Maybe a decade ago, good, reliable resources are hard to come by. To the point that bloggers have developed a “we-get-what-we-pay-for” mindset. We think that if we get anything for free, we compromise quality and experience. We think that free WordPress stuff means many things. This can be hidden broken links, minimal to no customer support, no regular updates, bugs, and errors galore!

But, we do have to give generous creators credit. Why? There are so many premium-like WordPress themes available for our use now – as long as you know where to look.

While most of these premium WordPress themes are offered for a fee (at a site like ThemeForest), there are some free premium WordPress themes out there. Most of these themes don’t have hidden or shady advertising. Also, they still promise regular updates to decrease errors or compatibility issues.

Here are some of the best sources for Free Premium WordPress themes on the internet:

WooThemes

WooThemes, a plug-in and commerce platform, offers several great free WordPress themes. They offer a variety of themes for several different purposes, from a simple blog to a photography portfolio.

ThemeFreeSia

Themefreesia is a great WordPress theme library because it has a theme for a blogger’s every need. There are themes for magazine layouts, e-commerce websites, personal blogs, fashion pages, lifestyle blogs, and more. A lot of the free themes are compatible with third-party providers and are up-to-date with the latest technologies. Lots of the free themes are compatible with the Gutenberg block editor. This website also offers free plugins to help bloggers build impressive WordPress sites.

A-Themes

Not only does this website offer free premium WordPress themes, but they also have blog entries. These blog entries feature the best of their collections and even reviews for some.

Nice Page

Nice Page offers hundreds of themes that allow styling for colors, font, and typography. Other than these aesthetic customizations, NicePage also has themes where the layout can be edited. These are good customizability features that bloggers will surely love.

EnvoThemes

Looking for a collection of free, responsive, premium WordPress themes? EnvoThemes have hundreds in its collections. Their themes are compatible with third-party platforms like Elementor, Beaver builder, Brizy, and more.

Great Premium-like WordPress Themes to Try:

Astra

When we say Premium-like WordPress themes, we mean lightweight and fast. The most premium-like feature of this WordPress theme is its high customizability. Any blogger can use this WordPress theme without breaking the bank. A plus is its hassle-free use! Astra is pretty much what a lot of experienced web developers will recommend for any blogger building a code-free website.

OceanWP

One of the best competitors of Astra, OceanWP is also a highly-recommendable premium-like WordPress theme. It is highly customizable, fast, and accessible.

GeneratePress

A promising open-source theme that has all the essentials a blogger needs for their website. What is impressive about the GeneratePress free theme is its high performance that would surely wow your website’s visitors.

Neve

Thinking of a theme that will look great on any display, even mobile? Neve is a good pick. It is a multi-purpose theme that is great for any purpose – blogs, businesses, e-commerce shops, and more.

Moesia

If you are looking for a WordPress theme with parallax effects, Moesia is the best one for you. Parallax features in websites are not easy to create. We should thank our lucky stars that there are so many generous developers out there that are willing to share premium-like themes such as Moesia.

Additional tips to find free premium WordPress themes

No matter where you decide to get a free premium WordPress theme, pay attention to the website designed where it is offered or published. Also, make sure that the free theme you are downloading is not pirated copies or nulls. If you can’t find what you are looking for, it may be worthwhile to pay for a WordPress theme. This will bypass any of the hassles that could come with downloading a free theme instead.

Also read: 10 eLearning WordPress Themes

First published in 2013; updated February 2022

The post The Places to Find Free Premium WordPress Themes appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Like every good blogger, there are days where you just can’t get enough words on the page. However, there are some techniques that can make your blog posts longer with it seeming like a lot more work. Writing about interesting topics, outlining your posts, and including images are all ways that can help make posts longer.

Write About What You’re Passionate

When you are writing about a topic that you are passionate about or interested in, writing a long blog post doesn’t seem like too much work. Because you already have a natural inclination about the subject, you can write about it longer. Seek out freelance writing resources and jobs or blog posts that cover topics you already like.

For the times where you are required to write about topics or within industries that you don’t necessarily like, put a fun spin on it. For instance, writing about car maintenance isn’t exciting for everyone, but if you instead write a post about sports car maintenance if you love Corvettes or Mustangs, or a post about car maintenance before taking a long road trip if you love traveling.

Write Out Headers First

One tactic that I personally use on almost all my blog posts is to write out the headers in my post first. This allows me to set up the flow of my post so it’s much easier to just sit down and flesh out the actual content. Headers allow writers to get their content and post in order, so they don’t have to figure it out as they go along.

Get Sources First

Another thing to outline is a few or all sources for your post. This is another way to help flesh out your blog post before it has even been written. Additionally, reading content about your chosen topic can help you think of ideas for your own blog post. It also provides you with key metrics and statistics that can help back up your thoughts.

Include Images

A simple visual way to make blog posts longer is to include images. All posts should have at least one image (as increases reader interest), but additional images, when properly balanced with text, can enhance the points made in your post. Try creating graphs to illustrate your points or include additional visual examples through screenshots or royalty-free images that can further get your message across while also extending your blog post.

photo credit: Dia via photopin cc

The post How to Write Longer Blog Posts appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Because visuals can make or break a blog post, it is crucial that you choose the right images for each post. The photos’ subject, colors, size, and placement can positively impact your post’s success.

Usage

The most important part of any image is logistical over visual. Only choose images that you have the rights to use. For larger blogs, it may be worthwhile to invest in a stock photo site membership, like Shutterstock or iStockPhoto. If you’d rather go with royalty-free or creative commons photos, be sure you are using the right attribution and that you can use them. For example, some creative commons photos only let you use images for non-commercial use. If you use the image for a business blog, which counts as a commercial property, so you technically can’t use non-commercial creative commons images.

In addition, it is crucial that you don’t use any images that belong to someone else, like those found on a Kickstarter store or other sites like Amazon and even Google images.

