What makes the compelling content? What extra ingredients you should add which will make the content compelling so that everyone starts linking to it like crazy? Well these are the few questions which every blogger, internet marketer and every other person (including me) thinks while promoting his website. What follows next are the few not so obvious tips which will help you to make your content more compelling.

Uniqueness is not everything – What? Shocked? Every article on creating compelling content recommends writing unique content. Of course, if you have something really unique it is great. But is it possible? No because every topic you can imagine is already written millions of times on web (except if you are a scientist and have discovered something new). What is important is the style you are using while writing. Your content should have a personal touch so that your readers can associate themselves with you.

Clear and Concise – In the last point we discussed about the style of writing. This point will elaborate more about it. Write in a clear and concise way so that the message you want to deliver reaches your audience easily. Avoid using slangs or jargons which are difficult to understand. Remember that your visitors don’t have time to think, they want everything without doing any effort. So make your content straight and simple.

Credibility is important – No matter what you write, how much research you’ve done and how many hours you put into it. It won’t go viral if you don’t have any loyal following that trusts you and can help you to promote it. Imagine if you and Darren Rowse of Problogger write the same thing at the same moment almost everybody would link to Problogger and you will become invisible in the crowd. So lesson learned is to make your content look compelling you need to have some credibility.

People love interactions – Interaction should not only be in the form of comments, it could be in lot of other ways like inviting them to contribute a tip to the article or linking to their posts, doing quizzes and surveys etc. Asking your readers to help you and giving them some exposure in back is a great way to build huge compelling lists. Take a look at the huge list of last minute gift ideas by toilet entrepreneur here which might not be possible without reader contributions.

Speak what others want to listen – Your content should speak what your visitors want to hear. It should address the problems they are facing and provide them with the effective solutions. It should help them to make their lives easier.

So as we’ve seen that to make your content more compelling you need to have credibility, high user interaction and clear and concise content which can deliver your message in an effective way and can help your readers in making their lives easier. What are your opinions about it? Feel free to share it in the comments below.

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PHP is a scripting language, primarily intended to generate dynamical websites on a webserver. PHP is designed in 1994, by a senior software engineer at IBM, Rasmus Lerdorf, and the language was clearly inspired by Perl. The letters PHP used to mean Personal Homepage (or more complete: Personal Home Page/Forms Interpreter, PHP/FI). However, during the later developments, PHP became a recursive acronym, meaning “PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor”, which better suits what the language actually does: outputting hypertext (HTML or XHTML).
Since PHP is a server side scripting language, it means that the code is not compiled, but interpreted at the time of usage (by the interpreter, most often integrated in the webserver), and that the script runs on the server side, or the webserver. This way, the output is generated on the webserver, and sent to the client (your browser) as HTML.
PHP syntax is derived from many other languages, but mainly by C and Perl. However, since PHP5 also allows for object oriented programming, there is also an influence of Java noticeable. Despite all these different influences, PHP manages to remain simple and understandable.

The Source and the Tags

Although PHP is primarily intended as a text processor, it is often used as a pure programming language. However, to facilitate its text processor role, it can be inserted in a text file as well, by using the special PHP tags. Four different tags can be used to insert and execute PHP code in a text file:

• Standard tags, these are the most commonly used tags, and are the ones you should use:
  <?php
  …
  ?>

• Short tags, used to be the standard, but might interfere with XML headers, and therefor are used more rarely:
  <?
  …
  ?>

  One advantage is that they make really short syntax possible, such as <?=$variable ?> which prints the result of the variable straight to the output.

• Script tags were introduced for HTML editors. These editors are programmed to ignore JavaScript code (which uses the same script tags), but were unable to ignore PHP code, which is fixed by these script tags:
  <script language=”PHP”>
  …
  </script>

• ASP tags, don’t ask, nobody seems to know why these were introduced…
  <%
  …
  %>

Normally, the only tags you should use are the standard tags. Short tags, script tags and ASP tags are all considered deprecated.

The newline horror

Very important to remember is that the PHP interpreter outputs EVERY character outside the PHP tags as-is. This means every whitespace, every newline character. This is not an issue for whitespaces, but can be for newline characters, as they are used as a seperator between the header portion of the http response, and the actual data. This means that a newline character that is sent to the output before the headers are finished, will cause your script to fail. To help you prevent this problem, the PHP interpreter automatically strip the first newline character after the PHP closing tag (?>).

