If you're using blogging as one of your strategies for your Network Marketing business, I recommend the use of WordPress.org as the platform for your blog. A blog is just another kind of website, except that it's much easier to create and update than an 'ordinary' website. Creating a web page using WordPress is almost the same as writing an article in Word for Windows or another editing application. In this article, we describe five reasons why you should use WordPress.org for your blog.
Two main kinds of platforms for creating a blog are:
1) A "Server Side Web Based" application completely controlled by your Web host and by YOU. Examples of these are WordPress.ORG, MovableType, TypePad and others. It's important to have this kind of blog if you're doing business on the internet, because it will become your asset, and can't be taken away from you. In contrast, the web based applications can be taken away from you with no warning, and you won't ever get it back again.
2) A "Web based application" which is controlled by the web hosting community. Examples of these are Blogger, WordPress.COM, Wetpaint, Mindsay and numerous others.
Following are Five Good Reasons to Use WordPress.org
Reason Number 1: The Search Engines love WordPress blogs
With just a little knowledge about keywords and search engine optimization, it's VERY easy to get listed on Google for your keywords.
The best way to have Google index (have it listed in Google) your new WordPress blog, is to submit your blog's RSS feed to some search engines. Don't worry about what an RSS feed is, if you don't know. You don't need to know what everything means, you just need to know what to do with it.
So, after you create your blog and your first blog post:
1. Type in the URL of your blog in the Address Bar of your Web browser (preferably Firefox).
2. Once your blog is displayed, look to the right of where your URL is typed and you should see a little orange box.
3. Click on the orange box and your web browser should open up the RSS feed of your blog. The text displayed may look like gobbledegook, but don't worry about that. The search engines can interpret what's written for the RSS feed.
4. Copy that RSS Feed URL and Paste it into Notepad or your favorite Text Editor.
5. Now, go to Feedage.com and Submit your Blog's RSS Feed URL you just copied into your Text Editor.
6. Now go to Feedagg.com and Submit your Blog's RSS Feed URL you just copied into your Text Editor.
The next day - after submitting your feed as described above - Look in Google's index to see if your Blog is listed. To find your blog on Google:
* Go to the Google Search Engine at Google.com
* In the Search box, type in the following:
site:yourblogurl.com (replace yourblogurl.com with the URL of your blog)
After clicking on the Google Search button, your blog URL should be listed, which means that Google has indexed your blog. This means that your blog will be positioned somewhere in the Google listings.
Reason Number 2: Using WordPress will save you lots of time
WordPress will save you a lot of time for the following reasons:
1. It is really fast and Easy to install. WordPress takes about 5 seconds to install instantly, provided you are using a hosting company which allows you to do an instant installation. Make sure you get a web host that has "CPanel" - if the web host has it, they will state that it has CPanel on their Feature page.
2. It has an easy to use administration interface, which allows you to find things quickly and work more efficiently.
3. It's very easy to upgrade. Most of the time, you can just click on the "upgrade button" and WordPress will install the upgrade automatically.
4. It is super easy to keep track of comments and moderate, approve, and disapprove of them.
5. There are applications that you can simply "plugin" (with a few clicks on your mouse) to your blog. These applications are called "plugins" and allow your blog to easily do all sorts of other things, such as back up your database, make comments look different, allow for social interactivity like "tweeting your posts" or "sharing a post with Facebook".
6. Save yourself a lot of time by preventing spam. Use the plug in Akismet and WP-spam free, and you won't have any spam. (or very little anyway).
7. And, another huge time saver - you can write your posts in advance and schedule them for the next week or two. So... you could just log into your blog once a week, set up your posts, then relax or go on holidays.
Reason Number 3: Search Engine Optimization is provided by WordPress
WordPress makes it VERY EASY to do Search Engine Optimization. Here are some simple tips for making sure your content is optimized on your Blog.
1. Find out what keywords your target market is typing into the search engines, then use those Keywords in your Blog Post Title.
2. Make sure your Categories consist of keywords, and select a relevant Category for each of your posts. Select only ONE category for each post, otherwise you will get Duplicate content.
3. Use a Custom structure for your Permanent Links. A Permanent link is the URL for a blog post. The Permanent link (also named "Permalink") consists of your blog name, the category, and the blog post title. For example, the URL should look something like this: YourBlogName/Category/PostTitle - however, if you don't select a Custom structure for your permalinks, they may consist of numbers and meaningless words. This drastically reduces the chances of your post appearing in the search engines, when people type in your keywords.
