How to Truncate WordPress Posts without Creating a Partial RSS Feed – Post Teaser WordPress Plugin

I own a blog for women working in the field of business (Women on Business) that is written by a team of contributors with varying levels of ability when it comes to WordPress.  I wanted to truncate the posts on the home page to clean the design up a bit, but I didn’t want to ask each writer to insert the HTML More tag in their posts.  Also, the contributors don’t always include images with their posts, so I needed a solution that ignored the image component entirely.

At the same time, I wanted a solution that ensured my blog’s full feed would not switch to a partial feed.  I don’t have time to redesign the site right now, so I needed a quick and easy solution.

I thought about it for a while before I finally remembered the Post Teaser WordPress plugin!

The Post Teaser WordPress plugin is a great solution for WordPress.org users who need a quick, easy, and free solution to automatically truncate blog posts on their blog home pages without cutting the RSS feed to a partial feed.  Even if you don’t care about whether or not your feed is full or partial, the Post Teaser WordPress plugin is still a handy thing.

It takes seconds to install and set up the Post Teaser WordPress plugin.  You can determine where your posts are truncated, and the plugin automatically truncates all posts at that location (or close to it if necessary for better formatting).  Also, you can customize the link message that visitors click on to read the full post.  It’s a simple plugin that can help streamline a cluttered home page or a blog that is written by multiple authors with varied styles.  In other words, the plugin helps entries appear more uniform.

So if you’re not ready to redesign your blog and want to control where all of your posts are truncated without affecting your blog’s feed, give Post Teaser a try.

Note that the WordPress Plugin Directory lists the plugin as only being compatible through WordPress 2.8, but I use it with WordPress 2.9.2 without any problems.

Do you truncate posts on your blog’s home page?  Do you use a plugin?  Do you truncate posts manually?  Or does your theme truncate posts for you?  Leave a comment and share your experiences and preferences!

Image: stock.xchng

The Benefits of Splitting Off Into Microsites

This is a guest blog by Modi Mann, an SEO expert who loves usable Web design. He works for a toy company that specializes in Christmas gifts

Are two blogs and/or websites better than one?

Many website owners, as their businesses expand, come to the dilemma of splitting their sites into a few microsites so they can rank better for their targeted terms. This is not really an easy topic and before you make such a radical move there is a lot to take into consideration.

Reasons to Split a Site Into Microsites

1. Your brand name is not doing very well and you would like a part of the business to be re-branded and market it separately.

2. Your businesses are expanding into a few different niches, thus the one site you have can’t really serve all those different businesses.

3. You think that by splitting your site into several smaller ones you will manage to engage the visitors interested in a particular service or product. Conversion may increase as users will think that they are at a specialist’s website rather than a generic one offering all sorts of services or products.

Risks and Dangers

There are certain risks you will be taking by making such a big change and you need to think carefully before you make any decision. [Read more]

The Complete Guide to Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing

Search Engine Optimization often is a difficult topic and not every blogger agrees that much time should be spend at it but too often people discussing the topic do not know what it all entails. So we sat down and created a What is SEO? infographic.

The graphic covers all basics of SEO and explains the different components of search engine optimisation: link infrastructure, keywords, social media campaigns, PPC and linkbait.

[Read more]

Bet You Didn’t Know that Site’s Built on WordPress – Tufts University

This is the first post in an ongoing series I’m writing for Performancing.com called, “Bet You Didn’t Know that Site’s Built on WordPress” where I’ll highlight businesses and brands using WordPress that might surprise and inspire you.  If you thought WordPress and blogging was just for hobbyists and personal blogs, you’re wrong.

Today’s installment of “Bet You Didn’t Know that Site’s Built on WordPress” features Tufts University, one of the leading higher education institutions in the United States and located just outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

Each of the student and administrator blogs sponsored by the Tufts University Office of Undergraduate Admissions runs on WordPress.org.

The main Tufts Blogs site offers links to recent posts from each Tufts University blog as well as a list of all the blogs in the left sidebar.

The Inside the Dean’s Office blog offers insight from Dean Coffin, which is written in his own voice and with a touch of humor that makes it far more interesting than you might expect from the dean of a leading university, as you can see from the post shown below.  You can read his post here if you can’t see it in the image below.

The Tufts Engineer blog is pictured below.  Each Tufts blog is simple in design with the same background and the only change being in the post content and the About page link.  I’d actually like to see better branding at the top of each blog to better identify what each blog is about that makes it unique and interesting.  The consistency in the background is a good idea, but I’d like to see uniquely branded headers or some other way to better identify what visitors can expect to find in each specific blog.

Despite the need for better individual blog branding, Tufts University shows from its blogs and its use of WordPress that is is keeping up with the essential technology and social media conversations that students, donors, businesses, and communities expect to see.  Furthermore, the prominent links to Tufts University Facebook, Twitter and YouTube profiles are done well to maximize community and relationship building opportunities.

What do you think of Tufts University’s use of WordPress.org and blogging?

