Archive for CMS
Top 4 Ways to Optimize WordPress for Search Engines
Posted by: | CommentsWe like WordPress for a lot of reasons: It’s easy to use, it manages our content in a way we never could on our own, and it also presents a pretty nice front, what with all those loose themes running around. We’re also tremendous fans of its ability to optimize our sites for search engines with little to no effort on our end. However, just because a few plug-ins can handle most of the load, does not mean we’re taking the most steps possible to fully maximize our Google-spotting potential. In fact, WordPress’ functionality in terms of SEO has only been scratched, if you’re still simply relying on the All In One SEO pack. There are plenty more steps (all of which are extremely simple) you can take to ensure your WordPress-powered website is noticed by such heavyweight search engines as Google, Yahoo, Bing, and DogPile.
Our best suggestion is that you review our methods below, and then work your hardest to integrate them into your daily workflow. It’s much harder to SEO an entire mountain of content once it has been created. It’s much easier, however, to create SEO-content from the get-go. With that fair warning in mind, may we now present our top ways to optimize your WordPress site for search engine notoriety.
1. Tell WordPress to Rearrange Itself
As much as we like WordPress, we have noticed it has one or two nasty habits. The most notable we’ve come across is its tendency to put the name of the website itself in front of the title of the blog post. This is problematic for a number of reasons, but we would simply like to mention right off the bat that there is a quick fix: So, in other words, don’t panic and bring your towel. But why is this such a big deal? Well, for starters – search engines use your titles to determine what the blog post is actually about. Typically, a search engine will only crawl (that means search and record) the first 50 to 64 characters of your title, too. With that in mind, having your blog name in front of your blog post title can cause some problems. You’ll want to reverse this, that way sites like Google get an accurate picture of your newly minted content, rather than a repeat of the blog’s name. A quick way to do this is to swap the title and name sequence within the All In One SEO pack. On another note, if you don’t have this plug-in yet, you should go ahead and snag it, as we’ll be referencing it often.
2. Create Unique and Accurate Meta Tags
A case in point, we will again be using All In One SEO with this point, as well. The idea here is that the automatically created meta tags published by WordPress are typically not specific enough to warrant any interest from the larger search engines. Usually, these self-created tags are somewhat generic, and lack any kind of specificity sites like Google desire. With that in mind, the easiest way to correct the problem is to add meta tags yourself. How does one go about this? Well, the easiest method is through that handy plug-in we mentioned earlier. Using the keywords slot, you’re free to add as many meta tags as your heart desires. Just try to be specific, avoiding generic terms like “iPhone,” “Android,” or “Mac.”
3. Stick Around with Permalinks
When WordPress creates a new post, it typically does so with a URL that’s less-than desirable for search engine optimization. This is because, more often than not, WordPress attaches an incomprehensible string of numbers to each and every new piece of content, allowing URL crawlers no added access to what in the heck your post is about. However, this isn’t hard to change, and typically only requires a quick jaunt over to the WordPress admin panel.
Within this panel, look for the settings tab, and then “Permalinks.”
You’ll see a list of various URL methods, but the only one you want is called “Custom Structure.” Yes, you’re going to have to enter something here, but lucky for you, we’ve already written the appropriate string. Click this box, and then type: /%category%/%postname%
Now, every time you create a new post, it will be listed in the URL as http://sample.com/your-category/the-proper-post-name. This makes your post infinitely more readable to search engines, and can go a long way toward fully search engine optimizing your content.
4. Make Meaningful Connections
Another fantastic way to optimize your site for search engine use is to link related sites and content pieces within your article.
This means that words like “phone” should be linked to other articles about similar models, operating systems, etc. Your goal is to create a map within the blog post that directs the user—and search engines—to other content that’s closely related to your own. With that in mind, blindly adding links with no regard for what they mean will not help you at all. If you’ve written an article about how to cook a turkey, and you link it to an animal rights page, Google won’t get much out of it, and may even scrap your site in its ratings. There’s also a limit on how many links Google is willing to stand. If you attach a URL to every word in the post, most search engines will treat it like spam.
