Your Library for the latest IT Security News, Alerts, Threats and Tips and Android Games
Recent Articles
Home » Posts filed under Blogging Tips
Showing posts with label Blogging Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging Tips. Show all posts
Monday, 22 December 2014
Monday, 22 December 2014
- 0 Comments
There are an almost unlimited number of ways to increase traffic to your blog, but if you’re stuck for ideas, here are 101 simple tips to get you started. Enjoy!
Content Makes King
- Write eye-catching headlines.
- Write excellent content — make a name for blog as a source of informative, useful, funny, entertaining, or inspiring articles.
- Write longer posts — expand on your content, fill out your blog posts and create truly epic content.
- Write shorter posts — follow Seth Godin’s example with short but sweet posts.
- Write more often — the more content you can produce, the better.
- Blog on a consistent schedule so your readers know when to expect new content.
- Write list blog posts — they get more traffic than any other kind of post.
- Write about current news stories.
- Write about topics trending on Twitter and in Google trends.
- Search forums in your niche to see what people are talking about and write an article about it.
- Ask your readers what they’d like you to write about.
- Write about something controversial and start a debate.
- Use link bait techniques to write content that promotes massive sharing.
- Explore your analytics, find out which is your most popular content and create more of the same.
- Interview influential people in your niche/industry.
- Create a “best blogs” list post and let the bloggers know you’ve included them — a bit of flattery can go a long way.
Enhance with Multimedia like Youtube etc.
- Use eye-catching photos and graphics to draw attention to your posts.
- Create Pinterest-friendly graphics with text on top of images to encourage people to pin your posts.
- Create an interesting infographic and share it with everyone you can think of.
- Upload videos to YouTube and Vimeo — make sure a link to your site is in the description and the video.
- Produce a podcast and distribute it through iTunes.
- Convert some of your content into a presentation and upload it to SlideShare.
- Host or take part in a webinar.
- Transcribe your videos and webinars for extra content.
Be Social on facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc.
- Create a Facebook page for your blog. Use it to communicate with your readers and post a notification every time you publish a new blog article.
- Tweet all your posts when you publish them.
- Link to your posts on your Google+ page when you publish them.
- Use social media scheduling software like Buffer to post automatically on social media at the best times of the day.
- Link to your old posts periodically from your social media accounts.
- Join a collaborative Pinterest board and tap into the audiences of all the other bloggers pinning to that board.
- Regularly pin images from other sites. The more you pin, the more followers you’ll attract on Pinterest. Make sure your blog address is in your profile!
- Create a Tumblr blog and add content related to your niche as well as re-blogging content from your own site.
- Set up an Instagram account and tell your followers when you publish a new post.
- Comment on other blogs with insightful, useful comments.
- Link out to other bloggers generously.
- Share others’ posts on Facebook and retweet useful information to your readers.
- Reach out to other bloggers through their blog, by email or on social media — build relationships.
- Follow all the followers of other influential bloggers in your niche on Twitter.
- Include social sharing buttons on all your posts.
- Swap sidebar links and buttons with other sites.
- Include quotable phrases in your content and use Clicktotweet to encourage sharing on Twitter.
- Encourage engagement on your blog by ending your posts with a question.
- Link to all your posts with StumbleUpon.
- Add some of the users Twitter recommends you to follow every day — a percentage will follow you back.
- Reply to your comments and emails — show your readership that you’re interested in what they have to say
- Join blogger Facebook groups and communities to share knowledge and help to promote each other’s content.
- Create a LinkedIn profile with a link to your blog and contribute to groups and discussions in your field.
- Submit your best posts to Digg and Reddit.
- Add your favorite blogs to your blogroll – they’ll notice and may return the favor.
- Ask your blogger friends to include you in their blogroll.
- Collaborate with other bloggers to produce and share content.
Guest Posting And Link Building
- Guest post on other blogs — try pitching to one new blog every week.
- Include a link to your blog in every single online profile you have.
- Set up a free blog related to your niche with supplementary content on Blogger, Livejournal, Typepad etc. and reference back to your main blog.
- Invite others to guest post on your blog — they’ll send traffic your way when they link to the post.
- List your blog in as many free blog directories as you can find.
- Do interviews for other blogs.
- Take part in link parties and blog carnivals.
- Include your blog’s URL in your email signature.
- Post helpful information in forums related to your niche and include your blog’s URL in your signature.
- Post helpful articles on sites like Hubpages and Squidoo with links back to your blog.
- Submit articles to syndicated article directories like Ezine Articles. If your article is re-published on another blog you’ll benefit from extra links.
- Write and syndicate a press release linking back to your blog.
- Use a link inspection tool like Open Site Explorer to find where your competitors are getting links from and copy them.
- Add your blog to Technorati.
- Syndicate your blog on Amazon Kindle.
Search Engine Optimization
- Interlink your blog posts — link to old posts from new ones and edit old posts to link to more recent ones.
- Install a related content plugin to link each post to several other related posts.
- Use keyword research tools to write about the things that many people are searching for.
- Install an SEO plugin like All in One SEO Pack or the Yoast SEO plugin and optimize your site for search engines.
- Use relevant keywords in your image file names and alt tags.
- Use keywords in your post title and subheadings.
- Link out to authority sites in your niche.
- Set up Google authorship on your blog.
Use E-books And Freebies for More Traffic
- Run a blog giveaway or competition.
- Put an opt-in form on your website and send out a free newsletter.
- Publish an e-book and sell it or offer it for free on Amazon Kindle. Make sure your web address is in the first 10% of the book so it shows up in the sample.
- Write an e-book and offer a generous affiliate commission to encourage others to distribute it and link to your site.
- Create a free report and get site visitors to tweet or post about your site on Facebook to access it
- Offer a free e-course or digital product and encourage your readers to tell people about it.
Always Use as Many Offline Ideas
- Include your blog’s URL on your printed business cards and give them out to everyone you meet.
- Attend blogging conferences and networking events — distribute your business cards!
- Speak at conferences and special events.
- Tell your friends and family about your blog.
Other Miscellaneous Ideas
- Enter blogging competitions — your blog will usually be promoted on the website hosting the competition and social media for free.
- Answer questions on Yahoo! Answers and leave a link to your website.
