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The post WIN a Premium Design for Your Blog! appeared first on The Blog Herald.

The following infographic is another visual reminder of how much data storage and technology has developed over the years. The infographic cleverly illustrates each megabyte to represent a foot in height. You can immediately see the breadth and scale of today’s best storage technologies. It is mind-boggling! The infographic also shows us that all of these advancements are now also accessible to the average consumer because of the exponential drop in prices as data storage becomes more powerful.

Via: Stackify

The post The History of Data Storage:Infographic appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Many marketers start blogs for their company as a way to promote their products or services through another medium. However, as the recent Google updates and overall best practices for search engine optimization and content marketing go, it is best to focus on providing blog posts that are useful and cover industry news instead of trying to sell more products.

Throughout the years, internet users have become smarter and better about finding the information they need and are interested in. Because of this, they are not willing to waste their time looking at overly promotional copy that isn’t teaching them something new or catering to their interests.  Because of this, it is time for bloggers to step up their game and start providing great content. Once a website begins to get recognized as a leader in their industry for providing great information through their blog posts, they will start getting more leads and traffic.

Answer a Question

Some of the best content online today answers questions that people are asking. Because most websites get a large majority of their traffic from search engines, it is important to answer the questions that people are querying. Simply visit your keyword referrals in Google Analytics or the Google Analytics Keyword Search Tool and enter your website URL or top level keywords to get results on what related phrases are getting searches.

This can help you brainstorm ideas as to what people are searching for and how you can provide that information through your company blog.

Provide an Insight Into Company Culture

Besides providing a resource, blogs are also a good place to promote the company culture without being salesy or promotional. Keep it lighthearted or whatever is consistent with your company and include blog posts about events, non-profit work, new office designs, new employees, work parties or birthdays, and other festive events. This makes readers feel more connected to the actual people behind the brand, instead of just seeing the company as a figurehead. Personalizing the company can make readers trust in you more.

Stir Controversy

Another angle to take in your blog posts is to stir up controversy. Provide your opinion (as long as your company approves it) that may not be agreeable to everyone. Publishing original ideas and going against the grain may stir up more publicity and get more traffic than posts that just say more of the same.

Additionally, if there is something your company is doing that is different from your competitors (and can benefit your customers), you can highlight that in your blog posts as well.

No matter what angle you take, be sure to include variety and craft well-written posts based on great ideas. Your readers will respect great content be more compelled to purchase your products or share your posts.

photo credit: Mexicanwave via photopin cc

The post How to Provide Great Blog Content Without Being Too Salesy appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Well, in order to fight this attack of the borings, I came up with a few blog post ideas to get me back on the right path. While all these ideas may not match your blog’s niche topic or audience, if you think about them long enough I am sure you can twist them to make them fit for your needs. Without further ado, here are 12 unusual and inspired ideas for blog posts for you to consider:

Holidays

Did you know that United States scientists calculated that Santa Claus would have to visit 822 homes every second to deliver all the presents on Christmas Eve? That would require some very fast reindeer! Holidays are always a popular topic for blog posts. Maybe you want to share your childhood memories, your holiday plans, decorating ideas, recipes, or other tips for the holidays. Maybe you can write about how commercial holidays have become or the history of the occasion. There are tons of possible blog posts for every holiday and they are very pertinent if you get them out on time!

Celebrities

Did you know that famous singer Elvis Presley got a C in his 8th grade music class? Well, neither do your readers! Celebrities always make for great blog post topics. Even if they are only mentioned vaguely, it will still get readers in to read whatever you wrote about. It is sort of sneaky, but it works. You can also tie in celebrities to things they promote, ideas they back, political parties and more. It is easy to get celebrity names on your blog posts and make them still pertinent to your niche.

History

Did you know that Sir Isaac Newton died a virgin? You see, history does not have to be boring! Make history come alive in blog posts that uncover unusual facts, talk about long forgotten people, or question what the textbooks taught us. You can use history to connect with modern things or just talk about facts and figures that interest you. You can even uncover facts you would have otherwise never come across and neither would your readers. You know what they say; those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it!

Nightlife

Did you know that all Las Vegas gambling casinos have no clocks or windows because they do not want people to know if it is day or night outside? That seems a bit sneaky to me, but things like gambling, drinking, clubs, and parties really seem to bring in the readers. Your blog posts can be for that or against it or somewhere in between, but talking about the nightlife is sure to bring in new readers to your blog. Maybe you have a great drink recipe to share, a club you would want others to check out, or a casino that they just need to see to believe. Capitalize on the flashing lights and loud music and make the most of this topic for your blog.

Gross

Did you know that giraffes have tongues that are about twenty one inches long and they use their tongues to clean their ears? Gross! While it may disgust you, gross things make for great blog posts. If you can make people look twice at a blog topic or title, they will definitely want to come check it out. I do not know what it is about people, but we seem to want to pick open the scabs of life and stare at the pus underneath. Ew. I just made my own stomach turn.

Food

Did you know that humans and bananas share about half of the same DNA? That means that humans are fifty percent identical to bananas! Weird facts aside, food is a great topic for blog posts. Pictures of food do really well, even if it is just homemade meals. From original recipes to restraint reviews, to garden veggie growing tips, food makes for interesting reading. You can even share how to save money on food, grow your own food, or eat out for less. Food is something that everyone needs, so it is a great topic for your blog.

Brands

Did you know that there are only two countries in the whole world that do not sell Coca-Cola? Those countries are North Korea and Cuba. No surprise there, but just throwing a popular brand name like Coke into your post will automatically make your blog post more popular. People love (and search for ) brands. If you can exploit those brands to your advantage then all the better. Stretch your imagination and integrate popular brands in your blog posts. You will not be disappointed at the results.

Quotes

– Did you know that Mahatma Gandhi, peaceful protester of India, once wrote a letter to his “dear friend”, Nazi Adolf Hitler, urging him not to go to war? This quote and others like it make for great blog post starters. If you can find a quote that inspires you to write then you will get a lot done. Inspire others with uplifting quotes, open your reader’s eyes with insightful quotes, or make your followers laugh with humorous quotes. You do not always have to reinvent the wheel. Let others do the hard work for you and reap the benefits.

Love

Did you know that the wedding ring goes on the left ring finger because it is the only finger with a vein that connects to the heart? It does not have to be near Saint Valentine’s Day for you to write about love, relationships, and romance. People love to read about love and you can use that. Relationships are a huge part of everyone’s life. If you have tips, experiences, or ideas to share than by all means do so. Your readers will enjoy a glimpse into your personal life and will also appreciate a look into your experiences and learning process.

