An important tip regarding Internet marketing is to be sure that you understand web analytics and how to apply them to your marketing strategy. This is important because this is where you all of the hard data about visitors to your site such as their location, where they visited, now many people visited, and where traffic came from.

You can offer visitors to your site a free gift for finding misspelled words on your web site. This will make them read more information since they have the opportunity to win something. You should do this once a week to keep the buzz going.

Join your local chamber of commerce. Membership right here will let you meet and interact with other business owners and you are able to possibly strike up a handful of cooperations. The chamber of commerce is also an awesome destination to find out local information where you can use for your own benefits.

Provide deep discounts to customers that make large purchases or buy numerous things. If customers know that they’re able to get one item for $5 after paying for three in the frequent value they may actually finish up spending slightly a lot more money on your site than they initially thought to.

Contemplate a banner ad for the internet site. Many people don’t like banner advertisements, but in case you do it ideal you could possess a great technique to bring guests for your site. The essential to a superb ad is twofold: you will need the proper design along with the proper site to advertise on. For those who do those two items you will see positive benefits.

Go viral with your website. Do something that people will want to share with their friends. Even something as small as an interesting logo or a quirky video can do the trick. If everyone is buzzing about something you’ve done, you can bet that your site visits and internet sales will pick up.

Generally follow-up with a buyer quickly after a sale and then every few weeks afterwards. By forwarding a “thank you for your order” e-mail to preceding clients, in addition to, which includes adverts for other products or solutions which you sell, you’ll be able to increase the amount of repeat or new orders that you get from earlier shoppers.

Social networking is usually a huge aspect of escalating traffic for your web-site, so you’ll want to make it quicker for users to share your info with others on these web sites. For those who have a Retweet button, a +1 button or maybe a Facebook Like button in your website, then just about every time it is actually pressed your web-site is reaching a larger pool of visitors.

Just as stated inside the starting of this short article, internet marketing can totally boost sales for any sort of company. So long as you realize what you happen to be performing, you might be prepared to get the sales you want. Take the data you have obtained from this short article, and get exactly where you want to be with online marketing.

Before you decide how you are going to promote your business on the internet, do yourself a favor and grab your FREE report on How To Get Traffic Without Blogging For more useful internet marketing tips, check out IM Target Review

Another thing you should realize is that the money that can be made with affiliate programs is almost limitless. And this is why we will be going over affiliate marketing and some of the guidelines you should follow.

The first thing we want to share with you is when you are looking for affiliate products, make sure you choose something that you are passionate about or have an interest in. If you have an interest in the topic of the product you will find that you are more interested in marketing that product. If you know a lot about a product, you will find you will be able to sell more of them by answering questions that potential buyers may have. The reason we put this first is because this is the biggest and most important rule when it comes to affiliate marketing.

Your own website will run you about $10 a month and you should build one as soon as you can afford to. By building a website you are showing people that you are passionate about the topic. Another thing about having your own site is that you can add product reviews, comparisons between products and also just general information about the niche you have entered.

If you are new to affiliate marketing and don’t want to invest money in a domain name and web hosting yet, you can always get a free blogging account at blogger.com. By using a free blog you are able to start promoting your products the right way right off the bat. Another reason it is good to have your own site is because you can start to build a list of people that you can email your offers to.

One final tip I would like to share with you is that you should never go for the hard sale. When you go for the hard sale you will find that people will just end up leaving your website. When you are promoting a product you will want to find a reason that people will need that product. This is not unlike writing a story, first locate a problem, then find a product in your niche that can help with that problem and finally write a short article explaining how this product solves that problem.

Let’s say you are focusing on the dog training niche, think of a problem that dogs have, like running away or not listening, and then point out why this product can help change that.

While these rules are not written in stone you will find that most of the profitable affiliate marketers follow these simple steps. The main key is to generate sales so you get a commission on the products, and by sticking to these tips you will be on your way to becoming a profitable affiliate marketer.

For example, instead of a blog about gluten free foods you might blog about gluten free bread recipes. There are many reasons why niches are successful.

Three Reasons Niches Are Successful

1. Loyal Readers

If you choose a niche it will be easier for you to find loyal readers. When people search online they are often searching for very specific information. If you provide that specific information you are probably going to make it to the top of their list. There is a good chance, they will subscribe to your blog and visit your blog regularly. This loyalty provides you with an abundance of opportunity to profit.

