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Introduction to WordPress Themes

Introduction to WordPress Themes

Without a doubt, WordPress is one of the most popular blog and website creation tools. That is, WordPress.org which is the WordPress version that is hosted on the hosting company of your choice. WordPress.com is rather limited and is hosted on WordPress own servers. It is free, but you are limited to a small number of themes and the customizations options are limited. As long as you are willing to pay for your own hosting service, ie – Go Daddy, JustHost, MonsterGator, etc., WordPress.org is the way to go.

Most of the top blogs use the WordPress platform. By looking at these blogs, you can see a great variety in their design. In fact, many of them don’t look like blogs themselves, but look like traditional websites.

The reason for this is that WordPress allows users to create their own themes, and upload them to the WordPress website. Many people do this for fun or the good of the community. However, some create what is called a premium theme which is basically a paid version. Some of the themes offer a free starter theme, but a paid version gets you more features.

One of the strengths of WordPress is also a weakness. There are almost too many themes out there. It can get frustrating finding a theme that suits your purposes, especially after reviewing hundreds of similar themes.  To eliminate some of the frustration, consider the following:

What do you want in a theme. On one hand, there are people who are just interested in their blog writing, and they want it to look nice. Commercialization or ads do not interest them. On the other hand, there are other people who are interested in their blog, but would also like to make a little money.

This generally involves AdSense, banner ads, etc. However, the placing of these ads (or the HTML code that supports them) on a blog or website is of prime importance to the advertiser, and also to the website owner. You don’t want ads to distract from your website, but complement it.

WordPress accomplishes this by having areas of your blog where you can place widgets. Widgets are basically place holders where you can place a great variety of content. It could include a link page, a poll, a photo, text, or HTML code that generates an ad.  However, depending upon the theme, widgets will be in different places and different sizes.

The WordPress database allows you to search for specific elements of themes.

For example, when you search the WordPress database, you will find hundreds of themes that say “”ad sense ready.””  Many of these themes have only a few widget areas available for ads, and some have as many as 11 different widget areas.

Generally, the more widget areas the better in a theme, because no matter what your purpose, it gives you more flexibility. 

Another factor that comes into play is that many themes are highly customizable.  Don’t be deceived by the initial appearance, look at the option page before you move on.   Many themes have great features, you just need to choose the appropriate option.  Background image, color, placement of widget sidebars, etc. are all common things that can be customized.

Finding a theme you like is a trial and error process.  However, before you begin, have an idea on what you want to accomplish.  Do you want widget space for small rectangle ads?  Or do you want widget space that will accommodate skyscraper ads, leaderboard ads, and the other popular banner ad formats? Do you want a widget space that will accommodate a particular photo dimension format?

The process of looking for a theme you like is a daunting task, but if you have a general idea of what you want, it will make the process go faster.  With the thousands of WordPress themes out there, you are bound to find one you like.

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How to Have People Write Blog Posts for You

As a blogger you’ll need a lot of content and typically to run a successful blog you’ll need to post at least once a day. In many niches like technology and entertainment you’ll find that the good bloggers make anywhere from five too twenty posts a day. Now if you’re a one man or woman show then you’ll know how much work it is too try and write twenty posts a day while still promoting the blog. It’s nearly impossible too do unless you spent all of your time everyday writing and promoting your blog. This isn’t usually an option because in most cases your blog won’t earn you a full time income.

You could hire writers to help you get the posts done each day, but if your blog isn’t making much money then you’re not going to want to spend money on content. If your blog is making money then I would recommend buying content because it will be much better quality then any free content that you get. In the beginning though you’ll want to resort to having people write free content for your blog, and then once it starts making money you can start implementing paid content that is of better quality.

To have people write for your blog for free it will take some work, and you’ll in most cases need to offer some sort of bonus or reward to the posters. The best way to offer people a reward is either through a contest or a revenue sharing plug-in. If you choose to run a contest on your blog for the people who offer content you’ll want to do it something like this. You should get ten great prizes that you post on a page of the blog, and you let everyone know on your blog that the people with the most posts will win these prizes at the end of each month. You’ll need to buy ten prizes each month for this method, but it’s a lot cheaper then buying content on a daily basis. If you have more then ten people posting and battling for the prized then you’re going to be well into the profits in no time. The goal is too get as many people posting on your blog each day as possible. If you choose that you want to run a revenue sharing plug-in then it’s really simple to do. All you need to do is activate the plug-in and allow people to register on your blog. Then when they post articles there Adsense will appear 50% of the time and your Adsense will appear the other 50% of the time. So you can make money off of their content with this method plus you’ll be filling up your blog with free content.

