I Teach Blogging: Blogging | WordPress

Today we are going to have a bit of fun with a rant that I titled “Holy Crap! There are so many options!”

Now, I wrote this rant a long time ago but it is still true today.

My goal with this blog is to share, inspire and teach. In the process of attempting to make a difference for new bloggers out there, I get so incredibly frustrated sometimes. Dang it, there is so much to look at and choose from.

iTunes Review: http://apple.co/1dgFZzE

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Hi this is Renee’ from I Teach Blogging .com and in today’s podcast I want to a WordPress plugin that I use quite often. This plugin makes my life just a little bit easer each time that I build a blog. So in a moment, we will get down to it but I do want to let you know, at the end of this podcast I will have a tip on a tool that I have been using a lot lately and and seo tip for you bloggers.

Let me start by telling you exactly what we are going to talk about today:
1. A WordPress plugin called MultiPlugin Installer
2. The plugins that I always install first
3. A few if / and / or scenarios
4. An SEO tip about blog tagline
5. A tool called Workflowy

Whew that is a lot so should we get down to it?

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Hi this is Renee’ from I Teach Blogging .com and in today’s podcast I want to discuss a few key takeaways that I had from a conference that I just got back from. The conference was called Podcast Movement and you may be curious how that could relate to blogging, well content is still content no matter the format. So in a moment, we will get down to it but I do want to let you know, at the end of this podcast I will have a tip on a tool that I am loving right now and a social media tip for you bloggers.

First, let me tell you exactly what we are going to talk about today.

1. Have a point of view
2. Be unique
3. 100 bad hours
4. A tool called Long Tail Keyword Pro
5. A tip about tweeting more

iTunes Review Link: http://apple.co/1dgFZzE

https://www.amazon.com/shop/iteachblogging

Featured images are a fun and easy way to add a touch of flair to your blog.

Tip #1: Know your required image size in pixels
Tip #2: Resize your image dimensions prior to upload
Tip #3: Optimize your image

Blog Post link: http://bit.ly/1KOhiJT
Mashable: http://mashable.com/
Drudge Report: http://www.drudgereport.com/
Compression too: https://compressor.io/

iTunes Review link: http://apple.co/1dgFZzE

Just recently, I was giving a client’s blog a slight facelift.
Her blog home page showed the full text of the latest blog post and readers often did not realize that more blog posts were below it.

I wanted her readers to see quite a few blog titles above the fold. This is why I changed her front page to more of a magazine style blog.

However, the theme does not pick up the in post image by default. She must select a featured image for each post.
This is why I made a blog post tutorial about how to do just that. I will link to it in the show notes.

In the blog post you will see how the blog looked before and after. Oh and I include step by step screen shot instructions along with 3 tutorial videos.

This is why picking the proper image is crucial.
Images add personality to a post. They can help you tell the story
⁃They can also help brand you.
⁃You can have quirky images that are fun
⁃They can be flat design
⁃They can always be people or babies or fruit or whatever

So make sure that your featured image is:
Legal
Relevant

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What is a bounce rate?

the percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page.

What does that mean? Renee’s explanation

A stat about bounce rates:
Research shows that the average bounce rate for a blog may be 505 to 70%

http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/04/17/how-to-decrease-your-bounce-rate/


A story about how I just changed a clients site. I will update you at a later point to let you know how it goes.

Story About Susan’s blog ( a client’s blog)

Changed blog page to show preview text
Added related post at bottom of each post (suggested post)

Tips on decreasing bounce rate

Put internal links in your blog post
Add links to your most loved post in your sidebar
Be more interesting
Lower your page load time

You may want to check out my Post about Leveraging Browser Caching. This is a step that I recently took to speed up my blog. I will link to this in the show notes. http://iteachblogging.com/leverage-browser-caching/

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In this episode we have a special guest, Andi Reis.

http://funcitystuff.com
We discuss the perils and joys of working from home. We also discuss my speech at PMx 2015 and how I am nervous. Then we cover the new blog that Andi is starting and her struggles.

https://www.amazon.com/shop/iteachblogging

What is a favicon?

1.an icon associated with a URL that is variously displayed, as in a browser's address bar or next to the site name in a bookmark list.



What does that mean?

Think about when you have Google Chrome or Firefox or whatever you browser that you use open and you have a lot of tabs open. It can be a challenge to find a specific website but you recognize that little icon of the site or company, so you know which tab to click on. This is what it is and an example of why you want to have one.

