Written by hostinggeek on 16 March 2009
Setting up Wordpress using the right settings and plugins will help get your site indexed faster and even to the top of the search engines if you just use basic search engine optimization techinues when you write.
Some of the essential wordpress settings and plugins are as follows:
- Set your permalinks to include the post name. You set this in the settings tab/permalinks – select custom structure- add this : /%postname%/
- xml sitemap plugin is essential for getting your site found by the search engines
- aksimet -for spam protection
- use a social bookmarking plugin
- an adsense plugin for putting ads in posts. I use Adman.
- Find a related posts plug that will put related posts at the end of each post to keep people reading
- In the settings for writing go to the link that is on the page and get the settings for pinging your blog. In the box that says update services add this information. Whenever your post your blog will send out a message to these servers letting people know.
- Make the rss feed very visible so people can follow you.
See also: Wordpress Hosting
Written by hostinggeek on 15 March 2009
Researching a topic for your niche blog begins with just writing down about 10 topics of interest. You have to just start thinking outside of the box as they say and really look at things differently.
Take a look at what people are searching for on Google Trends.
It is a really interesting look at the world we live in. Who knew so many people searched for the weirdest things.
Then start playing with this Searchit! tool using the Brainstorm option in step one. Use the Google Keyword Tool and the other search tools to just start getting some ideas of what is going on online and what people are looking for.
You can also use dmoz.org to just search through categories to see how many sites are listed in the different categories. Dmoz.org used to be a major influence online but in the past few years became really outdated but it still a good place to research a topic for your niche blog.
The other good place to look is ezinearticles.com. It is an article directory that article marketers use to write articles to promote their websites. (I’ll write more on this later) but just start clicking through the categories and see what people are promoting.
Got some ideas?
Here are some of mine!
- popping popcorn/popcorn recipes
- how to give a massage
- reflexology
- how to sell your photos online
- wordpress niche blogging
- a site about the town you live in (mine is www.redmond-washington-guide.com)
- a local continuing massage education calendar
- using the law of attraction in life
- backyard bird feeders
- self help books
- self help books for women/men
- hummingbirds
- how to grow the best tomatoes
- cure fibromyalgia
- healing back/neck pain
- antique tractors
- bike tours
- hiking trials
- best lunch/breakfast spots
- how to buy a foreclosure
Got the idea yet?
How do you tell if it is a good niche or not? It has to be large enough that it will have a fair amount of people searching for it but not too large that it will be impossible to get the site found. All of those keyword tools will tell you numbers but the thing is we really don’t know if they are right or not. The best tool is your own brain and instincts.
The thing is to just start with something and test it and learn as you go. Your first niche may or may not be profitable. The idea is to create about 30 or more niches anyways so that you can have multiple streams of income so that if one fails it won’t impact your income but if they all succeed -well you will be on the beach creating your next blog from your laptop sipping little drinks with umbrellas.
The best webhost to host your niche blogs is hostgator.com which is where I host this blog. Blue host is also very good. Both of these companies will let you install multiple blogs for one monthly fee of under $10 a month. You can’t really go wrong with that. As you get more successful I would create a few different accounts in case a site goes down but by then you will have enough income saved up that it won’t matter.
Resources:
Wordpress Goldmine
Hostgator.com
Written by hostinggeek on 13 March 2009
Now is the right time to buy Site Build it! -the webhosting system that teaches you how to create a business online. They always have sales that let you purchase two sites at a reduced rate so you can save quite a bit of money when you are first starting out. Just watch this banner at the bottom for the next sale which is going on right now (March 13,2009).
If you buy through this banner or website you will also get me as your private SBI! coach in my private Yahoo! Discussion Group. Just let me know when you purchase one and what day. I do get a commission when you purchase and that is why I like to help people create websites. It also somehow comes easy for me and I love doing it.
Written by hostinggeek on 11 March 2009
Learning how to make money blogging takes a bit of time but once you get the hang of it you can create a steady stream of income from a variety of sources.
The first thing you need to find is a webhost for your blog. I personally think that the best blogging system to use is wordpress. I use it here and for many other of my blogs. I did start out playing with a few others but they didn’t compare. wordpress is free to use and they somehow are always updating it to work even better. There are other blogging platforms out there that you can try of course. The other reason I like this is because it can easily be installed on a server that has what is called a cpanel and Fantastico. I don’t even really know what that means. All I know is that it is really easy! These are the webhosts I recommend for learning how to make money blogging.
To make money blogging you will then need to take some time and research a niche or topic for your blog. Just about everything I see or do I want to turn into a blog. You can take just about any topic that you know a lot about and figure out how to make money with it – well almost. You need a topic that you can write about for a few years – yes a few years. If you are only going to do one blog you will probably need about 300 posts to make a decent amount of money.
The best ways make money blogging are using Goggle Adsense which is putting ads on your blog and then there is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is selling other people’s products. Both of these methods requires that you have a blog that is totally dedicated to that topic.
