Blogging Tips, Tricks And Tools

Monday, December 19, 2011

Increased Download Speed: Supersized Rankings!

Share this ARTICLE with your colleagues on LinkedIn .

There are a number of reasons to be very interested in accelerating your blog or website's load speed. Faster Download Time has become increasingly important in a multi-tasking, overworked and increasingly impatient world.

Firstly, you should constantly have user (i.e., prospective site visitor) experience in mind when optimizing your website. A fast, full-screen download, especially for the home page of your site, is crucial to capture and keep a prospective visitor's attention.

If your site is very slow to appear (leaving the prospective visitor to look at a blank screen and to wonder whether his or her browser or internet connection is working properly), or is slow to fully download (it comes down in disjointed pieces, with entire graphics, or other dazzling effects to fill in boxes which remain blank or empty for quite some time), it is likely that your prospect will go back to the search engine results (or to wherever he or she received your url from) and look at the next site following or before yours on the list. In either way, you will have reduced your SEO prominence and lost a possible friend, member, follower, or customer.

Secondly, search engine rating algorithms give some credence, i.e., credibility ranking as well as prominence in positioning, to how fast your page loads. Faster is considered to be better.

With this Website Speed Test provided by JAYDE B2B and Directory Listing Services (http://www.jayde.com/) a superb site search engine listing service and resource provider for SEO tools, tips and strategies, you can discover the speed of your site:

http://www.submitplus.com/freetools/tools/website-speed-test/

Some quick tips to expedite your page load speed and give your prospective viewers a better, more captivating experience. Some of these tips may involve some informational or design sacrifices, but the end result will more than justify the modifications. This list is being furnished by Douglas E. Castle for Blogging Tips, Tricks And Tools. It is not intended to be complete, nor is it warranted or otherwise guaranteed to produce favorable results for any individuals blog or website. I will say, that some of these have certainly been helpful for me.

1. Minimize the number and placement of high-resolution graphics Use clickable thumbnails instead, if possible) on your home page. Limited the number of any embedded videos to as few as possible, and position the video between the header and the "fold" at the bottom of your page.

2. Use the smallest number of lines of java script or HTML code, and use a code shrinking program if you can to compress these even further.

3. Avoid the use of pop-ups, pop-overs, modals, and especially long iframe forms in the body of your content.

4. Minimize your use of flash effects or remotely hosted buttons or text effects.

5. If you have graphs, charts, PowerPoint displays, slideshows, galleries and the like, just show the first frame, and give the viewer the option as to whether or not to see the presentation.

6. Avoid ambient music playing in the background. In my opinion, you should especially avoid the theme from "Hawaii Five-O" (even though I really like this one myself), heavy metal music in general, and the repetitive theme song from David Bowie's "Under Pressure." They slow download time, can be highly distracting, and can occasionally be offensive enough to the fatigued ears of the viewer that he or she feels that your sight is going to be a pure advertorial nightmare.

7. Break large paragraphs of copy into numbered or bulletized lists -- if further explanations are required, either put them into mouseover balloons, or into mouseover tooltips. Keep them brief, and never, ever, set them up so that the viewer has to click on an "x" or "Close" cue to to make a balloon or tooltip disappear. Everyone HATES this.

8. If a portion of your site will take a longer time to load, or will require some element of scrolling, make a note of it, and apologize in advance to your reader.

9. Avoid excessively large or florid fonts or designs. Elaborate wallpapers and borders are a waste and a distraction. They also can slow your downloading time significantly.

10. Keep your opening or home page as lean and mean as possible -- you can then direct your viewer (once you've captured his or her attention) to see the site in its entirety by using a clear, simple navigation bar under your header. Once you've caught his or her interest, then it's merely a matter of leading him or her around your site to see what you have to offer.

Douglas E. Castle

p.s. The little "click on me" birdie which follows actually slowed the downloading speed of this article (as it appears on the blog) by 6.67%! You might click on it anyway, just to learn from my negative example...

Related (And Occasionally Dated) Articles For Your Further Reference:

Guest Post: The Great Debate: Are Meta Keywords Worth Your Time? (socialwayne.com)
7 Clear-Cut Reasons Why You Cannot Ignore Deep Links Anymore! (directorymaximizer.com)
When Good Optimising Goes Bad (redguerrillaweb.wordpress.com)
20 Free Online Tools for Website Speed Testing (sixrevisions.com)
Latest Stats Say We're Building a Fatter, Slower Web (webmonkey.com)
New Web Tool Promises to Double the Speed of Your Website (mashable.com)
Pingdom: Test the Load Time of Your Website or Blog (123beta.com)
12 Step Program For Improving The Load Speed Of Online Stores (searchengineland.com)
Need for Speed: Google Adds Load Time to Algorithm (hubspot.com)
How Speedy Are High-Speed Internet Lines? (blogs.wsj.com)
Whiteboard Friday - 7 Ways to Take Advantage of Google's Site Speed Algorithm (Pop-Up Video Style) (seomoz.org)
Site Speed For Dummies Part 1 - Why Bother?.. (distilled.co.uk)
How to Audit Your Website (roundpeg.biz)
Google Is Focused On Site Speed (searchengineoptimizationjournal.com)
The Need for Speed: a Webmaster's Reflexion (famousbloggers.net)

Do everything possible to make your home page or first page download as rapidly as possible in order to increase site rankings, SEO prominence and to offer the overworked viewer the quickest aspect to your most important message. This is one of those exceptional cases in marketing where substance actually means more than form.

