Google SEO Report Card
Grab the Google SEO Report Card and see how Google grades not your sites, Google SEO Report Card and see how Google grades not your sites, but its own sites in terms of a dozen different categories.
These optimizations are intended to not only help search engines understand the content of our pages better, but also to improve our users’ experience when visiting our sites. Simple steps such as fixing 404s and broken links, simplifying URL choice, and providing easier-to-understand titles and snippets for our pages can benefit both users and search engines. From the start of the project we also wanted to release the report card publicly so other companies and webmasters could learn from the report, which is filled with dozens of examples taken straight from our products’ pages.
The great thing about this is: first, Google is leading by example and is using its own products; second, Google is being transparent, as most of their sites don’t even make the passing mark. But whether it’s Google’s sites or yours, it’s not too late to try! Perhaps Google can also come out with an automated tool for checking these SEO criteria as part of Webmaster Tools.
Add Google Buzz to WordPress & BuddyPress
WPMU.org lists 5 different ways you can integrate Google Buzz into your WordPress and BuddyPress site. Aside from a the Buzz This WP plugin and the Digg-like button, you can also display your Buzz stream and share BP profiles to Buzz.
- “Buzz This” Plugin for WordPress
- Make Your Own Button to Add Anywhere in Your Template
- Share Your Google Buzz Posts on Your Site with Google Buzz ER Plugin
- Add the Ability to Share BuddyPress Profile Links With a “Buzz This” Button
- Add “Buzz This” to Individual BuddyPress Activity Stream Posts
Although Google Buzz is facing controversy right now for privacy issues, it could become a huge social network overnight since it’s built right inside Gmail, and bloggers will definitely want to take advantage of that audience.
Update: see also this post by Mashable.
The Missing Google Analytics Manual
For those of you haven’t poked around Google Analytics, it’s not as scary or complicated as it looks. The Missing Google Analytics Manual is a compilation of tutorials to maximize use of this website statistics tool. It’s a long list of articles and videos covering setup, goal tracking, filters, reports, and more.
This article by Smashing Magazine seems a little more organized so you might want to bookmark that too, but what I’d really like is an easy to read wiki slash eBook like the Complete Guide to Google Wave.
Either way, the key to running a successful website and growing as a blogger is taking a step back and figuring out how to improve. For those who aren’t fond of numbers and charts, these guides should make that process a little easier.
EFF Bloggers’ Legal Guide
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has posted a Legal Guide for Bloggers that will hopefully clear many issues bloggers may face with regard to intellectual property, anonymity, access to media, protection from government seizure, and more.
You Have the Right to Make Fair Use of Intellectual Property. In OPG v. Diebold, Diebold, Inc., a manufacturer of electronic voting machines, had sent out copyright cease-and-desist letters to ISPs after internal documents indicating flaws in their systems were published on the Internet. EFF established the publication was a fair use. With your support, EFF can help fight to protect bloggers from frivolous or abusive threats and lawsuits.
The EFF disclaims that the guide is not a substitute for legal advice, nor is it applicable to bloggers outside the United States, but it’s a good to keep in mind nonetheless. We can never have too many guides, especially ones that keep can help get us out of serious trouble. Also visit this page for more resources like news articles, whitepapers, and other documents.
Try CMP.ly for blogging and social media disclosure
CMP.ly is a new solution to promote transparency and honesty in blogging and social media. With the recently announced revised guidelines by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on endorsements and testimonials in blog posts, word of mouth campaign, and even microblogging messages, CMP.ly has created short, easy ways to indicate disclosures with their 7-way link system: Visit links CMP.ly/0 through CMP.ly/6 to find out more. For bloggers, you can download this PDF.
There are three simple ways to CMP.ly:
- Use our standard disclosures.
- Sign up for a CMP.ly account to use our unique disclosures – Add text, custom disclosures and manage your disclosures.
- Join an existing marketing campaign – Coming January 2010.
Although bloggers outside the U.S. won’t have to answer to the FTC for disclosing sponsored posts and similar works, transparency is one of the cornerstones of successful blogging. CMP.ly should make the process even easier, the same way Creative Commons did for sharing creative works and enforcing attribution.
The best and worst SEO practices in 15 minutes
Love it or hate it, we can all stand to learn from these easy dos and don’ts in search engine optimization by WebConfs.com.
