5 Reasons to Blog with WordPress

Posted on August 27, 2015September 5, 2015 by sitemanager

Thinking about launching a new blog? One of the first steps in blogging is to choose your content management system (CMS). From Blogger and Tumblr to WordPress and Joomla, there are dozens of possibilities available. However, WordPress remains the world's most popular blogging software. Here are some of the reasons why: It's Free Did I mention WordPress is completely free to download and use? Whether you choose the hosted or self-hosted version, you can launch a WordPress blog for virtually nothing. Granted, there are some premium themes and templates for sale, but these are optional and not...

5 Trust Signals to Make Your Blog More Trustworthy

Posted on August 11, 2015August 15, 2015 by sitemanager

Lack of trust is a serious problem that can cost blogs and other websites tons of sales. If visitors view your blog as being untrustworthy, they won't feel comfortable making a purchase or taking any other direct action. Trust Seals What the heck is a trust seal? It's exactly what it sounds like: a seal (kind of like a logo) that's designed to instill trust in visitors. One of the most common and well-known trust seals is the Better Business Bureau (BBB) logo, which is found on numerous websites, big and small. Surprisingly, though, BBB isn't the most effective trust seal. A study conducted ...

Top 5 Reasons to Use a Responsive Web Design for Your Blog

Posted on August 7, 2015August 16, 2015 by sitemanager

Tablet illustrating responsive web design

Does your blog have a Responsive Web Design (RWD)? If not, it should. There's been a growing trend towards the use of Responsive designs, and for good reason. It's a simple and effective way to improve your site's traffic and functionality, but this is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the benefits offered by RWD. To learn more about Responsive designs and why you should use it, keep reading. What is Responsive Web Design? Basically, it means designing a website or blog to function the same across all devices -- smartphones, tablets, desktops with huge monitors, and laptops...

What Is Microblogging?

Posted on July 30, 2015August 2, 2015 by sitemanager

Screenshot of social media and Twitter handles

Microblogging has become increasingly popular over the past few years, with millions of people using it for both personal and commercial purposes. But what exactly is microblogging? And does it offer any real benefits over traditional blogging? These are just a few of the many questions that we're going to tackle today. The Origins of Microblogging According to Wikipedia, political writer and blogger Jonathan Gillette (AKA why the lucky stiff) coined the term "microblogging" when describing Christian Neukirchen's Anarchaia.org online activities. Gillette said blogging had "mutated into simpl...

How to Use WordPress More Effectively

Posted on July 26, 2015July 26, 2015 by sitemanager

Do you use WordPress to blog? There's no denying the fact that WordPress is a powerful blogging platform. It features a massive directory of plugins and themes while preserving a clean and user-friendly interface. Backup Your Files Don't forget to backup your files. Many first-time WordPress users make the mistake of only downloading their core files via a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) program. But WordPress isn't static, and most of its data is stored in the form of a database. Therefore, you'll need to download both your core files, as well as the database associated with your site. If all ...

Image Optimization 101: How To Optimize Your Site’s Images

Posted on July 14, 2015July 15, 2015 by sitemanager

When you're busy researching topics and writing new posts/articles, it's easy to overlook something as simple as image optimization. Besides, if an image looks okay on your website, what's the point of optimizing it? Well, just because an image loads and functions doesn't necessarily mean that it's optimized for maximum performance. Making small tweaks to it can reduce your site's load time, which subsequently improves user engagement and possibly even increase your site's search ranking. File Type There are several different image file types from which to choose, including JPG (the most pop...

5 Dirty Truths About Blogging

Posted on July 8, 2015July 10, 2015 by sitemanager

Some blogging advice that used to be accurate has become outdated. Following are common "truths" that now need a second look. Keyword Density Matters Many bloggers believe they must achieve a specific keyword density when writing their blog posts; otherwise, their posts won't rank and their traffic will decline. So instead of writing with the end user in mind, they write content specifically for search engines, ensuring it contains a certain number of keywords. While this tactic used to work, it has since gone the way of the dinosaurs, with search engines playing little-to-no attention on me...

How To Lower Your Blog’s Bounce Rate

Posted on June 30, 2015July 10, 2015 by sitemanager

When you're busy analyzing key performance indicators (KPI) for your blog like unique visitors, returning visitors, average time spent on site, etc., it's easy to overlook the bounce rate. However, a high bounce rate is a sign of an underlying problem, and unless that problem is fixed, you won't be able to gain any real traction with your readers. So, what steps can you take to lower your blog's bounce rate? Bounce Rate Defined Let's first go over the basic definition of bounce rate, as some people are hearing about it for the first time. The term "bounce rate" is defined as the percentage o...

Choosing a Niche For Your Blog

Posted on June 29, 2015June 29, 2015 by sitemanager

Thinking about starting a new blog? If so, you'll want to choose a niche that's best suited for your goals. Many bloggers make the mistake of creating a generalized blog, covering every topic under the sun. While this tactic may work for large-scale, established brands like Huffington Post, it's a sure-fire recipe for disaster for everyone else. So, how do you choose the right niche for your blog? Lots of Traffic, Little Competition A good rule of thumb to follow when choosing a niche for your blog is to choose one with high traffic and low competition. In other words, you want plenty of use...

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