- Ping your blog posts with a tool like Pingomatic.
- Create a WordPress theme and include a link to your site in the footer.
- Choose a beautiful theme for your blog.
- Review products and share your content with brands. They may link to your site from their social media accounts
- Ask a bigger blogger to be your mentor and start a case study about improving your blog.
- Submit photographs to free stock photography sites and Flickr and ask for a credit link back to your site.
- Include a link to your RSS feed.
- Include links to read your blog via Bloglovin‘.
- Link to your best and most popular posts from your sidebar.
- Go back to old posts and edit them to update and improve them from time to time
- Optimize your website for viewing on mobile devices.
- Include different ways to access your content such as category and date archives
- Include a search function on your blog.
- Create an app for iPhone or Android.
- Be helpful and be nice — be likeable and help to solve people’s problems and they will send traffic your way with no encouragement required.
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
- 0 Comments
Basically, Honan’s digital presence was all but destroyed after hackers managed to delete his Google Account, wipe his iPhone, iPad and Macbook and deface his Twitter account. The reason for the attack, according to one of the people behind it, was “lulz” and to play around with a three-character Twitter name.
Honan’s position as senior reporter at Gizmodo did nothing to provoke nor protect him from the attack. Though he acknowledges his mistakes the affair, most sharply his failure to backup critical data (which everyone should have), his sharpest barbs were for Amazon and Apple, who’s security policies made the hack possible.
Though he acknowledges his mistakes the affair, most sharply his failure to backup critical data (which everyone should have), his sharpest barbs were for Amazon and Apple, who’s security policies made the hack possible.
Though Amazon and Apple have responded by updating their security policies, hopefully to prevent future attacks along the same vector, many have been wondering what they can do to strengthen their security online.
The truth is, no security is perfect and anyone who is a valuable enough target can be bit. But you can make yourself a more difficult target and someone who can not be trivially exploited and you can minimize the damage an attacker can do.
With that in mind, here are a few mostly common sense steps that can get you started to being more secure online.
- Make or Write Smart Password Using Letter, Numerical, Upper & Lower Case:
A good password should be long, at least eight characters, easy to remember and contain a combination of lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers and symbols. Most importantly, it should not be a word found in the dictionary nor any variation of one.Also, you should never reuse a password for more than one site and you should never write your passwords down.
If this sounds like a lot, it is. It’s too much for pretty much anyone to do without help.
One solution is to use a device known as a cipher to generate passwords on the fly. For example, you can look at the domain name of the site and generate a password based on it. Basically, to do this, you look at the site you’re at and create a hard-to-guess password from the domain.
For example, facebook might have a password of g1s@v3r$ if you use the cipher of looking at your keyboard and writing the first four letters of the domain “face” using the keys one to the right of the real ones and then breaking up the letters with the numbers 1-4 alternating with the shift function every other time. Look at your keyboard (US) if you are unclear.
Alternatively, you can also use services like LastPass to help you generate, store and automatically fill in passwords. However, these services are a trade off between random, difficult passwords and a new central point of failure. As long as the service itself is secure, you’re most likely fine.
- Two Factor Authentication Attempt:
Matt Cutts at Google recommended this strongly on his blog and I agree.Two factor authentication simply means that you need two forms of authentication to log into a site. However, they have to be two different forms (not simply two passwords).
One form, obviously, is your password (something you know) but the other is usually something you have. These days, your cell phone is the most likely thing as many services, such as PayPal and Google, will send you a text that you have to repeat to log in. Google also, has its own app for most phones and that’s how LastPass handles its two-factor authentication.
This is an incredibly powerful tool because, even if your password is compromised, which Honan’s attack shows it can be easily in some cases, your account is not. It’s very unlikely, barring drastic steps, someone is going to have both your cell phone and your password. One or the other is possible, even likely, but not both.
If your account offers two factor authentication, turn it on as soon as possible. It’s a very powerful step.
- Personal Information:
A lot of sites will ask you to create backup security questions in case you forget your password. Common ones involve things such as your favorite pets name or the street you grew up on.The problem is that many of these things can be trivially researched. However, you can beat this by simply lying on the questions.
After all, there’s no rule that you be honest, just that you remember your answer. If you’re asked for your favorite pet, give the name of your childhood imaginary pet. Ideally, your answers should be related enough to the questions to remind you of what you said, but far enough off base that it’s not trivially guessed.
- Credit Card Common Sense Tips:
Credit cards are like passwords, ideally they should not be used more than once and should never be stored. As Honan’s attack showed, even if they aren’t used for financial gain, they can still be used to open up exploits into other accounts.If you have a bank or a credit card company that will issue single-use credit card numbers, use them. They are immensely powerful. If you don’t, try to avoid storing your credit card numbers and especially about storing one number across multiple accounts.
It might be annoying to re-enter your credit card data every time you want to buy a book on Amazon, but it could be what saves you from a minor hack becoming a major one.
- Bottom Line:
In the end, security is about the trade off between protection and convenience. Most of the things that make you more secure will also take up more of your time.It’s really annoying to have to find your phone every time you want to log in to your gmail or you have to enter a complex password that’s difficult to guess. Life would be much easier if we didn't have to deal with those things.
But, of course, that isn't practical. The problem is that others don’t value your life, your privacy, your information or your work. They would happily destroy it all, whether it’s for profit, a vendetta or just “lulz”, there are individuals who will not think twice about destroying your world.
If you realize that and that no one is too unimportant to be a target, then it only makes sense to take precautions now. Today’s hassle may save you from tomorrow’s attack.
Friday, 31 October 2014
Friday, 31 October 2014
- 0 Comments
1. Create a Facebook page for your app
Post relevant non-sales content your target audience would enjoy and invite everyone you know to like your page. Post updates on your business page, then share them on your personal page. Don’t forget to include links to your app in the market on each story. You can also drive installs for your app using Facebook’s mobile app paid promotion tools available here.
2. Create a Twitter feed for your app
Follow people tweeting about your app's niche, other app developers, leaders in your industry. Retweet and use hashtags deliberately!
3. Update your LinkedIn profile with picture/link to app
Your app link can be positioned in the "other" website slot so you can rename it. You could also add a company page and add your app as a product. We’ve also seen some people create a custom image promoting their app, and including the QR Code, to upload under the images/media inclusions at the bottom of each section on your LinkedIN profile / company page - find out how, here.
