blogger blog to another blog or URL and each code does different tasks.

Let’s say you want to redirect your complete Blogger blog to another page or URL. That is redirecting your homepage, posts page, archives page and all other URL in your blog to another specified external website. You have to use this if you just moved to new domain. 

To do this you are going to make changes to your template file. So before you mess up with the codes it’s recommended that you backup your template first.

Login to your Blogger dashboard
Go to template and click edit HTML
Now you can see template codes. Press CTRL + f and then find <head>
Now add the following code below head tag like you see in the image below.

<script type='text/javascript'>
  var d='<data:blog.url/>';
  d=d.replace(/.*\/\/[^\/]*/, '');
  location.href = 'https://blogtimenow.com';
</script>

In the above code change https://bloggerinstinct.com which is the destination URL. Now all your pages from the blog will be redirected to destination URL.

Now we will see another piece of code that redirects particular blog URL to another blog or website. If you wish not to redirect the whole blog then you have to make use of this code. Also you can use this for redirecting user from a particular page to another external website for promotional purpose.

To do this just paste the following code below head tag and change the from URL that is http://yourblog.blogspot.com and destination URL that is https://bloggerinstinct.com

<script>
if(window.location.href == 'http://yourblog.blogspot.com ')
{
window.location="https://blogtimenow.com";
}
</script>

The above code just redirects user from the specified BlogSpot URL to another website or URL.

Here comes another code; with this you can redirect all your blog pages including home page to another blog or website with specific set time. So users who lands in your blog will be automatically redirected to anther blog after a specific time period.

<meta content='5;url=https://blogtimenow.com' http-equiv='refresh'/>

This is the code, just copy and paste below the head tag in your template file. In the above code 5 is the set time where users will redirected to https://blogtimenow.com in 5 seconds after landing.

Hope this article guided you on how to automatically redirect Blogger blog to another blog / website or URL. Share this and if you found it useful then please leave your comments. To get more update from Blog Time Now subscribe to our RSS feeds.

How To Start A Music Blog On Blogger Blogspot Blog (MP3) 2023

Many music bloggers complain of not having places to upload or host their audio files because of the limited nature of the Blogspot platform.

Top music bloggers use WordPress but not all new bloggers can afford the hosting, yet they need to deliver the music to their audience. We have earlier discussed on why every blogger must have a custom domain, but hosting is not compulsory because Google has paid the price for Blogspot users.

How To Upload Files For Download In Blogger

There are so many ways to upload files such as pdf, mp3, videos, apk, and word documents to Blogger for direct downloads. However, not all are free and some you'll have to pay for life to have your files hosted on the platforms.

- Visit http://sites.google.com and sign-in using your gmail account.

- Click on 'Create'

A drop down menu with two options will pop-out, click on 'in Classic sites'

- 

Select 'Blank Document', name your site, solve recaptcha and Click on 'Create Site'

- You'll be redirected to something like this

Congrats, we have successfully passed the first stage, I hope it was easy? I experienced issues opening the page with my Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers, however, my Opera Mini browser worked perfectly. I only needed to clear my cookies but I don't like that, so I had to switch browsers.
The next step is to create a music folder

How To Create A Music FolderThis is the most important part of the tutorial and it's very easy. You'll learn how to create a folder that can host your files like pdfs, music audios (mp3), videos, apks and more.

- Click on 'Create Page'. It is at the top right corner of the page, you can check the photo below.

- 

Just choose a name and leave all other things with the default options.

Hurray, we have graduated into another stage and it's also very important. It's now time to upload the files.

How To Upload Music Files To Blogspot Free- Click on 'Add File'

- 

Select a file and upload, it'll bring out something like the screenshot below

- We are almost done, look at the red circle that I drew on the photo below

- You'll see a download symbol on the left, right click it with your mouse to copy the link. That's the download link to your file.

You can share it directly or put it in your blog posts.

You can click on this link to download my sample song.

Was't it easier than you thought? I'm certain it was. The next step is not compulsory but you can use it if you want to add a download button to your blog post.