Technology

Did you know that everything a user says to Siri on the iPhone is sent directly to Apple and recorded? Technology and gadgets are a huge market place and a very popular blog post topic. People love to hear about the latest cool toys that come up and new ways to use the toys they already have. From big brands like Apple and Microsoft to applications and graphic design, technology is a huge and fruitful blog topic to write on.

Writing

Did you know that the letter U was first used as a substitute for the word you by William Shakespeare? Writing about writing is nothing new. People have been doing it forever. Maybe you read the newest bestseller and want to review it. Maybe you just have a beef with the grammar of the average person on Facebook. Whatever topic you pick, writing about writing never gets old.

Nostalgia

Did you know that Donald Duck cartoons were banned from Finland because he does not wear any pants? From comics to cartoons to collectable dolls and toys, nostalgia pays off big. If you have memories from your childhood that you like to share or things you remember being around or using, feel free to write about it. After all, black and white television sets are definitely something that kids today have no idea once existed.

You do not have to keep writing about the same old things. Spice up your blog posts with these great and inventive ideas and start enjoying writing again. All it takes is a little thought and a lot of creativity to make a blog post that is both pertinent and popular. Good luck and have fun writing!

This post was written by Ken Myers, the founder of Longhorn Leads. He has learned over the years the importance of focusing on what the customer is looking for and literally serving it to them. He doesn’t try to create a need, instead he tries to satisfy the existing demand for information on products and services.

Images via Wikipedia, Adam Foster, Grand Velas Riviera Maya, Cornelia Kopp

The post 12 Unusual and Inspired Ideas for Blog Posts appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Here’s a fantastic opportunity to win free web hosting, courtesy of WebHostingBuzz. We are excited to offer The Blog Herald readers a chance to win a year’s free hosting, with unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, a free domain name, free account transfer and more!

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The post WIN Web Hosting for 1 Year From WebHostingBuzz! appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Fortunately, there were a few great places of inspirations where you can find blog post ideas without having to waste time sitting to drum up ideas on your own.

Here are some ways to brainstorm blog post topics.

Blog Readers

In order to stay relevant in your industry, you need to also keep up on other blogs that cover the same topics that you do. This not only gives you great social media fodder to keep your accounts streaming with great content, it also can help realize that types of topics that are being covered, which may help you find blog post topic ideas. To keep up with reading blog posts, you can usually subscribe by email or to read posts through an RSS reader. Even though Google Reader is shutting down this summer, you can use Bloglovin’ or Feedly instead. Both allow for Google Reader integration and make it easy to add blogs.

Social Media

Along the same lines as blog readers, following other industry leaders or blogs via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn can help you drum up blog post ideas. Besides seeing the type of content they are posting, look to see where the conversation heads by the users. If you see users asking several similar questions, that might be a good idea for a post.

Along those same lines, join relevant LinkedIn groups and follow the conversations there. See what people are asking questions and think of topics that may answer their questions or provide your opinion on the matter.

Blog Analytics

If you have analytics installed on your blog (and if not, you should!), you can use this data to give you blog post ideas. The areas of analytics where you can pull topics from include:

• Keywords: the actual keywords that people used to find your website via search engines
• Referral Blogs: where are people finding your site?
• Popular Posts: If you have a certain number of posts that are extremely popular, try writing more posts surrounding that topic or structure (such as a top 10 list)

Keyword Tools

Besides the keyword data that is provided for your own website, you can use the Google Adwords Keyword Tool or services like Wordstream to find ideas. These services can provide keywords and search phrases based on your blog content or top-level keywords that you put into the search box.

Regularly use these tools to stay on top of your blog posts can help you continue to craft creative and engaging content that will keep readers coming back!

photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com via photopin cc

The post How to Brainstorm Blog Post Topics appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Google’s website states that: Every day, millions of useless spam pages are created. We fight spam through a combination of computer algorithms and manual review. Penguin 2.0 is their latest spam-fighting algorithm update.

The problem with spam websites is that they saturate the internet and show up in search engine rankings. When these devious sites appear higher in search engine rankings, what do you think happens to your site? That’s right – it gets pushed to the bottom of the list.

Some people took the news of Penguin 2.0 as a message from Google that they were trying to punish the spammers. However just the opposite is true. Google released this update as a way to reward relevant sites and make them easier to find in the search engine rankings.

What Qualifies as a Spam Site?

As Google explains, spam sites come in all shapes and sizes. If you aren’t familiar with what qualifies as spam, you might even have spam SEO on your site! Here are some of the methods that are more commonly used in spam sites.

• Gibberish – One of the easiest methods to detect, these sites are not at all subtle in their attempt to spam. Their site is full of automatically-generated gibberish that reads like a foreign language from an alien planet and makes no sense at all.

• Sneaky Redirects – These sites redirect you to a different page than what they initial revealed to Google as a way to cloak the real content that it does not want Google to find.

• Artificial Links – If your site displays a pattern of deceptive links, Google could interpret this as the result of buying or selling links that take part in devious schemes to pass PageRank. This is true if the links are either outbound or inbound.

• Keyword Stuffing – Keyword stuffing is when the keyword appears too often. An example is: Find beach condos for your next beach condo vacation thanks to this beach condo company that offers beach condos for beach condo vacations. Could you guess that “beach condo” was the keyword there?

• Poor Content – Freelance writers call this “fluff”, and for good reason. The content is thin and has little value in the grand scheme of the site, serving only to make it appear as if the site is fleshed out with fresh, relevant content.

• Hacking – Some spammers do not even have their own site. They just hack yours as a way to display spam-related links or content. This is the best reason to fix vulnerabilities within your site.

Manual Action versus Algorithm Action

Google maintains manual spam-fighting teams that, since 2005, expanded as far as India, Ireland, China, and Japan. They find sites that, although appearing on Penguin 2.0’s radar, are legitimate, like the homepage for Essex restaurant in NYC which could initially be flagged as porn.

Overall Google has reduced efforts to manually identify certain types of spam because algorithmic updates like Penguin 2.0 do the job more efficiently. According to Google, Penguin’s primary function is to lower the rankings of sites that use web spam strategies.

Some look at Google’s algorithms to shut down spam and see it as an attempt to block the flow of information. Actually Google promotes free expression and the free flow of information, according to their website. The exceptions include:

• Spam that affects rankings
• Phishing sites that send fraudulent emails
• Malware that could harm your computer
• Legal requirements
• Prevention of identity theft

Working with Penguin 2.0

When you work within Google’s website guidelines, then Penguin 2.0 will work to keep your site in the search rankings. The best way to work within the guidelines is to regularly update your site with fresh, unique content that is relevant to your site.

When using keywords, make sure they read naturally and don’t feel forced or awkward. And take advantage of Google Webmaster Tools, which provide you with detailed summaries of the state of your page on Google, such as how visible it is and how you can increase your chances of getting found.

