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Archive for Technology
Creating a WordPress Multiuser Blog
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WordPress is a powerful infrastructure that can be used to make a variety of different types of sites. WordPress is most often used to make blogs, of course, but it can also be used as the foundation for business websites, e-commerce websites and even educational websites. Another powerful, but lesser known, type of website that can be created with WordPress is a “multiuser blog.”
A multiuser blog isn’t simply a matter of allowing different individuals to play different roles (such as an author or an editor or an admin) in running a blog. Rather, a true multiuser WordPress blog is a website where multiple users can each have their own blog, and all of the individual blogs will run under a single WordPress installation and on a single domain. This can make it very easy to administer a large number of related blogs and to achieve a wide range of business objectives.
Creating this type of multiuser set-up used to require the use of a plug-in, but standard WordPress installs that are at least as recent as version 3.0 now support a multiuser set-up with just a little bit of effort to modify your underlying code.
The first step is to enable multisite on your WordPress installation. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to get multisite up and running solely from your administrative panel. You’ll need to go into your wp-config.php file and manually add this line:
define(‘WP_ALLOW_MULTISITE’, true);
immediately before the line that reads:
/* That’s all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */
Now save the updated wp-config.php file. You won’t be able to access that file from within WordPress. If you need help locating it on your server, then contact your web hosting provider or webmaster.
Once you’ve made that change, you’ll see a “Network” selection in the “Tools” portion of your administrative menu.
After you click the “Network” link you’ll be taken to the screen through which you’ll set up your multisite network. The first thing you’ll have to decide is how you want the domains for each user’s website. You can choose for the addresses of the sites to be structured as subdomains, like:
http://site1.website.com
http://site2.website.com
http://site3.website.com
You can also have each of the websites set up as subdirectories, as follows:
http://www.website.com/site1
http://www.website.com/site2
http://www.website.com/site3
After you make that choice, you’ll choose a title for your new network and the administrative email address you want to use. Then click the “Install” button and WordPress will help you make a new folder in your main blog folder, identify a number of new lines that you’ll need to add to your wp-config.php file, as well as new lines that you’ll need to add to your .htaccess file.
When you log back in to your blog (making changes to the wp-config.php and .htaccess files will likely have the effect of logging you out), you’ll see a new Super Admin menu. Click the “Sites” selection in this new Super Admin menu and you’ll be taken to a form that lets you create a new site that will have its own set of logins and its own administrative dashboard.
This summary walks you through the process of setting up a multiuser blog, but for more details you can consult the underlying WordPress resources at: http://codex.wordpress.org/Create_A_Network
How to Set Up PayPal
Posted by: | CommentsIt almost goes without saying that one of the main reasons you run a business is to make money. If you have a traditional store with a physical location, you can always accept payments from your customers simply by getting yourself a cash register or cash box.
Yet many businesses are exclusively on online. Then you need to figure out a way for your customers to pay for the goods and services you sell. For many businesses, PayPal has been the answer.
PayPal’s “Website Payments Standard” product is what many businesses use. There is no monthly fee associated with the service. It also allows businesses to accept customer payments via credit card.
The service works by providing customers a clickable button or link that takes them to the PayPal website when they are ready to purchase. The customer enters their information on PayPal, and is then returned to the business’s website after the transaction is completed. PayPal provides the shipping and other information to the business to complete the transaction.
Basic PayPal Set-Up
Set-up is relatively simple. Begin the process by signing up for a website payments standard account on PayPal. Provide your business information, including the bank account you want to link to your PayPal account. PayPal then provides you with tools to create the HTML code for the “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” buttons. You can insert this code on the appropriate page of your website.
For an additional fee, PayPal also allows you to set up subscription services that your customers can buy. For example, a business that provides monthly reports can sell a subscription to customers who are willing to pay a certain price each month. Customers only have to provide their credit card information once.
PayPal also offers a service called “Website Payments Pro.” This provides you with the ability to accept customer payments directly on your website. This service costs $30 a month. It does require that you manage your own credit card data security infrastructure. This can be a daunting task for many small businesses. There are strict laws and regulations that apply. However, high-volume businesses may consider it worth the additional time and expense.
PayPal’s Fees and Charges
PayPal charges a fee for each transaction. The fee is based on the volume of your monthly sales. If your business does a monthly business of 50 transactions for $20 each, PayPal will take $44 of your $1000 as a fee. The fees generally decrease as the dollar value of your business increases. However, each individual transaction triggers a minimum 30 cent fee. If your business does lots of very low price or “microtransactions” online, then PayPal might not be an optimal solution.