4. Post a demo video of your app on YouTube
Make sure you upload videos of your app with a link to download! You can also develop a video showing your app in action. This is useful to add to your YouTube page as well as your blog. Use the appropriate keywords and tags. Here’s a great blog post with all the tools / tips you’ll need to make a great mobile app demo video.
5. Set up a Google + account for your app
Remember that Google’s favorite social network is their own Google Plus, so if you want great search results, this is a key step. Follow communities in your industry and post/+1 interesting content publicly. Try Google Hangouts On Air to broadcast your app launch, live stream and auto saved to YouTube.
6. Add a Download Link in Your Email Signature
We love services like WiseStamp for including social updates and promotional ads linking to the market download pages for your new mobile app. There’s a free version, and it’s super easy to do. Make your emails work for you!
7. Send out a Press Release
Numerous mobile app target specific industries – for example, gardeners, sports enthusiasts, or music fans. Search for an online magazine or blogs that cover your niche and send them a notice that your app is on the market. Don’t forget to include screenshots and a link to download the app. There are free newswire / press release services available across the web, but we prefer some of the paid services like Vocus and SB Wire that have the broadest distribution and can really help from an SEO perspective as well.
8. Ask your users for ratings
Ask your colleagues, friends, and your users too, to give your app a review; and not just once, but through as many social networks, emails, etc. as possible. All comments and feedback is useful, and according to a survey, 84% of users said that app ratings are necessary to them when deciding whether to download an app or not. Don’t be shy. Never tell them what to say, but remember that ALL feedback is helpful. Don’t forget also to respond to those reviews, especially if there are suggestions / criticisms in them. Users will respect your new app business much more if they know you are listening.
9. Start a newsletter or let your existing users know about your new mobile app
If you’ve already got a current community of users subscribed to a newsletter, definitely take advantage of it as another way to let them know about your new app. If not, this is as good a time as any to start one. Just don’t fall for the trap of talking endlessly about yourself; instead offer various and useful content. We’re big fans of MailChimp as a fast, easy and free way to get started with your eMail newsletters.
10. Post QR codes in your store, on your product and other offline media.
When we publish your app you will have received a free unique QR Code that links to your app’s page in all the markets. Place these on your menus, business cards, window stickers, etc. Make sure that you include a call-to-action to encourage use. There are great ideas on sites like moo.com for all sorts of fun things you can print your links on.
11. Feature your mobile app on your website.
This doesn’t mean a small link in the footer. You need to bolster it prominently where appropriate. Take into account using a special offer to get customers to download your app to make it worth their time. Be sure to use your icon or screenshots to really make them pop.
12. Run a contest
Encourage people to tweet and share content on their social networks promoting your app in exchange for entry into some contest to win a great incentive/prize. A random person every week can win a promo code to download your app for free if it is a paid one. Here is a great blog post to help you to be sure that your app sweepstake / contest is legal and following best practices.
Thursday, 30 October 2014
Thursday, 30 October 2014
- 0 Comments
Monday, 27 October 2014
Monday, 27 October 2014
- 0 Comments
Use these 10 tips as a guide for creating remarkable blog posts:
1. Remarkable blog posts focus on one point and one point only.
One of the first things I do when I sit down to plan a blog post is determine the one and only point that every reader should take away after reading it. Sure, you’re going to need several supporting points, but if you stay focused on that one objective, your readers will stay focused with you.
For instance, after you’re done reading this post, I want you to think, “Wow. I need to start (continue) creating remarkable blog posts and use these ten tips as a guide, or my material will get ignored.”
2. Remarkable blog posts help someone out.
If you’re about to hit publish and you can’t say to yourself, “This is going to help at least one person
if not potentially thousands—do something better, learn something new, or discover a new way of thinking about something,” then you’re not doing your job.
The great bloggers understand that educating and entertaining the audience is the best way to keep them coming back.
3. Remarkable blog posts follow the same story structure you learned when you were nine years old.
A blog post should be written like any other piece of content—it needs a well-defined beginning, middle, and end. Start with an outline (like your fourth-grade teacher taught you) and your final product will almost write itself (almost). Keep it organized, both from a formatting standpoint and from a copy standpoint, and you will keep your reader’s head in the game. Who knows, he or she may even make it through the entire post, which brings me to my next point…
4. Remarkable blog posts are skimmable.
If you’ve captivated your readers enough that they are hanging on every word of your post, good for you. You’ve definitely created a remarkable blog post.
For the rest of you, make sure your blog posts are skimmable. Your reader should be able to skim the post, pick up the main points, and decide whether he or she wants to dig in deeper on a particular topic. Use methods like bullets, headings and sub-headings, numbered lists, and bolded call-outs to achieve this.
5. Remarkable blog posts use headlines that are both relevant and attention- grabbing.
My stance on headlines is a little different from others’. Some believe that you should focus exclusively on the attention-grabbing aspects of the headline, most times at the expense of the relevancy of the headline. Not only is that unfair to your readers, but when they do click over and realize that the headline doesn’t match the content, you just lost them.
I used to write my headlines last. That was a mistake. I now write them first, because a great headline can inspire a great post, or even change your initial direction for the post. I write a bunch of headlines, maybe five or seven, and then after I’m finished with my blog post copy, I go back and see if I need to adjust. Occasionally I’ve gotten it right the first time, but more often, I adjust or combine part of one with another to create the winner. Copyblogger is a fantastic resource for those looking to write great blog post headlines.
6. Remarkable blog posts follow a great headline with an even better opening paragraph.
Writing a remarkable intro is an art form unto itself. You’ve sold the reader with a headline and a subsequent click, but now he or she is in the theater, waiting for the movie to start, and it better be awesome.
There are plenty of things you can try here – some people like asking compelling questions or making a statement that might challenge common opinion on your subject, creating controversy in your reader’s mind. Others, like myself, typically start with a quick and personal story or include a jaw-dropping stat. Regardless of your technique, this is no different than the lead paragraph of a newspaper or magazine article; it is what has to draw the reader into the rest of your piece and capture attention. Your intro paragraph needs to contain a compelling hook—some reason to keep reading, and should always give the reader a succinct overview of what you plan to cover in your post.