Subject

Going to ascetic properties, the subject of your photos are the most important aspect. You want your subject to be directly related to the content, without overshadowing it. For example, a post on getting out of debt shouldn’t necessarily have a photo of a bag of gold coins with a leprechauns sitting on top of it. It would be much more useful to have a graph of debt decreasing or an artful representation of a piggybank with coins going in.

Size

The size of the image needs to fit the format of the blog. For images that are on their own line and center-aligned, they can usually be bigger, like 500 to 600 pixels, depending on the blog layout. For images that run alongside content, make sure the content column isn’t too skinny, making it more difficult to read.

Colors

The colors of your image need to be visually appealing and match the emotions of your blog post. For instance, green and gold usually represent money or success, whereas red represents passion and enthusiasm. Blue is also calming, while black is usually reserved for power and mystery, according to Indiana University.

No matter what you choose for images on your blog post, attempt to visually represent what your content is trying to show. This is the best way to ensure that your blog images have an impact.

photo credit: Thomas Leuthard via photopin cc

The post How You Should Decide Which Images to Use on Your Blog appeared first on The Blog Herald.

It’s hard to decide which paid WordPress plugins to actually invest in, especially since there are so many choices all over the internet. However, after scouring a list of “Best WordPress Plugins” blog posts, I narrowed down the selection a few that were recommended multiple times or had great online reviews.

Fanciest Author Box

For $10, Fanciest Author Box is a great deal that allows you to showcase a post author’s photo, bio, and have separate tabs for each social network, as well as links to their latest posts. It is easy to use and navigate and users can maintain their bio information themselves.

Gravity Forms

While most form plugins can be clunky, full of ads, and ripe with functionality issues, Gravity Forms is a premium forms plugin that has been recommended over and over again. It offers a wide range of form integration and customization to make forms on your site just the way you want them.

Gravity Forms ranges in price from $39 (for a one site license) to $199 for a developer, unlimited license.

SEO Smart Links

SEO Smart Links makes internal linking easier than ever with a variety of features, including automatic cross-linking and linking on keywords, while also being useful for both advanced SEO professionals and beginners.

This plugin has two levels that are $149 and $299.

CommentLuv

I have used CommentLuv’s free version in the past, but this paid version of their plugin combines the value of 8 plugins into one, including ReplyMe, which allows you to reply to comments left by users via email, as well as a built-in spambot plugin to prevent useless comments. The connected nature of CommentLuv can also help increase the visibility and engagement of your posts.

A single site license is $67, a multi-site is $87, and the unlimited license is $97.

SEOPressor

According to its website, “SEOPressor is a premium WordPress SEO content optimization tool that helps you do efficient ultra targeted content marketing. It’s like an SEO consultant sitting beside you and hand-holding you all the way.” The plugin’s main attribute is that it offers the user 3 optimized keywords for each piece of content.

SEOPressor, now on its 5^th version, offers a 14 day trial and promises to double your website traffic in 30 days. A lofty claim, but this plugin gets great feedback regularly. It offers three tiers of pricing, from $47 for a single user license to $497 for a multi-license lifetime version.

photo credit: thatcanadiangirl via photopin cc

The post 5 Great Premium WordPress Plugins appeared first on The Blog Herald.

We have covered places to find free and legal images in the past, but with a new year comes even more reliable sources for finding free image sources for your blog. As with any creative work, even though it may be free to use, be sure to use correct attribution and make sure that you are crediting the author in all ways necessary. Not doing so may lead to legal issues, as some images are free as long as bloggers follow the proper guidelines.

Take Your Own Photos

This is the easiest and safest way to have images for your blog. If you are blogging about a place, thing, or person, what better option than to take your own photos (when you have permission)? Many people enjoy seeing the photos of the author who wrote the piece they are reading, as it personalizes the content for them and makes them feel more involved in the story.

If you are regularly struggling to find images or pay for stock images, why not take that time and money and instead invest in a nice camera? You don’t have to have a DSLR; I’ve found that subcompact (also called superzoom) cameras do just the trick for hobby, intermediate, or even professional bloggers. I recently purchased a Nikon Coolpix L820 and have loved it so far. I even snagged a refurbished model for $160, $40 off the new price on Amazon (as of 1/14/2014).

Free Trials

Many of the well-known stock photography sites offer free trials or introductory rates for new members. For specific images that are perfect for your blog posts, this is worthwhile. You may end up liking the service so much, you end up sticking with it. Either way, it’s great to know what is out there.

PhotoPin

PhotoPin is a free creative commons photo search engine that searches mainly Flickr. Once you choose to download an image, it gives you a choice in sizes and also correct image attribution in HTML. It is a perfect solution for bloggers wanting to save time but still ensure they are attributing the images correctly. This is the main photo search engine that I use and almost always can find the perfect image for my own use. The only drawback is that there aren’t any illustrations or artwork, just photos.

Wikimedia Commons

Did you know that all of the images on Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia’s image search site have creative commons rights? Be sure you follow attribution guidelines, but this site is a wealth of photos of history, brands, and well-known people. It’s also easy to navigate and simple to search.

Stock.xchng

Stock.xchng is a free stock photo community. Each user can outline their own attribution guidelines, and some require permission from the user before inserting the image into a blog post. However, it can be a great resource for clip art, photos, and illustrations.

The post 5 More Free Image Sources For Your Blog appeared first on The Blog Herald.

However, spam comments have reached a critical mass, often taking up the majority of the time of bloggers who just want to be able to filter out the great, original comments from the fake ones.

Besides installing a plugin to fight spam, there are a few other things you can be on the lookout for that will help you determine whether or not a comment is spam or is genuine.

Name

First, look at the name of the commenter, as they filled it in. If the name is something like, “Shoe Warehouse” or “Clothing For Less”, then you are dealing with a spammer or at least someone who is trying to game your blog in order to get a link out of the comments. The name field is a usually a dead giveaway that the actual comment will be too generic or not even applicable to the blog post itself.

