Java4Two

2009-11-09T20:36:00.001-08:00

Six Essential Tools For Creating Your Profitable Wordpress Blog

By: Douglas Wake

It must have taken me two weeks to set up my first blog, and at that time I wasn t even aware of what I was missing. At the end of the first week I didn t even have a good idea of whether I was indexed with Google or how many visitors I had.

Since then I ve had a lot of lightning strikes of good ideas for blogs and other websites. I ve learned a lot about Wordpress, and I use it for every type of site I create, from blogs to sales sites to eCommerce. But most importantly, I ve learned to set up a new site in an afternoon, and the site has all the essentials I need to make sure I m maximizing traffic and conversions.

Here is the list of my six must haves for a new website.

An outstanding template

I m artistic in the sense that I can recognize good art when I see it. But try as I might, I cannot develop a Wordpress site that looks sharp. Fortunately, there are people who live, eat, and breathe web design just as I live, eat, and breathe Internet business development. It costs around $60 plus 30 minutes or so to go to Template Monster and select a template. I think the results outweigh the cost by an immeasurable factor. An attractive, professional template sets the tone. Within the first second of somebody landing on your page, they know that you are a quality person and that this is a quality website.

I ve tried the free templates out there. In the end, I spend much more time looking around, and when I get them, I always find problems with them that I have to tweak. And once I start tweaking templates, it s hard to stop. Some of them end up worse off after the tweaking and I m back to searching. I learned early on: buy a template.

Essential Wordpress plugins

For me, the absolute musts are: Akismet, All in one SEO Pack, Custom morelink, Dean s FCK Editor for Wordpress, Feedburner FeedSmith, and Google Sitemaps.

Akismet keeps out comment spam.

The All in one SEO Pack gives you all kinds of options to increase the search engine friendliness of your site. It takes a little time to add additional info for your blog posts but anything that helps increase passive traffic is worth it.

Custom morelink lets me control how users go to the full article when they click Read more after reading the excerpt of the article. Sometimes I like them to pick up where they left off, but other times it is more convenient to start the article from the top.

I cannot edit my entries without FCK Editor. I won t even start with Wordpress until this is in.

I will discuss Feedburner in the next bullet point.

Google Sitemaps is a plugin that constantly keeps a sitemap file up to date to make Google s life easier. This sitemap is not a visual one for the users to find their way around; it s an XML file that Google will occasionally check to see the contents of your blog. Again, this is a simple way to make it easier to get more search engine traffic.

Feedburner

RSS is the easy way for people (and machines) to keep tags on your blog. By adding your RSS feed to their newsreader, they can easily see when you ve added a new post and they can read it using their newsreader or by visiting your site.

The problem is, how do you know how many people have subscribed to your RSS feed? This is where Feedburner comes in. Set up an account with Feedburner and add your RSS feed. From that point on, Feedburner will let you know how many people read your feed every day, plus a lot of other interesting statistics. Furthermore, they have tools that help you publicize your blog and, if you get enough readership, to monetize your blog.

Now that Feedburner is part of Google, you can log in with your Google account. Once you set up Feedburner, don t forget to change your settings for the Feedburner FeedSmith plugin.

Google Analytics

This is a free tool provided by Google which will help you analyze what kind of traffic you get. It will chart it out by which pages were visited, where the visitors came from, and many other ways. Set up a Google Analytics account and get your tracking code. Put the tracking code right before the tag in the footer of your template. I ve seen plugins for this but they haven t always been reliable on my setup.
Statcounter

As much as I love Google Analytics, there are a few features that I miss. One is instantaneous reporting; Analytics is usually updated only every few hours (it used to be once a day!). I also use Statcounter to track traffic. They have a different interface that is sometimes easier for me to use. I like the Recent Page Loads menu item. And they update every time you get a hit.
Google Webmaster Tools

This toolkit gives you an interface to see how Google sees your site. It will show you how other sites are linking to your pages, what keywords are relevant on your pages, and much more. It also lets you tell Google where your site s sitemap is (which we set up with the Google Sitemaps plugin).

Depending upon the type of site I m setting up, there are plenty of other things I can do to make it ready for storming the Internet. But I will always make sure these six essential tools are in place.

