Five WordPress Plugins I Can’t Live Without
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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.
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SEO Smart Links: The Poor Man’s Ninja Affiliate
I came across a post via Twitter that caught my eye...it was a post about ten WordPress plugins that would help increase your blog's ranking. What I expected to find were the usual suspects (All-in-One SEO, Headspace2, etc.). What I didn't expect was a plugin called SEO Smart Links.
OK, maybe I did expect to find something with 'SEO' in the name, but what I didn't know about this plugin is that it works in a very similar way to an excellent, yet expensive, commercial plugin called Ninja Affiliate by MaxBlogPress.
What SEO Smart Links does is essentially the same thing as Ninja Affiliate. According to the author, it "can automatically link keywords and phrases in your posts and comments with corresponding posts, pages, categories and tags on your blog" and also (and this is the good part) "set up your own keywords and set of matching URLs" just like its big brother.
The main difference? With SEO Smart Links you will save $97. And THAT is a lot of money...at least for me.
While it is true that I do use Ninja Affiliate, I won it in a contest, so I don't plan to change soon. However, if you are a beginning blogger trying to break into affiliate marketing, check out SEO Smart Links and see if it can help you get a foothold on cashflow.
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!
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Site News 10/17/08
I'm sure you have all noticed that I've been posting fewer posts lately. Mostly, that's because my job keeps me away from the computer. Also, it's because lately I've been slightly more dedicated to the concept of giving you better content. Ironically, I'm not really doing that with this post.
I wanted to share some of the things I've been doing with this site lately. Some of them are a little obvious while some aren't quite as likely to startle you.
Here's a few of the things I've been working on:
- Added CommentLuv plugin to the site. This is a great way to help get more blog traffic to your latest post, and it encourages people to comment.
- I've been looking for a more professional theme for the site. I think I've found one...but I'm still too cheap to pay for one!
- Added some other plugin. I can't remember off the top of my head what it is.
- Oh yeah! I remembered! You can now subscribe to comments on this blog. You can also subscribe to my RSS feed...
I'm getting ready to try some new things on the marketing scene. I've joined up with several new affiliate programs, and will soon be starting on at least one new ebook (which will be my first). Also, I'm considering starting a mailing list so I can keep you all posted on what odd little projects I am currently working on. Good stuff, right?
Stay tuned. There will be some new stuff coming very soon!
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!