Archive for July, 2010
by Susan Gunelius on July 22nd, 2010
Blog post titles are like little ads that can do three things:
1. Entice people to read more.
2. Encourage people to click away.
3. Lull them to a state of inaction.
If you want your blog to grow and be successful, then you want your blog post titles to achieve #1 in the above list — entice people to read more. In other words, your ad should intrigue people enough that they stop what they’re doing in their busy days to keep reading. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but if you learn to write great blog post titles, you’ve reached a success milestone that many bloggers aspire to but never attain.
The key to writing great blog post titles is to avoid doing the things in crafting titles that achieve #2 and #3 in the above list — encourage people to click away and lull them to a state of inaction.
With that in mind, following are 3 ways your blog post titles ruin your blog. Avoid them at all costs!
1. Ignore keywords.
Search engine algorithms value keywords in blog post titles highly. While you don’t want to stuff post titles with keywords or use keywords in titles where they don’t belong, it is important to try to include them when it’s appropriate. They can make a difference in sending some extra search traffic to your blog. Not only that, but those people who arrive at your blog post via a keyword search are likely to be interested in your post (assuming the post title appropriately used that keyword) and stick around to read more.
2. Trick people.
The classic bait and switch is detested in blog post titles just as much as it is anywhere else. Don’t promise people something in your blog post title then deliver something completely unrelated in your post content. People won’t fall for that trick a second time. In fact, they might spread the word to their friends and online connections. That’s a reputation you don’t want to get.
3. Bore people.
Your blog post titles need to capture the attention of people who are quickly clicking through web pages and have little time to spend on anything that doesn’t appear to immediately meet their needs or set off the “Hey, this is cool” bells in their heads. A boring blog post title will get looked over, ignored, bypassed, and any other synonym for skipped that you can think of. Don’t let readers get away! Instead, pique their interest with blog post titles that stop them in their tracks and make them curious.
What do you think are the worst things bloggers can do when writing blog post titles? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Categories: Blogging Tips, Blogging: How To
Tags: blog post titles, blog seo, blog writing tips, increase blog traffic
by Cassie Emelia on July 21st, 2010
Want to get extra page views on your blog and encourage visitors to read some of your older posts? If you use WordPress.org, there are a variety of related posts plug-ins that can help you automatically display links to related posts at the end of each of your blog posts (I like YARPP – Yet Another Related Posts Plugin).
Even if you don’t use WordPress, there is an option for you! And if you use WordPress but would love to show images with your related posts link, then you should keep reading, too.
Read More
Categories: Blogging Tips
Tags: blogging tip, linkwithin, related posts, yarpp
by Jonathan Bailey on July 21st, 2010
What kills more blogs every year than bad hosting, legal threats and all other blogging pitfalls combined? Blog abandonment.
The biggest killer of blogs by far isn’t what makes headlines, it’s the simple fact that people get up and walk away from their sites.
How bad is the issue? According to a recent Technorati survey, of the 133 million blogs tracked less than 7.5 million were still active and, of those, just 1.5 million had been updated within the past week. This means that almost 99% of all blogs created are not currently active on at least a weekly basis and approximately 94% have been abandoned completely.
So how can you help your site beat the odds? Well, there is no easy answer to that one as even the blogs that take the best precautions still, most of the time, wind up being abandoned at some point. However, there are still some steps that you can and should take. Read More
Categories: General
Tags: blog abandonment, blog death, blog selling, blogging, Blogging Pitfalls, Hosting, wordpress
by Darnell Clayton on July 20th, 2010
With Facebook all the rage nowadays, it seems like every blogger and their mother are creating fan pages of their respective sites. (note: here’s ours!)
While connecting with Facebook’s massive user base is something every (smart) blogger should be doing, you should not depend upon the service as their default forum/social network.
Although a forum may not be appropriate for every blog master, you should consider starting their own forum/social network (regardless of your preferred platform) if you desire to acquire the title of a blogging pro.
For the skeptics out there who do not see the need of establishing your own forum/social network, here are five reasons below that will enlighten you as to why you need to move off of Facebook and establish a presence upon your own domain. Read More
Categories: Blogging Tips
Tags: Facebook, Forums, Social Networks
by Franky Branckaute on July 16th, 2010
For a long time the search function of WordPress has been the achilles heel of the publication platform and numerous plugins extending the WordPress search have been created and uploaded to WordPress Extend.
The team of IOIX Ukraine have developed a new WordPress plugin, SearchPlugins in collaboration with Splashpress Media, owner of this blog, to power the search function of your site, WordPress blog. After months of hard work we now are taking applications to our (closed) Beta program and will slowly roll out the new plugin, while we add more features to the functionality.
