A reader recently asked some blogging questions and I though the answers would benefit all…

Do you mind sharing with me what you did to learn how to create your site?

Not at all…My wordpress site is based on another theme. There is nothing wrong with taking a theme and tweaking it till you like it. However, you can make them from scratch with a very helpful tool found at: http://www.yvoschaap.com/wpthemegen/

The first few themes I set up with theme generator, but as I came to want more advanced features I found starting from a base theme that I liked worked better for me.

My advice: go with simplicity. White as milk is one good theme. Another is called cleanpress. Fool around with colors and graphics. Mine is based on one called 1024px. When you see the screen shot (top left), it’s amazing how different they are. Color makes a big difference. Most of my graphic changes are in the header. Mostly colors were changed in the body.

I learned through trial and error. But I have a background in computers and was raised by a systems analyst. I’m not afraid of code. You shouldn’t be either, but you should save copies of theme files before you edit them. There’s no “Undo” button on wordpress and I can’t tell you how many times I made one change, then another, then another, and then the third one screws everything up and I don’t know where the mistake is. Save your files frequently so you don’t have to start from scratch.

I am putting together my website using a WordPress theme, but I don’t want to. I’d prefer to build my website myself. I was going to take some online courses from my local community college, but wasn’t sure what was the quickest way to get the site up and running, protect it from hackers and maintain it securely — all as quickly as possible.

Everyone is using WordPress for a reason. Why don’t you want to use WordPress? Learning to use WordPress is not hard, but learning to code it is challenging…but worth it since you can put it on your blogging resume. Security is not a big deal. WordPress is very secure on its own and you seem to have a reputable host. Just be sure you use a difficult password. I use a free program called Password Generator to make separate passwords for every site I use. I then save these on an excel spreadsheet on my hard drive. Back up your files regularly (see your host for instructions) in case a break in does occur. Then you can just revert to the saved files and little damage is done. WordPress does all the security work for you. Break-ins are rare and easily fixed if you protect yourself with backups.

You should be able to use WordPress right out of the box for your first website. I don’t know how strong your DIY factor is. Mine is through the roof! The fastest thing is probably to dive right in and give it a shot. When you have questions, you Google for the answers and spend time scrolling through forums till you find the answer. That’s how I got my education. It took about a year, on a part-time basis.

Learning to build your own website from scratch could take many years.

Can you give me some really good pointers? Also, Hostgator is my host server, is there a better one that you know of?

Don’t pay for something you can do yourself. Try to spend as little money as possible on your blog in the beginning. Use free marketing tools (you’re already on your way with the social media stuff). Use Google Adsense, plus in-text advertising like infolinks. Once money starts coming in, you can use it to promote your blog. Expect about two years before things take off. Try to post every day. Interact with users and thank God for visitors.

Hostgator seems like a reputable server although I have no experience with them. I have read some good things about them. I use Bluehost and have few complaints. It took a while to learn my way around, but it works for me.

Also, what forums would you suggest to participate in as far as writers and promoting your work … other than yours, of course! I have several social network accounts — twitter, facebook, linkedin, etc. and that would be helpful as far as which ones you see the greatest response, but are there other forums you feel are even more impactful?

This is a complicated topic. If you are trying to promote your blog and run it like KillFive, you need to visit other blogs with a high Page Rank that talk about similar topics. Respond to stories that inspire you and get a link back to your site that way. Always add something to the conversation. “Great post, thanks!” gets you nowhere.

If you are trying to promote your work, that’s something else altogether. Although I have not tried it, I wouldlike to try using LinkedIn as a platform to begin discussions about publishing that would interest website owners. The thing is, your writing skill helps, but your promotion skills are what set you apart and get you work.

Ever notice how TV ads grab your attention by any means possible? It may be a funny sound, a cute picture or a loud noise. It doesn’t matter how the ad gets your attention, so long as your focus is on the TV when the message is being played. Use this principle in promoting yourself. Write about topics that grab the interest of publishers who may need a writer’s services. When they are paying attention, you can pitch your services.