If you’re pro-SEO then you probably have heard some of these tips before, but it’s always nice to brush up on them very few months or so. If you’re anti-SEO then looking at this table might show you how it’s not all bad, and a lot of the techniques are just the “best practices” out there.
The biggest dos? Unique, keyword-rich content. Biggest don’ts? Cloaking, duplicate content, and Flash. Check it out!
WordPress upgrade notifications from Google Analytics?
If you’ve been blogging for a while now you’ll know that Google Analytics is an indispensable part of your website, so perhaps it’s not surprising that the service has this new feature: software version notifications for your CMS.
One of the great things about working at Google is that we get to take advantage of an enormous amount of computing power to do some really cool things. One idea we tried out was to let webmasters know about their potentially hackable websites. [...] This time, however, our goal is not just to isolate vulnerable or hackable software packages, but to also notify webmasters about newer versions of the software packages or plugins they’re running on their website. [..] This is where we think we can help. We hope to let webmasters know about new versions of their software by sending them a message via Webmaster Tools. This way they can make an informed decision about whether or not they would like to upgrade.
I’m not sure this is any better than installing a plugin such as Update Notifier that sends emails whenever your WP installation or WP plugins need updating. After all, it still depends on the generated version meta tag which both WordPress and hackers use to check.
The upside here, though, is that at least Google is now looking into ways they can help with website maintenance, particularly security. And not just for WordPress, but for all other content management systems out there. Both CMS developers and webmasters stand to gain from the knowledge and resources Google can spend on this.
In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled as this new feature will be rolling out “soon”.
An “ultimate” WP 2.8 optimization guide
Still on the subject of keeping your WordPress site in tip-top shape, StoreCrowd has compiled the Ultimate WordPress 2.8 Optimization Guide. It’s a long list of code snippets, plugins, tools, and tips to improve the performance of your blog. For example:
Use a CDN or Subdomain for Static Files
Serving all your images from the same domain can means that your browser is waiting to download all the items one after the other. Lets say you have 12 items, if you split these out across 3 subdomains then they can be downloaded concurrently (as there’s 3 sources), instead of the browser waiting to download them from one source.
Bring Facebook to your WordPress blog
WP Beginner has a great list of tutorials that integrate various Facebook features into your WordPress-powered site. From embedding your friends’ status updates in your admin dashboard to creating a full-blown Facebook app for your blog, this post maximizes your exposure with everyone’s favorite social network.
Also check out the tutorial by Smashing Magazine, plus our list of hacks for Twitter-WordPress integration.
33 social bookmarking codes for your blog
ProBlogDesign has compiled a list of codes you can use for automatically saving your blog posts on popular social bookmarking sites such as Delicious, Digg, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Technorati, and more—33 all in all.
The codes are made especially for WordPress theme files, making use of post title and permalink template tags instead of having to install special plugins. The upside to this method is having complete control of what displays on your blog, plus it takes up less resources compared to a plugin version, like Sociable or ShareThis. Either way, social bookmarking is a popular and oft-recommended way to get your posts out there, so make sure you have this feature on your blog.
Desktop blogging clients you can use
Sometimes the WordPress Add New Post panel lacks certain features bloggers are looking for when they’re composing their articles. Loose Wire Blog has compiled a list of desktop-based blogging clients, both free and premium, for your perusal.
A number of them are not just for WordPress, though, so if you’re looking for WordPress-specific clients, you might want to browse this list at the WordPress Codex. If you’ve used some of the listed clients before, why not contribute to the Codex and summarize their features there?
The WordPress Publisher Blog has two specific recommendations: Windows Live Writer and Marsedit.
Create your own WordPress Dashboard Widgets
Did you know that you can tweak your WordPress Dashboard with custom Widgets? Take note that this is different from the Widgets feature you can use on your blog. WooCamp has a nice two-step tutorial on it:
- Copy the given code in the blog post
- Modify the given code for specific functionality for your widget
Easy-peasy! Another great way to customize the backend of WordPress-powered sites, especially if you’re using it as a CMS for clients and friends.
WPSeek, a WordPress search engine & reference
What started out as a Firefox add-on is now a full-blown standalone search engine for all things WordPress. WPSeek returns content from WordPress Codex documentation, useful code snippets, Google search results, Support Forum discussions, and your own notes. All in one place. Thrown in some AJAXy autosuggest goodness and you’re all set!
Depending on your web browser of choice, you can add the website as a custom search engine. There’s also an API, a Firefox Ubiquity plugin, and finally an Adobe AIR desktop client in the works.