2. More Profits

Niches are more profitable. As a blogger it will be much easier to establish some of the key buying triggers. The most notable are credibility and authority. By blogging about your specific niche topic you are able to position yourself as an expert.  By being the expert, it earns the trust of your readers and they will more likely buy from you or to trust your recommendations. This results in profits.

Additionally, having a niche allows you to be able to draw focused traffic which means youíll have a special appeal for targeted advertisers. For example, the gluten free bread recipe blog may attract gluten free bread manufactures. They know that your audience matches their audience and will pay to advertise.

3.  More Traffic

The truth is that it is much easier to compete on search engines when you have a niche topic. For example, entering “Miniature Dog Trainers” into Google provides much less results than if someone were to type in “dog training”.  This means less competition.  If you really want to narrow it down, your niche may be “Miniature Dog Trainers in Colorado,” which should be even less competitive.

If there is good demand for that topic you literally have only a few potential competitors. That means whenever someone searches for your blog topic, they will find you right away. The result is more traffic.

Choosing a niche topic also makes it easier for you to provide more value. More value means more repeat visits. It also means more inbound links. This in turn helps boost your awareness and traffic. In short, a blog niche makes it easier to market and grow your blog.

Having a niche allow you to reach your audience faster and keep them coming back to your blog.  This can lead to growing subscribers more quickly. And ultimately you will be able to make more profits from your niche.

Before you choose a niche, make sure there are good numbers behind it. That means high demand (lots of people looking for your information) and low supply (not too much competition).  Market Samurai is a great keyword research tool and offers a free COMPLETE trial!

When the numbers support it, niches prosper. Choose your niche today and start profiting from your blog.

Related articles

• How to Choose a Writing Niche and Why It Matters

What are these mistakes?  Well, let’s jump right in a look at the most common blogging mistakes so you can avoid them with your blog!

1. Not being original.

Many people are hesitant to be themselves online.  They want to copy other successful bloggers thinking that is the key to success. Yet your personality is what will attract attention and readers. Do not hesitate to be yourself and offer your own original voice – no matter how silly, serious, or controversial it way be.  People want honesty and uniqueness.  Add it to your blog!

2. Not giving credit where credit is due.

With plagiarism almost becoming an accepted practice in some fields, DON’T DO IT!  It is okay if you post or quote something from somewhere else – but, if you borrow information or ideas  give that person credit!  It does not weaken your content or your credibility, in fact, it enhances it.  But, not sourcing your material is unethical, but it can get you in trouble legally.

3. Giving up too early.

This is quite common.  With all the “get rich overnight” sales pages and products out there, it is no surprise that people give up when they don’t see overnight success.  The truth is blogs are not going to achieve instant success overnight. This is why it is so important to enjoy the topics you choose to blog about. Eventually, with enough care and attention your readership will grow.

4. Not responding to comments.

It is important to engage with your readers – this will get them coming back for more.  If you don’t want comments on your blog posts, set it up so people cannot leave them. However, if you want comments then be social and acknowledge them. and interact. It helps create a community on your blog. It motivates more comments and it is a friendly thing to do.

5. Not adding value.

People will read your blog because it is: informative or entertaining.  If there in no value, whether educational or  interesting, readers will probably not return.  It is essential to provide readers with value – not just ramble on using your blog as a place to vent.  While occasional venting is okay, provide a solution to your complaints or engage readers by asking them  to comment.  In short, they will come back and read your blog because it offers value. Make sure your posts regularly offer value.

6. Not posting regularly.

While there are many discussions on how much a person should post, there really is not set rule – but be consistant and post on a regular basis.  Some say you have to blog every day. You don’t have to blog every day. However, if your readers don’t see a post for a couple weeks, they may forget about you, especially when you first start out. Keep them happy. Keep them visiting your blog. Publish regularly.

7. Not having a niche.

Many people put up a blog with no focus.  The subjects cover a wide range of topics and there is no focus.  If you are creating an authority blog, it does not have to be a microniche, but there should be an overall topic related to one niche. What are you blogging about? For example, instead of blogging about pets, blog about dogs. You can make it even tightly for a more targeted audience and blog about breeding or training dogs. The more specific your niche topic the easier it’ll be to attract a following.It depends on the goals of your blog how narrow you want to get.