I found the best promotion is in my actual communications in chasing specific jobs, rather than in general promotions. I set up my web profile site (www.jessicabosari.com) to pitch my message. My cover letter opens the door and grabs attention. Whether I’m pitching a Guru job or Craigslist Ad, I always speak directly to the job posting. I have sort of a set of discussion points that speak to the things publishers would want in a writer. If they discuss wanting a dependable writer, I explain how I will give that to them. If they need quick turn around, I mention my 48-hour turnaround. They see I cared enough to actually read the job description, click through to my site and then see the same things reiterated there, plus other benefits of hiring me. They read my work samples, see that it is good quality and give me the job. Of course this is not true for every job I apply for, but it’s how it works on the ones I get.

My profile site matches my Guru profile matches my Linked-in profile and everything else.  I include a professional photos so people can see who they are hiring. Sending a uniform message across several platforms establishes a sense of trust and makes someone more likely to take a chance on you.

I guess what I’m really trying to say here is that the way you run and manage your blog will depend entirely on your goals. Are you selling something? Are you selling yourself (profile site)? Are you looking to be a publisher (KillFive’s model)? It is vital that you understand your goals before you plan any steps for the future. You need to know what you want before you can go out and get it.

KillFive works for me because it fulfills a need that no one else was offering. I wanted a job board where I could go and get just good jobs for free. No spending hours sifting through robot-generated lists. Just legitimate jobs that pay a reasonable wage. I figured that if I wanted such a list, someone else must want it too. So I reinvented KillFive (it used to detail my exploits with article marketing and passive income). I devoted it to all the things I learned from the first generation of KillFive, thinking I wish I’d known this stuff when I started. I wanted to provide a trustworthy source for people looking to find a way to work from home. Writing and blogging is just what worked for me and that’s how KillFive came to be what it is.

Hopefully I don’t need to tell you that you should be bookmarking your articles to social bookmarking sites to promote your writing or blog posts. Social bookmarking is a vital marketing tool for writers and web content providers.

Sometimes, you may run into problems where certain perfectly legitimate sites have been banned from social bookmarking sites because of a few bad applies. Writers for Hub Pages, Xomba and Bukisa have experienced the frustration of having link submissions denied by important sites like Reddit, Digg and Shoutwire. There was even a time when Helium (on of the most respected writing sites anywhere) was under threat of being banned by Reddit.

How to Get Around It

Luckily, there is a way to work around these social bookmarking bans. The trick is to use a service like ClipMarks or Amplify. ClipMarks is not the most famous social bookmarking site, but it is certainly one of the handiest. ClipMarks offers you a toolbar extension for Firefox (also for IE) that allows you to clip parts of a page. You can then write your own comments about the snippet and auto post the link and commends to Delicious. The site then offers you quick links to the following social bookmarking sites:

• Digg
• Facebook
• Twitter
• StumbleUpon
• Delicious
• Friendfeed
• Mixx
• Blinklist
• Magnolia
• Furl
• Diigo
• Reddit
• Slashdot
• Spurl
• Newsvine
• Fark
• Simpy
• Yahoo (not the same as Yahoo!Buzz)

Reddit, Digg and Shoutwire recognize the ClipMark, not the link you are promoting within the ClipMark. So, by using ClipMarks you can post your links from any page to these popular sites. Get your ClipMarks toolbar here. If you’re running Chrome (like me) try the Amplify extension.

Welcome to the May 10, 2010 edition of The Killfive Carnival for Writers. Being the inaugural edition, it’s a little slim. Please feel free to submit a blog post for next week’s carnival!

Blogging

Axel presents Amazing Blogging Skills posted at axel g.

Alex gives you ten tips to become a better blogger.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Dear Newbie posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog

Madeleine invites you to, “write some verse about blogging. When you’ve posted your poem(s), please return here and add a direct link to your themed poetry, using Mr. Linky. There’s no rush, by the way, because you have until July 18th to post it.”

