Blogging | DonCrowther.com

Why NOT To Date Your Blog Posts

Just because it’s tradition, doesn’t mean it’s right! And in the case of dating your blog posts, there are lots more disadvantages to putting dates on your blog posts than there are advantages.

Think through your last year of blogging. What percentage of your posts really needed to have a date attached? Unless you’re a extremely cutting edge blogger on highly time-sensitive issues, those dates on each of your blog posts probably hurt you more than they helped you.

Hurt you? How?

Unless the visitor to your site arrives within a day of your writing the post, once they see any date other than that day’s date, they’re probably viewing that post as old or outdated…

Even if the content that you wrote is evergreen – not time-based at all!

As a consequence, they immediately, before they’ve even started reading, have been negatively predisposed against the information you are presenting in the post.

Is that what you want to burden yourself with?

I could give you lots more reasons, but I won’t.

So how do you get rid of the dates on your posts?

Watch this 5-minute video to learn how.

Finally, remember that not everyone agrees with this strategy – that’s terrific! Make your own choice whether you implement it or not!

Update: if you find that the solution recommended in the video doesn’t solve your problem or if you need to remove dates from comments, you can always go deeper and edit the .php files. Here’s a blog post that shows how to do that.

Do you have any other suggestions for removing dates from blog posts? Let me know by leaving a comment below. And don’t forget to like and tweet it!

Filed Under: Blogging, Featured, Posts Tagged With: articles, blog, Blogging, blogs, business, dates, plugin, plugins, Wordpress

How To Get New Traffic To Old Blog Posts

One of the key rules that successful bloggers understand is that just because a blog post is old doesn’t mean that it has to die.

And, that they are the primary person responsible for ensuring that it continues to live on.

Here are some key tips to help your old blog posts take on new life, so that they become a long-term asset rather than a one-hit wonder.

1. Create “Best of” posts
These are blog posts that list other key posts you’ve written that are all related to a specific theme. They can be “best of [time period, on a subject, etc.],” “most commented on,” “my personal favorites,” etc. Watch the video to get lots more ideas on this subject.
Each of these posts contains links to 5 or more other posts, with a linked title and a couple of sentences of description about each post.

2. Upgrade your posts
Periodically review each of your old posts, looking for ways that you can upgrade it or bring it up to date. Are there additional points you can make, tips you can add, pictures or formatting changes you can make to it that will make it more valuable to readers, so that they will recommend it to their friends and link to it?

3. Add video to it
If it’s worth writing, it’s worth committing to video! Create a video about that subject, and embed it into the post. That alone could improve its search engine ranking, giving you more traffic to that post!

4. Build internal links to each post
Each time you write a new blog post think “what other posts have I written that add information not available in this post, that my visitors would find value in reading?” Then link to those older posts in your new post. Plus, you should go back in your old posts and do the same.

5. Get offsite links to old posts
As you know, there are tons of ways to do this like writing a guest blog post and linking to your old articles or writing an article which you post to a different site and linking to your old blog posts. In short, always think of your old blog posts as you do things that might create an incoming link.

6. Promote old posts through social media
Lots of people consistently promote their new blog posts through Twitter and Facebook. But what about old blog posts? Most people never read those posts in the first place, so they’re rarely redundant!

7. Email it to your optin list
Regularly email descriptions and links to both your new and older blog posts. This can be an amazingly powerful way to generate a ton of instant traffic, comments and new life for your old posts!

As you do these things, you’ll find your old blog posts getting more traffic, better search engine rankings, more incoming links and putting more onto your bottom line?

What have you done to get new traffic to old blog posts? Share your ideas by writing a comment below! And don’t forget to like and tweet this post!

Filed Under: Blogging

How to install supercharged Google Analytics on your Blog

Did you know that there is a whole set of additional analytics data you can get from your WordPress blog that you probably aren’t accessing now?

Information about your traffic, where it comes from and what it does while its on your site?

Information that’s key to building your business?

