How Do I Start A Blog: Blogging Guides For Newbies

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First off, congratulations! Starting a blog is a step in the right direction on the digital marketing path! Blogging is full of benefits like establishing expertise, increasing site traffic, a new medium for exiting news and specials, and it can help your site’s search engine rankings. There are a lot of different directions you can take your blog, so let’s go through some of the most popular means.

1. Blogging Niche

This is a crucial decision that will affect the entire life of your blog. There are three factors that should play into this decision: who your target audience is, what you are passionate about, and what your end goal is. The meeting place of all three of these will be where you find the most success. For example, if you goal is to reach out to vacuum salesmen but you’re writing about your obsession of Disney movies, chances are you won’t effectively reach your target audience. Or, if your goal is to make money with your blog but you don’t pick a topic that is of any interest to your audience, the income potential will be hindered.

2. Hosting and Domains

There are several articles on this site that shed light on website hosting. WebHostingHub is a great hosting solution and one of the best for newbies, learn more on Jerry’s href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/hosting-review/webhostinghub/">WebHostingHub review.

You can find a lot of great articles on domains href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/category/web-domain/">here as well. Be sure to think the name of your domain through. Most commonly it is related either to your organization name or a specific campaign/product, but feel free to be creative. However, make sure it is easy to remember or you might lose out on visits from people that can’t remember the URL.

3. Content Management System (CMS)

Gone are the days that you need to know web development to have a website. Several websites are already customized with a CMS and may have a blog plugin that you could easily install on to your website. There are also a lot of great blogging (CMS) that you can choose from. Among the myriad free systems, href="http://www.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">WordPress, href="http://www.blogger.com/home" target="_blank">Blogger, href="http://drupal.org/" target="_blank">Drupal, and href="http://www.joomla.org/" target="_blank">Joomla are my favorites. They are all easy to use, have simple interfaces, and large resources for support, plugins, and themes. You can also check out this article for href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/blogging-tips/23-must-see-free-blogging-platforms/">a list of several more of the common blogging platforms.

4. Design Your Blog

When choosing a design, you will want to pick something that is conducive to your blogging niche. For example, if you are a photographer, having a design that allows a lot of images will be important. If you are looking to pursue affiliate marketing, make sure there is room to place the ads.

There are three different levels of themes you can proceed with: free, purchased, or customized.

Free templates are quick and easy to install, but don’t usually offer the same level of support as purchased or customized. They also are offered to everyone so the chances of another site using the same template as you are a pretty good.

Purchased templates are usually better designed than the free templates, the developers offer more support, and you can often get exclusive rights to the theme so no one else will have it.

Customized templates offer the most flexibility but carry the biggest price. If you need something to fit exact specifications this is the way to go.

If you are familiar with HTML and CSS, any of the options will work and you can customize the template to fit your needs.

5. Install your Theme and Configure Your Blog

Here is where things become very different. Everyone has their own preferences and each platform has its own configuration steps. Thankfully, all of the sites have great how-to’s on setting a site up (href="http://en.support.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">WordPress, href="http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=12439" target="_blank">Blogger, href="http://drupal.org/start" target="_blank">Drupal, href="http://docs.joomla.org/Beginners" target="_blank">Joomla).

6. Social Media Syndication

If you want people to know about your great new blog, you have to set a means to tell them and href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/socialmedia-marketing/5-easy-steps-to-get-10000-followers/">earn new followers from the social media platforms. The Internet is becoming very cross-connected and you can integrate your blog posts with the major social network platforms very easily.

First, most of the blogging platforms have the option to syndicate within the configuration. If they do, use that process. If not, there are several web applications that you can use (my suggestion is Twitterfeed). These applications scan your blog regularly for new posts then post new articles to the networks you indicate (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.).

7. Start blogging!

Once you have your blog set up and ready to go, it is time to start writing content! If you’re looking for more tips, check out Jerry’s href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/blogging-tips/47-blogging-tips-for-beginners/">47 Blogging Tips For Newbies.

Happy Blogging!

Image Credit: href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/barnett/2836828090/" target="_blank">Kristina B.

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47 Blogging Tips for Beginners

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Okay, so you’ve set up your blog. What’s next? Blogging can become a real money-maker when you know what you’re doing. But what if you don’t? After all that excitement about rushing into the blogosphere, it’s time to get your hands dirty and do some real work.

If you really want people out there to visit your blog and get them to comment regularly, then you have to do the following. Don’t get me wrong. You don’t have to do everything. You just have to choose a couple of them and see what works for you. If one doesn’t work, you can always discard it and give another one a go. I’m pretty sure at least one of these will work for you! ;)

Beginner Tips For Bloggers

1. Get yourself ready. Blogging is not as easy as 1, 2, 3, nor is it as quick as lightning.
2. Pick an attractive blog name, but a name that tells your readers what your blog is all about.
3. Write content that is unique and useful for your readers. Plugging your blog or some other product tends to turn readers away.
4. Link your blog to other related blogs.
5. Promote your blog ONLY when it’s up and running already.
6. Don’t paste your link anywhere you can paste it. Users will consider you spam and you can get banned for it.
7. Cross-promote your content by linking to previous posts.
8. Open up to your readers. Tell them who you are, why you’re blogging, and what kind of readers you want to have.
9. Work with other bloggers who share your goals. You’ll find it easier than working alone.
10. Some comments will always be against you. Accept that and move on.
11. Nothing screams SPAMMER! more than links used as your signature in the comment body.
12. Don’t make comments too long. You can use the material as a new blog post.
13. Choose a blog niche that’s not too narrow but not too broad either.
14. Write something that’s interesting to you. Blogging should be a passion, not something you force yourself to do.
15. Post new content once or twice a week. This’ll help you avoid burnout.
16. href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/inbound-marketing/headlines-writing-guides/">Write compelling headlines, those that pull people into reading your posts.
17. Avoid cluttering the sidebar with too many widgets.
18. View your blog on different browsers to see how different users can view your blog.
19. Limit the number of items on your home page. Don’t put all posts in there.
20. Reduce the size of your images to 50KB. Anything bigger than that and it may take forever for your blog to load.
21. Stick to JPEG images, PNG, and GIF. Avoid BMP.
22. Use animation sparingly. Loud and annoying pictures are not attractive.
23. Invite guest writers to write posts for your blog.
24. Don’t use too many guest posts or your readers will think you’re always having the day off.
25. Always proofread your content before clicking the Publish button.
26. Join a blogging forum, like Bloggeries, BloggerTalk, and Bloggst.
27. Read other blogs. That way you have an idea of what others are saying and might even help you think up of something to write on your next post.
28. Reply to comments. This lets your readers think you actually are a real person.
29. Tell your Facebook friends you’ve got a new post. Much of your traffic will come from your social network.
30. Bookmark your site. Digg, StumpleUpon, and Reddit should work just fine.
31. Talk about something different every time you write.
32. href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/socialmedia-marketing/49-data-proven-tips-on-how-to-get-more-retweets/">Promote your blog in Twitter.
33. Make it easier for your readers by breaking up your content in short paragraphs and using headers and bullet points.
34. Write in a casual, easygoing manner to engage your readers. Avoid using a formal tone.
35. Get your own domain name, at least, when you have established quite a good following.
36. Optimize your blog for search engines.
37. Analyze your blog stats so you have an idea of just how good (or bad) you’re doing things. You can sign up for a Google Analytics account for this.
38. Submit your blog to blog directories.
39. Write an About page and a Contact page.
40. Don’t forget to upload images and videos to enhance your content.
41. Choose a professional theme. That means avoid splashy colors and flamboyant designs.
42. Do NOT, at all costs, copy content from other blogs and pass it off as your own. This is plagiarism and you could get sued for this.
43. Insert appropriate meta-tags to help the search engines find your blog.
44. Create a tab for your recommended articles.
45. Activate Akismet spam protection for your blog.
46. Build a Google site map. This helps Google find you faster.
47. Put the appropriate keywords in your headlines.