Tips on Favicons:

The image should be square.
In most cases the image needs to a .ico (icon file)
The size of the favicon is 16 x 16 pixels

How to turn a png image into an ico image?
There is a free online conversion tool called Convertico: http://www.convertico.com/ The link is in the show notes.
There is also a tool that will convert a jpg file that I will link to in the show notes: http://icoconvert.com/

How to add a Favicon:

Your theme may have a way for you to easily add a Favicon, so look for that first.

If that is not an option then you can doing a complicated ftp upload or you can use a fairly new WordPress Plugin called All in One Favicon. Currently this plugin is being run on over 200,000 sites so that is a good sign. Now if you use this plugin I want to note that you will see a warning that this plugin has not been updated in over 2 years. However, I just read some great and recent reviews on the plugin, so I would still give it a shot. Sometimes plugins just work and don’t need a lot of maintenance.

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So I ran across a tip from a new community that I joined on Facebook. It is called Screw the 9 to 5 and I wanted to share that tip here. This is a tool to help you find good places to leave blog post comments. There is a warning coming though, so be prepared.

http://apple.co/1dgFZzE
http://dropmylink.com/

I am not exactly sure what I think of this concept yet but I am looking into it for sure. First, let’s talk about blog post commenting.

1. I think that blog post comments are an important part of the process. If for no other reason than supporting a blog.

2. Can I just rant for a split second? It makes crazy that bloggers are starting to turn off their comments. I get it. I get the theory behind it and the reasoning but it still feels rude. It feel as though these bloggers who have “made it” in air quotes there b/c they have lots of money now, don’t want to hear from us or connect. They sure did when they were starting out but now I find myself visiting their blogs less and less. It just feels bad as the reader.

Now, I know that I often wind up eating my own words. Therefore because of this rant I will probably come to you some day and tell you that I am shutting down comments. If I do please challenge me.

3. This is the point of this tool so let’s dive into the meat of it all. The reason that I learned about this particular tool used in the way that I am about to explain has to do with an SEO technique.

In my opinion this is a big grey and who knows how it will shake out in the future but it is related to link building.

One of the factors that Google factors in to their algorithm is how many other sites link to your site or blog. Getting links is complicated and frankly not something that I believe should be actively pursued.

However, I do believe in commenting on blogs. The key to blog commenting is to leave real and meaty comments. Do not just say “great post” and move on with your life. This does not add value at all. However, if you can leave an in depth comment that adds to the conversation then you are doing a great for everyone involved.

Co schedule has an amazing community of commenters on their blog. I have found such wonderful bloggers just from their comment section alone. There can be a whole other community happening in the comments and that is just way cool.

So why is this grey? Well, using DropMyLink, the site that I just learned about, helps you find blogs that still give back links in the comment sections.

Google has implied to us that blog comments should be no follow, which means that you don’t get a back link for leaving a comment. Of course, we want links because they add important SEO value right?

Well, some blogs are using old versions of commenting tools such as Comment Luv and they still give out that backlink. You can use this site to find those blogs around a certain topic such as happiness or couch surfing, ya know whatever you are in too. Then you go to those blogs and leave a lovely comment and if it is approved you will get a backlink.

Am I going to do this? Yes, I am but only some. I will plan on a ratio such as for every 4 comments that I leave on a blog that doesn’t provide a back link, I will do one that does. This way it will not appear as though, I am suddenly trying to scam the system…ya know cheat.

Also, I will only leave comments if I really have something of value to add. So I will leave a link to this DropMyLink.com in the show notes.

What are you thoughts on blog post comments? Do you allow comments on your blog? Do you leave comments?

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iTunes Review: http://apple.co/1dgFZzE

The Course: http://iteachblogging.com/how-to-start-a-blog/

In this podcast I cover why I created the course, who the course is for and what tools that I used to create the course.

https://www.amazon.com/shop/iteachblogging

iTunes Review: http://apple.co/1dgFZzE
Media Temple: http://bit.ly/1f492rf

1. Didn’t realize it was a hack.
2. We just thought that it was a plugin problem.
3. Turned out it was noted as being hacked on Google.com
4. Decided to roll it back b/c was hosted at Media Temple WordPress hosting.
5. Rolled back 1 week.
6. Did not have Google Analytics or Webmaster
7. Had to confirm with Google that site was no longer hacked.

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/190597?hl=en

https://www.amazon.com/shop/iteachblogging