PayPal has proven to be the convenient, reliable and reasonably priced service for a significant number of online businesses. It’s convenient for your customers. And it’s a fast and easy way to collect payment.
How to Use Google Analytics
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Google Analytics is a handy tool you can add to your website pages to learn valuable information. This information can help you fine tune your website and your business. Let’s take a look at some of the information Google Analytics offers and how you can use this information to your advantage.
What Google Analytics Provides
A Google analytics report breaks down the information into a list of sections. They include:
Site Usage which includes:
- Visits – Total number of visits to your site
- Page views – Total number of pages visitors looked at
- Pages/visit – Average number of pages viewed per visit
- Bounce rate – The percentage of users who left after viewing only one page on your site. Aim for under 50%.
- Average time on site – How long a visitor stayed on your website
- New visits – The percentage of people who haven’t visited your site before.
Visitor Overview – this section breaks down the visitor information into more detail including the number of pages viewed overall and the average page view per visit. This information can be invaluable. However, it takes a bit of analysis to find the noteworthy information.
For example, if you notice that there are only three page views per visit that might make you worry. People aren’t spending much time on your website. However, if the majority of your visits are not new visitors, meaning people are coming back to your website for information. Then the number of page views may not be so concerning. It’s likely that the visitors are just reading your new content.
Traffic Source overview – This section tells where your traffic comes from. It lists how many came from search engine traffic, for example Google Organic, but how many came from direct traffic and from referring sites. You can use this information to fine tune your traffic generation strategies.
For example, if you find that 60% of your visitors are coming from Google Organic, that’s good. However, if only 15% are coming from referring sites, you may want to increase your link building strategy. And vice versa, if you find you have low Google organic numbers, you would then know it’s time to work on your keyword placement and optimizing your content and your site.
The traffic source overview also tells you what top keywords people used to find your content. This is of course extremely helpful when creating your content plan and learning what keywords people use and what they’re looking for on your website.
Content Overview – This section of the report lists the top content and the page views for each piece. This is ideal information for building and creating your content strategy. It’s more beneficial however, if you compare the information over time and look for trends. Is your top article always a tips sheet? Is it always on the same basic topic? Google Analytics compares your present week to the prior week. However it’s more advantageous to look at your content overview information over a longer period of time.
Google analytics provides valuable information for you to fine tune your keyword strategy. It helps you learn what content people prefer on your site. And it helps you learn where your visitors are coming from so you can adjust your traffic generation strategies as needed. It’s not a crystal ball that can put you inside the minds of your prospects and visitors. However, the information Google Analytics provides is extremely useful to build your business and your business website.
Using The Thesis Theme for WordPress
Posted by: | CommentsThe WordPress Thesis Theme is one of the favorites among site owners with minimal technical knowledge. Basically, it makes it easier to change your site without knowing PHP or even HTML.
There are many themes to choose from. Here are five reasons you might want to use the thesis theme:
Ease of use
This is a great platform that allows you to have a good-looking site with minimal technical know-how. It is easy to change, no matter how little knowledge you have.
It contains a panel on the side that enables you to alter the theme without the need to change the code. If you want to make more advanced alterations, you might need to know some PHP and HTML. However, for most changes this isn’t necessary. It’s much more customizable than the free themes.
And even more complex jobs are relatively simple. You might have to change the code a little, but when compared with other themes, it’s not hard.
Just be cautious. You still have to know what you are doing. While this theme is simple to use, like any theme it’s possible to mess things up if you get reckless. For this reason, take time and read online instructions about working with thesis theme before you start experimenting.
Inexpensive
The thesis theme will run you $87 dollars to use it on a single site, and $164 for multiple sites. Considering how easy it is to use, this is very reasonable. It’s certainly pricier than some themes out there, but the quality more than makes up for it.
Support
The main site has a responsive support forum. Should you run into any difficulties, your question will be answered very quickly. The main developer, Chris Pearson, even answers the questions himself on occasion. This is one of the main selling points of this theme.
Instructions
As mentioned before, there are sites online that have in-depth instructions on how to use it. This isn’t the case with a lot of themes. This makes using it much simpler than one of the lesser-known themes.
SEO friendly
One of the big benefits of this theme is that it is easily optimized for SEO. The code is not complex, which means the site is much more likely to get ranked than other themes. Uncluttered code is always well liked by the search engines.
Some bloggers have reported an increase in traffic largely from using this theme. It’s not magic, so you can’t expect to just install it and see instant results. However, it certainly won’t hurt your efforts, like some of the free themes.
The bottom line is, the WordPress Thesis Theme is one of the better ones out there. if you are looking for an easy to use theme that is relatively affordable, look no further.
