Last century (1996) Bill Gates said that “Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet.” From that came the phrase “content is king”.

With Google’s recent “Panda Update” also know as the Content Farm or Farmer update it can now be said that “Quality content is king.”

Google has changed their search engine ranking algorithm to try and eliminate sites with low quality content. And as you might expect it has angered many people whose sites dropped in the rankings. While on the other hand, those whose sites have risen in the rankings are very happy.

To quote from The Official Google Blog:

“This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.”

So no matter which end of the rankings you fall on, this change points out one very important factor. If you want your site to rank high you MUST provide quality content. And Google’s new update just reinforces that point.

Google also made other changes to their algorithm.  And those changes were designed to eliminate sites that have a lot of advertising such as banner ad or display ads. So keep that in mind when adding affiliate links or even Google Adsense.

So in the end what does it mean for you as a website or blog owner?  Keep producing quality content whether it be words, video or audio.  Add value to your site and strive to educate your readers and engage them in conservation.

Do that and you will be fine and your readers will keep coming back for more and who knows they may even want to do business with you!!

Create Quality Content for Your Blog is a great post from: The Blog Builder Guy-I Build It So You Don't Have To!

You can also view this video as part of the Learning About WordPress tutorial site that I recently created.  You can see this video and many more that will help you setup your blog fast and securely.

How to Add a New Page to Your Blog Setup is a great post from: The Blog Builder Guy-I Build It So You Don't Have To!

My newest site Learning About WordPress is well on it’s way to being done.  I’ve uploaded videos covering the following topics:

• Registering a Domain Name
• Setting Up Your Hosting Account
• Launching Your New Blog
• WordPress Security

Next I will go into detail about plugins, writing posts, adding pages, plugins, SEO, how to add video plus much more!

Once ”Learning About WordPress” is completed it will be your one stop resource for WordPress.

So please head on over to Learning About WordPress and take a look.  But keep in mind that it is a work in progress and things may not look as they will in the future.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Learning About WordPress is a great post from: The Blog Builder Guy-I Build It So You Don't Have To!

photo credit: Ritzee Rebel

Since I started this blog I’ve been extolling the virtues of having a blog for your business.  And this holds true today more than ever!

But with the holidays rapidly approaching it occurred to me that blogs are a great way to keep in touch with family and friends.  Especially these days when people are spread out around the country and possibly the world!  For awhile I had one son and his wife  living in Sweden and my other son was serving with the Marine Corp in Iraq.  Talk about spread out!!

So how can a blog help you stay in touch?

• Blogs are interactive, a characteristic which sets them apart from other websites.  (Yes, a blog is a website but not all websites are blogs).  Blogs allow comments so you can develop a dialog with people who read your posts.
• You can add photos.  Who wouldn’t want to see a picture of your fallen Christmas tree after the cat tried to climb it. ( Don’t ask me how I know about that!)  You can even add a photo gallery.
  
• Movies-yes you can add movies to your blog.  Imagine the grandparents watching a movie, on your blog,  of their grandchildren opening their presents on Christmas Day.

Blogs allow you do do all this things and it is easy to do.

And if you don’t want just anybody seeing pictures of your family, no problem because you can password protect your blog.  This puts you in control of who has access to your family’s blog.

If you think a blog can add value to your family’s togetherness, not only at holiday time, but through out the year then get started!

And as always if you have any questions let The Blog Builder Guy know.

Blogs Are Not Just for Business is a great post from: The Blog Builder Guy-I Build It So You Don't Have To!

photo credit: drexston

One problem that you may encounter is that your post title may be too long and you don’t want a correspondingly long file name.  So  what are you to do?  Simple…change the post slug!

The slug is what you would like your post to be called.  The option to change this is right under the post title box.

Blog Setup & The Post Slug is a great post from: The Blog Builder Guy-I Build It So You Don't Have To!

Permalinks are what WordPress likes to call page links. These make it easy for people to link back to your blog post and they tell your browser exactly where to go.

But from a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) point of view the default permalinks aren’t very good.