Website

Next, look at the website field. When moderating comments in WordPress, you can hover over the entered URL and a preview of the website should pop up. This is an easy way to see the website in question. However, oftentimes just from the URL itself (without viewing the website) you are able to tell whether or not a comment is spam. If a website is something like www.buy-shoes-gucci.com or free-cigarettes-22.com it is highly likely that it is spam.

In WordPress, you can remove the URL that was entered by the commenter, which is a good compromise if the name and comment itself seems genuine but the link is a little off-putting or is trying to sell something to potential readers. This can be done via the Quick Edit feature or by going into the Edit screen of the comment.

Comment

Finally, the comment itself is one of the biggest dead giveaways that a comment is spam or not. Usually spammers try to do one of two things- they either enter a comment that is so generic it could fit almost any blog post, e.g. “What a great post. Thank you for writing it” or they throw all sense of trying to seem real out the window and post a comment that solely promotes their products, e.g. “Buy Steve Madden shoes now at 90% off www.stevesshoes99.com.”

No matter what component in a comment that sets you off, it’s also important to simply use common sense to determine whether or not it is spam. Usually a quick glance will let you know right away that it needs to be deleted.

photo credit: bark via photopin cc

The post How to Moderate Blog Comments appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Whether you are a blogger for your own blog or for others’ (or both!) finding the best freelance blogging jobs can sometimes be a difficult one. There are so many websites out there claiming to offer legitmate writing jobs, but there aren’t many out there that are actual, legitimate leads.

VirtualVocations

VirtualVocations is a paid monthly service, but because the job openings are checked by real people, you are saving the time it takes to sift though fake and genuine positions when determine which to apply to. The search is a little wonky, but once you get the hang of it, you can sort by freelance, telecommute, or location. You can also save jobs to keep track of what you applied to or what you want to apply to at a later date.

ProBlogger’s Job Board

Companies that are hiring on the ProBlogger job boards pay a fee to place their open position there, so the majority are high quality leads. However, this is a fairly popular free blogging job board, so expect some tough competition and be sure to apply for jobs as soon as possible. Following all instructions (such as subject lines or what samples to include) are crucial here as well.

FlexJobs

This is another paid service, usually averaging about $10 per month (depending on how many months you pay in advance or what promo codes you can get), where the positions are found and posted by the FlexJobs staff. This interface allows you to take knowledge tests to prove your know-how to companies and also allows you to keep track of jobs you have applied for.

Craigslist

Craigslist IS full of spammy or low-paying jobs, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t leads to be found. Try searching for telecommuting gigs using top keywords like blogging or writer in top markets, like New York and Austin. Be sure to read the post in its entirety, check out the company, and don’t fall for claims like “earn $20,000 per month!”

Google

If you know how to search, Google can also be a good resource. Try to find company websites that have open positions by searching things like “marketing agency hiring writers” or “blogger needed.” Experiment and see if you have any luck. If you are looking for a work from home position, be sure to words like telecommute and work from home.

In addition, Splashpress, the company that owns Blog Herald, also owns Freelance Writing Jobs, a site where you can find tips for freelance writers as well as open freelance positions you can apply to.

No matter where you find blogging jobs, be sure to make sure the company’s website and social media presence is legitimate before applying. Also, don’t get sucked in by promises of affiliate earnings.

photo credit: mezone via photopin cc

The post Where to Find Freelance Blogging Jobs appeared first on The Blog Herald.

If you have any inclination about SEO when you’re a blogger (which you should, as SEO can help increase your blog’s traffic and engagement), then you know that being sure you use the right main keywords when you are writing blog posts can help people find your content when they are searching for it via search engines.

You should only choose one or two keyword phrases (and make them related, not just reworded versions of eachother) and only use them naturally. For instance, if I was writing a post on YouTube Optimization, I would word my title so it would contain a phrase someone might search for to find the type of information that I will be writing about: “8 Great YouTube Optimization Tips,” where ‘YouTube Optimization’ would be the keyword I am optimizing for.
If you aren’t sure how or where to find keywords for blogging, these resources may help.

UberSuggest

This free tool helps you find longtail keywords (which are phrases that are more than two words) based on a list of keywords you input. It’s mainly random, but the provides a long list of related words. It’s a great brainstorming tool, since it’s not based much on actual research or data.

Analytics

If you don’t have Google Analytics set up on your site, get it done ASAP! It’s free and fairly easy, and if you have a platform like WordPress, there are free plugins you can use that help you install the code. Even though Google Analytics removed much of the data it gave users in 2013 (and replaced keywords with (not provided) in data reports), you can still use analytics to see some keywords, as well as the top visited posts on your website. If your guides to building furniture are always a hit, use that as a catalyst to create keywords for future topics.

Google and Bing Webmaster Tools

You can still find tons of keyword data on Google and Bing Webmaster tools. The setup process is just as easy as Analytics and every blog should be verified on both platforms. Webmaster Tools gives you reports on how people got to your site, who is linking to your site, and some search data. It’s a good place to use in tandem with other tools in your arsenal.

Paid Tools

All of the above tools are free, but many paid tools like those by Moz and SEMrush can offer valuable data on not only your own website, but your competitors’. While I don’t advocate copying everything that your competitors do (ingenuity is what makes websites and businesses successful), it’s interesting to see similar keywords and the strategies they are using.

All these tools not only provide data, but can also serve as a brainstorming session for figuring out the perfect keyword(s) for each of your blog posts.

photo credit: minifig via photopin cc

The post How to Find Keywords For Blogging appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Even though you can still only post images via an app on a mobile device, Instagram has become a huge social media platform that brands and bloggers should be utilizing. Many ways to do this include interacting via the community through Instagram photo challenges, contests, custom hashtags, and artistic photos that showcase the blog or company’s values and products.

After you sign up for an account (if you don’t have one already), here are some of the reasons why you should be embedding more Instagram posts on your blog:

More Visibility

Embedding Instagram posts instead of manually posting the same photo instantly means more visibility for your Instagram profile. The interactive widget allows users to view the photo on Instagram, as well as the user’s profile. This can mean more followers and more interaction with your profile via likes and comments.