Don t wait any longer! Learn more about making money on the Internet at CastleFive: http://castlefive.com

Author Resource:-> Doug Wake is the manager of CastleFive. CastleFive has hundreds of educational materials covering Internet Business, Investing, FOREX, Penny Stocks, Health, Family, and more! http://castlefive.com/

Article From Article Mega Site

How To Get Featured By the Press (Repeatedly) Even If Your Blog is New

2009-08-09T20:36:00.001-07:00

How To Get Featured By the Press (Repeatedly) Even If Your Blog is New

Posted using ShareThis

How To Make $10000 Everyday With SEO Services | seo writer | web content generation | website content | UAE Hosting | Search Engine Optimization

2009-07-26T10:44:00.001-07:00

http://personalbrandingblog.com/8-ideas-to-turn-your-successful-blog-into-a-book/

2009-07-08T13:19:00.001-07:00

http://personalbrandingblog.com/8-ideas-to-turn-your-successful-blog-into-a-book/

Posted using ShareThis

How to start a blog from scratch all by your own | BlogKori

2009-06-18T18:31:00.001-07:00

How to start a blog from scratch all by your own | BlogKori

Posted using ShareThis

Raise your Profile with Blogcatalog | Bloghob

2009-06-12T06:15:00.001-07:00

Raise your Profile with Blogcatalog | Bloghob

Posted using ShareThis

JacketLinkAdvertising.com - Instant Page Rank

2009-06-03T11:12:00.001-07:00

JacketLinkAdvertising.com - Instant Page Rank

Posted using ShareThis

13 Tips to Recession Proof Your Blog

2009-06-02T18:59:00.001-07:00

13 Tips to Recession Proof Your Blog

Posted using ShareThis

30 Best Sites For Making Money With Your Blog - web Admin first Step

2009-05-20T12:39:00.001-07:00

30 Best Sites For Making Money With Your Blog - web Admin first Step

Posted using ShareThis

ProBlogger?

2009-05-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

Who is ProBlogger? Darren Rowse is the guy behind ProBlogger.net, which has become one of the leading places on the Web for information about making money from Blogs. He is a full-time blogger himself, making a six-fifure income from blogging now since 2005. In addition to his blogging at ProBlogger, Darren also edits the popular Digital Photography School (http://digital-photography-school.com ) as well as numerous other blogs. Darren is also one of the founders of b5media, a blog network with hundreds of blogs across numerous different verticals, including business, sport, entertainment, style and beauty and technology. Darrens role at b5media is VP of Blogger Training. Darren lives in Australia with his wife Vanessa, son Xavier and soon to be born baby. In his spare time he's a mad photographer and has an interest in emerging forms of church and spirituality.
ProBlogger-Secrets for blogging your way to a six-figure income at Amazon:

MACBOOK AIR?

2009-05-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

Click here http://tinyurl.com/pclpf6 to submit your email to get a black MacBook Air. The thinnest notebook is even thinner in black! US only!

Whats the Flapper All About?

2009-05-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

We've all heard glamorous stories of the Roaring Twenties, traditionally viewed as an era of great economic prosperity before the Great Crash of '29, when everyone was living high on the hog. But like many generalizations, it doesn't hold up under scrutiny. In fact, according to the Brookings Institution, although a handful of people did make fortunes, most people didn't get the lion's share of the Roaring Twenties. In 1929, 60 percent of American families had annual incomes of $2,000 or less. In 1929, families making less than $2,000 did not have enough money to meet the bare necessities of life--meaning nearly two-thirds of the population lived in poverty.

2009-05-01T21:03:00.001-07:00

Snowball And Stevie Nicks
View only the best videos of the net at videoleaks.com

Cut to the Chase

2009-04-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

In 1903, when the Gillette Company started selling safety razors with disposable blades, they were shocked when hundreds of men complained that the razors didn't work. It was soon discovered that the stubby disgruntled customers weren't removing the wrapping from around the blades before they put them into the razor....

Perez Hilton?

2009-04-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

Mario lavandeira started his first celebrity gossip blog in 2004. Within six months, his lucky break came, when his blog was referred to as Hollywood's most hated Web Site by the TV show The Insider. He adopted the pseudonym Perez Hilton and changed his blog's domain name to www.perezhilton.com. His blog continues to be one of the most successful celebrity gossip blogs online, and he has found fame outside the blogosphere, through television appearances and more. It all started with a blog topic that people were interested in and a blogger who wasn't afraid to take risks.

Dooced ?

2009-04-19T14:53:00.000-07:00

In 2001, Heather B. Armstrong (born Heather Hamilton) started the blog Dooce.com, where she wrote honestly and openly about her life, family, and job. A year after Dooce.com was born, she was fired from her job because of her blog's content. In the end, Heather won, because her blog skyrocketed in popularity after her firing. In fact, her story and blog grew so popular that the site became part of pop culture lexicon. Even now, when a person is fired because of content on his/her blog, it is said that he/she was "dooced."

Leave the light on for me

2009-04-18T12:50:00.001-07:00

Most cities have what is commonly referred to as a red-light district; a place where prostitutes ply their trade. So why is it called a red-light district? The usually agreed upon answer is that when railway workers visited "women of the night," they would hang their red lanterns outside the brothels so they could be found if they were needed.

Bad Timing!