8. Not promoting your blog.

Get out and promote your blog! It will take a long time for search engines to find your blog without any marketing on your end.  Use social bookmarking and social media. Comment on other blogs and use your blog URL when you register. Become a guest blogger. In your guest blog bio, link to your blog address. Add your blog to your signature in your emails.  Get involved in forums.  Submit articles with your link attached.  Remember not to be a spammer though!  There is a fine line between spamming and promoting.  Don’t cross that line.

9. Not choosing a topic that you can sustain.

When you create a blog, think long term.  This is a big blogging mistake people make.  If you choose a topic that you’re passionate about, you can write every day year around and not lose enthusiasm for your topic.  If you choose a topic that is either not interesting to you  or too narrow, you will get burned out.  You will be lucky enough to hammer out a blog post once a month. Itís just not going to work, so pick a topic you enjoy and has enough material.

10. Having too much bling.

Nothing screams unprofessional than poor site design.  If you have flashy lights, tons of ads, and no easy navigation, people will leave.  Make sure your blog is content focused – that is why people come to a blog – to find value and information. Some advertisements are fine.  However blogs that are 90% ads and flashy banners and only 10% content won’t attract a loyal following.

Blogging really is a great way to connect, make a profit and grow a business.  But, you should be professional about and think about your readers. Avoid these ten blogging mistakes and you will be on your way to achieving blogging success

To your success!

Consider this question “What do most people go online for?”

The answer is obvious: information.  What is the most typical way people search?  Using specific keywords.  It is pretty unlikey someone is going to the Internet and just doing a search for “computers.”  They are probably going to type in a search more specific like “computers for gamers” or “computers for less than $500.”  You get my point.

The whole idea is to realize the benefits of building niche blogs and then find the niche markets out there and start building. So, here are the benefits.

1.  Search Engines Absolutely Love Niche Sites

If you don’t know by now Search Engines love content and what do niche content sites contain? Yep… Content. The more content you have to offer, the more pages you’ll get listed within the search engines, which then gives you more exposure to your target audience from within the search engines and more chances for you to profit.  Not only that, but with targeted keywords, you can have a great chance of getting to the top of the search engines.  Good keyword research is essential – Market Samurai offers a free trial – well worth checking out!

2. Information is Targeted Towards Niche

Niche websites are designed with targeted keywords in the title.  When people are searching for specific information, your site will provide that.  Having a specific niche focus on specific information in that niche.  People will not have to peruse through hundreds of pages or tabs to find exactly what they are looking for.  The blog name will depict the information to appeal to your target audience and feed their hunger for information.

Remember what I preciously mentioned — people come online for information.

3. Targeted Ads on Your Site

If you use Google Adsense, many times the ads do not correlate with your blog. Often times if you have a niche site, the ads will be more targeted.  This is good for visitors to your site.  If they come to a weight loss site, but are only interested in healthy diets, they may not see those ads due to wide range of ads that can fall under “weight loss.”  Now, if someone is interested in a specific niche, say Dell Laptops, it is likely the ads on your site will contain Dell Laptops.

4. Get Paid through Targeted Affiliate Programs

An affiliate is someone who essentially earns commissions for referring other peoples products.  The commissions range from 4-10% for physical products and 50-75% for digital products, like eBooks or short reports.  Having a niche site allows you to target a specific product by offering a customer specifically what they are looking for.  If you have a niche site about training large breed dogs, a customer is likely very interested in this topic if he came to your site.  If you are selling a product related specifically to that niche, there is a good chance that consumer will buy it from your link while they are perusing your site.

5.  Provide Readers Deep Knowledge on a Subject

If you have a broad topic, there is no way you will become the “expert” with all that competitiion out there. When you are writing about a specific niche, it’s easier to get focused and find topics to write articles. You will supply deep knowledge about all of the topics related to your blog’s niche. By having a narrowed down niche, readers will be able to find all the information they  need on one site. Once you get the hang of it, it’s a matter of getting into that habit of writing blog posts and pages and publishing them regularly.