Like the ability to group data by:

Categories
Tags
Authors
Publication year
Authors

But to do so, you have to use a cool, free plugin.

Of course, all of this data is in ADDITION to the all the powerful data you’re currently getting from Google Analytics.

Or, perhaps (gasp) you may not even have Google Analytics installed on your blog!

You’ve come to the right place. Here are two videos that will walk you through how to install and configure an incredibly powerful, yet simple WordPress plugin that will give you full access to the amazing power of the free Google Analytics tool.

Here’s the first video that shows you:

How to find and install the Joost de Valk’s Google Analytics for WordPress plugin.
How to set up a Google Analytics profile for your blog
How to tie the two of them together, so that everything works

So that you know, this video is specifically designed for someone who is inexperienced in the process of installing and setting up WordPress plugins. So, if you’re already an experienced WordPress plugin installer, skip this one and watch the next one.

But if you’re at all uncomfortable installing WordPress plugins, watch it now!

Now, here’s the video that everyone, no matter what your level of experience needs to watch. It shows the key settings in the Google Analytics for WordPress plugin that allow you to get a bunch of incredibly valuable information that you’re probably not getting from your blog right now.

So, no matter how advanced you are with WordPress,
And even if you’ve already got Google Analytics installed on your blog…
You need to watch this one!

So, what did you think? Are you running out right now to install it?

I think you should!

And don’t forget to Like, Tweet and leave a comment. We LOVE feedback!

Don

Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Featured, Online Marketing Strategies | Online Marketing Solutions | Tips & Training for Online Marketing at DonCrowther.com, Posts, Social Media How-To, Social Media Tactics Tagged With: analytics, google, Wordpress

WordPress Plugins: Choosing What To Install

One of the most frequently-asked questions I receive is “which WordPress plugins should I install.”

This video shows you a strategy of how to make that decision, plus it shows you some of my personal favorite plugins:

(Like this video? Rate and comment on this video and subscribe to my YouTube channel.)

In a sec, I’ll give you the list of some of my favorites, but it really is worth your time to watch the video to see the strategy I use to choose which plugins I select, which will save you tons of time, frustration and worry.

Here’s the list of plugins referred to in the video:

Akismet for comment spam
Google Analytics for WordPress, easily hooks WordPress to Google Analytics
All In One SEO Pack – the changes WordPress should make
Google XML Sitemaps – creates a google sitemap, important for SEO
Fast Secure Contact Form — allows visitors to send you email
ShareThis — social sharing buttons in many different iterations
W3 Total Cache — creates flat (not dynamic) files
Disqus Comment System — Replaces wordPress comment system with more socially-aware system
Yet Another Related Posts Plugin — shows related posts from your blog
WP-DB-Backup — backs up your WordPress database
Smart YouTube — easily insert YouTube videos
Exclude Pages from Navigation — allows you to remove pages from your nav bar
AskApache Password Protect — adds level of protection for passwords
Dynamic Content Gallery — Creates a dynamic image gallery
FD Feedburner Plugin — redirects all feeds to a Feedburner feed
Featured Content Gallery — creates a rotating image gallery
Twitter Tools — integrates your blog with Twitter
WordPress Firewall — blocks suspicious-looking requests to WordPress
1-click Retweet/Share/Like — Puts a Like button on posts
WP Security Scan — performs a security scan of your WordPress installation
WP Touch — formats your site with a mobile theme

What do you think of the strategy I present in the video? What are YOUR favorite plugins? Share them in the comments below!

Filed Under: Blogging, Online Marketing Strategies | Online Marketing Solutions | Tips & Training for Online Marketing at DonCrowther.com, Posts, Social Media Strategy

5 Ways To Make Your Blog More Popular

There are some insanely popular blogs out there. You probably have heard of the biggies, like: The Huffington Post, Mashable!, TechCrunch and Gizmodo. But today let’s talk about a more achievable, lower case P “popular blogs,” and how to make your blog one of those.