7. Remarkable blog posts cannot contain sloppy errors.
The greatest ideas—and a remarkable post—can be ruined by the really simple stuff: spelling errors, formatting problems, murky visuals, awkward spacing, or broken links.
In carpentry, errors are avoided using a “measure twice, cut once” mindset. In blogging, I say it’s more like “edit thrice, publish once.”
8. Remarkable blog posts are optimized for humans…and for search engines.
This, like many of the other nine points, deserves its own post. If you’ve been blogging for an extended period of time, and you’re not seeing the benefits of organic search traffic, then you’re likely doing something wrong from an SEO standpoint.
9. Remarkable blog posts are easily shareable.
Just today, I checked out a prospective client’s blog, and when I got there, I was pleasantly surprised at the volume of content. Then came the cringe-worthy moment…all that content, and so difficult to share. No LinkedIn sharing option. The Tweet button led to a dead end. And there was no easy way to forward along via email.
Creating remarkable blog posts is hard. Sharing them should not be. Allison Novak’s 7 Tips for Social Sharing will get you started down the right path.
10. Remarkable blog posts include a call to action.
If you’ve followed these steps and created a remarkable blog post, you now have a captive audience. They may want to move on to something else, but at least give them an opportunity to hang out and get more involved with what you’re doing.
Keep your calls to action short and simple. Some might offer the reader more information, like “Read these related blog posts.” Others might be calls for engagement, like “Anything to add? What else makes for a remarkable blog post? Share in the comments.” Another option is to offer a different piece of content that allows the reader to delve deeper into the blog post topic, like “Want more blogging tips? Download our ultimate guide to creating remarkable blog posts.” All will create an increased level of audience engagement.
Saturday, 23 March 2013
Saturday, 23 March 2013
- 0 Comments
- The user must know what the site is about in seconds: attention is one the most valuable currencies on the Internet. If a visitor can not figure what your site is about in a couple of seconds, he will probably just go somewhere else. Your site must communicate why I should spend my time there, and FAST!
- Make the content scannable: this is the Internet, not a book, so forget large blocks of text. Probably I will be visiting your site while I work on other stuff so make sure that I can scan through the entire content. Bullet points, headers, subheaders, lists. Anything that will help the reader filter what he is looking for.
- Do not use fancy fonts that are unreadable: sure there are some fonts that will give a sophisticated look to your website. But are they readable? If your main objective is to deliver a message and get the visitors reading your stuff, then you should make the process comfortable for them.
- Do not use tiny fonts: the previous point applies here, you want to make sure that readers are comfortable reading your content. My Firefox does have a zooming feature, but if I need to use on your website it will probably be the last time I visit it.
- Do not open new browser windows: I used to do that on my first websites. The logic was simple, if I open new browser windows for external links the user will never leave my site. WRONG! Let the user control where he wants the links to open. There is a reason why browsers have a huge “Back” button. Do not worry about sending the visitor to another website, he will get back if he wants to (even porn sites are starting to get conscious regarding this point lately…).
- Do not resize the user’s browser windows: the user should be in control of his browser. If you resize it you will risk to mess things up on his side, and what is worse you might lose your credibility in front of him.
- Do not require a registration unless it is necessary: lets put this straight, when I browse around the Internet I want to get information, not the other way around. Do not force me to register up and leave my email address and other details unless it is absolutely necessary (i.e. unless what you offer is so good that I will bear with the registration).
- Never subscribe the visitor for something without his consent: do not automatically subscribe a visitor to newsletters when he registers up on your site. Sending unsolicited emails around is not the best way to make friends.
OTHER PRECAUTIONS MUST READ CAREFULLY:-
Please Do Not Abuse If u Not Try This Correctly.
- Do not overuse Flash: apart from increasing the load time of your website, excessive usage of Flash might also annoy the visitors. Use it only if you must offer features that are not supported by static pages.
- Do not play music: on the early years of the Internet web developers always tried to successfully integrate music into websites. Guess what, they failed miserably. Do not use music, period.
- If you MUST play an audio file let the user start it: some situations might require an audio file. You might need to deliver a speech to the user or your guided tour might have an audio component. That is fine. Just make sure that the user is in control, let him push the “Play” button as opposed to jamming the music on his face right after he enters the website.
- Do not clutter your website with badges: first of all, badges of networks and communities make a site look very unprofessional. Even if we are talking about awards and recognition badges you should place them on the “About Us” page.
- Do not use a homepage that just launches the “real” website: the smaller the number of steps required for the user to access your content, the better.
- Make sure to include contact details: there is nothing worse than a website that has no contact details. This is not bad only for the visitors, but also for yourself. You might lose important feedback along the way.
- Do not break the “Back” button: this is a very basic principle of usability. Do not break the “Back” button under any circumstance. Opening new browser windows will break it, for instance, and some Javascript links might also break them.
- Do not use blinking text: unless your visitors are coming straight from 1996, that is.
- Avoid complex URL structures: a simple, keyword-based URL structure will not only improve your search engine rankings, but it will also make it easier for the reader to identify the content of your pages before visiting them.
- Use CSS over HTML tables: HTML tables were used to create page layouts. With the advent of CSS, however, there is no reason to stick to them. CSS is faster, more reliable and it offers many more features.
- Make sure users can search the whole website: there is a reason why search engines revolutionized the Internet. You probably guessed it, because they make it very easy to find the information we are looking for. Do not neglect this on your site.
- Avoid “drop down” menus: the user should be able to see all the navigation options straight way. Using “drop down” menus might confuse things and hide the information the reader was actually looking for.
- Use text navigation: text navigation is not only faster but it is also more reliable. Some users, for instance, browse the Internet with images turned off.
- If you are linking to PDF files disclose it: ever clicked on a link only to see your browser freezing while Acrobat Reader launches to open that (unrequested) PDF file? That is pretty annoying so make sure to explicit links pointing to PDF files so that users can handle them properly.
- Do not confuse the visitor with many versions: avoid confusing the visitor with too many versions of your website. What bandwidth do I prefer? 56Kbps? 128Kbps? Flash or HTML? Man, just give me the content!