5 Easy Ways to Give Your Blog an Overhaul

It’s summer where I live, and summer is a great time to give your blog an overhaul.  That doesn’t mean you need to invest hundreds of dollars or more on a new design, but it doesn’t mean you need to invest hours upon hours either.

There are a number of things you can do that can freshen up your blog that take very little time and no money at all.

Five easy suggestions for a blog overhaul are listed below:

1. Clean up your sidebar.

Are there old ads or images in your sidebar?  Are you showing a list of links that no longer add value to your blog?  Can you rotate ads or try something new to make your sidebar more useful to you and your readers?  Your answers to these questions can give you a list of easy ways to freshen up your blog.

2. Check links.

Do links in your static pages and navigation bar work?  Do you have a blogroll in your sidebar?  Are the links in your blogroll valid or do they need to be edited or replaced entirely?  Broken links can be very annoying and damage the user experience on your blog.  Now is the time to fix them.

3. Add plugins or add-ons.

Could you boost the performance or appearance of your blog by adding some simple WordPress plugins or add-ons for other blogging applications?  Many plugins take minutes to install but can have a significant impact on your blog.

4. Invite a guest blogger.

Add a new perspective to your blog by inviting a guest blogger to publish a post.  It’s an easy way to add some interest to your blog content, save you from writing a post for a day, and help you build a relationship with another respected blogger.

5. Get more social.

Are there links to your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (or other social media) profiles in your blog’s sidebar to help you build relationships with your readers across the social web?  In addition to including links, you can also use widgets from sites like Twitter, Facebook and Twitter to further promote your activities across the social web.

What’s the first thing you do when it’s time to give your blog a boost?  Share your tricks for cheap and easy blog overhauls by leaving a comment below.

Image: stock.xchng

Get More Page Views – Add LinkWithin to Your Blog

Want to get extra page views on your blog and encourage visitors to read some of your older posts?  If you use WordPress.org, there are a variety of related posts plug-ins that can help you automatically display links to related posts at the end of each of your blog posts (I like YARPP – Yet Another Related Posts Plugin).

Even if you don’t use WordPress, there is an option for you!  And if you use WordPress but would love to show images with your related posts link, then you should keep reading, too.

LinkWithin is a free (and currently ad-free) widget that you can configure for your blog in minutes.  It works on WordPress, Blogger, and TypePad blogs.  Just visit LinkWithin.com, enter your email address, blog URL, blogging platform, and the number of stories you want to show in your widget into the form provided on the LinkWithin home page.  Check the box in the form if your blog uses light text on a dark background, and click on the Get Widget button to get the instructions and code to copy into your blog to display related posts with images at the end of each of your posts.  It’s that easy!

The image above shows you what related posts displayed using LinkWithin look like at the end of a WordPress blog post.

Getting additional page views can help you in a variety of ways, particularly if you want to make more money from blog advertising.  Many advertisers are interested in learning how many page views your blog gets per month, so they can compare apples to apples when evaluating advertising opportunities between different sites.  The more page views your blog gets, the more you can realistically charge and expect to receive for ad space sold on your blog.  Also, if you participate in impression-based advertising programs (where you’re paid based on the number of times ads are displayed), then increasing page views on your blog can boost your earning potential from those impression-based ads.

Furthermore, adding links to related posts helps your readers stay on your blog longer, get a better idea of what your blog offers, and develop a greater interest in you and your blog.

LinkWithin uses your blog post titles, tags and content to find and display related posts.  Don’t worry if you don’t use images in all of your posts.  LinkWithin displays text links only when the majority of the related links discovered for a specific post don’t have images attached to them.

Bottom-line, LinkWithin is free, easy to install, and easy to remove if you don’t like it.  Why not give it a try and see if it boosts page views on your blog?

What do you think?  Do you use LinkWithin or another plugin or tool to display related posts on your blog?  Leave a comment and share your preference!

The 3 Blog Laws of Self Hosting (Ignore Them At Your Own Risk)

Despite the benefits of blogging upon Blogger, WordPress.com, OnSugar (for Drupal lovers),  or a microblogging site like Tumblr, there comes a season in your life when you must embrace the trials and tribulations of self hosting your blog.

Fortunately in the age of social networking and blogs, most hosting companies offer clients “one click” installs allowing users to upload the blog software of their choice without having to resort to using the infamous FTP (which only geeks love).

Aside from finding yourself a decent host, there are 3 laws of self hosting that you should follow which will not only prevent damage to your blog’s data (as replacing it via Google cache can be a pain), but also of your wallet as well.

[Read more]

Avoid Legal Trouble by Knowing Copyrights Matter on the Social Web, Too

Bloggers and online publishers have to follow copyright laws just as any traditional publisher must.  However, there is a gray area of copyright law, called fair use, that many online publishers refer to when their content is called into question.

So what are the copyright laws and fair use legalese that you need to know as a blogger so you stay out of legal trouble?

First, understand that claiming ignorance is not a viable excuse in a court of law.  The onus is on you as a publisher to know the laws that apply to you.