In dealing with viewers, both human and algorithmic/robotic, it is crucial to first capture their attention before you can deliver your words of wisdom. As my great grandfather once said (this is purely anecdotal, and likely a lie, but is a "politically expedient lie" because it cannot be verified one way or another), "If the letter don't arrive, they ain't gonna read it." - DC

Monday, October 3, 2011

Content + Style = Increase Your Audience

Share this ARTICLE with your colleagues on LinkedIn .

Bloggers want to increase their audiences. Whether it is for disseminating an important idea or philosophy; building a reputation as an expert; monetizing through e-commerce, affiliate marketing or paid ads; or simply for the purpose of sharing information and opening dialogue with others of like mind, blogging provides the broadcast and interactive communications tool of choice. And if you'd like your visitors to keep returning and for new prospective followers to give your site a whirl, you had better provide them with interesting content expressed in a unique personal style.

Your content and style are the only true differentiators which cannot be stolen from you. They are your signature and your online identity to those who care, or who might be drawn, to read what you write. These are the Human elements of the readers' experience that will ultimately get your blog quoted, re-published, and highly-valued.

None of the SEO, SEM or SOB (are you paying attention?) tricks can actually get you on top and keep you there. After the search engines, backlink-building services and ranking organizations have finished their initial boost, it is up to you (a person with something important to say and a distinctive way of saying it) to keep building your audience. That process cannot be automated. You are a performer. Do you need some examples? [of course you do - that was a perfunctory, rhetorical question, and you know that I'm going to give them to you anyway]. How about these:

Penn and Teller - illusionists.

Anderson Cooper - an intense and sincere (i.e., Human) newscaster.

Mad Jim Cramer - a hyperactive, frenetic, maniacal stock market pundit.

Bobby Flay - a competitive, plainspoken "Chef Of The People."

Michael Kors - a clothing designer, and a witty, sarcastic fashion/design show judge with a funny but razor-sharp tongue. He actually sits on a panel led by Heidi Klum, who tends to be just north of tactless when she doesn't quite like one of the contestants' designs, or when she gets to summarily dismiss someone from the competition.

Bill O'Reilly - an extremely opinionated (and closed-minded) political hack and 'no-spin' [ahem] commentator who has a knack for accentuating the negative about whomever he doesn't agree with, and for simply dodging (or avoiding any mention about) the most glaring negatives about those whose political beliefs are aligned with his.

Each of the above individuals has content (perhaps even a hidden agenda or a touch of 'probably killed small animals when he/she was younger' sadism), and a uniquely defined personality or persona. And each is indisputably an entertainer.

As a writer you have to entertain, inform and continuously engage to keep the crowds coming back. SEO algorithms are getting increasingly intelligent and the rules for search engine prominence are always changing; but no matter what, the process involves your ability to communicate something interesting to another person...and that premise will not likely be changing for a long time.

If you bore people, they'll eventually avoid you. And if you have nothing new to say, or no new way in which to say it, shut down your blog and do something else with your time.

There now. I've said it. I feel better. How about you?

Ranting has always accomplished more than chanting.

Douglas E Castle

Monday, July 18, 2011

Be A Blogging Superstar - The Three-Minute Secret!

Share this ARTICLE with your colleagues on LinkedIn .

It is stunningly easy to be a superstar blogger, according to Steve Tobak, who writes The Corner Office blog for http://www.bnet.com/, in a recent article titled "Want To Be A Superstar Blogger? - 5 Easy Steps."

The article is written in a satirical tone, but it is actually filled with wisdom. A friend once said to me, "Douglas, no one ever lost money on selling the intelligence of the American Public short." He was damn right. While this saddens me, it is not a terminal dumbing down. In terms of formatting, it simply means re-titling more simplistically and provocatively...and then leading into the article you intended to write.

Although it still hurts me a bit to say it (especially since it didn't say it first), if you follow the guidelines set forth (sarcastically) by Tobak, you will build up a fast following, and a mountain of daily page views. I promise. The article follows:

"Tell me you wouldn’t click on a headline that read, The 15 Minute Work Week. Come on, sure you would. How about these:

Why Working is Bad For Your Career
Is Sarah Palin the Antichrist?
Is Facebook the New Matrix?
How Religion is Destroying Corporate America

These are the kind of outlandish headlines we’ve come to expect from a blogosphere that thrives on outrageous hype and contrarian sound-bites. You know who’s to blame, don’t you? You are. That’s right. Admit it. You know you crave this stuff. Everyone does.

Sure, I’m part of the problem too, but it’s not my fault. I used to have a real job but, one night, I fell asleep next to an alien pod and woke up this way. Not buying that? Okay, what really happened is, years ago, then CNET editor-at-large Michael Kanellos asked if I wanted to do a blog.