Makes Photos Easier

Photos are easier than ever to put into your blog posts with the Instagram embed feature. All it takes is copy and pasting either the Instagram post URL (if your content management system for your blog allows simple insertion, like WordPress) or the embed code, which can be found next to the comment field on the post:

Illustrates a Point

Instead of having to worry about copyright issues when using photos from other users’ Instagram accounts, embedding the photo right into your blog post makes it easy to share photos from other people without having to download and re-upload them. It also gives that user visibility as well, which is almost always a good thing (unless you are using their photo as an example of something negative).

For posts that are about social media, branding, marketing, or cool stuff other users are doing, embedding posts is a great way to illustrate your points, without having to save and edit a bunch of images.

Whether you are trying to increase the visibility of your own Instagram profile, you want to make photos easier to place in your blog posts, or you want to share someone else’s photos, Instagram embeds can be beneficial for everyone!

The post Are You Using Instagram Embed Enough on Your Blog? appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Maintaining a well-oiled blog can be a difficult process that can be hard to do when you are out of town for a conference, vacation, or other engagement. However, with a little bit of planning, it can be easy to make sure your blog stays updated while you aren’t at home.

Have the Right Resources

In order to be a good blogger while you are away, you also need to be a good one while you are at home. Be sure to take advantage of a free writer’s resource area website that offers tips on effective blogging that gets your point across while also being time efficient. These tips are helpful no matter where you are blogging from.

Use a Freelancer

If you’re going to be away for a long period of time, it may be helpful to use a freelancer to fill in the content gaps when you aren’t able to. Hire a capable freelancer from a site like oDesk or FlexJobs that has a background that is related to your blog’s main topics. It’s best to hire someone before you leave so you have time to learn their writing style and they will be able to learn the type of content and formatting you like.

Schedule Ahead of Time

If you can fit it into your schedule, start stockpiling blog posts that can be scheduled out while you are away from your office. These can be evergreen topics which are timeless and contain useful information that anyone can use, even in the future. Some ideas might be best practices, trends in the last year, or tutorials that will still be timely in the time you are gone.

Write About Your Travels

Another option is to write about your travels and what you are doing out of the office, if it’s possible. For instance, if you are going to a conference or event that is related to your blog, it would be great to do a round-up post with what you have learned, photos, and key takeaways that you will be able to put into practice with your blog or work once you get back to your home base.

No matter which option you decide to take (which could be a combination of all of the above, depending on what time allows and the amount of content you need for your site), making sure your blog stays active while you are away can help keep your traffic engaged and showcases your dedication.

photo credit: szeke via photopin cc

The post How Do You Handle Blogging While Out of Town? appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Media

The White House blog has a lot of great written content, but it also ties that in with a variety of media mediums that help illustrate its point. This includes embedding YouTube videos and SoundClouds (like the one below that they did of one of President Obama’s speeches), as well as including a lot of photos.

Screenshot taken 12/12/2013

Using a variety of different media inputs (including tweets, Facebook posts, and Instagram photos, which can all now be embedded into blog posts and web pages) not only helps break up your written content, but can also help better illustrate your points, since people all take in information differently.

Multiple Reputable Authors

There are regular bloggers on the White House blog, but also several well-known politicians and thought leaders who contribute great content (including Secretary of State John Kerry). Your blog should also aim to get other highly regarded bloggers in your industry to contribute guest posts to your blog. Not only does this provide a different mix of content, those bloggers will also promote it on their end.

Simple Layout

The White House blog is black text on a white background. It doesn’t get easier to read that that color combination. You should focus on having a simple layout as well. This doesn’t mean white backgrounds with black text; but rather, focus on making the site easy to read and simple to navigate. Readers will be better able to get around your blog and read its content.

Social Media

The White House media team is doing a great job at social media, which is tied in with their overall online presence (which includes blogging). Their Tumblr is updated regularly and features a better look into what goes on around the White House and with President Obama on a daily basis. Consider using Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+, and LinkedIn several times per week to help increase your overall exposure. Be sure to interlink all your profiles when applicable and include links on your blog as well.

No matter what strategies you take from the White House blog, be sure to focus on what is most beneficial to your readers and you’re sure to slowly increase your online traffic and readership.

The post 4 Things the White House Blog is Doing Right appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Having an active and engaged blog community is at the top of every blogger’s wish list. While the goal is clearly outlined, the way to get there sometimes isn’t. Although not guaranteed, there are some ways that you can get more comments onto your blog.

Paid Traffic

Sometimes getting a high level of engagement does take a financial commitment. In this case, having paid campaigns to get more traffic to your website will certainly increase your chances of more engagement, especially when they come from social media. Do some research on paid social media campaigns on Facebook and Twitter and also through the major search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo!. Facebook and Google also occasionally send out coupons to new account users, so be sure to research that before signing up for a new account.

Answering Existing Comments

Are you already engaging enough with your existing user base? Readers like to see that bloggers are engaged with their active audience before chiming in themselves. Be sure to answer all comments, even if it is just to thank them for reading your blog. This goes a long way and usually only takes a few moments.

Ghost Commenters

While it might be a controversial tactic, having some “ghost” commenters on your blog might increase the number of comments from actual readers. It is pretty easy to get caught, especially if your comments are too general (e.g. “Great post!”) or they are being posted from the same IP address. So, ask friends and family to comment when they read your posts or occasionally use a library or friend’s computer to write comments. Test this strategy with a few of your most popular posts (based on traffic analytics) and see if it can drum up more actual comments.

Charged Topics

People like to give their opinion on topics that are controversial or ask the tough questions. While you shouldn’t publish things that are purposefully making people mad, consider writing about hot topics within your target niche and see if that can get more of a conversation going.

Ask Questions

Many popular bloggers ask a question to the readers at the end of their posts. This could be related to the topic of the post, or be something random that relates to the blogger’s personal life or current events. Many people take the time to answer questions on blog posts because it feels like the writer was asking them directly.

photo credit: kevin dooley via photopin cc

The post How to Increase Blog Comments appeared first on The Blog Herald.