Finally some other website seo analysis tools offered by third parties are also useful in staying within Google’s good graces, including Check My Links Broken Link Checker, SEOmoz PRO Tools, and Hubspot’s Marketing Grader.

Freelance writer Melissa Cameron is also a wife and a mother, which makes working from home pretty convenient! She writes on a wide variety of topics which leads to visiting a plethora of websites, such as www.tvsinternetmarketing.com that she used when writing this article. When she isn’t working Melissa enjoys yoga, knitting, and family time.

The post How Penguin 2.0 Puts Up A Tougher Fight Against Web Spam appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Social media as we know it today is not even 10 years old, and like children that same age, it can be unruly, wild and amazing. But the opportunity to reach thousands and beyond with a single web page or a well-placed post is attractive to small business owners.

If you spend even a week on Facebook, you’ll discover that identifying and connecting with your “fans” takes real effort. Your target audience doesn’t just show up because your page exists. You have to engage them, consistently. You have to share and give a little insight into what your business does and the people behind your brand. The goal is to put out just the right amount of information so you don’t come off cold, distant and too corporate to connect; all while avoiding a deadly dose of TMI – too much information. 

A Public Meltdown

Apparently Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, owners of Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro, didn’t get the memo about oversharing. When they reached out to Chef Gordon Ramsay for help, they had the chance to work one-on-one with Chef Ramsay while appearing on his television show, Kitchen Nightmares. Sounds good right? Think about it: Professional help and nationwide publicity.

Well, the Bouzaglo’s went from a kitchen nightmare to a social media horror show. According to Raphael Brion of eater.com, Gordon Ramsay walked out on the duo stating “I met two owners I could not help. It is because they are incapable of listening.” After their episode aired earlier this past May, the Bouzaglo’s took to their Facebook page to defend themselves against the public response, or as they put it, “the witch hunt.”

While using social media during a crisis to protect your brand, connect with your audience and perform damage control is usually a good idea, a meltdown mixed with prayers and curse words is a different story. Ryan Broderick in This Is the Most Epic Brand Meltdown on Facebook Ever offers a quick play by play, and it serves as a lesson in what not to do on Facebook.

• Don’t curse people out.
• DON’T YELL AT YOUR FANS (using all caps feels like yelling or a lack of experience to the social media savvy).
• When facing a personal attack, your first thought shouldn’t be the first thing you type. You know what it feels like to be mad, so don’t type when you are angry.

So What Are You Going to Do?

Have a little fun with it. Treat your Facebook page like a party, suggested Kelley Weir in Social Media Is the New Cocktail Party.

“Apply the same skills that you might use to work the room of a cocktail party to build the right relationship with your followers and fans,” she stated in the article.

In this vein, Weir highlights a few tips from social media strategist, Penney Fox, including her 70-20-10 rule. When it comes to posting on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and other platforms, Fox believes that:

• Seventy percent of your content should be helpful information that naturally relates to your audience and your product.
• Twenty percent can and should be promotional; after all, you are in business to sell something.
• Ten percent should be for entertainment: fun information, contests or games that relate to your core content.

Even though all marketing – social media included – is about advancing a targeted message, you can and should have fun with it. Like that cocktail party, you don’t want to be the shy person standing in the corner not socializing because you’re too scared to meet anyone new. And you definitely don’t want to be that sloppy drunk who crosses the line of appropriateness.

For small business owners, Facebook is about being the most engaging version of your sober-minded self. Fox nailed it with her 70-20-10 rule, so dive in.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source

By Jamillah Warner (MsJ) 
Liberal arts educated, small business raised, MsJ’s a poet with a passion for visual, verbal and written branding and the author GrittyWriter.com.

The post Are You Oversharing On Your Business Facebook Page? appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Have you ever had a nightmare when you’re driving alone on an empty road and you find yourself suddenly veering off a cliff? We’ve all gone through it: cold sweats, crumpled sheets, shallow breathing, and panic-filled thoughts. We all have nightmares that keep blissful sleep at bay. But you can’t sneak into your parent’s bedroom now for a reassuring hug.

What am I talking about again?

Blogging nightmares!I personally know a lot of bloggers who lie awake at night, thinking about their next posts, wondering how the next Google update will roll out, worrying if their position in the SERPs will hold, and stressing over keywords, visitors, and comments.

It’s chaos up in our heads.

Blogging, as simple and as cute as it sounds, really isn’t that simple. It’s a tedious, nerve-racking, energy-consuming process with plenty of teeth-chattering moments just waiting to happen. 

Your Brain is Empty

Most writers reach a point in their lives when all they can do is stare at a blank monitor. No words ooze out of their brain cells and their fingers refuse to hit any button on the keyboard. It’s basically one of the worst things that could happen to us.

Or is it?

To all writers out there, this is actually a good thing. When your mind runs out of ideas, it’s got a clean slate, which means that it can now write, absorb, learn, and talk about ANYTHING!

I know it’s said that bloggers should stick to their niches. But why not break the monotony once in a while? Your readers will love that you’re flexible and that you’re open to other topics AND your brain will love the distraction from your normal writing thoughts.

Here’s an awesome read about Creative Ideas for Outside-the-Box Blog Posts

You Have No Idea What’s Happening with SEO

How many Penguin and Panda updates have there been? 5? 20? You’ve no idea, do you? Although we try our hardest to keep up with algorithm updates, SEO changes, trends, and predictions, it’s quite hard to wrap our heads around ALL of it.

The shrieking silence of SERP rankings, the cold breaths of forgotten techniques of web design, the foul smells of low traffic and high bounce rate—these ghouls haunt our sleep and keep us awake. We’re afraid because we don’t know. We don’t know because we’re too busy.

But is that enough of an excuse?

Yes. The SEO world should be none of our concern. Sure, we need to optimise our blogs and come up with different strategies on how to market and promote it. But it all boils down to one thing: honesty. If you’re honest about blogging, if you stay true to your readers and your niche, and if you stick to your writer’s voice, then everything else, including SEO, will follow.

Learn about SEO Mistakes Bloggers Should Avoid

You Don’t Know What Your Goal Is

Why do you blog? It’s like asking, why is the Earth round? Why do chickens lay eggs? Why does the sun set?

Questions for the philosophers, and yet I ask you nonetheless. Why do you blog?

“I blog because it makes me happy. I blog because I believe in the power of words and images. I blog because writing is my passion. I blog because my friends do, therefore I should too. I blog because everybody is doing it. I blog to have friends. I blog because I feel lonely and blogging allows me to feel less so. I blog to talk to people. I blog because I believe my ideas and thoughts are relevant.  I blog because my life is an open book. I blog to be popular.”

Image credit: socialsteve

What thought motivated you when you first started blogging? What emotions were running through you? What inspired you? What made you a blogger?