6. Great Way to Get Started Blogging

Creating an authority site can take time to build and require a lot of dedication to creating useful blog posts.  An authority site is one that people come to when looking for general information on a topic.  My Inspired to Write, Internet Marketing Inspiration, and even this site take a lot more time to maintain since they are not niche sites.  If you have a niche in mind, it would not take long to get it started, populate it with traffic, and get it tanked high in the search engines.

7. Multiple Niches to Choose From

If you are thinkng about a topic you want to write about, you can break that topic into specific niches to get more traffic.  There are so many topics to choose from, you would be able to come up with a dozen or so sites using this method.  For example, if you like to write about fishing, you could break that down into Bass Fishing, Trout Fishing, Fly Fishing, etc,  You could even go down into the microniche leel and create a website about Fly Fishing in Montana.  You can see how one topic can lead to many niches.

8. Make Money in Many Ways

Lastly, and maybe the whole point of having niche websites, is you can make money in many ways.  I already mentioned Google Ads and Affiliate marketing.  Those are just two ways.  Other ways you can make money with niche sites include:

• Selling your own product
• Creating free reports to list build (which can potentially lead to a lot of money)
• Selling Clickbank products
• Creating multiple sites to add more income

So, with the above benefits, what are you waiting for?

What is a Blog Carnival?

Basically a blog carnival is just like a group of people in which blog writers get in touch with one another in order to improve one another’s work on a shared subject area that will be uploaded in a weblog. A blog carnival is just like a party in which blog writers meet and get other blogs on their subject. Members may post blogs to the carnival, or can think about hosting for any upcoming carnival for other people to submit

A blog writer may post an article to a particular blog, or simply read the carnivals for subjects they are excited about.

After submitting articles, the person hosting that article will position the posted blogs having a link back to every owner’s blog.

Basically this host weblog offers a location for blog writers who are keen on linking with other blog writers in exactly the same subject. It also provides traffic attraction and backlink during the procedure.

Who creates a Blog Carnival?

As a blog carnival is a group of people, basically there are four participants who create the site so that weblog community can work collectively.

The Organizer. The organizer is the person that launches the carnival, makes the decision about topic, manages the site, the regulations and so on. This individual will make a decision on the hosts as well as monitor the plan for carnival post date of every blog.

The Host. This individual hosts a carnival version on their own weblog voluntarily. They collaborate with the organizer to decide a day which is suitable for them. Before deadline arrives, they gather submissions from blog writers as well as arrange them into one article complete with blog writers’ links. After that this post is published on the pre planned day.

The Bloggers. Writers that have written a post on the carnival’s subject can submit the web link to include in the next release of the carnival. Usually blog writers that make up carnivals are specialists in their own subject. As soon as blog writers complete the form and submit a web link, the organizer of the blog carnival gets it to the correct host.

The Audience. This is when the readers and the traffic come. The audience is made up of not only blog writers but serious readers that visit the host’s weblogs for relevant subjects. The audience might visit the Blog Carnival to check if there’s a carnival on a subject in which they are interested as well as to check where the carnival updates are and where will they be in future. They may also simply love the host’s weblog and become a reader.

Blog Carnivals’ Site

Blog Carnival.com is really a wonderful spot to see a lot of weblogs in which you might be interested.

While browsing, make certain that you are searching in latest carnivals. You may locate weblogs in topic of your interest like a blog writer submitting a post.

1. W3 Total Cache

It is important to have your site load quickly, not only for user’s sake, but to appease search engines.  A cache plugin is a huge contributor to quick load time, reducing the download of your theme, improving server performance, and compression of posts and pages.  There are several cache plugins out there, but this is one that I would recommend.

2. Google XML Sitemap

This plugin will help the search engines crawl your website better. It creates an XML sitemap that helps search engines understand the structure of your site. Another cool benefit is it notifies the major search engines when you update a post on you site.  All of this contributes to a better site index of your blog.

3. Contact Form 7

When people come to your site, they need a way to contact you.  With this plugin, you can easily create contact forms on your site.  You can also create multiple contact forms on your site with customizable settings.  This plugin is simple and easy to use and is great for the majority of blogs who do not need an elaborate advanced contact form.

4. All-in-One SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a crucial part of optimizing your blog in order for search engines to find you.  This plugin makes SEO simple by giving you places for the right keywords in your title, description, and more for your blog posts. This is a must-have plugin.