“What’s a blog?” I said.

Four years later; here we are. And you know what? It was easy. Best of all, anyone can become a famous blogger with gazillions of readers by following these 5 easy steps.

So, in honor of the guy who somehow got me to give up a fortune in consulting fees to blog for peanuts, here’s my take on one of the funniest posts I’ve ever read (here’s the original, but frankly, I think my adaptation is a big improvement):

How to Be a Superstar Blogger

1. Be insane or obvious, but not both.

“There are two basic reactions you’re shooting for. You either want to: one, stun someone into a temporary catatonic state with enigmatic predictions, or two, confirm their prejudices and personal beliefs.” In other words, it’s either Charlie Sheen Should Be CEO of Time Warner or Outrageous CEO Pay Still on the Rise.

“Being outlandish and predictable at the same time, though, is tough–unless you graduate to compound sentences.” Then you can say, How an MBA Will Destroy Your Career While Improving Your Self Esteem. On second thought, better stick to one or the other. The audience prefers its lunatics to have a consistent methodology.

2. Watch what’s trending on Google and Twitter.

Forget esoteric stuff like helping people boost their careers, land jobs, or run their businesses more effectively. Instead, focus on what’s hot and trendy: social media, personal branding, Generation Y, Apple, Facebook, and don’t forget Charlie Sheen.

Practice coming up with headlines like, Gen Y Personal Branding Gurus are Uberfull of Ubercrap. And yes, I really did write that one.

Kanellos - now editor-in-chief of the popular Greentech Media site - says the more esoteric and unlikely the concept, the more popular it is. Everyone’s bored to tears with global warming, climate change, or whatever those wacko environmentalists call it these days, but if you really want to get everyone’s attention, try, New Google Car Runs on Brainwaves: The Smarter You Are, the Faster it Goes.

3. Find a good enemy.

One name: Sarah Palin. Everyone loves to hate her. If that doesn’t work for you, I’ve got a whole laundry list of villains for you to go after: Big Pharma, Big Oil, CEOs, Corporate America, wealthy people (but only the business ones: entertainers, musicians, and athletes are all okay), George W. Bush, and if you live in San Francisco, of course, McDonald’s Happy Meals.

4. Never be afraid to one-up someone.

If another blogger writes, 10 Simple Tips to Make You Rich and Famous, you can easily top that with, The Secret to Becoming a Billionaire in the Next 45 Minutes. Try it; it works.

5. Be vague.

‘Winning’ With Social Media. Is Anthony Weiner a Hot Dog? How to Be Like Steve Jobs. Most Hated CEOs. Apple’s Next iThing. Top 10 Job Interview Tips. The vaguer you are while still hitting a hot, trending keyword or key phrase, the more clicks you’ll get. Guaranteed.

Finally, Kanellos’s coupe de grace: “As an added bonus, you might someday be right.” When that golden moment happens, be sure to put out a press release."

####

Yes, friends. The majority of people enjoy very light, quick-fix, pop-culture reading. Especially if the headline is catchy and sounds like a miracle cure. Instant gratification is the magic elixir for masterful bloggery (or "blogistry," if you're truly a master)

In these times of sensorial overload and societal ADHD, it is easier than ever to be a Superstar Blogger. Mind you, you'll probably never be known for the originality or quality of your content, but if you write one of these babies each week, advertisers will be lining up and puckering up.

As another friend (apparently I have another) once said to me, "Always pitch hard and low."

Lastly, as a third friend from the perfume industry (Who are these people? Can I really have THREE friends?) once said [with a French accent]: "Why go for class, when you can have mass?" Amen, Mon Ami.

On a serious note, adding a healthy dose of humor and a bit of your own personality to your writing will help you win some loyalty after the cheap "bait and switch" tactic of your post title has worn off and resentment sets in amongst those few exceptional people who were actually looking for substance, wisdom or serious advice. Make them

Faithfully,

Douglas E Castle
http://bloggingtipstricksandtools.blogspot.com/
http://braintenance.blogspot.com/

Monday, July 4, 2011

SEO Trends, Stickiness and Increasing Followers With Your Blog.

Share this ARTICLE with your colleagues on LinkedIn .

The search engine optimized, sticky, content-rich, focused blog gathers the most followers. Here are the rules for building your "best-reach, longest potency" articles. Your visitors (both recurring and unique) and traffic will increase dramatically and rapidly if you simply don't tamper with the following proven formula.

Frequency:

You should write an entry at least once weekly.

Length:

The ideal length is generally between 3 to a maximum of 11 paragraphs; each of which should be short and punchy. Wherever possible, create simple lists, either bulletized or numbered. People love lists, rankings, trends, statistics and factoids.

Subject:

Be consistent in terms of the area or field you write about or focus upon. Build your reputation this way. Become known as a thought-leader or expert. Write with some passion, or don't write at all.

Title:

The title must be keyword stuffed within its first 120 characters.

First Paragraph:

The first paragraph should also be keyword-stuffed, but with a synopsis of why the article is important (its possible benefits) to the reader.

