Typically we discuss writing tips on Thursday is Words Day, but today we’re going to talk about grammar, spelling, punctuation, style and fact-checking. As we make our way down Google’s list of 23 traits of how to make an authority site, the next items on the list are:

• Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site? We recently covered how to make your site trustworthy in great detail, and if you create a trustworthy site, most people will be willing to make a purchase directly from it. One more tip about taking credit cards is to use a third-party payment processor, such as PayPal. PayPal has a 45-day charge-back policy, which makes it easy for someone to request a refund directly from PayPal if the merchant hasn’t fulfilled their end of the deal. Using a well-known payment processor with an easy refund policy can help increase sales from your site.
• Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors? This is pretty straightforward. It makes sense if you’re publishing content online to write well. And that includes checking your spelling, grammar, and facts before clicking the publish button. If you’ve quoted another source, place a link to it. Use the spell check. Read your post before publishing it. If you’re not great with grammar, ask someone else to read over your posts or hire a ghost writer. As far as style goes, web style is more loose than print, but be consistent within your site. At the very least, within each post. For example, if you start off using the term “T-shirt” in a post, don’t later write “t-shirt” or “tee shirt.” Pick one and be consistent. Little details like that will go a long way toward building your credibility.

Until next time,

Happy blogging!

It’s Freebie Friday, and today’s free download is one of the most exciting gifts we’ve shared at OnBloggingWell.com in a long time. Blogging guru Lynette Chandler recently released her annual blog planning calendar.

It was only a few weeks ago that I posted about how to manage your blogging calendar using the WordPress editorial calendar plugin. You can still use that plugin with Lynette’s calendar, because hers is a printable pdf, so once you plan out what you’re going to blog about, you can use the plugin to get a full overview of your blog schedule. In fact, the two tools compliment each other very well.

Here’s a quick video the plugin developer created that shows the plugin’s features and how easy it is to keep your blog organized using it:

These two tools can work well together and keep your blog organized and running smoothly. You don’t have to wait until the new year starts to begin using these tools, as Zack’s plugin can be uploaded any time and Lynette’s calendar starts this month, so get them both and start planning your blog!

You can get your own free copy without jumping through any hoops. Just click to get your free 2013 blog planning calendar and you’ll go straight to the download page. No opt-in is required, but if you want to receive more great content from Lynette (it’s great, by the way), you can sign up while you’re on that page.

If you have friends who also blog, you’ll want to be sure and share the link to this post with them on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you hang out together online so they can get their free blog planning tools, too!