Author: Barbara Swafford

Blogging (writing) is pretty easy. Just type out your thoughts, hit publish, and your opinions/ideas are out in that vast empty hole, called cyberspace. If you make an error in a post, you can always correct it. Today’s Lesson But, commenting, that’s another story. If you leave a comment on… read more I Can’t Believe I Said That

Photo credit Mr. Bill I can not count how many times I have gone online and typed in “how to …………”? It may have been something as simple as “how to get gum out of carpeting”? (with ice) Or, it may have been “how to use an FTP program” (I’ll… read more Bloggers Are Missing Huge Opportunities

Photo Credit: Domain Barnyard On February 1, 2008, it was announced Microsoft wants to join forces with Yahoo. Some are calling it a merger, a marriage, and/or a takeover Whatever it’s called, it appears Microsoft wants a bigger market share, and if you read this post, it reveals how Yahoo… read more Will Bill’s Bucks Result In Better SERPs

As bloggers, we become very attached to our blogs. Not just to our domain name, but to our theme, and the words we write. We enjoy reading comments from our loyal readers…readers who have become friends. We have our favorite plugins, widgets, and ads. Our blogs are an extension of… read more A New Reality Show – How Not To Blog?

Testing your blog in more than one browser is not only important, it’s essential. Essential, because all of your visitors will not be using the same browser as you. Today’s Lesson Months ago, I was in the market for a new blog theme. My extensive search revealed one, I absolutely… read more Test Proves Fatal In Internet Explorer (IE)

Creativity has been on my side. I’m ahead on my posts, and even had them post dated. That’s been a relief for me, as I’m under a time crunch for the business. But today, I “stopped the presses”, and changed my posting schedule. All, for a very good reason. Today’s… read more Stop The Press – I’m Dying To Share

If you use Google AdSense as part of your blog’s monetization, you can easily set up a “savings account” with Google. Today’s Lesson First of all, if you haven’t done so, you’ll need to: Most of you know, when visitors click on your AdSense ads, you make money. (Do not… read more Sign Up For Google’s Saving Account

Anyone who watches soap operas or prime time series, knows how each show ends with a “cliff hanger”. It’s so compelling, you mark your calender, and watch the show the next time it airs. Now, that’s not to say, I haven’t landed on a few blogs, that resemble a true… read more Does Your Blog Resemble A Soap Opera

Google’s page rank is an issue that eludes/frustrates most bloggers and webmasters. How it’s calculated, is treated like a “secret sauce” recipe. A few of the ingredients are known, but no one (except Google), knows all of the ingredients. Anyone who could get their hands on the “recipe”, could potentially… read more What if Google Added “This” To Determine Page Rank

I’ve read several books about Feng Shui, (pronounced “fung shway”) and how it can affect the Yin and Yang in your home. For those who haven’t heard of Feng Shui, (literal translation is wind and water) it is an ancient (5000 years old) Chinese philosophy that deals mostly with understanding… read more Can Feng Shui Improve Your Blog

Recently, I noticed that Catherine, had added a new plugin to her great business blog. It is called “Comment Luv” The Comment Luv plugin, when activated, inserts a link to your most recent post, when you leave a comment on a blog that has the CommentLuv plugin activated. Today’s Lesson… read more Comment Luv Plugin Increases Traffic

I’m on a hunt for new bloggers. It doesn’t matter what your call yourselves….newbie bloggers, nubes, first time, infant, virgin, etc….. I have a proposition for you. Here’s my situation: I have a full time job and am blogging, what could be called part time, however, my time spent on… read more Wanted: New Bloggers Who Want More Traffic

If you’re a new blogger, you may start researching blogging, and think to yourself, “I don’t stand a chance”. “There are so many great blogs out there.” “Others write better than I do.” “No one is visiting my blog” “There is so much to learn about blogging, I’ll never totally… read more New Blogger Begins To Feel Like An Abandoned Dog

If you have had a blog for any length of time, you may begin to feel like you and your blog, have become joined in cyberspace matrimony. In one sense, you may feel like you are married to your blog. New bloggers..be forewarned, this could happen to you. Today’s Lesson… read more Wife Sues Husband’s Blog For Alienation of Affection

I learn something new about WordPress, every time I’m working on my blog. Today, I learned how using the post timestamp can affect my post slug. Today’s Lesson I often use the “post timestamp” feature for future posts. Today, as I was running errands for our business, I got to… read more WP – Use of Post Timestamp May Require Changing Your Post Slug