Closing:

Always use your full name or pseudonym {with a hyperlink to a site which contains your curriculum vitae or biography) and cite the name of your blog (hyperlinked to your blogsite address). If you write a smaller-fonted "p.s." section immediately beneath your signature closing, it will always be read. If you write your p.s. in a different font and/or color, you increase the likelihood of getting it great attention.

Your article is a sandwich -- from top to bottom it is:

Keyword-stuffed title;
Keyword-stuffed first paragraph with a synopsis of why the article id important;
Your content (which should be laced with in-text hyperlinked references);
Your closing;
Your p.s. message.

If you choose to add pictures, that's always acceptable, but they should not be overly large, and you should not have more than one image for every 3 to 5 paragraphs at maximum. Images should be centered, or set off to the left side of your posting field. Use unique and exciting images, wherever possible.

Do not use flashing images in your article -- they distract and disturb readers, and they also tend to draw the focus away from your content. Be certain that the important elements of your article (down to and including your closing) do not require scrolling on the part of your reader -- keep your best substance "above the fold" to the greatest extent possible. If your writing a long post, warn your readers (apologetically) about their having to scroll further.

As for additional tips, try these:

1) Put together your own list (in small font) of "Labels, Tags, Keywords, Categories and Search Terms" after your p.s., and hyperlink those all to your blog's url, or any other url which you wish to build in terms of traffic.

2) After your list of "Labels, Tags, Keywords...etc." list hyperlinked titles to several "related articles" by authors other than yourself if the reader chooses to go further with his or her investigation or study of your topic.

3) Be certain that your blog sends out an RSS feed (I use Feedburner), and that every new article is "pinged" to all of the relevant search engines. For this, I recommend that you Pinglerize -- that is, subscrible to the Pingler service immediately...go to (click on):
http://freetoolsforwebmastersandbloggers.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/ping-to-increase-your-seo-and-blog-traffic/.

Their service is unbelieveably cheap and the best in the marketplace - they have a package where they will automatically ping up to 50 blogs (yours!) as frequently as every three days to well in excess of 100 excellent search engines.

Faithfully,

Douglas E. Castle, from Blogging Tips, Tricks and Tools.

p.s You should visit our TNNWC website at http://www.TNNWC.com. It's the 3.0 version and our programming staff and experts are delighted with the way it looks and its ease of navigation. I'm proud, myself.

Tags, Labels, Keywords, Categories and Search Terms For This Article: blogging tips, feedburner, pinglerize, Douglas E. Castle, TNNWC, blogging, pinging, RSS feeds, article structure, content, stickiness, blogging do's and don't's, Blogger, WordPress, Your Blog is a Sandwich, increasing traffic, increasing visits, increasing blog followers, content hyperlinking, communications, publicity, branding, Images By Douglas E Castle, The National Networker (TNNWC) Weekly Newsletter, efficient writing, clearer messaging, making your blog user-friendly.

---------------
NOTICE: This article is Copyright © 2011 by author Douglas E Castle with all rights reserved. It may be republished without permission provided that it is published in full, with all hyperlinks and exhibits left intact, and with full attribution given the author. This article does not contain or constitute medical, health, psychological, legal, regulatory, investment, securities, financial, tax, or any other form of professional advice -- the reader acknowledges and accepts this disclaimer. Further, the reader indemnifies and holds harmless both the author and all publications in which this article appears of any damages, claims, loss, responsibility or liability emerging from the reader’s utilization of any information contained herein.

About This Author: Further information regarding this author’s professional experience, expertise and service offerings can be found at ABOUT DOUGLAS E CASTLE

Other Blogs And RSS Feeds By This Author: A comprehensive list of blogs and RSS feeds on various subjects written or moderated by Douglas E Castle may be found by clicking on the orange icon below.

This Blog Is Powered By TNNWC Group, LLC ™

Contact This Author Directly: Click HERE for an instant pop-up form.

You may follow Douglas E Castle on TWITTER

The author highly recommends that each of his respected readers becomes Pinglerized (a Lingovation™) in order to maximize SEO, search engine ranking, and to exponentially increase both unique visitors and recurring traffic to your website or blog. Leverage this wonderful technology.

The author wishes to thank the following resource providers:

Feedburner, CoolText Graphics, JavaScript Free Code, Zemanta, Google, WordPress, Widgetbox, and Wikipedia
---------------