Every blog has a shot at gaining a big readership. Here are few great ways to make sure that your blog posts are influential, tweetable and hopefully – even a bit addictive.

Make sure that your blog is…

Plugged In
Networking counts and it counts big in the Blogosphere. The first and best way to drive folks to your blog is to be an active participant on theirs. Comment frequently on a blog whose readers you’d like to attract. (But always add to the conversation in an genuine way. Spammy comments will only hurt your brand and actually repel readers.)
Scintillating
Don’t trump up fake controversy, but you also shouldn’t be afraid of the real thing, either. Controversial topics and debates can make your site the go-to place for readers. Who doesn’t love a heated debate? It’s human nature to want to ‘watch’ one, so capitalize on it.
Takeaway Heavy
I always make sure my blog posts don’t just ‘sit there’, passively, on the page. They should be alive …they should get into the readers brain and linger there, long after they have browsed away from your blog. When you write a post, think about it from the readers’ point of view. Are you just talking about stuff or are you giving your readers something they can act upon and improve their lives with?
Detailed
Do your homework, back up your point of view with facts. Talking in generalities about your industry will still gain you readers but if you can include references to research and if you go a little deeper, it will up the chances they can return. It will also up the chances that you will be quoted and linked to, by other bloggers!
Personal & Passionate
“Write what you know” is age-old writing advice. Your best, most compelling blog posts will happen when you write about topics that are near and dear to your heart. Don’t shy away from writing with passion, either. Seeing you care about a topic will make readers care about your posts!

What blogger has inspired loyalty in you? Who do you follow and recommend your friends to? Why? What specifically made them stand out in your mind?

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Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Featured, Internet Marketing Strategies | Internet Marketing Training & Tips | Solutions for Internet Marketing at DonCrowther.com, Posts, Public Relations, Social Media How-To Tagged With: Blogging, blogs

6 Sexy Ways to Write Great Blog Headlines

It’s the first thing your readers see. It’s how you get those readers engaged and reading your posts. It’s how you get them to go ahead and just please click…that…link. It’s your blog post headline. And it’s important.

If you want to write a great blog, with a great big readership, you have to write great blog post headlines. Okay, but how?

Here are a few tips and tricks I use. See how many you can spot in my own blog:

Link Up The Chain – Remember that even though you should be tucking a few keywords into your blog post headlines, your headline really has one main purpose. And that is to get folks reading the first line of the post itself. That’s it. Ask yourself, when you write your headline, if it does that job passably well. If it’s too clever or too cutesy and self-enclosed – fix it.
SEO It Goes – As I said above, to not put a keyword or two in your headline is madness. It’s a missed opportunity to pull in new blog readers. So try to sneak one or two in when you can. When it’s natural and when it obeys the guidelines below.
7 is a Lucky Number (so is any number, in fact!) – You’ve seen it a million times, and there’s a darn good reason. Studies show that placing a number in your headline ups it’s chances of being clicked upon. What’s more compelling: “Awesome tips for awesome headlines” or “5 Easy Ways to Write Great Headlines”?
Curiosity Creates Readers – Get your readers wondering. Ask questions that they can’t resist knowing the answer to.
It’s ALL About Them – You know that copywriting principle that tells you to never put “Welcome To My Site” on your site’s home page? Why? Because it’s not about your site. It’s about your customer’s needs. Same goes for your blog. Pack a lot of You and Yours into your headlines, making them interesting, keyword heavy and clickable.
Be Timely – If you attach your blog to the latest news event, you’ll not just gather more readers. You’ll brand your blog one with its finger on the pulse of your industry. There’s nothing worse than an out of touch blogger. And, there’s nothing better than one who is cutting edge.
Don’t Ask How They’re Feeling. Tell Them! - Get in their heads, in other words. Address how they might be feeling. Like “Knockout Your Tension Headaches with These 3 Tricks” or “How to Convert Your Unruly Children Into Angels in Just 48 Hours”

What secrets have you discovered for crafting great headlines? Share them with us by posting a comment below.