- Do not blend advertising inside the content: blending advertising like Adsense units inside your content might increase your click-through rate on the short term. Over the long run, however, this will reduce your readership base. An annoyed visitor is a lost visitor.
- Use a simple navigation structure: sometimes less is more. This rule usually applies to people and choices. Make sure that your website has a single, clear navigation structure. The last thing you want is to confuse the reader regarding where he should go to find the information he is looking for.
- Avoid “intros”: do not force the user to watch or read something before he can access to the real content. This is plain annoying, and he will stay only if what you have to offer is really unique.
- Do not use FrontPage: this point extends to other cheap HTML editors. While they appear to make web design easier, the output will be a poorly crafted code, incompatible with different browsers and with several bugs.
- Make sure your website is cross-browser compatible: not all browsers are created equal, and not all of them interpret CSS and other languages on the same way. Like it or not, you will need to make your website compatible with the most used browsers on the market, else you will lose readers over the long term.
- Make sure to include anchor text on links: I confess I used to do that mistake until some time ago. It is easier to tell people to “click here”. But this is not efficient. Make sure to include a relevant anchor text on your links. It will ensure that the reader knows where he is going to if he clicks the link, and it will also create SEO benefits for the external site where the link is pointing.
- Do not cloak links: apart from having a clear anchor text, the user must also be able to see where the link is pointing on the status bar of his browser. If you cloak your links (either because they are affiliate ones or due to other reasons) your site will lose credibility.
- Make links visible: the visitor should be able to recognize what is clickable and what is not, easily. Make sure that your links have a contrasting color (the standard blue color is the optimal most of the times). Possibly also make them underlined.
- Do not underline or color normal text: do not underline normal text unless absolutely necessary. Just as users need to recognize links easily, they should not get the idea that something is clickable when in reality it is not.
- Make clicked links change color: this point is very important for the usability of your website. Clicked links that change color help the user to locate himself more easily around your site, making sure that he will not end up visiting the same pages unintentionally.
- Do not use animated GIFs: unless you have advertising banners that require animation, avoid animated GIFs. They make a site look unprofessional and detract the attention from the content.
- Make sure to use the ALT and TITLE attributes for images: apart from having SEO benefits the ALT and TITLE attributes for images will play an important role for blind users.
- Do not use harsh colors: if the user is getting a headache after visiting your site for 10 consecutive minutes, you probably should pick a better color scheme. Design the color palette around your objectives (i.e. deliver a mood, let the user focus on the content, etc.).
- Do not use pop ups: this point refers to pop ups of any kind. Even user requested pop ups are a bad idea given the increasing amount of pop blockers out there.
- Avoid Javascript links: those links execute a small Javascript when the user clicks on them. Stay away from them since they often create problems for the user.
- Include functional links on your footer: people are used to scrolling down to the footer of a website if they are not finding a specific information. At the very least you want to include a link to the Homepage and possibly a link to the “Contact Us” page.
- Avoid long pages: guess what, if the user needs to scroll down forever in order to read your content he will probably just skip it altogether. If that is the case with your website make it shorter and improve the navigation structure.
- No horizontal scrolling: while some vertical scrolling is tolerable, the same can not be said about horizontal scrolling. The most used screen resolution nowadays is 1024 x 768 pixels, so make sure that your website fits inside it.
If You Guys Thinks That This Is Nothing Worry About ,So you are waste your time.Its really Works .Only Do that.
And Tell Me If I Wrong!
Thursday, 21 March 2013
Thursday, 21 March 2013
- 0 Comments
If you don't have a person gmail account (must not be your education gmail, such as University of Minnesota gmail account), go ahead and create new gmail account now. It's important that you don't use your official education account as it doesn't have all the features that personal gmail accounts do.
IMPORTANT: When you use your personal gmail account and your personal blog, you should use a different browser than the one that you use for your official education/university gmail, otherwise this causes problems. e.g. I use Firefox for my University of MN gmail, and Chrome for my personal gmail and personal blog.
- Once you have created a personal gmail account, link to the https://blogger.com/start website Click on the orange arrow that says "create your blog now." On the "Create a Google Account" screen enter in the information required, namely: Enter your personal gmail email address, which should be the one that you want to use to be paired with your blog that you are going to create [must not be your official education one. You'll have to retype your email address in the second box.
- Enter password (it's a good idea to write this down somewhere safe -- or email it to yourself and then save the email so you can refer to it later if you forget it). You have to retype the password in the second box.Enter a display name Choose a user name. If you prefer people not to know who you actually are, then choose a fictitious name. e.g. 2tech4me. Accept the terms (it is safe to do and won't generate junk mail). Word verification: type the letters that appear as a graphic above the verification box. This is there to ensure that the blog is being created by a person and not automatically being generated by a computer.
- Click on the "Continue" arrow On the "Name your blog" screen:
- Enter title: This is the title that will appear at the top of your blog page and will also be the default name that will appear in users' browsers when they bookmark/add to favorites you blog, so choose something that will give readers a clear idea of what your blog is about
- Blog address: pick something that you'll remember easily and that is easy to type.
- Click on the "Continue" arrow
- On the "Choose a template" screen:
Scroll through the selections and click on the little radio button next to the name of the template that you choose. e.g. I chose the snapshot template. Note: you can change the template later if you decide you don't like the one you have selected, so don't spend too much time at this point worrying what will look best!
- Click on the "Continue" arrow
- On the "Your blog has just been created!" screen:
- Click on the "Start Blogging" arrow
A window will appear that looks much like a word processing window. Start typing, and use the formatting bar at the top to help you format your entry. e.g. You can change font size, type of font, color, justification, create links and so on. Experiment with these to see what they do.
- When finished, click on "Publish Post"
Once you have posted an entry, a screen will appear telling you "Your blog post published successfully!"
To see the results, click on the link to "View Blog."
To get back to your blog so that you can add a new entry or edit the existing blog, click on the little orange "B" next to the search field at the top left of your browser window. If you are already logged in, this will take you to your blog Dashboard. If you aren't logged in, then you will first need to log in (using the user name and password that you set up when you created your blog -- that's why it's important to write down what these are when you first create your blog).
