As the year and in deed the decade rapidly comes to a close I have been reviewing the plugins that I use here. I will be continuing to answer your questions too so feel free to ask them in the comments below.

Yesterday I discussed the plugins to help you protect your blog and today I will discuss improving the on page SEO of your blog and the plugins I use.

The one thing you can do that will help your search engine ranking more than any other thing is to be using custom title tags. The default script in WordPress does not allow for that and so the first thing you need to address is that.

All In SEO Pack will allow you to add custom title tags, descriptions and keywords to each of your posts and is a must have in my opinion.

Maxblog Press Ping Optimizer – This plugin will keep your blog from over pinging. If like me no matter how well you double check your work you always find a mistake when you edit the post it will ping again. This can cause you to be banned by the ping services and this will eliminate the problem.

Google XML Sitemap Generator – This will create, update and ping a sitemap to the various search engines and will make your blog easier for the spiders to index it. Creates a sitemap compliant with all of the major search engines automatically.

Simple Tags – Allows you to tweak the settings of your tags and to add related posts to each of your post to increase the internal interlinking structure of your blog.

WP Tags To Technorati – Will convert your standard tags into links to the tags on Technorati one of the largest blog directories.

Now there are probably at least 3 or more plugins that will do each of these items available but one of the great things about WordPress is the open source nature and the variety of plugins available to tweak your blog. The biggest downfall is that too many plugins can cause conflicts with others.

The key is to find plugins that will do what you want them to without raising havoc with some of the other plugins you are using. These all play nice together on all of the themes that I have tried them on. (Another thing to worry about but that is a topic for another day.)

Leave your questions and comments below in the comments. Those questions help drive the content here so if you ask make sure to stop back as I try to address them all.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps

Technorati Tags: sitemap, tags, technorati, wordpress, wordpress plugins, wordpress seo

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Plugins really enhance what your WordPress blog can do so I will be doing a series of posts on plugins I like and use regularly. It will cover three main topics.

• Protection
• SEO
• Integration

Today we will start with protecting your blog.

The nice part of WordPress is the power of open source but unfortunately that comes with a downside – the scum that like to go mess up things just because they can. Because the source code is readily available these curmudgeons will work quite hard to find any hole that they can to hurt your efforts.

Sometimes it is done to take advantage of you for their benefit and other times it is just because they can. The former I can at least understand the why but the latter befuddle me.

The first thing to protect against is the spam comments. This is especially true if you work hard to get comments and give people a reward for adding to your content with quality comments by using do follow and plugins like Comment Luv.

Plugins alone won’t take care of all of these only moderation is 100% but these two plugins will eliminate all of the automated comments and save you moderation time.

Askimet – This comes as part of the package when you install WordPress and you only need to sign up at WordPress.com for a key to make it work.

WP-Spam Free – This works well and eliminates the vast majority of spam without making it hard for people to comment on your blog.

There are other things to protect yourself again too so lets look at what I use for those things.

Antivirus – This plugin checks for malicious injections and lets you know about them right away. Finding these right away makes it much easier to fix them so I really like this plugin.

WP-Security Scan – This plugin will check your installation and show you any vulnerabilities and continue to scan daily and let you know if anything has changed.

Finally when all else has failed having a good data base backup is a God send. Add in this plugin and use it to regularly download your data base so you always have a current backup.

WordPress Data Base Backup – This will allow you to download your data base easily.

This saves you having to go into your Cpanel and using phpMyAdmin to create data base backups and can be automated to email you the data base. I use a special email account for these but you do need to check the email to make sure that it is actually working.

These plugins will help to protect your blog. Next time I will talk about the plugins to maximize your SEO efforts. Your questions are always welcomed just leave it in the comments below.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps

Technorati Tags: blog protection plugins, data base backup, protect blog, spam plugins, wordpress, wordpress plugins

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Back after taking 3 days off for a rare occasion and I just noticed that there was more new out abut WordPress 2.9. Seems there have been some problems with certain versions of PHP curl extensions.

This has caused some problems with scheduled posts and trackbacks. Personally I have had no problems but it does look like there will be a 2.9.1 very shortly as they are beta testing it right now.

With this news if you have not upgraded yet to WordPress 2.9 then I would recommend waiting until 2.9.1 is released. A few days to only upgrade once seems the best way to deal with it to me.