Here is what a default permalink would look like:

http://www.yoursite.com/?p=89

p=89 means that this is your 89th post (you’ve been busy)

What we really want the link to look like would be something like this:

http://www.yoursite.com/carpet-cleaning-tips/

Now what you have here is a keyword phrase “carpet cleaning tips” and a link that tell you and the search engines exactly what the post is all about.  It gives pertinent information.

So how do  we go from p=89 to carpet-cleaning-tips? Simple!

From your WordPress Dashboard go to the:

Settings tab and select Permalinks.

That takes you to the Permalinks menu where you will see Common Settings.

At the bottom of the list is Custom Structure. Hit the radio button and in the box write:

/%postname%/

Click Save Changes and you are done!

Now your post title will be part of your URL. And your readers and the search engines will be happy because they know what your post is all about.

If you have any questions about blog setup let The Blog Builder Guy know and I’ll do my best to help you out!

Permalinks & Search Engine Optimization is a great post from: The Blog Builder Guy-I Build It So You Don't Have To!

photo credit: Charles Williams

It looks like WordPress 3.0 will be out soon. Below is a cut and paste from the official WordPress Blog.  Rather than me explaining the latest and greatest update for WP,  I'll let them do it for me. The Blog Builder Guy will keep you posted as more information is available.

Here is the link to the blog.  WordPress 3.0 Beta 1

Below is the cut and paste from the WP blog:

"Remember when I posted earlier about the Twitter account, and I said that hopefully you’d find out later today what has been keeping us all so busy? Beta testers, this is your moment: the WordPress 3.0 Beta 1 has arrived!

This is an early beta. This means there are a few things we’re still finishing. We wanted to get people testing it this weekend, so we’re releasing it now rather than waiting another week until everything is finalized and polished. There’s a ton of stuff going on in 3.0, so this time we’re giving you a list of things to check out, so that we can make sure people are testing all the things that need it.

You Should Know:

• The custom menus system (Appearance > Menus) is not quite finished. In Beta 2, the layout will be different and a bunch of the functionality will be improved, but we didn’t want to hold things up for this one screen. You can play with making custom menus, and report bugs if you find them, but this is not how the final screen will look/work, so don’t get attached to it.
• The merge! Yes, WordPress and WordPress MU have merged. This does not mean that you can suddenly start adding a bunch of new blogs from within your regular WordPress Dashboard. If you’re interested in testing the Super Admin stuff associated with multiple sites, you’ll need some simple directions to get started.
• We’re still fiddling with a few small things in the UI, as we were focused on getting the more function-oriented code finished first. For example, we’re getting a new icon for the Super Admin section.

Things to test:

• Play with the new default theme, Twenty Ten, including the custom background and header options.
• Custom Post Type functionality has been beefed up. It’s really easy to add new types, so do that and see how it looks!
• WordPress MU users should test the multiple sites functionality to make sure nothing broke during the merge.

Already have a test install that you want to switch over to the beta? Try the beta tester plugin.

Testers, don’t forget to use the wp-testers mailing list to discuss bugs you encounter.

We hope you like it! And if you don’t, well, check back when beta 2 is ready. "

WordPress 3.0 Beta 1 is a great post from: The Blog Builder Guy-I Build It So You Don't Have To!

photo credit: jcfrog

Yes you need to do some maintenance on your WordPress plugins.  The best way to do that is by deciding which ones you are going to use.  And that will depend on the purpose of your blog.  A blog used for keeping in touch with family and friends will probably not be concerned with search engine rankings so the All In One SEO plugin won’t be necessary.  But if you want your site to rank high in the search engines then the All In One SEO plugin might be something you want to take a look at.  So do some research before deciding which plugins to use. 

If The Blog Builder Guy did your blog setup then I will have talked with you about which ones are important based on your blog’s purpose.  But remember everyone needs spam protection and the Akismet plugin is a must! I install it on every blog I build.

It’s also important to remember that plugins require resources and too many may have an adverse effect on the speed at which your blog loads.  Don’t go crazy installing plugins!