Tags, Labels, Keywords and Terms For This Blog:blogs, blogosphere, bloggery, blogging, wordpress, typepad, google, plug-ins, word clouds, tag clouds, widgets, gadgets, blidgets, images, free content, RSS feeds, logos, fonts, writing, monetizing your blog, increasing readership, growing a following, citizen journalism, blogs by Douglas Castle, TNNWC Group LLC, Burst Of Brilliance, Braintenance, SEO, search engine optimization, syndicating your blog, increase inbound links, increase backlinks, interactive blogging, surveys, embedding images and forms into blogs, widgetbox, gizmos, blog directories, listing your blog, simple free code, free javascript, adwords, applications, texting, mobile-friendly blogs, pinging, Feedburner, free blogging tools, cooltext effects, guest contributors, your Blogger profile, Syndic8, newsletters, list management, e-commerce, payment processing, disclaimers, the social media connection, re-posting articles, comments, website enhancements, formatting, templates, styles, getting publicity, e-publishing, selling products on your blog, affiliate programs, graphic design, shortening urls, hyperlinking, hyperlurking, building your legend, photos and pictures, embedding code, support services, audience targeting, messaging focus, content is king, sources of content, attribution to authors and publications, cross-posting, x-posting, spinning articles, going public with your blog, newsreels, blog resource section, article titles, flash effects, scrollers, followers lists, copyright information, co-authoring blogs, guest bloggers, hosting, article formatting, switching blogging platforms, the best blogs, researching your topic, mobile blogging, every business needs a blog...

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Ping Your Blog, RSS Feed, Podcast, Or Video

Share this ARTICLE with your colleagues on LinkedIn .

If you have a blog (or a group of blogs) which you continuously update, you must use Ping services in order maximize your SEO, escalate your search engine positioning, increase traffic (both unique/new and returning visitors) to your site, and to make your blog (i.e., your piece of n-dimensional real estate in cyberspace) more valuable in terms of visibility, credibility, and attractiveness to advertisers. In many cases, you can also (with a bit of creativity) also ping your RSS Feeds, Podcasts, Social Media Status Updates or Streams and Videos. In this last connection, pinging will absolutely help make your video go viral.

If you are an e-commerce or membership (list-building) site, pinging makes all of the relevent search engine services know that you have updated or posted new material to your blog. Combining frequent posting of quality content with regular pinging of your blog or RSS feed is the formula for building an ever-increasing following.

There are a great many ping services which ping to certain small groups (usually between 10 and 50) web-crawling, spidering, or robotic search services which, in turn, announce to the blogosphere that your blog or feed has been updated. Most of these services are free, and require multiple manual submissions of each of your blogs, or even for each of your new blog posts. Each of these free services has its own submission methods and "ping audience." The difficulty here is that some of the most valuable and potent search crawlers, spiders and robots (collectively, let's call them "sniffers") are not accessed by these services.

If you have a very active blog, or a growing collection of blogs in your own constellation, here is what I would suggest:

1) Use a fully- automated paid ping service (they are incredibly cheap) to automatically ping and re-ping all of your blog posts and RSS feeds every several days to the largest and best-rated group of sniffers available. The service which I believe is the best for this purpose is Pingler, which you can register for by clicking on the handy button below. They ping to well in excess of 100 of the very best sniffers in the business; they also ping your RSS feeds, podcasts and other social media updates (this last part is a bit tricky, but it can indeed be done!). After you've gotten yourself registered there (their operators are standing by), be sure to come back here -- don't worry, I'll wait...

If the button doesn't appear, just click on:

http://www.pingler.com/437.html

and also...

2) Use one of the manual (but free) pinging services for each of your blogs each month. A note of caution: Do not use more than one of these free services for any particular blog -- that could get you cited and even shut down for spamming. Instead, use one manual free service per month for each blog.

For example, if you have six different blogs and you want to use six of the free pinging services which I've listed below, use a rotational approach...register blog #1 with ping service #1 the first month (and register blog #2 with ping service #2, and so on); then, in the second month, rotate your blogs and ping services...register blog #1 with ping service #2 (and register blog #2 with ping service #3, and so on). Keep rotating around monthly. While you are doing this, remember that Pingler is automatically pinging every one of your blogs, RSS feeds and podcasts at regular intervals, too.

Following is a list of free manual (and semi-automated) ping services. Once again, only register one blog or blog post per month with any given service, and if you have several blogs, be certain to rotate services monthly:

Ping-o-Matic!

Ping-O-Matic is a service to update different search engines and sniffers that your blog has been updated with a new post.

PingMyBlog.com

PingMyBlog.com is a service which does some of the hard work for you. They notify several of the major sniffers in one fell swoop so that everyone knows about your latest blogs.

Autopinger

Semi - automates pinging some fairly good sniffers with your posts, RSS feeds and even your Podcasts.

Feed Shark

Same as above.

Pingates

Same as above, but not effective for RSS and podcasts.

PING.IN

Same as above, but not effective for RSS and podcasts.

Feed Ping

Same as above, but not effective for RSS and podcasts.

King Ping Your Blog

Similar to above, but better automated and more user-friendly. Not effective for RSS and podcasts. Quite good for new posts however.

Ping 4 Free: Free Blog Ping Service

Similar to Feed Ping, but not that effective for RSS and podcasts.

Syncr Ping Service

Similar to Feed Ping, but more effective for RSS services. Not particularly effective for podcasts.

Pingoat

In the land of the free, this one is my favorite. Ping over fifty high-quality sniffers instantly. Pingoat also has an XML-RPC server. Ping services like Technorati, Newsgator, Feedster and other well-known "brands". It is effective for your RSS feeds, but not particularly good for podcasts.