- From the Dashboard you can:
- create a new post (a new blog entry): click on the "NEW POST" button
- change your blog settings (don't worry about this now, but do explore later)
- edit your existing posts: to do this, click on "Edit Posts" --> this takes you to a screen that gives you the option of creating a new post or editing your entries. To edit entry, click on the "Edit" link next to the entry. This opens the blog in editing mode, and you can go ahead and edit to post blog once you are done editing, click on the orange "Publish Post" button (which takes you to "Your blog post published successfully!" window, and from there, click to "View Blog").
Mistake #1: Treating Your Blog Like a Press Center
The number one mistake that business bloggers make is to treat their blog as an extension of their current press center. Repeat after me: Your blog is not the place for press releases. Blogging is a conversation and it offers a way for your customers to connect with your business on a completely new level. Press releases, on the other hand, are the exact opposite. They're impersonal, they're self promotional, and most readers don't trust them. If you use your blog to republish press releases your customers will have no reason to keep reading and they'll also likely not trust your content.How to Avoid: First, don't ever put out a press release on your blog. You can use your blog to make product or other business announcements, but do so with original writing and in a more casual voice. Second, do use your blog to write about things other than your core business. Share your thoughts on your industry, share insights into the day-to-day work life and processes at your company, and provide tips and tricks you have learned during your time in business.
Mistake #2: Not Blogging Regularly
Think about the blogs you read on a regular basis — how many of them publish only sporadically? Most successful blogs put out new content at least a couple of times per week and try to stick to a regular schedule. Consistently putting out quality content will keep readers returning and over time it will help you build a community and turn your customers into fans.How to Avoid: Blogging regularly isn't easy, so to avoid burning out, brainstorm editorial ideas ahead of time. If you plan to put out new posts every Tuesday and Friday, for example, try not to start writing Tuesday's post on Tuesday morning. Get other people at your company involved so that one person isn't shouldering the entire blogging load, and even consider sourcing content from your customers. Remember that anything can provide fodder for a good blog post, so pay attention to the things you read or see on other blogs, newspapers, magazines, or television.
Mistake #3: Not Enabling Conversation
As I already said, blogging is a conversation, and not allowing it to occur on your blog is a mistake. It's true that blog comments can open you up to criticism, but blogging is an unparalleled opportunity to connect with your customers. You'll get a lot more out of blogging if you enable — and even encourage — your customers to respond to what you write.How to Avoid: Obviously the first thing you need to do is enable commenting on your business blog. But beyond that, you need to remember that the conversation is two-way. Get in there and respond to the comments readers leave on your blog and you'll be more likely to develop a community around your writing that can help turn your customers into fans who will evangelize your products and services and provide you with quality feedback. You should also participate in the conversation on other blogs in your industry by leaving comments on posts elsewhere around the blogosphere. That will help you to establish your "blogging brand" and bring new readers your way.
Mistake #4: Making New Content Hard to Discover
Your blog won't be very helpful to readers if they aren't able to easily find new content. You need to make your blog discoverable and you need to make sure that when you add new content, your regular readers will be able to find it.How to Avoid: There are a few ways to make sure your blog content is more easily discovered.
- Make your blog easy to find by linking to it prominently from your company's web site and including your blog's URL in your email signature, on your business cards, and in sales and marketing collateral.
- Use a full RSS feed (because the goal with most business blogs should be to get read, not boost page views) and make it easy for your readers to find and subscribe to.
- Embrace social media technologies like Twitter and Facebook as a way to notify your fans and followers of new blog content, and make it easy for your readers to share content with each other through social media channels and via email.
- Optimize for search engines by putting relevant keywords in post titles and URL slugs and write about the things that your customers are most likely to be searching for — but avoid sounding artificial simply so you can stuff some more keywords into a post.
Mistake #5: Expecting Too Much, Too Soon
Blogging isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. Your blog won't be an overnight success, and for the first few months it might feel like you're writing for no one. It can take time to build up your readership and have a regular community of people who participate on your blog. Don't expect immediate returns from your blog and do expect to put in a lot of hard work.How to Avoid: Set attainable goals and realize that you're in it for the long haul. Don't cancel your blogging efforts after three months — give it at least a year of regularly putting out quality, original content. And make sure that your blog is easy to find, and that your readers are able to easily comment and share posts with others.
Log in to Feedburner, using the Google account that owns the feed.
Click on the name of the feed you want to provide a subscription tool for.
Choose the Publicize tab.
Choose the Chicklet Chooser option, from the left navigation bar.
Choose one of the options shown: the default one is the standard-size RSS-radar-button.
Scroll to the bottom of the screen and either Copy the HTML that is shown, and add it to your blog in the same way that you would add any other 3rd party HTML,
OR
Choose Blogger from the drop down list beside "use as a widget in", and click Go.
This takes you to a Blogger screen where you can choose which blog you want to add the gadget to (if your current login has more than one), and what title to use for it.
When this is done, click Add Widget.
This takes you to the Design > Page Elements tab, where you can drag-and-drop the widget to wherever you want it.
(When I tried it just now, instead of the layout screen I got a "bad request" message. However pressing Save and then View Blog brought up the blog with the gadget showing, and I was able to go back and edit the layout later on).
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
- 0 Comments
In this tutorial you’ll learn how to add it to your blogger blog.
and you’ll learn how to customize
change the verb, like or recommend.
change it’s color.
change it’s font.
Step 1. adding it to your template.
The button code is given below for copy & paste....
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'> <iframe allowTransparency='true' expr:src='"http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=" + data:post.url + "&layout=standard&show_faces=false&width=100&action=like&font=arial&colorscheme=light"' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:40px;'/> </b:if>
where to add it ?
Log into your blogger account, then go to Layout >> Edit Html.
Before doing any thing you must check [Expand Widget Templates box].
And find the next Code.......
<div class='post-header-line-1'/>
And after it, paste your button code
What, If you didn’t find the code above in your template, The try to find the following,
<data:post.body/>
And paste the button code Before it. click Save Template and you are done.
Some might use blogger old interface. But the old blogger interface will not be available in future. That means old interface retires.
So I write about ‘How to Change Blogger Template in New Blogger Interface’. Below are the step by step procedures to change the blogger template.