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Blogging Tips: 10 Ways To Make Your Blog Attractive

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It’s commonly known that you only have minutes if not seconds to grab the attention of readers and potential advertisers when they arrive at your site. People are consumed with information and the internet provides it in the bucket loads. So how do you stands out from the crowd? How do you make sure that visually everything looks appealing? And, site navigation is clear and direct?

Well in case you need some ideas, here are 10 ways you can make your blog look more attractive. Feel free to use’em; and share if you have other ways in your list.

1. Keep advertisement limited and related

It’s terrible to land on a blog that serves more ads than the yellow pages. Worse if the ads are unrelated. Imagine: DirecTV ads on a web development site? I bet one will actually take your blog seriously and stay longer than 30 seconds.  

Yes, bloggers need to eat too and it is alright to place advertisement on your blog. But remember: never, ever, oversell your blog and always keep ads related to your content. Your readers will thank you for promoting a product they are interested; and you get to increase your advertisers’ sales – that’s a win-win.

id='right'>src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.com/images/2011/0719-2.jpg" alt="Focus on your blog topic" />

How To Choose A Blogging Platform

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class="alignright size-full wp-image-6307" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/blogging-platforms.jpg" alt="blogging platforms" width="350" height="233" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/blogging-platforms.jpg 350w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/blogging-platforms-300x199.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" />

Blogging has soared in popularity over the last ten years, and consequently the choice of blogging platform has also expanded. Whether your blog is for personal purposes or you’re going to use it to promote your business, choosing the right blogging platform is a crucial part of title="starting your blog from scratch" href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/blogging-tips/start-a-blog-today/">setting up your blog. The success of your blog won’t hinge on what platform you use – the content you post and your promotional skills are more important – but it could make a difference to how much time and energy you spend working on your new site.

Most of the major blogging platforms are free, which is useful if you’re starting a website you want to monetize, and the choice will depend on the kind of features and customization you want. Before you choose a platform, it’s helpful to think about what you want from a blog provider, and to do some thorough research. Platform comparison charts, such as href="http://www.buildabetterblog.com/2011/06/how-to-choose-a-blogging-platform-comparison-chart.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> this one created by professional blogger Denise Wakeman, can help you make sense of the differences. After all, it’s much easier to switch to a different blog provider in the early days of your website than it is to export your content to a different platform later.

Considerations

Before comparing the different blogging platforms available, it’s helpful to think about your ideal blog and what you want from a platform.

One consideration to think about is the cost : although most platforms are free, some popular platforms charge a subscription. You need to decide whether you can afford this outgoing, especially if you’re starting a business or website and it’s difficult for you to predict how much incoming cash flow you might have.

href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/15/choosing-a-blog-platform/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> ProBlogger author Darren Rowse breaks down the cost of setting up and running a blog into three main parts:

1. Platform,
2. Web hosting, and
3. A domain name.

He also points out that you might choose to pay for a professional design too. Therefore, when you’re budgeting how much you can spend on your new blog, you need to take hosting, domains, and designs into account. Generally, a self-hosted or paid account with a blogging platform will come with more features, so decide whether you need these features now and, if so, how much you can afford to pay for them.

The second consideration is how much space you’re going to need on the platform’s server – or whether you’d rather host your own blog but use the platform’s CMS (content management system). Text pages don’t take up much space, but pages containing images, video or audio clips will. If your blogging platform caps the amount of space available to each user, you could find yourself in trouble as your blog or website grows.

You also need to think about which features you want to add to your blog , now and in the future. This includes advertising and extra functionality, such as forums. Some platforms are compatible with online advertising companies like Google AdWords, and other platforms don’t allow you to host adverts on your blog or website. This is especially important to establish and research if you are intending to use your blog to make money, as you could spend a lot of time setting up your blog, only to discover you have to export it to another platform.

Another important consideration is how much you want to customize your blog. Some platforms provide ready-made templates that can totally change the appearance of your website, and allow you to enter your own HTML and CSS code. Others aren’t so customizable, and you might find the ability to customize the appearance of your blog is limited. You should also think realistically about your technical skills. If you want a blog you can customize but don’t know any HTML or CSS, you might want to choose a platform like WordPress, which come with thousands of free and paid website templates. Some platforms are also easier to use and update than others.

The final aspect to consider is whether you want the blog to be hosted by the platform, or whether you’re going to host it yourself . Some blog platforms, such as Blogger, offer hosted blogs, while others, like WordPress and TypePad, give you the option to host your blog on an external server, while still using the platform. Hosted blogs are usually free, and simple to set up, however they do have limitations that stand-alone blog platforms don’t have.

As well as thinking about these points yourself, it’s helpful to ask other bloggers for feedback about which platforms they use, and what their experience is like with each platform.

Major Blogging Platforms

WordPress

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WordPress (href="http://wordpress.com/" target="_blank">WordPress.com / href="http://wordpress.org/" target="_blank">WordPress.org) is one of the most popular blogging platforms available, and users can choose between WordPress.com, which offers hosted blogs, or WordPress.org, which provides a platform for self-hosted blogs. As well as hosting options, WordPress.com and WordPress.org have several key differences. For example, you can’t upload plug-ins to a WordPress.com site, however you can to a WordPress.org site. You also need more technical knowledge to run a website using WordPress.org, and are responsible for maintaining back-ups and installing any software updates.

You should also choose carefully between the two WordPress options if you want to monetize your site. As online marketing consultant href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2012/03/04/wordpress-com-or-wordpress-org-which-ones-right-for-you/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Matt Hooper advises, only established websites with “moderate to high traffic and appropriate content” are eligible to sign up to WordPress’ advertising program, href="http://en.wordpress.com/apply-for-wordads/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> WordAds. If you install WordPress.org, however, you can run ads on your website from day one.

Tumblr

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Founded in 2007, title="Tumblr" href="https://www.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr is a free blogging platform, and one of the most intuitive blogging systems available. You can’t self-host using Tumblr – every blog is hosted on Tumblr.com, however you can purchase your own domain name instead of using the .tumblr.com subdomain. Tumblr places a strong emphasis on sharing, and makes it easy to connect with other Tumblr users, and share your best content on the Tumblr network. You can customize your website’s design, however the customization features aren’t as flexible as they are with other blogging platforms.

Blogger

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title="Google Blogger Platform" href="http://www.blogger.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Blogger is a free blogging platform from Google, and href="http://yfsentrepreneur.com/2011/08/11/blogging-for-business-how-to-choose-the-best-blog-platform/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> YFS Magazine recommend it as a starting point for people who have never created or managed their own blog before. Setting up a blog through Blogger is a quick and easy process, and you can use your own customized domain name. The platform also allows advertising.

Typepad

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You can sign up to two different versions of title="TypePad" href="http://www.typepad.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">TypePad: Micro, which is free, and Pro, which starts at .95 per month. Although it is the most expensive blogging platform from this list, it’s easy to use and allows you to customize your blog without having a lot of technical knowledge.

