Blogger Tips and Tricks

Create Some Static Pages And Electrify Your Blog!

2010-07-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard over the years about Blogger in comparison to Wordpress is the inability to create pages.

But earlier this year in response to fierce competition from Wordpress, Blogger decided to introduce a new feature which allows you to add up to 10 stand-alone static pages.

Static pages are of course a great way of offering your readers more information about your blog such as “about”, “contact” “advertise” and even “archive” pages.

How to make a static page
Just go to postings and click edit a page. You will then be prompted to create a new page. Give your page a title, and write your page up. Then hit publish. Now you've made the page you can then click and drag it to anywhere on your website. I’ve chosen to have my static pages just under the heading in a tab menu form but they could sit just as easily in the sidebar.

If you're in Blogging for the long haul creating static pages could help generate a bit more spark amongst your reader figures.

How to make sure your blog photos are copyright free

2010-07-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

In this posting we’ll be discussing how you can easily breach copyright law by using a photo you find online, and also looking at where you can find copyright free images to use for your blogging.

“A picture is worth a thousands words” so the old adage goes and I’m a great believer in the idea that even the most complex story can be described with a single still image.

Newspapers and magazines use them all the time – so why not use a photo to help illustrate your blog posting . Advertisers use photos all the time to capture the attention of the reader and the 'right photo' encourages the reader to...read on.

You could get into trouble

But remember photographs like words are protected by copyright. If you do a quick search on Google Images for a particular subject, thousands of images will pop up. But despite so many being available they are unlikely to be copyright free and if you use them without the permission of the owner you could get into trouble.

Most photos are not policed by the owners but some are. If you look closely at some images you will notice that they are visibly watermarked which spoils the image and make it unattractive to use. But others are invisibly water marked and software is availble so they can be tracked , and traced to where they are being used. You could then be sued for breach of copyright. Some of the big companies that offer images have actually done this and slapped several web designers with law suits in the past for using images without permission.

Free photos

But if you don’t have any suitable photos of your own to use to illustrate your story don’t worry … you can easily find thousands of companies offering copyright free photos.

Freefoto.com is one, as it freeimages.co.uk, freedigitalphotos.net, and everystockphoto.com to name but a few. But some companies do request a link back to their website for the use of an image which is, of course, a fair exchange.

So before you're tempted to lift that wonderful photograph you've just spotted, remember if you do that there could soon be an email on it's way to you demanding that you pay for its use, or take it down or be sued!

Save Heartache And Back Up Your Blog!

2010-07-25T06:07:00.000-07:00

In this post we'll be looking at why it's necessary to regularly back up your Blogger Blog and also how to do it in a couple of simple steps.

Imagine how devastated you’d be if you woke up one morning and found that all your Bloger posts had disappeared. Imagine having to begin again from scratch – it would be both demoralizing and heartbreaking.

The threat of losing your blog is real and could happen to any of us without warning. Viruses, hardware problems and technical issues within your server provider are among the numerous causes of data loss. The good news is that we can all easily back-up our blogs so that we are able to retrieve everything if disaster strikes.

Backing up can seem like a daunting exercise, but it really is a very simple process that takes just seconds and will save all your precious posts

All the writing within your posts and the comments can be backed up by creating an .xml file. As well as saving it to your computer it is a good idea to copy it onto a CD, memory stick, or external hard drive that you can then take to another house – you can never be too careful when it comes to the blog you’ve worked so hard on. Try to get into the habit of backing up a couple of times a week or even daily if you post often.

To begin:
Click on the Settings tab on your blogger main menu.

Click on Export Blog in the top centre of the screen as shown below:

Click on Download Blog and then save your blog in a safe place on your computer. Your posts can then be reinstated if the worst should happen by clicking on Import Blog to the left.

How To Add Google Analytics To Blogger

2010-07-24T07:50:00.001-07:00

In this post I'll be discussing the benefits of adding Google Analytics to your blog and also showing you an instructional video how to do it step-by-step.

When you've set up your blog one of the first things I'd recommend that you do is install Google Analytics.

Google Analytics is a handy way of keeping track of the visitors to your blog, where they came from and what articles they are most interested in reading.