It’s a pretty common fact that many writers and bloggers listen to music while they are imposing their latest and greatest novels, short story, or blog post (it also helps conquer writer’s block). A 1993 study in literary journal nature stated that when the participants listened to a Mozart sonata, they scored higher on standardized tests of reasoning ability then participants to sat in silence. This allowed experts to reason that listening to music while completing a task that takes up abstract for spatial reasoning can positively influence work production.

Even though Psychology Today states that these results made of being completely conclusive, the daily habits of writers around the world (as well as other creative people, like artists and designers) swear that music helps them create their best work.

Music serves as ambient noise for many writers as they are working. A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research in December 2012 states, “Results from five experiments demonstrate that a moderate (70 dB) versus low (50 dB) level of ambient noise enhances performance on creative tasks and increases the buying likelihood of innovative products.”

The best music to write by

The best music to write blog posts by most likely depends on each individual blogger. However, many writers have recommended classical music, as its lack of lyrics can help relax the mind and open it up to a higher level of thinking.

The type of music to listen to also depends on the listener’s mood. If someone needs to get more motivated, then listening to music with a faster tempo can help. Conversely, if somebody is feeling anxious or stress, listening to slower alternative musicians like Alabama Shakes can be a great way to feel creative while also calming the nerves.

Other ambient noise alternatives

if listening to music isn’t your first choice, there are other ambient noise alternatives that can still get you the creative benefits mentioned in the December 2012 study. Simply Noise has a free white noise generator that can help you concentrate and also came out with Simply Rain, a looping rainstorm which makes great ambient noise.

Additionally, free app and website Coffitivity offers free coffee shop background noise and offers three choices: morning murmur, lunchtime lounge, and university undertones.

Of course, if you prefer real life ambient noise, try writing blog posts at your local library or coffee shop. Both usually offer free Wi-Fi and are worth the costs of a drink or snack (if you go the coffee shop route).

photo credit: pasotraspaso via photopin cc

The post How Listening to Music Can Make You a Better Blogger appeared first on The Blog Herald.

A paid search advertising campaign, sometimes called PPC (short for pay-per-click, which is the term that means an advertiser only pays on a per click basis, when a person clicks on their ad), are used by webmasters and marketers to push traffic to their websites and e-commerce sites. For many, the traffic they receive translates into massive amounts of sales or traffic, which not only brings more sales, but can allow the website to grow their online influence.

When it comes to blogging, more traffic from PPC campaigns have a lot of benefits, including:

• Charge higher rates to website advertisers
• Grow number of returning readers/users
• Drive sign-ups for newsletters or giveaways
• Promote important posts that highlight a new company service or event
• Grow engagement through more social shares and comments, as more traffic usually equals more audience engagement.

For the majority of blogs, PPC ads aren’t used to drive product sales. Because of this, it can be hard to justify the cost. While Google AdWords occasionally sends out credits and coupon codes for beginning PPC advertisers, starting a blog PPC campaign requires know-how, patience, and initial cost.

Getting Started

If you don’t know how to build, launch, and maintain a PPC campaign, it is worthwhile to either pay someone to do it for you or to learn the entire process yourself. Google offers an AdWords certification program, as does Bing. In Google’s case, even though there is a cost to become certified, you can view the majority of the course materials for free. This can help you begin to craft a PPC campaign.

Available Platforms

It’s important to note that even though search engines are the main place for PPC campaigns, Twitter and Facebook also offer advertising (and Pinterest is also beginning to roll it out). This is a good solution if you want to target a specific demographic, based on their interests or profile details, like age or location. Facebook occasionally also offers promo codes for new advertisers as well.

Charting Results

In order to make sure any PPC campaign is worth its cost, be sure to track its traffic. Use UTM tags to verify when traffic is coming from PPC ads in Google Analytics and make sure it can be tracked all the way to a company’s other external pages that are outside of the blog, such as products or contact us. When you have analytical proof of your results, your PPC campaigns are much more likely to become invaluable.

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For bloggers and writers that put their heart and soul into the content they create, it can be soul crushing to find out that your content has been stolen and published somewhere else. However, there are steps you can take to prevent and monitor content theft online.

Site Disclaimers

be sure to list a disclaimer on your site that any content, media, or images on your site is property of you alone and websites for individuals wanting to cite your content needs to either ask for permission or link back to the specific page they are referencing, whichever you prefer. In your disclaimer, it might be helpful to reference the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which protects original content online.

Content Theft Prevention Plugins

If your site runs on a platform like WordPress, there are a plethora of plug-ins available that can help fight hotlinking and copy and pasting of content. While some people to copy your content for good reason (one example being copying the title to share it on twitter), if you have had problems with stolen content in the past this may be worthwhile.

CopyScape

CopyScape is a plagiarism checker service, where you can paste in your content and it was scanned the Internet for other copies of it. Each search currently costs about five cents. CopyScape also offers CopySentry, which is a paid monthly service that continuously monitors pages on your site for plagiarized copies found elsewhere online.

Google Tools

An easy and free way to check for your content is to search for the title or key sentences within quotation marks on Google or another top search engine. Putting the phrase within quotation marks ensures that Google search for that exact phrase, instead of a combination of the words.

Additionally, you can search for your images video reverse image lookup within Google Images. You can upload the photo file or direct Google to its hosted URL.

Finally, you can also use Google alerts to set alerts for your name, company name, or trademarked phrases and Google will send you an email each time the index the page that contain that keyword or phrase. You can use Boolean search terms here as well, such as the quotation mark search referenced in the above paragraph.

Pings

If you’re on a content management system platform like WordPress, you can select to be notified whenever someone pings your post on your site. This means that they haven’t linked to that specific post, allowing you to check it to make sure that it hasn’t been completely plagiarized or twisted.

No matter what you decide are the best tactics for protecting your content online, the fact remains that there are many content thieves out there and it’s important to be cognizant of the potential risks.
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Bloggers should know basic SEO techniques and keep up with the latest search engine trends and news in order to be successful with their blog posts.

Best SEO Practices Increase Traffic

Knowing what search engines are looking for can help you maintain best practices, which should increase your chances of regular search engine ranking and indexing. For instance, did you know that Google recently released a new feature called In-Depth articles, which they give special preference to articles that are  1500 words or more? In addition, Google is also looking out for duplicate content, which is content that is appeared on a different website or the same website before, as well as relevancy of content (which is part of its freshness factor). All of these attributes contribute toward greater traffic to your blog.

Drive More Engagement

making your blog better optimized for search engines also means optimizing it in the best possible way for your audience. Both search engines and readers appreciate fresh, new content that is well sourced and easy-to-read. Focusing on these types of blog posts can help increase search traffic and overall engagement on your post, which means more social shares and comments.

Know What Isn’t Working

along with knowing search engine optimization best practices, you should also know what the worst practices are. In the SEO community, there are two types of marketers: white hat and black hat. White hat SEO marketers focused on high-quality tactics that are geared towards what Google and other search engines want to see, like high-quality content. Conversely, black hat SEO are tactics that marketers have developed to “game” the search engines, like keyword stuffing, buying links and traffic, and hiding code for keywords throughout your website. Google is now cracking down on many bad SEO tactics (and even forbidding some shady websites from appearing in their search results), so it’s important to know what practices are bad seed can avoid them.

Where to Find Help

In no particular order, here are some great resources for bloggers that want to learn more about Internet marketing and search engine optimization:

• Search Engine Land
• Search Engine Journal
• Business2Community
• Moz
• Search Engine Watch

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Greater Freedom of Speech

If you are blogging anonymously, then you know that what you write on your blog won’t be traced back to you. This can be helpful when you are blogging about your job, family, or other confidential information. While it’s not advisable to write about confidential or private information (especially when it comes to your job or family), being able to share your feelings and thoughts in a private forum can help you be more open with what you want to say.

Protection From Predators

Many bloggers may choose to keep their entire identity a secret, whereas others may choose to keep their significant others, children, or family private. This is to protect their privacy and to prevent identity theft or break-ins. For instance, if someone blogs about going on vacation, a thief could find their address based on their name, and break into their house while they are home.

Building Mystery

Depending on your blog’s topic, being anonymous may increase readers’ interest and provide intrigue to what you are publishing online. In some cases, anonymous content helps your audience “see” themselves in your words. This makes them be able to apply their own experiences to your ideas and descriptions, which can turn them into loyal readers.

Looser Credibility

If you choose to blog anonymously, depending on the topic, it may loosen your credibility with your readers. Many readers may think that if you don’t put your face to your words, then you don’t stand by them. In addition, any great ideas you may have aren’t claimed by your identity, which may increase the likelihood they could get stolen.

Less Opportunities

If you are looking for sponsorships, networking opportunities, or other instances where you interact with other bloggers or companies, being anonymous make not be desirable. Other people and companies like knowing the identity of the person they are working with, which goes back to preserving your credibility.

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Blogging is something most people start for fun or to share what they know with others. However, blogging is somewhat of an art, that takes constant variation in care in order to make it successful. One of these variations is the length and type of your blog content.

Your blog posts should go beyond daily posted 300 words; by incorporating infographics, audio and video, and longer, more in-depth posts you will make your blog more entertaining to read. This can increase time spent on your blog and reader retention rate.

Infographics

Infographics are a way to visually present information. They do really well from a viral, social sharing standpoint and easy way to display information in a visual format instead of text on a page. Many blogs use the designer to create custom infographics, but you can also get infographics (as long as you provide attribution, which is a link back to the original post) to use on Pinterest or Visual.ly. You can also create infographics yourself using editors like Piktochart and Infogr.am.

Audio

Creating a podcast on a site like BlogTalkRadio or offering versions of your most popular blog posts in audio format using a service like SoundGecko is a great way to broaden your appeal. Many users prefer to receive information through audio rather than having to read it. This makes it easier to learn information while in the car, working, or even exercising.

Videos

Tablets, computers, and smartphones have WebCam or HD video recording available, which makes it easy to create simple YouTube or Vimeo videos. Besides being present on one of these popular video networks, you can also embed the videos into a blog post and give a brief text summary as an introduction or conclusion to the video.

In-Depth Articles

Google has started displaying in-depth articles in its search results as a new section. It considers in-depth content to be 2000 words or longer. Creating long content of more than 1000 words not only gives you more terms to possibly rank for, but it also sets you up as more of an expert in your field because of the longer content. Interviewing experts or polling real data that you can source in your content will also help make in-depth articles much more helpful.

Slidedeck

Slidedeck is a social network that allows users to upload infographics for PowerPoint presentations. These presentations can be embedded into a blog post, much like online videos.

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For many bloggers, earning money blogging about what they love seems like both the ultimate goal and a pipe dream. However, it is possible to earn perks or a small income from occasionally writing sponsored reviews about products and services on your blog.

But before jumping in and accepting any sponsored review offer that may come along, read the sponsored posts of other well-known bloggers in your industry to see the type of language that gets the most natural engagement from your readers. Next, follow these guidelines to make sure any sponsored review posts you write are high quality and still bring in views from your loyal readers.

Have Your Own Opinion

Never accept a sponsored review post request from a company that requires you to write about their company in a positive light. Of course, you may be more likely to write a positive review of a product or service when their company is paying you, but you should always be honest above nothing else. In a recent blog post of mine that reviewed Designer Whey, I highlighted what I did like, as well as what I didn’t. Companies that you want to work with understand that not everyone will love everything they do.

Know What to Get In Return

Have an agreement in writing (or proof through at least email) before writing the post that outlines what you are getting in return. If the company has promised to compensate you for the post, be sure that that expectation is outlined in a legally-bound way. Additionally, you should do some research to know how much to charge fairly for sponsored content.

