Entries from June 2007 ↓

Even though I think Wordpress is better than Blogger, the new version of Blogger is a big improvement; however, you can not take advantage of these new widgets if you use FTP publishing. i.e. host it on your own hosting account. However, you can host a blog for free, courtesy of Google (who probably aren’t short of a bit of diskspace and bandwidth)

For newcomers to Blogging I would be happy to recommend the use of blogger software. If you want more options and flexibility choose wordpress. Both are pretty good.

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I recently started a new wordpress blog and I found that the new features of Wordpress 2:2 make it worth upgrading.

In particular, I like the new text editor which shows a better html editor (something I was complaining about in a previous post)

 related links

• Useful post about displaying items in certain areas on a wordpress blog. A few tips on php.
• The benefits of linking to other blogs - at Advice for Bloggers
• Six ways to find the right words at Copyblogger. Some useful writing tips. I often start in the middle and come back to the introduction later
• Firefox 3 is coming out soon
• Google Page Rank  - a lot of information about Google page rank, although its importance is perhaps overestimated

I used to have everything on 1 blog. The blog software wasn’t ideal (still in beta), and I found it a bit frustrating being limited by the blog software; but also the problem was that I was trying to do too much on one blog. (blogging on unrelated topics) A few weeks ago I asked at Problogger, whether it was a good idea to switch blog hosts. Soon after asking the question, I decided to start new blogs on specific themes. For example, I moved SEO / blogging to netwriting (here) and economics to Economics Essays. I use my personal blog as general entertainment. I don’t even bother to monetise that blog.

Advantages of Starting New Blog

• I got to choose a relevant domain name for the niche.
• It creates more authority to blog on a specific domain, rather than lump everything together.
• Saves the hassle of switching blog platforms and importing all the old content.

Disadvantages of Starting New Blog

• You lose the benefit of an established domain and in bound links
• More expensive
• Have to start from scratch in getting links, building traffic
• A little more time consuming to have more blogs
• Some people have said that switching domains and importing old content is not too difficult.

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I am a great fan of white space on websites. It gives space for content to breathe.

Somehow it creates a more relaxed viewing experience.

Most importantly it makes text easily scannable. The importance of this can never be underestimated. - some short tips on making content easily scannable

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Recently I noticed my friend, John-Paul, has put a Digg and Reddit button on every blog post. It made me think about whether this would be a good idea to implement:

Advantages of Having a Digg Button

1. Traffic and Links

Get on the digg homepage and you can look forward to a ton of traffic, and more importantly a range of new inbound links. This is just what Google likes. A few entries on the digg home page can really make a site.

2. Digging your own rarely works

To get on Digg home page it is best if your posts are digged by other people, especially those who spend time at Digg and build up a genuine account. Digg are quite good at spotting and downgrading accounts which promote a lot of content from one small blog (i.e. self promotion)

3. Save Time

My philosophy is that I am a webmaster. If I spend my time at Digg building up network of friends e.t.c then I won’t have time to post and write. Having a button, hopefully, means you don’t have to worry about getting promoted through Digg, you can leave it to others. *Spending time at Social bookmarking sites can be a great way to lose productivity. see increase productivity)

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In this post I looked at reasons why a good title is essential. These are some suggestions for turning a bland title into one that captures the imagination of the reader.

For example, suppose you write an article about “Getting links to your blog” On its own this is particularly boring, especially because this topic has been done many times. These ideas can make it more attractive. Which do you think is most interesting? which would you want to read?
1. How To:

“How to create more inbound links to your blog”

• We read articles if they are informative, how to, suggests we will be told something useful.

2. Secrets:

“Secrets of Gaining inbound links”

This suggests there are actually some new ideas for getting links that haven’t been covered on the other 10,000 + SEO blogs.

3. Myths:

“Myths about getting inbound links to your blog”

• People love the debunking of conventional wisdom

4. Question:

“What is the most effective way of Getting inbound links?”

• Encourages reader participation

5. Top 10:

“Top 10 Strategies for getting more inbound links”

• The popularity of lists on the internet, never ceases to amaze me .

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1. The title determines whether the post will be read.

I use Mozilla bookmarks for my RSS feeds. I look through all the titles and choose to read the ones with good titles. Boring or ambiguous titles can mean your visitors only take a momentary glance at your blog and then move on.

2. Titles determine Success in Search Engines.

Choosing keyword rich titles is an essential factor for determining traffic from search engines. If you choose a very short title like “Links” or “SEO advice” don’t expect any traffic from Google. You need to choose titles with less competition, but with keywords people still search.

3. A good title sets up the rest of the post.

Don’t choose an ambiguous title. If the title is clear it can give your writing focus. As a general rule, don’t try to cover too many things in the same post. It is better to split it up.

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Blogger Tips and Tricks:

If you have blogger you can use a hack to be able to split posts with a More Button like Wordpress

other useful tips at Blogger tips and tricks

Blogger offers much more options if it is hosted at blogger domains. either as blogspot or with your own domain.

That seems best deal free hosting, but using a proper name, rather than .blogspot.

However, if you have a site on another site and publish using FTP, the new blogger options are not available. I will soon bite the bullet and convert all my blogger blogs to wordpress.

Useful tip: Guest Blogger

Guest Blogging can be a good way to create new readers / links. I haven’t had time to check it out, but this site looks promising.

Anchor text

Useful article on Anchor Text at SEO basics.

BE careful not to overdo it. ALso worth looking at: anchor text devalued