Squarespace

style="text-align: center;">class="border aligncenter" src="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/images/2012/1004-2.jpg" alt="WordPress" width="750px" height="420" />

title="Square Space" href="http://www.squarespace.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Squarespace provides a comprehensive service, offering you the ability to create and host your website, purchase a domain, and get analytics information about traffic, all from one place. The Squarespace service starts at per month, and lets you build a fully-customizable blog or website without having experience, or a lot of technical know-how.

Next Steps

Setting up your site is just one step involved in starting a blog from scratch, but it’s an important decision, so it’s worth taking the time to research your options carefully and ensure you’re making the right decision.

Once you’ve chosen a blogging platform, you can get busy creating your blog or website, and take the first steps towards developing and title="How to monetize your blog" href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/inbound-marketing/the-most-profitable-ways-of-monetizing-a-blog/" target="_blank">monetizing your online business.

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6 Pieces of Blogging Software You May Have Not Heard About

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The blogosphere is cluttered with more or less sophisticated journals, more or less professional and competitive, more than less identical in structure and functionality.

If you wonder why they’re so similar, one answer is that they use the same Content Management Systems — WordPress, for the most, but even Joomla! and Drupal that come second and third according to href="http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_management/all" target="_blank">a recent survey report by W3Techs.

Yes, the Web is made of WordPresses, Joomlas and Drupals. But is that the end of it? What if all you need is a simpler blogging solution, one that won’t take up too many hosting resources but will still guarantee you reliable tools?

There are other (smaller) blogging solutions out there

Many are just not as known as the above-mentioned trio, either because they never got enough promotion in the first place, or because they lack some functionality or or are not as flexible. However, a blogging solution is a choice to make on the basis of your needs, not of the popularity of the CMS.

What about a few names?

There are 6 little known blogging solutions that are free, customizable and open source. There are more out there, but these six lil’ kids are easy enough to get you started hassle-free — and they come with nice clean designs.

Here they are:

1. FanUpdate
2. Chyrp
3. OpenBlog
4. Pixie
5. PivotX
6. CuteNews

Feeling like experimenting with these platform? Keep reading. I’m here to make introductions. ;)

1. FanUpdate

FanUpdate was originally created by Jenny Ferenc for her website Prism-Perfect.net, but when she moved on from the project, the user base for her script continued to demand for support and updates, so a community of developers at Nepwork.com took the rains of the project and continued to develop FanUpdate (now at its third release). Fanupdate is distributed under the GPL license.

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Requirements

• PHP
• MySQL

Demo: N/A

Vendor’s Website: href="http://fanupdate.net/" target="_blank">http://fanupdate.net

The Pros

FanUpdate is lightweight and easy to install and it only requires an HTML web template ready on your website to run on. Visitors can easily comment on your entries and have their own avatars through the Gravatar integration. Spam filters and comment scoring systems help protect your site from abuse. Version 3 also fixed href="http://www.jemjabella.co.uk/2009/sql-injection-flaw-in-fanupdate/" target="_blank">a previous security bug.

For FanUpdate to work with your website, your pages must carry a .PHP file extension, because that’s the language the code interpreter will need to display your blog posts on the homepage.

Below is FanUpdate’s common code snippet to be placed where you want your blog displayed – generally, your index.php file:

<?php

// FanUpdate X.Y.0 blog
// subject: all posts

$main_limit = 5;

require_once(‘/home/username/public_html/fanupdate/show-blog.php’);

?>

The screenshot above was taken from one of my websites that uses FanUpdate as a blogging solution. You can visit it at href="http://tallalah.info/" target="_blank">http://tallalah.info to get a preview.

The Cons

One of the biggest disadvantages of using FanUpdate is its anti-spam system. The script can detect the most common forms of spam comments — even thanks to a list of words and phrases you can blacklist in the Options panel — but the sneakier spam comments will usually get approved without even sending out a moderation request to your email address. If you use FanUpdate, make sure to check your list of Approved, Pending and Spam comments at least once a week, because your blogging system might have approved a spam comment and put a legit comment in Spam instead.

Another downside is the impossibility to make anything else out of FanUpdate but blog posts. You can’t make pages, you can’t install plugins, etc. FanUpdate is truly a very basic blogging tool for small websites that run on a hosting package with limited resources.

2. Chyrp

Chyrp is a minimal CMS that aims to be a less bulky alternative to WordPress. Alex Suraci href="http://chyrp.net/about/" target="_blank">initially developed Chyrp as a hobbyist project in 2004, then it was later acquired by Arian Xhezairi in 2010, who continued the development. Recent versions come with an extensive documentation and a supportive community behind.

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-7028 border" alt="chyrp" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/chyrp.jpg" width="750" height="459" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/chyrp.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/chyrp-300x183.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />

Requirements

• PHP 5.2+
• MySQL 4.1+ or SQLite 3+ (with href="http://php.net/pdo">PDO)

Demo: href="http://chyrp.net/demo/" target="_blank">http://chyrp.net/demo/

Vendor’s Website: href="http://chyrp.net/" target="_blank">http://chyrp.net

The Pros

Easy to install, nicely styled and lightweight, Chyrp is a safer and more functional alternative to FanUpdate. Chyrp can be extended via href="http://chyrp.net/extend/type/module/" target="_blank">Modules and Translations so it’s highly customizable and, if you know a little href="https://github.com/chyrp/chyrp/wiki/Themes" target="_blank">templating and PHP programming, it can turn into a flexible tool. The documentation will provide you with a clear and understandable guide to speed up the process.

One interesting type of extension for Chyrp is href="http://chyrp.net/extend/type/feather/" target="_blank">Feathers. Feathers integrate the basic platform to add up more complex functions. An example is href="http://chyrp.net/extend/view/article/" target="_blank">Article, a feather for articles that lets you add a headline and a byline to your posts.

The Cons

The text editor is— well, just a text editor. There is no native WYSIWYG functionality with Chyrp. However, it can be supplied via Module with href="http://chyrp.net/extend/view/redactor/" target="_blank">Redactor.

3. OpenBlog

OpenBlog is user-friendly blogging platform based on the href="http://ellislab.com/codeigniter" target="_blank">CodeIgniter PHP framework. It’s simple and will not overload your servers, but like WordPress and Chyrp, it’s backed up by a productive community that provides themes, plugins and extensions. OpenBlog supports multi-language and is released under the href="http://web.archive.org/web/20110427032633/http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0-standalone.html" target="_blank">GPL v3 license.

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-797 border" alt="openblog-home" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/openblog-home.png" width="750" height="367" />

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-817 border" alt="openblog-dash" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/openblog-dash.png" width="750" height="442" />

Requirements

• PHP
• MySQL

Demo: N/A

Vendor’s Website: href="http://open-blog.org/" target="_blank">http://open-blog.org

The Pros

OpenBlog is as user-friendly as WordPress can be to a beginner, but it’s equally interesting to an intermediate to advanced user. Installation is automated and templates are customizable — and the community provides enough of a choice for templates anyway.

One interesting feature in the Admin Panel is the Database Backup: the button is read on your panel sidebar and when you click it you get an instantaneous .ZIP backup file to download. It’s that easy.

URLs are search engine friendly and the platform supports pages, RSS and a WYSIWYG editor. Plugins enable you to extend your platform and these are pretty much like WordPress, so nothing too complex there.

If you’re just starting out with blogging and you don’t want to try WordPress, OpenBlog makes a valid alternative.

The Cons

Unlike WordPress, OpenBlog doesn’t allow template modifications from inside your Admin Panel. You will have to apply the changes manually and then reupload the files via FTP.