SEO

Case Ernsting presents The White-Hat Search Engine Optimizers Guide to Article Marketing posted at MetaSpring Blog.

Case explains, “Article Marketing is an important part of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as it drives links to your blog and helps build domain authority. As tempting as it is to implement black hat tactics in this practice, make sure you put on your white hat and avoid scams.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of The Killfive Carnival for Writers using ourcarnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on ourblog carnival index page.

Photo credit: beglib http://mrg.bz/j8VdQE

Rose suggests using the following sites:

articledashboard.com
isnare.com
articleblast.com
boazepublishing.biz
articlecity.com
goarticles.com

Has anyone else used this strategy and has it worked for you? Do other readers see those sites as tripe too? Is this more of a link building strategy than a way to attract direct readership?

Tells us what you think!

Write Content Before You Launch

A site that has ample content before it launches will have faster Internet marketing success than a site that builds content over time. Understand that content is right up there with keyword research, site design and social marketing. Ideally, you should have at least a month’s worth of content ready and available. You can launch with four or five posts, but you should have more in the pipeline to keep things moving.

You also need to create content for each page on your site. Go through your site map and create 200 words of text for each page. This will give your designers copy to work with that makes sense instead of the standard “res ipsa loquitor” the site template gives you.

Outsourcing

While you are the most qualified to write content for your site, you can always outsource to ghostwriters and tweak the content to your voice. It is much quicker to spend five minutes adjusting an established piece than to write from scratch. Check freelance job boards like Guru and Elance to find qualified copywriters and ghostwriters to help you out. Or you could just hire me. It’s less expensive than you think.

If you just can’t stand to put your baby in the hands of an outsourced writer, you must set aside one hour of every day with the door closed, phone off and email program closed. Once you get going, you should be able to produce 2-3 pieces of content for your site. When you develop enough content, you can spend some of those days commenting on other related blogs.

Don’t think for a minute that you have to sacrifice creativity for conversion. There is still plenty of room for the symbolic comparison or the telling gesture. You can still dig deep and grab your audience by the heart. You just have to dress your inspired prose with a few formulated strategies. Here’s how you can fit formulated SEO strategies into your writing without offending your artistic sensibilities.

The Science of Headlines

You’ll have to give up that cute and coy headline, but you’ll be repaid in readership. Your headlines should be written in proven formulas that make people want to read your articles. Headlines should always state what the article is actually about without trying to be clever. People are reading online to get a job done, not for pleasure. Below are some formulas that will double your readership when you start using them:

• Be Direct – This headline technique is best used in promotional writing as in, “On Sale Now: Laptops.”
• How To – Everyone wants to know how. Just start your headline with those two magical words like, “How to Write Headlines.”
• Ask a question that piques curiosity such as, “Are You Making These Three Writing Mistakes?”
• Numbers – The previous example brings us to the importance of numbers in headlines. If at all possible, include them! Some examples are, “Five Proven Investment Strategies” and “Increase Conversions by 14.5%.” The greater your specificity, the greater the response.
• Enthusiasm – Shout out how much you love it with headlines like, “The Best Blender, Hands Down!”
• Combination Headlines – You can of course combine these techniques as in “How to Get 5,00 Subscribers in a Month” or “Have You Tried These Three Great Coffees?” “Five Laptops On Sale Now,” or “The Three Greatest TVs of All Time.” You get the picture.

If you are just dying to write some witty remark or title in your piece, you can still use your catchy phrase in the sub-headline. Even if the content management system you use has no space for a sub-headline, you can always insert one in italics above the beginning of your article. This way you can apply both the art and science of good Internet copywriting to your article.

Go Easy on the Intro

Sometimes we are so passionate about a subject that we go overboard on the introduction. Keep it straightforward and to the point. Avoid lavish descriptions and imagery at the start of your article. Just go for the topic and get on with it. Stick to the point and save waxing poetic for a spot in the article where you’ve already hooked your reader.

