Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Blog Post Idea Generators

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idea-generatorsAnyone who has been blogging for a while knows that it can be difficult to come up with interesting, new ideas for posts on a regular basis. Sometimes the ideas flow and other times…not so much.

What can you do when the ideas just don’t come? A lot of people liked the video I did about using the Portent Content Idea Generator, so I decided to share a bunch of other headline and title generators you can use to come up with titles for articles and blog posts.

All of these are free. None require registration or make you jump through any hoops. Just follow any of the links below, enter your topic or keyword and click.
[Read more…]

Add A YouTube Video To Your Blog

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youtubeLooking for a blog post idea? Posts do not have to be only the written word. A video can make a great post and–here’s the really cool part–it doesn’t even have to be a video you created. Whether you’ve found a video on YouTube that you just have to share with the world or you have created a video and uploaded it to YouTube, adding it to your blog is as easy as click, copy, click, paste, done.

Why Embed YouTube Videos in Your Posts?

You might want to add a video by you or someone else showing how to do something you are explaining in a post. Or you simply might want to share something interesting and useful you found. Although a video can stand on its own, it is a good idea to add some text saying why you are sharing that particular video, describing what it is about, or offering other comments about the content. If it is your video, you might even want to put a transcript of the video on the page. (Lots of people like video, but there are others who prefer text. And the search engines can index the text on the page.)

If you are comfortable creating videos, this can be an easy way to come up with a post. Create a short video, upload it to YouTube and embed it on your site. Even if you have never made a video in your life, though, you can use videos created by others. Most videos on YouTube have simple code that allows you to embed the video. That means that you can legally and ethically copy and paste the video into your site.

How to Embed a YouTube Video

I am going to share the specifics of adding a YouTube video to a WordPress post, but the basic technique will work with many other video sharing sites and other blogging platforms or HTML sites.

Ready? [Read more…]

Rejecting a Guest Post

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reject-a-guest-postAccepting guest posts at your blog is a great way to build your readership, create relationships with other bloggers, give your readers access to another perspective and give yourself the occasional day off from writing. There are many bloggers who are willing to provide quality content for your blog in exchange for the exposure and links they receive from a guest post.

But what happens when you request a guest post and you can’t use what is submitted? It may be that it is badly written, or it may be a good post but not right for your blog. Here are some ideas on how to handle the situation:

First, do not ignore the submission. The polite thing to do is to let the blogger know that you can not use the post. Once they know that you are not going to use it, they can submit it to other sites or post it on their own blog.

If appropriate, you might ask for revisions. Maybe the post is close, but just not quite right for you. In that case, you could suggest changes that might make the post work for your blog. Perhaps the language is a little rough for your readership, or the post takes a controversial stand that goes against your beliefs. (Note: One reason to have guest posts is to inject a new perspective, so having a point of view that is different from yours can be a good thing. However, you are not obligated to run posts that you find offensive or in any way inappropriate.) Let them know what would have to change for you to run the post. They can choose to go along with the changes or not.

If the post is all wrong, or just bad, say no. But do it nicely. “Sorry, but this post is not a good fit for my blog. Thank you for submitting it,” would be fine. “What were you thinking? This is rubbish,” uh, not so much.

Chances are that the guest poster attempted to craft a good piece for you. If it misses the mark you don’t have to publish it, but you do have to be nice (or at least polite).

Looking for guest posts, or for blogs accepting guest posts? Subscribe to Blogger LinkUp. It’s free!

Keep Your Blog Running Smoothly

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Image by Wikiuser100000 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
By Wikiuser100000 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Your car will run for a while if you don’t change the oil, never get a tune-up and ignore a glowing “check engine” light. But if you go too long without performing at least basic maintenance, your car will eventually stop performing and let you down. The same goes for your blog.

Much like a car, a blog is a complex system. To maintain it, you need to keep the software up to date, regularly add content, interact with your readers and more.

Here are some of the most important things you need to do to keep your blog running smoothly.

#1: Update WordPress

WordPress is frequently updated. Although some of these updates are fairly minor, many of them include critical security features. Hackers may find weaknesses in the code which they can use to hack into your blog and do damage.

Updating your WordPress installation literally takes seconds. Make sure you update it whenever you see WordPress prompting you to do so.

#2: Keep Plugins Up to Date

Along with updating WordPress itself, it is important to keep other components current, too. Though the WordPress core installation can pose a security risk, the reality is that the vast majority of WordPress hacks come from compromised plugins.

Most people don’t realize that a single compromised plugin can not only result in their entire WordPress installation getting hacked, but having every other WordPress installation on their entire server getting hacked as well.

Updating your plugins is easy. Just go to the plugins panel and click on “Update Available.”

Then click “Update Automatically” under the plugin you want to update.

Update your plugins to their newest versions whenever possible.