4. Pixie

Initially created by Scott Evans for his band website, Pixie developed into a lightweight but efficient CMS — or like the developers like to call it, a “Small, Simple, Site Maker”. Pixie is portable, supports multiple languages and is released under the GPL v3 license.

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-798 border" alt="pixie-home" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/pixie-home.png" width="750" height="360" />

Requirements

• PHP
• MySQL

Demo: href="http://demo.getpixie.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://demo.getpixie.co.uk/

Vendor’s Website: href="http://www.getpixie.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://www.getpixie.co.uk

The Pros

For starters, the software installation weighs only 2.28 MB, thus making Pixie one of the lightest CMS’s currently available.

It’s interesting that Pixie supports href="http://microformats.org/wiki/xfn" target="_blank">XFN’s Microformats. This is useful to keep all links across your blog semantically relevant to search engines and to human beings alike (that is, if someone actually checks the page source code and finds out what kind of attribute you used — ‘spouse’, ‘friend’, etc.).

Pixie supports CSS Themes and database backups. To backup your DB, go to Settings -> Backup -> Backup the database: the system will create a .ZIP file on server that you can download by clicking the link that will appear on page.

The Cons

Pixie is not as user-friendly as it might appear. If you’re used to create blog posts and pages where you publish them too, you’ll be disappointed — to create new pages on Pixie, you have to hit Settings on the main tabs and create them from there. The Publish tab will only enable you to edit them. For posts, there is no tab — you have to go back to the Dashboard, scroll down to ‘Quick Links’ and click ‘Add new My Blog entry’ (where ‘My Blog’ is your blog’s name).

5. PivotX

PivotX is an open source blogging solution developed by a team of volunteers and released under the GPL License. It supports multiple authors, Extensions and Widgets for additional functions.

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-795 border" alt="pivotx-home" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/pivotx-home.png" width="750" height="363" />

Requirements

• PHP
• MySQL or flat files

Demo: N/A

Vendor’s Website: href="http://pivotx.net/" target="_blank">http://pivotx.net

The Pros

It’s a 7 MB installation — not a feather but that’s still fairly lightweight for the canon. It comes with a dashboard similar to that of WordPress but it’s quite more stylish.

You can write your posts and your site pages within Entries and Pages, that is quite detailed at a first sight: under Entries and Pages you have every tool to create and maintain your posts and pages and even to moderate comments, trackbacks and to manage categories.

Manage Media is similar to WordPress’ Media and it enables you to upload your images, files and templates. You can edit your current template files in text view.

One thing I love about PivotX is that you can run multiple weblogs and subweblogs and you can differentiate them by assigning different categories and templates to each.

In addition, you can choose to store data either on flat files or a MySQL database. Flat files are not as safe, though.

The Cons

The learning curve is slightly steeper than for WordPress, as its interface is less user-friendly, but this is no deterrent as the software is pretty good. The best way to get started is to read the documentation and to get acquainted with the terminology and admin dashboard sections, that differ from WordPress or other CMS’s.

6. Cutenews

Cutenews is a small blogging script developed by the CuteNews Team. It’s a simple backend-only blogging platform like FanUpdate, but it makes use of flat files instead of MySQL databases to store data.

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-814 border" alt="cutephp-home" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/cutephp-home.png" width="750" height="361" />

Requirements

• PHP
• flat files for storage

Demo: N/A

Vendor’s Website: href="http://cutephp.com/" target="_blank">http://cutephp.com

The Pros

The latest versions of Cutenews are more similar to WordPress in appearance and in functionality. Cutenews is extendable via plugins and modules and small businesses can purchase a license for commercial use. It comes with a search function, file uploads and the possibility to backup (and restore) saved versions. Cutenews also supports UTF-8 and IP banning.

The Cons

As a platform that uses flat files instead of DBs for storage, Cutenews can get quite resource consuming as your website grows in posts and comments.

Why you haven’t heard about them before

When you’re just href=" http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/how-to-start-a-blog/">starting out with blogging, you’re more keen to follow the masses in the fear of getting lost. Even when you’ve never touched a CMS before, you can easily install WordPress (or just register a WordPress.com account) and get started with a premade theme. Or you can install Joomla! or Drupal, select a basic skin and start posting the most basic way, while you follow one of the thousand tutorials available on the Web to improve your blog’s appearance.

On the other hand, getting to know other solutions — and give yourself more options — requires research, time and dedication. So while it’s definitely a good idea to get your feet wet with the most popular CMS’s, consider dedicating some time to research and experiment with the alternatives.

I can assure you, it’s fun. ;)

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Page 17 – Web Hosting Secret Revealed

Blogging Tips and Rolemodels – Bring Your Blogging to Perfection

alt="Blogging Tips and Rolemodels – Bring Your Blogging to Perfection" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/robs-website-500x262_c.jpg" />

The first thing any potential writer or blogger should know about writing is: “Practice makes perfect”, so if this is your ambition then start writing immediately! No craft is honed by just sitting down and thinking about it.

dir="ltr">Of course, it is important to know about the people who made it in this field before you so checking out the href="http://awesomepics-forever.blogspot.com/2012/08/top-10-bloggers-of-world-and-their.html">top notch bloggers who actually made it and created a name for themselves is very much advisable. But thinking that these people actually have some ace up their sleeve and by having this secret knowledge they just pull people into their blogs is very wrong thinking. It is all about the effort and the passion put into your work.

dir="ltr">If you don’t care about what you are writing, nobody will. “To write without clarity or charm is a miserable waste of time and ink” Cicero said a long time ago and he is still right.

Blood, Sweat and Writing

dir="ltr">In this article we can’t really tell you what to write about or how to write about it, but we can point out the common traits of successful bloggers that write about very different things. In my humble opinion, blogging is an art form and as any art, you need to pour yourself into it so it can really rise to a level above common.

The Personality

dir="ltr">The web can be an impersonal place to dwell in and many blogs and articles out there are just words with correct grammar and syntax and with no heart and soul. The thing that makes a blog come alive is the personality behind it.

dir="ltr">How to Choose the Subject

dir="ltr">href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/blogging-tips/finding-the-right-niche-for-your-blog/">Choosing your subject is your first big decision so don’t get pulled into writing about a topic that is currently hot on the web so you get more readers to start with. By doing this you may burn out quickly and lose the will to keep going. There are readers for every subject on the web so take something you really like and you will have the motivation to write more and write with passion. This fondness for the subject will also get you through the tough times that almost every blogger goes through at the beginning of their career.

dir="ltr">Have Patience and Perseverance

dir="ltr">Success doesn’t come over night and many successful bloggers were writing for years, steadily building up their fan base before href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/inbound-marketing/the-most-profitable-ways-of-monetizing-a-blog/">they made any kind of income from their work. Patience and perseverance are some of the best traits successful bloggers have. If you lose all hope after the first few bumps on the road, then you can’t really hope to get better no matter what your vocation may be. Stay true to your goal and push on, success is waiting down the road. If you want to make some quick cash then blogging isn’t your best choice.

dir="ltr">Take Personal Interest in the Subject

dir="ltr">You need to take personal interest in your subject because you really need to know what you are talking about. Another reason for this is that personal interest will make your standpoint in the article more alluring and credible.

dir="ltr">However, before you post anything you wrote on the web, you also have to make sure that you have all the facts on your side. Personal beliefs are things that can be debated on and incorporated in your writing, and they are something that goes to your advantage, but you also need to back them up. You can’t just put in stuff you overheard somewhere and hope that these random sources can be trusted.

dir="ltr">Defend Your Opinion With Facts

dir="ltr">Do your research diligently so you don’t get blown away by the first comment of a reader that is familiar with the subject. You need to create an image of a person that knows what he/she is talking about and has the wits to defend his/hers beliefs.

dir="ltr">On the other hand there are many blogs that don’t really have a specific topic; they are more like online diaries, so these bloggers don’t have to worry about specific pieces of information, they just need to be interesting or provocative enough to be a point of interest for readers around the globe. But still, you need to be able to hold on to your own and defend your opinions.