If your blog is new then you might not have the luxury of just making a post on the blog letting people know that they can win prizes or money for posting on your blog. You might need to go out around the internet and find people to post for you. The best place would be on forums in your niche, so for instance if you have a celebrity blog then you should try finding some teenagers in forums who will post on your forums in hopes of winning prized. It shouldn’t be too hard to find people on forums as there always looking for ways too win prizes and money online, especially if your niche is suitable for teenagers.

As you can see there are some great methods for getting free content on your blogs, so don’t think that your only options are paying someone too write the content or you yourself having to write the content. There are options for getting free content and in the beginning stages of your blogging career you should work on finding as much free content as possible. Content is king on blogs and the more you have the higher you’ll rank in the search engines and the more traffic you’ll get, which directly will result in making more money off of your blog.

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How to Install WordPress Theme

How to Install WordPress Theme

So you have hunted high and low and found the perfect WordPress theme. Now you need to know how to install WordPress theme or it will just be a pretty file collecting dust on your hard drive.

Installing a WordPress theme is not as complicated as many people think it is. The thing that tends to confuse people is that there are two different methods you can use when trying to figure out how to install WordPress theme.

Manually install WordPress theme

First I will go over how to install WordPress theme manually to help you get familiar with the WordPress structure.

To install a WordPress theme manually you will need to download the theme, which I am assuming you have done by now.
You will also need to unzip the WordPress theme to a folder on your hard drive (try not to forget where you put it).
Now you will need to fire up your FTP program and FTP to your site.
At this point you will want to navigate to the themes folder by going to the ‘wp-content’ folder and then the ‘themes’ folder.
Once you are in the themes folder on your web site, you will want to navigate to the theme you unzipped on your hard drive (you did remember where you put it, didn’t you?).
You will then need to upload the theme on your hard drive (folder and all) to the themes folder on your web site.
After your all FTP’d out you will want to go back to your browser and log into your WordPress blog on your site.
You will then go to the ‘Appearance’ option on the left side menu and select the ‘Themes’ option.
At this point you should be able to see your theme listed as an option. If not then you probably uploaded it as a folder within a folder and will need to double check it.
You should now be able to preview and then activate your theme by selecting the appropriate options listed under your theme.

Automatically install WordPress theme

If you are lazy like me you will want to let WordPress do all the work for you. So now we will learn how to install WordPress theme by letting WordPress get down and dirty.

To put WordPress to work you will need to first log into your blog.
You will navigate to the ‘Appearance’ option on the left side of the menu.
Next you are going to click on the ‘Themes’ option located under the ‘Appearance’ tab.
Once you are under the ‘Themes’ section, you will see ‘Manage Themes’ at the top of the page. Next to the ‘Manage Themes’ tab you will see the ‘Install Themes’ tab which will probably be grayed out. You will want to click on the ‘Install Themes’ tab to make it the active tab.
Now you have a couple options here.
Option one is that you don’t have a theme in mind yet and want to search for one. In this case you will select the options you are looking for and click Search. Once you have the results up on screen you can scroll through until you find one that you like and want to use. At this point it is only a matter of previewing the theme to make sure it is what you are looking for and if it is, then you can click Install and let WordPress do its magic.
Option two assumes that you have already downloaded the theme you want to use. In this case you will want to select the Upload option that you will find available under the ‘Install Themes’ tab. Once you have selected the Upload option you will want to browse to the theme file you downloaded and select it. (Yes WordPress will even unzip the file for you. How’s that for service!) Then it is just a matter of clicking ‘Install Now’ and let WordPress go to town.

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How To Create A WordPress Website

How To Create A WordPress Website There are a lot of people learning how to create a WordPress website. It is one of the most popular content management systems. It has literally been downloaded over twelve million times off the internet. With so many people using the program you have to wonder; just how easy it is? Very, very easy. Beginners are learning how to create a WordPress website and getting there very first one up the same day. The process only takes a few short minutes, and has all the prompts for you to do the creating. There are even some tutorials out there for you to use to add in plug-ins to the site. While the standard version has been used so much, and by all sorts of people; the easiest I have used is the WordPress Express. This version literally takes the learning out of how to create a WordPress website. There are only three basic steps to the process, but you will need a domain name ahead of time, and web hosting. How To Create A WordPress Website.

All you basically have to do is pick a name for your site, pick the template you want to use and review those, then just create. It’s that easy, and that fast. You can then go and customize your site within minutes and get it set up the way you want it to. You don’t have to worry about being stuck with the template you picked either. How To Create A WordPress Website.