My favorite combination is Pingler (as the paid "foundation" for all pinging of posts, RSS feeds, podcasts and other social media) in conjunction with Pingoat.

That's all that there is to it. Gentlemen (and ladies): on your marks, get set, and Ping!

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

Tags, Labels, Keywords, Categories and Terms For This Post:

Advertising
Blogging Platforms
Bookmarks and Backlinks
Building A Blogosphere
Free Pinging Services
Gadgets
Getting Subscribers
Ping Your Blog Post
Ping Your Podcasts
Ping Your RSS Feed
Ping Your Social Media Update Stream
Pinging
Pinglerizing
Podcasts and Videos
RSS Feeds
SEO
TNNWC Services
Uncategorized

How to Improve Blog Traffic: Ping a Hubpage (aleasemichelle.typepad.com)
Delivering Mind-Enhancing Drugs To The Brain (douglascastle1.wordpress.com)
WordPress Ping List - Updated (journalxtra.com)
RSS feed in HTML (edugeek.net)
Backlinks Indexed In Bulk? Introduce Another Free Online Tool (eblogtip.com)
Organize Your RSS Feeds (theworkathomewife.com)
RSS Feed Directories (clickfire.com)
How to broadcast your Google Reader 'starred items' to an RSS feed or widget on your blog | freewaregenius.com (freewaregenius.com)
WordPress Ping List for Better WordPress SEO (shoutmeloud.com)
Hacking and Security Breaches: A Growing Problem, and A Growing Opportunity - Trending Now... (theglobalfuturist.blogspot.com)
The Ultimate Question: "Am I Stupid?" (imagesbydouglascastle.blogspot.com)

Old saying: "They won't see a thing if you don't give it ping."

---------------
NOTICE: This article is Copyright © 2011 by author Douglas E Castle with all rights reserved. It may be republished without permission provided that it is published in full, with all hyperlinks and exhibits left intact, and with full attribution given the author. This article does not contain or constitute medical, health, psychological, legal, regulatory, investment, securities, financial, tax, or any other form of professional advice -- the reader acknowledges and accepts this disclaimer. Further, the reader indemnifies and holds harmless both the author and all publications in which this article appears of any damages, claims, loss, responsibility or liability emerging from the reader’s utilization of any information contained herein.

About This Author: Further information regarding this author’s professional experience, expertise and service offerings can be found at ABOUT DOUGLAS E CASTLE

Other Blogs And RSS Feeds By This Author: A comprehensive list of blogs and RSS feeds on various subjects written or moderated by Douglas E Castle may be found by clicking on the orange icon below.

The author wishes to thank the following resource providers:

Feedburner, CoolText Graphics, JavaScript Free Code, Zemanta, Google, WordPress, Widgetbox, and Wikipedia
---------------

Tags, Labels, Keywords and Terms For This Blog:blogs, blogosphere, bloggery, blogging, wordpress, typepad, google, plug-ins, word clouds, tag clouds, widgets, gadgets, blidgets, images, free content, RSS feeds, logos, fonts, writing, monetizing your blog, increasing readership, growing a following, citizen journalism, blogs by Douglas Castle, TNNWC Group LLC, Burst Of Brilliance, Braintenance, SEO, search engine optimization, syndicating your blog, increase inbound links, increase backlinks, interactive blogging, surveys, embedding images and forms into blogs, widgetbox, gizmos, blog directories, listing your blog, simple free code, free javascript, adwords, applications, texting, mobile-friendly blogs, pinging, Feedburner, free blogging tools, cooltext effects, guest contributors, your Blogger profile, Syndic8, newsletters, list management, e-commerce, payment processing, disclaimers, the social media connection, re-posting articles, comments, website enhancements, formatting, templates, styles, getting publicity, e-publishing, selling products on your blog, affiliate programs, graphic design, shortening urls, hyperlinking, hyperlurking, building your legend, photos and pictures, embedding code, support services, audience targeting, messaging focus, content is king, sources of content, attribution to authors and publications, cross-posting, x-posting, spinning articles, going public with your blog, newsreels, blog resource section, article titles, flash effects, scrollers, followers lists, copyright information, co-authoring blogs, guest bloggers, hosting, article formatting, switching blogging platforms, the best blogs, researching your topic, mobile blogging, every business needs a blog...

Monday, June 13, 2011

Zemanta - Free Tool For SEO

Share this ARTICLE with your colleagues on LinkedIn .

Zemanta is an incredible tool (you can download it for free at http://www.zemanta.com/) for use in enriching your blog's SEO, search engine prominence, potential audience, stickiness, inbound links, quality of content and, of course, traffic. In writing this article, I reference another article [see below] which I recently wrote about Comcast Cable. All I did was whine a bit --- Zemanta, my not-so-silent partner, automatically suggested in-text links, tags, and a listing of related articles. The little piece that follows was the result of what I'll call this Zemantification - which latter term is a Lingovation I am proud to call my very own.

- DC

---------------

Comcast Cable perhaps establishes an all-time minimum in customer service and customer satisfaction standards. As I've said before, if they would invest 10% of their baloney-laden "Xfinity Triple Play" advertising budget (you'd be far better off with a triple coronary bypass) in improvements to outdated, overloaded infrastructure and engineering, they might actually be rendering a service worth some percentage of what they charge.

