Blogs Articles
Wordpress Plugins and Functions PHP - ...ippets into the theme. And sometimes the plugins will output or activate the functionality by use of the WordPress hooks, which in essence means...
When to Use Wordpress functions php - ...to either recreate it in the new theme or abandon it altogether. This effectively disqualifies functions. php from any kind of use that controls o...
Are you using WordPress as a CMS - ...e various problems and decisions you need to make when you want to use Word- Press as a more traditional CMS, powering non-weblog sites with the...
Trimming WordPress to the Essentials - ... sure that there aren’t too many options to confuse the user.
The first and foremost trimming action you can perform is to limit the use...
Making Widgets a Little More Dynamic - ...mages when it is suitable.
You can do this with widgets, and with the revamped widget API that WordPress 2.8 brought with it, this is now ev...
Running a Web Shop on WordPress - ...provision. In fact, if you bought this article by following a link from any of my sites, I made a little extra. Thanks!
However, when most o...
Designing a Portfolio with Wordpress - ...owever, I also wanted to make sure that any new writing gigs got some exposure when they came up, so that was something to consider as well. There...
The most Essential WordPress Plugins - ...se they have reached the users, been thoroughly tested, and fill a need.
This chapter is dedicated to just a smattering of the marvelous...
The best Administrative Plugins - ...g up on your own posts just because you’re linking internally, then this is a must-have plugin. In fact, it should be in every WordPress insta...
Wordpress Social Networking Plugins - ...ocial Web to your site? Show offyour Twitter and let your visitors submit your content to Digg. You can do most of that directly in your theme with ...
Wordpress SEO and Search Plugins - ...quo;ll be better optimized for search engines. A lot of people swear by it, and there’s no doubt that it will help, even if you just leave it ...
Show off Your Twitter for Wordpress - ..., app, community, or whatever has an RSS feed for you to play with, which means that a lot of the integration of these services you may want can...
Wordpress Hosted Comment Solutions - ...altogether. The former solution can mean anything from user grading of the comments to fetching the buzz from Twitter, while the latter means that y...
Latest "Blogs" Articles
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Blog traffic: Link out to generate and keep traffic (02/17/2011)
(...) Set a frequency of posting and stick to it. Decide which social sites you'll use to build a following and stick to it until you've built a network that's easy to maintain before becoming active on even more sites. Find a writing style and approach that your readers like and stick to it. (...)
Simple rules of optimizing your site for search engines (02/17/2011)
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With this in mind, one of the big keys to search optimization is to build links back to your site. Of course as a blogger, that's your main goal anyway! So rather than dwell on this aspect of SEO, I'll just say that as you produce more and more great content, the amount of links directed your way will increase, and your search ranking will follow suit.
Site Structure
Consider the structure of your site carefully, and design it so that there is an appropriate segmentation and encapsulation of different types of information. (...)
Making money with your blog and common terms used in advertising (02/17/2011)
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The second hurdle is having an audience that advertisers want to reach. For some blog niches, even Google Adsense can deliver reasonably high returns, while others are simply too broad, or too unappealing for advertisers. A great example that shows no one is immune to these issues, is the problem YouTube has in generating ad revenue across its very wide range of content. (...)
Blog monetization: Using affiliate programs to earn from sales (02/17/2011)
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Most affiliate systems have specific terms of use that you should read and follow. Typically the terms prohibit certain uses including spam emails and practices like registering domain misspellings of the product and using URL forwards. In other words, you should only be sending referrals in a sensible, honest way!
Most affiliate programs are what's known as single-tier, meaning that you refer someone and then you receive a commission. (...)
How to get an ad service going (02/17/2011)
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Offer limited free advertising
Getting advertisers when you are charging for listings is difficult, but finding them when the service is free is pretty easy. Consider running the service for free for the first six months until it gets a reputation and then switch over to the paid model.
You'll have some chafing from advertisers, but hopefully if you made it clear that the free period would not last forever, then it shouldn't be too bad. (...)
A blog has to be easy to read to attract more visitors (02/17/2011)
(...) However, elements that are easily scanned aren't always elements that give plenty of context! For instance, thanks to the bad practices employed by traditional press such as tabloids, there's often a focus on making headlines clever or scandalizing, as opposed to descriptive. This sort of practice seems intuitive to many beginning bloggers, but it won't help your readers at all.
Use headlines that describe the content for the reader and for search engines. (...)
Editing the blog posts of other writers (02/17/2011)
(...) Try to make what's already there as readable as possible, and don't cut things out until you can identify why it should go.
Read the article before you edit it.
If you don't, you could end up changing a sentence or cutting a piece of content that really should be there, but which you won't realize until you've finished reading the piece and have that "big picture" perspective. (...)
Two types of blog articles to increase traffic (02/17/2011)
(...) This is partly because it's incredibly effective when done properly, and partly because the new blogger thinks it's the easiest type of linkbait to benefit from.
The truth is that many list articles on the Internet don't succeed very well. That's not because the list post isn't effective – it truly is – but because it's approached as the "easy way" to get traffic and executed without much effort or consideration. (...)
The content you provide on your blog must be audience oriented (02/17/2011)
(...) Before RSS came along, post frequency was a really important issue. If you didn't update your site frequently enough, people would eventually give up on checking back for new content and you'd lose traffic like crazy. Now, RSS will let your readers know when new content is available without them having to take any action, which makes it easier to retain readers while publishing less. (...)
Blogging tips: Types of filler posts to consider (02/17/2011)
(...) Those of you who are not avid blog readers will have to forage for links.
Polls
The great thing about polls is that they provide you with information about your readers that you can use to come up with content that is more likely to appeal to them.
Ask the Readers
Ask the Readers are open-mic-style posts where you simply pose a question for your readers to answer in the comments. (...)
Headlines are very important in blog posts and articles (02/17/2011)
(...) You'll see things that might look a bit trashy, but which are hard to resist. What we're interested in here is finding formulas that work. In our women's magazine example, the formula would seem to be "How __ is Your __" on the surface. (...)
Style and tone are important for the success of your blog (02/17/2011)
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They ensure that editors provide writers with feedback on all aspects of their work, including issues of style and tone.
What is Style?
Style pertains to the style of writing employed – active versus passive voice, American versus British English, and sometimes includes formatting instructions. Style is about the technical matters of language that must be attended to in order to ensure the publication's consistency. (...)
Basic techniques for generating traffic to your blog (02/17/2011)
(...) These techniques don't require any of the above points, except perhaps networking, but we'll discuss that in a moment.
Asking for inbound links
This simply means publishing great content and then reaching out to influential people who might be interested in that content. Here's the thing: all influential people are busy. (...)
Using social media to increase the popularity of your blog (02/17/2011)
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Expand rour readership
If you're networking with the right people and publishing great content on your blog, undoubtedly a portion of your new contacts are going to check out your blog and become a reader.
There are a number of techniques people use to achieve this. The most common way is simply to share links to new posts on your blog as a status update or tweet. (...)
Tips to keep yourself looking professional online (02/17/2011)
(...) Use email and direct messages incredibly sparingly unless you have a friendly relationship with the recipient.
When using Facebook and playing with those silly apps, avoid the button that'll spam the app to all of your friends. People are okay with Facebook pages posting links sparingly, but don't use your status updates to spam links all over your friends' news feeds. (...)
Contextual advertising or buying ads directly: Ways to generate traffic to your site (02/17/2011)
(...) AdSense is the arm that deals with publishers, allowing them to implement the code that dynamically displays the ad and keep up to date with how much they're earning.
The most important thing you can do is proper keyword, no matter which service you go with. But regardless of the keywords you use to rank in the search engines, which keywords have the right balance of low cost, high visibility, and limited competition?
There are so many variations on the keywords that can be used in just about any field, so keyword research can take a lot of time. (...)
Giveaways are effective traffic enhancers (02/17/2011)
(...) If for example you create an email list where readers get a free e-book on blogging, you then know that those people are interested in blogging. You could then, for example, start sending them occasional emails with special offers for blogging products.