Keywords

Keywords are part of the science of Internet copywriting that you must attend to if you want people to read your work. This is not about spamming, going commercial or selling your soul for a buck. The fact is that people find your articles through search engines, so you simply must use them. Insert keywords tactfully by tagging five keywords that are in your article and best represent the subject matter. This will help get more eyes on your work that were actually looking for what you have to say. Why five? More than that can be seen as a little “spammy.”

The Body

Here’s where your writing can shine. Be yourself, go with the flow and set out those glowing, charming and captivating turns of phrase to delight and enchant your readers. Just be sure there is enough useful, insightful or original content to keep them interested.

Conclusion

No writing teacher is going to tell you to omit the conclusion in an article. Good thing I’m just an Internet copywriter and not a teacher. I’m not telling you to always omit your conclusion, but on how-to and informative articles, conclusions are unnecessary. In sales writing, your conclusion needs to be a call to action. For editorial and opinion pieces, it’s a good idea to have a conclusion to sum up your point.

If you are a good webmaster (and I know that you are), you want to keep producing more of the content your readers want. You can keep giving them what they want by analyzing the statistics of your current content and writing to the keywords that brought traffic in the first place. Not only does this help you keep readers engaged, it also makes you more findable.

Step One – Tracking

Before you can find anything out, you need analytics tools. For analytics to work, you need to have tracking code installed on your site. Analytics will let you see which keywords brought traffic in and which ones made them hang around a while.

I’ll assume you are using Google Analytics like just about everyone else. If not, go get it installed on your blog and continue what you were doing for at least four weeks before continuing to the next step. You need the tracking code installed and running at least four weeks before the data will be of any use to you.

Step Two – Analyze

Your next step is to run a report called “Top Content” to find out, um… well, what your top content is. Run the report for a block of time, such as 30 days or 90 days. The report will spit a list of links at you showing your most popular pages. Click on each link and get the keywords that drove traffic by going to the drop down menu, clicking “Analyze” and then “Entrance Keywords.”

Step Three – Research

Armed with traffic-driving keyword phrases or keywords, do some research on those keywords to find other angles or new information you can provide to your readers. Put together a piece that references the previously popular article on the topic.

You should also make your existing top pages easier to find by inserting the popular keywords into the popular page titles. Edit the first paragraph of each popular page to include the keyword or keyword phrase. Don’t forget to have viral-friendly tools on your pages like “retweet” buttons or other sharing services.

Step Four – Monitor

Continue to monitor the optimized existing pages and write to related topics. When you see rising numbers, you know you did the job right. After four weeks, start the whole process over again for the new content you have created. See if you can extend your wealth of related content further to draw more traffic and provide more resources for your readers.

If you do not use images in your writing, you can ignore this. Being a writer, I miss some obvious SEO stuff sometimes. This one came across my desk today from Website Magazine. This is why I love the publication so much. They don’t assume you know anything. The mix of articles works for advanced administrators and beginners…but I digress.

The point is, I had no idea I could improve my SERP (Search Engine Results Placement) by using “alt” and “title” tags on images. This helps me at places like Xomba where I post twice a month and must add an image. Some other sites like Bukisa will let you do this as well. I guess what you don’t know can hurt you.

You should use only the “alt” tag if your photo does not link to any other page. When the photo links to another page, you can use “alt” and “title”. This way, you can get another search phrase or two into the article. This is great when you are unsure of the best keywords and want to use a few related keywords or long-tail keyword phrases.