The new versions of this program allow you to change the colors, themes, and templates even after you have created them. The MU version (multi-user) also allows you to control more than one site from the same dashboard. No matter which version you use, WordPress is something that even beginners can do with ease and a sense of accomplishment. Any program with WordPress is set up to be user-friendly, and they deliver on that. Think about it; over twelve million downloads means that people are using this and liking it. How To Create A WordPress Website

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You Need to Invest in Content 3

Conten is a Cheap Investment. When you start out blogging it seems like a lot less construct then it actually is and soon after posting daily on you are WP blog and doing the marketing and promotion you all soon see its hard construct. Now there are great benefits for people who construct hard building their content rich blogs though and many people can earn a full sentense income from blogging but the most important thing to remember is that you are scripture is king. Without amazingly great scripture on you are WP blog you won’t ever get to the point of being successful and you all be completely wasting you are sentense unless you are goal is just to scribble to a small audience. Investing in scripture means one of two things either you gift the sentense into writing great scripture or you gift the loot to have a writer create scripture for you are WP blog. When you buy scripture you need to ensure that you check it in copyscape to make sure it’s 100% unique and after that you can post it to you are WP blog. Writers cost anywhere from $5-$20 per article so there not cheap but at only $5 for an article if you can find a great writer it’s worth it. If you aren’t looking to gift any mola then you all need to gift sentense in researching and creating scripture that people want to read on a daily basis. I find it hard to continually scribble everyday on my content rich blogs so I usually always have a writer I can rely on to create the days post when I don’t feel like it. It’s important to outsource construct sometimes because often you are hour of sentense is worth more then the $5 you’d pay to have it written. If you can make more doing something else then you should outsource the scripture and just watch you are WP blog grow. Many professionals say the mola is in the archive so if you have an aged WP blog with great unique posts then you all always make you are investment back which is one great thing about blogging. You need to do it by the book though or else you are sale price will drop a lot and could become non-sellable if you were to do something as serious as to have the WP blog banned in the search engines for some reason. If you gift mola in scripture make sure you spend the sentense submitting the scripture to social bookmarking websites so that you can benefit from the scripture and start making mola back to cover expenses. It can take sentense for you are scripture to rank but if you target longtail keyword phrases then you stand a great chance at being able to get high search engine rankings. Try not to scribble scripture that every other WP blog is writing about especially if you’re in a niche like tech or entertainment. These niches often you all notice all the content rich blogs have the same material as the authority content rich blogs in the niche, this gives the reader no reason to read you are WP blog when they could read the authority WP blog and get the same information. This is why you need to think of creative ideas and topics to scribble about and then start jotting down notes. The more scripture you can add to you are WP blog the more traffic and potential revenue you all earn, which means you should try posting as many posts as you can every day to you are WP blog. Try to remember that you content rich blogs scripture is what will keep it running and keep the readers coming back so gift in you are scripture and you all be glad you did.

 

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You Need to Invest In Content

You Need to Invest In Content

When you start out blogging it seems like a lot less work then it actually is and soon after posting daily on your blog and doing the marketing and promotion you’ll soon see its hard work. Now there are great benefits for people who work hard building their blogs though and many people can earn a full time income from blogging but the most important thing to remember is that your content is king. Without amazingly good content on your blog you won’t ever get to the point of being successful and you’ll be completely wasting your time unless your goal is just to write to a small audience.

Investing in content means one of two things either you invest the time into writing great content or you invest the loot to have a writer create content for your blog. When you buy content you need to ensure that you check it in copyscape to make sure it’s 100% unique and after that you can post it to your blog. Writers cost anywhere from $5-$20 per article so there not cheap but at only $5 for an article if you can find a good writer it’s worth it.

If you aren’t looking to invest any money then you’ll need to invest time in researching and creating content that people want to read on a daily basis. I find it hard to continually write everyday on my blogs so I usually always have a writer I can rely on to create the days post when I don’t feel like it. It’s important to outsource work sometimes because often your hour of time is worth more then the $5 you’d pay to have it written. If you can make more doing something else then you should outsource the content and just watch your blog grow.

Many professionals say the money is in the archive so if you have an aged blog with good unique posts then you’ll always make your investment back which is one good thing about blogging. You need to do it by the book though or else your sale price will drop a lot and could become non-sellable if you were to do something as serious as to have the blog banned in the search engines for some reason. If you invest money in content make sure you spend the time submitting the content to social bookmarking websites so that you can benefit from the content and start making money back to cover expenses. It can take time for your content to rank but if you target longtail keyword phrases then you stand a great chance at being able to get high search engine rankings.