This may require a deeper sense of self and perhaps a few hours (even days) of reflection. NEVER lose track of why you’re blogging in the first place. Otherwise, what’s the point?

And now I’ll throw you another question…

Should you cower from these nightmares then? Of course not!

The rigours of the blogosphere shouldn’t scare us from doing what we love. Why let blogging nightmares undermine your potential? Remember that you can’t call yourself successful if you don’t go through trials and tribulations. Blogging isn’t all that different. You have to walk through hellish fires and brave frozen wastelands before you can reach blogosphere paradise.

This dose of blogging inspiration was written by Richard Eaves, a Digital Marketing Specialist at Smart Traffic, an SEO company with offices in Bristol, Australia, Thailand, and the Philippines. 

Lead image via Trenton Schulz

The post Blogger Nightmares: Are You Stuck in Blogging Hell? appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Content marketing is a crucial part of the success of your website. Without it, you will have to rely on unreliable methods of marketing your website’s content – which only results in your content not being seen by your intended audience.

You need content marketing to promote and develop awareness for your content. Here are five tips that will help you improve the content marketing efforts for any website (whether you had it made or you created it with IM Creator):

Identify your goals

Just like any marketing effort, you need establish a plan for action first before you take any additional steps. Ask yourself what your goals are for your website. Identifying your goals will help you formulate a better plan of action that will address your goals and help you achieve it. You should do this even before you write a single piece of content. In order to make sure that your plan is working, make sure that your goals are measurable and set a deadline for when you will conduct the measurement.

Identify your target audience

You should identify the target audience for your content and conduct the necessary research about them. Go online and look for research that has already been conducted by other people on your identified target audience. Ask questions and conduct surveys if you need to. By doing this you can better tailor your content to their needs and interests, which ensures that your content will be more receptive to what you produce.

Identify your exact content strategies

You can divide your content strategies into three different categories – your long form strategy, short form strategy and your conversations.

Long form content will be in-depth stuff like articles, press releases, blog entries. Short form will mostly be your social media content like tweets, Facebook posts, and other social media engagements. Your conversations are your backlinking efforts like forum comments and link sharing. You can decided on what kind of mix you want to do for your content marketing plan just as long as it doesn’t deviate from your goals and doesn’t lose sight of your target audience.

Set up an editorial calendar

An editorial calendar is very important because it will allow you to plot your content and have a more visual idea of how each piece of content will be used and your plan of action. You can add in the specific tasks and tactics for your planned content, suggested headlines, deadlines and even responsibilities. You should also add the targets for your content. Where will you use it? Identify if it’s for your website, for guest blogging or for other content targets you’ve lined up. An editorial calendar will save you a lot of time in the long run.

Promote it

Promoting published content is a very important step, of course. Promote each new published content on your social media network, go to forums and share your links if they are relevant to the discussion. This can be a bit tricky though. Don’t force your links if the content doesn’t fit into the conversation.

About The Author

Shah has been doing content marketing and content creation for design website Design News for the last couple of years.

The post Five Tips for Better Content Marketing appeared first on The Blog Herald.

I could go on and on how much I love WordPress and how I think any blogger should stick with WordPress, but let me lay down several points which provide concrete arguments. Here is why I think a blogger should stick with WordPress.

Easy

For newbies, this is the biggest argument. WordPress is easy to use, no matter how little experience you may have. While it certainly is not idiot-proof (I don’t think there is such a thing, to be honest), WordPress is very user friendly.

Even web hosts include a one-click WordPress install these days. You don’t have to be a brilliant techie to get that done. And once installed, the interface is intuitive. Even if you’re a seasoned blogger, easy is always a good thing!

Customization options

WordPress is certainly easy to use, but if you want to get more out of the platform, you can do so. This is where WordPress becomes very attractive for power users. There is a high degree of customization available, and you can always play around with the settings to make your blog look and behave how you want it to.

This is where elements such as themes come into the picture. There are a lot of free themes and default themes. And if you want more control, there is no lack of premium themes (which offer their own support) as well.

We also can’t ignore plugins, too. Plugins come in all shapes and sizes, and there is a plugin for whatever thing you want to do with your blog. From forum software to stats to importing your Tumblr blog – you have tens of thousands of plugins to choose from.

What about hosting? Again, the choice is yours. You may opt for WordPress to host your blog, you can search for options for best hosting for WordPress. Whether you are a new blogger or an experienced one, the platform leaves the decision to you.

SEO

Search engine optimization has become such a dirty word in recent times, but only because of unscrupulous individuals who have engaged in black hat activities. There is still merit in SEO, though, and WordPress as a platform is built with excellent – and clean – SEO principles integrated. There are even plugins which help boost on page SEO without the blogger having to know the tricks.

Community support

WordPress was born out of a sense of community. It’s what open source is all about, right? Not only is it free to use, but a group of passionate and talented people are behind the WordPress community. If you have any issues – which you are bound to have at some point – you will not be lacking for support. From the official WordPress support documentation to community forums, you will always have someone willing to help you out with your issue.

Conclusion

Yes, there are many other blogging platforms available to you. I think, however, that the above points are more than enough reasons for a blogger to stick with WordPress. At the end of the day, it works, and it works very well.

Images via wpmedic, technologybloggers

The post Reasons a Blogger Should Stick With WordPress appeared first on The Blog Herald.

In a society where the internet is an integral part of many of our lives, internet related industries are flourishing, including Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Without good SEO, website owners will have sites that are barely even noticed by people making searches online, which could make even the best sites all but useless.

With this in mind it is easy to see just why good SEO is in high demand. What’s more is that SEO looks like it will be around for some time yet as it is hard to see how it could become obsolete any time soon. As long as we have the internet there will be a demand for SEO and the internet looks as though it is here to stay, at least that is until something better comes along.

One thing we do know about the internet and SEO, however, is that it is changing all the time. Google Penguin and Panda helped to shake up the internet to help eliminate spammy, poor quality content and it changed the way that many people approach SEO. Without a crystal ball it is hard to say for sure what the future of SEO is, but there are some changes that we are likely to see.

Better Quality Content

Changes so far have helped remove spammy content that offers little but lots of keywords and links, but the battle for improved quality will surely not end there. There’s already likely to be a team of people working away at the Google offices trying to develop and enhance algorithms that favour well written material that is useful and interesting to read. This will favour the better content writers as their services come under increasing demand but unfortunately for those that are not so good, demand for their services will fall away. For the end user, the experience of using the internet will be improved. For sure, a large part of the future of SEO is better quality content.

Greater Competition

Although the internet is already hugely popular worldwide, it has yet to see considerably more growth. As the younger, more tech savvy generations replace the older generations the use of tech will increase and the internet along with it. What’s more is that the internet will become increasingly available in poorer countries, potentially paving the way for literally billions more people to join the World Wide Web. With more and more websites joining the fray, the top places in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) will become more competitive.