Change the structure of the Permalinks by doing the following:
1) From the dashboard of your blog, select "Settings" from the left hand side menu.
2) Choose Permalinks, and select the radio bullet "Custom Structure"
3) In the box next to "Custom Structure", type in: /%category%/%postname%/
By typing the above custom structure, the Permanent Link (URL) for each of your posts will consist of:
Your Blog name + Category Name + Title Name for Post
Make sure you have a Sitemap on your Blog. Use a plugin to automatically create a sitemap. The following are 2 good plugins:
- XML Sitemap Generator for WordPress
- Dagon Design Sitemap Generator
Use those 2 sitemaps together, and you will get a Google friendly and User friendly sitemap page.
I could add lots more SEO tips for WordPress, but that's enough for now.
Reason Number 4: Updating Your Web Pages on your Blog is Very Easy
It is very easy to write and update your content on your blog, with WordPress. And, you don't need to know any HTML. If you have owned an ordinary website (by that I mean, "not a blog"), you may have to contact your webmaster every time you want it updated. Or, perhaps you did what I did, and learned HTML. And, it might have taken you a long to learn the HTML and actually make the web page look nice.
Once WordPress is set up, it's really easy to add new posts and new pages, and to update them. It's easy to add images and videos to your blog posts and pages. If you have ever used Word for Windows (or something similar), you will be able to make a nice looking post on WordPress.
When you edit or write a new post in Wordpress, little buttons are displayed above where you type your post. To change your text to bold or color or something else, just highlight the text then click whichever button required. If you want to format your heading, type in and highlight the text you just typed, then click on the "pull down arrow" where it says Paragraph.
Practise a little bit before you publish your post. There is a button you can click to "View your post" before publishing it.
Reason Number 5: It's Easy and Simple to make your Blog look Great
The WordPress developers have made it really simple and easy to make your blog look beautiful. And, there are so many different ways your blog can look. Something known as a "Theme" or a "Template" is used to pretty up your blog after you've installed it.
There are literally hundreds of themes you can choose from, many are free and there are also a number of paid themes. The paid themes often have features that aren't available in the free themes.
You can have any website built with WordPress, get the advantages of having it seen quickly by search engines, and no-one will know it's been built using WordPress. If you're new to blogs, I recommend starting off with installing a free theme yourself. It's very easy and simple!
There are basically 3 ways to get yourself a Theme (also called Template) to make your blog look great:
1. Install it yourself from the Administration area of your blog.
2. Download a Theme from somewhere on the Internet, then Upload it from the administration area of your blog.
3. Have someone else install and customize your blog for you.
How to Install the blog yourself
There are 2 ways to do this - select a free theme from the administration area of your blog, or find a free or paid theme by searching through the themes available.
1. Select Theme from Admin area of WordPress
Once you've logged into your blog, click on "Appearance" from the Left side menu, then on "Themes". From the big Tabs at the top of your admin area, make sure "Install Themes" is selected. See where it says "Feature Filter Find a theme based on specific features"?
Tick some of the little boxes, to have a selection of themes displayed, for you to choose. The less boxes you select, the more choices you will have.
For example, I chose orange and 2 columns, then clicked on the button "Find themes" and got quite a nice selection. All you need to do now, is click on install to install the theme you want. Easy Peasy!!
2. Download a Theme
The official WordPress.org site has over 1,000 themes you can choose from. Simply choose your theme and click on the Download button. If you save it onto your desktop, you'll find it easily. After downloading the theme to your computer, upload it from the administration area of your blog and click the button to install as described below:
* From the "Install Themes" area, click up the top where it says "Upload".
* Click the "Choose File" button, select your File and click on the "Install Now" button.
I've given you a lot of reasons for using WordPress.org as your blog platform. I trust that I've inspired you to use this particular platform for your blog so you find installation, modification and writing blog posts, simple and easy for your Network Marketing business.
Julieanne van Zyl provides a "Road Map to Success" video training system, which removes the mystery of building a successful Network Marketing business. Most MLMers will never know these easy steps, but your 7 tutorials are Free if you get them now: Internet Network Marketing Training
No comments:
Post a Comment