2 Create a Website – The Blog

In the early days of WordPress, tag clouds were a very innovative way of revealing the popular tags you used for your posts. There were even some SEO benefits to using them.  Anytime you could create anchor text to link to your content was always a good thing. Today, the value of tag clouds seems [...]

I’ve been using Artisteer (affiliate) for almost a year now (mostly for static websites), but I’ve never actually uploaded a theme to WordPress. So after receiving many requests to do this video, I finally got a chance to upload the theme to see if the design converts nicely to a live platform. After all, what’s [...]

This is a guest post by Hector Cuevas. Pop Quiz: How many blogs are there on the internet? a. 50 million b. 160 million c. a Gazillion If you said C, you’re wrong. But don’t worry, I thought it was C, too The actual number is unknown but back in 2010, there was an estimated [...]

Ditched. It’s such a harsh word isn’t it? Nevertheless that’s the verb many people have used in the past week when they noticed my new theme design. Hey Lisa!  Why did you ditch Thesis? Let me make one thing clear.  My move to another theme was less about any love lost for Thesis and more [...]

Have you ever paid attention to how your WordPress posts perform in the SERPS vs. your pages? I am often asked which is better for SEO, so I decided to create a video revealing my opinions and discussing what has worked best with my newest WordPress website.

You may have noticed that my blog’s homepage now has static content along with my recent posts.

I’m in the process of launching a book on niche websites (thanks to all my email subscriber’s feedback), so I’m making room for promotion and will be doing some experimentation very soon.

There was an interesting post made on Website Babble last month from a member (jeffG) who was seeking more examples of everyday people (as opposed to blogging gurus) who are making worthwhile money from their blogs.

If you’re a successful blogger and you’ve only used WordPress to build websites, you may not be able to relate to this post. However, I know it will strike a chord with a lot of you. My inbox is flooded every month with new WordPress users who are frustrated and overwhelmed because they feel [...]

Being the gadget girl that I am, my life wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t dedicate at least one blog post to my favorite iPad apps that have made my online life easier. Note: Many of these apps are available for multiple devices. WordPress (Free) While I prefer to do my composing and edits

One of my pet peeves with some blogs is the lack of static pages, which can make browsing and finding information a complete nightmare. By default, most WordPress themes are designed to display the content newest to oldest and by category. While this organization works for some blogs (news oriented), it’s not ideal for

Maybe you already know about this free tool, but I just found out about it recently.  After using XAMPP for so many years as my local WordPress testing platform for Windows, I have switched to InstantWP. It’s the perfect way to test your theme design before going live, and it’s much easier to install than [...]

One of the best ways to preserve and protect your original WordPress design theme is to create a child theme and use that one instead of the original. Child themes maintain the functionality of the original theme, but allow you to make design customizations. Should the developer update/upgrade the theme, fix security issues, etc., your [...]

1) Can I be successful in [X] niche? I dropped and shattered my crystal ball when I was about 12 so my ability to look into your future is long gone. My philosophy is this.  If there is a demand for the kind of information, service, or product you plan to offer then there is [...]

You may remember me mentioning how well the 728×90 AdSense unit has been performing on this blog. Since then, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how I added it. So I thought I’d create a video showing how to use the Thesis Feature Box function that is built right into the theme. (The [...]

This is a guest post by Hector Cuevas If you’ve been blogging for over 6 months (and posting content regularly), you have in your possession pure gold in your archives. But because of how blogs work, that gold is not being seen. You have to continue posting new pieces of content on your blog so [...]

This is a guest post by Cathy of Australian Credit Cards. Running a blog is tough enough, but if you are tackling a topic that is perceived by many as dry and not even half interesting, you’re in for a real challenge. Not only do you have to come up with creating fresh and accurate [...]

This is a guest post by Richard Adams of LifestyleDesignUnleashed.com. One key feature of the Web 2.0 world is that of building personal relationships. We’re moving from an environment where information is controlled by large, powerful, faceless corporations to a world where everyone can have an opinion and anyone can become an authority. Profiles are [...]

This is one of those videos that can be taken the wrong way if you don’t watch from start to finish. I realize it’s a long video, but I felt it was necessary to get my points across. Below, I offer my opinions for why I believe some blogs do not perform as well with [...]

This is a guest post by Mark Collier of Link Building Mastery. Over the last month I have been doing a lot of guest blogging after the release of my first eBook, Link Building Mastery. And I have discovered one major thing… My guest blogging strategy needed some adjusting. I understand the guest blogging credentials, [...]

1.  Talk About Something in Your Industry Most of you are niche bloggers, so surely there is something going on in your industry you can talk about. Maybe there was a recent product launch, major news, controversy, or something you can give your opinion on. If you stay on top of industry news in your [...]

This is a guest post by Olivia Coleman of MatchACollege.com. If you have been blogging for a while, it is inevitable that you will receive at least a few sharply critical comments or even e-mails during your blogging career. These can often come as a surprise, especially if you did not think that you were [...]

UPDATE:  The newest version of CommentLuv now lets you choose dofollow or nofollow. The fact that my blog comments are nofollow has been a real bone of contention with some of my readers. So it was no surprise when I got an e-mail from Anthony of DFWRoofing who asks,  “You have CommentLuv enabled but you [...]

Since I started accepting guest posts, I’ve had to reject about 85% of the submissions. So I thought I’d create this post to explain why and to help those who may be considering writing a guest post for this blog. 1)  Your Post is Too General Does the Web really need another generic article about [...]

Due to the way blog posts are displayed by default, it’s easy for your important content to get buried. Here are some ways to highlight your blog’s archives… 1) Showcase Related Posts One of the major advantages blogs have over static websites is that you can easily sort/display content based on different criteria (date, category, [...]