I don't believe that will actually do this unless there is a massive class action lawsuit or a major incursion by the FCC or some other regulatory agency eager to promote its own visibility.

As I was working on building this site (http://comcastcomplaint.wordpress.com/), my connection with the internet actually deteriorated, and I felt compelled to call the folks over at Comcast (on my AT&T iPhone line) and invite one of their technical specialists over to my humble abode for a look-see. As I was vituperatively venting (that's alliteration!), it occurred to me to share the following image with those of you who have come to know about ...The Comcast Caper...

Please click on the image below to see how I am, in my capacity as the internet-compromised and impatient chairman of a promising young company (TNNWC Group, LLC), earning a spare time income while others continue to merely whine and swear...missing out on a true entrepreneurial opportunity. Again -- please clck on the image to see it displayed in its amazing, high-resolution splendor on a separate screen. You'd better hurry...cable connectivity is spotty!

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

Bloomberg To File FCC Complaint Against Comcast (techdailydose.nationaljournal.com)
Comcast to Bloomberg: You're Wrong (adweek.com)
Have An Opinion About Comcast? The City Of Burien Wants Your Feedback (b-townblog.com)
Comcast accuses Bloomberg of squeeze play (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
So Long F.C.C., Hello Comcast (dealbook.nytimes.com)
Comcast Debuts "Xfinity Home Security" With Plenty Of Options (inquisitr.com)
Tremendous Change is Going To Come (imagesbydouglascastle.blogspot.com)
An Irrelevent Post, Before We Return To Our Regularly Scheduled REE News and Trends. (thoriumenergyinc.blogspot.com)
Business News - Arnold Schwarzenegger Spins Off Subsidiary (tnnwbuzzworks.blogspot.com)
How Zemanta works (zemanta.com)
How to: Use Zemanta to recommend articles from your own blog(s) (zemanta.com)
Zemanta helps you "blog smarter" (buzz.blogger.com)
Using Zemanta with Blogger (peterbijkerk.blogspot.com)
You And The Universe - You Are Here. (imagesbydouglascastle.blogspot.com)

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Blogging : Keywords and Content = Magical Results.

Share this ARTICLE with your colleagues on LinkedIn .

Bloggers, content providers, authors, social media geeks, buzz barons, TNNWC Members and those people interest in self growth and more professional and business success need to know this:

Keywords (Google, etc.) may bring readers to your site, but the quality of your content (subject matter utility, unique presentation, style, innovation, and your personality as reflected in your posts will keep them reading and returning.

Faithfully,

Douglas E. Castle (http://douglascastle1.wordpress.com/)
CEO and Chairman
TNNWC Group, LLC (join us free at http://www.tnnwc.com/)

Douglas Castle’s Blogs And RSS Feeds
For a complete list, click on the RSS icon below:

Powered By TNNWC Group™

For complete tactical and strategic business planning, marketing, media, lead-generation, technological and capital resources, scalable solutions and tools to support every entrepreneurial start-up, young enterprise, small- to medium-sized business and emerging high-growth company, talk to The National Networker Companies™/ TNNWC Group, LLC.

We are a collaborative entrepreneurial, creative organization offering you hands-on, personalized assistance in every aspect of achieving your monetization, profitability and financial sustainability objectives, domestically and globally.

We don’t just coach you or offer you pre-packaged, push-button solutions – we listen to you, analyze your exact needs, and work within your budget to: 1) create your tool kit and 2) work as your partner to implement your plan by supporting you in the most efficient and productive use of every tool.

Visit our website, which is located at http://www.TNNWC.com .

To receive our newsletters, publications, information bulletins and alerts, simply join us as a Member. Membership is free and the benefits are unequalled anywhere.

Just go to our home page, and click on the “JOIN US” button.

---------------

Blogging Tips, Tricks And Tools - find us at http://BloggingTipsTricksAndTools.blogspot.com
Author: Douglas Castle

Tags, Labels, Keywords and Terms:blogs, blogosphere, bloggery, blogging, wordpress, typepad, google, plug-ins, word clouds, tag clouds, widgets, gadgets, blidgets, images, free content, RSS feeds, logos, fonts, writing, monetizing your blog, increasing readership, growing a following, citizen journalism, blogs by Douglas Castle, TNNWC Group LLC, Burst Of Brilliance, Braintenance, SEO, search engine optimization, syndicating your blog, increase inbound links, increase backlinks, interactive blogging, surveys, embedding images and forms into blogs, widgetbox, gizmos, blog directories, listing your blog, simple free code, free javascript, adwords, applications, texting, mobile-friendly blogs, pinging, Feedburner, free blogging tools, cooltext effects, guest contributors, your Blogger profile, Syndic8, newsletters, list management, e-commerce, payment processing, disclaimers, the social media connection, re-posting articles, comments, website enhancements, formatting, templates, styles, getting publicity, e-publishing, selling products on your blog, affiliate programs, graphic design, shortening urls, hyperlinking, hyperlurking, building your legend, photos and pictures, embedding code, support services, audience targeting, messaging focus, content is king, sources of content, attribution to authors and publications, cross-posting, x-posting, spinning articles, going public with your blog, newsreels, blog resource section, article titles, flash effects, scrollers, followers lists, copyright information, co-authoring blogs, guest bloggers, hosting, article formatting, switching blogging platforms, the best blogs, researching your topic, mobile blogging, every business needs a blog...