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Filed Under: Blogging, Featured, Internet Marketing Strategies | Internet Marketing Training & Tips | Solutions for Internet Marketing at DonCrowther.com, Marketing, Posts, Social Media How-To Tagged With: blog, headlines, SEO

Creating linkbait blog posts

Want more traffic and links? Perhaps you need to write more scintillating headlines and blog posts.

(Definition – Linkbait: a term used to describe a variety of practices that focus on generating attention and incoming links from other sites and blogs. Some linkbaiting practices are good, many sketchy, but it’s clearly an area worth thinking about.)

One fun idea-generating tool is www.linkbaitgenerator.com which allows you to plug in topics and it will generate a series of topic ideas in response.

So, just for fun, I plugged in the term “social media” to see what would happen. Not bad! Here’s the list:
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Internet Marketing Strategies | Internet Marketing Training & Tips | Solutions for Internet Marketing at DonCrowther.com, Posts, Social Media How-To Tagged With: blog posts, Blogging, linkbait, links, SEO, Social Media Strategy | Social Media Marketing Plan for Business | Social Media Marketing Training at DonCrowther.com

5 ways to increase the impact of your blog using Topsy

You know how much traffic you get to your blog, but have you ever asked yourself what impact you are having on others?

There are many ways to measure impact, including blog comments, traffic, sales dollars on referred items, etc. But one good tool is measuring the number of tweets referring to that page. Topsy.com is a great place to track that, because you can:

Get all the information in one place
Compare your data to others
Get surprises you didn’t even know about!

Here’s one way to use Topsy to get data on a site:

Go to Topsy.com and enter your domain name with site: in front. (Example: site:yoursitename.com)

Note the historical data on the side, showing all, tweets this month, week, day and hour.

Also, note the tweets for each page. By clicking on the tweets box, you can see each individual tweet, who tweeted it, and their influence standing (obviously, the more Influential and Hightly Influential people you can get to tweet your content, the better.)

Obviously, you can also track competitive sites, to see how you compare to them, etc.

Now that you know where you stand, how can you use Topsy data to increase the impact of your blogs and sites? Here are 5 ideas:

1. Use your site:yoursitename.com results to identify what’s working for your audience, and write more of those articles
Plus, make sure the Twitter audience knows when you publish those articles to draw them back.

2. Run competitive site:theirsitename.com searches to identify what’s working for your competitors
Topsy gives you the ability to see what content your competitors are creating that is working for the Twitter audience. Writing your own version of your competitor’s top tweeted content gives you content that’s working not only for your market, but for your competitors, allowing you to capitalize on the market insights they’ve identified or stumbled into.

Next, let’s go back to the results when you clicked on an individual tweet. Underneath the search bar, there are tags. Gardening and tricks in this case.

If you click on one of those tags (gardening), you get other top-tweeted articles on that subject, so…

3. BTW, note the 6,282 tweets from this week alone on this subject. (Remember, it’s early March and most of the US is not in gardening season right now – think this might be a way to identify markets to compete in? Good thinking!)

4. Use tags to identify other top tweeted articles in your subject area, then write more on that topic area

And while we’re on the subject, see the blue RSS tab in the prior picture. Click that button, to get an RSS feed containing those results.

Remember, that, as an RSS feed, this list is continually updated, so why not…

5. Add a page to your blog showing today’s most-tweeted articles on gardening, or whatever major topics your audience has revealed to you, through the above analysis, as being interesting to them. Use automated plugins to pull in that data and publish the page.

As a result of all this, you’re not only giving your audience more of what they are looking for from your writing (or that of your team), you are also aggregating the best of the best information, as determined through crowdsourcing!

See how you can take a simple tool and turn the results into tons of excellent, profit-generating content?

How else would you use Topsy? What other similar processes would you use? Tell us about them in the comments below!

Filed Under: Blogging, Posts, Social Media How-To, Twitter