#3: Backup Your Site Frequently

Backing up your WordPress installation regularly protects you against losing your data. If your site ever gets wiped out, you can simply do a restore. If your hosting company suddenly crashes and loses your data, you can just re-upload everything from scratch. Or if you do something stupid (Did I ever tell you about the day I accidentally deleted my husband’s blog?) it only takes a few minutes to get everything back online.

Backing up your data is made easy by the myriad of different backup plugins available. Pick a backup system that allows you to automate backups so you do not even have to remember to do a backup.

How often should you run a backup? That depends on how often you update your site. If you add content a few times a week, then a weekly backup may be fine. However, if you add content every day, or multiple times a day, you should backup daily. Also, it is a good idea to run a backup after making major changes.

#4: Moderate Your Comments

Comment moderation is important in order to keep spammy comments off of your site and interact with your readers. It is also highly time sensitive.

If you want to maintain a strong relationship between you and your readers, you need to moderate your blog comments quickly. People should never feel like they’re being ignored, especially after spending a lot of time to write out a thoughtful comment.

Try to moderate your comments at least every 24 hours, if not every 3, 8 or 12 hours. Never, ever let real comments sit unmoderated for more than 48 hours, or you’re either going to lose that reader for good, or they’ll stop commenting and become a passive participant.

One possibility is to let a plugin, such as Akismet or Defensio, cull the obvious spam comments, and let all other comments post without moderation. You can then review the posted comments (or have your assistant do so) and delete any spam comments that slipped through. That way legitimate commenters do not have to wait to see their comments appear, but spam doesn’t clutter up your posts.

#5: Get Rid of Broken Links

Checking for broken links is something you should do at least every few months.

Most bloggers include links in their posts as well as having a blogroll or other groups of links on their blogs. The majority of those links will still work even months and years from today. But some of them won’t.

If a page you link to goes down, that reflects badly on you. Users who click on a broken link on your site will instantly view you as less credible. They might also get frustrated, because there was a resource they wanted to access that they couldn’t get to.

To avoid broken link issues, scan your site for broken links every few months. When you find a broken link, try to replace it with a comparable resource. If you can’t find other useful resources, then just unlink that hyperlink.

Source: http://brokenlinkcheck.com

#6: Check Your RSS Feeds

Check to make sure your RSS feeds are working properly. Check on several different clients, including Google Reader and a desktop client. Sometimes feeds can work in one reader but not another. If something in your RSS feeds isn’t working as expected, you want to know sooner rather than later.

Make it easy for people to subscribe to your RSS feed by making the subscribe options obvious.

#7: Check Your Stats

Are you getting more visitors or fewer? Where do your visitors come from? Are there specific pages on your site that people seem to be bouncing out of?

Which posts are most popular? What kinds of headlines seem to catch their attention and get a longer stay? What kind of keywords are people searching for to land on your website?

Your stats, from Google Analytics or a program offered by your hosting company, such as AWStats or Webalizer, can provide answers to these questions and others. Your analytics will help you figure out what your audience likes and doesn’t like, so you can give them more of what they want.

#8: Stay on Message

Review all of your posts over the last few months. Ask yourself if you are still on message and writing about what matters to your audience. Does your blog have a mission statement? (If not, consider writing one.) Are your topics consistent with your mission?

It’s easy to write a post that seems just a little off topic, especially if you’re feeling inspired by the subject or if there are current events that you want to comment on. But one “slightly off topic” post can lead to another and pretty soon you are completely off track.

If you see that you have veered off track, make a conscious effort to get back to your topic. Plan a series that addresses something that matters to your audience and is appropriate to your mission statement.

These tips will help you keep your blog in tip top shape. Use these tips to keep your blog running smoothly and attracting more loyal readers.

What do you think? How do you keep your blog up to date and working at its best?

Prepare Your Blog for the Holidays

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holiday-bloggingIt’s hard for me to think about Christmas when the Halloween candy is still around, but this is a good time to think about what you need to do to get your blog ready for the holidays.

Are there holiday topics you should address in your blog? Almost any blogger can find a way to write posts about the holidays: gift guides, dealing with family members and other relationships, how to celebrate on a budget, travel, managing your business over the holidays, etc. Start working on those posts now.

Will you be away, or busy with family and celebrations, over the holidays? (I hope so!) Now is the time to start accumulating a supply of posts so that your blog doesn’t go dark while you are enjoying the season. Request some guest posts at http://BloggerLinkUp.com/ to give yourself time to work on stockpiling future posts.

Do you sell products (your own or as an affiliate) through your blog? What promotions will you schedule for your customers? And what content (posts, emails, etc.) do you need to have in place to support those promotions? Plan ahead to get the best results. (And are there holiday products you need to create? Oooh, you had better get busy!)

Also, if you sell your own products, get some reviews to get your products in front of more customers.

With a little preparation, you can have a happy, successful and sane holiday season!