5. WP-Spam Free

No one likes spam on their blog comments.  Bots search through blogs and place unwanted comments on a blog that has non spam-free protection.  This plug-in eliminates spam in your comments so you don’t have to.  There is also a counter you can display to show how many spam comments were stopped.

6. Comment Luv

When someone leaves a comment on your blog, this plugin allows the comment to display the commenter’s last blog post. When other people come to yout site to leave a comment, they can see that individual’s blog post.  This is great for backlinking in the search engines (it is a do-follow link) and also it shows visitors titles if someone elses blog , which many lead them to that person’ site.

7. Online Backup for WordPress

There is nothing worse than losing all your files for a blog you worked hard on.  I had to learn the hard way when I had no backup system in place.  Yes, your hosting company will backup your site, but not on a daily basis.  If you have an active blog, this is a simple plugin that allows you to schedule automatic backups or you can even do it manually.  The backup is also encrypted and compressed for storage and security issues.

8. Sexy Bookmarks

I simply love this plugin for social bookmarking. (you can see it on my blog).  It provides visually “sexy” icons as a way for readers to submit your post to a social bookmark site.  While there are dozens of sites available to add to your blog, you can choose the ones you want and customize the look in the plugin settings.

9. Yarpp

Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP) uses an advanced algorithm to provide a list of posts and/or pages related to the current entry, introducing the reader to other relevant content on your site. Not only does this help the reader, but it contributes to SEO. Key features include templates, caching of related posts data, and omission of certain tags or categories.

10. Pretty Link

The plugin gives you the ability to take an “ugly” link and create a shorter “pretty”version to link, track, and share anywhere on the Internet.  The URL contains your blog name instead of a typical URL shortening service.  This is great for bloggers who want to mask their affiliate links, track clicks from emails, or increase the exposure of their site by spreading these links via social media, forums or comments on other blogs.

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While I have provided links to the plugs-ins, these are all available from plug-in dashboard making the install even easier.  These plug-ins are basic suggestions for most blog ins.  There are always more you can add.  But, don’t overload your site with plug-ins because this can also bog-down your load time.  There is no hard-fast rule on the most amount of active plugins you should have, but anything more than 30 and you are going to probably start to have problems.

If you have multiple blogs, you can add these plug-ins easily to each blog by dragging them into your site’s directory using FTP instead of adding them individually to each blog.

If you have more suggestions on plug-ins that have helped you, please comment below!

]]> http://moreincomeblogging.com/blogging-tools-tips/best-free-wordpress-plugins-for-blog/feed/ 0 http://moreincomeblogging.com/blogging-tools-tips/7-steps-to-getting-traffic-old-school-style/ http://moreincomeblogging.com/blogging-tools-tips/7-steps-to-getting-traffic-old-school-style/#comments Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:28:29 +0000 Julie http://moreincomeblogging.com/?p=721 Getting blog traffic is probably one of the biggest concerns for blog site owners.  Without traffic, it is pretty difficult to make any money.  The question,  “How can I get more traffic?” is often asked by bloggers.

These days there are tons of ways to “buy” traffic including purchasing web backlinks, buying targeted traffic, going on traffic exchange sites, and more.  These methods may work for short -term, but eventually the search engines will catch on or people will simply just stop by once and not return. For long term success and traffic, you have to build a readership.  These readers will hopefully subscribe and come back again due to the value you provide.

There is no easy button for this, but you can still build traffic by doing it old-school style.

1.  Content is king – how cliche, but true!  Take time to create quality, original, helpful content. on a regular basis.  When people find your blog and it is interesting, they will likely come back for more and potentially provide a backlink.

2. When you communicate through email, personalize any correspondence to make yourself stand out amongst all the email messages that flood your subscriber’s inbox.

3.  Subscribe to other well established blogs in your niche.  This keeps you in touch with what is going on in your niche, establishes a relationship, and gives you opportunities to share other insightful blog posts with your readers.

4.  Comment on other blogs in your niche.  Be sure to write helpful or insightful comments that add value to the topic of conversation.

5.  Do a guest post on a blog that gets a lot of traffic.   If you provide a useful blog post on another person’s blog, others will see it and flock to your blog to read more.