I was reading a hair blog last week (hosted on Blogger) and got so frustrated with the navigation, I left. It led me to think of things I don’t like about some blogs. 1) I Can’t Find Your Content I stumbled upon a very well-written article about hair last week.  The content was so juicy, [...]

I received a comment from a reader who seemed disappointed that my blog comments are nofollow. For those who don’t know, nofollow means that my site’s PageRank is not transferred to your site when you leave a comment along with a link to your site. In other words, the link from my site to yours, [...]

This is a guest post by Ann Smarty of MyBlogGuest.com. It’s Part 2 of last week’s post, The Step-by-Step Guide to Guest Blogging. Last week, Ann provided outstanding advice for those who want to become successful, active guest bloggers. This week’s post will focus on blog owners and highlight ways to make your blog more [...]

This is a guest post by Ann Smarty of MyBlogGuest.com. Lisa’s Note: This is a very solid article by Ann, so I hope you take the time to absorb her information.  Her strategy for guest blogging is superb, and it’s why she’s been featured on so many high-profile blogs. If you’ve been submitting guest posts [...]

I remember when RSS feeds started becoming popular in 2005.  Many bloggers said RSS was going to be the death of e-mail. Some even made the bold prediction that e-mail newsletters would be obsolete in a couple of years. Well it’s 5 years later, and even though RSS is more well known and understood, there [...]

After numerous requests, I finally created a video that shows you how I created the RSS subscription box on this blog. Enjoy! If you’re reading this via e-mail or an RSS reader that does not display YouTube videos, click this link to watch the video.

I finally started selling ad space on my blog.   Here’s a video that demonstrates the script I use (OIO Publisher). If you’re reading this post via e-mail or an RSS reader, click here to watch the video.

Blogging… It seems everyone is doing it. In fact, I asked someone the other day, “Does anyone create websites anymore?”  It seems that when given the choice between a blog and a website, most people opt for blogs these days. If this describes you, I certainly understand your reasons.  Blogs are much easier to setup [...]

I have a confession to make. I used to have major trouble with commitment. Commitment to WordPress themes, that is. I have been using WordPress for 14 months and bounced from theme to theme because I kept running into walls when it came to the customization piece. And even though I’m not a complete novice [...]

I got an interesting email the other day from a woman named Sandy who is thinking of creating a sports analysis blog that she will eventually monetize (through affiliate marketing) by reviewing and recommending sports equipment. Sandy claims to be very knowledgeable about sports.  She was an athlete in her younger days and all her [...]

I’m not one who likes to publish pre-written articles on my site or blog, but I came across an OUTSTANDING article written by the six-figure blogger, Yaro Starak. Since Yaro allows affiliates to republish his articles, I thought it would be a good candidate for a blog posts since so many new bloggers come here [...]

This happens to me from time to time, and now that my readership is growing, sometimes I do panic a bit if it’s been a few days since my last post and I haven’t a clue what to right about next. I’ve gotten better as of late because of some techniques that alleviate my “blogger’s [...]

The title of this post was taken directly from a sentence out of Yaro Starak’s free report, Blog Profits BluePrint (page 18, to be exact). That sentence resonated with me because it reminded me of the mistakes I made when I started to blog back in 2006. I was more concerned with building another backlink [...]

Build a better blog by avoiding these common mistakes… 1. No Focus More is not always better — especially when it comes to topics on a blog. I know it may be tempting to target everyone with multiple subjects, but when you do this, you end up alienating everyone because your focus is unclear. Find [...]

My thoughts on this topic… video style! See more of my videos here and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

I’m not big on reading “how-to” books, but when talented bloggers like Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett put together a guide about earning a six-figure income with a blog, it’s hard to overlook. If you haven’t gotten Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six Figure Income you’re missing a treat. First of all, it’s [...]

SiteSell recently launched a new site called Blog or Build? — their definitive answer to those who ask the big question… “Blog or Website?” From a business standpoint, the page is brilliant. SiteSell sells websites, not blogs. So of course it makes sense to push the benefits of a website and display blogging in a [...]

As I wrote in another post, you cannot assume your blog readers know how to use RSS. Even though you’re comfortable with it, the majority of web surfers simply don’t understand it. So if you use Feedburner, make sure you also offer the “Subscribe by Email” feature in addition to your RSS feed. This will [...]

Good content is king. The more useful, relevant and unique it is, the more likely it will connect with its intended audience. So why don’t people keep this in mind when commenting on blogs? I’ve been generating decent traffic from this lately, and it’s mainly because I’ve revised my commenting strategy. I used to reply [...]

Update: I no longer use this method. InstantWP provides a much easier solution for installing WordPress on Windows. ——————- You may have noticed I changed my blog’s design. I’ve wanted to do this for a while, but I kept putting it off because I knew I needed the time to customize the design, images, add [...]

I just got serious about blogging in December of 2007. I had a blog on Blogger.com for 2 years, but rarely updated it. Then in November of 2007, I installed Feedburner and discovered I had 430+ subscribers. I was shocked due to the fact I hardly ever blogged. I didn’t want to lose those subscribers [...]

I hear a lot of people say, “I’m not creative enough to build an interesting site (or blog).” And while I believe creativity comes easier for some than others, there are ways you spark creativity into your site or blog whether you feel you have that special gene or not. 1. Get Involved In Your [...]

I love Google and all they are doing on the Web, but one of my goals for 2008 is to become a more active blogger, and I need a platform that will grow with me. All signs seemed to point to WordPress – especially when I realized how simple it was to install. Don’t get [...]