Disclose Everything

The FTC requires that bloggers disclose what they are receiving any type of compensation for what they write. Learn more about those guidelines here. Additionally, any income from a single company over $600 will require a 1099 form in the US.

Take the Time to Create Relationships

Companies you want to work with should be the beginning of a great relationship. If you are getting good readership numbers and have a list of a few brands you admire, reach out to them about a review or giveaway post. Many brands are receptive to fans who want to tell others about their product.

Don’t Do It Too Often

A final word of wisdom– don’t let your blog become the Kingdom of Sponsored Content. Do sponsored review posts sparingly, or else you run the risk of exhausting your audience. No one wants to read paid posts on a daily basis.
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Because WordPress is the most popular CMS platforms on the Internet today, many hackers have consolidated their efforts toward only hacking or spamming WordPress websites. As a result, millions of WordPress blogs and websites are hacked each day, leading to lost work, irreparable damage to search engine ranks, and putting visitors and users in danger of having their own information hacked as well.

Below are five plug-ins that can be used to increase WordPress security for your blog. If you also want to check out anti-spam plugin, check out the post: Top 5 WordPress Plugins to Kill Spam

Sucuri

Sucuri is a paid service (and accompanying plugin) that works by installing a web application firewall which will protect your site from unauthorized access attempts and attacks. The system works with other data, allowing bad IP addresses to get blocked for all Sucuri users, even though only one client may have gotten attacked. This keeps the blocks IP list up to date. Sucuri also use is integrity monitoring, audit logs, and activity reporting. Pricing starts at $89.99 per year for one website and scales in price to cover additional websites as needed.

Limit Login Attempts

This free plug-in will allow you to limit the number of login attempts via the normal login or cookies. The plug-in can notify you by email of suspected malicious attempts and also allows the option for logging.

AntiVirus

Many hackers and spammers work from a different side instead of attempting to log into your site maliciously. Many spammers offer free WordPress themes, which come loaded with malware or spam. This plug-in is also free and scans your theme templates for malware and inserts of spam. Once detected, it sends an alert in the admin bar and can send you an email notification after each daily scan. Besides themes, it also scans database tables.

BBQ: Block Bad Queries

Another spammer action is to send malicious URL requests to your website in an attempt to hack it. The BBQ plug-in is free and easy to use. It is based on the 5G/60 blacklists and blocks a wide range of malicious request. It also scans all incoming traffic to catch all requests.

WordFence

This all-in-one security plugin was created after its developer was hacked in 2011. The free version features scan and repair capabilities for payment plug-in files and can also scan for malware and several well-known backdoors into WordPress website. It also includes the complete firewall, enable strong passwords, and track IP’s to their source. The premium version is $39 per month and includes all the free features, as well as others like cell phone signing, remote scans, and scheduled scans.

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We all know SEO is important, especially for blogs because they get new content regularly. However, if you haven’t educated yourself enough on SEO, then simple mistakes may have a will long-lasting impact on your blog, even though you may have great content.

Even though you may consider yourself in the writing industry, if your content is being published online, then you also need to become an SEO expert. Otherwise, you risk undermining your content and not getting the exposure that you deserve.

Rambling Meta Tags

Meta tags that are too long are one of the most common problems that I see during my website Internet marketing audits that are completed for clients. If your meta tags are too long, then they will get cut off in Google (and other search engines ), leading to incomplete information for both the search engines and your potential readers. Title meta tags must be under 65 characters (including spaces) and description meta tags must be under 160 characters. Most SEO experts (like Moz) agree that 155 characters is a good maximum to shoot for.

When redoing meta tags, be sure to include more top keywords and a good description of what that specific page is about. In addition, for WordPress blogs, you can use a SEO plugin that will automatically optimize these meta tags (as well as complete basic SEO) for you.

Basic SEO Isn’t Implemented

When you are setting up a blog or website, you must complete basic SEOs that will help ensure that your blog can be found in the search engines. These steps include:

1. Creating a sitemap .xml file
2. Verifying your domain with Bing and Google, and submitting your XML sitemap file through Webmaster Tools
3. Setting up analytics (like Google Analytics) to track what posts are popular for how users found your site.
4. Set basic WordPress or CMS settings to include keyword rich URLs

Other steps may be needed, depending on which CMS your website is built on.

Keyword Research Isn’t Done

This is one of the ongoing efforts of SEO that is really crucial towards making sure that your content gets exposure and is indexed by search engines. You must do regular research based on your own keyword data from Webmaster Tools or for using other sites like UberSuggest in order to come up with high quality keywords that users are searching for.

SEO goes beyond a technical profession that is reserved for those who know how to write CSS or other programming codes. In order to be a good blogger, you must also be a budding SEO expert.

The post Is Bad SEO Undermining Your Great Content? appeared first on The Blog Herald.

Because blogging has become more mainstream, it’s not enough anymore for businesses to simply have a blog, publish some posts, and call it a day. Blogging has become its own unique cog in the overall branding and marketing machine, forcing companies and blog owners to additionally market their blog if they want to make it successful.

Marketing your blog and promoting the great content that you are focused on writing can help not only generate more blog traffic, but also get more referrals clicks to other pages of your website, especially if you are regularly linking to them within your blog posts (where appropriate).

Social Media

Most bloggers already know about social media, but there are a shockingly large number that think adding a social sharing widget to their blog post is enough to make a splash on social media. The fact remains that your blog posts should regularly be shared with your social media channels, as soon as they are available.

If you are promoting your own blog posts, you shouldn’t expect your readers to do it for you. In addition to getting more visibility, social media can also help drive conversation and engagement about the topics that are covered in your blog content.

Syndication

 In addition to social media marketing, we should also look for available three posters syndication opportunities that will help get your blog posts more views, which leads to more traffic to your website overall. Search for “blog syndication” + “industry keyword” Opportunities to get your content notice. Be sure that all syndication links back to your original post or website.

You should also consider using a site like Repost.us, which makes it easy to syndicate content from any blog, automatically (they also offer a WordPress plug-in that allows users to automatically copy of posts to share it on their own blog).