A great way to avoid this is to use a “Related Posts” plug-in. There are about a thousand in the WordPress plug-in library, so we won’t offer any specific suggestions. Just know that these create a separate box for these helpful links, alleviating the need to bugger up your viewers’ reading experience with bothersome links. Likewise, there are plenty of plug-ins out there that will automatically generate in-text links, should you decide you’d rather have plenty of those. Typically, they work quite well, but the only way to guarantee your optimization is to add these links yourself.
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WordPress Website and WordPress Hosting
Posted by: | CommentsIf we had known WordPress was going to be as popular as it is now, we would have made sure to buy some stock back in the day, assuming the company was public. That being said, nothing is hotter than the content management software right now, especially for bloggers and news-based websites.
And why shouldn’t it be? WordPress makes it incredibly simple to manage, produce, and distribute content on the Internet through your site. And at the heart of things, that’s really what the Web is all about, right? Here are some stats about what people do on wordpress:
Philosophical pander aside, though, there are a few things you’ll want to really look for in a web host when you’re shopping for WordPress compliance. In fact, if you don’t snag just the right features, you may find your CMS blog in high water before the ink is even dry on your contract. With that in mind, here are a few of the top features you want in a web host with WordPress in mind, as well as a few quality places to find WordPress hosting, beginning with:
In-House WordPress Transfers. Often times, we see webmasters start a blog on the traditional WordPress site, only to suddenly find their content inundated with fans and adoring readers. If you’re in a similar boat, and are looking to make the swap to a truly dedicated domain and website, you’ll want to be sure of a few things. First and foremost, you’ll want to be sure your new web host can directly transfer your domain from WordPress, establishing it as a proprietary DNS. From there, you’ll also want to ensure they can port most (if not all) of your content. You worked hard to create it, so why should you have to leave it behind on that old, stuffy WordPress blog? If your new web host can’t help you with your baggage, it’s time to shop more.
Speed and Performance. On a similar note, if you’re swapping your old WordPress account for a dedicated number—or even if you’re just starting from scratch—you’ll want to find a web host that offers totally comprehensive performance and top-notch hardware. WordPress is a lightweight web application, but you’re still running an additional software engine over the server’s operating system. This requires processing power, and if you go with an anemic web host, you may find your blog is no better off with a dedicated location than with your original WordPress spot. And besides, signing to a web host is like buying a new car. If you have the money, why not spring for that souped-up model that packs a real punch? Get the most bang for your dollar and look for speed in a web host.
Easy Installation. Lastly, you’ll want to be sure your web host can provide an easy WordPress installation for your site. A good web host makes this a one or two click process, max. If your web host instead wants you to do a long string of complicated terminal commands that may jeopardize the entire system, it’s time to move elsewhere and cancel the contract.
That’s by no means a survival guide for WordPress shopping where web hosts are concerned, but instead of talking about finding a web host until the cows come home, we thought we might instead offer up a few of our choice suggestions. Beginning with:
InMotion Web Hosting
Customer Ratings & Reviews
As an industry leading web hosting provider, InMotion Hosting provides all of the features we mentioned above and more. With the company your WordPress installation takes only a click, thanks to the brilliantly inventive, server-side gem Fantastico. Furthermore, InMotion also boasts secure suPHP, the latest versions of both MySQL 5 and PHP 5, as well as free domain transfer. If you’re looking to port over your old WordPress account, like we talked about earlier, InMotion also makes it a smooth process, bringing along your old content and name without any additional hassle on your part. All in all, InMotion is a brilliant (and cheap, clocking in at $5.95 a month) option for your WordPress-based site.
Visit www.inmotionhosting.com or read our Inmotion Hosting review.
HostGator
Customer Ratings & Reviews
Another industry veteran, HostGator offers even more features than InMotion, and at a lower price, to boot. Plans with the provider begin at only $3.96 a month, and come loaded with 100% WordPress compatibility, a one-click installation of the latest WordPress software, 99.9% up-time, and a full 45 day money back guarantee. Another feature unique to HostGator is its focus on unlimited features. With the provider, users can enjoy fully unlimited disc space and bandwidth, even at the lowest possible plan. And, of course, signing with the provider also earns you the latest versions of Apache, MySQL and PHP. Best of all, transferring your old WordPress site to the provider is easy-peasy using their ready made transfer service.
Visit www.hostgator.com or read our HostGator review.