6. This is really old school, but worth a try!  Go ahead and send an email to introduce yourself and your blog to other bloggers in your niche.  Don’t be pushy, but explain that they may be interested in your blog since it covers a similar niche.

7.  Use quality keywords in your post.  SEO is a great way to get traffic, but it does not have to be complicated.  Use good keywords to allow the search engines to find your blog, naturally.

These ways may take time to build traffic, but will be more effective in the long run.  Each day there are more and more blogs getting created that provide more competition in the blogosphere.  But, no matter how many bot or autoblog-created blogs out there, if you stick to the old school style of blogging including relationship building, quality linking, and SEO, you can become one of the few blogs that  stick out among all the clutter.

The ease of creating a blog shares both edges of the proverbial sword.  On one hand, it makes it simple for anyone wanting to start his or her own blog very easy.  Conversely, with there being so many blogs out there in cyber world, how do you make yours known?  Not only do you want any old traffic, but you want quality traffic, especially if you are trying to make money from your blog.

Even if it is not a money-making blog, unless your goal really is for only family and friends to read, you still want traffic.  I am going to go ahead and assume you want people to read it.

There are several things that you can do to make your blog marketing a success, and we are going to cover some of them right here.

Domain Name and Blog Title

You blog title should relate to your niche using highly targetable keywords. For example, if you are trying to promote a blog about skiing in Colorado, those keywords should be in your domain name.  Google Keywords Tool is your friend here and a great tool to look at keyword competition and traffic.

If you want to take it up a notch, Market Samurai is a simply amazing tool that will do all the research for you with by toggling a few buttons.  This takes all the guesswork out it and looks not only at keyword traffic, but relevancy, competition, monetization, SEO competition, and much more.  It is a top-notch keyword research tool that you can take advantage of in their FREE trial.

Search Engine Optimization

Keyword research is a large part of SEO, but there are other things that you need to do to make your blog optimized for search engines including meta tags, quick load time, content, currency of blog, backlinks, post originality, balance of links, and other little tips and tricks.

SEO will help get your blog out there and read, and will also help you get a better ranking with Google and other search engines. Getting on page one of search engine results is something that will produce more traffic.

Customize Your Blog

The next step would be to customize your blog to make it stand out. Rather than having the same old generic looking blog interface like everyone else has, make your blog unique and professional.

This will keep people on your site longer.  The layout should make it easy to navigate without too many flashy ads all over the place. There are so many types of blog software on the market that having your own look should not be that difficult to accomplish.

If you use a WordPress blog, you may want to pay for a premium theme.  The theme I use on most of my sites (and highly recommend) is Thesis.  It is very simple to use and there is a ton on support when you sign up!  I also have used Woo Themes, which is a beautifully laid out theme.  I like both of these themes for customizable options.

There are plenty of free themes as well if you are not ready to spend money on a premium theme.

Social Media and Bookmarking

Another part of getting backlinks and ultimately traffic is using social media, such as Twitter and Facebook.  When you automatically add you blog to Facebook, it will add the blog post to your wall.  You can also do the same thing with Twitter.  It is important to balance this with other useful and meaningful status updates because people will get tired of just seeing your blog links and nothing else.

Remember, these are called “social” because it is a two-way street of community – give and take.  If all you do is self-promote, people will probably stop paying attention.

Social bookmarking is a way to also get your blog posts out there for people to read when they want.  Places like Digg and StumbleUpon are examples of utilizing social bookmarks.

This is a brief introduction to blog marketing.  There are more ideas that you can use to market your blog including blog comments, forum marketing, and article marketing.

If you have never had a website, and are not familiar with online marketing these great tips will help you get started. Be sure that you keep your blog fresh and up to date. Staying current is not only good for SEO, but it will also will keep your readers coming back for more.

There is a difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.  While the software is free for both sites, WordPress.org also requires a host site, while WordPress.com hosts the site for you for free.  In this blog, I will be referring to the WP.org platform.

There are other blogging program options available to bloggers which offer different features but many bloggers are quite pleased with WordPress. This article will offer some useful information for bloggers who are considering starting a blog with WordPress such as reasons to choose WordPress, tips on starting a blog and information about the support offered by WordPress. Based on this information as well as their own research bloggers can decide whether WordPress is right for them or whether they should seek out a different blog platform.

First, I want to show you a video on a quick explanation of what WordPress is.

Now, that you know what WordPress is (if you watched the video), here are some things to consider when deciding on picking WordPress for your own blog.

Do You Want to Pay for Hosting?

As I mentioned in a previous post on hosting, you will have to pay a monthly fee to have a WordPress blog on a hosting website.  There are free host sites, but they have limits.  Honestly, it is a small cost to get your business going.  If you only intentions are to have a blog for personal reasons, then getting a paid hosting service may not be necessary.  Other blog platforms like Blogger, TypePad, or WordPress.COM offer hosting as part of their blog software.

Do You Need to Put up Ads or Affiliate Banners?

Some blog platforms will not allow you to put up ads or affiliate banners. WordPress.com is an example of this.  At the time of this writing, they do not allow users to put up advertising. If you have no need to do that, that may not be a consideration.

Are You Concerned About Customization?

Many blog platforms can be set up in a matter if minutes with your blog up and running.  They offer a few blog themes and you are in business.  Some platforms allow more customization than others – you will have to decide how much customization you want.  If you have no HTML/CSS experience and do not really want to mess with that, WordPress is not neccesary for your needs. For WordPress to work well, you will probably need to be familiar with some basic HTML, CSS, and PHP in order to tweak your templates.

WordPress Offers a Variety of Options

There a many reasons WordPress is a good choice for a blog platform, including :

• a large variety of templates
• the ability to customize using HTML and CSS
• thousands of plugin options
• Plenty of free support
• User-friendly interface.

Support Offered by WordPress

For many first time bloggers the type of support offered is very important. This is because first time bloggers may have quite a few questions about the process of starting a basic blog.  Even after a blog is up and running, there  is probably going to be additional questions about advanced features and/or customizing the blog.

WordPress offers a great deal of support for bloggers of all skill levels. The support offered by WordPress includes the ability to contact the support staff on the website, other people’s blogs, or from other members on online forums. Although the support staff is incredibly responsive some bloggers enjoy the ability to communicate with other bloggers in forums. This is because the forums are active 24 hours a day and bloggers can find support from peers at any time.

Personal Choice

Some of these features may be not be important to bloggers when deciding whether or not on choosing WordPress  Deciding on which blog platform is right for you will largely be a matter of personal preference.

For example bloggers with little or no programming experience may enjoy the myriad of templates available on WordPress while bloggers who are concerned about privacy issues may be more interested in the privacy options available through WordPress. Carefully investigating these features will help bloggers determine if they should start a blog with WordPress.

Many people new to blogging simply pick a name they like without doing any keyword research.  I was guilty of this as well.  I have since learned the importance of a domain name.  It really will be your brand.

Should you use your name?

Generally, you want to have the actual blog topic in your domain name. However, some people use their name as their domain.

There are a couple schools of thought on this.  If you plan on having a central hub for your blog and not using it as a niche blog, this may be a good option.  However, you may not get discovered for awhile, so it depends on your blogging goals.  Many Internet marketers have their name in their domain because they are already know in the marketing world.  This also applies to any type of celebrity.

On the other hand, if you want to get traffic quicker and want to focus on a tighter niche, you should not use your name.  It is simple, if I am looking for Dell laptop reviews, I will search “Dell laptop reviews.”  If you hae done proper SEO and keyword research, hopefully your blog, DeallLaptopReviews.com will come up on the first page.  But, if your blog is titled JohnSmith,com, it is less likely your blog will come up first.

Best Keyword Research Tool – Honestly!

I am going to be honest with you, one of the best tools I ever invested in is the software titled Market Samurai.  When I used it on a trial basis, I could not believe how much time it saved me on doing good keyword research.  By toggling a few buttons, I can find the right keywords for a domain name.

Eventually, I ended up buying it just because of the time saving advantages alone!

Market Samurai takes all the guesswork out keyword research and SEO.  The tools in the software make my life so much simpler.  I only wish I bought it a long time ago. As you try to optimize your domain name, this software is a top-notch keyword research tool that you can take advantage of by signing up for a FREE trial.

Is Domain Available?

After you decide on what keyword works best, you have to see if that domain is available.  The easiest and most popular sites for buying domains in GoDaddy.com.  There you can see if a domain is available, other suggestions if it is not, and you can purchase the domain right from the site.

.com, .net, .org?

This is question that comes up a lot.  Obviously, if you can get a .com extension, that is your best bet.  Sometimes if you add a simple word to your keyword like “site,” it may be available.  Get as close as you can to you EXACT domain name without making it too long or too complicated.  Your next best bet after a .com is a .net followed by a .org.  You will see a lot of other extensions, but I would try and stick with these three.

Get you Domain

After you have done all your research, and found a domain, go ahead and purchase it.  Domains come and go quickly, so if you found one you really like, go ahead and make the purchase.  Even if you do not have a site up yet, you can always get it up and running later.  Domains are typically about $10.  This is a small price to pay to have a great domain.

This covers the basics of getting a domain name.  Remember, this is the most important part of setting up a blog.  This will be how people will find you on the web.  Think of a house analogy – your address.  Once you move in – you can’t change the address.  You can fix it up, repaint it, rearrange furniture, but the address can not be changed unless you buy a new house.

With a blog, it works the same way.  Get the domain name, because you can always change the theme, the content, the categories, the design, etc. Not only that, but without a domain – there is NO blog.  Simple.

If you have not already done your domain name research and purchased a domain – do this before you do anything else!

While blogs on a hosted domain such as Blogger or WordPress.com are still an option for making income, having your own self-hosted blog gives you complete control over your blog. If you are ready to take your blog to the next step, getting a self-hosted blog may be an option for you.

Getting a Blog Host

Putting your blog on a host will give you the freedom to make your blog a money-making machine. Your own hosted blog is the first step.

If you are brand new to blogging, selecting a blog hosting website can be a daunting task.  Many people starting out use hosted blog sites and do not have to make these decision.   I started out that way too with a blog on Blogger.  There is nothing wrong with keeping your blog there, but you have to abide by the blog hosts rules.

Using a hosting site gives you control over your blog. There should be things you need to consider when selecting a host as there are many blog hosting providers, each offer different features.

If you want to earn money from your blogs, you most likely need to expand later; and if you haven’t figured out what niche is best for you, then you might need to change your domain name later. And since blogging can be a trial and error venture, it is best to choose a blog host that:

• Has a “cPanel” interface for a user friendly interface that allows beginners to manage it even with little technical knowledge;
• Offers sufficient amount of space to accommodate your content;
• Allows unlimited email, bandwidth, and websites on same account
• Allows you to purchase domain names, to host your domain names on the same account;
• Accepts or takes WordPress;
• Offers 24-hour  technical support service in case you need technical help.

Free Hosting Providers

Although there are free blog hosting websites, it is important to take note that such hosting providers also have some drawbacks.

• Some of them might also require some technical knowledge since many will not have a user-friendly cpanel.
• Limits on space do not give you unlimited amount of bandwidth like paid hosting providers.
• Website limitations means you may not be able to host an unlimited amount of websites
• Lack of 24/7/365 Live Support
• May not offer Daily Offsite Backups
• Not on an SSL Secure Server

Here are some free-hosting providers:

0000Free.com

HeloHost.org

X10 Hosting.com

You can find more about free website hosting providers, with reviews and a searchable database on FreeWebhosts.com.

Paid Hosting Providers

While free hosting websites are a practical choice for those who want to start earning money from blogging but have a tight budget, it is still more practical to determine first what blogging platform you want to use and how much space you need for your blog.  Paying for a hosting service gives you more flexibility if you decide to expand your blogging business.

Two highly recommended paid hosting services are:

HostMonster and HostGator.

Another important thing to consider when selecting for a blog host is the cost of the package. Although there are many good benefits to buying expensive hosting packages, it is still practical to choose an affordable plan that suits your budget.

If you are on a tight budget, this is extremely important because it usually takes months or years before you can start earning from blogging.  Most importantly, remember that not all paid blog hosts can help you provide your needs. Some even charge a huge amount of money but the services they offer do not really compensate the money you invested.

Your average blogger will not need a dedicated server, a basic plan through a hosting provide will be sufficient.

One you get a host picked out, you will need to get a domain name and a blog software program to start using your. blog right away  This will be covered in later posts.

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