And if you're interested in commercialising your blog then without Google Analytics it would be like driving blind - you would have no idea where you are going or when you've got there!

Here's an excellent Youtube video which takes you through the setting-up the process.

If you're very new to blogging and not confident in going into the html coding a simpler way is to add it via adding a Blogger gadget. Go to add a gadget, scroll down until you see "add HTML/JavaScript Add third-party functionality or other code to your blog" Paste in the analytics code, and then click save and it's installed. But don't add a name to the gadget as as it's for your use only.

The Benefits Of Pinging Your Blog

2010-07-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

Here we're taking a look at using a free automatic pinging service to spread the name of your blog across the web and improve its chance of being found by major search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

The benefits of pinging your blog is that it encourages the web spiders to crawl your site faster and help your site to be indexed much quicker. And having your site indexed by these spiders means higher page rank, more clicks from possible prospective clients and hopefully a higher possibility of sales!

And a pinging service also saves you a lot of time and effort, as it notifies lots of search engines and directories of your blog presence all in one blast rather than you having to submit each entry manually.

Here's just a few of the many hundreds that you can find just by typing automatic pinging service into Google: Autompinger, Pingmyblog, Twinglyping

Twinglyping - offers a tool to add to your website so that everytime you write a new blog post and it will automatically ping the new post

How Do I Moderate Comments On My Blog?

2010-07-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

The ability to moderate comments as they are added to your blog can be very handy if you want to catch any comment spam before it reaches your page or if you'd like control over the kind of messages people can leave on your blog. You can find the comment moderation setting on the Settings

Comments tab, along with all of the other comment settings:

Selecting "Always" will automatically enable comment moderation for all incoming comments on your blog. You may also choose to moderate only older comments by specifying a number of days in the "Only on posts older than" setting. Selecting "Never" will disable comment moderation for this blog.

Enabling comment moderation then drops down an email form. This lets you moderate comments via email without affecting your regular comment notification setting. It's optional, since you can always moderate comments through the Blogger interface.

So enable comment moderation from one of the first two options, enter a notification address if you wish, save the settings, and wait for your next comment. All incoming comments will now go to a special "Moderate Comments" page, which you can find under the Posting

Moderate comments tab:

On this page, you will see a list of all the comments that have been created but have not yet been approved or rejected. (This list excludes any comments made by admin members of the blog.) By default, they will be sorted by the time they were created, but you can also group them by their respective posts, by clicking the "Post Name" sort option at the top.

Each line in the list displays the beginning of the comment, the author's name, and the time it was created. Clicking the triangle to the left will expand the row to show the full text of the comment, along with "Publish" and "Reject" links, which you can use to approve or disapprove the comment. You can also select multiple comments and publish or reject them all at once, by using the check boxes on the left hand side and the buttons at the top or bottom of the list.

This entire process can also be done via email. If you entered an email address for moderation, you will get a message for each comment which will contain "Publish" and "Reject" links, as well as a link to the main moderation page for the blog. For example:

Comments that have already been published or rejected are removed from the moderation list. Rejected comments are deleted and cannot be recovered. Approved comments can be deleted in the usual way if you decide you no longer want them.

Only blog administrators will be able to moderate comments. Team members without admin privileges will not have access.

Top 20 List Of The Best Blog Directories

2010-07-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Today we'll be taking a look at various blog directories where you can submit your blog - many are free too!

Once you’ve build your blog and launched it into cyberspace gaining maximum exposure is essential to building a following, readership, and hopefully revenue. Besides the basic SEO steps of adding compelling content and keyword friendly titles, basic link building for blogs begins with listing them in blog directories

Here’s a list of the most popular 20 popular directories:
1. Best of the Web Blog Search Crème de la crème of the Blog world - Best of the Web’s Blog Directory is very fussy and only lists aged and valuable blogs. A link from here is unlikely but if you make it then it's well deserved!

2. Bloggeries has the best categories and subcategories home page on the internet. The layout is clear, and readers are able to find what they are looking for in a jiffy!

3. EatonWeb Blog Directory is a real jewel with many aged inbound links and a blog rating system. You may have to pay a fee for your blog to be reviewed, but like Yahoo, the review fee is well worth the few pounds charge.

