» Blogging

The other night I was watching a special on fishing and for odd reason, it occurred to me that fishing is very much like blogging. I know, it’s a really odd combination to think of (not sure how I even came up with it), but the two fit hand in hand.

To anybody that has ever went fishing or even watched it on television, you know the proper way to get a fish on your line is to bait it with something enticing to them. In a blogging sense, your bait, is your blog post title. Not only do you need a relevant blog title, but you need a blog post title that will make the reader want to go further. Many times, it doesn’t matter how wonderful your article is if there isn’t that instantaneous attraction, many readers will skip over it.

Once you’ve got your reader (the fish) hooked with your bait (your post title), then it’s time to reel the catch in with the article. As shocking as this sounds, many times, it’s much more difficult to actually come up with not only a relevant, but catchy blog title which acts as the “waiting” in fishing. Once you have the reader (the fish) on the line, reeling them in is the easy part, so writing your article should actually be the easiest part of the process.

As important as it is for blog articles to be informative and unique, you’ll never get the fish without the proper bait. I know many bloggers who write these magnificent postings/articles that are a joy to read, but very few ever do because the title has little relevance and/or it’s simply not engaging enough. So while it’s important to take time to write your blog posting, it’s just as important (if not more) to sit down and take some serious time to consider the right blog title for your posting.

Also of note - there is a way to get a second blog title for your post, and that’s by downloading the Plugin (for Wordpress.org blogs) named “All In One SEO Pack”. Once you install this automated plugin, it will properly set up your postings (and overall blog) for search engines. But the extremely neat thing about it is that you can add an entirely different title to your blog post, giving you TWO unique blog post titles which can only help.

To download All In One SEO Pack, click here.

One of the most frustrating things that I’ve dealt with when it comes to blogging is security. I always try to go above and beyond, making sure my blog is secure and even with that - I’ve been hacked TWICE. I’ve lost everything in both hacks.

In addition to making a normal backup of your blog, there is now a very interesting piece of equipment you can buy to turn your blog into Fort Knox.

According to BloggingTips.com, there is now a downloadable plugin that integrates with a Yubikey, making your blog a fortress of security.

For those that are not aware, a Yubikey is a $25 dollar USB password generator. It gives you a one time password and there are a variety of additional options on how to set it up. For example, if you wanted to allow other authors into your blog, you could provide them with your password or give each of them their own individual password.

The Yubikey adds an incredibly sophisticated security system to your blog or website, and the Yubikey plugin allows you to integrate it into your Wordpress blog.

To any blogger who values their blog, I highly recommend this device and the additional plugin.

There is no worse feeling than all of your hard work being destroyed in the click of a button. So, prevent the situation before it ever becomes a reality.

To download the Yubikey plugin, click here.

To visit the Yubikey website, click here.

In just a few days, the long wait will be over as Wordpress version 2.8 will finally be released. Rumors have been swirling around the newly added features, but thanks to the help of Weblogtoolscollection.com and BlogOhBlog.com we now have some ideas as to what we can expect.

One of the most anticipated new features will be the ability to allow users to easily install and upgrade themes. It will continue with the one click instillation but also provide the ability to search by colors, number of columns width, features and more.

No longer will you have to manually edit the header either by using some HTML code. You can now upload and crop your own graphic into your header, similar to the process currently used on the Blogger platform.

In addition to the above graphical enhancements, one of the biggest differences you’ll notice is the major overhaul of the widgets. Users can now also use the same widgets on multiple widget areas, something that was not possible in the earlier versions of WordPress. The addition of the new API method also makes widget creation much easier so you’ll soon see amateur developers and code writers coming up with all sorts of new plugins and widgets.

• WordPress doesn’t ask for confirmation when marking a comment as spam
• You don’t get notified of your own comments
• You can autosave posts/pages when pressing Control/Command+S
• Support for more than one gallery on the same page
• You can now edit all the files of a particular plugin
• WordPress now allows case-insensitive logins (username)
• You can have multiple instances of a widget now

For the entire list of changes (many of which we did not cover), you can visit the Wordpress 2.8 site by clicking here. The full release is expected on June 10, 2009.

Click the links below to visit the sites.

Resources:

Weblogtoolscollection.com

BlogOhBlog.com

One common complaint that I’ve continually heard from bloggers is that after a strong start, their blog begins to fade away. This is a common problem that almost always revolves around a few common mistakes. Once you’ve started getting traffic to your blog, taking a hands off approach is the worst thing one could do. A successful blogger would tell you that great blogging takes a certain amount of dedication and effort.  Many people work so hard during the initial beginning phase that they get lazy after the traffic starts flowing.

Below I’ve included a few tips to help you avoid that common blog rut that so many of us run into.

1) Lack Of Updates - When you first start your blog you’re more than willing to update it as much as possible. But like anything, after a while it becomes a mild chore. You need to continually keep your content fresh with no less than a few postings a week. This not only keeps you interested in the blog, but your readers as well. And unless you’re a large blog missing a week or so of postings could be catastrophic for your blog so make sure you always have solid content. It doesn’t need to be a massive article, but just something to keep your blog going.

2) Graphical Overload - While you might have amazing content on your blog one thing you need to avoid is filling your blog with graphics. Not only does it take away from your content but it can be an eye sore to your blog readers. Keep everything simple and clean. Try to avoid the “homemade” look. There are plenty of sites out the internet that provide free “professional” looking blog themes.

3) Too Much Advertising - Let’s face reality - at some point during your blogs life, the thought of making money on your blog will creep into your mind. Many people take the plunge, especially those with smaller blogs and end up filling their sidebars, headers, footers, and even text boxes with advertisements. You usually can’t make enough money just having one or two of those items so you need to include all of them to make the profit worthwhile. However, all of those advertisements are quite a turn off for readers and not only do they avoid clicking on the advertisements, they simply leave the blog as well.

4) Inappropriate Content - This can be a variety of things, be it pornographic images/thoughts or vulgar language. There are ways to get your point across other than using vulgar language. Much like you would in real life, you need to use your manners when creating blog postings on your blog. Most of us talk to our friends in a different way than we talk to our bosses, etc. and this is the mindset you need to apply when it comes to keeping your blog professional.

If you keep these simple steps in mind, your blog will have a much better chance at having a LONG, successful tenure in the blogosphere.

CopyBlogger.net has a great article that talks about keeping your blog content fresh as well (click here to visit)