After you install a plugin make sure that you give it a thorough testing.  Go through your blog page by page and make sure it doesn’t cause any problems.  If it does make sure it is configured properly.  If it still causes problems delete it and try one that is similar.  There are many plugins so you aren’t stuck with only one choice.

Every once in awhile it is a good idea to reevaluate the plugins you are using.  One that was useful a year ago may not have much use any more.  Or it might be better to replace it with a newer one that provides a similar function.  If you decide to not use a plugin any longer don’t just deactivate it.  Delete it. Under each plugin’s name you will find these options.  Use Delete to completely remove it.  Activate | Edit | Delete

And last but not least, always update your plugins as the updates become available.  And another tip is to do a backup of your site before updating the plugin…you never know what might happen.  I’ve never had a problem but I’m sure one day something strange will happen.

I hope you found this helpful.  If you have any questions shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to help you out.

Maintaining Your WordPress Plugins is a great post from: The Blog Builder Guy-I Build It So You Don't Have To!

photo credit: adria.richards

In a previous post I listed 5 reasons to use WordPress for Your Blog  If 5 reasons aren't enough here are 3 more:

1) You can have 2 for the price of 1.  With WordPress you get a blog or a website or you can have both.  With the proper customization you can have make your site into a website.  If you wish you  can also add a blog to it as well.  The Blog Builder Guy is setup that way.

2) You can be the master of your domain, your website's domain, that is. Updating content is easy and with a little practice anyone can do it. And adding photos and video are easy as well.  No need to hire a  webmaster to do it for you.  Think of the money  you'll save by doing it yourself!

3) WordPress.org (not to be confused with WordPress.com) has become the fastest and easiest  way for businesses to get online.  It is also a great way personal bloggers to get started as well.  And as I stated in an earlier post there is plenty of help available if you need it. 

So there you  have 3 more reasons to use WordPress.  And remember if you don't have the time or inclination to build a blog The Blog Builder Guy will build it so you don't have to!

3 More Reasons to Use WordPress is a great post from: The Blog Builder Guy-I Build It So You Don't Have To!

photo credit: Jan Tik

You’ve got a great blog with an eye catching template, all the right plug-ins and widgets. Not to mention some killer content including audio, photos and even some video.  Excellent!  A great blog is…well….great but if no one can find it, it’s not doing you much good.

So how do you get the search engines to love you?

The answer is…. Link Building. It is one of the most important steps a blog builder can take to boost their search engine rankings. This is accomplished by using one way backlinks with the appropriate Anchor Text.

Anchor Text:  Anchor text is one of your main keywords that have been converted into a hyperlink to a page on your website.  For example, one of my keywords is “blog construction”  and it would look like this in a post on a forum or a comment on a blog. Blog Construction.   If you click on it you will go to the home page of my site The Blog Builder Guy because I linked the keyword to the site.  Always use one of your keywords as your name when you make a blog comment.

So where do you find places to add your links?  Below is a list of the easiest places to start.

Forum Posting: find forums related to your niche and place links in the body of the message or in your signature.  Make sure your comment contains helpful content and follow the forums rules.

Blog Comments: Post relevant comments on blogs related to your niche. Use your anchor text as your “Name” when filling out the comment info box.

Yahoo Answers: Find questions that are related to your niche and give answers.  The resource section allows you to put links to your site.

Social Bookmarking:  Bookmark your site on places like StumbleUpon, Digg or  Technorati.  At the bottom How to Set Goals for Social Media Marketing you’ll find a number of bookmarking sites listed.

Once you have started your backlinks building campaign make sure you stick to a schedule so you can achieve maximum effect.  Don’t do all of your linkbuilding on the same day of the week either.  Spread it out so it looks more natural to the search engines. 

And remember it takes time to build quality backlinks and it takes time for them to have an effect on your ranking.  Be patient…remember the turtle and the rabbit story!  

Link Building to Boost Your Blog’s Search Engine Ranking is a great post from: The Blog Builder Guy-I Build It So You Don't Have To!