Second, understand that every piece of written content, audio content, video content, image content, and so on is owned by someone.  Whether the person who created it owns it or the piece is owned by someone who purchased it or derived ownership in some other way — the bottom-line is the same.  Someone owns it!  Therefore, the owner holds the rights to that piece of content and that piece of content is automatically protected under copyright law in the United States (laws might differ in other countries, so if you live in another country, be sure to do your research and learn the laws that apply to you).  That means, the owner holds the copyright to that piece of content.

Third, understand that you cannot re-publish another person’s work without their permission or acceptable compensation per copyright laws.  Permission can be written and compensation could be monetary or another form of payment that the owner agrees to.

Wait a minute!  You might be wondering – “does that mean that I have to get permission to use every image I publish on my blog that I didn’t create?”

Technically, yes.

But don’t freak out yet!  This is where fair use comes into play.

Fair use is that gray area of copyright law that says you can republish another person’s work for the purpose of adding commentary, criticism, education, research, or news reporting.  However, that’s a pretty vague description that just about any online publisher could hide behind.  And that’s exactly why fair use is so gray.  If someone accuses you of copyright infringement, you could defend yourself claiming you republished the work under the guidelines of fair use.  However, that’s not a solid defense, and you might not win.  Again, it’s a gray area of the law that is not cut and dry.

So what’s a blogger to do?  You need images to add some visual appeal to your blog, and you want to be able to refer to other content that you read online and want to discuss on your blog within your posts.  However, these copyright laws are really limiting your creative flow.

Don’t worry.  There are several ways to get around strict copyright laws, which I’m going to discuss in more detail in my next couple of posts on Performancing. 

In a nutshell, here’s the gist of what you should avoid if you don’t want to get in trouble with the law:

1. Don’t plagiarize.  It’s okay to quote a snippet of another person’s content, but don’t republish the entire piece and pretend you wrote it.  That’s breaking another law entirely!
2. Always attribute your sources with a link to them within your blog posts.
3. Don’t use an image on your blog unless you have permission to do so or it has a copyright license attached to it that allows you to use it.  (I’ll be writing more about this next week).
4. Find images, audio, and video content to publish on your blog that you’re actually allowed to use.  (I’ll give you some good sources in a post next week).

So there you go — copyright laws for bloggers and online publishers condensed into approximately 500 words and devoid of legal jargon.  Stay tuned for lots of additional copyright help here on Performancing!

How to Get Massive Traffic to Your Blog Contests for Free

Blog contests are a great way to drive short-term traffic to your blog, and hopefully, if your prize is relevant to your blog topic, some of those new visitors who come to enter the contest will poke around your blog, enjoy what they see, and return!  Even better — they might tell their friends about your blog, link to your content from their own blogs and social web profiles, and more.

In other words, a blog contest can kick-off the compounding effect of blogging and help your blog grow in the short term and long term.

How do you get massive traffic to visit your blog and enter your blog contest?  Fortunately, it’s very easy and only takes a few minutes thanks to several websites that allow you to promote your blog contests for free!

Following are five websites where you can promote your blog contests for free.  All you have to do is register for each site and enter the information for your contest to get it in front of huge audiences of people who are actively searching for online contests to enter.  I have used all of these sites to successfully drive traffic to blog contests except SweepsAdvantage.com, so I can attest to the fact that they work!

1. Online-Sweepstakes.com

This is the best site I’ve used to drive traffic to blog contests.  Just create an account, login, and click on the Sweepstakes Directory tab in the top navigation bar and then the Add-a-Sweep link in the sub-navigation bar that appears.  Complete the provided form with accurate information, and your contest will be added to the directory.

2. ContestBlogger.com

This is another site that successfully drives traffic to your blog contests.  It’s actually a forum that you can register for and then post a new message in the forum to promote your contest.

3. About.com Blogging Forum

The About.com Blogging site has a forum that includes a folder dedicated to blog contests where you can register for a free account and post your blog contests to the forum at anytime.

4. About.com Sweepstakes Forum

The About.com Sweepstakes site also has a forum that includes a folder where you can register for a free account and add your blog contest to the list of contests and sweepstakes.

5. SweepsAdvantage.com

To publish a contest on the Sweepstakes Advantage site, register for a new account and click on the Add a Listing link in the left sidebar.

Blog Contest Promotion Quick Tip: To boost traffic to your contest, make sure the heading/title of your contest sounds really great when you submit it, because that might be the only information people see before they click through to enter your contest.  Make it impossible for them to resist by enticing them with a great title.

And don’t forget to write clear rules in your blog contest post.!

Where do you promote your blog contests to drive traffic to them?  Leave a comment and share your tips!

Image: stock.xchng

How To Leverage The Most Cost-Effective Blog Advertising Method: Blog Commenting

Blog commenting is one of the most effective methods of increasing your brand awareness, attracting visitors to your blog and learning from the best bloggers in the field; thus helping you to fully grasp what your niche wants and needs. Its a blogger’s special tool for launching an effective advertising campaign and the only thing that will be spent with this method is time.

It is a proven method that I see many bloggers use to make strong connections in the blogosphere and grow their online presence to respectable heights. So let’s talk about how blog commenting, the right way, can give you that nudge you’ve been waiting for. [Read more]