Change in Format

There are those that even think the SERPS will become obsolete as developing tech changes the way we use and access the internet. Mobile technology is developing at an increasing rate and with augmented vision technology just around the corner, the internet as we know it may be in for a huge revamp. The introduction of a different format to the internet will mean that SEO will have to be approached differently also and some current methods will become obsolete, with new methods being introduced. Some future SEO related tasks may be very different to how they are today.

Without the ability to see into the future it is hard for us to be absolutely sure what the future of SEO is, but we can at least speculate, and probably with some degree of accuracy. One thing for sure is that if you are in the field of SEO then you should be prepared to adapt as the game changes and it could change dramatically and suddenly. Keep ahead of the changes and adapt where necessary and you will remain at the front of the pack and your SEO efforts will continue to be effective.

Ian Phillips runs a blog and has learned how to use good SEO to keep his ranking high. He uses professional copywriting services as part of his efforts to provide quality content.

The post What Is The Future Of SEO? appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Fast forward to 2013 and 52% of the top blogs worldwide use WordPress with more than 70 million websites operating thanks to the streamlined web software.

WordPress has not only helped non-programmers launch successful websites, it has also created a sense of community for both users and programmers alike.

BUILDING WORDPRESS

Do you remember the clunkiness that was WordPress 0.7.1? The screenshot shown above is a good example of what WordPress was. The platform was full of security holes, the editor focused on only the basic features for placing a post and the word “blog” as in “blog this” signified that WordPress was a platform for bloggers who wanted to share their life and not necessarily a power platform for big business.

The original platform didn’t offer a WYSIWYG editor but for the most part the foundations of what was to come were in place. Matt and his team at Automattic has essentially created a scaleable platform, a framework of sorts that would build upon its future successes.

The what you see is what you get editor (WYSIWYG) was streamlined in WordPress 2.0. The editor made it easier for non-programmers to understand the process of uploading a title, writing a post, and even uploading files. WordPress added simple buttons for adding categories and changing post status.

WordPress 2.0 was the first glimpse into the platforms ability to scale in new and exciting ways. It became easier for plugins to be added into the platform, users could easily manage post authors, and user management became easier than ever.

WordPress 2.5 introduced a major shift in the design of the platform. Criticized by many users as being “too different” from its predecessors the platform ultimately made it easier to add files, add shortcodes, and switch between visual and html view. The shift to 2.5 also meant a new dashboard that while difficult to navigate at first was ultimately an improvement over the prior version.

WordPress left the dashboard alone for WordPress 2.6 and then for the second time in a year the team at Automattic once again changed everything up. This time users loved the new dashboard which featured a left side navigation that made it super easy to navigate options. Announcements also became easy to read thanks to the dashboards widget setup.

While I personally NEVER used QuickPress it was easily accessible for anyone who was still suffering through WordPress use from archaic smartphone devices.

The design for WordPress 3.0 wasn’t a drastic departure from WordPress 2.7 but it did bring with it taxonomies and custom post types.

The new design was more modular than previous versions and security fixes made WordPress a robust and more secure platform.

WordPress 3.5 brought with it a new media editor that allowed for easier gallery creation, feature, and post uploading along with better video file management.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

The developer version of WordPress 3.6 is currently available and once again the team at WordPress has made it easier than ever to deal with multimedia files. These files are important as more web users search out exciting new content.

Part of the new WordPress 3.6 has a Tumblr feel to it. For example, users can add a quote post, throw up a chat, create a gallery, etc.

As always WordPress 3.6 shows a more streamlined approach to post types while providing users with easier modular access to what they want and need for post types.

BUILDING COMMUNITY 

How did WordPress become what it is today? By building a very strong sense of developer community. Tweet This! When Mullenweg released WordPress as an open-source blogging platform he immediately took to his company’s developer forum to scout out new ideas, find contributors, and look for general feedback.

Eventually WordCamps began to form all over the world. Those real-life meetups allows Automattic to really touch base with its users and developers. WordPress went from a nice community with a roadmap to a community that was invested in its progress.

WordPress also allowed for developers to profit off their premium themes, plugins, and support. Not only could open-source developers help contribute to their own plugins and make a profit, that profit motive was a great reason to make WordPress better than ever. After all, the better WordPress becomes the more money developers can make off their awesome plugins.

Automattic even allows its own employees to telecommute if they so choose. It is that flexibility that has allowed WordPress to thrive in an ever changing internet culture.

THE WORDPRESS BUSINESS MODEL

WordPress.com allows bloggers to start their own blogs for free, so you may be asking “how does the company make money.” In fact, WordPress in late 2012 said it expected to earn more than $42 million in revenue for 2013.

WordPress has taken an approach of scale. Rather than charging the mom blogger with her 10,000 pageviews a month to host her blog on WordPress.com, the company focuses on attracting premium websites. For example, CNN, TechCrunch, and various other top rated websites use WordPress VIP.

WordPress VIP costs $3,750 per month on the cloud or $15,000 per year for a self-hosted solution. The company provides an easy to scale solution for that money and the company’s experts at automattic provide feedback to help better a clients websites.

Automattic has also built out helpful program for WordPress users. For example, VaultPress charges between $5 and $40 per month to full backup a users WordPress website. If your site goes down the company based on your payment subscription can upload their site with a few clicks from the Vaultpress platform.

WordPress also offers VideoPress, a platform that allows users to handle their own video uploads with ease.

From VIP support to basic backup programs Automattic keeps WordPress as a platform free, while at the same time earning cash from useful add-ons that users love.

THE FUTURE OF WORDPRESS

WordPress developers continue to build a robust API that allows for better integration with themes and plugins. In the future the company will continue to offer a more streamlined platform.

We can expect WordPress websites to become even faster than they already are and the platform will continue to adapt. HTML5, CSS3, as new options become available for online programming WordPress has been quick to figure out what works and then implement it.

We will continue to see excited new WordPress developers working on the core and as time goes on the core capabilities of WordPress will only strengthen.

WordPress has become a worthwhile and competitive platform in an industry that is still ruled by closed-source platforms. What is more amazing is that it has become a secure platform (outside of bad plugins) that Fortune 500 companies use and everyday users can install and enjoy.

WordPress is the great equalizer on the web and if the future is anything like the past the platform will only get better.

