Web Dev Notes

Last week I decided to move a blog to a different directory on my web server. Doing so actually turned out to be quite easy thanks to the way the Wordpress developers have set things up! In fact, moving your blog is easier than formatting text in Wordpress!

Please make sure you follow the steps below closely. While it is very fast and easy, you could complicate things for yourself if you do anything out of order!

“Moving the WordPress files from one location on your server to another - changing its URL - requires some special care.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Moving_WordPress“

Wordpress is a very powerful tool. Find out how you can use Wordpress to build online communities!

Last week I posted about How to Keep Yourself Organized and linked to an article which had 27 great tips. I mentioned applying those tips to blogging as well because having a GOOD system is important…

The most important thing you need manage when writing a blog is TIME. Having a regular posting schedule is the best way to get regular readers instead of casual readers. People have habits and routines and your goal is to ensure that people make browsing your website part of their routine. The ideal posting time and frequency depends on how much time you have available for blogging and the audience you are hoping to attract. If your blog appeals to teenagers, you’ll probably want to make sure new posts are up by 3PM when they start getting online after school. However, if a large part of your audience are working folks, you’ll find that many of them spend some time browsing the internet as soon as they get in the office! In that case, you’ll want new posts up by 7AM!

Once you decide on an ideal posting time, try to stick to it. You want your regular readers to have their dose of content when they come to get it! If you only have time to blog once every week, try and do it on the same day so readers know when to stop by! If they know when they should come back, they are more likely to do so. If you are using Wordpress, take advantage of the ability to schedule when your posts appear.

If you have decided to post daily or weekly, try and get ahead of yourself if ever time permits. By this I mean, if you are posting weekly but have some free time to write a few extra posts one day, write them but do NOT post them! Keep them saved and ready to post on a future date. It is MUCH better for your blog to continue posting on a regular schedule rather than posting a lot one week and nothing the next. If the following week you experience writers block or just don’t have the time to write, you can use your stash of extra posts to keep on schedule!

Finally, get in the habit of writing down ideas. I’ve started carrying around an agenda with me and scribbling little notes down in it has done wonder for my blogging! When I’m not sure what to write about I just open up the agenda and read the little notes I’ve scribbled down to find topics which would make good blog posts. Also take advantage of tools like Google Reader and subscribe to the feeds of websites you enjoy. Use Google Reader to “star” posts you have really enjoyed and use them as inspiration for your own posts in the future!

The easiest way to boost your websites rank and increase profitability is to download the Alexa toolbar.

What is Alexa? It is a site that ranks all websites on the internet. Many people will use this as a reference when estimating the value of a website or when deciding whether or not to advertise on a website.

How does it work? Let’s ask Alexa:

Alexa’s traffic rankings are based on the usage patterns of Alexa Toolbar users over a rolling 3 month period. A site’s ranking is based on a combined measure of reach and pageviews. Reach is determined by the number of unique Alexa users who visit a site on a given day. Pageviews are the total number of Alexa user URL requests for a site. However, multiple requests for the same URL on the same day by the same user are counted as a single pageview. The site with the highest combination of users and pageviews is ranked #1.

So in a nutshell, if you have the Alexa toolbar, then every time you visit a website, you will basically cast a vote for that site. All your votes and the votes of everyone using the Alexa toolbar then get added up in order to rank all the websites in the world.

Guess what? Nobody visits your website more than you! Download the Alexa toolbar now so that every time you visit or update your website, you cast yourself some votes and boost your own rank!

The Alexa toolbar itself is actually pretty useful too. It will give you a search box for browsing the web and list the current rank of the page you are browsing. You will also have the ability to easily find and access more information about websites you visit and even compare your website against others.

Alexa is owned by Amazon which is a well known trusted company. Your Alexa toolbar will also give you a handy little link to Amazon.com and all of the great products they offer at excellent prices.

What are you waiting for? Download the Alexa toolbar now!

Did you know that by moving around your ad placement from time to time or changing the background or border colors of your ads, you will help yourself get more clicks?! If a lot of your traffic is from return visitors, after a while they will subconsciously block the ads out from their mind. By moving them around or changing their appearance, people will suddenly notice them again for a while, increasing the chances of potential clicks!

