Despite rumors proclaiming the contrary, WordPress is actually a very secure CMS platform utilized by millions of users around the world.
Unfortunately its immense popularity makes the software a prime target for hackers, similar to how Facebook and Twitter are prime targets since “everyone” is using them.
While there are more advanced measures that users should take when securing your WordPress site, here are the 3 most common habits I see practiced by some WordPress users that may set ones blog up to be hacked. read more
Search Engine Optimisation is by many considered necessary, others say that it’s all about the content and other will even go as far as to call SEO a way to trick out Google. The truth is that it’s a mi9x of all these elements and then some: great content is required to receive links and go viral on social media networks, ‘SEO tricks’ will improve how your site ranks. The team of BloggingPro sat down and created the ultimate basic guide to SEO, in the form of an infographic.
Your blog’s loading speed affects more than just user experience but is now a factor used by google to determine an overall ranking for your site. The reasoning is clear: according to Google and other search engines’ goals, which is to provide the most relevant search results from sites that offer the best user experience. Site speed is definitely something we cannot not ignore and should take advantage of every opportunity to improve.
Here are 9 effective techniques and tips that can be easily implemented to make your blog lightning fast.
1. Disable Unused Plugins
This is one of the easiest things we can do to reduce load times. I know many of us get carried away trying out the thousands of cool plugins available but we need to bear in mind the fact that they use system resources. Assess whether you need the plugins that you have installed and determine if they necessarily serve a useful purpose. Also, deactivated plugins that are not deleted can possibly create loopholes and back doors that hackers can exploit so delete them and maintain security for your blog. read more
Did you know there are some very simple things you can do on the social Web (and you might already be doing some of them) that can get you blacklisted, meaning you’ll be labeled as an annoyance, a person to avoid, or worse — a spammer?
Suffice it to say, if you want your blog and your foray into blogging to be successful, then you need to avoid the 5 ways to become a blacklisted blogger described below.
1. Fill your blog posts and comments on other blogs with links.
If you want to annoy people or be labeled a spammer, then fill your blog posts and the comments you leave on other blogs with links. This includes links back to your own site as well as affiliate links, text link ads, and so on. Links should enhance content. They should not detract from it making it impossible to find the links that are actually useful vs. those that are just self-promotional or revenue-generating.
2. Only talk about yourself.
Follow the 80-20 rule where 80% of the content and conversations you publish and participate in on the social Web are not self-promotional and 20% or less are self-promotional. No one wants to read what you have to say if all you ever do is talk about how great you are or your business is and try to sell your products or services. read more
If you want your blog to be successful, then you need to start thinking immediately about how your blog is designed and configured. In other words, the way your blog is set up could ruin your chances of building a successful blog.
With that in mind, following are 10 of the easiest and most common ways that people ruin their blogs. Avoid them!
Too many ads
Blinding colors or colors that are too light to read
Pop-up ads – make them go away!
Keyword stuffing – you’re not fooling anyone with that list of keywords stuffed into the sidebar or footer.
Currently, there are approximately over
150 Million blogs worldwide with a large majority of them talking about the same things, in same boring way. Millions of them look the same, many bloggers express themselves the same way and even more are blogging without passion, authority, concrete goals and without having a respectable brand. Many of us fail to realize that while we blog expecting to achieve success, we are also responsible for our personal brand.
Successful professional blogging is no longer for the average Joe with average goals. It is for the prudent who will approach their audience seriously and strive to build their company, and more so, personal brand.
Here is a massive guide that will get you started on the road to developing your blogging brand for success.
Set Goals, Huge Goals!
Before you register that domain or go crazy thinking about the right name for your blog, write down clearly defined goals for your site. Get a pen and paper, or however you write notes, and start jotting down everything you may require and what you NEED to be successful with your blog. Spend a week or two to decide your direction and focus on it. Your goals may not be set in stone for the entire lifetime of your blog since you will definitely grow, mature and learn so your goals should grow with you but remain in a general direction.
Aim for the sky! If your blogger friends want to achieve or are achieving $1,000 per month, shoot for $2,000 per month. Never limit your goals to match your peers or environment. read more
Keeping your WordPress installation is usually not something a lot of people spend a lot of time on. However, I believe WordPress security, tightening up the place should be your first priority every single time you install WordPress. No exceptions.
With the recent Pharma hack, more info about it plus a solution on Chris Pearson’s blog, going around I thought it was time to focus on WordPress security today. There are a lot of things you can do build extra layers of security for your WordPress installation.
There are a few different layers involved to secure your WordPress installation. I shall list them grouped together as much as possible.
Server-side & .htaccess
WordPress security starts of course by using a proper hosting company. If a server setup is not secure by default then no amount of security measures is going to keep unwanted visitors out. Please look around before you decide which hosting partner will work best for you. read more
After many years of existence BloggingPro has become one of the major blogs in the blogging and blog software scene. Of course we plan to continue expanding our horizons and deliver you more blogging news and tips, but that is not all and we here at BP want to deliver our users even more.
In our continuing effort to offer more to our readers, I am happy to announce the addition of the BloggingPro Job Board to the site.
This is a guest post by Onibalusi Bamidele, a 16 year old young entrepreneur.
Building a better blog is not that easy, it requires dedication and sometimes it requires parting with your money. Why build a better blog you ask? Building a better blog is critical to your online success and all the elements listed below will help you have a better blogging experience.
Nice Design
So many people think this is not a criterion but so many people tend to leave some blogs if it does not have a good design. You need to have a nice and good looking blog, that has a
better design and that easily draws people attention. They all want information and there are several places to get the same information you provide on the internet so you have to give them a good reason to even read your blog, a good design comes in in this place because so many people believe people with good designs have good content while
those with a poor design have poor content. It might not be easy to get a free wordpress theme that will help your blog look more unique, you might need to buy a premium theme which makes your blog look even more better. The Thesis wordpress theme is a good example to use, you can get a custom designer to help you customize it to the look of your
blog. You are parting with your money but having the right theme will pay off later. read more
Those of you who actively look at what kind of news is presented to you in your WordPress dashboard already know WordPresss 3.0 beta 1 is released just before the weekend. Even though the actual release of WordPress 3.0 will be at least a couple of weeks away, it’s good to be prepared to the new stuff which WordPress 3.0 will bring to the table.
You of course already knew WordPress 3.0 will be sporting a brand new default theme, named Twenty Ten, but there are quite a few more new features that can improve your WordPress experience. Instead of listing every single feature, I thought it would be nice to make a list of those who already wrote about WordPress 3.0. read more
Despite rumors proclaiming the contrary, WordPress is actually a very secure CMS platform utilized by millions of users around the world.
Did you know there are some very simple things you can do on the social Web (and you might already be doing some of them) that can get you blacklisted, meaning you’ll be labeled as an annoyance, a person to avoid, or worse — a spammer?
If you want your blog to be successful, then you need to start thinking immediately about how your blog is designed and configured. In other words, the way your blog is set up could ruin your chances of building a successful blog.