The post WordPress 10 Years Later: How An Open Source Platform Grew To Rule The Web appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with a start. There’s a cold sweat running down my forehead and my eyes are wide with panic. My girlfriend turns over and switches on the light to ask what’s wrong, but I can’t tell her. It’s too horrible…

What is this thought that haunts me and keeps me up at night? It’s the idea that someday I may not be able to make a living online anymore the way I have been for the last five years. You see it doesn’t make sense when you think about it: we can earn money online because we put ads on our websites and bring in lots of visitors, but then how are those advertisers making money? Often they make money by putting ads on their sites, or by selling products on their sites that people hardly ever click. The money goes round and round, but when is anything actually bought?

Then there’s the slight problem of visitors getting sick with all that advertising. No one likes having ads constantly pushed in their face and that’s why software exists that can actually ‘block’ ads from appearing on pages. Couldn’t that kind of damage the whole ecosystem as well?

Futureproofing Blogging

While this feels like a valid concern, I do normally manage to put my mind at rest by thinking about the situation more calmly and logically. When I’m really honest with myself, there’s a slim chance that the internet is ever going to stop being profitable and most of the concerns I’ve listed don’t hold much water. Here’s why…

A Lot IS Sold Online: By no means do those clicks go around and around without anyone actually buying anything. Think about how many things you’ve probably bought online – I know I’ve spent thousands and so have most other people. That’s before you even mention gambling sites or dating sites.

Magazines Survive: The business model of selling advertising space is not a new one and not one that’s exclusive to the internet either. Magazines have been making money this way for years and they continue to do so today. If anything, it’s the publishing industry that should be concerned with the internet encroaching very much on their territory more and more.

New Technologies Make New Opportunities: While some money making models might get less successful with time, there will always be new opportunities cropping up. Crowdfunding for instance has a huge amount of potential for anyone with a good idea for a business or a product and not so long ago it didn’t even exist.

What you really need to do then is to focus on protecting your own bubble and on not relying too heavily on a single strategy. If you have one website with AdSense on it and you rely on SEO as your sole form of marketing, then you are leaving yourself a little exposed. Make your business more resilient by spreading your interests. Create your own product to sell and build an empire instead of one site to sell it from.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source

Mike enjoys blogging and offering tips to his readers on website optimisation and other aspects of SEO. He works with wisdek as an internet marketing consultant.

The post Will The Blogging/SEO Bubble Ever Burst? appeared first on The Blog Herald.

With around 200 million users, LinkedIn is one of the most popular ways to showcase your academic and professional career milestones and to broaden your network with others in the same or different industries.

In a previous post – ‘Become a Local Blogging Celebrity with LinkedIn’, we see that LinkedIn can be an adequate tool to establish yourself as a local expert offering your skills and knowledge to those in need of it. By engaging with locals, for example via Facebook or Twitter, you can easily establish a community with loyal customers and relationships that are fostered by your expert advice and consultation.  The article defined the outcome as a social brand on a local level by pointing out that “while a global network has endless contact possibilities, it is also filled with endless competition”.

In fact, individuals who are not able to stand out from the crowd by being unique or a true expert won’t be able to survive in the global cyberspace. Basing those statements on the concept of LinkedIn, it becomes evident that it doesn’t actually allow the individual to show off his or her unique selling points beyond local borders. By listing educational achievements and your career advancements throughout the past years, you won’t be able to communicate your real passion and expertise to the outside world, especially not internationally.

However, this does not imply that LinkedIn is obsolete. But in order to promote yourself, your work and expertise more successfully, this kind of resume needs to be just one part of your efforts. Particularly, with the increased competition in the marketplace, the increased number of freelancers and self-employed, self-promotion is a vital activity to stand out from the crowd to gain reputation and to network with relevant contacts. You need to present yourself as an expert online in order to stand out.

Just as companies manage their national, international or global brand, your own personal brand needs careful planning and maintenance, too. The process of personal branding starts with identifying your unique selling point – what makes you stand out from your competitors. This brand should be then communicated in a consistent and authentic way in order to be recognised as a true expert. You should, of course, take advantage of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to share your content and knowledge, and engage with others, but to be recognised as professional and reliable, you need to showcase your work, knowledge and even media coverage.

Some people are able to build their own websites, while others pick from a variety of free tools to create a personal ‘landing page’ to link out to their profiles on social media and blogging platforms. One new company in this space, enthuse.me, combines all elements of an professional online presence but does so in a simple and focused way: displaying just a few of your best examples of work and press appearances, rather than everything you’ve ever done, as LinkedIn or about.me would suggest you do.

It’s this focus and ability to concentrate on your present skills and expertise rather than past experience that will help you truly stand out from the crowd.

There is nothing wrong about being a local expert with a social brand. But when looking for greater recognition of your expertise while facing national and perhaps even international competition, professional self-promotion needs to reach further. It is about the right mixture of the previously mentioned elements, namely making effective use of social media platforms to communicate a consistent and authentic personal brand image, as well as to create an expert web presence to show off what you do best and promote it to the world.

About the Author

Stefanie supports the enthuse.me team in PR and marketing. The online tool was founded in 2012 by tech entrepreneur Dan Jacobs and is based in the heart of London’s vibrant ‘Tech City’ in Shoreditch. The team aims to provide a service to help its users showcase their expertise online and promote themselves in the best way possible.

Image via Student of Fortune

The post How to Present Yourself as an Expert Online appeared first on The Blog Herald.

On Friday, the social network said it will offer targeted promoted tweets to users in order to provide a well rounded ad experience.

According to Twitter:

“Synchronized Twitter and TV ad campaigns make brand messages more engaging, interactive and measurable.”

Thanks to its acquisition of Bluefin Labs, the micro-blogging service now has the ability to closely monitor shared content in order to gain a reference point for television programming. The program works even if a user doesn’t explicitly reference the name of the TV show they just watched.

The program works by using what TV ads a user just saw and then targeting promoted tweets around the same product.

For example, if you see a commercial for Dr. Scholl’s inserts, you may find yourself staring down a promoted tweet for the same product.

Twitter is testing the TV ad to promoted tweet platform with only a handful of companies in the United States.

If the test markets for the product are successful, we will likely begin to see across medium ad targeting on a more regular basis into the future.

The post Twitter Promoted Tweets Will Target Similar Ads You Saw On TV appeared first on The Blog Herald.

The opt-in feature requires users to receive an access code on their smartphone via SMS text messaging.

Earlier in the month, it was announced that Twitter employees were currently testing the Twitter two-factor authentication setup. The tests began after several high profile accounts including Burger King and The Associated Press were hacked and disturbing messages were posted to their accounts.

There are some limitations to the type of two-factor authentication being used. Specifically, many high-profile account users have multiple workers who access their Twitter account. Because two-factor authentication relies on an SMS text message to a single smartphone, it won’t work for multiple users. 

According to Sophos Security researcher Chester Wisniewski:

“To do this properly, Twitter needs to go in the direction of Google+ and Facebook. They allow for “company” accounts and then assign regular users to be administrators. No shared passwords, and everyone can use two-factor.”