WebHostingHub
Customer Ratings & Reviews
Last, though certainly not least, is WebHostingHub. The provider offers unparalleled support for the modern WordPress blogger, besting both HostGator and InMotion in our user review polls. First and foremost, those who choose to sign with the provider gain the full benefits of the latest software, including Apache, MySQL 5, and PHP5. And, of course, all of this technology comes ready loaded with a one-click WordPress installation that requires no additional effort on your part. Add to this about 1,000 unique and custom-made WordPress themes to choose from, as well as simple transfer of old WordPress materials, and you’re looking at a truly impressive offering. However, WebHostingHub is also notable for its unique dedication to hardware optimization. The provider has taken great pains to fully prepare its systems for WordPress, including a full PHP caching overhaul that maximizes available RAM, a reduction in overall I/O requests, and blazing fast base connectivity. All in all, if you’re looking for an incredible, simple, and efficient way to host your new WordPress site, there’s no better option than WebHostingHub.
Visit www.webhostinghub.com or read our WebHostingHub review.
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WordPress Vs. Blogger
Posted by: | CommentsWordPress and Blogger are both popular websites on the Internet that are used by millions of people. These two websites both share something in common; they offer a platform and tools for people to create their very own blog sites. If you are a fan of blogging, not matter what you happen to be blogging about, these two websites would both be ideal for you. However, while both of these websites have a lot in common, they are also different in many ways which leads people to wonder which is better. Some people prefer WordPress and some people prefer Blogger Below is the table with the main features and we will discuss what each website has to offer.
Main Features of Blogger and WordPress
WordPress
WordPress is a free platform that allows users to enjoy all of their blogging needs. WordPress was first introduced in 2003 and has increasingly gained popularity over the years. Aside from gaining popularity, there have also been many updates to WordPress so that it is up to date with what users want to have. The creator ensures that the features of WordPress are user friendly and very helpful with people who use the site for their blog. Some of the many features that WordPress comes with include:
- Various Themes
- 100% Free
- Tons of Accessible Plugins
With various themes, you will be able to change the look and feel of your WordPress website as much as you want. Themes are a necessity because they catch the eyes of the viewers who are visiting your website. Not to mention, you will be able to find an abundance of free themes for your WordPress website. Having access to free themes can come in handy because it is a way to spice up your page and make it unique without having to spend money. While there are free themes available, some advanced themes and special design themes may cost money but it is entirely your choice as to whether or not you want to spend any money on your WordPress theme.
It is also good that using WordPress is free. You do not have to pay to sign up or create a WordPress account. It is nice to be able to start a blog website without having to spend any money in the process. If you want your website on WordPress to be hosted, you may have to pay for web hosting but you will never have to pay to create a WordPress account or to use the website and create your very own blog.
Being able to use different plugins can come in handy for your WordPress website too. There are all tops of plugins that do different things for the website. For example, there is a plugin that, if used properly, will make your website run faster. This is important because people visiting your page will be irritated by slow loading times. Having a fast running website is very important and these plugins can do that for you. There is an extensive list of plugins that are compatible with WordPress. You can easily search for these Plugins online to find out more information about what types of plugins will help your website and its productivity.
Blogger
Blogger, like WordPress, is perfect for all of your blogging needs. Blogger was created more than five years ago and Google bought the website by 2003. As you can tell, the website has been around for quite some time and within the several years of its existence, it has changed for the better, so that the users would enjoy all of the features that come along with using Blogger for their blogging wants and needs. Some of the best features of Blogger include:
- 100% Free
- Simple Navigation System
- Free Space for Pictures
Blogger is completely free which is great for people who do not want to put out any extra money to blog on the website. Because creating a blog on Blogger is free, anyone can use it, without worrying about charges or hidden fees. The web hosting for Blogger is also free which is an additional bonus. The URL of your blog will be the domain name you choose along with blogspot.com.
The simple navigation system on Blogger makes creating a blog simple and easy for just about anyone who uses the site. Having a simple navigation system will allow you to spend less time figuring the site out and more time putting your blog together. The navigation system is easy to follow which will help you avoid the frustration of trying to figure out how to use the website.
Having free space for pictures is also important. You will not have to pay a cent to post up a certain amount of pictures on your blog. Pictures can really spice up your blog by adding a personal look and feel and also making it look more professional. You definitely need pictures on your blog and Blogger allows you to upload these pictures from Picasa for free.