Try not to write content that every other blog is writing about especially if you’re in a niche like tech or entertainment. These niches often you’ll notice all the blogs have the same material as the authority blogs in the niche, this gives the reader no reason to read your blog when they could read the authority blog and get the same information. This is why you need to think of creative ideas and topics to write about and then start jotting down notes. The more content you can add to your blog the more traffic and potential revenue you’ll earn, which means you should try posting as many posts as you can every day to your blog. Try to remember that you blogs content is what will keep it running and keep the readers coming back so invest in your content and you’ll be glad you did.

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In Search of the Perfect Blogging For Money Tutorial

In Search of the Perfect Blogging For Money Tutorial

It is no secret that you can do very well blogging for money. So now everyone wants to learn how, and I don’t blame them. But, in this article I would like to point out the ingredients that make the best tutorial guide about blogging for the beginning blogger.

There is lots of opportunity to make some real money blogging. Many people have started with nothing and have become a success, seemingly overnight. Needless to say, this “”golden opportunity”” has spawned countless products aimed at teaching the blogging newbie just how to succeed at this lucrative trade.

But, like any other market, a lot of these products aren’t worth the digital pages they’re printed on.

I would like to point out to you, from experience, what you should look for in a product that claims to teach blogging, if you truly want to be successful at blogging for money!

Blogging like a pro is more than just setting up a blog, (anyone can do that), and making a couple of posts, and then writing some articles to submit to Article Directories in the hopes of driving traffic to your blog.

In a nutshell; It takes perseverance, know how, and smarts to make money with a blog over the long haul.

Here is what you want to look out for, when buying a blogging tutorial, or “”how to”” guide.

To begin with, you need a blogging guide, tutorial or coach that can show you how to set up a blog that’s not susceptible to being hacked by every two bit hacker and his brother on the planet.

I’ve seen so-called experts, who sell blogging “”how to”” guides for 30 and 40 dollars, and teach their students how to install blogs using Fantastico, a program that is included in most half-decent hosting accounts.

But they fail to tell their students how to secure their blog against hackers, and Fantastico WordPress installs are famous for being easily hacked.

Most of these so call “”experts”” won’t even show you how to back up your blog’s files, so that should the unthinkable happen, (server crash, or malicious hacker attack), you can get your blog back into cyber space again.

These self-proclaimed blogging gurus will gladly tell you that you should write articles, and join social book marketing sites, and pick your keywords appropriately, and on and on and on, with their rhetoric…

And they will charge you a small fortune for their self-proclaimed, profound, and earth shattering knowledge.

But I wonder, if they can’t or won’t teach you how to properly set up a blog, then how much of their “”other”” information is worth the outrageous amounts of money they are prepared to charge you for it?

To learn about blogging for money, here’s what you want to look for.

1.) Find a guide, preferably a video tutorial, that will teach you exactly how to set up a blog that is secure from hackers. (Blogging platforms, like WordPress, are very susceptible to hacker attacks when installed using the popular installer, “”Fantastico””)

2.) Find the blogging coach, or tutorial guide that WILL teach you how, and why to back up your blog. (Do NOT leave this up to chance!).

3.) Look for a blogging coaching guide that will give you a real plan for putting content on your blog. (Most of these guys just say “”keep your blog updated with fresh content””, but there’s lots more to it than that).

4.) Look for a blogging tutorial that will tell you exactly how to promote, and market your blog… (not just some general advice that you can find for free at any blogging forum).

5.) Look for a blogging guide that will tell you exactly what plugins to use to make your blog search engine friendly, as well as interactive with the visitors to your blog. (most of these experts just say to use a couple of plugins everyone knows about, and they leave it at that).

“”Do these gurus who write this junk really know how to blog themselves, or are they just selling you a burnt out ebook they found somewhere, and then rewrote?””

To make a long story short, it is not easy finding a blogging tutorial guide that will really teach you how to start blogging for money successfully, but it can be done.

Don’t just fall for the first well written sales page you click on.

You’ll recognize the phony sales pages. They come with all kinds of outrageous promises, and pictures of the authors PayPal account, showing you how much money he made last month or last week with their blog.

Remember, you can do just about anything with graphics. Anybody can make it appear like they’ve taken in a million dollars through PayPal with the right graphics editor.

Use discernment and common sense when buying a tutorial that is supposed to teach you anything about marketing online. You can’t make money spending all your money on junk!

And keep this in mind when searching out a tutorial that will teach you blogging for money, “”all that glitters isn’t necessarily gold””!

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