Twitter is already working on other types of added authentication and writes:

“Much of the server-side engineering work required to ship this feature has cleared the way for us to deliver more account security enhancements in the future.”

The post Twitter Two-Factor Authentication Is Now Available appeared first on The Blog Herald.

According to the study parents are three times more likely to share videos of their kids (27 percent) than a pet (9 percent).

60 percent of parents responded to the survey by acknowledging that they shoot at least three videos of their children per month. 44 percent of those parents said they share at least three videos per month. 

The study also found that 53 percent of parents shoot videos of their kids just so they can share them while 88 percent of parents will share the videos either way.

So dogs and cats doing silly and stupid things is popular, but not quite as popular as happy parents who want to show off their kids.

Here’s the infographic:

The post Parents Share Their Kids Online More Than Their Cats, Study Finds appeared first on The Blog Herald.

But managing all of those different accounts can be a big headache, and anything that makes your life harder will ultimately make you less effective. That’s why you need to read this post, because it is full of helpful tips (on how to manage multiple social media accounts) to make your life nice and simple.

Shall we get started then?

1: Chrome

If you have multiple accounts on the same platform, either because you have a separate personal and business Twitter profile or maybe you manage multiple Facebook accounts, it can all get rather messy. In particular, you have to log out and log back in for each account that you want to manage.

Chrome has a wonderful feature that lets you set up different profiles on the same browser. You can easily switch between profiles by clicking a button in the top left corner and each user profile has its own bookmarks, history and cookies.

This means that you can have a personal profile and a business profile and you can remain logged in to all of your various accounts in parallel. To use your business Twitter profile, simply launch your business chrome profile!

Get Chrome here if you don’t use it yet

2: Buffer

Buffer is a simple little app that lets you queue up your Twitter and Facebook updates in 2 clicks. It comes with a free browser extension (for various browsers, so you’ll certainly find one for your current browser) so you can right click on any page and queue it up to be tweeted or published whenever you next have a free spot (you set a schedule and it follows it).

If you like the idea of using Chrome to manage multiple social media accounts, Buffer integrates very well in this setup. You can set up a Buffer account for each of your Chrome profiles so that you are always logged in and whenever you see something interesting, just Buffer it!

It makes keeping your Twitter stream full much easier, as well as avoid you flooding your followers’ streams when you stumble upon a bunch of links you want to tweet. Instead of tweeting them one after the other, you can use Buffer.

Learn more about Buffer here

3: Cyfe

Cyfe is a marketing dashboard. Full disclosure: this is who I work for, but check them out anyway! This platform lets you create your own dashboard full of widgets that show you, at a glance, how your social accounts are performing.

You can access widgets showing your SERP rankings, Analytics data, Twitter and Facebook performance and even your own custom widgets, so it saves you checking each of your accounts separately. You can set it as your home page and get a quick-glance report each time you open up your browser.

Learn more about Cyfe here

4: The Old Reader

One of the hardest aspects of managing a healthy social media account can be thinking of things to Tweet about. If you only ever share your own content, people will lose interest, so it is helpful to use an aggregator to find good content. I personally find  ‘The Old Reader” to work pretty well.

You can set up a different account for each of your Chrome profiles. All you need to do is browse the latest posts, pick a couple of interesting ones and add them to your Buffer queue, then get on with the rest of your day.

Find the Old Reader here

5: Gmail/Thunderbird

This may or may not be a helpful tool set for you, it really depends on your workflow and how much you use your social accounts, but for me it is essential. If you have many social media accounts you will need many email addresses, which you can set up using Gmail.

Next, you can hook your emails up to Thunderbird (or Outlook if you prefer) so that you can manage all of your emails without having to log in to each account separately.

You can then set up email alerts with all of your various social accounts that will instantly alert you to anything that you need to action.

Get Thunderbird here

About The Author
This post was written by Clive from Cyfe.com, the social media and business dashboard. For more info about Cyfe, please visit our website.

Lead image via serc

The post 5 Tools to Help You Manage Multiple Social Media Accounts appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Even the best, most popular blogs in the world can get stale from time to time. Sooner or later, you’re going to get that nagging feeling that you’ve run out of things to write about. The next time you’re stuck for a blog subject, try one of these to get the creative juices flowing.

1. Pick up a magazine you’ve never read — and never would.

Next time you’re in Barnes & Noble, Borders, heck even Walmart, run over to the Periodicals aisle and grab a magazine that holds zero interest for you. The more obscure and specific, the better. (Don’t just grab an outdoors magazine, pick up one about bird watching or fly fishing.) There are magazines for every personal interest in the world, and the best thing about them is, the people who write for them are true enthusiasts. Wikipedia might give you a complete explanation of what model railroading is, but a magazine will immerse you in the model railroad culture, using jargon and knowledge that only insiders have.

If your budget is zero, try your local library. Most libraries carry plenty of current mags for you to peruse. If you want to take this idea further, sign up for a class on an unusual topic. Read a novel that’s way outside your tastes. Attend a trade show you might consider bizarre.

2. Scan the headlines. Every day.

Say you write a blog on sewing. Head over to your favorite news website and find a story that grabs your attention. Good news, bad news, doesn’t matter, as long as it’s something big that’s happening now and on a lot of people’s minds. Now look at that news story from your blog’s perspective. If you were to write about that news story on your niche-interest sewing blog, what might you say that would do justice to the story while remaining relevant and on-topic to the blog?

Find a common ground between what you already do and whatever’s happening in the world, and a whole new realm of content just might open up for you.

3. Do something crazy, then write about it.

We bloggers are sometimes a bit hermit-like in falling prey to the lull of writing, hunching over the soft glow of our laptops until all hours. But how much can you really come up with to write about by sitting behind the computer 24/7?

Lots of how-to bloggers will tell you to “just shut off the computer and go outside to find things to write about.” You know, head to the park, a museum, a movie, travel the world, blah blah blah. But anyone can do that. Instead, I say once in a while you should get out and do something outrageous. Do something completely bonkers and then write a story on your blog about your gonzo adventure. Jump into the fountain at the mall and pretend like you’re swimming laps. Go to the middle of downtown and belt out your favorite song at the top of your lungs. Crash a wedding wearing clothes that were fashionable in the 70s.

Just get out there and do something nuts. Your readers will love it — and might be inspired to do something outrageous of their own.

About the Author
Hope Rocha lives in Las Vegas, where doing crazy things is required by law. By day, she fights the urge to recommend DSL Internet Providers to senior citizens, while her dream is to one day sell yogurt to hobos in Guam.

The post 3 Creative Ideas for Outside-the-Box Blog Posts appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Google Glass, by design, is a social product. Customers wear the glasses everywhere and therefore, they have the option to easily stay connected on the go.

