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Question: Every time you setup a blog using Wordpress.org, you need to enable Akismet spam protection. But how do I set it up and get my API key to activate it?
This video will show you how to create and activate your Akismet API key.
Question: I want to ask you how to display post by categories? For example in your blog, when I click a category in your blog, example I click ‘Affiliate Marketing’ then it will display all post connected with affiliate marketing. How do I do that?
Whenever I create a new blog post I always assign categories to each post. For example, for this post I’ll use the following categories.
Categories
Blogging
Wordpress
It’s simple to do in Wordpress, just look on the page when you write a post, below the space where you put your post copy in. Look for categories, and simply create a new one, or use an existing one you’ve used before.
This is great, to your point, because now someone can come to this blog and click on “blogging” as a category and see every post Ask the Blogger has ever done with that category selected. Tagging is similar to this.
Question: How do I find specific kinds of blogs on the net? For example I want to find blogs regarding natural, holistic health, parenting and beauty for women aged over 35. How do I go about finding the right kinds of blogs without spending hours searching?
There are several places you can go to find niche topic blogs. Here are our recommendations.
Technorati.com – Do a search for blogs here and sort them by “authority”, which is their ranking methodology.
Google Blog Search – Again, Google is the king, and they have indexed millions of blogs.
Blog networks – Try Best of the Web blog directory, or the ScratchBack blog directory.
Of course, there’s never going to be a super-easy way to search. It will take time to weed through all of the millions of listings. Good luck!
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.
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!
Question: A client would like to integrate a blog into its site in which an expert would write about relevant topics to this particular industry. The client’s site developer doesn’t have database servers that support Movable Type. Is there a basic blogging tool that you recommend for a professional site that would work on what seems to be outdated equipment?
If you cannot make a database on your server, then you’re not going to be able to use blogging software like Movable Type or Wordpress.org.
Instead, what you should be doing is…
A. Get the blog hosted on new server. The problem with that is you cannot integrate the blog directly into your clients domain name. (xyz.com/blog)
B. Get a “hosted” blog at someplace like Wordpress.com. Again, you can’t directly integrate your blog on your domain. You can, however, link to it off of your domain in a forward.
C. Get a new webhost. If your host can’t make a simple database, then well, it’s time to find a new one, seriously. :)
Question: I have a blog on Blogger (blogspot). How do I put a RSS feed icon to let people subscribe on my blog template?
The best, and easiest way to do this is to create a free account at www.feedburner.com.
1. Login and burn a feed
2. Go to “publicize” tab
3. Click on “chicklet chooser” in the left hand side navigation
4. Choose the icon you wish and grab the code
5. Open blogger.com and login
6. Find your template, edit it, and place the code in the template (usually in your sidebar)
7. Save changes and republish
You’re done!
Question: How much money can I earn in my first month blogging?
It pains me to have to tell you what you don’t want to hear, but here goes. You’re not going to make much of anything for the first month of blogging and probably months and months after that.
To make money blogging you have to build a loyal audience of trusted readers who generate page views or affiliate sales or leads or tips, and that takes time.
My best advice to a new blogger is to spend the first six months writing as much high-quality niche content as possible, and don’t stop writing. Participate on other blogs in your niche and leave comments and introduce yourself via email to other bloggers and tell them about your blog. Don’t ask for a link, just make friends.
Soon enough, others will begin to do the same on your blog and you’ll be on your way. Then, and only then, can you start thinking about making money from your blog.
Note: There are exceptions. If you already have another site or list of readers (maybe newsletter subscribers) that you can immediately expose the blog to, then you could make money right away. But again, without traffic and readers, it’s going to be very hard to do.
Write great content and the readers will come.
Question: What is a blog and why are they such a big deal?
We came across this awesome video from commoncraft that we have to share for you. Want to know what a blog is and why they are such a big deal? Watch this 3-minute video.
Question: Can you tell me how I can add a box/link to my blog where people can put they’re own email in and receive updates when I add to my blog?
You’re talking about a subscribe box. Usually these are created from your RSS feed. To create an email subscription from your RSS feed, follow these steps.
1. Create an account at Feedburner.com.
2. Burn your feed in Feedburner.
3. Go to the “publicize” tab.
4. Click on the “email subscriptions” link in the left hand side navigation.
5. Follow instructions.
Now, paste the code they give you into your blog sidebar and save your blog template. Now anyone who wants to subscribe to your blog via email can!
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