4. OnToplist.com is a free human-edited blog directory where you submit the RSS feed of your blog. You can also set up your own micro-directory (blog ranking) and compile a list of your favorite blogs in one place. OnToplist is also a social network that allows you and other bloggers to get in touch and promote your blog by attracting more readers.

5. Blogged.com is an interesting mix of a blog directory and a Google News type site which fuels its news feed from the blogs listed on the site. Blogged.com is very impressive and is free to list your blog.

6. Blogbunch simple and easy to use directroy with many categories to choose from

7. Blog Catalog features a vast directory of categories, from academic to writing, while offering the ability to search by country, language, or user. It has a no frills design, but offers convenient member access through simple blog registration.

8. Globe of Blogs has too many features to list. In order to be listed on the site, the blog must not be commercial.

9. The ultimate directory of British blogs Currently off line but back this summer. All blogs submitted must be British..

10. Blog Universe is the perfect place to promote your video or podcast themed blog. Its layout is easy to navigate. Although the content is limited, it is an all around good directory site worthy of submission.

11. Bigger Blogs is a fairly new blog directory with not as many blogs registered. The blog is intertwined with a business directory. The blog section is difficult to find, and it is located through a link on the right side of the business directory page.But, the benefit is that the earlier you are accepted on a blog directory, the more exposure your blog will obtain. In addition, a back link is indeed a back link, so this can help with your search engine placement.

12. Bloggernity, you find a crisp, clean, and easy to navigate site. Scrolling down, you find the new blogs. As there is little advertising on the home page, it is pleasant to the eye of the reader as well.

13. Bloggapedia has an interesting and eye catching homepage. Readers are easily connected to the top blogs and newest posts. Innovative categories and a colorful design make this blog directory a hit.

14. Spillbean is a well-designed blog directory site with categories such as health, society, internet, and personal. The site is aesthetically pleasing, but there are not many listings yet.

15. Blogging Fusion is a blog with over sixty categories. These categories include photo blogs and family focused blogs. Blogging Fusion has an good amount of blog listings within the directory, and it also has visitor stats available.

16. Blogflux is not only a tool for bloggers, but a directory that has the listings in alphabetic order. The blog listings are organized and clear. It is definitely an effective blog directory in which to be listed.

17. Bloglisting are fun, colourful, and catch the attention of the reader. Bloglisting displays the page ranking blogs, which is a helpful tool when determining with whom you want to exchange links.

18. Blogio may be a small blog directory with few listings, but it worthy of a submission. Despite its small size, there are some quality blogs listed

19. Blog Explosion claims to be the largest blog promoter on the internet. They have a vast directory but do not seem to have direct links. But, the listing in the directory can still show up in SERP’s, so keep this in mind.

20. Super Blog Directory is a great site that offers tools to posters that others do not. You can see the latest submitted links and blogs on the site, which is a perk that draws traffic into the directory.

The above listings are just a brief glimpse of a vast array of blog directories and the valuable inbound links that your can build for your blog and your business.

Free Search Engine Submission Sites/Tool

2010-07-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

If you've got a new site it's important to let the search engines known you're there. Here we list two easy to use free search engine submission tools
1. Submit Corner You'll like this submission tool because it allows you to choose the search engines you want to submit to. This wizard usually takes under 30 seconds and you'll have your site submitted to the top engines instantly. It also has other cool tools you can use to optimize and improve your web site. It's a great resource site! Submit Corner

2. SubmitPlus
Good tool because you have to fill only two fields (Email and URL) and their service effectively submits your web site to the top 10 search engines in less than 1 minute! Its other features include real time status reporting, live confirmation link and an email report. Submit Plus

How To Check Backlinks To Your Website

2010-07-22T08:12:00.000-07:00

Everyone loves to be popular. And a sign of popularity in Google’s eyes are the number of inbound links to your website especially if they are one way only.

So how do you go about checking the inbound links you’ve managed to gather. There are various websites offering a free back links checking service but it’s easy enough to do it yourself.

Just go to Google search and type in link: www.yourwebsite.com (obviously put the name of your website in the section in bold!)

Google will then show you a selection of the web pages that have links pointing at your website home page.

