February 5, 2012

Posts Comments

You are here: Home / Archives for Ask the Blogger

Can I Use Flickr Images On My Blog?

December 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Many bloggers obtain pictures for their blog in wrong ways. They look at Google Images or search Flickr for a relevant image, then simply include the photo in a blog post they are writing. While this is easy, it is by no means legal, and the consequences may haunt you for years to come. Imagine waking up one morning and finding your hosting provider shut your blog down for copyright infringement – not a good way to start the day.

Flickr has a category of images that are available for public use. In fact, they have several different licensing options for their. It is important to remember – just because an image is on Flickr, does not mean you can use it freely.

The most common form of license for blog posts on Flickr is the Creative Commons Attribution license. This allows you to use an image on your blog as long as you give credit (and a link to the Flickr album) of the photograph’s creator. There are over 24 Million photographs of this type currently on the system.

If you find a photo, and it says copyrighted or does not have a Creative Common license noted on it, don’t risk using it. Find another image with a suitable license, or take one yourself. Other licenses exist as well, with a full list available on the Flickr website.

Remember, just because you find an image being shared and displayed on the Internet, does not mean it is available for “fair use” or use at all.

Filed Under: Ask the Blogger, Blogging

Should I Link To Other Blogs From My Blog?

May 21, 2008 By 7 Comments

Question: Is it good to link to other bloggers/resources in your blog? Is there any advantage or disadvantage to minimizing the number of external (non-affiliate) links?

The quick answer is yes, it’s good to link to blogs that you like and especially… blogs that are similar to you. Google and the other search engines are counting on blogs to help them find relevant blogs and your links help them.

Now, it’s important to not overdo it. Google does NOT WANT you to create a gigantic link farm of sites you link to. That’s spammy and Google will most likely devalue your site if they see you doing that.

As far as affiliate links go. We’re not sure if Google can differentiate a regular link from an affiliate link, but in general, it shouldn’t matter. If you’re creating a ton of junky affiliate links, it’s probably not a good idea. But if you’re creating “good links”, affiliate or not, you’re on the right track.

Filed Under: Ask the Blogger

How Do I Record Online Podcasts With Multiple People?

May 16, 2008 By 4 Comments

Question: What’s a great program/platform for recording podcasts with multiple people over the net?

The first way we can think of doing is by using Skype. For example, the Geekcast.fm shows are recorded by multiple people “calling in” together on Skype, then using a recording device like Pamela to record the call.

There are some other places you can try. Stickam.com is an up and coming site that allows you to do live video chats with multiple participants.

Also check out Ustream.com to do video chats, including an actual on screen chat box for the people who don’t have a web camera.

Filed Under: Ask the Blogger

How do I put a RSS feed on my blogger blog?

May 13, 2008 By 4 Comments

Question: How do I put a RSS feed on my blogger blog?

Well, the first thing you should know is that Blogger.com, and any blog software really, automatically creates a RSS feed from you blog. So you want to put the RSS icon on your blog so people can know to subscribe to it. You can do that.

We recommend getting a free account at Feedburner.com first. Burn your feed, then use the tools they have to create a RSS icon. Grab the code and proceed over to Blogger.com.

Now it gets a bit tricky. You’re going to have to edit the template. In the current Blogger, you’re going to have to edit the widgets and paste the code into the widget. Check the Blogger.com help files for more information on modifying your templates.

Filed Under: Ask the Blogger

What Is Lijit & Why Should I Use It?

March 12, 2008 By 2 Comments

Question: What is Lijit and why should I use it?

Lijit is a search application that wants to change the way people search and find what they are looking for. Basically…

When your readers search for information in real life, their first step is to typically seek out a friend for the answer. If their friend doesn’t have the answer they need, someone in that friend’s social network may. Eventually, they get an answer they trust, because it came from a source they trust. Your readers can now have that same experience on the web and it all starts with the source they trust. That source is you, the blog publisher.

What if your readers could search you and everything you’ve created for answers they’d trust?

