Help wanted: blog advisors

[Netzach]

I've done vanilla and xxx, and a lot of the same stuff applies, sometimes not.

 

[Netzach]

Using WordPress on my own hosted site is the plan. Can you recommend a good SEO plugin?

Already using the twitter machine now and again but it won't be hard to ramp it up to promote the blog.

Can you point me to a Q&A kind of blog at blogger? Sounds like an intriguing idea.

Many thanks, N.

I pulled the Q+A from my ass, but the concept of "feeder blogs" is something you can look into via adult webmastering, that's where I encountered it. You won't have time or benefit from doing 80 million of them like someone in adult, but you might be able to tap some of that strategy. gfy.com is a crass adult webmaster community and netpond is a less "general board" like atmosphere - there's a lot of discussion about blog networks and feeders.

A common strategy is a simple hub. Your real endeavor on its own host is in the middle and then the free platform blogs are all linked to it AND each other, everything is relevant, but the linked outer ring all points IN to your main blog and that never points back out.

Google has gotten wise to some of this, so you'll want to keep the "spam" blog relevant - IE. also in english versus in spiderbait nonsense.

This is, on the level of black hat/white hat and stupid waste of time versus not, a white hat the color of overwashed undies, and a medium waste of time, like alphebetizing your CD's or dusting your light fixtures.

Do I actually have time to do all this? No, I'm halfassed at best on my own.



For SEO I use Greg's or SEO Ultimate - both free plugins you can access from the back end of WP.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I just started a thread for wordpress questions on the howto forum:
http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?p=41000942

I thought about starting it here but it's more than just us...

 

[Netzach]

My experience with spammy bullshit is that doing SOME of it, people find me, and the natural SEO friendliness of doing a niche blog does the rest. But doing NO spammy bullshit is like not buying the lottery ticket - I've never gotten anything that way.

 

[BiBunny]

I use SEO Ultimate, too. It has a million different settings to play with, but the most important one is the way it lets you create custom meta information for each individual post and page.

And everything Netz is telling you is 100% sound, especially the feeder blog method of building your own backlinks.

/geek

ETA: Oh, oh, oh--Twitter. I would either set my blog posts to tweet automatically, or I would hand-tweet them myself. Automatic is easier, of course, but manual looks less like spammy bullshit.

really /geek this time

 

[midwestyankee]

Has anyone tried InboundWriter?

 

[cfuhrer]

My goodness but this is an informative and helpful thread.

 

[Keroin]

Has anyone tried InboundWriter?

Nope.

I've never bothered with SEO for my blog because it's always been strictly a personal/aid-to-sanity thing.

When I finally get around to starting up my, ahem, professional writing blog, I guess I'll have to start caring about all this. Blerg.

ETA: Oh! Something else you might want to consider, oh you of the mellifluous voice, is podcasts. I attended a social media workshop a few years ago, at a writer's conference, and the speakers showed just how amazingly well their podcasts did on their websites vs text posts. It was quite a difference.

 

[JMohegan]

I took that pic! I have to admit it makes me smile, even if it is an odd fit for me on this forum.

It makes me smile too, even if it's not a gauzy blue chest.

 

[JMohegan]

Use wordpress HOSTED on your OWN hosting with a decent SEO plugin. Fill in all the prompts that plugin gives you. Decide to blog every day. Realistically blog once a month.

Use twitter to point people to your blog. You could call your blog Jeremy and people will find you if you do this. THIS you want to do every day.

Also blogger is a decent "feeder" if you aren't too crass about it. You can blog your business on your own host and then blog a Q+A kind of blog on blogger about why people would want your business.

Post your blogs as articles where relevant, use reject posts as PR articles.

Don't worry you are spamming people - spam is automated crap, promotion is YOUR hand-tweeted crap. Follow relevant people and just keep uttering at least three times a day. I am honest to god FLOORED by what twitter does for my business. If I tweet the release of a new hypnodomme recording - BAM.

Who are these people? Who cares.

Don't sweat long and short. I have essayist monsters that have made me cash in floods, and I have one word posts. DO use images, definitely. Don't set yourself up for pain, either, use licensed images and pay out for them if you have any doubt in your mind about someone suing you over it - it's worth every penny.

I don't do the blog thing; I just want to say this is fascinating. Truly.

There's a whole big world of the internets out there that to me is like a different galaxy.

 

[intothewoods]

I've got mad blog title ideas. The problem is, the only kind of blog I'd be interested in doing would be way too revealing about my personal life, since it would be a big mishmash of all my interests some of which are unacceptable to society as currently constituted and others of which would lead directly to my true candy indentity.

MWY, maybe look at the blogrolls of some of the blogs you hope to model your blog on, to get some initial ideas. Clever, catchy, and short are good.

Killjoy!

I concur with the WP comments. And available themes ensure constant coolsterism design possibilities. Photos=yes. And I'd advise a mix of serious and less serious, to provide variety and the unexpected.

And I like your photo, ITW. I know the spot from which that photo was taken! Ahhhhh, summer in the NW: 75, clear, zero humidity, mountain out....

DGE - you promised that weekend would be a secret!

Make sure to have lots of coded references to the M/s lifestyle so that those with eyes to see will know you're cool.

HA!