Using Google Buzz for Business
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Goggle Buzz is one of the newer social networking sites today, and it’s rapidly becoming more popular all the time. One reason, of course, is the Google name that is attached to it. However, it’s not just popular because of this. There is plenty of substance to back it up.
How do you access it?
It’s entirely located within your Gmail account, and it’s free. All you need is a Gmail account.
Who would benefit from using it?
Anybody just looking to catch up with friends could use it. However, it’s especially effective for businesses.
It is inspired by Facebook, Twitter and other popular social sites, as it takes on aspects of each. For instance, it enables you to upload pictures and videos. And you can easily have a conversation with other users. All of this enables you to give your business personality.
So how can your business benefit from it? Here are five reasons you might want to start using it:
Post wherever you are
One of the strengths of Google Buzz is that it works great with mobile devices. This allows you to post wherever you want, quickly and easily.
It even has a feature that enables you to speak into the phone, and it will automatically convert your words into a post. In other words, you don’t even have to write. This only works with certain applications, but it can be very convenient.
And you can let others know where you are posting from, if you want. This could be useful if you want to give your posts more personality.
Convenient
It links with the more established social sites. Therefore, you can see other people’s activity on Facebook and Twitter without even having to leave Google Buzz. This means you can view other people’s tweets right from the Buzz platform.
Segment your posts
One of the unique features about Google Buzz is that you can choose who you are posting to. For instance, you can just post to a certain group of contacts, or the entire Buzz network. It all depends on who you want to see your post.
This is especially useful for businesses. For instance, if you have a list of proven customers, you can do a post only they can see. And you can then write a message for those who haven’t bought from you yet. Therefore, you can tailor your posts to your audience, much like segmenting an email list.
Blog compatible
You can link your Buzz account to your blog. Therefore, whenever you update your blog, it will update your Buzz account. If you have a lot of followers, this could translate into a lot of money provided you have good blog content.
Filter
If you are subscribing to others’ RSS feeds, the Buzz has a filter that eliminates posts that wouldn’t be of interest to you. You just tell it what to block. This saves you time, because you don’t have to sort through hundreds of posts you don’t care about.
The bottom line is, you would be smart to use the Google Buzz, because it gives your business personality. While it will require time and effort, the Buzz can be very profitable for you.
Are you ready to give Google Buzz a go? If so, Follow Me on Google Buzz
How to Choose a List Provider
Posted by: | CommentsIn the world of Internet marketing, building a list is absolutely essential. Most marketers don’t have the expertise or the time to set up a list management system on their own server. Instead, most use a list provider. A list provider will allow you to collect e-mail addresses from buyers and visitors to your websites.
List management is an essential part of any Internet marketing business. Capturing a person’s name and e-mail address when they visit your site allows you to send them helpful information, build your relationship with
them and offer new products. It’s absolutely essential that your list provider be easy to use and have the capabilities to deliver professional messages.
Look for the following features to find the B.E.S.T. L.I.S.T.
BAD address protection.
Your list system should remove bad e-mail addresses automatically so you don’t have to deal with them manually. Clearing out bad addresses from your list can save you a lot of time.
EASY opt in creation.
Your list can’t exist unless you have an opt in form on your website. The opt in forms should be easy to create within the list provider’s system. You should be able to feel secure in putting the opt in form on your website and trusting that it will work.
SUBSCRIBE/unsubscribe system.
Subscriptions and unsubscriptions from your list shouldn’t require any input on your part. Your list members should be added automatically and removed just as easily.
TRACKING capabilities.
E-mail marketing isn’t effective unless you can tell how your messages are being received. A robust list provider program will allow you test and track your messages. You can see how many are being opened by your list members and how many are clicking through on your links. This can be a great way to learn how to market more effectively so you can reach your audience.
LIST management.
Your list provider should give you the ability to manage several different lists at once. You should be able to send a message to a few lists at once, filtering out people who are on a third list. You should also have the ability to send messages to people who subscribed after a certain date. All of these capabilities will help you market to your list more effectively.
INTERNET connection.
You shouldn’t have to wait for your messages to go out due to a server outage on your list provider’s side. Your list provider should be professional enough to keep an active Internet connection to your list management tools at all times. The better the connection, the faster you can work with your list.
SECURITY features.
Your list provider should make it clear in their terms of service that your personal information and the information of your clients will be secure and protected from hackers. Since people are giving you their personal information, you deserve to know that the list provider will keep their information secure.
TECHNICAL support.
If your list provider isn’t there to help you work through the technical issues to use their system, they aren’t worth your time. You’re using a list provider in order to make your life easier. You shouldn’t have to be hassled with technical details. Look for a provider that offers phone and IM support.