Here are some stats of search volume from Google Trends:
In conclusion, both of these websites are great to use for your blogging needs and it can be hard to pick just one. They are two of the best websites for creating and developing your very own blog. If you are not sure which one of the websites you would like to use, you might want to give them both a try as a temporary solution. Some people prefer Blogger over WordPress because it is completely free, including the web hosting, which you would have to pay for if you were to use WordPress. Some people prefer to use WordPress instead because of the large amount of themes that you will have to choose from.
Ultimately, it depends on your personal preference which will help you make the decision as to which website you want to use for your blogging needs. Both of these websites continue to increase in popularity as millions of Internet users from all over the world flock to these sites to create their very own blogs.
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WordPress Plugins – Making the Most of the Your Site
Posted by: | CommentsWe recommend WebHostingHub as the best web hosting for your blog.
While we talk about the advantages of the different content management systems frequently, their strength is far more determined by how you use them. Each CMS has a world of plugins that programmers all over the world have created. Some of them are powerful enough to negate any problems inherent in your CMS of choice, and add functionality to it that you may have never considered.
This is the first in a series of articles that will go over some of the best plugins we found out there for the most popular contention management systems. We start today with the king of CMS’s, WordPress and WP Plugins. Note that we are going to be focusing on for-pay plugins in this article. Free plugins have their place, and we will cover those eventually as well. This is for the webmaster who is willing to shell out a little cash for the best.
This sleek calendar system gives the webmaster an easy-to-use interface with which they can create professional-looking calendar and event pages. Among the options available are the ability to integrate Google Maps into the event page, and using “Pretty URLs”. The calendar of events can be displayed in a number of attractive, easy-to-read formats.
2) All in One Shortcodes Plugin
Much of what you’ll want to do with your WordPress site might benefit from some simple stylistic addition. You may not want to pick up a book and spend a few hours learning the code necessary, though. This $20 plugin lets you do these easily. Buttons and text boxes of all different sizes and styles, image and text sliders (meaning content that rotates through a limited set every few seconds), embedded video, and social bookmarking are all available. It’s a veritable WordPress Swiss army knife.
3) Custom Widget Areas for WordPress
One of the most useful additions to a standard WordPress account is the ability to make customer sidebar sections, or widgets. This inexpensive package allows you to do just that. The webmaster is presented with an enormous variety of options for what to display where, and how. Widgets can be included in main body text, and all pages down to 404 error code pages can be customized.
4) uPricing – Pricing Table for WordPress
This one is a bit specialized, but the right user will really appreciate having it. This little package lets the user make a business-quality pricing table. Tables are often one of the first things a new HTML editor learns how to make. They soon learn thereafter how much worse a bad-looking table can make your web site appear.
5) Twitter Ultimate-WordPress Plugin
Finally, no article about improving your website would be complete without somehow working modern social networking into it. Of the available packages we looked at for the most popular social hangouts, Twitter Ultimate-WordPress Plugin seemed to provide the best functionality for the least cost ($8 as of this writing). It allows the user all sorts of controls over whose tweets are displayed when, and how often.
There are even more good plugins, and we’ll go into them when we later cover some of the free ones available for WordPress. For now, this should give the WordPress webmaster looking for some very nice enhancements to their site an excellent starting point.
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Say it with me – Joomla!
Posted by: | CommentsContinuing on with our series of reviewing the most popular content management systems out there, this week we shall explore Joomla! (The exclamation point is there’s, not mine.
Joomla!’s origins are a lot more exciting than a lot of software, being born out of a tech divorce worthy of a Maury Povich show. The team that created Joomla bailed from a previous software package called “Mambo” after a very public spat over differences in approach, and whether or not the old team had violated open source principles. See the discussions if you’re really curious: the discussions are too complex to be summarized easily.
After the storm
What’s important is what came out of it, and that is a content management software package that won awards straight out of the starting gate. Like it’s rival Drupal, Joomla!’s open source nature has created around a worldwide community of developers who are loyal to it, and who have authored for Joomla! more than 7,000 extensions.
The package has been downloaded more than 20 million times, though to date this hasn’t resulted in the impressive resume that Drupal has acquired. Still, if it can’t claim whitehouse.gov, it can claim Linux.com: from some geeks’ perspective, that’s arguably better.