Note: The Links to your site page lists links that Googlebot discovered during its last crawling and indexing process. Not all links to your site may be listed.

Top 50 List of Social Bookmarking Sites

2010-07-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

“Web site promotion is vital” for website success. Many local businesses struggle to find ways to promote themselves, make websites, get links, rank in search engines, and ultimately drive traffic to their websites. Every business needs more visitors for MORE sales. Your customers can only buy from you if they know that you exist! You will need to 'educate your market' about your products / services! The hard work is only beginning when your web site is done.

A brilliant form of internet marketing includes the use of Social Bookmarking. Social Bookmarking sites are search engine friendly and within seven days of submission, links start to appear in all major search engines. It will not only improve your indexing rate but it’s also an excellent way for indexing new websites. It will help improve your website traffic, increase your branding & visibilities and increase your backlinks
.
But you will get tons more traffic if you submit your site manually rather than using an auto submit tool And your efforts will pay off. You can not only just save our favourite websites and send them to our friends, but you can easily spread your site link to other peoples.

Google have created a list of 50 Dofollow Social Bookmarking sites - so get social bookmarking now and attracting that extra traffic. Click read more to access the list
TOP 50 SOCIAL BOOKMARKING SITE

http://trisocialtag.info/

http://socialbinder.info/

http://bookmarkblog.info/

http://php-dug-gs.info/

http://back-flip.info/

http://slashdots.info/

http://freefurl.info/

http://dofollowsubmit.info/

http://duggchase.info/

http://bookmarkpost.info/

http://socialindex.info/

http://socialscoops.info/

http://linksmark.info/

http://dugghunt.info/

http://etornews.info/

http://backlinknews.info/

http://newsdigg.info/

http://latestsdigg.info/

http://wagill.info/

http://mysocialseo.info/

http://mylinksblot.info/

http://coollinksblot.info/

http://phpduggs.info/

http://socialwebpad.info/

http://g-zeed.info/

http://iso-vote.info/

http://scriptduggs.info/

http://friendlyindex.info/

http://smashmark.info/

http://devduggs.info/

http://freestumbleupon.info/

http://theblinklist.info/

http://mister-wongs.info/

http://freepostonfire.info/

http://duggseek.info/

http://freeiso-vote.info/

http://kingdigg.info/

http://freedigging.info/

http://diigomarks.info/

http://coollinksblot.info/

http://freesocialseo.info/

http://socialdiggmark.info/

http://twitmark.info/

http://actualtopics.info/

http://bmaccesz.info/

http://duggpropeller.info/

http://socialbookx.info/

http://mixxz.info/

http://plugim.info/

http://folkds.info/

Social Bookmarking sites are good source of traffic into websites & blogs. You will get tons more traffic if you submit your site manually. And your efforts will pay off. You can not only just save our favourite websites and send them to our friends, but you can easily spread your site link to other peoples. Social Bookmarking allows you to advertise your websites to different social media.

Free Twitter Guide

2010-07-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a great free guide to the benefits of Twitter posted by the Guardian newspaper. If you're in business and you are not using Twitter you are definately missing out on a great free marketing tool.

Don't forget you can follow us on Twitter and we will follow you back

List of the Best Article Directories

2010-07-22T06:20:00.000-07:00

Articles are a great way to promote your website for free, show off your expertise and gain free valuable backlinks to your website.

Below is a list of the the top 21 Article Directories by Alexa rank. Notice that some (NF) will not gain you a coveted back link. Click read more

And f you need some help with writing keyword rich articles then contact WritePress PR or writing press releases .

EzineArticles -The biggest of of article directories. If you could only choose one place to submit your articles, this would be a good choice. PR6

Submit Your Article -This started as an article submission service, but has also turned into a high-quality article directory over the years. PR4

Suite101 – Another monstrous article site. PR7

Helium – An up-to-date article site. PR6

ArticleDashboard -Another staple in article directories. PR5

ArticleBase -This article directory has grown to a PR6 with lots of content and praise from article syndication experts.

GoArticles -This one claims to be the largest, but #1, #3, and #4 give it a run for it’s money. PR4

WebProNews -You have to be selected to get into this one but it’s well worth the trouble. Old and respected. PR6

SearchWarp -Free to submit and serves a lot of articles. PR5

Buzzle -A strong article directory. PR6

Isnare -Also a submission service, iSnare is another strong article directory at PR6.