The body of a PHP script

The body of a PHP script consists of statements, which can be function calls, variable assignments, data output etcetera. Each statement, with only a few exceptions, needs to be terminated by a semicolon. One of the exceptions is for instance the last statement before a closing tag. However, for consistency’s sake, it is advised to always terminate your statements.

Comments are another almost vital part of any programming language. Yes, I know, they are not vital at all, but you should treat them like that. Make it a habit to write comments every function, class, method or property that you write in your code. If your code required some thinking to find how you will actually code it, it will require some thinking again later when you try to reread your code, and find out why you actually coded it that way. Comments can only make your life easier!
The different ways of inserting comments in a PHP script are these:

// a single line comment

# another single line comment

/* a multiline
comment
*/

/**
* another multiline comment
* Most often used to document API’s or functions, since they can hold large parts of structured text
* and still look… err… structured.
*/

Both single line comments (// and #) are closed by a newline character, or by the PHP closing tag.

Code blocks are a series of statements that must be executed all together, and under specific circumstances, such as a function call or a conditional statement. The statements inside code blocks are enclosed with two curly brackets ({}).

if ($whatimsaying == “yaddayadda”)
then
{
$takeanapforsometime = 5;
fall_asleep_for_how_long($takenapforsometime);
}

That’s all for today folks. More is coming up in the next lesson, which will start with Datatypes!

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So I hear you thinking, what would be this weeks word(s)? You guessed it right, my favourite blogs

So, here it is, some of my favourite blogs:

Problogger.net

blogussion.com

freebloghelp.com

dailyblogtips.com

shirleyszone.com

source-blogger.com

theinfopreneur.net

famousbloggers.net

blogengage.com

themoneycult.com

This is just a small collection of blogs that I regularly read, and enjoy. I haven’t written any descriptions next to it, since I would like you to explore each one of them, and see the value they have, without me steering it in any particular direction. I suggest you no only visit and read these blogs, but also comment on them, and check back on your comments (or check follow up via email). Many of these bloggers don’t just write great blogs, they’re also great people, and can be become great friends to you too!

Cheers, and I hope to see alot of extra great blogs in the comments!

(Oh, and my appologies to all that I forgot to mention, I’ll probably update this list in the coming days )

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2 Via the Photos app:
Open the Photos app, and select the picture you would like to use from your collection.
Tap the outside square icon on the lower left of your picture, and select “Use as Wallpaper”.
This will bring you back in the “Move and Scale” interface, where you can adjust your picture until you like it, then tap “Set Wallpaper”, or “Cancel” if you want to select another picture.

This will result in your chosen picture to be on the background of your iPhone’s lock screen.
Using this method, your wallpaper will only be visible when your iPhone is locked.

If you also want to set a background image on your iPhone’s springboard (that is what the thing is called where you can choose and start your applications), you will need to follow these guidelines: Changing your iPhone’s springboard background.

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But consumers are getting smarter with their searching, and search engines are competing more than ever to offer a more personalized and detailed search experience. Rather than just taking into effect the repeated use of certain keywords, search engines are now reading content to determine if the overall content is relevant to the keyword phrases. If the article is considered to be highly relevant, then it will appear higher in the search results than an article that is deemed to have little overall relevance to the keywords used.

For example, if an article about baseball features the keyword phrase “baseball glove,” the search engine is also going to scan the content for related keywords, such as “baseball bat,” “outfield,” and “baseball team.” In short, the search engine is checking the content to make sure that the entire article is relevant to baseball and provides value to the reader. In the end, the more relevant the content, the higher the content will rank within the search results.

An additional benefit to search engines using LSI is more precise results overall. Many words in the English language have more than one definition. By using LSI, a search engine can look at the overall body of content to determine which meaning is most applicable and index the content more specifically.

While SEO will continue to play an important part of effective online writing techniques, paying attention to LSI is growing increasingly important. Search engines adjust their parameters to be the most useful for those who are searching content, not those who create it. As a result, the online content writers who pay attention to the subtle changes in search engine function will see the best results over the long-term.

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Here you will see the “System” menu, enter that, and locate Winterboard.
Select Winterboard, and in the next screen, choose “Install” on the top right, and confirm that. This will download and install Winterboard on your iPhone, but needs a reboot of your phone to finish the install.

Once your iPhone has rebooted, you will see Winterboard happily sitting in your springboard next to the other apps.
Start up Winterboard to get an overview of all the available customizations.
Select “User Wallpaper” to select and change the wallpaper of the springboard to that of your choice. This will overwrite the current background or the theme background if you have any installed.
Select “Dim Wallpaper” if you want your background to dim a bit, so that your icons stand out more. Can be useful on very busy or colorful backgrounds.