Say you write a blog about all things TV. When your readers use Lijit to search you for ‘television’, the results might include blog posts you’ve authored about Tivo and HDTVs, as well as bookmarks you’ve made about next season’s programming lineups.

What if, when your readers searched you, their search would also include results from your social network and everything those people have created too?

Not only would their search return your blog posts and bookmarks, but it would also return blog posts your colleagues and friends have written about LCD vs. Plasma technology, bookmarks they’ve made about great sites to purchase HDTVs, and posts from blogs they read that discuss HTDV programming.

Using the power of people, their content, and their connections, Lijit enhances the way your readers search for and discover information on the internet. You serve as a filter for all of the results your readers could possibly receive, ensuring they only receive the most relevant results from the source they trust -YOU.

Just like it works in real life.

Using Lijit is easy. Just sign up, then you get a piece of code to put on your website that will let you or your readers search “your” and “your friends” stuff. Try it out by visiting it in the right sidebar here at AsktheBlogger.

Filed Under: Ask the Blogger, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engines

Is My Blog Content Copyrighted? Can It Be Stolen?

March 12, 2008 By 10 Comments

Question: I am new to blogging and I would like to know if blogs are copyrighted or is anything I post up for grabs?

The cold, hard truth about the Internet is that ANYTHING you post can probably be ripped off from you. It’s the nature of putting content out there, if it’s valuable, then at some point some scammer is going to steal it and either reuse it for their own purposes (like a splog, which is a “spam blog”) or some other way.

So, the answer is yes, your content can be stolen. Never put anything online in your blog that you can’t afford to have stolen. That being said, you have to stop worrying about people stealing your content if you want to be successful.

Having your content stolen is part of the “cost of doing business” on the Internet. It happens. If it does, there are things you can do though. Here’s one of them.

If someone rips off your content and is reposting it as their own on their blog without attributing it to you, you can, and should, contact that person if possible and ask them to stop. If they don’t, contact their ISP (do a whois.net lookup) and find out who their host is and contact them and tell them one of their users is stealing your content. More often than not they will shut down that person’s blog or website.

Filed Under: Ask the Blogger, Content, Copywriting

Do Product Launches Work? Or Is It All Bullsh*t?

March 10, 2008 By 3 Comments

Question: Do these big product launches actually work, or is it all just bullsh*t?

Here’s what I know for SURE. The product launch formula DOES work, and WELL. I encourage anyone who doesn’t believe that fact to watch this video. Don’t sign up for the email list if you don’t want to, just watch the video.

It blew me away. Why? Because it’s about the clearest explanation of how an actual product launch works that I’ve ever seen and because it shows that the “little guy” can still crush it using simple product launch strategies. And what’s even more sweet about this video is that you can take this same strategy and use it in your own niche.

So, do product launches work? Watch this video (don’t sign up if you don’t want to) and you decide for yourself. I for one have seen how ordinary people have used product launches to be very successful. Too many people think it’s all b.s. It’s not.

Filed Under: Ask the Blogger, Making Money Online, Product Launches

How Do I Optimize My WordPress Title Tag On My Blog?

March 9, 2008 By 3 Comments

Question: In this post you wrote “Make sure your title tag has your title (headline) first before your blog name. You’ll need to edit your blog template to make sure that is happening. This is VERY important.”

My question to you is how is this done in the html?

Why do they make it so hard? :) It should be easier, especially since most bloggers aren’t technical or can even read any code at all. What most blog templates do is show the blog’s name, then a separator, then the blog post title tag. But you want to change that.

Why? Because you want your title (headline of your blog post) to show up first so that Google will read it and it will appear as more relevant when a searcher finds it. But how do you do this?

It’s actually pretty easy to do, but if you don’t know code, it can be difficult and scary to attempt. Rather than repeat what so many have done already here, I’ll point you to some good tutorials that are well done.

Ardamis has a great walk through on how to do this.

If you want to know more about the Title tag implementation in WP, visit this page.

And, of course, Problogger has an amazing tutorial on how to do it and more reasons about “why” to do it.

Good luck, and thanks for asking the blogger!