We are now taking applications to join the closed beta program and will on a regular basis add new Beta testers to the platform
To view results of the plugin just use the search functionality here at BloggingPro or check out the results for a search for blogging success here at BP. Read More
Categories: News, WordPress Plugins, WordPress Tools
Tags: IOIX, search, Search Plugin, Splashpress Media, WordPress Plugins
by Cassie Emelia on July 16th, 2010
Even in our day and age many people still wonder whether websites can be trusted and whether online shopping portals are scams or genuine services. Over the last years several security focused software companies have built new portals allowing the visitor to check the ‘trust worthy history’ of websites but most internet users are not aware of the existence of these sites.
A Safe Site makes the action to check the trust rank for the user very easy and fast: all you need to do is enter the website URL or better even use the browser toolbar link to receive results from Web of Trust, Google Safe Browsing, Norton Safe Web, McAfee Site advisor and also Alexa site info. The results are displayed in a simple layer and can easily be navigated.
Thanks to a collaboration between A Safe Site, and Free Trust Seal, sites can place a free trust badge on their site, which when clicked displays the trust ranking of the site.
The importance of a good trust result, displayed visibly, will not escape any owner of an e-commerce or online service provider. Read More
Categories: General
Tags: Internet, Reviews, Safety, Sponsored
by Susan Gunelius on July 15th, 2010
If you’re using your Twitter profile as an extension of your online brand in order to build your business or career, then you need to read this post.
Your Twitter profile is an essential place to communicate your brand, not only through the content of your tweets, but also through the visual imagery that people see when they visit your profile page. Don’t let them see the default Twitter background. Instead, use that background space to make a statement and communicate your brand and primary marketing message to your audience of visitors.
There are a number of sites that offer free, premium and custom Twitter backgrounds. Depending on your goals for your Twitter profile to directly or indirectly build your online brand, you can determine your budget and choose the type of background that meets your needs. However, investing in a unique, branded design is important if you’re serious about using your Twitter profile as an extension of your business. Read More
Categories: Microblogging
Tags: custom twitter background, free twitter background, twitter backgrounds, twitter profile design
by Cassie Emelia on July 14th, 2010
In June Automattic (the company behind WordPress.com for you non-geeks) began granting users access to their latest and greatest beta VaultPress.
Unlike other services of Automattic, VaultPress is geared strictly towards self hosting WordPress blogs (aka WordPress.org) as a data backup service that protects a bloggers data in the even that their hosting company dies, kidnaps their site or (worse case scenario) is attacked by hackers.
Despite being in a limited beta, WordPress is charging brave souls $15 a month per blog (which works out to be $180 a year) to entrust their blog’s entire content to the VaultPress crew.
For those of you wondering if you should give Automattic your cold hard cash or choose an alternative, here is this authors take on VaultPress (both the good as well as the bad). Read More
Categories: Backups
Tags: Backups, Hosting, vaultpress, wordpress
by Jonathan Bailey on July 14th, 2010
A little bit of controversy can be very good for a blog. It can re-invigorate and motivate your existing readership, draw in new a readers to a site and spark up a great conversation.
However, controversy can also be addicting. The traffic spikes that come with posts that are talked about and the good feelings that comes from being the center of attention, even if much of it is negative, can actually be a motivating factor for a blogger and the driving force for the site.
This, in turn, comes with a slew of new challenges and they are problems that can literally rip a site apart and destroy the reputation of a blogger. Simply put, going down the road of controversy may be an easy path to traffic and even some material success with a blog, but it is a deathtrap that can cause a great site to flame out and die all too quickly.
Read More
Categories: Blogging Tips
Tags: Blogging Pitfalls, flame, free speech, hate, troll, trolling controversy
by Darnell Clayton on July 13th, 2010
Despite the benefits of blogging upon Blogger, WordPress.com, OnSugar (for Drupal lovers), Â or a microblogging site like Tumblr, there comes a season in your life when you must embrace the trials and tribulations of self hosting your blog.
Fortunately in the age of social networking and blogs, most hosting companies offer clients “one click” installs allowing users to upload the blog software of their choice without having to resort to using the infamous FTP (which only geeks love).
Aside from finding yourself a decent host, there are 3 laws of self hosting that you should follow which will not only prevent damage to your blog’s data (as replacing it via Google cache can be a pain), but also of your wallet as well. Read More
Categories: Blogging Tips
Tags: Backups, Hosting
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