1. First download a new blogger template. Lots of templates are available in internet for free.(update: I have collected list of 100 websites to download free Blogger templates to help you to find a best template.) Download a template which you want. The blogger template you downloaded will be an xml file or text file.
2. Login to blogger.You will get your list of blogs
3. Then go to ‘template’ section as given in below image.
So I write about ‘How to Change Blogger Template in New Blogger Interface’. Below are the step by step procedures to change the blogger template.
1. First download a new blogger template. Lots of templates are available in internet for free.(update: I have collected list of 100 websites to download free Blogger templates to help you to find a best template.) Download a template which you want. The blogger template you downloaded will be an xml file or text file.
2. Login to blogger.You will get your list of blogs
3. Then go to ‘template’ section as given in below image.
- Then click ‘Backup/restore’ button which will be at the right top corner.
- A lightbox window will open with two options. First one ‘download full template’ is for making a backup of current template and second one ‘upload’ is for choosing a template from your computer and upload it to change the blogger theme.
If you want, you can take backup.
To change the template first click ‘choose’ and browse for the template you download and then click upload.
This is one of those topics that many would think is too obvious to get so much attention—but they’d be wrong.
Robert D. Smith shows even the most experienced email writer how to improve their technique in this short, sharp post that combines psychology, etiquette, and good old common sense. Are your emails getting the responses you want? Make sure they do in 2013!
- Make Money From a Low-traffic Blog .
Nathan Barry’s no-holds-barred story of how he build a product, and sold it strongly, from a blog with low traffic is nothing short of inspirational. One of the great things about it is how honest he is, and how clear he makes the path to success.
This is a must-read for anyone who’s put off by the traditional make-money-blogging stories and wants to get a head-start on generating income.
- 15 Social Media Mistakes That Are Strangling Your Success
This post provides a full tour of social media mistakes that, surprisingly, we’re still making today.
In it, Georgina takes us back to basics in this post, which, again, would make a good checklist for bloggers to assess their social media efforts every so often.
- Can you REALLY Make Money Blogging?
Last year marked my tenth anniversary of blogging, and this post encapsulates the key learnings I’ve gained about making money over that time.
As you’ll see in the comments, the post resonated strongly with a broad cross-section of our readers, and provided much-needed inspiration for many. If you want the truth about making money blogging, look no further.
- How to Set Up an Email Account that Uses Your Domain Name
Kashish hit a nerve with many readers with this post.As you’ll know if you read post 7 above, having a legitimate email address is critical to being taken seriously online. This post—and the comments that follow—will help you set one up quickly and easily.
Thursday, 8 November 2012
Thursday, 8 November 2012
- 0 Comments
Previously I've explained how to remove the (ugly and confusing) "Subscribe to Posts (atom)" link from your blog, and why RSS / Subscribe to Posts is important to your blog and how to create a Feedburner feed for it.
But an RSS feed is useless unless people subscribe to it. So as well as making the feed, you also need to put something in your blog that lets your readers sign up for it.
A standard option for this is the orange square with "radar" markings on it, which many people call a "chicklet" (since it lets your viewer - the chicken? - have access to the feed you are providing).
Feedburner also has options for:
Using a custom icon from popular web aggregatorsI'm not sure that this is a great idea, because you don't know what feed-reader software your readers actually use, and the whole point of a feed is that you don't dictate how people see your blog.
Using an icon that promotes Feedburner. This cute, but I've never seen anyone use it.
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Thursday, 18 October 2012
- 0 Comments
- 6 Warning Signs That Your Blog is Deflating
Again, another handy post that provides invaluable pointers that help bloggers recognize a downturn and do something about it before it’s too late!
Ashkan’s advice here is clear and straightforward, and the suggestions offered by readers in the comments make a great addition to this post. Why not make it a monthly checklist for your blog in 2013?
- Backing Up WordPress? Don’t Make These 9 Mistakes
We all need backups, but few of us know if we’re doing all we should to protect our online assets.
As Anders Vinther reveals, backups aren’t something that we should be leaving to our blog hosts, or our developers. This is a topic every blogger needs to be on top of, so if you’re not in that camp, check this post out now.
- 4 WordPress Alternatives: The What, Where, and Why
You’ll have noticed a prevalence of WordPress-related posts on this list. But not everyone is on, or wants to use, that platform. Here, Matt Setter steps us through four handy, functional alternatives, explaining who they’re for, and what they do.
If you’re starting a new blog, or looking to move an existing blog, in 2013, maybe you’ll also look for different functionality and flexibility than WordPress offers. If so, this post is for you!
Saturday, 6 October 2012
Saturday, 6 October 2012
- 0 Comments
There are several ways to post a video to your blog. To get started, follow the steps listed below.
Click the black and white clapboard icon on the Post Editor toolbar.
In the popup window, you'll see four options:
Upload:
You can browse for a upload a video from your computer. If this is your first video upload, you must agree to the Terms and Conditions.
From YouTube:
You can search YouTube and select a video to display on your blog.
My YouTube videos:If you have your own videos under you Google Account, you can easily access and upload them through this tab.
From your phone:
If you have Google+ and Android, you can download an application that will allow all the videos from your phone to upload instantly to your Google Account. You can then click From your phone and select a video from your phone to publish on your blog. All content instantly uploaded from your phone is private until you choose to share it.
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Thursday, 16 August 2012
- 0 Comments
How important do you think well written article headlines are when it comes to blogging?
Surely an article’s content is the part that counts most and headlines are just something you simply add as an afterthought when you have finished writing your article, right?
In reality, if you want your blog to stand out from the thousands of competing bloggers, then writing good article headlines is one of the most important things you can do to entice people to visit your site.
Good headlines are so important that they are your 1 to 2 second window of opportunity to sell the premise that your article is worth reading or that your website is worth visiting. 1 to 2 seconds is the average amount of time that a reader scans an individual search item with their eyes before deciding whether to click on it or move on to the next one.
Effective headlines are one of the main weapons of choice for marketing teams because they work so well. The handful of carefully chosen words which make up a typical headline, if written well, can have the power to unlock people’s attention. This is how most news agencies sell their newspapers and even though some of the tabloid papers might have headlines which are a bit on the cheesy side, they still sell based mostly on their headlines.