By looking for these features in your list provider, you can be sure that you’re finding a true ally in your business and not just creating another hassle.
How to Set Up An RSS Feed
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RSS feeds are a useful tool for people who want to keep tabs on websites, blogs and membership sites without having to surf and visit the websites individually. RSS feeds essentially send information to the visitor.
As a business owner they’re almost an essential tool to provide to your visitors, because they help you stay in connection with them on a regular basis. In fact, many people have readers that aggregate all the feeds they subscribe to and organize them so they’re easy to read and access.
On that note, here’s how to set up effective RSS Feeds.
1. Determine what content you want to make available to your visitors. What content do you want them to be able to subscribe to? For example, if you have an information-based website, you may want them to be able to subscribe to categories or to all new articles or to give them the choice.
2. Create your feed. You can use an RSS channel editor to create your RSS feed; if you’re not comfortable coding then this is an easy step. There are a number of channel editors and you can do a quick search online to find one that meets your needs. My personal favorite is Feedburner. It’s a snap to set up and all the work is done for you.
You can also create your feed yourself. It’ll look something like this:
<?xml version=”1.0″ ?>
<rss version=”2.0″>
<channel>
<item>
<title>Your Article Title Here</title>
<description>Your article summary/description here.</description>
<link>http://linktoyourwebpagehere.com</link>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
3. If you choose to do it yourself, upload your RSS file. You’ll cut and paste the code into your website code. Or if you’re using FTP, you’ll upload the file into your server.
4. Validate the feed. There are a number of free validation programs available online. This is an important step because errors can be present if you’ve created the feed yourself or if you’ve tweaked it.
5. Your next step is to let people know they can subscribe to your feed. Advertise. Place a button on your web page(s) and promote it. Many internet users love RSS feeds and take full advantage of them.
Make sure you update your feed as needed and stay on top of RSS technology. It has changed over the years; there are actually three types of RSS feeds and you want to ensure you’re giving your visitors the best you have to offer.
Getting Your Website Up and Promoting Your Business
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Starting a website or blog can be a minefield for many. At times, it can seem as though the World Wide Web is truly just that – a web to maneuver through and make sense out of. However, by using a few simple and effective strategies, you can come out at the other end all the wiser and more successful.
Here are a few things to bear in mind when building your first website or blog:
Forget the bells and whistles – keep it simple
Design on the internet needs to be easy on the eye, user friendly and make sense to the average user. Never assume your customers will be as web savvy as you – many may just be familiarizing themselves with online surfing while others may simply have come to expect traditional navigation on a website.
Simplicity always rules on the net. Let your website stand out by making it easy for the visitor to find what they’re looking for, and most importantly by providing great value and content within your site. Then simply follow a few basic good design rules and you’re set to go. Here are the most important rules to follow:
- Don’t use color for the background. Keep the background of your website or blog white. In some instance a light color will work but avoid dark colors. Black can be especially difficult on the eyes. When in doubt, go with a white background and black text.
- Don’t use too many graphics or flash images. Flash images can make a website slow to load and be downright annoying in some cases. Use images sparingly and make sure you use Alt tags in your images to make them search engine friendly. A few well-placed graphics can make a good impression and add to the actual content of the website – graphics should always enhance your text, not take away from it.
- Don’t use music or audio without controls. An audio welcome can be a great addition to your website but always give visitors the option to click to hear the audio if they choose to. Otherwise, you may startle or annoy your customers when they suddenly hear a message they weren’t expecting. Music in most cases is just not necessary and will distract from the message of your site. If you feel that music is a good addition, again, give your customers the option to click to listen to the music rather than taking that choice away from them.
- Don’t use too many text colors. As with the background and design of a site, text color should be kept simple. At most use three colors within your site, preferably two – one for the standard text and one for headlines. This will make reading easy on the eye and look more professional. Using two colors also means that your headlines will stand out to the reader and draw them into the text.
- Break it up. Text can be very difficult to read online. Make it easy on your visitors’ eyes by breaking up the text into small, manageable sentences. It also helps to add bullet points and sub-headlines throughout the text as many readers on the net skim pages rather than absorb them in full.
Don’t forget the content
Good design is important but great content can make all the difference to your internet success. The best approach is to gel good design with stellar content and you’ll have a sure winner on your hands.
Always give a little more than other websites and keep your content fresh and up-to-date. Add interesting stories, articles, downloads, videos and information that will help your visitors achieve their goals.
Don’t avoid feedback
Feedback – good or bad – is important to your business. Ask visitors to fill in a poll, reply to your newsletter or give them feedback in general. Use this feedback to improve your site further and to help your visitors achieve their goals. This will pay off nicely for you too in the long run.