Give your site a breath mint from time to time by freshening things up with some changes! You’ll see people won’t hide from your ads quite as much!

Looking for Web Development Software or Books? Visit my Web Development Software and Books Store!

Want to Increase your Websites Page Rank and Incoming Traffic? Submit your Articles to WriterDatabase.com. It’s Free!

When it comes to developing a website or writing a successful blog you need to remember that it won’t always be all fun and games. Sometimes you’ll need to sit down and focus on writing a very serious post like “Are Chihuahua’s Holding Back Your Website?“. Sure chihuahuas may be tiny little beasts, but that doesn’t mean that their very existence can’t be a deterrent to your success. You can’t miraculously expect to create one of the richest companies in the world while fooling around and having a good time; you need to keep that serious “I AIN’T BLUFFIN” business face at all times like Google did with these top secret projects.

moar funny pictures

It’s obviously no secret then that all the most successful bloggers look to Super Squirrel when in need of inspiration. Super Squirrel is always available to help you stay focussed so you can Plot You Plan for success… in an evil way of course! In fact, it’s important not to let the big guns intimidate you and it is therefore recommended you post slanderous posts about them whenever possible such as when I wrote about how I hacked Google and stole their robot lolol! If you can’t improve your website, at least such rumor spreading posts can help make your competitors look bad so the end result is still a better view of your own site! On that note, also remind visitors often that your competitors are actually drug dealing zombies who plan to have Googlebot Index Your Brain for their own head feasting pleasures.

If all else fails and it appears you’ve somehow condemned your website to failure despite following all of the above advice, there is still one last hope for you! When in doubt, resort to starting conspiracy theories! Remember when in all seriousness I wrote, “HELP! My TrackBacks Have Been Kidnapped!“. This was an excellent conspiracy that had all my readers searching the internet for my lost trackbacks. If that doesn’t work, you can also try boosting your own ego by discussing the failures of others such as when I wrote, “Are You Sad Because Nobody Visits Your Website?”

At the end of the day, if your website is still a black hole void of even the smallest glimpse of light or hope then the real problem is that you were a clone. If you clone you’ll end up alone!

If you want to make a living from blogging you can! Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. The good news is that getting started with a blog does not require any monetary investment. You can turn a 0$ initial investment into a million dollar business! The thing to keep in mind though is that this transition will not happen over night! Some assembly is required!

more funny pictures

The main ingredient you will need to invest in you blog is time. By constantly investing time into your blog, you can turn a tiny little website into a huge empire! Doing so requires just a few simple steps. Blog often, do it on a consistent schedule and comment comment comment!

Of course, there is always a catch. The above will get you started but it won’t help you make any money! To make money even more assembly is required! First you’ll need to sign up for one or more of the following advertising services.

Get Reviewed At ReviewMe!

Earn $$ with WidgetBucks

AuctionAds: Increase the bid on your site’s income!

Once you are signed up to one of these services they will give you some code that you can copy/paste into the theme of your blog or website in order to display advertisements. If your website has many daily visitors, you’ll start converting that traffic into income! Now you’re not only blogging which is hopefully something you enjoy, but you’re also making money from it!

Another great way to make money online from your website is to use Amazon! Read this article to find out how to create an online store and make money with Amazon.

Of course, once you slap on some ads or start using Amazon, you still need to continue posting quality content! Quality content is the best way to ensure your visitors return to your site again in the future!

Once your site has a lot of traffic, a good Alexa ranking and a good Google Page Rank, you should also consider direct advertising. Direct advertising is when you sell advertising space on your website yourself. You always make more profit this way because you no longer have a middle-person taking a cut! You only want to offer direct advertising once your website will offer something of value to your advertisers because you definitely want them to be repeat customers. The more repeat customers you have, the less you need to worry about finding new partners each month and the more stable your income becomes!

If you enjoyed this post, why not check out some other websites I’ve been working on!

• BattleCity Classic
• Looble Network
• Software Engineer Training
• WriterDatabase
• Tamra Maew

If you want your website to be successful then you need to be ready to spend a lot of time working at it! There is no get rich quick scheme out there when it comes to making a living off the internet. It is possible to make tons of cash from a blog, but you need to make sure the chihuahua’s are not holding you back! Don’t let those little buggers grab you by the tail and slow down the success of your website! Toss that evil something a bone!