The Responsibility – Respect Your Readers’ Time and Participation

dir="ltr">One hyper popular post on your blog doesn’t make you the world’s number one blogger. Without continuous work that is similar in quality you very well may lose most of your fans and ruin the opportunity to go big.

dir="ltr">You have to decide how much time you need to provide quality content and keep to that schedule so your readership will know when to pop by for some new stuff. A good timetable is a very important thing to have along with communication with your readers.

dir="ltr">The comments of your readers should not be ignored because your responses actually mean that you care about them and are willing to take their opinions into consideration. Ignoring them may hurt their feelings and leave you with a handful of readers and another dead-end blog on the web.

dir="ltr">Now trolls, on the other hand, should be ignored in most cases. Good bloggers develop the skill of recognizing trolls early on, so they don’t waste time and energy on pointless arguments. Still, if you have a witty response to a troll’s provocation feel free to make your readers laugh, just be careful this has been known to backfire.

dir="ltr">In all of this you still need to have time to promote your blog on social networks, find interesting new content to write about, dig up interesting photos and videos to post (preferably connected to the subject) and more.

dir="ltr">So, a well organized writer has the time to href="http://bloggingwizard.com/experts-secrets-reader-engagement-group-interview/" target="_blank">create a relationship with his readers and keep his content fresh and on time. That’s what makes him stand out from all the rest.

Some of the Biggest Names Out There

dir="ltr">At the beginning of this article we mentioned that you should research the background of some of the most influential writers out there, so you can find out how the pros do it and learn from their experience. We decided to make it easier for you by picking out four of the most popular ones out there (in our humble opinion) and present their work to you.

dir="ltr">Here they are.

href="https://www.google.com/+Scobleizer">Robert Scoble

dir="ltr">He started his technology blog, the Scobleizer, in the year of 2000. His main interest is internet technology and technology in general. He worked for Microsoft from 2003 until 2006 and is currently employed at Rackspace, the Open Cloud Computing Company. If technology is your thing, you should check out his href="http://scobleizer.com/">blog and if you want to know more about him you can check out his Google+ account.

dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">href="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/robs-website.jpg">class="aligncenter wp-image-907 border" alt="robert scoble" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/robs-website.jpg" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/robs-website.jpg 964w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/robs-website-300x157.jpg 300w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/robs-website-750x393.jpg 750w" sizes="(max-width: 964px) 100vw, 964px" />

href="https://www.google.com/+GuyKawasaki">Guy Kawasaki

dir="ltr">He is an American blogger, former Apple employee and current CEO at Alltop. On top of being a blogger he is also an author of two books. The topics in his blog range from marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, innovation to venture capital, science and photography. If any of these subjects interest you check out his href="http://blog.guykawasaki.com/">blog.

dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">href="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/guy-kawasaki.jpg">class="aligncenter wp-image-908 border" alt="guy kawasaki" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/guy-kawasaki.jpg" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/guy-kawasaki.jpg 854w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/guy-kawasaki-300x106.jpg 300w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/guy-kawasaki-750x266.jpg 750w" sizes="(max-width: 854px) 100vw, 854px" />

href="https://www.google.com/+ChrisBrogan">Chris Brogan

dir="ltr">He runs Human Business Works specializing in business design and is also a professional speaker, New York Times bestselling author and a very successful blogger. href="http://chrisbrogan.com/">His blog is most easily described as a blend of technology, marketing and business discussions, but is much more than that. If you want to know why, you can explore his blog personally anytime.

dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">href="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/chris-brogan.jpg">class="aligncenter wp-image-909 border" alt="chris brogan" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/chris-brogan.jpg" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/chris-brogan.jpg 1152w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/chris-brogan-300x181.jpg 300w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/chris-brogan-750x453.jpg 750w" sizes="(max-width: 1152px) 100vw, 1152px" />

href="https://www.google.com/+DarrenRowse">Darren Rowse

dir="ltr">He discovered blogging as a medium by accident in 2003 and after just 18 months of playing with it, he became one of the most influential bloggers in the world. Currently, he works, among many things, as a consultant for the blogging medium and runs a Digital Photography School. You can find out more about it on his href="http://www.problogger.net/">web site.

dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">href="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/darren-rowse.jpg">class="aligncenter wp-image-910 border" alt="darren rowse" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/darren-rowse.jpg" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/darren-rowse.jpg 998w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/darren-rowse-300x151.jpg 300w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/darren-rowse-750x378.jpg 750w" sizes="(max-width: 998px) 100vw, 998px" />

To Sum Up

dir="ltr">Being a blogger can be a very satisfying and lucrative work and can also open some doors for you. If you do it with passion and dedication, it can even become your main occupation. Blogging is not just a hobby, its real work that requires creative thinking, diligence and patience. So think about your interests, pick the strongest one and grab your pen (keyboard).

dir="ltr">The web is thirsty for more creative writing.

Page 20 – Web Hosting Secret Revealed

11 Essential Blogging Tools & Resources

alt="11 Essential Blogging Tools & Resources" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/netvibes-500x180_c.png" />

Blogging is the act of putting your thoughts online for other people to read. That act itself is not difficult, however in order to blog effectively, we rely on many different tools.

In my recent book, title="The Ultimate Blogging Resource List" href="http://www.kevinmuldoon.com/ultimate-blogging-resource-list/">The Ultimate Blogging Resource List, I listed hundreds and hundreds of different resources for bloggers. The truth is, I do not use half the resources listed in the book. When it comes to essential blogging tools that I simply cannot operate without, there is only a handful of applications and services that I use every single day.

Today I would like to share with you the 10 blogging tools I cannot do without. These resources are not necessarily the best; they are simply the ones I have become accustomed to using for certain tasks. I have therefore listed alternatives for each service so that you have a larger selection of resources to choose from. I hope you enjoy the list :)

1. NetVibes – Free

URL: title="Net Vibes" href="http://www.netvibes.com" target="_blank">http://www.netvibes.com
Use: For Staying Up To Date With the Latest News & Views

It is important for bloggers to stay up to date with the latest news and events surrounding the topic they write about. Social media services such as Twitter and Facebook has changed the way that people get information, however I do not believe it is a practical way to stay informed as they report new articles instantly. Therefore, it is easy for important news articles to get lost in the mix.

style="text-align: center;">href="http://www.netvibes.com">class="aligncenter wp-image-1103 border" alt="NetVibes" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/netvibes.png" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/netvibes.png 600w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/netvibes-300x108.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />

Newsreaders are a much better way to read content from dozens of websites. I have used it for years to check the latest articles on important news-breaking websites. The upcoming closure of Google Reader on July 1 2013 has seen many more people turn to NetVibes to stay up to date with content websites.

Worthy Alternatives: title="Feedly" href="http://www.feedly.com/">Feedly, title="NewsBlur" href="http://newsblur.com/">NewsBlur, title="FeedDemon" href="http://www.feeddemon.com">FeedDemon

2. Google Docs – Free

URL: title="Google Doc" href="http://docs.google.com" target="_blank">http://docs.google.com
Use: For Taking Notes

Taking notes is an essential part of blogging. Ideas can come to you at any time of the day, which is one of the reasons why I always carry a traditional notepad and pen with me at all times. When I get online, I then transfer the notes to Google Docs.

style="text-align: center;">href="http://docs.google.com">class="aligncenter wp-image-1104 border" alt="Google Docs" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/google-docs.png" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/google-docs.png 600w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/google-docs-300x90.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />

There are dozens of great note taking applications available online. I just love the simplicity of Google Docs; A blank document is all I need. I occasionally use spreadsheets to track the performance of stats etc too.