Filed Under: Ask the Blogger, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engines, Wordpress Permalinks

Does YouTube Have A Video Widget To Embed Shows In My Blog?

March 8, 2008 By 2 Comments

Question: I want to share videos from the Daily Flip with my audience by embedding the video code in my sidebar. But, I don’t want to do the updates manually. Is it possible to subscribe to a YouTube channel, embed code and have automatic updates occur with each new release from the channel?

Yes, it is possible, but not with YouTube… yet. If you want to embed a “show” of your or someone else’s videos in your blog or website, you’ll have grab a show player from a site like Magnify.net, assuming that show is created there.

In other words, The Daily Flip show is not just uploaded to YouTube, but it’s also uploaded to Blip.tv and is also duplicated in its own channel at Magnify.net.

Here’s option 1 for you: View my show page at Blip at http://jimkukral.blip.tv/. Then you can create a custom show player here.

The second option is for you to look at the Daily Flip Magnify channel at http://thedailyflip.magnify.net/. Magnify allows you to create a video widget of my show, check out that page here.

So remember, it’s always best to upload your videos to more than one location… not just YouTube. Other video players have better options you might like more.

Filed Under: Ask the Blogger, Blogging, Video Blogging, Videos In Blogs, YouTube

Nobody’s Reading My Blog? I Need More Traffic?

March 8, 2008 By 2 Comments

Question: I have been running a blog for almost 3 months, during this period the blog changed the layout for a better one, then I was learning step by step how to build some backlinks and everyday a learn a little more, I even bought some ebooks like Blogging to the bank 2.0. However it looks everything I do and all my efforts doesn’t bring any solid results.

My average of visitors per day it is around 80 (once it went to 800 but it was one time only) my PR it is still 0, and all the time I read some websites saying how they increased they PR and how they get hundreds and sometimes thousands of visitors.

I would like some advice on how to get more traffic because I’m really desperate as I like to blog and stuff but it seems I’m blogging to nobody?

Ahh, the number one question we get here at Ask the Blogger.com. How do I get more traffic???

The first thing you need to realize is that you don’t need tons of traffic to make money with your blog.

You CAN make indirect income from your blogging efforts by building your brand name and becoming a thought-leader or expert or guru in your niche industry. When that happens, it doesn’t matter how many people read you, it’s all about how many of the “right” people read you.

Advertisers want focused eyeballs from their direct target markets. So if you can provide them with a small readership of their exact target market, you can get them to value your blog, and then pay you to reach those readers.

Now, on to the big question. How do I get more traffic?

In the previous article I wrote, link above, I defined some ways you get more traffic. Those are:

Solve Problems & Think Of The Reader

The best websites or blogs solve problems. People come to the Internet mostly for that reason, to have problems solved. Maybe they need a chicken recipe for dinner? Maybe they need to know how to put up drywall? Whatever, people like to get answers online.

So does your website or blog solve problems? If not, why are readers visiting your site? What are you offering them that they don’t have? Put yourself in a reader’s head. What do they want to know… then give it to them.

Try Digg

Digg.com is a fast way to get attention. Essentially, you write some content on your website of blog that you think is interesting. Then you submit it for free to Digg.com, where it could be exposed to hundreds of thousands of readers if it’s good enough. If it is, watch out, you can see thousands of visitors to your site very quickly, helping you build an audience.

Link Unto Others

Don’t be stingy with your links. If you want to get more traffic, you should be exchanging links with other websites or blogs that match your content. People follow links as that is the nature of the web.

Social Networking

Open up a Myspace.com and Linkedin account and network with similar people in your industry. Don’t spam people, but really go out and introduce yourself and make some friends. Ask those friends to visit your site and build relationships with them.

Things To Avoid

Stuff like traffic exchanges and webrings don’t really work. Sure, they’ll get you some hits, but what they don’t get you is targeted hits. Avoid trying to build a quick audience with tools that claim you’ll get “XXX” # of hits in “XXX” days. Usually it doesn’t work.

Good luck!

Filed Under: Ask the Blogger, Being Successful Online, Blogging, Make Money Blogging, Website Traffic
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »