Hello Happy Site Owners! Tips Tuesday has become so popular that I’ve decided to make a podcast of it. This is a trial run to see if you like it. I’m hoping more folks will be able to listen on the go. I’ll be featuring a little more news in this format too. Of course, you’ll find all of the links to the tips mentioned in the show notes. Drop me a line in the comments or over on iTunes to let me know if you like having your tips delivered this way and any suggestions you have about topics you’d like to hear more about. Click to download or listen now.
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News
The first Beta release of WordPress 3.5 is out and I’m already playing with it. And, it includes the new Twenty Twelve default theme. I really like it. Look for videos about what’s new in 3.5 soon.
The other big news is that Google seems to be getting closer to shutting down Feedburner. When they pulled AdWords for feeds out, which is their only revenue source tied to it, that was enough for me. I’m moving my feeds and those on all of my client’s sites to other feed services. So, I had to do a lot of research to find the best alternatives. I put all of that together in an eleven page report titled Ultimate Feedburner Alternatives Guide for RSS and Email. And, it’s free for you to download.
WordPress Plugins
Recently Updated
Have you noticed the WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin seems to have an update every few days lately? Now, the developer, Joost DeValk is normally right on top of any issues, but when I went to the plugin page in the repository, I saw that only 40 of over 500 threads had been replied to. So, I assume that all of these updates relate to the issues folks have been posting there. So, I expect we’ll see a few more updates before it’s over.
Plugins to Check Out
And did you know that Yoast (Joost) has a new Video SEO plugin? It’s not free though. Costs $89. Now, before you scream, think about how much a plugin like that costs to develop and how much it’s going to benefit you if video marketing is a draw for your traffic stream. Plus, I think it’s about time he monetized his plugins any way, especially considering how much time he spends supporting them. I’m actually surprised that there is not a premium version of the regular SEO plugin yet.
Blog Tips
I frequently get posts to the front page of Google by writing about what’s in the news in my industry. You can too and Lynn Terry gives some super how to tips and news resource links in her post on Breaking News, Buzz, and Current Trends on her ClickNewz site.
Marketing Tips
Dan Morris has an excellent post on Savvy Blogging with real-world breakdowns of different marketing models on How You Can Generate $2000 a Month with online marketing.
Neil Patel has a super post on his Quicksprout blog about increasing Author Rank – A Step by Step Guide to Dominating Search with Content Marketing. I’ve read many posts about Google changes but none of them had so many positive ways to make the most of those changes. I also really appreciated the first suggestion to increase your Circles. But, I’ve also found that the people who are the most active on G+ are other online biz folks and geeks. Now, both of these groups happen to be in my B2B target audience, so this is working for me. But, I wonder if it’s a worthwhile strategy for B2C folks.
If you’re into affiliate marketing, I want to tell you about a great site I found recently. It’s by Susanne Myers and her website is very appropriately named Affiliate Treasure Chest. I found myself reading post after post of helpful info. Susanne has been making a full time living online for over three years and on this site she simply tells you what she’s doing and about helpful resources she finds interesting. And then she reports on how they worked out. It’s a very refreshing to actually find a site where someone has a voice of sharing with you instead of telling you what you should be doing. I’m following her with great interest and invite you too as well.
Video Tips
Yesterday I saw a post on SwellPath about Author Rich Snippets for YouTube Video Content. Author Rich Snippets include your G+ profile picture next to your post in search results and it really makes those posts stand out. So, no authorship is available for your YouTube content too.
The nice folks at ReelSEO have a super post on using annotations in your YouTube videos to link directly to your G+ account.
More Tips
My first book, The Sage Age – Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom, http://www.sageage.net was published in print, which was appropriate for it’s genre and helped get it featured in Publishers Weekly. But, I knew my second book would definitely be an e-book and I’ve been waiting for e-readers to go color and more interactive. With this post from Daniel Hall on The Future of Ink, I can tell the wait is over. It’s titled Why Your Ebook is a Website.
And, Denise Wakeman of The Blog Squad has been doing a lot with The Future of Ink. She also just set up a Facebook biz page for them, so be sure to go Like it. Lots of super info coming from these folks about blogging and ebooks and how to make it all available on Kindle.
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How nice to hear Tips Tuesday by podcast!
Thanks Alys. I’ll be doing more podcast and interviews. They are handy for folks on the go.