I just started a thread for wordpress questions on the howto forum:
http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?p=41000942

I thought about starting it here but it's more than just us...

Sweet!

It makes me smile too, even if it's not a gauzy blue chest.

 

[Netzach]

I don't do the blog thing; I just want to say this is fascinating. Truly.

There's a whole big world of the internets out there that to me is like a different galaxy.

It was one thing or another. Sink. Or swim.

....There's a vintage Magnum PI episode with young Tom Selleck treading water and trying not to die the entire episode. Magnum c'est moi.

Although my voice is lower and I don't wear 2 inch inseam shorts as well...

 

[Netzach]

Oh I can't stress two things enough that will save you a WORLD of hurt. Kill comment spam, and lock your shit down.

1. Update your wordpress installation when the updates come out.
2. Block your comment spam. I use block spam by math reloaded.
3. On TOP of that, make sure you do some of the security 101 things, at least. Be sure you have at least a math or captcha on your admin login page.

Comment spam virus can wipe you out of Google in a day, and getting that "this site may be harmful to your computer" shit to go away is a nightmare.

 

[Stella_Omega]

After trying them all, including math-reloaded's plugin, I use the spamfree plugin http://www.toddlahman.com/spam-free-wordpress/ which also gives you a very reliable contact form as well.

The plugin is not listed on wordpress.org because there's a pointback in the settings page or something-- but it's the best easiest most foolproof spam filter. That plus Akismet -- and damn.

Set your comments setting to "require moderation"

 

[JMohegan]

It was one thing or another. Sink. Or swim.

....There's a vintage Magnum PI episode with young Tom Selleck treading water and trying not to die the entire episode. Magnum c'est moi.

Although my voice is lower and I don't wear 2 inch inseam shorts as well...

AHAHA, I love that you picked a cultural reference I actually get!

On a more serious note - I have every faith in your stamina for the treading.

 

[intothewoods]

AHAHA, I love that you picked a cultural reference I actually get!

On a more serious note - I have every faith in your stamina for the treading.

I loved that show.

 

[Netzach]

We are on a major vintage TV run around here. Everything contemporary I've tried to watch that's actually halfway OK falls off after the first season.

God, I should have a vintage TV and the gay subtext that managed to "hide" blog.

 

[midwestyankee]

Next up is the question of overall appearance, and color in particular. Much of what I do (clothing, my current website, business cards) involves blues and grays with some red, but I wonder if that's too dull.

Thoughts?

 

[cfuhrer]

My recommendation would be to stick with your "signature" colors. But that comes from a standpoint of brand building rather than web presence know-how.

Just my $.02.

 

[CutieMouse]

I vote stick with those colors for "branding" (unless you're ready to shake things up card/letterhead/etc), but I'd limit the gray or make sure it's a businessy gray (not an afternoon wedding gray). For some reason too much (or the wrong shade ) gray on websites always strikes me as impersonal and thrown together, more than professional and polished... And I just remembered I still owe you an email. Sigh.

 

[midwestyankee]

My recommendation would be to stick with your "signature" colors. But that comes from a standpoint of brand building rather than web presence know-how.

Just my $.02.

I vote stick with those colors for "branding" (unless you're ready to shake things up card/letterhead/etc), but I'd limit the gray or make sure it's a businessy gray (not an afternoon wedding gray). For some reason too much (or the wrong shade ) gray on websites always strikes me as impersonal and thrown together, more than professional and polished... And I just remembered I still owe you an email. Sigh.

I'm feeling ready to shake things up a bit and I'm doing a sort of transition with my business cards (not that I need or use very many). I'm inclined to go with a WordPress theme that allows me some control over the site colors so that I can leverage the transitioning away from gray that I did in my biz cards.

So, CM, are you suggesting that I not use the WP theme called "Shades of Gray?" I kid you not; I just came across that theme in my search.

 

[cfuhrer]

So, CM, are you suggesting that I not use the WP theme called "Shades of Gray?" I kid you not; I just came across that theme in my search.

I think that's okay, as long as there aren't 50 of them.

 

[BiBunny]

I'm feeling ready to shake things up a bit and I'm doing a sort of transition with my business cards (not that I need or use very many). I'm inclined to go with a WordPress theme that allows me some control over the site colors so that I can leverage the transitioning away from gray that I did in my biz cards.

So, CM, are you suggesting that I not use the WP theme called "Shades of Gray?" I kid you not; I just came across that theme in my search.

You can make most of the templates look like you want them to, for the most part. At least when it comes to colors, text styles, and so forth.

 

[Stella_Omega]

i've been tipping my grey websites towards warmer greys-- slightly brown tinted. The men seem to like them.
http://rubelpresents.com/
http://paradisesocal.org/

That's a child theme that I did for twentyeleven, by the way. Mostly, all it is is the css file.

 

[midwestyankee]

You can make most of the templates look like you want them to, for the most part. At least when it comes to colors, text styles, and so forth.

Sounds like it's time to do some experimenting.

i've been tipping my grey websites towards warmer greys-- slightly brown tinted. The men seem to like them.
http://rubelpresents.com/
http://paradisesocal.org/

That's a child theme that I did for twentyeleven, by the way. Mostly, all it is is the css file.

Those are handsome pages, Stella. Not quite the clean business-y kind of look that I have in mind, but very attractive for sure.