It is essential that notes are synced on the cloud as I sometimes work on different computers. Google Docs allows me to access notes from any computer or device and I can upload offline files from Word too.

Worthy Alternatives: title="Evernote" href="http://evernote.com">Evernote, title="Remember The Milk" href="http://www.rememberthemilk.com">Remember The Milk, title="Springpad" href="http://springpad.com">Springpad, title="Simplenote" href="http://simplenote.com">Simplenote

3. FileZilla – Free

URL: title="File Zilla" href="https://filezilla-project.org" target="_blank">https://filezilla-project.org
Use: For Uploading, Deleting & Modifying Blog Files

I use FileZilla to upload all core fires, banner images, themes, plugins, and more. Sure, you can manage your blog using a file manager, however the process is slow and clunky.

style="text-align: center;">href="https://filezilla-project.org">class="aligncenter wp-image-1105 border" alt="FileZilla" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/filezilla.png" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/filezilla.png 600w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/filezilla-300x160.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />

FileZilla is available on Mac, Windows and Linux. It’s incredibly easy to use. I have a 27″ iMac at home however I tend to use Windows laptops on the road. The export and import options on FileZilla make it easy for me to ensure that all my website profiles can be transferred to any device I am using.

Worthy Alternatives: title="FireFTP" href="http://fireftp.net">FireFTP, title="CrossFTP" href="http://www.crossftp.com/">CrossFTP, title="SmartFTP" href="http://www.smartftp.com">SmartFTP (Windows)

4. TextPad – Free

URL: title="TextPad" href="http://www.textpad.com" target="_blank">http://www.textpad.com
Use: For Modifying Template Files

style="text-align: center;">href="http://www.textpad.com">class="aligncenter wp-image-1107 border" alt="TextPad" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/textpad.png" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/textpad.png 600w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/textpad-300x216.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />

Worthy Alternatives: title="TextWrangler" href="http://www.barebones.com/products/TextWrangler/">TextWrangler (Mac), title="Notepad++" href="http://notepad-plus-plus.org">Notepad++ (Windows), title="Kate Editor" href="http://kate-editor.org/">Kate (Linux)

5. WordPress – Free

URL: title="WordPress" href="http://www.wordpress.org" target="_blank">http://www.wordpress.org
Use: My Blogging Platform

When I first started blogging in 2006 I tried several popular blogging platforms. WordPress stood against the competition due to the number of themes and plugins it had available to it. The platform has gone from strength to strength since then and has developed far beyond a blogging platform.

style="text-align: center;">href="http://wordpress.org/">class="aligncenter wp-image-1108 border" alt="WordPress" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/wordpress.png" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/wordpress.png 600w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/wordpress-300x128.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />

I use WordPress to create all my content websites. Due to the number of plugins available for it, there is nothing that the script cannot do.

Worthy Alternatives: title="Squarespace" href="http://www.squarespace.com/">Squarespace, title="Typepad" href="http://www.typepad.com/">Typepad, title="Drupal" href="http://www.drupal.org">Drupal, title="Joomla" href="http://www.joomla.org">Joomla

6. VaultPress – Per Blog

URL: title="Vault Press" href="http://www.vaultpress.com" target="_blank">http://www.vaultpress.com
Use: For Backing Up My Blogs

It is important to perform regular backups of your blogs. VaultPress makes this process simple by backing up your blog or website every single hour. The service was developed by Automattic, the company who develops WordPress.

style="text-align: center;">href="http://www.vaultpress.com">class="aligncenter wp-image-1109 border" alt="VaultPress" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/vaultpress.png" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/vaultpress.png 600w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/vaultpress-300x181.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />

The service allows you to restore or download any backup from the past. You can choose to download themes, plugins, your database or your uploads, from any point since you started using the service. For example, should I want to, I can download a backup of my blog from two years ago and I can choose from any backup from that day. There are many good backup solutions out there but for me, VaultPress is above the competition for this very reason.

Worthy Alternatives: title="Backup Machine" href="http://www.backupmachine.com/">Backup Machine, title="BlogVault" href="http://blogvault.net">BlogVault, title="CodeGuard" href="https://www.codeguard.com">CodeGuard, title="CPanelSiteBackup" href="http://cpanelsitebackup.com/">CPanelSiteBackup

7. Google Alerts – Free

URL: title="Google Alerts" href="http://www.google.com/alerts" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/alerts
Use: For Being Notified of Links To My Blog

href="http://www.google.com/alerts">class="size-full wp-image-1110 alignright border" alt="Google Alerts" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/google-alerts.png" width="404" height="400" />

Google Alerts allows you to get notifications about anything. I use it to get notified of any reviews of my books and any links to my blog. It can also be used for notifying you of important developments within a niche.

All you have to do is set the keyword you want to track and how often you need updates.

 

Out of all the services listed in this article, Google Alerts is the one that I do not rely on every day.

It is possibly the only service that I could technically do without; however every time I get an email update from Google Alerts, I am reminded about how useful the service is.

Worthy Alternatives: title="Mention" href="https://en.mention.net">Mention, title="Social Mention" href="http://www.socialmention.com/">Social Mention, title="Notification Control" href="http://notificationcontrol.com/">Notification Control

8. DropBox – Free for 2GB of Storage

URL: title="Drop Box" href="http://www.dropbox.com" target="_blank">http://www.dropbox.com
Use: For Backing Up All Important Files

I use DropBox to backup all important website files including files, themes, plugins, logos, notes, and more. All of my files are automatically synced across all my computers and I can access important files from any device.

style="text-align: center;">href="http://www.dropbox.com">class="aligncenter wp-image-1111 border" alt="Dropbox" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/dropbox.png" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/dropbox.png 600w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/dropbox-300x125.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />

DropBox offer 2GB of storage free though you have the option of earning more storage through referrals. I pay per year for 100GB of storage as I backup all my photos and videos from travelling on the service.

Worthy Alternatives: title="Google Drive" href="http://drive.google.com">Google Drive, title="SkyDrive" href="http://www.skydrive.com">SkyDrive, title="SugarSync" href="https://www.sugarsync.com">SugarSync, title="SpiderOak" href="https://spideroak.com">SpiderOak

9. Greenshot – Free

URL: title="Get Green Shot" href="http://getgreenshot.org" target="_blank">http://getgreenshot.org
Use: For Taking Screenshots

href="http://getgreenshot.org">class=" wp-image-1112 alignright border" alt="Greenshot" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/greenshot.png" width="310" height="375" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/greenshot.png 387w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/greenshot-247x300.png 247w" sizes="(max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px" />

Images are a big part of blogging. Blog posts without images look dull and get shared less often on social media websites. Therefore, I take screenshots every day for my blog posts.

Greenshot is a screenshot tool for Windows that allows me to take a screenshot of my entire desktop, or of a defined area, using shortcut keys.

There are a lot of benefits to using Greenshot.

The ability to take a screenshot of a defined area saves you a lot of time cropping images within your image editor. You can even configure the application to open your image editing application automatically after taking a screenshot. Alternatively, you can save the screenshot as an image to a predefined location.

