Working on a new project!
Welcome back! Have you joined my mailing list yet?
I'm getting ready to launch a new website/blog dedicated to my favorite game, Magic: the Gathering. I'm hoping that I can make it awesome.
We've been told over and over again to write about our passions, because that will lead to a great blog. Well, MtG is one of mine. I've been playing it since I was a sophomore in high school, and even after a hiatus I've returned to my geek roots.
That's right. Nerd street cred. Represent.
On second thought, I should never say that again...
If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!
Why did you get into blogging?
I started a blog simply because it just made sense. I have had several different versions of my own site online since about 1996, when I first started spending time on the internet. Over the years, I learned a lot about how to build websites, how not to build websites, and what I should expect to encounter during the 'running a site' process.
Back in the day, I would code all of my own websites in pure HTML using the best website building tool ever, Notepad. Was it a lot of work? Sure. Was it worth it? Well, yes. I was able to set up a place where I could post my own thoughts and ideas (even though nobody ever saw it). The format was pretty cool, as well. I'd have date stamped updates whenever I would post a new thought...it was great.
And it was a blog before blogging as we know it.
So fast forward to today. I don't hand code my HTML anymore. I'm just too lazy for that, and I really don't remember a lot of it, since I don't use it. Now I just run WordPress. Really, it's faster and easier (although since I can't make my own themes and I don't have the cash on hand to buy a custom theme it doesn't always look how I envision it).
Getting started in blogging, for me, was just a logical progression from what I was already doing.
Why did you get into blogging? Leave your comments below!
If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!
A Page Without PageRank Ranking on Google’s First Page
I have been running this blog for over two years now (well, probably closer to three although I've only had the .net domain for two years) and one thing still bugs me a bit. No matter how many blogs, ebooks or diatribes I read, I just can't quite wrap my head around the concept of SEO and SERPs. I usually try not to worry that much about proper keyword content or anything.
Another concept I generally don't freak out that much about is page rank. The main page of this site once hit PR3. It has since dwindled back down to a PR1 status. Does this bother me? Not really. I don't really see a huge point in trying to gain page rank, since I generally end up with backlinks from random spam sites and scrapers anyway. When it comes to links, I'll take what I can get.
What does puzzle me, though, is how one of my internal pages can rank high enough in Google to actually pull in a little bit of traffic on a steady basis. I'm scratching my head, because I would like to think that I have more than one well written page on this site. I'm sure that's pretty subjective though.
So which page is it that's pulling in traffic? It's my post on "The Importance of Good Employee Relations". Yep. Nothing that I've written about freelancing, affiliate marketing, or just random ranting has done this.
I was sitting around one day, thinking that I really needed to write something that was business-oriented. While I'm not a manager at my day job, I thought it would be a good idea to put together a common-sense guide on how to be a good boss from an employee's perspective. Somehow, I managed to stumble on something pretty sweet.
While the page itself doesn't have any page rank points with the big G, a quick search for 'importance of employee relations' will turn my link up on the first page. And to top that off, it's the third result...and it's only beat out by a bizmove site and a NASA site. Really, I'm OK with being the third search result out of 1,070,000 results. :D
One thing that I have notices is that it provides me with a VERY tiny trickle of income from the AdBrite ads on the page. I'm trying to come up with a better way to monetize that page right now. I've been also considering expanding my coverage on business topics. I also should focus more on researching my keywords...even though this one I came across by sheer dumb luck.
Are any of you having luck with getting ranked for any of your pages that you just wrote on a whim with no SEO work?
If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!
Five WordPress Plugins I Can’t Live Without
We all know that WordPress is an awesome blogging platform. Honestly, I can't see why anybody would want to blog with any other substandard tool. But besides its ease of use, the best thing about WordPress is its ability to be made better with the addition of plugins. I wanted to share a few of the plugins that I use on this blog, and give you a bit about why I can't live without them.
CommentLuv - The CommentLuv plugin is awesome. Whenever a legitimate user (not you spammers) leaves a comment on my blog, CommentLuv will automagically connect to their blog and add a link to their latest post on their comment. It's a great way to share the link love.
Subscribe to Comments - Subscribe to Comments does exactly what it sounds like. It gives folks who comment a chance to get an email whenever someone replies to their comment (or to the post). How does this help bloggers? It reminds them that there was a blog that they commented on, and that they should return to your page. Nice, huh?
Tweet This - This plugin adds a 'Tweet This Post' option to your blog posts. It also can shorten URLs using Bit.ly so that your tweets don't get truncated.
Twitter Tools - Another Twitter related plugin, this one helps integrate your blog with Twitter, autoposting a tweet whenever you publish a new post. This in conjunction with Tweet This can add a potential viral factor to your blog. Just publish your post, let the readers come, and they retweet it. Nice, right?
Ninja Affiliate - This, to me, is the mother of all WordPress plugins. It's not a free product, but it is by far the most useful plugin I have ever used. Basically, it's a URL cloaker that also can replace keywords in your blog with affiliate links. Can you say money? I knew you could. Not only is it great for use inside the blog, but you can use it to make your affiliate link easier to remember, such as http://thesugarbuzzproject.net/my-affiliate-link. Sure beats trying to memorize all of those numbers, letters, and weird characters, right? Believe me, if you can fit it into your blog's budget, I can't emphasize enough the value of this plugin.
If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!
The problem with free themes
So I'm on the lookout for a good free theme for this site. Why a free theme? Because I'm freaking cheap. But the more I look around at all of the offerings, it gets harder to satisfy my need for a great looking (and totally functional) theme.
Most of the "free" themes that I find around the net contain encrypted footers, which link to other websites. Not to mention, often the TOS for those themes state that you are not allowed to change the footer.
To me, that sucks.
If you want to put links in your footer, you should be able to. But if you are going to force people to give their Google juice to an offshore casino, dog accessories and some other random thing that's just crappy.
I get it...you sell the links on your theme. It's a nice way to make some cash and build links for somebody. Fine, I can dig that, but not on my theme.
So with that said, I also have been having trouble finding a nice looking theme that actually works the way I want it to. This white theme that I'm using now...not working like I want it to. It looks awkward...in a nice way. But it's still not as nice as some other WordPress themes. And there's no freaking way I'm gonna pay $79 bucks for a theme. Especially when I can't even make the rent. Pfft...not going to happen.
Is there anybody who can recommend a great looking free theme without footer links and silly headers?
If you like these posts and want to stay in the loop, please subscribe to my RSS feed and follow me on Twitter. And if you really like this stuff, you can buy me a coffee! Oh, and if you like being an insider, be sure to join the mailing list...I never spam, but you will get some insider specials!
Recent Posts
- Multiple Income Streams – Getting Pumped!
- Setting up my savings goal.
- Harry Potter and the Child Support Payment from Hell
- Reinventing myself – setting goals.
- It’s time to do some house cleaning.
Best of [ ! ]
- A Page Without Page Rank Ranking on Google's First Page
- The Importance of Good Employee Relations
- Twitter Followers Versus Blog Subscriptions