Does it always feel like success it out of reach? It’s not. While I’d love to be cliché and say you are the only one holding yourself back, I’ll be honest and say there are tons of factors involved with how much money you can make online. That being said, only you are holding yourself back from creating a successful blog or website in terms of generating traffic! How much money you can then make from that traffic depends on the topic of the blog and available advertising opportunities.

If you follow all of the advice of the successful bloggers out there, you will be successful as well. It is very rare that someone will say they’ve been posting quality content daily for one year while commenting on other blogs and have not managed to get any traffic yet! Those who have failed are those who did not stick to a regular posting schedule or who did not take the time to comment on other blogs of similar content in order to build valuable relationships and generate some incoming links. For many, it’s not their fault either. Dropping everything to blog full-time is not an option, especially since it will take several months of dedicated blogging before you start to see results. People need to work a job or go to school. It’s not easy to manage!

The good news is, if you do manage to do it all and stick to doing it all consistently, then you will be successful. You will start getting tons of incoming traffic and if you place ads that add value to your website, you will also start making some money!

Take responsibility for any mistakes that you have made. Everybody messes up, but most people are not able to admit it. Don’t be embarrassed to admit you were wrong or to tell someone you made a mistake. While it’s not an easy thing to do, people will appreciate your honesty and maturity.

What kind of mistake did you make? Maybe you got into an argument with a reader of your website or maybe you posted an article with incorrect information. Maybe you accidentally deleted the wrong database and therefore erased an entire forum with hundreds of posts which you had not made a backup of. Yup, I’ve done that one…

No matter what it is you have done, never try to hide it. People hate dishonesty. Everyone makes mistakes, we are only human. People can understand that and will realize it can happen to anyone. If you lie to your readers however and they find out, many will not be as forgiving because lying is not a mistake or an accident. Lying is purposefully misleading people. If you want return visitors, earn their trust and show them your are confident in your content and website and not afraid to admit defeat on occasion.

Don’t let uncertainty hold you back from achieving success. You might not know exactly what lies ahead, but you’ll never find out if you don’t leap forward! If you’re blogging or starting up a website, hosting prices have become so affordable that there is no longer even much risk involved. In fact, you can even host a blog for free using Blogger or Wordpress if you are not ready to get your own hosting account.

How you define success will have a lot to do with whether or not you feel your website has become successful. If you define success as making millions of dollars, chances are you will fail. Before you decide your criteria for success, first ask yourself how much time you are willing to invest in your website. Now, taking this into consideration, determine how successful you believe you can be in that time-frame.

If jumping off the sofa is too high of a jump, leap onto a coffee table first! Define success as something within your reach, so you aren’t setting yourself up to fail. If you are not satisfied with the amount of success you believe you can achieve within your current limits, find a different project to work on or be prepared to invest more time in the project!

Are you sad because nobody visits your website? Do you wake up in the middle of the night with tears in your eyes because not a single person has noticed your online existence? Do you feel sick to your stomach each time you make a new post because you think you will die lonely and alone?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, don’t worry! You are among thousands of other crazy people who have joined support groups to talk about their lack of page views! Actually, crying about your present failure is a good thing, because it means you haven’t quit yet!

Will you get your cheezburger sumday? Err.. I mean, will you get page views someday?

Probably not. You’ll probably quit well before you start generating traffic to your website. If you don’t quit, you’ll continue waisting your time crying about your lack of success rather than putting in a serious effort to add new content daily while marketing your website. Most people will never get their cheezburger.

Sorry.

On a brighter note, an extremely small percentage of you will in fact be successful in the ever growing and increasingly competitve internet world! These people will be the ones who never gave up and who were able to survive the rought times.

Don’t let Chihuahua’s hold back your website! Start working with the purrrrfect partners and plot your plan for success. Make sure you plant the seeds for success early and listen to feedback so you can feed your readers a happy meal. Make good use of article directories and other marketing techniques and never forget the secrets to writing a successful blog!

Looking for Web Development Software or Books? Visit my Web Development Software and Books Store!

Want to Increase your Websites Page Rank and Incoming Traffic? Submit your Articles to WriterDatabase.com. It’s Free!