Archive for » June, 2007 «

28
Jun
Show Popular Posts on WordPress Blog
Barbara Swafford

Showing your most popular posts, either most viewed, or most commented on, can revive old posts. Showing most popular posts also makes navigating your site easier. How to show your most popular posts can be done by using a plugin.

The plugin I’m using is Top Posts by Category by Marc Hil Macalua. The installation of this plugin was super simple. You can customize the results by listing the popular posts either by most viewed or by most commented on, and/or by category. If you wish, you can also include the number of comments for each post. Then, choose how many posts to list in your “popular posts” section.

See the results of this plugin, “Popular Posts”, in my sidebar. Sweet!

Another great popular posts plugin, worth checking out, is the Popularity Contest plugin, by Alex King

Category: Archives, Plugins and Widgets, Posting  Tags:  6 Comments
27
Jun
Stats For Newbie Blogs – I’ll Show You Mine, If You Show Me Yours
Barbara Swafford

The expected stats for a newbie’s blog seems to be a mystery. I’ve done some research on stats for a new blog, but so far only found one newbie blog, where the author listed their stats.

I’m curious, are my new blog stats inline with other new blogs? Am I on the right path, or do I need to change my strategy? I started blogging on March 29, 2007.

With that being said, here’s what I’m showing for totals for my first 90 days via Awstats and Webalizer. My Webalizer numbers are higher, however, Awstats has a separate column for ” not viewed traffic includes traffic generated by robots, worms, or replies with special HTTP status codes.”

So, here’s mine: Note, I have not disabled my own IP address, as the process is still “Greek” to me.

Awstats :

Unique Visitors = 646
No. of Visits = 2871
Pages = 15587
Hits = 25504

Webalizer:

Sites = 1390
Visits = 5577
Pages = 12559
Files = 24206
Hits = 34092

Then, there’s the Google earnings. I’m can’t quit my day job yet.

Google Adsense = Less than $6.00

Both Awstats and Webalizer are free statistical reporting tools. You can get more information by going to either Awstats or Webalizer. Webalizer has a great FAQ section that answers a lot of questions about visitors, pages and hits.

With regard to Google Analytics, I don’t have three months of stats for that yet, so won’t include those numbers.

If you’ve found ways to generate traffic to your site and would like to share it with others, please include that in your comment.

What I’ve done is: created meta tags, use keyword density, post often, Digg my articles, joined a carnival, created outgoing and deep links, and when time permits, I visit other blogs and may leave a comment. (You can read more on these subjects in my “Articles” section.)

Alright, I’ve showed you mine. Leave me a comment, and show me yours. I’m trying to create a central location where newbie bloggers can come, to see what other newbies are doing, and learn from each other. (This can be another way for me to generate more traffic to my site, however, if you have an idea of how to get others to come to your site too, please include that in your comment-I’ll definitely come and visit you)

See you in blogosphere!

Category: Archives, Blogging Surveys, Lessons Learned, Stats  Tags: , , , , ,  4 Comments
26
Jun
WordPress – Dealing With Negative Comments
Barbara Swafford

How do you deal with negative or critical comments you receive on your blog? Do you delete negative comments? Do you post negative comments? Or do you mark the negative comments as “spam”? With WordPress, choosing what to do with negative comments is all up to you. Don’t you just love being able to moderate them?

I just received my first negative comments (three, from the same person). If you blog, and leave your comments section open, this will be an issue you’ll have to deal with.

So, how did I deal with negative comments? I posted them. These comments were mostly of a critical nature regarding my site, i.e how I should eliminate “terms of use” and “archives” , move my “related posts” section, how my links didn’t work, what was my blog about?….. ( I could create a link to them, but I said, “why bother?”)

Can we learn from our negative comments? Sure we can. But, also remember, that’s only one person’s opinion. Or, in my case, one person’s opinion, three times over. It’s no different than in life. Ask ten people, and you’ll get ten different opinions.

Should you let the negative comments “bother you”. Absolutely not.

To me, getting negative comments means my blog is being read. It has driven traffic to my blog. And….it also opened the door for me to write about another issue us bloggers face.

Remember, your blog is your opinion. You’re sharing what you feel may be valuable with others. Your blog may seem elementary or useless to some, but to others, it may be just what they’re looking for.

In my opinion, If I can help just one person with what I write, I’ve met my goal.

So, keep blogging, and be thankful for the additional comments and traffic.

Category: Archives, Lessons Learned  Tags: ,  4 Comments
25
Jun
Learn Blogging From The Best
Barbara Swafford

To blog is easy, but to become a problogger, now that’s a different story. My goal is to become a problogger. As a newbie, I realize I must post often, continue learning (and that includes learning from my mistakes), and essentially “pay my dues”.

My favorite problogger site is Problogger. Darren Rowse has been blogging since 2002, and is still going strong. I may not always agree with what he has to say, however, not to tap into his knowledge, would be a huge mistake.

A few days ago I found an old article of his 18 Lessons I’ve Learnt As A Blogger. This article was written in 2005, however, it has stood the test of time, and his 18 lessons still hold true today. That article is definitely a classic that should be read by all bloggers.

Wouldn’t it be great if all of our posts could become “classics” in the world of blogging? Now, that’s something worth striving for.

Category: Archives, Lessons Learned  Tags:  2 Comments
25
Jun
How To Learn WordPress
Barbara Swafford

If you’re a newbie to blogging, learning WordPress can be quite confusing. WordPress is one of the best blogging platforms, and with it being free, that makes WordPress even more attractive.

The question is, where do you get the best information about how to learn WordPress? Quite obviously, go to the source. If you go to WordPress Lessons , this link will take you to “WordPress For Beginners”. You’ll find a wealth of information. The lessons are set up so that you can start at the beginning and proceed forward as you learn each step. One of my favorite lessons listed is, “Installing WordPress, An Audio-Visual Presentation”.

I do research on the WordPress website continually. Being a newbie to blogging, I want to be able to not only have a great site, but to be able to make changes as necessary, and to truly understand why I’m doing, what I’m doing.

Remember, education is something no one can ever take away from you.

With that being said, take time to learn all there is about WordPress, and use what you learn to create a valuable, and profitable site.

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Category: Archives, Lessons Learned  Tags: ,  One Comment
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