1. An easy way is to install WP automatica database backup - this saves going into phpMyadmin. Once installed just click link and backup a copy of database to computer. It can be uninstalled after backing up a database.
2. WordPress automatic upgrade Just install and follow simple instructions. It has worked fine for me.

Improve Performance of WordPress

• WP-cache Install and then activate. you can increase the expiration time from 3600 to 9993600 to make it more static.
• WP-Super Cache offers even better performance making pages static. It requires rewriting .htaccess. Though if the file is writable it will do it automatically. Wp-super cache also enables you to just run ordinary wp-cache

My UK provider – Heart Internet was fine, I had no complaints but I decided to switch Net Writing to my Host I Can reseller account

The reasons were:

1. It will save me money. I already have a Host i Can account so I can add another site at no extra cost.
2. UK web providers tend to be more expensive than US. This is because of the weak dollar and cheaper broadband in the US
3. It’s more convenient to have sites hosted on 1 account, rather than have them scattered on different hosts. (I actually have some other sites on another UK provider, but 2 is better than 3)
4. Host i Can has good features like fantastico and easy file / mySQL database.
5. Moving Hosts has provided me with the opportunity to make a long delayed upgrade of Wordpres 2.3.1 (which has some very nice features). I will also be bringing in a new theme soon.
6. Host i Can provides ‘unlimited bandwidth’ – I have yet to test it on a Digg homepage, but, it would be nice to find out how it does

I could have stayed with a different host for greater variety of IP addresses. This has a minor SEO benefit. (Google tend to discount links if they come from the same IP address). However, I don’t tend to link Net Writing to other sites like Mortgage guide, Cycling and my personal Blog. – There is not much in common.

New Theme Coming Soon! 

Moving hosts was not as bad as I feared. It took a while, but, I learned a few things on the way. I will write about moving hosts soon.

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.

Personal experience

• It was definitely worth starting this site from scratch. The site has a decent readership for a relatively new blog. I think if I had stuck to old domain it would have been more difficult to get Blogging related links.
• I am more motivated to write about SEO / blogging, – I used to feel guilty about adding technical stuff to my old blog, most readers weren’t interested.
• I enjoy using WordPress; there are many plugins and customisations I will implement soon (recently have just been concentrating on content)

Is it Worth Switching from Blogger to WordPress?

The next problems is that I also started several blogs on Blogger, using FTP publishing. However, I now feel there are many limitations to blogger compared to WordPress, see WordPress vs Blogger.

Advantages of Using WordPress

1. Greater choice of plugins and templates
2. Easier to customise individual blog posts
3. I had serious problems with FTP publishing with blogger; even now most blog posts – “publish with errors”
4. Easier to use features like: “read more” – “next page” – These might seem small things, but I think it makes a big difference in the Long Run.
5. Many people have suggested it is worth doing: e.g.

• Search Engine Tigers
• Art of Making Money

But is WordPress actually Better than Blogger?

• If you have a blogger hosted by blogger themselves, you can use their new features. However, using FTP publishing, these new control panels and widgets are not possible. If my blogs wer hosted on blogger, I would probably leave it there.
• Blogger is being developed and presumably Google will try to be the best
• Others strongly support blogger
• The BLogger text editor is arguably better
• Blogger is relatively easy to use. Less thrills and plugins, but a straightforward to start blogging.

Why I will Switch my Commercial Blogs to WordPress
Overall I want to switch to WordPress. It offers the best range of features. I see blogging as a long term investment, the longer I delay switching the more I will regret it, and also, the more difficult it will be.

However, I am uncertain whether to:
1. Import old content and keep same blog (It is not straight forward because I would first need to republish blogger blogs as .blogspot.

2. Start a new Blog on existing site.

I could just start a new wordpress blog and leave all the old content on the old blogger. E.g. At Mortgage Guide I could just add a second blog to the root of the site.

Since I have 5 blogger blogs, I may experiment with importing one and see how it goes. However, since they are relatively new, I wouldn’t lose that many links.