Theme and plugin authors will definitely find WPSeek immensely useful. And if you’re just learning the ropes of WordPress, it’s definitely worth a visit.
Achieving ultimate SEO satisfaction with WordPress
Andy Beard has an extremely detailed article on tweaking WordPress themes and plugins to achieve real SEO satisfaction on your blog. He tackles two key elements, first link priority and referential integrity, and covers a lot of tips that will be of great interest for theme and plugin authors with an SEO slant.
I don’t think there is one “premium” WordPress Theme that doesn’t claim to be perfect for SEO “out-of-the-box”, so I thought I would bash some theme developer heads around and maybe knock some sense into them.
[...]
That doesn’t leave WordPress SEO plugins off the hook, there isn’t one plugin that gets beyond 60:40 or with some tweeking possibly 70:30, depending on what factors you feel are important, or are aware of.
As for bloggers looking for that “perfect” SEO theme or plugin, don’t be so easily convinced—it takes a lot of tweaking to get optimum results. Of course, he also talks about the simple solution: while making great content is top priority, you still need to “think like an SEO & Marketer”.
dotMobi WordPress Pack
The dotMobi WordPress back is a jampacked suite containing themes, widgets, and plugins that you can use to make your WP-powered site fully compatible with mobile devices. All courtesy of the dotMobi network.
The pack contains the following functionality:
- Mobile switcher to detect mobile visitors and provide an appropriate experience
- Base mobile theme for quick-and-easy XHTML-MP compliance
- Extended mobile themes so you can unleash your mobile creativity
- Transcoding and device adaptation to optimise the mobile experience
- DeviceAtlas integration for world-class adaptation
- Mobile admin panel for when posts can’t wait
- Mobile ad widget to make you some money
- Barcode widget to help users bookmark your blog
Wow, they really thought of everything, from site appearance to administration to monetization. The Web is going mobile, so why not add these extra features since dotMobi makes it very easy for you to do?
Download dotMobi WordPress Pack
Instant Install WordPress
Instant Install WordPress is a small PHP script that downloads and extracts the latest WordPress version on your site server. Once uploaded all you have to do is call it (e.g. http://www.yoursite.com/easywp.php) and it will ask for details to fill out the configuration file, then installs WordPress. This basically winds down installation time from the famous 5 minutes to just about a few seconds!
(Note: This tool was first called EasyWP but the creator discovered it had the same name as an existing plugin.)
Download Instant Install WordPress
Add a Plurk This widget to your WordPress blog
Plurk is a microblogging platform that’s particularly popular in the Philippines, and just like Twitter it can be used to promote your blog posts with a simple flick of the wrist. Marghil Macuha has written a Plurk This code snippet you can add to your WP theme:
Just copy and paste the code above on your single.php page, preferably below the post title, then modify a little bit to change the domain name and a link to your image (I have a hotlink protector so you have to host your own image, ok? ).
I suggest making a few tweaks to the code, such as using the_permalink() for the full URL and not a hardcoded one, i.e.:
http://plurk.com/?qualifier=shares&status=<?php the_permalink(); ?>
WordPress and Twitter, sitting in a tree
Twitter is a microblogging service people are raving over for some time now. While you can use it on its own, it’s grown into just about anything and everything people want it to be: a new mingling lounge, a broadcast medium, a zeitgeist, and even a way to make a few bucks.
Now integrating Twitter and WordPress makes things a lot more interesting:
- 15 Useful Twitter Hacks and Plug-Ins For WordPress
- Twitter and WordPress Integration Guide (free download)
- 50+ people you should be following on Twitter
- Twitter plugins in WordPress Plugin Directory
- Follow WordPress on Twitter
Oh, and we’re also on Twitter so add us up!
Update multiple WordPress blogs with a Subversion bash script
David Peralty of Devlounge details how to create a special script for updating your WordPress install if you’re using Subversion. Perfect for the power user running multiple WP blogs on his/her own server.
Now this might not mean much if you’re not familiar with Subversion, but David also points to another article of his that introduces you to it. If its abbreviation “SVN” sounds familiar, it’s probably because it’s the same updating and versioning system that Automattic uses for WordPress. Wouldn’t you like to learn how to use it as well?
And here’s WordPress.org’s page on SVN.