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Bloggers: Simple, Free, One-Step Javascripts -- Just Copy and Paste.

Share this ARTICLE with your colleagues on LinkedIn .

To make your blog more exciting, more marketable, and better-positioned amongst the search engines [higher search engine rankings through SEO], you need some javascript.

Special effects (involving text font, size, color and other glowing, throbbing, or typing simulations, scrolling copy, colors changing, moving images, buttons, built-in gadgets and widgets) will support increased traffic to your blog, increased backlinks, increased leads [whether you are marketing a newsletter, membership subscriptions, a product, a service or a book...even if your blog is e-commerce-oriented] ) will increase the appeal, stickiness and length of the average visit to your site. Your blog will look more professional, with fantastic results, and your effort will be minimal.

Most free javascript resource sites are designed for websites and require a bit of dabbling about in the netherworld of your template, or inserting different bits of code in either the head or body of your blog. I would just as soon perform cardiac surgery on myself with a salad fork.

There is, however, one site where you can get terrific javascript which can simply copy and paste right onto your blog (in the HTML "zones") or even, in some cases, into your posts.

The site is http://www.javascriptfreecode.com/index.htm, and it is the greatest mini-utility ever created for bloggers who enjoy writing but do not want to 1) learn to do any coding or programming at all, and 2) don't want have to run crying to some neighborhood know-it-all, some "geeks for hire" service (those folks are incredible, but not always the best company), or, worst of all, strike a deal with a webmaster to upgrade, manage or otherwise fool with your blog -- often at great expense.

http://www.javascriptfreecode.com/index.htm is the best quick-code-in-a-flash fix. I would suggest that you visit the site, look over the entire menu of "special effects," and then chose one or two to put into the HTML zones of your Blogger or WordPress blogs. Experiment a bit.

While the menu of scripts is limited, they are almost all functional, and they are almost all completely ready to simply copy and paste.

They do ask that you give them some honorable mention on your blog, but it is unobtrusive, and actually kind of cute. I'll give them some credit. Watch closely:

JavaScript Free Code

That's pretty much all that there is to it. Enjoy it and spread the word to all of the other bloggers out there. Our numbers are growing!

To the blogosphere....and beyond!

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

Douglas Castle’s Blogs And RSS Feeds
For a complete list, click on the RSS icon below:

Powered By TNNWC Group™

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO MY READERS
If you would like to continue reading articles written by Douglas E. Castle, you have two new choices:

1) Visit his new professional website and business blog at http://DouglasECastleBlog.com, where he discusses fixing broken businesses and fueling and accelerating the growth curve of successful or potentially successful companies or organizations, or you may:

2) Visit his multi-subject personal blog at http://DouglasECastle.com which will now be the ultimate, centralized consolidation of the large list of blogs which follow. While I might continue to post to these blogs directly, I will be doing so only sporatically. Thank you, as always, for following me and for sharing my articles with your colleagues across your many social media networks using an ever-increasing variety of sharing tools,. The selected blog list follows for your reference:

SELECTED LINKS TO BLOGS BY DOUGLAS E. CASTLE:
TAKING COMMAND! ACHIEVING YOUR OBJECTIVES. SENDING SIGNALS! - Communicate With Precision And Power. QUORA DISCUSSION FORUM DOUGLAS E. CASTLE: Observations, Thoughts And Commentary. Disruption Theory And Disruptive Innovation InfoSphere™ Business Alerts And Intelligence THE GLOBAL FUTURIST - Douglas E Castle
LINKS 4 LIFE ALERTS! Building And Managing Customer Relationships - CEM Instant Biz 101 Radio DAZZ - Music Breaks To Make Your Day! THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE - Douglas E Castle GLOBAL EDGE NEWS AND ARTICLE FEED BRAINTENANCE: Train, Strain And Improve Your Brain. Expand Your Mind. Blogging Tips, Tricks And Tools MAD MARKETING TACTICS™ ! Business And Project Planning And Management

SUBSCRIBE FREE

Everything "Blog." Gadgets, Widgets, Interactive Gizmos, Spaced-Out Graphics, Special Effects, SEO Tools, PR Rank Boosters, Traffic And Backlink Builders, RSS Feed Blenders, Social Media Management, Viral Promotion Programs, Apps, Plug-Ins, Affiliate Programs, and Monetizing Methods...even some FREE STUFF! [Everybody likes free stuff. Don't deny it.]

Subscribe: OPTION 1 - DAILY EMAIL
Delivered To Your Inbox By Elves. Really.
Subscribe: OPTION 2 - RSS FEED

Get Your Feed In Any Reader.