Should I Allow Visitors to Comment on My Blog?

Posted on April 30, 2015May 1, 2015 by sitemanager

If you're thinking about launching a blog, one of the decisions you'll have to make is whether or not to allow visitors to submit comments. There are both advantages and disadvantages to enabling this feature. Many newcomers assume the best solution is to disable visitor commenting, but the answer isn't as cut and dry as this. So, should you allow visitors to submit comments on your blog? Benefits of Visitor Commenting The primary benefit in allowing visitors to comment on your blog is the free content it creates. Each time a visitor leaves a comment, it adds unique, relevant content to your...

How To Make Your Blog Stand Out

Posted on April 17, 2015April 19, 2015 by sitemanager

While the exact number remains unknown, it's estimated that there are more than 150 million active blogs on the Internet. This includes personal journals, political, entertainment, social, and even crossover e-commerce blogs. With so many blogs currently online -- and more being created each day -- many beginners struggle to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Why Your Blog NEEDS To Stand Out There are several reasons why you should create a unique blog rather than following in the footsteps of other bloggers. For starters, it gives visitors a reason to choose your blog over you...

Subdomain vs Subdirectory For a Blog

Posted on April 14, 2015April 18, 2015 by sitemanager

Thinking about launching a blog to use in conjunction with your primary website? Unless you want to register a separate domain name, you'll have to choose between a subdomain or a subdirectory. While both methods can be used to create fully functional blogs, there are some key differences between the two that shouldn't go unnoticed. What's The Difference? The primary difference between a subdomain and subdirectory is the way in which the URLs are created. Blogs created as a subdomain feature URLs that are prefixed to the parent domain. If we created a separate blog as a subdomain on our site...

How To Manage Spam Comments In WordPress

Posted on April 3, 2015April 18, 2015 by sitemanager

One of the perks of choosing WordPress as your blogging platform is the ability to engage directly with your visitors. WordPress has a built-in commenting feature which allows visitors to share their thoughts on posts/articles. While you can always disable this feature, it's usually best to keep it turned on. Each time a visitor leaves a comment, it creates unique content for your blog -- and search engines love fresh, unique content. Unfortunately, though, WordPress also attracts comment spam. You may notice generic comments like "Great blog, I'll grab your RSS" or "This was a wonderful bl...

Google Publishes SEO Advice For April 21 Deadline

Posted on March 27, 2015April 3, 2015 by sitemanager

Google is expected to roll out a major change to its search ranking algorithm on April 21, 2015. The update, dubbed "Mobilegeddon" by some, will focus on improving the quality of Google's index by raising the rankings for mobile-friendly websites (hence the name). Google has taken a keen interest in mobile compatibility lately, encouraging websites to update their websites and blogs so they are compatible for smartphone users. To better prepare webmasters for the upcoming Mobilegeddon, Google has published a guide on common mobile mistakes. The Mountain View company first tweeted the guide ...

5 Simple SEO Tips For Blogs

Posted on March 16, 2015March 30, 2015 by sitemanager

#1) Beware of Duplicate Content While small amounts of duplicate content shouldn't have a negative impact on your blog's search ranking, large amounts can knock it several pages back. Blogs are particularly susceptible to duplicate content since they often publish the same content in multiple areas. In WordPress, for instance, content is published in categories, archives, tags, author, and the actual post URL. The bottom line is that you need to implement some type of measure (e.g. canonical URLs, plugins, noindex, etc.) to prevent duplicate content issues. #2) Publish New Content Regula...

Security Vulnerability Spotted In Yoast SEO Plugin

Posted on March 13, 2015March 30, 2015 by sitemanager

A critical security vulnerability has been identified on one of the most popular and widely used SEO plugins for the WordPress content management system (CMS). Yoast SEO suffers from an exploit which allows hackers to modify the server's database using a method called blind SQL injection. And failure to fix this vulnerability could have disastrous consequences. Yoast SEO features a wide range of tools designed to help webmasters and bloggers optimize their sites, including an XML sitemap generator, RSS enhancements, on-page content analysis, custom titles and meta tags, breadcrumbs, canonic...

Heads Up: Google May Change Its Ranking Algorithm

Posted on March 13, 2015March 30, 2015 by sitemanager

If your blog relies on organic, non-paid search engine traffic, you should take note of what I'm about tell you. A new report has emerged, suggesting that Google may alter is search ranking algorithm to focus on the truthfulness/accuracy of websites' content. Google currently uses a complex ranking algorithm consisting of hundreds of different signals. While the Mountain View company has yet to reveal the exact formula it uses to rank websites, some of the signals Google is believed to use include backlink quantity, backlinks quality, social shares, domain age, and brand name mentions. Webm...

Top 3 Chrome Browser Add-Ons For SEO

Posted on February 20, 2015March 2, 2015 by sitemanager

The right web browser add-ons can make a world of difference in your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Whether you are looking to rank an e-commerce website, content-driven site, blog, etc., the following three ad-ons are bound to help. SEO Quake SEO Quake is a highly versatile add-on that reveals a TON of helpful information about pages that you visit. Using the information provided by this completely free Chrome add-on, you can better identify high-value sources of backlinks. So, what kind of information does SEO Quake provide? Its developers are constantly working to make and ...

Why Isn’t My Blog Showing Up In Google?

Posted on February 19, 2015March 2, 2015 by sitemanager

It's disheartening when you spend countless hours building a new blog only to discover that Google has yet to index it. Without your blog showing up in Google's search results, few (if any) people will find it. Granted, you may receive some traffic via direct type-ins, social media, links, etc., but this tiny trickle of visitors isn't enough to create a successful blog. So, why isn't your blog showing up in Google? WordPress Settings One of the first things you should check is your blog's visibility settings. If you are using WordPress, log into your admin panel and select Settings > ...

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