2009-04-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

Financial executive and the builder of the Empire State Building, John Jacob Raskob, wrote an article for the Ladies Home Journal entitled "Everybody Ought to be Rich"--just a month before the stock market crashed in October 1929.

Social Media Cartoon: The Twitter Follower Bots

2009-04-01T15:10:00.001-07:00

Social Media Cartoon: The Twitter Follower Bots

Posted using ShareThis

Grin and Bear It!

2009-04-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

At the battle of Vicksburg during the Civil War, a servant girl accidentally poured out a basin containing Ulysses S. Grant's false teeth into the Mississippi river. He was unable to eat solid food for a week until a dentist made him a new set of choppers.

Bellies Up

2009-03-30T22:46:00.001-07:00

MySpace.com - Cool Banners

2009-03-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

MySpace.com - Cool Banners

Uncle Sam?

2009-03-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

The original Uncle Sam was one Samuel Wilson, co-owner of a slaughterhouse in Troy, New York, that was responsible for selling pork and beef to the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. The meat sold to the U.S. government by Sam and his uncle, Elbert Anderson, was stamped "E.A.-U.S." (for Elbert Anderson-United States). Story has it that a soldier once asked what the initials stood for and was told, "Elbert Anderson's uncle Sam," after which the "Uncle Sam" part soon spread as the national nickname for the U.S. government.

Joke for Today

2009-03-29T11:37:00.001-07:00

As the boat sinks,George Washington heroically shouts,"Save the women!"George W. Bush hysterically hollers, "Screw the women!"Bill Clinton's asks excitedly, "Do we have time?"

Worlds Cheapest Car "Nano"

2009-03-23T18:58:00.000-07:00

I don't think this car will work in Minnesota with only One Windshield wiper and No Power Steering Let alone No Air BAG? I can also conclude that it has No Front Wheel or Four Wheel Drive... hhhmmmmm.... Not for Minnesota Winters ...

2009-03-23T10:57:00.001-07:00

If you were an animal, what type of animal would you be?

2009-03-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

I would be a lion cub. Raised by a lioness, I would quickly master the laws of the jungle: how to hunt for food, protect my cub mates from enemies, warn my den mother when danger was near, and RISE to a Position of Power!

New SpringWidget

2009-03-21T12:48:00.001-07:00

Get this widget!

Something Funny

It's My Time World!

2009-03-20T11:16:00.000-07:00

Once you are centered in space, please collect all of your personal belongings, proceed in an orderly fashion along the time-space continuum, and Loudly establish your presence in time.

2009-03-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

2009-03-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

Sir William Osler

2009-03-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

"Look wise, say nothing, and grunt. Speech was given to conceal thought."

Random Question?

2009-03-15T10:06:00.001-07:00

If you have an open mind is there a chance your brain might fall out?

Random Question?

2009-03-07T13:34:00.000-08:00

Unlike a dog, how can a turtle ever be naked?

Friendship

2009-03-06T20:56:00.000-08:00

The best way to keep your friends is not to give them away!

Let's Go!

2009-03-05T09:59:00.000-08:00

This is my way of telling the world that I am ready to show you all I can do AND I am going to leave now that I have made a complete spectacle of myself by shouting at the top of my lungs. :)

Take A Flying Leap!

2009-03-04T07:50:00.000-08:00

"Here I am WORLD!" this establishes a sense of Space and also Warns others in the immediate vicinity that you're going to be making some NOISE!.... Wwaahhahahahahahaa...

You can never have too much!

2009-03-04T00:11:00.000-08:00

This is my foremost rule about money! And for that matter, shoes and food and jewelry and publicity and designer dresses and awards, and everything else in life. Admittedly this doesnt help you get money, unless of course, you are Me who has a knack for getting other people to pay for stuff!

Raising the Cork!

2009-03-02T22:14:00.000-08:00

The basis of your life is absolute freedom, the goal is joy, and the result of that perfect combination is motion forward, or growth. Your goal is to find objects of attention that let your cork raise.

2009-03-02T19:10:00.001-08:00

New SpringWidget

2009-03-02T13:36:00.001-08:00

Get this widget!

Visit the blog of the day

Dr Suess

2009-03-02T06:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess

Tweet This

2009-03-01T12:15:00.001-08:00

The Multiplier Effect

2009-02-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

By focusing on yourself you limit the amount of energy that you output, because there is only ONE of YOU. By focusing on others you MULTIPLY the amount of energy you output by the number of others with whom you do so. In other words, the Quintessential or idea is energy creates energy. The more energy you use, the more quickly and magnificently you will create! And everything you create, you experience. The Golden Rule here is Do unto others as you would have it done unto you.

Success!

2009-02-24T22:26:00.000-08:00

Those that are succeeding and are thrilled and joyful in the unfolding will often tell you, "I've dreamed this since I was little. I imagined it, I pretended it, I used to practice with the toothbrush pretending it was a microphone." Freedom is the alignment of energy. Doesn't matter what anybody else thinks about anything. It only matters what you think about it.