How To Create A Music Download Button On BloggerThe button will look something like this

To add it to your website, copy this code.

 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.infoguideafrica.com/"><img alt="Download button from know.com.ng" border="0" data-original-height="48" data-original-width="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xhjnavhhqVc/W2JOUmpeDEI/AAAAAAAAJus/WAGyMXhTuj4wqB9qBns9TXfBSeCL_Q7gQCLcBGAs/s1600/Download%2BButton%2BInfoGuideAfrica.com.jpg" title="Download button from know.com.ng" /></a></div>

To customize it, replace the highlighted http://www.infoguideafrica.com with the download link to your own file.

Don't touch other parts of the code or you might ruin them.

That's all, thanks for reading along and we hope it was helpful.

3 Most Common WordPress Issues and Their Solutions

WordPress is the most popular content management system because of its customizability and flexibility. And while it’s far from perfect, it’s generally easy to use.

WordPress errors can seem intimidating, but most are easy to fix. As long as you recognize the error and what caused it, you can perform basic troubleshooting independently.

This guide will show you how to diagnose and troubleshoot the three most common WordPress issues:

• Internal server error
• 403 forbidden error
• White Screen of Death (WSoD)

Before you make any significant changes to your website, remember to create a backup of your files, so you have a copy if anything goes wrong.

After you’ve finished troubleshooting, clear your browser cache if the changes you made don’t reflect on your website.

1. Internal Server Error

An internal server error (also known as a 500 internal server error) is one of the most confusing errors a WordPress user can encounter. The error indicates something is wrong, but the server can’t identify what it is, so you’ll have to investigate it yourself.

What Causes the Issue

A corrupted .htaccess file is often the most common reason for an internal server error, but it can also be caused by theme or plugin issues.

 
How To Fix the Issue

When you encounter an internal server error, try accessing the website root through the file transfer protocol (FTP).

Rename the .htaccess file to something else (such as .htaccess-old). Try reloading the website to check if this fixes the problem. If you’ve fixed the problem, reset your permalinks by visiting Settings > Permalinks to create a new .htaccess file.

If you’ve tried the first solution and your website still encounters an error, the problem might be incompatible or outdated themes and plugins.

To fix your plugins, deactivate them via FTP. Then, reactivate them one by one until you find the error. Once you find the errant plugin, report it to the developer. You may also try reverting to the previous theme used when the website was still working.

If none of the above fixes work, try re-uploading the /wp-admin and /wp-includes folders by re-installing WordPress. Upload these using an FTP client and select Overwrite to replace the old files.

2. 403 Forbidden Error

A 403 forbidden error is shown to your website visitors if the server does not allow access to a specific page. There are different scenarios where you may encounter the error message:When you are denied access on wp-admin or your WordPress login page
During the WordPress installation process
When you visit any page on your WordPress website

What Causes the Issue

Any of the following may cause a 403 forbidden error:

• Poorly configured security plugins
• Corrupt .htaccess file
• Your WordPress hosting company has made accidental changes to its server settings
• Incorrect file permissions on your server, which can make your web server think you don’t have permission to access those files

How To Fix the Issue

To fix a 403 forbidden error, try:Checking your security plugins. These plugins can block several IP addresses if they think those addresses are malicious.

 
Downloading a backup copy of your .htaccess file. Delete the existing file from your server and try accessing your website. If your website is accessible, the .htaccess file is corrupt. Create a .htaccess file as detailed in the section on internal server errors.

Consulting your hosting provider. If you suspect that there are incorrect file permissions on your server, ask your hosting provider to check file permissions.

3. White Screen of Death

The White Screen of Death (WSoD) appears as a blank screen with no information and is usually a sign of PHP or database errors.

What Causes the Issue

The following are often the cause of a WSoD:Plugin compatibility issues
Problems with your WordPress theme, especially if you’ve activated a new theme or created a new website on WordPress

 
Missing or renamed theme directory. This error usually occurs when developers create a local development environment and clone the database, which may be missing or renamed.

