Gain Control of WordPress Meta Information and More with HeadSpace
Those of you who know me, know I wouldn't recommend a WordPress plugin that isn't worth using. HeadSpace is not only worth using, it's worth using immediately.
What exactly is HeadSpace?
From the plugin page: HeadSpace is a powerful all-in-one plugin to manage meta-data and handle a wide range of SEO tasks. With it you can tag your posts, create custom titles and descriptions that improve your page ranking, change the theme or run disabled plugins on specific pages, and a whole lot more.
I've been working with this plugin for the last hour or so. It does everything John (the author) says it does. It's an incredible plugin! Previously, I was using the Add-Meta-Tags WordPress Plugin, but it was limited to meta tags and descriptions and didn't offer per post or per page customizations. I'm very happy I found HeadSpace.
Why use HeadSpace?
The primary reason is so that you don't have to edit your theme files all the time. Another reason is that you have all of the information you need to change everything in two places: The "Settings/HeadSpace" and the "Manage/Meta-data" administration panels. The "Settings/HeadSpace" panel is for the initial setup and additional modules. The "Manage/Meta-data" panel is the override for the defaults, and it's pretty sweet.
Courtney Tuttle, of Court's Internet Marketing School wrote a guest post over at ProBlogger called 10 Ways to Improve Blog Traffic in 30 Minutes or Less. One of the 10 ways is optimizing the HTML title ("<title>your post title</title>"). The "Manage/Meta-data" panel lets you do it easily.
Features I especially like.
- Global Settings. You can use the special tags shown to customize the page titles, descriptions and tags/keywords. These can be overridden independently with the "Manage/Meta-tags" panel. If you're properly categorizing and tagging your posts, %%category%%,%%tag%% will use them all as meta keywords.
- Site Modules. I wish there were even more! I'm using the "Google Section Targeting" already and exploring others. Perhaps I'll create some new modules for myself.
- Manage/Meta-data panel. It's a very easy interface to work with.
I'm sure I'll find more features that I like as I go through every option.
The final verdict.
I know for a fact that my search engine traffic has been abysmal considering how many posts I've written (around 1200). I attribute part of that due to poor SEO optimization of post titles, meta descriptions, and meta tags. It's going to take me a while, but I'm going to change all that and this plugin will help me do it easier than several other plugins combined.
So… I have only one question for you and it's a two-parter. Are you using HeadSpace? If not, why not?
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Hi RT,
What are the differences/advantages of this plugin over the popular All-in-One-SEO plugin?
Thanks,
Todd
Todd’s last blog post… Iroquois Point Elementary School
It has many more options and can even import the All-in-One-SEO settings. I tested that plugin before (and ended up editing my theme instead). You'll have to compare it for yourself if you're used to the All-in-One plugin.
Hi RT,
Cool, thanks I'll add it to my (way too long) list of things I need to check out. Appreciate the heads up.
I think I'm going to test it out on my Success with Todd blog first. My alohateam site is actually on the first page in past few days for several of my primary targeted keywords … so, I must be doing something right
Todd
todd’s last blog post… Iroquois Point Elementary School
Thanks for letting know.. I plan to add many plugins tonight after college like the KeywordLuv, HeadSpace and a Related Posts plugin among others.
I'm not using this plugin because I'm using the best blogging software in the world: b2evolution.
On a serious note, I'm finding all the WordPress-centric stuff a little bit boring, personally. Reminds me of something I read about a while back:
Q: Why do WordPress users use WordPress?
A: because they can write about WordPress…
No offense to you though, RT. You know how much of a rebel I am when it comes to blogging.
hari’s last blog post… How to become a communist
You know, Hari, it probably wouldn't be very hard for you to convert the plugin to B2E.
Certainly could. I just feel down at the moment and don't have the desire to do much.
Almost feel the time has come for me to shut down my blog and look forward to something new and different.
This is something I should probably discuss with you as I value your opinions.
This certainly sounds like it is worth a try. I have the All in One SEO plugin installed although I tend not to use its features much.
Do you think the search engines take much notice of meta tags these days though?
Yes. Google has stated it does on occasion and I know that Yahoo and MSN do by seeing my results.
I hope too much plugins won't drive some blogs (people) nut one of these days.
Great Plugin, I have to agree. I have tried so many different SEO plugins and this one has to be one of the best.
My latest blog post: SEO Header Tags
Thanks for the tip on the plugin. I recommend this plugin as well. The fact that you can control things on specific pages is absolutely wonderful
My latest blog post: Link Building Tricks With CommentLuv and KeywordLuv
The problem with plugins is you never really understand what's going on under the hood when you want to make changes later. So I'm not using one – I just fiddled around with some PHP to add some unique meta descriptions to each post, category etc, using custom fields.
My latest blog post: How to avoid duplicate meta descriptions in pages 2 and higher of the Wordpress loop
I heard a lot a good things about this plugins. But I'm running with some problems with it. The first one, the tag suggestion doesn't work! also I don't have the tag box under the post. Any idea why? Thanks
My last blog: Slimming Diet for Natural Fat Loss