Twitter | TweetFeed.com

2009-02-24T14:05:00.001-08:00

Twitter | TweetFeed.com

Posted using ShareThis

Spectacular Failure

2009-02-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

A Spectacular Failure is better than a HumDrum Success. Go for it ! Of course you don't want to fail, but sometimes you will. Don't let fear of failure keep you from trying. One can survive on HumDrum, same old, tried-and-true efforts, however it is a whole lot more satisfying to reach for the stars, even if you end up landing only on the moon .....

Joke for the Day

2009-02-21T08:12:00.000-08:00

A lawyer is standing in a long line at the box office.

Suddenly, he feels a pair of hands kneading his shoulders, back, and neck. The lawyer turns around. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm a chiropractor, and I'm just keeping in practice while I'm waiting in line."

"Well, I'm a lawyer, but you don't see me screwing the guy in front of me, do you?"

SideKick

2009-02-20T11:48:00.000-08:00

And the Lord God said, "It is not good for man to be alone; I will give him a sidekick for companionship...

God Bless You

2009-02-18T20:55:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder why we would have "God bless you" after a sneeze? Well, in much the same way that it was believed man could part body and spirit and be beside himself, the ancients believed a good sneeze could literally blast your soul right out of your body! To ensure that no bad spirits moved into the vacancy, "God bless you" was said to clear the way so soul and body could reunite! God Bless You !

(To Run) Amuck!

2009-02-17T18:06:00.000-08:00

Running wild and scared........

How cute is this ! I had to share ! :)

2009-02-17T17:21:00.001-08:00

http://mochimochiland.com/

Mind Your P's and Q's !

2009-02-17T15:30:00.000-08:00

2009-02-17T15:11:00.001-08:00

http://tweetergetter.com/Java4Two

Tweet This!

2009-02-17T14:52:00.000-08:00

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass... it's about learning how to dance in the rain!" Author unknown

Dancing Video

2009-02-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

No friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever. -Francois Muriac

I think this is appropriate.....

BookWormz: Shoulda Put a Ring on it!

2009-02-17T09:25:00.000-08:00

BookWormz: Shoulda Put a Ring on it!

Quote of the Day

2009-02-17T09:19:00.001-08:00

Quote of the Day: "Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin." -Grace Hansen

God's Word

2009-02-17T07:23:00.000-08:00

In the beginning was word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. Words feed your spirit. Have you been fed today?

Humor4U

2009-02-17T06:52:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJlPEHL85Ig

Manic Mother: Fun Fact Friday

2009-02-16T23:24:00.000-08:00

Manic Mother: Fun Fact Friday

Muddsuckers

2009-02-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

Muddsuckers Coffee Bar includes pastries, smothies, and gourmet coffee. I may need spatterdashers and a sidekick for this one!

free hugs

2009-02-16T21:41:00.000-08:00

Are you a New or Old Wineskin?

2009-02-16T21:33:00.000-08:00

Do you think your life stinks and always will stink? Has you thinking gotten old and hardened? What do you think?

Meditation

2009-02-16T21:29:00.000-08:00

Can you meditate in the manner of wishing? I wish to be filled with wisdom and compassion. What do you wish or meditate?

Do you know?

2009-02-16T21:09:00.000-08:00

When you know, you know. Let that be enough. Do you know when you know? What do you know?

Nincompoop

2009-02-16T21:04:00.000-08:00

"Without ability" or "of soundmind." Today it implies to a fool or a simpleton. Do you know a nincompoop? Can you think of a nincompoop?

Russian Proverb

2009-02-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

The morning is wiser than the evening. Are you wiser in the morning or evening?

Nest Egg

2009-02-16T19:18:00.000-08:00

The first nest eggs were made out of clay and placed in a hen's nest to inspire the laying of more eggs. Soon the same notion was applied to humans, with the nest egg representing that stash of savings set aside in an effort to motivate a person to lay aside more! What motivates you to lay aside more?

At Loose Ends

2009-02-16T15:51:00.000-08:00

To find the original loose ends you've got to board a ship! A person "at loose ends" was one who was frayed, tattered, or weathered. Anyone at loose ends?

Making One's Mark

2009-02-16T15:49:00.000-08:00

While many hope to make their mark in the world, few perhaps actually do. Nonetheless, at one point in time, making one's mark meant simply distinguishing one's work from another's. How will you make your mark?

Beating Around the Bush

2009-02-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

No need beating around the bush, unless you're a hunter looking for game. As many hunters will tell you, it is sometimes necessary to scare the game into running or flying before one can shoot.

2009-02-15T15:36:00.001-08:00

Posted using ShareThis