How To Fix the Issue

If you’re experiencing a WSoD, try these troubleshooting methods:

• Deactivating your plugins. Similar to the internal server error, try deactivating and reactivating plugins to find the error’s root cause.
• Activating your theme. Log in to your WordPress dashboard or access your website via FTP and look for the /wp-content/themes/ folder. (If you did the latter, rename the folder of the active theme.)
• Accessing the wp-login.php or /wp-admin/ as an administrator. You should be able to see a WordPress error message saying something like “The theme directory “{theme-name}” does not exist.”
• If you see this error message, try switching the admin side themes, renaming your directory, or editing the “theme” and “stylesheet” records in wp_options.

Final Thoughts: Troubleshooting Guide for Most Common WordPress Issues

Although WordPress is generally stable, it’s normal to encounter errors sometimes. These issues may seem intimidating, but with this guide, you can have your website up and running in no time.

Most common WordPress errors can be prevented by updating your plugins and themes, checking your .htaccess files, and keeping your website secure.

The web hosting provider you choose also plays a significant role in keeping your website safe.

How to Verify AdSense Account With and Without PIN in Nigeria

Are you struggling with the delivery of AdSense Pin? Unable to verify your AdSense account & receive your first $100 from AdSense? You are not alone, as AdSense users from many countries are facing the similar situation due to mailing issues.

If you are unsure of what I’m talking about, here it goes: AdSense sends you a Pin once you have earned your first $10 in your AdSense account. This AdSense pin is unique for every AdSense account & they send it via courier to the Address that you have mentioned while creating an AdSense account. Usually, AdSense sends your PIN by standard mail after few days of reaching the verification threshold.

Now AdSense can only be verified using both methods of verification. Please note that either of the ways can be done before the other.

1. You need To do document verification

Now you first need to do document verification before the Second and final step. Three documents are required of you for verification and they include ;

• International Passport
• Driver’s license
• Original National Identity card

Once you upload a clear scanned copy of any one of these documents , your account will pass the first step of verification.

2. Address/Pin Verification

You will now need to verify your address through pin that will be sent to that address you have placed in your AdSense account.

Once you receive this pin which can only be requested a maximum of three times, then you simply input it and you are officially qualified to receive AdSense payments which will only be received once you have reached 100$ threshold.

Advice

Ensure that the address on the document you want to use matches the one on your AdSense account. A discrepancy may poise a problem. Just ensure everything matches and are unique documents.

Warning

Don’t ever try to upload a fake document or else , you will lose your AdSense account forever. You know what that means:

How do I verify my AdSense account?
Verify a test deposit from Google

Sign in to your AdSense account.

• Click Payments. You’ll see a red alert in your AdSense account.
• Click Manage payment methods.
• Click Verify now.
• In the drop-down menu, select the test deposit amount that you received in your bank statement.
• Click Verify. If the amounts match, your bank account is verified.

How do I verify my AdSense account without pin?

• Open your Google AdSense Account with your login credentials.
• You must be seeing a notification top bar (red bar) if you have not verified your account after requesting for 3rd Click on Notification Option in Google AdSense account.

How long does it take to get AdSense pin?

Adsense pin generally deliver in two weeks but it can be take the more weeks depend on your location. Wait for four month and if you still not receive the AdSense PIN then you should request for new AdSense PIN. Every PINS are unique.

How do I change my AdSense verification address?
You can change the payment address in your AdSense account by following these steps:

Sign in to your AdSense account.

• In the left navigation panel, click Payments.
• Click Manage settings.
• In the “Name and address” section, click .
• Update your payment address in the “Address” fields.
• Click Save.

How do I get my AdSense verification code?
Here’s a step-by-step guide to add verification code in the admin section:

• Register a Google AdSense account.
• Copy unique code given to you after signing up.
• Enter YourDomainName/wp-admin on a browser: …
• Enter username and password, and click Log In.
• On the left-hand corner, click Appearance, then select Editor.