Worthy Alternatives: title="Awesome Screenshot" href="http://awesomescreenshot.com">Awesome Screenshot, title="Pixlr Grabber" href="http://pixlr.com/grabber/">Pixlr Grabber

10. Gimphoto – Free

URL: title="Gim Photo" href="http://www.gimphoto.com/" target="_blank">http://www.gimphoto.com/
Use: For Modifying Images for the Internet

For years I used Photoshop to edit images, however over the last few years I moved towards free photo editing solutions. title="GIMP" href="http://www.gimp.org">GIMP was the obvious choice but the transition to Gimphoto was easier as the menu interface was based on Photoshop’s.

style="text-align: center;">href="http://www.gimphoto.com/">class="aligncenter wp-image-1114 border" alt="Gimphoto" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/gimpphoto.png" width="750" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/gimpphoto.png 600w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/gimpphoto-300x219.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" />

Gimpphoto is available for Windows and Linux. There is also a portable download option that allows you to install it on a USB flash drive. Photoshop is very expensive now and they are forcing everyone to pay using a monthly subscription. If you are looking for a good alternative to Photoshop, I highly recommend Gimpphoto. There is nothing it cannot do and it works in a very similar way to Photoshop.

Worthy Alternatives: title="Paint" href="http://www.getpaint.net">Paint (Windows), title="Photoshop Express Editor" href="http://www.photoshop.com/tools/expresseditor?wf=editor">Photoshop Express Editor (Browser Based), title="Seashore" href="http://seashore.sourceforge.net">Seashore (Mac)

11. Gmail – Free

URL: title="Gmail" href="http://www.gmail.com" target="_blank">http://www.gmail.com
Use: For Emailing, Networking & More

Gmail is the first application I open in my browser every single day. It is how I get updates about new comments on my new blogs and how I network with people on the internet. People always talk about how great Twitter, Facebook and Google+ are for networking. I do appreciate the networking possibilities that these services offer however I believe email is still the best medium to do business.

href="http://www.gmail.com">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1120" alt="Gmail" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/gmail.png" width="493" height="305" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/gmail.png 493w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/gmail-300x185.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 493px) 100vw, 493px" />

I have used Gmail actively since I was offered a beta account many years ago. Most other email services now match the vast storage that Gmail offers however Gmail still excels in a number of area. In particular, its integration with other services. First part Google programs such as Google Chat, Calendar, Drive and Hangouts, are all integrated into the way Gmail works. There are a huge number of third party applications that integrate with it well, such as the note taking service title="Remember The Milk" href="http://www.rememberthemilk.com">Remember The Milk.

Worthy Alternatives: title="Outlook" href="http://www.outlook.com">Outlook, title="FastMail" href="https://www.fastmail.fm">FastMail, title="ThunderBird" href="http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/">ThunderBird

You now know the resources that I rely on to blog successfully every day. I am sure that many of you are surprised that Twitter or Facebook were not on the list. I do use these services but I would not consider them essential to my blogging routine. If anything, they can be a distraction to me finishing my work.

What blogging tools can you not do without? Please let us know in the comment area.

Thanks for reading,
Kevin

Page 20 – Web Hosting Secret Revealed

How to Drive Massive Traffic to Your Blog via Guest Blogging

alt="How to Drive Massive Traffic to Your Blog via Guest Blogging" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/guest-blogging-500x339_c.jpg" />

Perhaps you’ve heard of guest blogging and even thought about pitching an idea or two, but aren’t quite sure if it’s worth your time. After all, just this fall Google’s Matt Cutts called for moderation when guest blogging, stating in a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGieiNe6RL4" target="_blank">YouTube video:

“It shouldn’t be your full-time job.”

One point Cutts emphasises is that if your only form of promotion is guest blogging and solely with the intent to drive traffic rather than reputation that you might be going about it all wrong. On the other hand, website owners gain access to new clients and see upticks in traffic from guest blogging on other sites and also from having guests on their own sites.

So, Should you Guest Blog?

Cutts may caution against too much guest blogging.

However, marketing guru href="http://blog.rivalfox.com/reach-your-target-audience-and-drive-traffic-with-guest-blogging/" target="_blank">Kalie Moore suggests that guest blogging has big payoffs that may not be immediately measured but are there in the perception of what a guest blogger does.

“Your audience knows and loves you, and with guest blogging you are gaining exposure to a wider audience who will eventually know and love you too. There is also an authority that comes with guest blogging. Anyone can start a blog, but with guest blogging it is assumed that to be invited as a guest blogger you have to be an expert.”

Imagine that you’re a reader. You visit a site you regularly visit, read a great article on a topic that interests you, realize it is from a guest blogger and click over to check out their site. Despite what some in the SEO sector advise, sometimes common sense has to win out. It stands to reason that you will gain new site visitors through guest blogging.

Social media consultant href="http://popditto.com/2013/10/why-guest-blogging-helps-build-authority-links-traffic-and-trust/" target="_blank">Brian Honigman agrees, stating that “the benefits of guest blogging as a technique to help build credibility online have continued to grow as content becomes an increasingly valued component of brand marketing strategy”.

The bottom line? Guest blog, but do so with a plan.

Seek out sites that match your expertise. Write quality content that establishes you as an authority in your field. Don’t overstuff content with backlinks. Write the same, high quality content you write for your own site, and guest blogging will pay off with massive traffic over time.

The Other Side of the Coin – Guests on Your Blog

The other side of this equation is allowing guests to sent material for your blog. While this can be a good idea, it can also be a terrible idea.

Pros

• More material for your blog
• High profile posters bring traffic to your site
• Reach new readers that follow that writer
• Trade opportunities – they post on your blog, you post on theirs

Cons

• You have no guarantee of the quality of the work and may have to do massive edits to get it up to par.
• If you get tied into a site that is filled with spam, it may make your site take a hit or appear less professional.
• Guest bloggers often write guest posts in their spare time, which means you’re their last priority.
• Guest bloggers may not be familiar with your style and guidelines, which can make the quality of your site go down.

Ultimately, it is a good idea to consider guest posts, but be selective in which ones you actually take and post on your site, edit them thoroughly and track where the traffic is coming from for them to avoid any issues.

Tools to Get Started

Analytics Tools

Analyze those in your industry to find those who are influencial. Then, visit their websites to see if they have a blog or hop over to their social media pages and follow the links. Once you find some people with influence in your niche, you’ll want to connect with them.

Followerwonk

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-919 border" alt="followerwonk" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/followerwonk-750x473.jpg" width="750" height="473" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/followerwonk-750x473.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/followerwonk-300x189.jpg 300w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/followerwonk.jpg 958w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />

You can utilize href="http://followerwonk.com/" target="_blank">Followerwonk to help you see how socially active different bloggers are. A socially active blogger is more likely to run a high traffic blog and also to give a shout out to your guest post. Probably the best feature of Followerwonk is that you can “find and connect with new influencers in your niche”.

Use the compare tool to see how you stack up to the competition and to find others in your particular industry, which can in turn lead you to their blogs and an opportunity to pitch a guest blog idea.

Topsy

style="text-align: center;">class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-7603 border" alt="topsy" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/topsy.jpg" width="750" height="581" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/topsy.jpg 750w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/topsy-300x232.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" />

href="http://topsy.com/" target="_blank">Topsy analyzes tweets from 2006 forward. Find out who has the most social influence for a particular product, brand or keyword. You can also set Topsy up to send you alerts about new developments in your nice. The site offers a 14-day free trial where you can not only check out key influencers but get their contact information.