Maven Secrets Pilot Program by Anton Diaz
Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet has come up with an exclusive 90-day program on internet marketing and professional blogging for his readers:
I learned a lot from all the strategies and techniques I picked up from different gurus. I was able to apply them to OAP, which eventually became one of the top blogs on Food and Travel in the Philippines.
My single biggest realization through it all was: You need to become a Maven to win online.
It’s nice to see that our local probloggers are taking the time out to give back to their audience. Although many strategies from the likes of Darren Rowse and Jeremy Shoemaker should apply to Philippine blogs, there are other local factors that we should take into consideration, so it pays to learn from those who’ve done it well.
So do you want to be just as successful as Anton? Sign up for the program here. Slots are limited, so hurry!
10 ways to secure your WordPress administration panel
Sergej Müller and Alex Frison on Smashing Magazine have written a 10-step guide to protecting and ensuring your WordPress admin area is as safe as can be. Here’s the list:
- Rename and upload the wordpress Folder
- Extend the file wp-config.php
- Move the wp-config.php file
- Protect the wp-config.php file
- Delete the admin User Account
- Choose strong passwords
- Protect the wp-admin Directory
- Suppress Error Feedback on the Log-In Page
- Restrict Erroneous Log-In Attempts
- Keep Software Up to Date
It’s best if you perform these safety measures right after installing WordPress, and add it to your routine in case you’ve got a slew of WP-powered sites.
10-step ritual after installing WordPress
WordPress is a cinch to install, and that means this 10-item list of things to do right after installing WordPress shouldn’t be too much trouble, either. Here’s the list:
- Change the Admin Password and Manage Your Authors
- Edit Permalinks
- Upload Your Theme and Activate It
- Add Your Categories and Change the Default
- Activate Akismet
- Install Google XML Sitemaps
- Install Wordpress Database Backup
- Test Your Blog With Dummy Content
- Add your RSS feed to Feedburner
- Activate your Analytics
It’s a great guide for those who haven’t gotten the hang of tweaking their blog to get their whole system in place. Is there something else that you’re doing that wasn’t mentioned on the list? Additional tasks you might want to consider:
- Put security measures in place—a must!
- Rearrange the dashboard blocks and write post panel for a more streamlined blogging workflow
- Construct your blogroll
- Integrate social media (Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Technorati, etc.) into your blog and vice versa
- Add a contact form so people can get in touch with you for non-comment matters and other feedback
- Consider advertising options
What’s your post-installation ritual?
Google Blog Converters
Google has released a tool that lets you move from one blogging service to another much more easily. Google Blog Converters is an open source project containing Python libraries and scripts that convert export formats of the leading blog platforms Blogger, LiveJournal, Movable Type, and WordPress.
Blog authors around the world, Google would like to remind you that it’s your blog, your data. Now that Blogger allows users the ability to export all contents of their blog, the Data Liberation team would like to announce the Google Blog Converters project.
It’s great to learn that Google in particular is all for the free transfer of data despite being the owner of Blogger.
10 WordPress hacks
Take your blog to the next level with this list of neat WordPress hacks, compiled by no less than Smashing Magazine and written by Jean-Baptiste Jung. Here’s what to expect:
- Display AdSense Ads to Search Engines Visitors Only
- Avoid Duplicate Posts in Multiple Loops
- Replacing “Next” and “Previous” Page Links with Pagination
- Automatically Get Images on Post Content
- Using Normal Quotes Instead of Curly Quotes
- Deny Comment Posting to No Referrer Requests
- Using CSS Sliding Doors in WordPress Navigaton
- Display a Random Header Image on Your WordPress Blog
- List Your Scheduled Posts
Each tip may seem difficult at first, but all you have to do is follow the instructions and you’ll be good to go. Perfect for beginner and advanced WordPress lovers!
Protect your content with Performancing and bLogics Copyright Management services
Once you publish something on the Web, it’s very hard to take it back. Chances are it’s been syndicated, archived, cached, or worse, it’s been scraped and stolen by those don’t know any better way to make money online. Get help with protecting your precious work with Copyright Management services from Performancing and bLogics.
Our copyright experts will track down websites, blogs, forums and other sites that infringe on your rights as a publisher. We will then give you a comprehensive report with suggested courses of action. If you choose to, we can also act on these violations on your behalf, by initiating takedown notices and making sure your original content stays where it should–on your blog! Price includes initial consultation, tracking, initial report and appropriate action on three (3) infringing sites.