How do I transfer money from Google AdSense?
To enter your banking information:

• Sign in to your AdSense account.
• In the left navigation panel, click Payments.
• Click Add payment method.
• Choose the radio button for “Wire transfer to bank account” and click Continue.
• Enter your bank account information and click Confirm and continue.

Does AdSense send you mail?

Usually, AdSense sends your PIN by standard mail after few days of reaching the verification threshold. You‘ll have four months from the date your first PIN is generated to enter it in your account. PINs often take up to 4 weeks to reach you by mail, though it may take longer depending on your location.

How can I verify my bank account?
To verify a check, you need to contact the bank that the money is coming from.

Find the bank name on the front of the check.
Search for the bank online and visit the bank’s official site to get a phone number for customer service.

Tell the customer service representative that you’d like to verify a check you received.
Why does Google AdSense need my address?

Google AdSense is showing some AdSense publishers a notice that their payments are on hold until they validate and verify their physical mailing address by way of postcard. … To verify your account we automatically generate and mail a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to the payment address listed in your account.

How long does it take for Google pay?

The type of account transfer will affect the time necessary for your deposit to clear. Transfers to your debit card typically complete within minutes but may take up to 24 hours for some banks. All transfers to a bank account are usually completed within 3 business days.

How do I change my AdSense name?
In most locations, you will have the option to change your payee name within your account by following these steps:

Sign in to your AdSense account.

• In the left navigation panel, click Payments.
• Click Manage settings.
• In the “Name and address” section, click .
• Enter your desired payee name. …
• Click Save.

How do I add payment method to AdSense?
How to set up your form of payment

Sign in to your AdSense account.

• Click Payments.
• Click Manage payment methods.
• Click Add payment method.
• In the “Add a payment method” section, enter your bank account information.
• If you want this to be your primary form of payment, select the Set as primary payment method checkbox.

I understand that waiting for the AdSense pin is a painful period as when you see your first few dollars in the account, you start believing in the online money & you can’t wait to have it.

All I can say here is be patient & in a few months your account will be verified either by AdSense pin or alternate methods that I have shared above.

How To Add Seo Friendly Meta Tags, Remove A Title Widget In Blogger

Make sure in which blog post you want to add meta title tag then open in browser. And don’t forget to keep it open.

• Let’s start: 
• Sign in to Blogger account.
• Go to your desire blog dashboard.
• Click on “Design” Tab.
• Now click on “Edit HTML” at the top corner.
• Click the “Expand Widget Templates” check box.
• Find the “<head>” tag in your blog template.
• Past the following codes right after the <head> tag.

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "http://yourblog.blogspot.com/post"'>
<meta content='TITLE' name='title'/>
</b:if>

• Replace the “http://yourblog.blogspot.com/post” with your own blog post URL and Also replace the capitalized word “TITLE” with desire custom title.
• Click the “Save Template” button.

Note: You can add more custom titles for blog posts by repeating those codes but one thing you should know that “</b:if>” will be appear once after all custom title.

See the example to add more than one custom title:

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "http://yourblog.blogspot.com/post1"'>
<meta content='TITLE 1' name='title'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "http://yourblog.blogspot.com/post2"'>
<meta content='TITLE 2' name='title'/>
</b:if>

I hope you’re able to understand what I’ve explained to you. It’s really a simple thing you can do by yourself. Let’s try to add the custom meta title tag in your blogger template. If you’ve any issue then let me know. And don’t forget to share this valued tricks with others.

How To Remove A Blog Title Widget In Blogger

By default, blogs that are created on Google's Blogger platform contain a blog title (or widget) element that is displayed at the top of each page to allow visitors to conveniently identify your blog after they load it in their browsers. For aesthetic reasons, though, you may want to remove this element from your template. You can do so by editing your blog's HTML code and its layout settings.

1.Open your Web browser and log in to your Blogger dashboard.

2.Click on the downward-pointing arrow next to the name of the blog you wish to edit and select "Template."

3.Click on the "Edit HTML" button and select "Proceed."