Related Links on Switching Blog Platforms and Redirects

• Cash Quests switches to new domain – Kumiko’s experience of 301 redirect seems to be beneficial. But stuck with blogger.
• Going from WordPress to Blogger
• New Blogger Importer
• BLogger vs WordPress comparison

If you would like to share your experiences of switching blog platforms I would be interested to hear. Especially, blogger to wordpress imports.

Whenever I make a successful improvement I save the new file before moving on. This will save a lot of wasted time.

Changes I made to sidebar:

1. Add RSS button.

It is crucial to encourage readers to sign upto RSS feeds. It is the easiest way to keep new readers.

• Sign up for Net Writing feed
• RSS Button Maker

2. Add Photo

I like the style of this wordpress theme, but it is dominanted by one colour which makes it a little austere / bland. A photo adds a little interest; the only suitable photo I can think of at the moment is one of myself. At least, it gives the blog more of a personal touch.

3. Recent Posts

I added this feature, because I found I liked to use it on other blogs; it saves scrolling down the blog and searching through archives. Rather than use a plugin I used some simple code:

Thanks to Erii for this code: eri’s wordpress blog

4. Moved Archives and Blogroll to bottom To be honest, these are not indispensable, at some time I may remove them completely.

Basically spammers use comments as a mechanism to leave links to their sites The spammers gain in 2 ways:

1. Firstly the link counts towards their page rank / link popularity
2. Secondly they will get some click through to their sites. (even if the % is very small it can be worth doing if you can automate the spam comments.

In response to the real problem of comment and trackback spam, Google suggested implementing the no_follow tag. See Google blogspot. The no_follow tag is like an indicator to the search engines not to count this link when calculating P.R. and Link popularity of a site. The argument is that since the links may be spam, they don’t deserve to gain any credit from in boosting a site’s link popularity. – Which seems a good idea.

The hope was that if comment’s have no_follow then spammers will not have any incentive to leave automated comments and trackbacks in blogs. The no_follow tag soon caught on, and most major blog software use “no follow” as default. However, it didn’t quite work out as hoped.

Problems with No_follow

1. It doesn’t stop spam.

Spammers still have a huge incentive to spam blogs. What they really benefit from is leaving links for people to click, it is kind of like free advertising. See interview with spammer

2. It Penalises Legitimate Commentators

Those who leave, good comments, perhaps deserve a link.

It is quite possible to overide the no_follow tag and give all comments and trackbacks the do_follow tag.

• Do Follow Plugin for WordPress

Advantages for Using Do Follow (getting rid of no_follow)

1. It rewards commentators who make useful additions to your blog.
2. The importance of P.R. is perhaps overstated, bloggers should worry less about “losing PR”
3. Spam is stopped, not by no_follow, but plugins like Aksimet.
4. You may get an increase in traffic, and people interested in your blog. This list of do_follow blogs is popular
5. How much priority do search engines give to no_follow anyway?

Advantages of Keeping No_Follow

1. It may encourage insincere commentators, who just want a link.
2. You may find Mr Credit Card, comes to be very interested in your blog on personal development.
3. People should leave comments for the sake of comments and not for the motivation of getting a free link.
4. The main reward of leaving comments should be greater interaction, exposure, and some traffic.
5. Search engines will probably still be able to differentiate between a link in the body of the post (valuable) and a link in the comments (less valuable)

I am undecided, on balance I think it is a good idea to use do_follow, but I’m not convinced. I would be interested in other people’s experiences or opinions.

• No Follow Revisited – many resources about the history of no follow
• No No Follow | I Follow | Do Follow
• Do Follow Plugin for WordPress
• Chasing a Dream is a do Follow Blog – Blog entry which got me thinking, plus comment from J-P

• WordPress Plugins at WordPress.org
• WordPress Plugin Datatbase

SEO

• Google sitemap
• Optimal Title – Moves Blog title to end rather than beginning

Design

• Clean Archives
  

Comments

• Gravitas – Display Avatar by people’s comments
• Subscribe to Comments
• Do Follow – reverses no-follow tag for comments, not sure about this one yet
• Thank – you - sends thank you to first time commentators
• Edit Comments – allows commentators to edit comments

Blog Posts

• Related Posts
  

Adsense / Advertising

• Adsense deluxe

There are many “Best of WordPress Plugins” this is one of most exhaustive lists – best wordpress plugins