With that real-time connectivity, it was only a matter of time before social networks jumped on-board.

Announced at Google I/O, the product is now receiving social connectivity via Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and collaboration platform Evernote.

Before those social networks jumped on-board, Google Glass was already connected to mobile-only social network Path.

Each of the social networking options will be available as “Glassware,” the new name for Google Glass apps.

Twitter is currently allowing Google Glass users (mostly developers), to tag their Tweets from Google Glass with the hashtag #throughglass.

The social aspect is also being picked up by other platforms. For example, Elle magazine is curating photos, videos, and read-aloud excerpts that can be shared in article and photos form via Google Glass.

Will you be trying out Google Glass with social media connectivity when it finally arrives to market?

The post Google Glass Is Going Social With Facebook, Twitter, And Others appeared first on The Blog Herald.

The team at USF’s Online MPA took a close look at disaster response to determine what effect it receives from social media.

The team quickly discovered that many agencies are now using Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram to help facilitate rescue and relief efforts.

Researchers examined three specific disasters: The Japan tsunami, the Haiti earthquake and Superstorm Sandy.

The study found that 1 in 5 people in need of help during a disaster reach out for help via social media. 76% of respondents also reach out to friends via social media when a disaster occurs.

The most surprising finding may be that 80% of Americans surveyed believe that state and federal agencies should be monitoring social media in order to find people in need.

Here’s a closer look at the social media disaster response survey:

The post Social Media Is The New Face Of Disaster Response [Infographic] appeared first on The Blog Herald.

While Google’s software platforms  ranging from Gmail and Google Maps to Google Docs and Google.com continue to receive praise the company has failed to keep up with its competitors in terms of media offerings.

To reach a level playing field with Apple and Amazon the company reportedly signed licensing deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. Those two media conglomerates make up a large portion of the mainstream music market and are considered must have partners for any serious online streaming partner. 

According to reports the Google music streaming platform will resemble Spotify by playing on-demand songs on desktop and mobile devices via subscription service.

Google has not confirmed the report but if true it would mean that the search giant will beat a Apple to the music streaming market. Apple is believed to be working on an iRadio feature that would also compete with the likes of Spotify and now Google.

A name for the new Google service has not been revealed at this time.

Are you ready to test drive a Google run music streaming service?

The post Google Announcing Streaming Music Platform At I/O Conference Tomorrow appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Link Building in 2013: Panda Packs a Punch

The recent Panda update was yet another step taken by Google to clean up its search algorithm and further eliminate spam. This update set out to punish those utilizing black-hat tactics and specifically those with poor content. The main focus of the Panda update seemed to be on quality content, as the effects of it were most devastating for those using content farms and spun articles to acquire links.

It also seems as though Panda put a heavy emphasis on relevancy, penalizing those which possessed links to sites way outside of their niche. One of the more famous sites to get hit by the Panda update for these very reasons was J.C. Penny, which can be seen in this article from the NY Times. Although many sites such as J.C. Penny were caught by Panda, there are those who evaded the update and continue to exercise black-hat schemes.

Black-hat Link Building

Black-hat practices, in regard to link building, aim to gain as many links as possible through minimal effort.

One of the primary strategies utilized by black-hat link builders is the use of spammy comments. They will place comments in posts located on other sites that have nothing to do with the actual post; instead the comment just promotes their site and contains a link. This has led to many webmasters implementing moderation into their comments section. Also, it appears that Google has caught onto this as well and these types of links are not as powerful as they once were.

Another tactic black-hat link builders have turned to is creating link farms. A link farm is a site that is created purely to produce links for another site. Some of these sites are well constructed and look legitimate. However, when examining the external links on such a site you will see that they all point to the same place.

Along with these clever schemes, black-hat link builders exploit guest posting. They produce low-quality content and target sites that publish such content with no regard for relevancy. Sites like this tend to raise a red-flag for Google and usually get penalized along with the sites linking to them.

While these strategies will produce quick links, the links obtained are not organic and Google will not reward these types of links. Some of these tactics may produce results in the short-term and some may even go unnoticed for a prolonged period of time, but in the end Google will continue to update its algorithm and eventually expose and punish such shady practices.

White-hat Link Building

On the other hand, there are those who attempt to follow widely accepted white-hat link building strategies.

White-hat link building, for the most part, involves two major aspects. Those two aspects are quality and relevant content. White-hat practitioners aim to produce useful, high quality content on relevant niche sites where it will provide value to the audience.

This type of link building takes much more time and effort, and follows the classic philosophy of quality over quantity. The reason it takes longer to obtain links through white-hat link building methods is because it is much harder to produce interesting and stimulating content; and then, find the best and most applicable location for that content.

There is a reason that although these white-hat techniques are harder to execute and take longer to implement, many link builders still elect to pursue these strategies. This is because this type of organic link building is beneficial for the online community as a whole, which is something Google tends to embrace. The goal for Google is to make navigating the web easier for the user, and they are not going to punish something that does exactly that. This is why these types of link building processes are the future of SEO.

While black-hat link building tactics offer short-term results, Google eventually is able to pin down these types schemes and disciplines them accordingly. White-hat link building practices provide a mutually beneficial situation for the link builder and the internet community as a whole and Google approves of these techniques. If you are implementing any sort of link building projects for your website or blog, I strongly suggest you take some time to thoroughly consider which camp your own strategies fall under before you’re the next victim of a Google algorithm update.

About the Author
Andrew Dennis is a writer at the relevancy-first link building company Page One Power. When he’s not writing about link building best practices, he prefers playing indoor soccer and pick-up games of basketball at the local gym.

Image via t r e v y

The post White-hat Vs. Black-hat: Link Building in 2013 appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Twitter on Monday announced the acquisition of big data analytics firm Lucky Sort.

Lucky Sort is a firm that focuses on natural language data-mining and visualization tools that are used by various online partners.

The company StockTwits is powered in large part by the data provided from the Lucky Sort system.

Lucky Sort will begin to shut down its services over the next few months and the company’s employees will transition to new roles at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.

Among the company’s employees joining the team at Twitter is Lucky Sort CEO and founder CEO Noah Pepper.

In a post regarding the acquisition Pepper writes:

“In building Lucky Sort we had an enormous amount of support from friends, employees, advisors and investors. It has been uplifting to have so many people help us and it highlighted just how much business is a social endeavor.”

Twitter has been putting a lot of focus on big data firms in recent weeks. The social giant recently purchased Ubalo, a company that aims to make large-scale computing more accessible and easier to manage.

Do you think Lucky Sort is a big win acquisition for Twitter?

The post Twitter Continues ‘Big Data’ Buys, Acquires Lucky Sort appeared first on The Blog Herald.