Here is an example of how to do it:

When you add a photo, WordPress gives you the option of adding a title, caption and description. This is the code it produces when you fill out the Title and Caption fields (Caption field also adds alt text automatically):

[caption id="attachment_641" align="alignleft"
 width="225" caption="alt text"]
<img src="http://www.killfive.com/wp-content/
uploads/2009/09/example-photo-225x300.jpg"alt=
"alt text" title="title text" width="225" height="300" 
class="size-medium wp-image-641" />[/caption]

If you don’t want a caption, just delete

 [caption id="attachment_641" align="alignleft"
& width="225" caption="alt text"] and [/caption]

If you are adding a photo elsewhere, you only need to add two tags to get the same effect without the “add image” application to help you. In that case, here is the standard code that just adds an image, without changing its size or other attributes:

<img src="http://location of image.com">

To change the size, do a little math to be sure you are scaling each attribute by the same rate and add the size tags like so:

<img src="http://location of image.com" 
height="height in pixels" width="width in pixels">

You can add other attributes as well to change the position or horizontal and vertical space around the images as well. For now, let’s keep to the most common and get back to the reason I’m writing in the first place, alt & text tags. Simply add them to the end of the code, just before the last “>” symbol. You only need a single space between each tag/command.

<img src="http://location of image.com" 
height="height in pixels" width="width in pixels"
alt="alt text" title="title text">

Photo credit: kfjmiller from morguefile.com

Good News from Website Magazine

Website magazine reports this week that companies are using social media for brand promotion more than ever. It is expected that 82 percent of brand marketers will be using social media for promotions within the next 12 months. What’s that got to do with you?

Even More Reason to Become a Writer

The writing market will grow right along with that market. Higher demand will mean higher pay scales for talented copywriters. Social media is growing to encompass anything that can be shared. Because writing expands SEO power, it will continue to be an important marketing force, even though micro blogging and video are growing in marketing trends. The written word is still one of the best ways to spread a message.

As more companies take on this strategy, it will become easier to identify the return on investment of social media. When a clear picture appears of the exact benefit of social media in marketing, more companies will be willing to expand budgets solely for that purpose.

About Website Magazine

Website Magazine is the only print publication solely for website marketing. I like it because I can read it, mark it up and then go back to my projects for improvement from the tips they offer. Know more than your competitors with Website Magazine Free subscriptions are also available online.

A Practical Lesson in the Importance of Keyword Research

If you want to earn up-front payments from Associated Content, it is vital that you do a little keyword research in advance. Here is a practical lesson I learned before I figured out how to use Google’s Keyword Research tool.

Topical Subject

With the coming of Mother’s Day, I knew that it would be good to write something related to mom. Because many people have rocky relationships with Mom, I decided to do a piece about the importance and benefits of forgiving your mother for her neglect or lack of mothering skills.

The Article

The article I wrote was called “How to Forgive Your Mother”. Initially, I received the following rejection:

Thank you for this submission. AC gets most of its traffic from search queries; while this content is unique, it does not qualify for a higher Upfront Payment offer because it does not match something a Web user would search for online.

Keyword Research

This happened before I knew how to research keywords at Google. I did come across a freelance project that asked for a document with the keyword, “childhood trauma”. If someone was willing to pay for an article with this keyword, it made sense that AC would probably pay me for it too. I changed the title to “Childhood Trauma and Forgiving Your Mother”. I dispersed the keyword “childhood trauma”; in three places in the article, including one title heading, then resubmitted the piece to AC.

Results

This time AC offered me an upfront payment of $2.86 with no problems for the same article, only using a better keyword. Not the max $4 you can get, but not bad. Now that I know about the Google Keyword Research tool, I can go on over research keywords. In searching “childhood trauma,” the most popular keywords in this niche are:

• neglect
• child neglect
• neglected
• neglect abuse
• nurturing
• child abuse neglect
• neglect and abuse
• child abuse and neglect
• neglected children
• neglecting
• childhood trauma

My selection of “childhood trauma” was not a bad choice, but I just stumbled onto it by chance. I probably would have done even better had I included “Neglect” in the title. I wanted to share this practical lesson in the importance of keyword research with you. The same content with essentially the same information will not be successful if you use the wrong words to attract readers.