It takes some time to research your site concept. You can start with using this handy free tool from Site Build it! called Searchit! It takes a little bit to figure out but once you get it you will be amazed at the information that you can find out about people and information online. What you are looking for is keywords that people would use to find your website or product. There are tools that will tell you how many people are searching for a topic and then also tools that will show how many people are already doing something like that (your competition) so you can begin to make a decision about whether or not it has potential to make money blogging about it.
Sometimes the research can make you crazy and sometimes you just have to try a niche or site concept and see if you can make it happen. You will have to learn how to use the keywords in your posts and optimize your posts for search engines so you can get your blog found by the search engines.
Again using wordpress helps because they have so many great plugins for helping you to do just that.
Written by hostinggeek on 11 March 2009
Figuring out how to choose a web host is really difficult with so many good webhosts out there.
You first have to really know why you want a website.
Do you want a site or blog just for fun or for your family or small community group?
Do you want a website or blog for your small business that is already established?
Do you need a way to sell your products?
Do you just want to learn to make money online with a website and don’t really know where to start?
Knowing the aswers to those questions can help you decide just how to choose a webhost that is best for you.
If you are just starting out and want a site to play with for your family or small community group you can probably start with a free website from a company like weebly.com or start with a free blog from blogger.com or from wordpress.com. You can play around and see how it all works and learn how to create websites. It is really easy for the most part once you get the hang of it. Most companies have really easy to use software so you don’t need to know any programming or much of anything.
If you want your site to be found by the search engines that is a whole other ball game. If you are doing a site for your local business and you need to get it listed on the search engines when someone types in your keywords you will need to learn how to get it there. There isn’t a lot to it really but you need to know the steps to take to get it there.
If you are wanting to figure out a way to start making money online and have a few ideas about what you want to do or you don’t have any ideas at all you will definitely need some help in learning how to choose a potenially profitable online business and get it found by the search engines. It does take some time but once you get it figured out you can then just keep doing it again with other topics and create a nice little stream of residual income. It isn’t passive income because it will take some work and time.
So based on this information the hosts that I use for this blog is www.hostgator.com and I also use another webhost for my websites called ez-web-hosting.com . I use them for a very large (over 800 pages and over 2000 visitors a day) because I need to know that it backed up daily and that I can count on them to have it up.) The reason I like hostgator.com is because you can host multiple blogs and websites on one site which is quite a savings. ez-web-hosting.com doesn’t offer that because they do daily backups and that would require thousands more servers to manage that. I have been using them since 2002 or so and I trust their service and help.
If you know something about creating a website or blog for a business or for making money online you can choose one of those webhosts.
If you want to learn the ins and outs of search engine optimiztion, figure out how to choose a topic that will make you money and need to learn how to get your website found by the search engines I recommend that you get Site Build it! It isn’t just a webhost. They teach you everything you need to know about starting a website and getting it found by the search engines. They have tons of tools to help you create the site from scratch and even help you choose a niche or topic for the website. You can read more about them here and in their how to choose a web host section by comparing them to others.
Written by hostinggeek on 09 March 2009
Are you looking to create just a website for fun or create a web business online?
If you want to create something just for fun you can use some of the free hosting and blogging systems out there. www.weebly.com is one of my favorite free webhosts. For blogging I recommend wordpress.com and blogger.com
The difference in you purpose will determine which host to choose.
If you want to create a business you will need to have reliable hosting and someone that can teach you how to get the website found and to get results with the website. Everything I learned (except for using wordpress) I learned from using Site Build it! They teach you how to create a niche website and teach you how to figure out how to make money with the site and get it found by the search engines. There is a lot to doing that and it does take time. You don’t get rich overnight unless you have a large budget to buy advertising.
Written by hostinggeek on 09 March 2009
Webhosting Solutions for everyone – No matter what type of website you are looking to set up this blog can help you understand what you will need and how to do it.
I am not a total geek, but I have been online since 1999 and have had a few hosts through the years. Each one is for different purposes and needs.
Figuring out what you need is one of the first things to do.
Do you want a free website just to play with for a family or friends site?
Do you want a blog for fun or to make money with?
Do you want it for your small business?
Do you want to learn to make money online?
All of these will have different hosting services.
So start figuring out what it is that you want! And I’ll help you figure out which solution for webhosting will be the best for you
Written by hostinggeek on 09 March 2009
With so many different web hosting companies out there you can not really compare webhosting directly. The services and features vary so much that it is impossible to compare them all. So forget trying to do the impossible.
What you do want to do is figure out what you need in a web host and try to find a host that fits your budget. Customer service is also a big thing. You can’t really compare that really either. All of the websites out there with web hosting comparisons and reviews are either trying to resell the websites and make money or you will always find someone who is unhappy with something. Webhosts today have to have some level of customer service or they would not be here.
When trying to compare webhosting stick with getting referrals from friends you know or you can only compare so much before you have to just decide and try it out. I only recommend webhosting that I have used and currently use.