Using social media to spread the word
If you are delivering great value in a giveaway you'll want to spread the word. (...)
Leverage your assets and generate more traffic to your blog (02/17/2011)
(...) AppStorm on FreelanceSwitch because we know that freelancers are reasonably likely to be Mac users. But Web.AppStorm wasn't announced on AudioTuts+ because there's not a whole lot of crossover in the audience, and if there was, they would be readers of a few of the other sites in the Envato network where it was announced anyway. (...)
A SEO tip for bloggers is to avoid duplicate content (02/17/2011)
(...)
The best SEO is about conforming to the best practices of well-structured websites, and choosing your audience and topic wisely. Many people get caught up in SEO as some sort of magical pill that'll make your site instantly popular.
As with any field, your best bet will be to use a professional, but because so many people want magical results, the unscrupulous and unethical scammer is a mainstay of the search engine optimization industry. (...)
General tips on blog monetization which are easy to apply (02/17/2011)
(...) Often a combination of strategies is best.
For example, you might run advertising, occasionally make use of affiliate programs, sell a product such as a book tie-in, and maybe offer freelance services via the blog.
Make money with your blog
Making money with blogs is certainly possible, and if you're lucky it can even feel easy. (...)
Ways to sell advertising and solutions you should try (02/17/2011)
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Display Ad Networks - There are a huge number of display ad networks around. These usually take applications to join and will have requirements on how much traffic and what spots you are selling. Famous networks include Casale, Burst, TechnoratiMedia, and TribalFusion. (...)
Types of premium content your blog readers might want (02/17/2011)
(...) You can offer all sorts of content behind the paid wall including video, audio, text, or even related downloads of tools and resources.
For example, a site about self improvement could have a premium area that offers extra video interviews with self improvement gurus, a downloadable calendar for planning improvement strategies, and some meditation music tracks.
You can also package in services into a premium content model. (...)
Successful blog business: Benefits of operating multiple blogs (02/17/2011)
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Consider diversification
If you want to survive in the long term, then you should think about hedging your bets. This means looking out for opportunities to diversify. For example, adding new content types such as screencasts, expanding your topic area in case the broad niche declines in popularity, publishing content through new mediums, and so on. (...)
A strong visual identity will set your blog apart from the others (02/15/2011)
(...) For example, if you have an interesting icon, you should have relatively straightforward text set in a classic font, and vice versa.
If you're unsure of how simple is good, have a look around at logos of magazines, famous blogs, and even common retail brands. If a logo is too busy, it tends to look really amateurish. (...)
Hire freelancers for your blogging business (02/15/2011)
(...) Trying to hire employees overseas creates numerous issues around complying with local government business and tax regulations. Working with contractors generally avoids these issues.
Ultimately, you will probably want a mix of freelance and salaried staff, with the salaried roles particularly suitable for editors and more permanent and regular writing positions. (...)
Things to consider before employing staff for your blog (02/15/2011)
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Management
The more staff you have, the more you will need to manage them. In many ways these are problems that will crop up as you grow and you probably don't need to worry too much about them early on, particularly if you aren't planning on having many employees.
Nonetheless keep in mind that your staff needs management, and if you wish to be hands-off in your business, that means employing a manager or giving managerial duties to an employee such as your editor. (...)
Find a figure that suits both parties when hiring people for your blog business (02/15/2011)
(...) As you get more experience with fair numbers, you can then just let people know what you pay, and they can choose to take the job or not.
You get what you pay for
It is important to pay fairly as underpaying tends to under-deliver. Freelancers and employees who aren't paid fairly will naturally cut corners, treat the job with less care, and be less loyal. (...)
Blogging for money requires you to focus on results (02/15/2011)
(...) If you can find someone who can do in an hour what other people do in eight hours and then charge you as if it took four, that's still a great result!
The reality with remote staff is that there are no controls on how they work, and trying to add them is probably not a very effective pursuit. Instead you should concentrate on two things:
Set clear parameters
First you must always give your staff clear and defined parameters about what you need them to do. If it's important to have someone checking comments daily so that discussion can flow, then that's a parameter you need to communicate. (...)
Keeping people feeling good about their work on your blog (02/15/2011)
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Setting an example
As the business owner you will set an extremely important example to people working with you. Companies generally often end up reflecting their founders and managers so if you work hard, you can expect to draw people who work hard. If you set the right priorities, you can expect your staff to do so too. (...)
Difference between web designers and developers concerning a blog business (02/15/2011)
(...) Typically a designer handles:
Branding
Designing a logo, brand, and overall visual identity is something many web designers can do. Although you can actually hire specialized branding designers, often a web designer can produce a decent visual identity at potentially a much lower cost.
Website Design
The bread-and-butter of a web designer's job is to design the visual layout of your site. (...)
A web developer is someone who writes the code for your blog (02/15/2011)
(...) Your developer will be able to assist in selecting a company that has a good track record, provides good value, and will give you the space to grow should you need it. Here are some things to consider when setting up your hosting:
Do you need to be able to manage the server?
Many hosting packages will come with an admin control panel of one variety or another. These can help you set up email addresses, reboot the server, and do a variety of different tasks (depending on the server) that can even include installing WordPress and other packages with just a click or two. (...)
Typical jobs a web developer might do for your blogging business (02/15/2011)
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Create or customize plugins
If you need specific functionality on your blog, your developer may create or customize plugins or small applications to help you achieve that. They will usually need to tweak your site's theme and install them for you as well.
Search optimization
Optimizing a site for search engines is generally a very specialized job with an entire industry catering to it. (...)
Blog development can get quite complicated (02/15/2011)
(...) Trying to add these late into a big project that was locked down already is called "scope creep" and it tends to make projects late, over budget, and badly prioritized.
On the flip side it's very difficult for a developer to accurately gauge how long a big job is going to take right at the beginning. Development jobs often have hidden complexities making it almost impossible to accurately quote. (...)
DNS and other domain terminology you need to know about (02/15/2011)
(...) Once you have these set, the hosting company can then set the actual IP address, and make any necessary changes when their internal set-up changes.
It can take a bit of time for records about your domain name location to spread around the world. This process is called delegation and can be the cause of some lag in setting up. (...)
Your blog design should carry through the branding tone set by the logo (02/15/2011)
(...) They may not be able to actually mesh different concepts together, but it will give them a feel for what is important to you. Likewise it will help you to start thinking about what constitutes a good site design.
Visual Precedence
Good designs will guide the user's eye through the page. (...)
Working with freelancers on your blog: Things to be aware of (02/15/2011)
(...) However, for day-to-day work like articles or editing a site, the contract will exist more to specify terms that you both agree to.
A contract should cover how much notice you need to provide to a long-term contractor if the work is finishing up, and vice versa if they are moving on. It might also state who owns the content that is created and what formats it is licensed for. (...)
Finding the right people for your blog business (02/15/2011)
(...) Explain what you require, what the site is for, what criteria would be helpful, and how they can apply. Job ads can be very formal and stuffy at times, and a clear job ad will help attract the right type of people.
If you are receiving a lot of applicants you can put in a "bozo filter" which is a simple test to check applicants have read the job ad. (...)
Blogging business: Working with remote staff (02/15/2011)
(...) Think through the job as if you were going to do it, and set parameters, provide background information, make sure they have the right resources, and set it all out in clear point form.
Friendliness
The great danger with email is that written communication is missing a lot of the context of speech. In other words, email can be misinterpreted. (...)
Issues to think about for your remote blogging staff (02/15/2011)
(...) Without a good password manager, it's all too tempting to use weak or repetitive passwords, which is an invitation for problems.
Email addresses
For positions such as the site editor, you may wish to create a single gmail (or similar) account that gets passed over with complete archives. This means that when one editor finishes and another starts, the new editor still has access to the archive of emails between the editor and writers, sponsors, and so on. (...)
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