4.Press "Ctrl-F" to open your browser's search box and paste the following code snippet in it:

widget id='Header1' locked='true'

Your browser should now automatically locate the section of your blog's HTML code that contains that snippet.

5.Replace "true" with "false" to unlock the header and click on "Save Template." By default Blogger prevents users from being able to remove the blog title element. Select "Close."

6.Select "Layout" from the left column and click "Edit" under the Header element.

7.Click "Remove" at the bottom of the window and select "OK."

8.Save your new template by clicking on "Save Arrangement."

Feel free to use the comment bottom below if you have any question

20+ Free Backlinks Sites List for Bloggers in 2023

There is no getting away from the fact that free backlinks sites remain one of the top factors for higher Google ranking. It subsequently generates more organic traffic and helps you increase brand awareness and authority among potential customers.

However, finding free high-quality backlinks on the internet can take a lot of time and laborious effort, especially if you are new to SEO. So, how and where could you get high-quality backlinks for free?

If you’re looking to increase your website’s rankings in search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, then this free high quality backlinks list can help you with your digital marketing link building campaigns.

Before jumping straight to the list, let us get a clear understanding of what backlinks are and why you need them.

What are backlinks?

Backlinks, also called inbound links, incoming links, or one-way links, are links from a page on one website to a page on another website. Google and other major search engines consider them as votes for a specific page. Pages with a high number of backlinks tend to have high organic search engine rankings.

If someone links to your website, then you have a backlink from them. If you link to another website, then they have a backlink from you.

There is no getting away from the fact that free backlinks sites remain one of the top factors for higher Google ranking. It subsequently generates more organic traffic and helps you increase brand awareness and authority among potential customers. However, finding free high-quality backlinks on the internet can take a lot of time and laborious effort, especially if you are new to SEO. So, how and where could you get high-quality backlinks for free?
Why are backlinks important?

Backlinks help a website with three major aspects: Rankings: As we said earlier, Google sees backlinks, be it free or paid, as votes of confidence. Each of these votes tells search engines, “this content is valuable, reliable, and useful”. 

In simple words, the more votes your web pages have, the more likely they are to rank for relevant search queries. Discoverability: Search engines discover fresh content by revisiting pages they already know about to check for new links. Just because search engines prefer popular pages more than unpopular ones, they may discover your content faster if you get free backlinks from popular pages. Referral traffic: Backlinks subsist to direct online users to useful resources. That’s why they are clickable. When someone clicks on a free backlink to your website, you get referral traffic.

Now that you know what backlinks are and understand their importance for your website, it is time to put a spotlight on the list of free backlinks sites that we have created.

Free Backlink Sites List

1. Crunchbase

Crunchbase is one of the best free backlink sites you can use for link building because it has a high Domain Authority (DA) rating of 81. You can get your business listed on this site at no charge and get a high quality backlink to your website.

2. MyBlogU

MyBlogU is another popular site for free website backlinks. You can create a profile, add links, and connect with other marketers to share ideas and thoughts, and build relationships that can lead to even more quality backlinks in the future.

3. HARO

HARO comes in third on this free high quality backlinks list because it’s an excellent source to get high DA from major brands in every industry. The way it works is you sign up for an account, then you’ll get three daily emails from journalists who are looking to quote sources for their articles. It can be a bit of a grind replying to news pitches each day, but this other guide on how to use HARO for backlinks can teach you how to land the most links from your efforts.

4. SourceBottle

SourceBottle is similar to HARO for link building. You can get free publicity and backlinks for your website by responding to media queries from journalists and bloggers.

5. Google Sites

Want to use one of the best websites for free backlinks that can be set up in a matter of minutes? Then Google Sites is what you need. Anyone with a Gmail account can set up a Google Site and instantly places links back to their website at no charge. Plus, these types of sites get indexed quickly in the search engine results pages (SERPs) and are good for improving brand awareness. See this related Google Sites SEO guide to learn best practices for search engine optimization.

