Blogging Trends to Watch in 2016

by sitemanager

blogging trends to watch for, binoculars

Blogging is an ever evolving entity, so it should come as no surprise that we can expect to see some new trends in 2016. Let's take a look: Increased Frequency of Posts There's a growing trend in the blogging stratosphere towards more frequent postings. According to a study of 1,000 bloggers conducted by Orbit Media, more than half of all bloggers are publishing at least one post per week, some of whom publish two or even three times per week. The study also found that 6% of bloggers are publishing more frequently than they did just one year ago -- a trend that will likely continue in 2016...

WordPress 4.4 Now Live

by sitemanager

The world's most popular blogging platform and content management system (CMS) WordPress just received a major facelift. WordPress 4.4 - New Features Earlier this month, developers released WordPress 4.4, introducing a new theme, along with numerous features, improvements, and bug features. Whether you currently use WordPress or are thinking about using it, you should take note of the recent changes made to version 4.4. Dubbed "Clifford," in remembrance of the late jazz musician Clifford Brown, WordPress 4.4 places an emphasis on speed and responsiveness. Twenty Sixteen Theme Among the ...

The 7 Unwritten Rules of Blogging

by sitemanager

Thinking of starting your own blog? If so, you'll want to follow these seven unwritten rules. While there's no universal standard for maintaining a blog, these rules will boost your credibility while attracting new visitors in the process. Blogging Rules: Cite Sources There's nothing wrong with including excerpts or quotes from other websites and sources on your blog. However, you should always link back to the original source. This is done as a courtesy of saying "thanks," but it also shows search engines that your blog isn't a one-way street. Use a Custom Design The great thing about bl...

5 Things No One Tells You About Blogging

by sitemanager

You'll Get Spam Comments... Lots of Them Allowing visitors to submit comments on posts and articles is a great way to boost engagement while creating fresh new content in the process. If you've been blogging for any significant length of time, however, you'll notice many of these comments are nothing more than spam. Such comments may consist of "Wonderful blog! I'll be sure to grab your RSS," or similar generic messages. This doesn't mean that you should disable your blog's commenting feature, but rather use an anti-spam plugin like Akismet to filter them. Competition Is Stiff There are lit...

WordPress App Launches for Windows

by sitemanager

With Automattic having releasing the WordPress app for Apple's OS X, it was only a matter of time before a Windows version was released. Well, it appears that time has come, because the developer behind the world's most popular blogging platform has announced the release of a Windows version of its app. The new app seeks to streamline the process of creating and editing blog posts straight from your Windows desktop. Up until now, WordPress.com bloggers were forced to either log into their blogs to create new posts, which some users complained as being tedious. No Need For a Web Browser wit...

Reasons to Include Images in Your Blog Posts

by sitemanager

close-up-of-photogratpher, using images in blog

If you look at some of the web's most popular blogs, you'll notice they all have one thing in common: they feature images in addition to text. While text is the backbone of most pieces of engaging content, images can enhance the experience the end user. To learn more about the benefits of using images in blog posts, keep reading. Images Break Up Text Have you ever encountered a webpage consisting of nothing more than a large wall of text? If you have, chances are you didn't read it, because pure-text articles such as this are difficult to read. Studies have shown that visitors are more li...

Blogging for Lead Generation

by sitemanager

blogging spelled out, blogging for leads

Still struggling to generate leads for your small business? One of the easiest ways to attract new leads is to start blogging. It allows you to connect with your target audience on a more personal level, instilling the trust and confidence necessary to capture their contact information. Avoid 'List' Blog Posts Don't get me wrong, list, e.g., "Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid," are a highly effective and engaging form of web content, which of course is why you see so many of them online. They naturally capture readers' attention, enticing them to read through the items. But lists aren't particularly e...

How to Interlink Your Blog Posts

by sitemanager

how to interlink blog posts, backlink graphic

Looking to interlink your blog posts together? While WordPress has dozens of helpful features built directly into the framework, it does not have an interlinking feature. With that said, there's a quick and easy solution that will allow bloggers such as yourself to create internal links. What is Interlinking? Before we reveal the steps to interlinking blog posts, let's first discuss the definition of the term. "Interlinking" refers to the process of creating internal, not external, links to other posts and pages on a website. Links can generally be classified as either external, meaning t...

How to Make Your Blog Posts Easier to Read

by sitemanager

idea light bulb, how to make your blog posts more readable

Can't seem to generate a strong following with your blog no matter how many posts you make? You can spend countless hours researching and writing new content, but it's not going to yield any real benefits unless visitors actually read it. Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common problem experienced by many newcomers to the blogging scene. The good news is that you can make your blog posts more attractive and easier to read by following some simple steps. Dark Font, Light Background A good rule of thumb when formatting your blog posts is to use a dark color for the font and a light color for...

Help! Someone Copied My Blog’s Content

by sitemanager

cyber thief stealing content, hand coming out of computer screen

You know your blog is popular when someone else copies and publishes your content on their own website. But having your work blatantly stolen can be disheartening to say the least. When you invest your time, energy and money into creating high-quality content for your blog, you don't want others "piggybacking" off your success. So, what's the best course of action to take in instances such as this? How to Identify Stolen Content First and foremost, you'll need to identify what content (if any) has been stolen from your blog. There are several different ways to do this, one of which is to ...

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