Integration 

Another part of getting your blog noticed his integration with your other marketing efforts, as well as any communication that goes out to clients and colleagues. For instance all employees signature should have a link to the company’s website and blog, and any email blasts are also an opportunity to include a link to the blog or to the last few recent posts.

Other places on your website are also opportunities for marketing your blog. Add a recent blog posts widget or plug-in to the sidebar on other internal pages of your website to get more views. Also be sure to link to blog posts whenever possible (and relevant).

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Free Versions

Both Blogger and WordPress offer free and paid versions of their platform. The free versions have advertisements and other limitations, such as no FTP upload capability and the inability to upload themes and layouts. the FTC disclosure regulations, along with WordPress’ own Terms of Service, also prevent free WordPress.com bloggers to post any content that they are receiving any type of compensation for. The free versions of Blogger and WordPress have similar functionality, but there are more free WordPress themes available in their online gallery. WordPress also gives users more storage than Blogger (1gb versus 3gb), according to this chart by WebHostingGeeks.com:

Functionality

When looking at the paid versions of both Blogger and WordPress, WordPress has a lot more functionality. It allows you to install plugins (which include everything from social media sharing tools to online community builders), many of which are free. These plugins, along with the vast amount of free and premium WordPress themes available, give WordPress developers a lot more flexibility when it comes to building any type of website or blog.

Because WordPress has a wide collection of themes, many websites are being created, with a focus on the “blog” portion being non-existent or set aside as another page or section of the website (often living somewhere like: http://site.com/blog or http://blog.site.com).

However, even though WordPress offers developers a lot of freedom, Blogger has a more simple interface, making formatting, editing, and writing blog posts a lot easier.

Language  and Customer Support

As mentioned in the graphic above, Blogger offers support in 50 languages, whereas WordPress offers support for over 120 languages. This may be important if your target audience’s primary language isn’t English or you are based somewhere besides the United States (where both blogging platforms originated).

Besides language support differences, Blogger customer support and the assistance offered by WordPress may be a bit different. WordPress relies on an extensive FAQ and support community to hopefully answer user questions, whereas Blogger customer service may be a bit more accessible since it has Google’s resources behind it.

When deciding between Blogger and WordPress, it comes down to what you are doing with your blog or website. If you need a basic interface that is easy to use, Blogger may be your best bet. However, if you want more flexibility and customization, consider WordPress.

The post Blogger vs WordPress: Which is Better For You? appeared first on The Blog Herald.

The term syndication may bring up alarm bells for sound, as many people associated with duplicate content or spammers attempting to gain traffic off of your good writing efforts. However, syndication can be a great way to get more traffic and exposure to your blogs, as well as your social media profiles. As long as your syndication outlets give a link back to your blog where the original post was published, in most cases Google will not counted as duplicate content.

The most important thing to remember is that you need to choose high quality partners that are going to syndicate your most well-written posts and will give you more traffic in return.

Reputable Syndication Resources

One of the most well-known content syndication websites is Business2Community, which has a variety of topics, including social media, business, lifestyle, and news. In addition to syndicated content, they also accept unique posts from their contributors. You can apply to become a contributor after reading the guidelines. This website has a huge user base, with over 12,000 likes on Facebook and almost 42,000 Twitter followers.

Another well-known syndication platform is Social Media Today, which focuses on news and the social media community, including content on marketing, best practices, and the social customer. Users go through a similar application process to become a blogger on the site.

In order to find syndication resources within your specific industry, do a Google search for “blog syndication” + [industry keyword]. WagePoint has a list of content syndication resources as well.

Thinking Outside the Copycat Mentality

Syndication also goes beyond your posts getting republished somewhere else. Many aggregate news sources also use RSS feeds to publish links and excerpts from top blog posts in their applicable category or industry.

As the aggregate website niche gets more and more competitive each day, many of the aggregators are getting more selective about the RSS feed they choose to include. This can be a benefit to you if you have well-written, regular content that says something new or proves a point.

In conclusion, syndicating your blog post can increase your online visibility, get more traffic to your site, and have more people reading your content. In order to get your content syndicated regularly, you need to focus on writing unique posts of substantial length (usually 300 to 700 words) that aren’t saying the same thing somebody else has already said.

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Many people start blogs because they are passionate about a topic and want to tell people about it. However, in order for a blog to be successful, we must go beyond writing about what interests us and focusing on the little things that make a big impact on SEO. Some tasks, like allowing for email subscription and verifying your blog’s URL with the major search engines, only take a few minutes but can create a huge difference in traffic, engagement, and overall growth.

Sitemaps

All websites should have an XML sitemap and should be verified on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Sitemaps are like a little to-do list that tells search engine spiders all the pages on your site, so they are indexed faster.

Search Engine Verification

Search engine verification is also important. Google and Bing have webmaster dashboards that allow you to verify your site, submit a sitemap, and view analytics data about your site’s users and how it is indexed by search engines.

Social Media

Whether a user is searching for a blog by name or specific topic, social media profiles are always some of the top results. Blogs should have, at least, a Google+ page (with personal authorship pages set up for authors) and a Facebook page. Twitter is also useful for promoting links to new posts. Completing your profiles and keeping the news feeds updated with relevant articles, information, and blog posts will help engage readers while also showing them relevant social media profiles in search results.

RSS Feed

Setting up an RSS feed often only takes 10 to 20 minutes, if it isn’t done automatically. Making sure your readers have an RSS feed that can subscribe to or share on social media from, you are increasing traffic and engagement, two factors that can help SEO. It should also be as easy as possible for readers to subscribe to your blog via email. Services like Google’s Feedburner can take your raw RSS feed and offer a free email subscription box to add to your blog for free.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is a little thing that should be done before every blog post is written. Take 5 to 15 minutes and review the terms that users are searching for that causes them to come to your blog. If old posts keep drawing traffic, write more about that topic. Conversely, if users are repeatedly looking for an applicable topic, coming to your site, then leaving after only a few moments, write more content about those topics.

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