Select “User Lock Background” to select and change the wallpaper of the lock screen to that of your choice. This can also be done the way Apple intended it to: Changing your iPhone’s background

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Properly optimized content ranks higher in organic searches.  Use these tips to find popular keywords and keyword phrases that are not saturated with content from other websites.

How to Use Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool to Find Popular Keywords

The Google Adwords Keyword Tool was designed for companies buying online advertising space; however, is it a great tool for online writers and web content creators, as well.

Type several words relevant to the article or webpage topic in the Keyword Tool search box.  Click on “Get Keyword Ideas” to begin searching for information on the keywords.  The tool will also suggest popular keywords related to the search terms, so a list of five keywords could generate fifty results or more.

Understanding Keyword Search Results

The default search tool settings show the following information about suggested keywords:

• Advertiser Competition
• Local Search Results for the previous month
• Global Monthly Search Volume

A drop-down box above the results list allows you to access additional columns of information, including the average cost per click, volume trends, and estimated ad position.

Advertiser competition is not important unless you are trying to write content designed to attract high cost per click ads to generate AdSense revenue.  In that case, an empty advertiser competition box indicates a lack of advertiser interest in the topic.

Global monthly search volume is the most important criteria in keyword research for search engine optimization.

Comparing Search Volume and Results Volume

Click the title of the global monthly search volume column to sort the list so the most searched terms are at the top.  Working down the list, search each keyword and phrase in a regular Google search.

Look at the volume of results for each keyword or phrase.  A term that generates millions of results is highly competitive and it is unlikely that new content will rank near the top of the list.

Consider the quality of results, as well.  The goal is to find keywords and phrases that might propel the web content to the front page, or top ten, in a Google search.  Are the other top ten results from credible news sources, government or professional organizations, or large corporations?  There is little chance of ranking on the front page with this type of competition.

How to Choose the Right Keywords and Phrases

People have different criteria for keyword selection and look for a specific ratio of acceptable search volume vs. search results.

To develop a workable formula takes time and testing.  Start by finding a keyword or phrase with over 1,000 monthly searches and less than one million results.  Optimize the article by using the primary keyword phrase in the URL, if possible, and in the article headline, introductory paragraph, bolded subheadings, and throughout the body text.

Use four to six complementary keywords in the subtitle, introductory paragraph, bolded subheadings, and throughout the body text.  Do not simply repeat any one phrase throughout the article; it must read naturally to the reader.  Using a variety of related terms helps you write fluidly and indicates the webpage’s relevance on the topic to search engines.

Testing and Developing a Keyword Strategy

A number of variables affect how well a webpage ranks in organic searches and no one knows the exact formula used by popular search engines like Google.

A blog post on a blog hosted on a free platform such as Blogger, for example, may not rank as high as an article published on a popular online magazine’s website, for example, even if the blog post is better optimized.

Track the performance of several pieces based on keywords chosen for their search volume to search engine results ratio to find the winning formula for your blog posts, articles, or website content.

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Especially not if you don’t have alot of people following you back.
First of all, there is a thing called “information overload”, which will happen if you follow too many people, and you don’t manage them well in lists.
Second, your follow/following ratio is a major factor for Google to rate your authority on Twitter. Do you want to improve your blog’s rankings using Twitter? Then make sure your ratios are ok, and your tweets (with links to your blog), and your profile (with link to your blog) will be indexed better and ranked higher.

2 Don’t forward unsollicited links via DM

If you need to send someone a quick link for something that you were or will be discussing, no problem, but don’t go around sending links to all your followers via DM. It’s a pain, don’t do it. You’re cluttering up people’s Tweet-inbox, and if they have the mail option set, their mailbox too. If you want to broadcast your url to your followers, do it in the main timeline. It’s easily ignored, and doesn’t clutter things up.

3 Don’t send an automated thank you message.

The thing is a bit the same as the one above. My Twitter inbox is filled with “Thanks for following, looking forward to tweeting with you!”. No, you’re not. You just set up an auto-follow-message, and you will most probably never even look at tweets, let alone reply to any of them. If you don’t have the time to send every new follower you have a personalized DM, then it is better not to send them a DM at all.