Locating Guest Blogging Opportunities

MyBlogGuest

If you’re looking for opportunities to guest blog, or if you are seeking guest bloggers, href="http://myblogguest.com/" target="_blank">MyGuestBlog offers both opportunities for blog owners. One of the things they offer blog owners is unique site content. For guest bloggers, they offer the opportunity to “build your brand”. Register for free to get started.

Blogdash

href="http://www.blogdash.com/" target="_blank">Blogdash is an all-in-one tool that offers you the opportunity to guest blog, to find guest bloggers and to analyze others in your field. On top of that, they offer a blog that has useful marketing tips, such as explaining why the traditional press release no longer works and news on traffic building tactics.

Guestr

href="http://guestr.com/" target="_blank">Guestr allows you to post your website for free to seek guest bloggers or to find places seeking guest posts. Over 20 categories, including:

• Art
• Automotive
• Beauty
• Health
• Science
• Shopping
• Sports

Jerry Low’s 101 Sites That Accept Guest Posts List

WHSR’s Jerry Low offers a comprehensive list of sites that accept guest posts, what their guidelines are and who to contact. Some of the sites on this href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvOhCX0TougUdHZwcnpMVFRIRlkxSGlmbmpQQzB4U3c&usp=sharing#gid=0" target="_blank">list of 101 sites include:

• href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/write-for-us/" target="_blank">WHSR (this site)
• href="http://blog.templatemonster.com/join-templatemonster-blog-team/" target="_blank">Template Monster
• href="http://webloggerz.com/write-for-us/" target="_blank">WebBloggerz
• href="http://bloggingwizard.com/contribute/">Blogging Wizard
• href="http://notordinaryblogger.com/write-for-us/" target="_blank">Not Ordinary Blogger

Final Steps

id="attachment_7582" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright">href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/inbound-marketing/how-to-drive-massive-traffic-to-your-blog-via-guest-blogging/attachment/typing/" rel="attachment wp-att-7582">class="size-full wp-image-7582" alt="typing" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/typing.jpg" width="300" height="199" />class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84213819@N00/2630571244/">amanky via href="http://compfight.com">Compfight href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc

Do You Make These 7 Mistakes When Blogging?

alt="Do You Make These 7 Mistakes When Blogging?" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/blogging1-500x573_c.jpg" />

In our 21st century digital age, starting a blog is quick and easy. Anyone can do it. This is a good thing, because it creates the ability for anyone to easily get his voice out there. However, it also means that you might be new to blogging or may have picked up bad habits that you’re not even aware of. When someone lands on your blog, you have mere seconds to grab their attention and keep them there. Fixing these mistakes can mean the difference between someone who returns to your site again and again and someone who moves on and never returns.

The competition is fierce. Copywriter and marketing guru Henneke Duistermaat states on href="http://www.copyblogger.com/common-blogging-mistakes/" target="_blank">Copyblogger:

“We live in a world full of cheap information. At the push of a button we can get our eyes on far more ideas, blog posts, and news stories than we could ever possibly consume.”

Indeed, we do exist in a world where just about any information you could want or need is at your fingertips. If one site doesn’t offer it in the way the reader likes, he simply moves on to the next choice in his search engine results. Mixing the following mistakes from your blog can up your chances that he’ll stick around your site for a few minutes and possibly even order something.

7 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1 – Not Creating Landing Pages

href="http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/11/22/are-you-making-this-big-mistake-when-selling-online/" target="_blank">Jeff Bullas believes there is one big mistake that bloggers make and that is not creating landing pages to collect visitor info.

“Once you have their email and their name you can start to engage with your prospect. That means building credibility and trust over time. This can be done by providing a stream of free and valuable content.”

Bullas makes an excellent point. If you’re going to spent your advertising dollars trying to get new people to come to your site, don’t you want a way to contact that person in the future? There are a couple of ways you can get them to your site and also encourage them to share their information.

• Offer something free in exchange for their e-mail.
• Run a contest that they can enter with their e-mail.
• Offer a free newsletter that provides free valuable information only to subscribers.
• Offer a book in installments via e-mail that is related to your product or service.
• Offer a discount on their first order if they sign up for your newsletter.

One example of a company that does this well is href="http://www.limogesjewelry.com/" target="_blank">Limoges Jewelry. They advertise heavily on Facebook and via AdSense. When you click on one of their ads and hit their landing page, you’ll be invited to sign up for their newsletter to receive news and discounts and 20% off your order today. The incentive to sign up is to get that immediate 20% discount. They then send out one or two e-mails each week offering a discount, free shipping or letting you know about specials they are running. This is a good example of how they are using advertising to send visitors to a landing page, gather information and keep in contact for future sales.

Think outside the box. In Jerry Low’s href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/inbound-marketing/boost-conversion-rates/" target="_blank">20 Ways to Boost Website Conversion Rates, he recommends creating an interactive landing page to get site visitors involved in your site immediately.

Mistake #2 – Making Common Grammar Mistakes

No one expects you to be perfect. Minor typos and errors will be overlooked by readers. However, some grammar purists will cringe and possibly even leave your site over consist misuse of the English language and basic grammar that you should know. In addition, Google may see your site as lower quality and your site’s rank could take a hit in the search engine results.

Ginny Soskey takes a look at href="http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/common-grammar-mistakes-list" target="_blank">15 Common Grammar Mistakes We All Need to Stop Making.

“Words and phrases that sound fine in your head or spoken out loud can suddenly look like gibberish when written down — that is, if you’ve realized that you made a mistake in the first place.”

She suggests reading articles like hers and other tips on how to avoid common grammar mistakes. You may also want to bookmark the href="https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/" target="_blank">Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) so you can look up any grammar issues you are uncertain about. Some basic errors include:

• Their/There/They’re – “Their” is possessive and indicates belong to. “There” indicates location. “They’re” is an abbreviation for “they are”.
• Lose/Loose – This is a common error that will drive any English teacher who visits your site absolutely insane. “Lose” means to misplace or to not know where something it. “Loose” means not tight.
• To/Too – “Too” means more than enough of something. I ate too much, for example.

These are just a few of the common errors people make when writing. Add a little time into your weekly schedule to learn grammar and improve your writing and the payoff will be seen in the quality of your articles.

Mistake #3 – Regurgitating Content from Others

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Originality is important.

Even if you’re putting together a list like this one and pulling in views from experts, your list should be different than anyone else’s and should offer some insider information, personal examples and content that can’t be found anywhere else.

“More than anything else, what really matters about your blog is that it represents you and is genuinely unique. While you still need to attune your messaging to what people want to read, whatever you write must be infused with your unique take and style.” – href="http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Common-Beginner-Blogger-Mistakes" target="_blank">wikiHow

This means that your first step is to do your research. Take a look at what content is already out there. What is missing from that content that readers might want to know? How can you add to it? Give it a different spin?

Also, use your own unique voice while writing. It should be almost as though the reader is sitting across from you over a cup of coffee and you’re sharing a story with her. Lay out the article in a way that makes sense for the storytelling process and use your own unique words and thoughts.

Mistake #4 – Not Being Mobile Friendly

id="attachment_7545" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright">href="http://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/blog/blogging-tips/do-you-make-these-7-mistakes-when-blogging/attachment/blogging-4/" rel="attachment wp-att-7545">class="size-full wp-image-7545" alt="blogging" src="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/blogging1.jpg" width="300" height="344" srcset="http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/blogging1.jpg 300w, http://whsr.webrevenueinc1.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/blogging1-261x300.jpg 261w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sepblog/3634843977/">Search Engine People Blog