6. Google Drive Assets

You may be wondering why Google appears two times on this free backlinks sites list. But once you understand how Google assets work, then you’ll want to jump on this opportunity to get high quality links for your website. Essentially, you can Google’s own entities (e.g. Docs, Sheets, Forms, etc) to create backlinks to your site and transfer some of that high PR power. Check out this complete guide on Google Authority Stacking here to get a step-by-step tutorial on this link building strategy.

7. BizSugar

BizSugar is website for business owners and entrepreneurs to share and vote for the best business tips, trends, and news from around the Internet. Therefore, it’s an excellent site to sign up for an account and use for link building.

8. GrowthHackers

GrowthHackers has a thriving community of digital marketers where you can share marketing strategies for growing your business. You can post original content and syndicate content from your blog to build more backlinks. Best of all, you can add links to your individual articles on the site and in your account profile. Also, see this related guide with a list of article submission sites.

9. GitHub

GitHub is a repository that helps developers store, manage, track and control changes to their source code. If you have an application of any sort you can add to GitHub, you can also put a backlink in the about section.

10. DeviantArt

DeviantArt is an online art community that features artwork, photography, and GIFs. You can use this free site to upload your creative works and get a backlink to your site to help increase brand awareness for your business.

11 Facebook

Facebook is among the most famous social media platforms for creating free backlinks for a business website. With more than 1.69 billion users worldwide, this platform could maximize your business reach and easily connect it with the targeted audience.

Links can be placed on Facebook posts to redirect to a website. Apart from giving you no-follow links, this social media platform provides more than one way of accessing your site from the free backlinks added in your personal information (bio), groups, pages, and timeline.

12 Twitter

Just like Facebook, Twitter also provides you with free backlinks for the website. This social media platform has over 330 million active users. Many brands, businesses, and in fact, celebs use Twitter to advertise, promote, and increase their brand awareness.

SEO experts use Twitter for business profile creation and share posts with relevant hashtags and links. Using the right hashtags with ace content will make your post more visible to users and prompt them to click on the created backlink.

13 Instagram

Another social media platform for building free backlinks for websites from zero in 2021. Instagram is an image and video-sharing platform with over 26.9 million active users worldwide. Although it is notorious for not being link-friendly, it has great potential for bringing visitors to the website.

Sharing images or videos with relevant hashtags is a common practice amongst digital marketing professionals to connect with the target audience and increase brand awareness. One could also acquire a free backlink by adding a link to the bio of Instagram’s business profile.

14 Pinterest

You might get surprised to know that within 63,000 searches made per second on Google, images (along with links) shared on Pinterest ranks higher. Even though it gives you a no-follow backlink, SEO experts highly recommend this platform to get free backlinks for increasing web traffic.

Make sure you have appealing, eye-catching images attached to Pins. Pinterest will scan your site and yank all available images (even affiliate banners) for you to choose from.

15 Tumblr

Free backlinks provided by Tumblr are some valuable lower-hanging fruits that don’t require much time or expertise. It is a blogging platform with over 465 million blogs and 327 million active users worldwide. Tumblr provides businessmen with do-follow links and helps them in increasing domain authority.

We know they may not take you from the fifth page to the first page for all of your keywords, but they can definitely move the needle.

16 Linkedin

LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful and useful tool for businesses – mainly, white-collar businesses that provide a host of different services. For some users, it is simply a way to constantly update a resume and have a professional presence online. Others use LinkedIn to get free backlinks in order to bolster their website. You just need to create a profile, add an URL, and regularly share articles or products to bring more traffic to your site.

17 Minds

One of the most useful platforms to build free backlinks from ground zero. Minds is a free “crypto social network” that uses blockchain to reward its users with tokens. Users can use these tokens to boost their content or crowdfund other users. This social media platform has over 2.5 million registered users and 300,000 monthly active users.