The facts of the case
The reason behind this lower profile showing can be considered both its primary advantage and disadvantage: Joomla! is invariably described as being easier to use. This manifests itself in an easier installation, less work on those who just want to setup a simple website or blog, more comprehensive tutorial support (enter “Joomla” into Youtube and you’ll get dozens of hits, including its own channel), and a more extensive administrative backend.
While this may make it more attractive to the new webmaster, however, this makes it less attractive to the expert developer. The user is usually locked into a page or website design that doesn’t allow for much customization: and while a number of plug-ins can fix some of the issues that you’ll encounter, not all of them are free.
Joomla! also has a curious number of technical shortcomings. It is considered bulkier, slower, and more resource hungry than Drupal (though both being open-source, one of them has to be). It is also not SEO-ready (search engine optimization) out of the box: again, you’ll need do add some extensions for this. It also doesn’t come initially with the capability to support more than one login.
A middle ground?
While Joomla! is described as more-user friendly and hence restricted than Drupal, it is alternately described as the opposite in relation to WordPress. Could this be a case of a software package trying to find a middle ground between being easy yet powerful? This could account for its almost schizophrenic set of qualities, that can be seemingly looked at as either half empty or half full.
What does appear to be true regardless of all of this is that Joomla! has become one of the open-source packages to develop something of a fan following. That fan base doesn’t look to be stepping away anytime soon which means that, whatever Joomla!’s current shortcomings, if you go with it and stick with it, you probably won’t have to either.
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Drupal – An Essential Primer
Posted by: | CommentsWhile not quite the most commonly used content management software package in existence, Drupal is certainly one of the most popular. One estimate states that it is used as the backend for 1.5% of all of current websites worldwide. The beginner user who is wondering whether or not to use Drupal could use a quick primer of the essential elements of Drupal.
A brief history of Drupal
Drupal began as a message board, and like many web success stories, rocketed in popularity when in 2001 it went open source. A user community quickly formed around the software package, one which grew past “global village” to start approaching “global small country.”.
The numbers for its support are amazing. Since 2005 there have been multiple “DrupalCons” held each year, with smaller events scattered throughout the world. It displays contents in more than 180 languages, and is used, purporetedly, in over 200. Its rabid fan base has used its open-source freedom to create for it more than 11,000 add-ons. Looked at from any angle, Drupal is rock star. As a side note, it also ranked second in a list of most secure content management software packages.
Sounds fantastic. Is there a catch?
First the good news – Lots of it
Well yes, there is, but custom dictates that we list the advantages first. The main advantage to Drupal is just how many advantages there are. This is an extremely powerful, flexible piece of software that offers just about any option that a webmaster could want out of a content management software package. The standard release contains support for RSS feeds, user account registration, page layout specifications, video, polls, and podcasts just to start.
More importantly is that it has the programming capabilities to handle much more. Drupal lets the webmaster program in a module-like setting that makes it easy for a user to develop a gorgeous web site from the ground up in little time: and again, if the software package itself somehow doesn’t contain what you need out of it, the many thousands of add-ons from the user community almost definitely will.
Now the bad news – Too much of a good thing?
If the avalanche of features above seemed intimidating to you, then you have an idea of what the primary drawback for Drupal is. This is not the most beginner-friendly content management software out there. It is generally considered that if all you want is a simple site that you can use Drupal no problem, but that if you want more than that, you need to commit to a little bit of self-education.
Part and parcel to that problem is that Drupal is generally considered to be among the bigger and slower of these systems. To be fair, there is some debate on this topic: one study showed Drupal to outperform Joomla, one of its main rivals. Nevertheless the impression persists. All things considered, if you are just looking for a very simple web site with little in the way of frills, your likely to get a lot of people tell you that Drupal is not the best place to start.
A positive balance?
Those drawbacks don’t seem to be getting in the way of Drupal’s continued popularity. And since many of the sites that use Drupal are high profile sites, such as Whitehouse.gov, London.gov.uk, Rutgers.edu, Economist.com and MTV.co.uk, the new user has a lot of examples to look it.
One thing is certain: if you ask the Drupal user community, they are sure to tell you to jump right in. That’s a hard endorsement to ignore. Also, most of the web hosting companies support the Drupal CMS.