American Chronicle - Part of a network of article sites. PR6

ArticleCity -Your ordinary standard article directory. PR5

IdeaMarketers -A giant, this is much more than a simple article directory. It is a newsletter builder and management system as well as a “home base” for authors. PR5

Site Reference -This is a content portal with article submission built-in. PR5

Article Alley -A standard article directory. PR5

TheWhir -Another strong article site. PR6

Articles Factory -Mid-level article site. PR4

SelfGrowth -Won’t find this one in auto-submission software. Must become an “expert” first to then get access to submit articles. PR6

Amazines - Standard directory. Nothing fancy here. PR3

Article Snatch – It’s very popular, but is a “no-follow” directory. PR5

Don't Be A Twit - Tap Into Twitter

2010-07-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

SMALL businesses have been feeling the pinch for quite some time and in tough times you can’t always justify spending extra cash on expensive marketing.

But many business owners are failing to use of some of the best marketing tools around.

There’s a website called www.geeks.co.uk that hasn’t spent anything on advertising yet brings in 20,000 hits a week by maintaining and using their social networking sites to full advantage

Sites such as Twitter and Facebook are full of communities of like-minded people and other businesses all looking to feed off each other’s customer base.

Why not tap into a ready-made customer base?

The first step is to set up an account and build a following. Search for your own friends and contacts and add them as online mates. Let your connections start here and the list will grow.

Next, conduct keyword searches, focus on potential customers and invite them to follow you.

To maintain people’s interest in your site keep things fresh and be creative.

Update regularly and in time it will be as routine as your morning coffee

With room for feedback and talking directly to customers, it’s a great way of analysing what areas are attracting most people

Post links to relevant news stories and encourage reciprocal links with other companies to share the spoils. Include pictures of your latest stock, details of your current promotions and keep it friendly and upbeat.

But if you’re simply too busy to do all this then we can help. We will set up a Twitter account, and find you followers. Get in touch now at WritePress PR - Follow WritePress PR on Twitter and we will follow you back (sent an email to wpteam@live.co.uk to tell us though and we can return the favour)

Is Your Website Boring?

2010-07-22T04:44:00.000-07:00

A quick search on the web will quickly turn up thousands of badly written business websites – with far too much back slapping self praise and not enough focus on the customer’s needs.

Here are a few classic copywriting mistakes you may recognise and need to change on your own website:

Irrelevant copy that wastes visitors’ time – You know the sort, packed with meaningless ‘marketing gobbledegook’– ‘our core competencies , ‘state-of-the-art technology’,’collaborative end-user experience’ , blah, blah, blah, … Copy that’s not focused on the reader is more likely to cause yawns and eyes to glaze over than have people clicking the ‘send me more’ info link.

No structure or call to action – Every page should have a point of what it wants the reader to think or do. Rather than endlessly boast about ‘market leading solutions’, the copy should be creating an image in people’s minds of how the product can solve their own particular problem. Hitting people’s emotional buttons is the time honoured way in which marketing gurus persuade the reader to to respond to a call to action.

Copy pasted from the company’s brochure – People skim read online and have the reputed 7 second attention span of a goldfish. So web copy needs to use short snappy sentences, short paragraphs, plenty of subheadings, bullet pointed lists and provide short summaries. It also improves sales by addressing the reader as ‘you’ and writing the copy in a warm tone as if addressing a friend. Ideally, pages should be kept to less than 300 words but if this isn’t possible then use sub headings to bring the text into bite-sized chunks.

Too many keywords (or not enough) – The obsession with SEO to improve a website’s search engine ranking often leads to keyword stuffing and text that is boring and sometimes doesn’t even make sense. A real turn off to the reader!

But you still need enough words in the right places to make sure Google knows what your page is about. So take care to strike the right balance between enough keywords and TOO MANY!

It’s definately important to take some time to run a critical eye over your website and, ask yourself honestly … would you buy from you? If you need professional copywriting help to improve your website’s sales pitch contact WritePress PR now at: wpteam@live.co.uk

WritePress PR also write PRESS RELEASES