Tapping industry players for relevant, timely content
Improving blog traffic means hooking visitors to your blog and giving them something that will make them go back again and again. One way to do this is to providing relevant, up to date information on topics related to the general theme of your blog.
Blogs are about information; it is one of its key elements. Providing good, relevant information takes work and dedication on your part. For example, providing relevant and up to date information means knowing where to go online to get the latest news and information. To do this, a good idea will be to identify the major players in the field you are writing about and follow their own feeds. [Read more]
Why You Should Backup Your Blog
It would be nice if all bloggers had to worry about was coming up with the next great post. But in a world of constant security threats, even WordPress blogs need to up backed up once in a while. And it’s better if you can backup your blog on a daily basis if you are updating the content that much. There are several very good reasons you should be backing up your blog, but not all of them have to do with hackers or spammers.
Server problems
You may think that it will never happen to you, but servers do crash. And your webhost may not have all those files backup for you. I have heard many stories of those who have had dedicated servers that have crashed and they lost everything that was on their site. Don’t think this can’t happen to you. All of the hard work you put into your blog can be lost in a moment and it usually happens without any warning to prepare you for it. But by having a simple backup of your blog you can make sure that even if your server completely melts down, you will be able to get your site up and running again in a matter of minutes instead of days and weeks. [Read more]
Spice Up Your Blog With 7 jQuery Goodies
You invested a great deal of time and effort into getting your website ready for the world to view. While content is definitely the most important thing, a little eye candy never hurt either. Rather than gambling with proprietary plugins like Flash player, it is better to use tools that every browser on every device supports. Javascript is an excellent scripting choice, and jQuery is a remarkable javascript tool that makes it easy to add animations, effects, and superior functionality. [Read more]
Why Do They Call It Bum Marketing?
When I first started to dabble in Internet marketing it became clear pretty early on that it was all about links, so the next thing I had to figure out was where to get them which lead me to the article directories. The concept couldn’t be any easier, you write an article put your links in it and submit it to one of the directories. With a little more research I started to come across the term “bum marketing” which in truth was a little off putting at the time. Since then I have learned a lot and realized a lot about article submission and now when I see the term bum marketing it brings a smile to my face because if the person really knew the potential of article marketing they wouldn’t refer to it that way, so I can only conclude that they either don’t know how to use it properly or they just overlooked this tactic in favor of a more glamorous method. [Read more]
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.
5 Ways to Drive Visitors Away from your Blog
Writing great content is essential to attracting visitors to your blog and keeping them on your blog for more than a few seconds. The last thing you want to do is drive them away before they even have a chance to read that great content.
If you want to drive people away from your blog quickly, do the five things listed below. If you want people to stay on your blog long enough to read what you painstakingly wrote, avoid the five things listed below at all costs.
5 Solid Reasons You Should Never Quit Blogging
Blogging has become the most popular and 
easiest form of expression online which has also helped many to achieve financial success for themselves and their families. Although we all have various reasons for blogging, a vast majority is driven solely by the idea of making millions online and living the internet lifestyle in the shortest time possible.
Unfortunately, the get rich quick mindset is like a house built on sand and easily gets washed away in disappointment when the reality hits that its going to take some really hard work. At this point, one may experience blogger burnout or just feel like giving up but I say, don’t give up, reassess your strategies, redefine your goals and look at all that can be gained through this fulfilling endeavor.
Whatever your reasons may be for quitting, here are 5 solid reasons for sticking to it and never give up on your blog. [Read more]
The Most Important & Effective Strategy When Business Blogging
Incorporating a blog within any small to large 
organization’s website can be one of the most important decisions that could be made. Blogs are extremely effective for driving sales, web traffic, building brand awareness and strengthening relationships with customers. However, corporate blogging can be somewhat different from a regular personal blog due to differences in goals and audience but at the same time there are techniques that are guaranteed to produce results whatever the goals may be.
Let’s discuss what readers of corporate blogs are looking for and what elements will keep them coming back for more and even make a purchase. [Read more]
Does Your Business Need a Blog?
There’s a growing segment of bloggers who fall into the “business” category, who blog for the purpose of promoting a business, and you might be or become one of them. Businesses are realizing the value of blogging, especially if they’re hoping to establish an online presence.
Does your business need a blog? The short answer is “maybe.” Not every business needs a blog, just like not every business needs a website. However, if you are building any sort of presence online, then a blog is a very good idea.
Why? A website on its own simply isn’t enough to establish an online presence, unless your domain is “aged,” has tons of high-ranking content (from a search engine perspective) that other high-ranking sites have linked back to, and has consistent new content. Many search engines favor sites with regular fresh content — which means the likelihood of more Web traffic.
While you CAN publish lots of regular content on a non-blog site, the tools for managing non-blog content — e.g., a CMS (Content Management System) — are often far too complex and expensive for the needs of smaller businesses. Blogging systems (a lesser form of CMS) may have their limitations, but as most of the best are free and have supportive communities, they can be a benefit when you’re on a tight budget. A few such as WordPress can even be used as a low-end CMS in incredibly versatile ways.
Simply put, your business website needs a blog because if it’s leveraged properly, your site benefits in terms of Web traffic. Readers also benefit, and if they become regular readers due to regular content, their trust grows and they’re more likely to convert to customers. It’s a win-win situation.
So how do you decide whether to have a business blog or not? Here are a few questions you can ask yourself.
- Do you have a bricks and mortar ‘local’ business that would benefit from a broader market?
- Do you already have a website that brings you customers or leads?
- Do you want your customer base to be more knowledgeable about your product or industry?
- Do you want to establish an online presence?
- Do you want to sell your business’ products or services online?
- Do you know about social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook and want to leverage them for your businesss?
There are other questions you can ask yourself, but this is a starting point. If you’ve answered yes to any of these, then having a blog might benefit your business. If this is something you’d like to explore further, search our article archives for other helpful content relating to writing, creativity, productivity and other aspects of blogging. If you have decided to build a business blog and need some help, feel free to contact Performancing Services.
How to Encourage People to Read Your Blog Posts
- Image by The New Fine Arts Lab via Flickr
This is a guest post by Phyllis Zimbler Miller,s co-founder of the social media marketing company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com, where she also writes a blog.
All bloggers share one main goal – having as many people as possible read the blog posts. Leaving aside search engine optimization, links from others blogs, etc., what is the number one way to encourage people to read blog posts?
Make reading those posts as easy as possible, which isn’t always as automatic as it sounds.
The truth is that bloggers are often unaware that their posts need to be served up with elements that encourage people to actually read the posts.
Here are recommended steps on which elements should be used to encourage people to read your blog posts:
Step 1: Make the font size large
No matter what a website design book says about how big the font size should be, you should choose a font size that is easily readable.
I once had trouble reading the content on someone’s blog and politely emailed the site owner suggesting larger type. I got a nasty reply saying that 11 to 12 pt. type was recommended and her type was 11 pt. and it was fine.
In truth, what is fine is font size that is easily readable, not a size that a reader has to work to read. [Read more]