As I mentioned before Christmas I am really looking for your questions about blogging and WordPress in particular. I am looking to start a series of answers here very shortly. Your input is needed for the topics that matter to you.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps

Technorati Tags: wordpress, wordpress 2.9, WordPress 2.9.1 beta, wordpress-upgrade

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Two days until the big guy stops by bringing presents to all of the good boys and girls. I hope you are ready for it and planning to spend some quality time with your friends and family. I am.

Before I get into total Christmas mode I did want to ask for your questions. I have not had as many questions as usual here and I really enjoy helping people get answers to the things that are stopping them in getting their blog going.

So before you quit for the holidays too, leave your questions in the comments and after I get back into work mode I’ll start adding the answers in here.

Merry Christmas to all and may 2010 be your best year ever.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps

Technorati Tags: blogging, blogging questions, wordpress, wordpress-questions

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Just read a blog post from my good friend Alex Syseof one of the co-owners of Expert WordPress. He posted about a solution to the Simple Tags problem with WordPress 2.9 and you can read it here on his blog – WordPress 2.9 Upgrade And Simple Tags Solution.

If you are comfortable editing a single line in the plugin code you can adjust it to work quite well with WordPress 2.9. It is running here right now.

Thanks to Alex for writing about the solution even though I know that it was probably Dmitriy his partner that found the simple solution to the simple tags problem Sorry Alex could not resist the dig.

Either way it will allow you to update and take advantage of the new features of WordPress 2.9 while waiting for the developer of Simple Tags to update their download in the WordPress system for automatic upgrading.

Thanks again Alex and Dmitriy as I really appreciate the fix as Simple Tags is one plugin I really like to use.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps

Technorati Tags: alex syseof, Expert WordPress, somple tags pligin, wordpress 2.9

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Well as they predicted earlier this week when they put out a release candidate they released WordPress 2.9 by the end of the week.

I had hoped that the author of Simple Tags would get an update out to make it work as they have done on the last 2 major releases. It hasn’t happened yet and as this is not a security update I will not be pushing to upgrade quickly.

If in a week there is no update on Simple Tags then I will be looking for a replacement and once I test it only then will I be upgrading all of my blogs.

Simple tags was the only plugin that I have been recommending that seems not to work with this version and I do expect an update shortly. Then it will be time to take advantage of some of the new features.

I did add in the upgrade video for those that do not use Simple Tags.

Will keep you updated and put out some more information as the plugin compatibility gets resolved.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps

Technorati Tags: plugin, plugin compatibility, upgrade wordpress, wordpress, wordpress 2.9

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Yesterday I talked about the WordPress announcing a release candidate for version 2.9. That caused a couple of questions and mis understandings.

First if the release candidate goes smoothly they will release 2.9 towards the end of the week. As they get it in more hands if they find problems then it will be delayed. So the release candidate is only for people that want to test it in advance of the release.

Second there were a few questions about backing up your blog.

This is something that you should be doing regularly and there are two different things you need to back up.

1. The actual data base
2. The files on the server

Data base backup

The data base is the backup that seems to be the most troubling for people. It does not need to be. If you are comfortable using phpMyAdmin then you just log in and export the data base. I won’t go through the steps because there is an easier way for nay that sweat at the mere mention of phpMyAdmin.

Add the WordPress Data Base Backup plugin to your blog. This will allow you to back up your data base from inside the dashboard of your blog.

You can have it email you a backup on a time table that you set. I do this and set up a special Gmail account that receives these but…

It still needs to be checked regularly to make sure that the backups are being set.

One of the settings is to save it to the server but what is the point if your server crashes? Do not recommend that.

Server Files

You do not need all of the files that run your blog but you will need any that you have edited.

The must haves are

• wp-config.php (so you have access to the data base connection information
• Theme files if you have edited them or changed images etc.
• all of the media files you have uploaded.

If you have those and the latest data base it is easy to get your blog back to what it was if you ever have a critical problem.

I will be adding the backup and upgrade video whenever WordPress does the final release on WordPress 2.9.

Got more questions on WordPress? Leave a comment and let me know so I can address them.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps

Technorati Tags: backup blog, backup theme, data base backup, wordpress, wordpress 2.9

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WordPress announced the first release candidate for version 2.9. You can read the full details here.