18 Trepup

Trepup is another well-known social media platform that helps business owners obtain free backlinks for their websites. Founded in 2014, it has more than 1400 product categories and is a house to millions of sellers and buyers worldwide. Free backlinks obtained from this social media platform are do-follow.
Video-sharing platforms for free backlinks

19 Youtube

We all use Youtube for uploading and watching videos. But do you know it is also one of the best platforms to get free backlinks for websites? Almost every search made on Google includes YouTube videos. No wonder why it is called the world’s second-largest search engine.

To build free backlinks from YouTube, you first need to create a Google account. Add the channel’s description and awe-inspiring banner. Remember, it takes time to create an impact. You will start outranking your online competitors as time passes. Free backlinks built from this platform are no-follow.

Above are some famous online platforms to attain high-quality backlinks for free. Whether they contain do-follow or no-follow links, these backlinks are an invaluable source of domain authority as well as clicks and calls for all online businesses. No doubt building backlinks from zero could take a lot of time, effort, and stress, but at the end of the day, it would be worth it for your business website. 

As you discovered, there’s a large number of free website backlinks you can build from high Domain Authority sites; some of which are dofollow backlinks and others are nofollow links. However, each website from this free high quality backlinks list can still be beneficial for passing PageRank value for SEO to your site to help improve its backlink profile regardless of the follow status. So just pick and choose the websites from this list you like best and want to use for your digital marketing link building campaigns.

How to Clear Cache in WordPress - Step by Step Guide

Page load speed is an essential factor for your website’s user experience. Website pages that take more than three seconds to load lose up to 40% of visitors. One of the best ways to boost your website speed is to cache your website pages.

Using a WordPress cache plugin to cache your pages can help speed up your website, but you also need to clear your WordPress cache now and then.

Clearing your cache helps ensure all your changes and updates go into effect, and your website runs smoothly.

Keep reading to learn:

How caching works and when to clear your WordPress cache

How to clear WordPress cache

What the best WordPress cache plugins are

WordPress Cache and How It Works

Websites use caching to reduce the number of data requests and speed up page load time. The first time a user visits a website, WordPress needs to make requests to the database using PHP. Then, it combines the information and uses it to generate the HTML page your visitor sees.

It takes a lot of time to request and reformat data from the primary database.

If WordPress needed to communicate with the central database every time a user returned to the website, pages would take too long to load.

So, how does caching help?

After WordPress requests website pages for the first time, it stores the static HTML pages in a high-speed data layer known as a cache.

The next time someone requests a website page, WordPress displays the saved page instead of querying the central database.

Displaying a static HTML file from the cache requires fewer steps and increases page load time.

However, since the cached pages are static, they don’t include updates or edits made after the first visit. A stored copy is often referred to as the cached version of a website page.

Types of Web Caches

There are several types of web caches. Each cache has benefits and works with a specific data type.

These different caches work simultaneously to reduce the number of data requests needed to load your website. This, in turn, increases your overall website speed.

Site cache: The site cache stores old copies of your website pages to increase load speed. As a website owner, you can manually clear your site cache or set cache expiration dates for your website pages.

Browser cache: Web browsers store HTML pages, CSS files, and various media in the browser cache. End-users (as opposed to website owners) can clear a browser cache. Many browsers also have schedules to flush out cached data.

Server cache: Server cache refers to cached data stored on your website server. It includes the use of content delivery networks (CDNs) plus object and opcode caching.

Each type of cache must be cleared separately. Learning how to do so will help you ensure your website changes and updates take effect.

What Does Clear Cache Mean?

When you clear your website’s cache, you’re erasing the temporarily saved files in your cache data layer. Once you clear your cache, browsers will load the most recent version of your website pages and use those to create new cache data.

Clearing your cache files does not delete your website’s permanent data. Only the snapshots of your website pages that were previously saved get cleared.

When You Need a Clear WordPress Cache

By now, you might be thinking, “If my WordPress cache increases my page load speed, why would I want to clear it?”

Regularly clearing your WordPress cache is part of good website hygiene. Below are some specific scenarios where you should reset and have a clear WordPress cache.

Likewise, if you’ve made changes to your website, but you don’t see them, check the last time you cleared your cache.