4 Don’t make your tweets too long

One of the powers of Twitter is to retweet what others have tweeted that you found interesting. However, if your tweet is too long, near the 140 characters, there is no place to put the RT and username in front of the tweet. If you have to start puzzling which characters or words to leave out to stay within 140 characters, without breaking the message the original tweeter waanted to convey, you mostly just leave the tweet be, and forget about retweeting.
A good rule of thumb to use? Take your own twittername’s amount of characters, ad 5, and make sure you leave that much space in your tweets to facilitate retweeting.

5 Don’t overdo retweeting of contests and giveaways

Unless you want to use your twitteraccount to gather all these contests and giveaways and retweet them so others can see them all in one place, don’t overdo it!
Everybody wants to join a contest, or wants some free stuff, but no one likes their whole timeline to be filled with “retweet to participate in our free cookie contest” messages.

6 Behave as if you’re on a coctailparty

Treat Twitter as a coctailparty, and behave the same way. Do you want to be the popular person on the party? Then behave social, happy, talkative, but don’t overdo it. Don’t scare people. Don’t talk bad about people. Don’t gossip. Don’t yell at people because they stopped following you.
Bottom line: Be Nice!

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I said it before in “Real Successful Blogging”, and I am saying it again. Passion is not a bonus, it is a must.
If you are passionate about your topic, you will be knowledgeable, you will know your market (the other people who are into that specific topic), and you will be able to follow up on the developments in that area. Something that would bore you to death if you are blogging about a subject just for the money instead of the passion.

2. Reach out

Blogging is not about you, it’s about others (ok, and you too). Reach out to others, write about whose blogs or articles you liked. This works twofold: first, people are always looking for reviews and views on things. Do other bloggers like this blog or website or tool? Do other photographers like that camera? Second: the people you are blogging about will appreciate the mentioning and the link (that is, if it is positive ) and will return the favor.

3. Be heard, be social

Get your word out, and people will link to you.
This can be done by speaking at a conference, setting up a large project or contest, participate very actively on forums, perhaps even as a moderator.
Try to stay on top of things, so that you can not only participate in conversations, but you can start them. If you can then also blog about these topics, it will definately get you authority and links.

4. Look real

If you want people to remember you, to want to link to you, to believe you, you need to look real to them. The first way to do this, is by the way your website or blog looks and feels. For instance:
* What’s your domainname, is it something that looks real, not scammy? Can people easily remember it?
* Does the layout and the design of your site add to the content and the message you want to bring? For instance, a yellowish, bright playful webdesign doesn’t add to your message if you’re an undertaker.
* How’s your content? Interesting and unique? Or boring or copied from somewhere else?
* How is your about page? Does it say something about you? Will people remember you by it?
* How is the useability of your site? Is it easy to understand? Or does it look good, but is hell to use?
There’s no need to answer positive on all these questions right away. But they are a good strategy to follow to increase your credibility on the internet.

5. Conversation

Markets are conversations, your readers are your audience, and your market. Have conversations with them. You do this through your blogposts. They can do that through the comments. Invite them to comment on your posts. Make it a two-way conversation, make it a community. After a while, a part of your audience will start communicating with you through their blog, and this is where the links start coming in.

6. Keep building

Rome wasn’t built overnight. Nor was Microsoft, Apple, or any other great success story. You need to keep working on it, keep building on your website, on your credibility, on your market position. This can take years, but you will get there eventually. Just keep building on it. Day by day.

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If that is what you do with your blog, sharing, helping others, then you can be sure that this will come back to you. As the saying goes, what you do onto others will come back to you threefold. So you better give good things.

If you build up a loyal readership that knows and appreciates your sharing and helping, then this readership will be ready for you too, to help you, and to share with you. This can be in the form of helping you out if you have problems with something, but also by clicking your ads, commenting on your blog, subscribing to your feed, buying your stuff, or the products that you’re affiliated with.

Since helping out and sharing should be your first concern, you need to ask your audience: “What do you want?”, “How can I help you?”. Once you know the answer to these questions, you are ready for the game. Find the problems your audience faces, solve them, blog about them, and sit back and enjoy (or find more problems, write more posts, and enjoy more while you’re writing even more ). And, listening to your audience, sharing with them and helping them will only broaden your readership.
Your readers will start talking about your posts, putting links online, sharing them in social media. All this is word of mouth in the digital age. It is telling to other people that your product, your blog is worth visiting. This creates authority. And as we all know, search engines digg authority. So you will gain more visitors again.

Same as it is in the real world, it is in the virtual world. Quality always comes on top, and will go viral eventually. Helping people, sharing with people is creating quality content.
So I hope this post was a bit of a helping hand to you.

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