While the exact number remains unknown, some experts estimate there to be more than 160 million blogs in existence. An overwhelming majority of these blogs, however, fail to gain any traction with the search engines. Sure, they may receive a small trickle of traffic from direct type-ins and long-tail keyword searches, but they ultimately fail to attract any significant number of visitors due to performance with the search engines.
Unique Theme / Template
Whether your blog was built on WordPress, BigCommerce, Blogger, Joomla, Drupal, or any other content management system (CMS), you should in...
More
WordPress Posts vs Pages: What’s The Difference?
WordPress uses two different formats on which content is created and stored: posts and pages. Some users assume these formats are the same, with no distinguishable differences between the two. While they share some similarities in terms of appearance and function, however, posts and pages are two very different formats.
Posts
Posts are content-based entries that are displayed in chronological order (most recent appearing on top) on either the blog's home page by default. When you publish a new post, it will appear at the top of your home page, either in its entirety or as an excerpt (varies ...
More
5 Easy Ways To Uncover New Blog Topic Ideas
Still struggling to come up with new topic ideas for your blog? We all know the importance of publishing fresh content on a regular basis. It encourages search engines and visitors to return to your site, which often boosts your search ranking. Of course, this is easier said than done, especially in some of the more narrow niches. If this sounds like a familiar problem, check out some of the following ways to identify new topics.
#1 – Search Forums
When you are stuck and can't seem to think of any topics for your website, try searching through forums related to your niche. This is an excelle...
More
Things To Consider Before Starting Your First Blog
Congratulations on your decision to start a blog. It's a fun and rewarding way to share your thoughts while laying the roots for a successful, long-lasting business. However, there are a few things you should consider before launching your blog.
Content Management System
One of the first things you should do when planning a new blog is to choose a content management system (CMS). As the name suggests, a CMS is designed to streamline the creation and management of a website's content. You can technically create a fully functional blog using nothing more than Notepad, but this is a tedious and...
More
Choosing a Graphic Designer For Your Blog
A visually appealing design can make a world of difference in a blog's popularity. The human brain is hard-wired to respond to attractive designs with a higher level of engagement. So even if your blog contains exceptional, well-written content, it may ultimately fail unless it features an attractive layout.
Here's the problem, though: many bloggers have little-to-no experience in graphic design. They may understand the basic concept of pixel dimensions and file types (e.g. GIF, JPEG, PNG, etc.), but they lack the skills necessary to create a custom header or theme/template design. If this so...
More
Create Effective Landing Pages Using WordPress
Wouldn't it be great if you could create effective landing pages in WordPress instead of building them from scratch? It's no secret that WordPress is used primarily for blogs, and for good reason: it supports both posts and pages, allows multiple users to log in and publish content, and offers a built-in visitor commenting feature. But WordPress can also be used to create brilliant, fully functional landing pages.
What Is a Landing Page?
If you asked ten different marketing experts what the definition of a landing page is, you would probably get ten different answers. Wikipedia, however, off...
More
How To Make You Blog Post Go Viral
While the exact number remains unknown, some marketing experts estimate there to be more than 150 million blogs currently online. Whether you're searching for information on pets, health, fashion, sports, celebrity/pop culture, or practically anything else, there's probably a blog covering it. But with such heated competition, it's difficult for the "little guys" to make a name for themselves, which is where viral content comes into play. If you're able to create a viral blog post, you'll receive tons of new visitors while drawing the attention of search engines.
What Is a Viral Blog Post?
L...
More
Bing Expected To Roll Out Mobile-Friendly Update
Just weeks after Google altered its search ranking algorithm to increase the mobile rankings for smartphone/tablet-optimized websites, Bing has announced plants to roll out a mobile-friendly update of its own.
The Microsoft-owned and operated search engine announced the upcoming mobile-friendly update in a blog post titled "Our approach to mobile-friendly search." In the post, Bing's Shyam Jayasankar reinforces the fact that mobile Internet usage continues to grow as a "percentage of overall" search queries. Bing initially unveiled plans to push for greater mobile friendliness back in Novem...
More
Report: WordPress Remains The #1 CMS
There are dozens of content management systems (CMS) available, some of which include Drupal, Jooma, Business Catalyst, BigCommerce, Blogger and Tumblr just to name a few. However, WordPress remains the single most popular and widely used CMS for content-driven websites, according to a new report published by CodeGuard.
The cloud-based data backup and monitoring service provider claims that approximately 79% of all content websites are powered by WordPress, with Drupal coming in at a distant second with just 72.%, and Drupal with 5.3%. This begs the question, why do so many webmasters and b...
More
Beware! 4 Things That Can Hurt Your Blog’s Rankings
Search rankings play a direct role in the amount of traffic a blog receives. In fact, a study conducted by the marketing firm Chitka found that websites in the first organic, non-paid position in Google receive 32.5% traffic share for the respective keyword, whereas websites in the eleventh position received an abysmal 1% traffic share. This week, we're going to discuss some things that are known to negatively impact a blog's search ranking.
Duplicate Content
Don't get me wrong, small amounts of duplicate content is perfectly fine and shouldn't have a negative impact on your blog's rankings....
More