It wasn’t until I started blogging that I read about “Google’s Sandbox”. Apparently, the terminology was given to some blogs that may be on a “probationary period” with Google. These are blogs that Google is “watching” to see how internet users react to them. Google may be looking to see… read more Google Kicked Me Out Of The Sandbox

I doubt we will ever see headlines like this, but, if you listen close enough, you may begin to hear whispers in cyberspace that there are too many blogs. But, is there? Today’s Lesson Cyberspace reminds me of the small, but growing town, we live in. When we moved here… read more Internet Closes The Door To All New Blogs – Do You Have Yours

When we set up a blog, we usually contemplate who our audience will be. And, based on our subject matter, it’s normally an easy guess. You may picture others, in the same age group, with the same mind set, frequenting your blog. Today’s Lesson Can you imagine, getting a comment,… read more Blog Loses Massive Traffic Due To Profanity

If you blog and are using WordPress, you can use the “post time stamp” and pre-write posts, and have them “publish” while you are enjoying a good nights rest. Todays’ Lesson At this time of year, my full time job keeps me extremely busy. It’s time for quarter and year… read more WP Post Time Stamp – Publish While You Are Sleeping

To continue my readership building series, I am doing a test. Can I provide a reader with an answer, to their search string, within 30 seconds of entering my site? Today’s Lesson Since blog statistics provide tons of information, I check my blog’s stats on a regular basis. If I… read more 0 to 30 Seconds – Can You Answer My Question

This week, I am concentrating on learning how to gain readership. I have been asking myself several questions. 1) How do people search online 2) How can I gain loyal readership 3) How long should your posts be? Today’s Lesson I have already shared my results on the first two… read more How Many Words Create A Great Post

Today, my inquiring mind, took me on a Google search. I wanted to know, “how people search online”? I typed in “how people search”, using parentheses, to get exact results (without the parentheses, I got 180,000,000 results). Today’s Lesson My consensus is: if we can determine how people search online,… read more ADD Reaches An Epidemic Level For Online Searchers

You may be asking yourself, how can I meet a loyal blog visitor? In the “personals of blogging”, your may state that you are looking for “A visitor who will visit my blog often, who will share their thoughts, stroke my ego, and who may even be available for a… read more Blog Visitors Can Be Like One Night Stands

It is often written, “Do not try to reinvent the wheel”. In blogging, some will say, find a popular blog, and copy what they are doing, and you have a better chance of becoming successful. Is that true? Or, is there a better way? If you look at inventions, often… read more Copy Successful Blogs/Websites – Or Not

Hi and Happy New Year to you all! Today’s Assignment If you pay attention to your blog’s footer, you will notice a copyright date/year. It’s time to change it. The change is easy. Go to your WordPress dashboard Clink on “presentation” Click on “theme editor” Click on “footer” (editing footer.php)… read more Change Your Blog’s Copyright Date

Blogging is often defined as an online journal. It’s a journal that we write, but instead of being private, the whole world can read it. In some instances that could be a scary thought, but in other ways, blogging can be therapeutic. Today’s Lesson Although there are many blogs that… read more Blog Your Way To Mental, Physical and/or Financial Health

Trying to figure out how to increase traffic to your blog, can be mind boggling. You know you write great posts, but visitors are few, and far between. You have created a professional looking homepage, but what good is it, if no one visits? Today’s Lesson On a regular basis,… read more How To Increase Traffic To Your Blog

If you have a popular post(s), leave them alone. Today’s Lesson About ten days ago, I wrote a post on my other blog. Amazingly, within hours, I was getting hits/views. After reviewing the post, “one more time”, I decided to make a small change to it. That was a mistake!… read more Popular Posts – Do Not Disturb

UPDATE: As of today, 1/24/08, BlueHost customers can update to WordPress 2.3.2 using Fantastico. WordPress has announced another update. The new version is 2.3.2. Today’s Lesson Apparently, the WordPress 2.3.2 update, will fix a bug that can be used to expose your draft posts, plus limits and stops some information… read more Updating To WordPress 2.3.2 Using Fantastico On BlueHost

Probably the most difficult part of blogging, is getting your blog discovered. Often, you will read that blogging is easy. You write a post, hit “publish” and your writings are sent to cyberspace. But, if you are new to blogging, you may begin to fear that your blog has gotten… read more Help! Getting Your Blog Discovered