If this goes well they will release version 2.9 by the end of the week. (Guess it is time to get the upgrade video ready,,, Again )

Some really neat things coming with it especially for handling images and for updating things in bulk.

If you are a plugin author it is time to do some testing and make sure that your plugin is compliant.

Now like all WordPress releases lets see what problems come to light and whether or not they stay on this schedule.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps

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I have been focusing on blog commenting for the last few posts. It started with 3 ways to get more comments and I wanted to add to that list from my own experiences and from some of the comments that were left.

Doug Champigny wrote

The only one I can think of you didn’t include here Mike is posting the link to Twitter and asking for comments…

For the most part, as mentors we have to make sure that our audience knows the benefits of blog commenting and distinguishes between do-follow blogs, especially those with CommentLuv, and the traditional no-follow blog setups.

It saddens me to see 50 or 100 comments on a no-follow blog and 5-10 on a do-follow; it just shows that 90% of marketers are wasting what could be valuable SEO time.
.-= Doug Champigny´s last blog ..Shut Up, Buck Up, Buckle Down and Get On With It! =-.

Earl Netwal wrote

I think Asking is the biggest and most obvious way, perhaps only exceeded by actually responding to people who do post on the blog, something that I personally don’t take seriously enough.
.-= Earl Netwal´s last blog ..What Are The Advantages in Niche Marketing? =-.

As to ways to get comments, I’ve been told that doing contests can be a good way, as well as asking people to rank their opinions on a specific set of 3 or more options.
.-= Earl Netwal´s last blog ..What Are The Advantages in Niche Marketing? =-.

So lets discuss the three as they are good ways to get more comments.

Like Doug said asking your followers on Twitter to come comment is an excellent way. On another note you should be using Twitter with your blog as it is the perfect way to add even more interaction. If you are not sure how to use Twitter properly for your marketing check out Doug’s Advanced Twitter Marketing. I highly recommend it.

Far and away the one thing that will probably do more for getting comments is actually responding to people that do comment. I am often lax but it is definitely a great way to get people commenting and discussions started.

I have not run contests per se for commenting myself but have seen them used as part of contests on other blogs. A contest can be a great way to improve traffic to your blog and get the word spread. Takes a bit to track it and most of the contests I have seen usually give you points not just for commenting but for tweets, trackbacks, signing up for updates, subscribing to the rss feed, etc.

Another good way, and I have used this on occasion, is to provide the first part of good content and not release the next part until there have been x number of comments.

Robert Plank used this to make his blog very active as he would not post anything else until he had 10 comments and trained his readers that if they expected him to continue to give away good quality information for free they would need to comment for it to continue.

Got any other tips YOU would like to add? Leave your comments below and let me know what are your favorite ways to get more comments on your blog?

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps

Technorati Tags: blog, blog comments, comment luv, twitter, wordpress

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I have been discussing comments for the last few posts and today lets talk about finding blogs to comment on.

Now there are lists and various posts showing you exactly which blogs are do follow and some people swear by those. If all you are looking for is back links maybe that makes sense but not to me.

Worrying about the do follow or whether or not they use Comment Luv may make you better for SEO purposes but I prefer to find blogs that are on my topic.

Those blogs are much more likely to have people clicking through to my blogs and possibly becoming regular readers.

So even though I would prefer to only comment on blogs that do follow and use Comment Luv the topic is more important.

To do this I go to Google News. Put in my topic and add the rss feed to my Google Reader. This way I see all the newest information on my topic. I can use this to find very current posts on topics I am interested in.

As I find blogs that show up regularly and frequently I add their feed to my reader. Just checking my reader a few times a day and I can find all of their newest posts and go comment.

The closer you are to being the first comment the more people that will see your comment. The more that see it the more traffic you are likely to get.

This is also a good way to find information to share with your Twitter followers too and if you add in Friend Feed you can automate your Twitter posting to build an even better relationship with your Twitter followers.

Twitter Time Saver will show you exactly how to automate that into an easy to use system.

About the author

Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy. After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably. Get the details at Profitable Blog Steps

Technorati Tags: blog, blog comments, Google News, Google Reader, rss feed, seo, twitter

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