Musings is Fun & Politics — Tech is just Tech 🙂
Most WordPress users leave LiteSpeed Cache optimization on default settings, missing free speed improvements that can boost site performance by 20-40%. If you’re running a WordPress blog on hosting that supports LiteSpeed optimization (like Hostinger, ChemiCloud, or others), you’re sitting on a goldmine of free performance improvements. The LiteSpeed Cache plugin can dramatically speed up your WordPress site with just a few simple tweaks – no technical expertise required.
Manual SEO optimization doesn’t require costly tools or subscriptions. Often, the best solutions come from systematic troubleshooting and leveraging free tools like RankMath—exactly what happened while preparing this very post.
Yesterday, I encountered a “couldn’t fetch” error in Google Search Console that was blocking my sitemap submissions. A quick check with an AI assistant suggested I needed a robots.txt file, but the diagnosis felt incomplete. Instead of turning to additional paid tools, I used Claude to dive deeper into the issue.
The result? I discovered that RankMath’s free version wasn’t generating a virtual robots.txt file because Advanced Mode wasn’t enabled. By enabling it, I fixed both the robots.txt creation and the sitemap URL configuration. This hands-on approach showcased the power of RankMath’s free features and manual SEO optimization—solving the problem efficiently without extra costs.
This experience perfectly illustrates today’s tutorial: how to achieve professional SEO results using manual techniques and free tools like RankMath to get the job done effectively.
I’ve been blogging since before Google bought Blogger, but am not even close to knowing all the ‘inside’ workings involved in a ‘web content management system’. 🤔
Right now, I’m starting the second year of a 4-year Hostinger WordPress plan – intro price was onetime price of $107.56, and the 4-year renewal price will be a onetime price of $335.52 (works out to about $83.88 a year). New subscriptions may be a tad higher. There is also a 1-year Domain renewal cost of $16.17 each year.
Not a big follower of my blog’s stats, but do check out some of them daily. Also, am not even close to being an expert on what stats are important to other basic bloggers like me. Most of my previous blogs just showed some kind of a chart, with maybe a dropdown type of menu, and as I recall it was usually provided by Jetpack.
Never purchased any kind of a Stat app or Analytical app until a couple of weeks ago. I had been using the free Independent Analytics plugin for about a year, and liked it so well that I purchased the Independent Analytics Pro Lifetime version.
Jetpack Stats and Independent Analytics both have advantages, but over the year of using the free Independent Analytics plugin I found their stats to be more concise & accurate.
The WordPress Gutenberg Block Editor drove humble me away from running my primary Blog at WordPress.com. ‘Following the launch of WordPress 5.0 in December 2018’, the WordPress Block Editor ‘was set as the default editor and replaced the classic editor’.
I started blogging on Blogger before Google purchased it in 2003. Heck, I even learned how to write my posts in HTML before leaving Blogger in May of 2004. Still, that Gutenberg Block Editor kicked my buttocks every time I tried it. Even setup a free WP blog site to just test the Block Editor.
Had even purchased a $300 WP Business plan to avoid using that durn Block Editor on my Linux Newbie – Since 1996 primary blog. Started looking for a Web Hosting service during that 1-year WP Business plan subscription—hey, I wasn’t about to pay $300 every year for a simple personal blog.
Jeez…what a pain that search was!!! Long story, but the short of it was I settled on a Hostinger 4-year Introductory plan for a onetime cost of $107.56 (about $2.25 a month). Renewal price will be a onetime cost of $335.52 – in 10/19/2026. Gotta check both the Introductory prices & the Renewal prices on any plan you check out!
4-years for the WP Business plan is $1,200. I’ll look for a coupon before renewing in late 2026 to see if that $335.52 can be lowered a tad, but that price breaks down to just $83.88 a year, which is still a bargain.
I have recently started this Self-Hosted WordPress blog at Hostinger, and my longtime favorite Rowling theme just didn’t work right there. The Rowling theme works great on 3 WordPress.com blogs, but for some reason it was missing some dropdown menus, and some important custom settings not available for the same version when downloaded for my Self-Hosted WordPress blog.
Searched lots of free themes, but none were offering what I was looking for *OR* simply didn’t work for me, and I then decided to check out some premium themes. At some point during that premium theme search I came across the Multipurpose Blog theme ‘s free version, loved the look, but it was missing some things, IMHO. However, liked it well enough to check out their Multipurpose Blog Pro, and wid a coupon code they were offering it was only $29.25.
It was missing some dropdown menu widgets that I like, so another search began, this time for dropdown plugins/widgets…