There are many reasons that WordPress is the platform of choice for internet marketers and one of those reasons is the ability to customize the way it performs through the use of plugins.
Here is the current list of recommended plugins for Challengers as taken and adapted from construct.ly, (which I highly recommend using if possible). However, many of us have older blogs that we still want to keep current with regards to plugins.
All in One SEO Pack - Allows you to control what Google sees when their spiders crawl your site.
Google XML Sitemaps - Automatically creates site maps in the XML format that search engines prefer.
Jetpack by Wordpress.com - Connects your blog to the features of WordPress.com such as visitor stats and a ton of other services.
linkDaemon - This is one of Dan Raine's plugins that comes automatically installed if you use construct.ly - if you're not using construct.ly, then a similar pluging to use would be the "SEO Internal Links" plugin. This creates links to pages within your site based on keywords.
Pretty Link Lite - Tracks link activity on your site and allows you to create custom redirected links.
PubSubHubbub - A better way to tell the world when your blog is updated.
Robots Meta - Allows you to control how robots will index your site.
SEO Friendly Images - Automatically adds "alt" and "title" attributes to images which is great for SEO and something that is easy to forget or ignore if you're doing it manually.
Social Metrics - Social Media Analytics tool you can use to track your WordPress blog performance on popular social networking websites and services.
Twitter Facebook Social Share - This is another of Dan's plugins that comes with a construct.ly installation. A similar replacement would be "GetSocial" which makes it easy for your visitors to share your content with all the social sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Ultimate Google Analytics - Links your blog to your Google Analytics account.
WP-DB-Backup (Wordpress Database Backup) - Don't learn the "you need to have backups" lesson the hard way. Be safe.
WP-Sticky - Allows you to make "sticky" posts that always stay on top. Very handy for creating a "landing page" setup and still retain all the SEO benefits of a post.
WP No Category Base - Removes the '/category' string from your permalinks and improves your keyword density.
WPTouch - automatically reformats your site to make it smartphone compatible when it is accessed by a mobile device.
You may find other plugins useful for specific purposes depending on your niche, but you don't want to overload yourself with plugins - too many can lengthen your loading times.
Showing posts with label challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label challenge. Show all posts
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Easy SEO - Your About Me Page Matters
In this new age of Authorship, it is more important than ever to have a great "About Me" page on your site.
Many people new to marketing tend to shy away from doing much with this page, if they bother to do one at all, but that just doesn't fly these days and so I've scoured the web and I've assembled the best tips and ideas for creating the perfect "About Me" page for market leadership.
Be Real
The overriding principal is always to be yourself. Never try to present yourself as something you're not. There's no shame in calling yourself an "enthusiast" or "a fan of" or a "follower of." The fact that you like something enough to build a website about it is proof enough of your "fan" status. Take as far from there as is true.
I Never Forget A Face
Include a photograph. Preferably a smiling head shot of you. If you feel compelled to use someone else's face, be sure it is one you own the rights to use commercially.
Can We Have a Story, Please?
Human brains are hard wired for stories. We all love a good story. It's simply a part of being human, so give people what they want and tell them a story. Tell them why you care about the subject of your site and what problem you hope to solve. Make it as personal as possible.
What Was Your Name, Again?
You need to have a reason that you stand out from the crowd in some way. What makes you different? Have an opinion in your market and express it. Mouth off. Tell people straight up why they should listen to you. It really doesn't have to be anything more than "I'm going to do my best to always find the truth and bring it to you here." This isn't rocket science.
I'm So Glad We Had This Chat
Be welcoming and invite people to contact you. Use your email address as a link to your Contact Me page.
I would also suggest that you check out as many "About Me" pages than you can find. Here are some to get you started:
30 Beautifully Designed About Us Pages
Make A Great About Me Page
Onward and upward!
Many people new to marketing tend to shy away from doing much with this page, if they bother to do one at all, but that just doesn't fly these days and so I've scoured the web and I've assembled the best tips and ideas for creating the perfect "About Me" page for market leadership.
Be Real
The overriding principal is always to be yourself. Never try to present yourself as something you're not. There's no shame in calling yourself an "enthusiast" or "a fan of" or a "follower of." The fact that you like something enough to build a website about it is proof enough of your "fan" status. Take as far from there as is true.
I Never Forget A Face
Include a photograph. Preferably a smiling head shot of you. If you feel compelled to use someone else's face, be sure it is one you own the rights to use commercially.
Can We Have a Story, Please?
Human brains are hard wired for stories. We all love a good story. It's simply a part of being human, so give people what they want and tell them a story. Tell them why you care about the subject of your site and what problem you hope to solve. Make it as personal as possible.
What Was Your Name, Again?
You need to have a reason that you stand out from the crowd in some way. What makes you different? Have an opinion in your market and express it. Mouth off. Tell people straight up why they should listen to you. It really doesn't have to be anything more than "I'm going to do my best to always find the truth and bring it to you here." This isn't rocket science.
I'm So Glad We Had This Chat
Be welcoming and invite people to contact you. Use your email address as a link to your Contact Me page.
I would also suggest that you check out as many "About Me" pages than you can find. Here are some to get you started:
30 Beautifully Designed About Us Pages
Make A Great About Me Page
Onward and upward!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
New Challenge, New Blog!
It's finally official!
The Challenge 2011 starts Sept. 1st so I decided it was time to clean this baby out and start fresh!
The 2010 forums are still active and if I was a betting man, I'd bet they won't remain that way for long. But until they fold (and after they start again) I'll be posting some of my answers to questions that I feel are helpful to everyone.
I also have a tutorial for WordPress users on how to get going with the new Google author thumbnails that I will be posting tomorrow.
So until then.... let's party! A new Challenge! New fun!
The Challenge 2011 starts Sept. 1st so I decided it was time to clean this baby out and start fresh!
The 2010 forums are still active and if I was a betting man, I'd bet they won't remain that way for long. But until they fold (and after they start again) I'll be posting some of my answers to questions that I feel are helpful to everyone.
I also have a tutorial for WordPress users on how to get going with the new Google author thumbnails that I will be posting tomorrow.
So until then.... let's party! A new Challenge! New fun!
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