You Changed Your Website Design or Content

As mentioned before, when you use a cache, you show your visitors saved (or cached) versions of your website pages.

If you’ve made changes to your design or content, returning visitors won’t see the difference. So, after you publish any significant changes, it’s best to have a clear WordPress cache.

You Updated Your WordPress Theme or Plugins

Developers frequently release updated versions of WordPress themes and plugins. Typically, updates lead to faster and better performance. In some cases, updates are released to patch security issues.

Any time you update your theme or plugin on WordPress, it’s recommended to clear your WordPress cache. Without a clear WordPress cache, the changes made in the update might not go into effect.

You Recently Migrated Your Website

People migrate websites for various reasons, including to change a domain name or look for a better web hosting service.

Whatever your reason, if you migrate your website, you should clear out your cache if you use caching plugins.

Changes to your server and database can result in weird website behavior and poor user experience if you forget to clear your cache.

You Installed a Plugin To Compress Your Images

Image compression plugins are excellent tools to help you increase your page load speed and website performance.

However, if you don’t clear your cache, your website will show the old previously cached images.

So, clearing out the cache after you install an image compression plugin ensures your website displays the optimized version of each image.

How To Clear a WordPress Cache

If you’ve made changes to your website, but they aren’t showing up, it might be time to clear your cache.

Here’s how to get a clear WordPress cache and ensure your website is operating properly.

1. Clear Your Browser Cache

If you can’t see the changes you made to your website, your personal browser cache might be the culprit.

Your browser cache stores data such as HTML pages, and it might show you old copies of your website.

If you use Google Chrome, you can clear your browser cache by going to your browser menu (three dots in the top right corner) and select More tools followed by Clear browsing data.

You can find a step-by-step guide online to clear browsing data for all other major web browsers, including Firefox and Safari.

2. Clear WordPress Caching Plugin Cache

To speed up your WordPress website with caching, you’ll need a WordPress cache plugin.

Several WordPress caching solution plugins are available, and most of them have a “delete cache” option or clear cache button on the settings page. You can also check to see if your plugin provider offers tutorials for clearing out the cache.

Keep reading to compare the top three WordPress Cache plugins.

3. Clear Bluehost Cache (or Server Cache)

Finally, clear your server cache. You can clear your cache on Bluehost by using your WordPress dashboard.

Click on caching in your WordPress admin menu and select Purge All to purge all caches.

Best WordPress Cache Plugins

If you want to use caching to speed up your WordPress website, you need to install a caching plugin. Finding the right plugin for your website depends on your budget and needs.

There are several free and premium options available. Here are three popular caching plugins.

W3 Total Cache

More than one million WordPress users use W3 Total Cache. It offers ten times speed improvements, easy setup features, and mobile support. Advanced users can opt for

Total Cache Pro, which includes features like fragment caching and rest API caching.

W3 Total Cache key features:

Page caching

CDN integration

Accelerated mobile pages (AMP) support

SSL support

Caching of pages, post, and search engine results

Best WP cache plugin for: Mobile-optimized websites

Price: Free version available or $99/year for Total Cache Pro

W3 Super Cache

W3 Super Cache offers straightforward and effective caching options for your WordPress website. Users can choose simple or expert mode caching based on their technical knowledge.

W3 Super Cache key features:

Page caching

CDN support

Compressed pages

Cache rebuild

Homepage checks

Best WP cache plugin for: Beginners

Price: Free

WP Rocket (Premium)

WP Rocket is a premium WordPress cache plugin with a comprehensive set of tools to help speed up your website. With WP Rocket, you can set up page caching as well as browser caching and database optimization.

WP Rocket key features:

Page caching

Browser caching

Cloudflare compatibility

CDN support

Defer JavaScript loading

Minified pages

Best WP cache plugin for: All-around website speed enhancement

Price: $49/year for one website

Using a caching plugin can help you speed up your website, improve user experience, and increase your SEO performance.

But, sometimes, you need to flush out old data, so website updates go through. Learning when to clear your WordPress cache is an essential part of effective website maintenance.