So now we know how important headlines are, let’s talk a bit about how you can write better headlines. Below I’ve listed some tips you can use when writing your next article headline.
- Make your headline as targeted as possible for your intended audience
Make sure that the headline you write accurately reflects the specific topic you are writing about or the solution you are providing. Your aim as a blogger is to get the attention of specific people who are searching the topic you are writing about and who will be interested in the content.
As soon as a web-surfer becomes a visitor of your blog, the baton is handed over to the content of the article whose task is to deliver to the reader the answer or solution they were looking for.
Therefore if your headline is misleading or your content doesn’t quite match the promise of the headline, then you are probably targeting the wrong people and your visitor will quickly become one of the bounce statistics in your google analytics report.
- Use words which convey the promise of a solution or beneficial information
For instance take the following examples:
"xyz plugin will help triple your conversions"
versus,
"Why the xyz plugin will help triple your conversions"
Although the difference is subtle between the two headlines above, the headline beginning with the word “why” makes it far more effective than the first headline because it contains within it an implicit suggestion that the article will provide information about why the plugin works and the benefits of using it to get higher conversions.
Other effective techniques are to use numbers in your headline to convey a list of ideas or suggestions. For instance:
"7 ways to maximize your chances of making 50 bucks a day from your blog"
You may have seen many examples of headlines in the blogosphere using the above technique, and the reason is that this style of headline is very effective because humans love to quantize data into manageable chunks because it is easier for the mind to digest. Therefore when you begin with such words as “7 ways to…”, a large proportion of people will feel drawn to read such articles because of the promise of a quantized solution or list of concise suggestions or answers.
- Include keywords in your headlines if possible.
This is sort of related to point 1 but it warrants a separate mention. Keywords in your headlines are important because they are what your target audience are using to search for the answers to their questions.
Therefore having the keywords in your headline is like promising your prospective visitors a key to a door which may unlock some of the answers they are looking for.
In summing, your article headlines play a major role in the success of your blog in that they will usually determine whether somebody decides to click on your article link. Good headlines can mean more visitors, but whether they stay or not is then up to the quality of your content.
Friday, 27 July 2012
Friday, 27 July 2012
- 1 Comment
Charles Dearing’s list of his favorite affiliate programs is supplemented in the comments by those of our experienced users.
Any blogger looking to add or ramp up affiliate income in the coming year would do well to look at this list and the advice Charles gives.
How to Set Up an Email Account that Uses Your Domain Name
Kashish hit a nerve with many readers with this post.
As you’ll know if you read post 7 above, having a legitimate email address is critical to being taken seriously online. This post—and the comments that follow—will help you set one up quickly and easily.
Friday, 20 July 2012
Friday, 20 July 2012
- 0 Comments
Our most popular post this year is one of our most recent! But it seems we all want to find innovative ways to use our quality content to expand our readership and online presence.
List of 5 cool things isn’t just about promotion—in it, she provides tips for finding new content ideas, researching your audience, and more. Is it another checklist you could print and use in the coming year?
- ALREADY COVERED TOPICS
One more thing you should remember that don’t cover already written topics and articles. This will never help you in developing your blog’s authority and ranking. Covering unique content and new ideas will make your blog’s base solid in search engines eye.The disadvantage of already covered topics would be, the blog which have covered those topics or relevant topics would have taken visitors on those keywords and articles and search engines are aware of those blogs and keep on giving new visitors to those old articles written on other blogs. The point is, try to bring new concepts and ideas even in the important topics, its your talent that how you write and grab readers interest with the quality of your writing.
- SWITCHING BLOGGING DIRECTION
Blogging direction refers to the policy and strategy a blogger follows for his blog. If a blogger is writing a how-to blog related to lifestyle, then he must spend some time on thinking on high quality content. Once he starts making great content, he should continue to make such type of content; it won’t be good, if he switches to any particular sub-niche or even entirely new niche on the same blog.When you pick up the niche and make content, then search engines relate your blog to that type of content and search terms, and give you visitors on those search terms. If you work on any particular niche and you have made authority in some areas of a niche in 2 years and after those 2 years you pick another sub-niche and start working on that sub-niche by stopping work on your main niche, it would be similar to start a new blog with a new approach. Work on the areas, which you have already covered, because your blog has identity related to those content topics.
For more explanation of this point, I would quote another example, let’s take the example of a good quality web hosting company which starts its business and work on its SEO, the company should focus on their high quality web hosting servers and services to provide good quality service if they are telling to the readers and visitors that they are best cheap hosting company for WordPress blog and they should not switch their focus suddenly on cloud packages in the services on their website and blog.
- SELECTING UNIMPRESSIVE NAME AND LOGO
Name of your blog and logo certainly play an essential role in the progress of the blog. If your blog’s name is not attractive and eye-catching then it would not impress readers and visitors at first sight. An attractive and cool name and logo of your blog would be the positive signs for your blog.Think before choosing your blog name and finalize your logo with the help of professional graphics designer. Color scheme of your logo should be fascinating and should make a connection with the blog.
- UN-MANAGED LAYOUT
A layout of your blog is a sign of your professionalism. If your layout has some missing spots and areas then it would show your lack of professionalism. A blog’s layout should be creative, beautiful, attractive and well managed to help visitors and readers to find and see the entire things offered by blogger. Professional bloggers have best and high quality hosting services for their WordPress blogs most of the times, so if you are spending money on theme and Best quality hosting then try to manage your blog layout as well.
- SHOWING HATRED AND NEGATIVITY
Your blog’s content or blog’s design should not show any type of hatred and jealousy to anyone in the world. You must avoid racism, negativity and all type of discriminations on your blog. This is one of the most important thing to remember in the avoid list for your blog.
- HIGHLIGHTING SPECIFIC BLOGS MISTAKES
You should not highlight some specific blogs or bloggers in order to dishonor them in your blog’s content or banners. Everyone has its own views, style and patterns to follow. If you don’t agree with some competitor’s policies and working style, it does not mean that you should highlight him on your blog. You should be positive and be helpful for others. If you want to help anyone, write to him using his email or contact page very honestly and politely, and show him that you are a positive person and really want to help him.Making someone’s mistakes a part of your content like making screenshots of others blog and adding to your articles to show readers mistakes of the others, won’t be a cool idea.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)