Creating a Website That Works
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Unlike the traditional business model, an online business gives you 24-hour presence which anyone from around the world can access.
This is an exciting and fantastic opportunity for business owners who know how to make the most of this powerful sales engine.
Here are a few tips to help you create a website that really sells:
#1 – Keep it simple. A great website doesn’t have to include tons of graphics or flash images, in fact, this can work against you. A website with clean lines that’s easy to read and navigate will usually have a better conversion rate. Your visitors aren’t really interested in all the bells and whistles – what really matters most to them are the answers you have to their problems. You can achieve this by offering genuine great information.
Avoid music, flashing images and too many graphics. A few well thought out graphics can enhance the look of your website but anything else may be confusing and look too “busy” to your visitor. If in doubt keep it simple, and let your words shine.
#2 – Content is king. Great content solves problems and offers solutions. When people search on the internet they’re looking for information first and foremost. If your website offers solid information, people are more likely to visit you again and trust your product recommendations too. Quality content will also attract the search engines and you’ll stand a better chance at achieving that all-important top ten ranking for your keyword phrases.
Always concentrate on creating value through quality content, and you’ll build a business that will pay you back for years to come. You really can’t go wrong with providing good content.
#3 – Get their information. Even with a great website it’s likely that your visitors won’t buy from you the first time around. It takes time to build confidence and trust on the internet. This is why it’s important that you have a method of collecting their name and contact information when they first land on your site. You can then communicate with them through emails and start to build a relationship which will bring them back to your website.
To get the highest number of subscribers, place an opt-in box in a prominent position on the home page of your website. But don’t stop there; make sure the opt-in box is prevalent throughout the site so that visitors can access it from any page. Include a catchy headline to draw their attention to the area.
And don’t forget to give your visitors an incentive for signing up. People really don’t give their names and email addresses out as freely as they once did due to the high levels of spam on the internet. Give them an incentive to sign up by offering a free report or other great offer.
Building a great website is not difficult. Always think about your visitors first and help them by providing a website that’s clean and easy to navigate. Then add great content as a solution to their problems, and finally get their information so that you can keep helping them further in the future. Concentrate on these three basics and you’ll design a website that truly is a 24-hour sales engine.
You will want to check out our Blog Crazy Special going on right now!
Keeping Confidential Information Safe
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While technology progresses, it has become easier and easier to get a hold of people’s personal information and other important documents. There are many ways to help keep ahead of these people and keep your information safe. The key is knowing what they are and keeping yourself protected.
When it comes to computers, it can be difficult to keep your information safe from potential hackers and other dangers. That’s why it’s important to have a quality antivirus program. But, contrary to what many computer salesmen tell you, you don’t have to pay a lot to get a virus protection program that works. In fact, some of the better programs are free or require less than $20 for a 6-month license. If you just want to get a more expensive software program just in case, you can always run it and a free or inexpensive program as well.
(Product recommendations – AVG and Panda Security – McAfee Total Protection is available from my ISP (Comcast) at no charge)
In addition to protecting yourself against viruses, you also need to keep out other threats that virus checkers may or may not cover. There are several good spyware programs that are free and effective. A good rule of thumb is to look up the product and what it protects against. If you’re not already protected, it’s probably a good idea to buy or download the program.
(Product recommendations – AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy and Webroot’s Spy Sweeper)
In addition to keeping information safe while it’s on your computer, it’s also important to keep it safe while sending it. If you’re sending confidential information or requesting it from someone, always be sure to use a safe, proven encryption program to protect the data from getting into the wrong hands.
(Products recommendations – GNU Privacy Guard and Postini)
Hackers aren’t the only danger to your electronic files, however. While it may be less devastating than having the information stolen, losing it to a computer failure or natural disaster can be very harmful as well. Be sure to back up your information and keep it somewhere safe. Just remember if you protect by keeping information on a separate drive or CD, etc, it could still be destroyed in a fire or flood if it’s in the same place as your computer.
While you hear a lot about people losing important information and documents from their computer, paper documents can still be lost or stolen just as easily. It’s just as important to protect these as it is your computer. To protect against thieves, you can get a safe or other locked storage device. What you get depends on what information you have and what you are able to spend.
While a safe may be great for keeping your documents out of the hands of other people, it may or may not be secure in case of fire, flood, or other disasters. That’s why it’s important to get a safe that is, or find another way to protect documents. There are containers that can do this for you that are relatively inexpensive, or you can back up the information securely online.
(Products recommendations – Carbonite, Mozy and iDrive)
Remember that no matter what you do, there is no 100% sure way to keep private information private, but you can take major steps to protect it.