Improve your WordPress installation with SQL hacks
Jean-Baptiste Jung shares how you can perform very useful tasks and tweaks for your WordPress blog with the use of database SQL queries. Database manipulation may be a bit advanced for the average WordPress user, but for those who are curious, this article is a great start as the tutorials are not really intimidating at all.
Here’s the shortlist:
- Creating a Backup of Your Database
- Batch Delete Post Revisions
- Erase 5000 Spam Comments in a Second
- Change the Post Attribution
- Manually Reset Your Password
- Change Your WordPress Domain Name
- Display the Number of SQL Queries on Your blog
- Restore Your WordPress Database
View other WordPress posts on Smashing Magazine here.
WordPress video tutorials for everyone
Speckyboy has compiled dozens of video tutorials that will teach you just about everything you need to know about WordPress. And even if you know your way around the PHP files and the admin dashboard, you’ll still be able to learn several new things just by watching.
This post is a must-bookmark! It’s amazing how generous people from the WordPress community are.
Get $1000 off on your blog design with The Blog Studio
Is your blog in dire need of a redesign? Or are you a new blogger who wants a personalized look for your new blog? This offer by The Blog Studio might be for you:
For the remainder of the month of November 2008, all new design projects will receive an automatic $1000 discount. Please note: this only applies to new design projects with contracts signed by November 30 2008.
Check out their past work at the Portfolio (these guys specialize in custom WordPress sites), then hit the request for proposal form or the contact form.
WordPress App for LinkedIn adds your blog to your professional profile
If you’re networking professionally at LinkedIn, you’ll be pleased to know that you can now add your WordPress-powered blog to your profile with the WordPress app. Just look for it in the Application Directory, add your blog URL, and you’re all set. Your recent blog posts will now be displayed on your profile.
Users of both WordPress.com (hosted) and WordPress.org (self-hosted) can use this app, so don’t hesitate! Why use LinkedIn? It’s a great way to build your professional network online.
WordPress Helper add-on for Firefox
Power users of WordPress and Firefox will certainly love this one: the WordPress Helper add-on for Firefox gives you quick access to WordPress documentation and to the admin panels of website profiles you have entered.
The extension eases the fast and simple access to develop-relevant pages of the WordPress Codex. So you always have all the necessary help at your fingertips. It’s also possible to search after strings of text that is currently marked. Furthermore it’s possible to easily switch to WordPress backend of current site. More than that, a small Icon indicates wether the currently displayed website makes use of WordPress.
Sometimes you have to search all over the WordPress.org Codex and even 3rd-party sites to answer that WP-related question, so this extension makes it a more pleasant experience.
And even if you’re not much of a WordPress developer, this tool will make learning about the inner workings of WordPress more efficient and convenient. Sometimes all you need is a little nudge, like this one.
WordPress Comment Moderator for Adobe Air
Daniel Dura presented a sneak peek of an Adobe Air application that lets you moderate comments on your blog:
This screenshot is the application actually working. I have it running against a local version of a Wordpress installation. It gives alerts when new comments are awaiting moderation, tells you how many comments are awaiting moderation in the dock menu, and allows you to approve comments, mark them as spam, or delete them.
This looks like a convenient way to keep track of comments from your own desktop. Since Adobe Air is cross-platform. It should work whether you’re a Windows, Mac, or Linux user.
Since this is just a preview, though, you can’t download it yet. Daniel says it will be out in a couple of weeks. Visit the blog post to leave your questions and suggestions.
Performancing Ads Launches!
Performancing, the team whose main goal is to help bloggers succeed, has recently launched Performancing Ads. The system is meant to be both an adserver and a marketplace where bloggers can feature their sites, and where advertisers can look for great sites to sponsor.
There are many reasons why we think bloggers should sign up for Performancing Ads. Among my favorites are the ad-exchange feature, where you can exchange ads with other users (sort of like link exchanges). I also particularly like the fact that you can book your own ads. This way, you can use Perf Ads as your ad server.
Performancing Ads presents a radical alternative (or complement) to the usual pay-per-click ad programs like Google Adsense and the like. Image/button advertising highlights more the brand rather than the context of a link. So advertisers who are looking to enhance brand awareness would love how Performancing ads can help.
Perf Ads also offers an affiliate system whereby each successful referral will earn users both a bonus and also residual commissions from referral sales.
For Philippine bloggers, Perf ads does not offer localized means of presenting ads, though, but it’s a good start for bloggers who want to make money out of their publications.
