This is a guest post by Mitt Ray.

A white paper is a cross between a magazine article and a corporate brochure. They posses both the educative qualities of a magazine article and the persuasive qualities of a brochure, this educative and persuasive quality of a white paper makes it one of the most powerful marketing tools. As it first educates the reader, builds trust and then and only then does it market the service or the product to the reader.

White papers were first used only by companies that sold expensive and technical products, but nowadays they’re being effectively used by small business and bloggers, not only to generate leads directly, but to also generate emails for newsletters.

How Bloggers Can Use White Papers

Bloggers can use white papers for various purposes including the following.

1. To build a mailing list. When you start a blog you need to work on building a mailing list. Through your mailing list, you can stay in touch with your readers, build relationships with them and eventually generate leads. Your newsletters can also help increase the number of repeat visits to your blog, as on average a blog only receives 20% of repeat visits.

Usually it can be hard to get people to sign up to your mailing list, but with a white paper, this will become a lot easier. If you share good content, day after day on your blog, people will want to read your white paper, as they will want to know what new information they can receive after reading the white paper. When you ask them for their email addresses, they will feel that they will receive something better than the other content that is present on the blog and they will readily give you their email addresses.

A company doing really well with white papers and newsletters is Hubspot. If you visit their Marketing Resources page you will find scores of white papers and guides you can download for free just by leaving a few details about yourself. They use these emails to send you information their latest guides, white papers, webinars and offers.

2. To directly generate leads. White papers are mainly written to directly generate leads from them. Well written white papers have a higher reader to client conversion rate than any other content or direct marketing material, as they educate the client, build a trustworthy relationship and then sell the product or service to the reader. In the white paper the blogger can share secrets they have never shared on their blog before.

A white paper can help spread your expertise in your niche, which a regular blog post wouldn’t. Another advantage of having a white paper is that it is continuous. If your white paper is well written, the reader will want to finish reading it completely and they can either print them or download them onto their e-readers and read them whenever they want to.

If you want to generate leads from your white paper always make sure that your white paper is unique and your white paper’s topic is completely relevant to the topics you blog on.

3. To increase traffic to your website. You can provide links in your white paper which lead to posts on your blog. When you see topics in your white paper, which are relevant to some of your blog posts, you can provide links in your white paper which lead directly to them. You can also use a link shortenter like bit.ly to shorten your links before adding them as this will help you track the clicks on your links.

Adding links will not only increase traffic to your website, but will also make your white paper easy to understand, as the links to blog posts included in your white paper, will help explain complicated terms in your white paper better.

How Bloggers Can Create White Papers

Bloggers have two options for creating white papers: they can either start creating them from scratch or they can create them from their existing blog posts.

Create White Papers From Scratch

Creating white papers from scratch is the most common way in which white papers are crafted, here extensive research is done to know more about the target audience and to find out more about the subject, the market and the product/service, then the structure is determined and finally the white paper is written.

Create White Papers From Blog Posts

If you have a blog with many good posts, you should be able to easily create many good white papers from these posts. As you already know all about your target audience (if you write good posts for your target audience on a regular basis, you need to know all about them) you can skip straight ahead and create the structure.

White Paper Format

After you have chosen your white paper topic and the posts you plan to use in creating your white paper, you can start structuring your white paper. Creating a structure will make it really easy to write your white paper.

A basic white paper structure should include the following.

• Headline: A basic white paper starts with a headline which is followed by a sub-headline. The jobs of the headline and the sub-headline are to attract attention and let the reader know what this white paper contains.
• Introduction: After the headline comes the introduction. The role of the introduction is to summarize the contents of the white paper and let the reader know the benefits of reading the white paper. Make sure you let them know what your white paper is about and how they can find it useful. Don’t give away everything about your white paper here, just a little information which can convince them to read the rest of the white paper should be enough.
• Problems: In every good white paper the problems are discussed in detail, to let the reader know more about the problems they are facing, so that they will look forward to the solutions you provide. The problems section is written after the introduction. First a basic introduction is written and then each and every problem is discussed in detail.
• Solutions: If you write a good problems section then the solutions section that follows it will have a powerful affect on your reader. The solutions section should be written in a similar way to the problems section. Here you start out with an introduction and then discuss all the solutions to the problems in detail.
• Blog Info: The white paper should finally end with your blog, business, product, and/or service information explaining how you can provide a solution to similar problems detailed in your white paper.

Writing Your White Paper

Once you have created your white paper structure, you can start writing your white paper right away. All you will need to do is figure out what part of your blog posts goes into which part of the structure you have designed.

If you look into every blog post you choose, you will normally find that each of these blog posts describes a solution in detail. You need to pick out this solution and the problem associated with it and write about it in detail.

In the problems section of the white paper, you can write about the problems which would have the solutions which were discussed in your blog posts in detail and in the solution section of the white paper, you can just write the solutions discussed in your blog posts.

After you finish writing these two parts of the white paper you can write your white paper introduction at the beginning of your white paper and then the company and product/service information at the end of your white paper.

If you follow the above tips you should be able to create a white paper that provides all the benefits which were discussed at the beginning of this post with your white paper.

Have you ever created a white paper? What other tips would you offer for creating one that is beneficial for your blog or business?

You're reading How Bloggers Can Create and Use White Papers by Kristi Hines, originally posted on Kikolani. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Kristi on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

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This is a guest post by Marcus Sheridan, recently named one of the Top 10 Social Media Bloggers of 2012 by Social Media Examiner.

We all want our blogs to grow. I do, you do, we all do. But as many are now finding, it’s getting more and more difficult to experience growth quickly, especially in industries that are more saturated with many great bloggers and tons of excellent content.

Notwithstanding, every year bloggers come from nowhere and explode onto the scene, finding a way to build a large audience quickly and become a leading voice of authority and trust within their field.

So how does it happen? How can a newbie blogger increase their ascension to the top of their chosen industry? This article will demonstrate qualities of successful bloggers and how they have found a way to stand out from their peers in a very short period of time.

1. Be Relentless in Getting Stuff Done

I put this one first because often times when we read about ‘shortcuts to success’, we forget the most important principle of all- hard work. And when I look at bloggers that have shown a propensity to push with an unrelenting enthusiasm to get things done, one name really stands out to me — Danny Iny.

For those of you unfamiliar with Danny, he started his blog Firepole Marketing at the beginning of 2011 and managed to not only build a name for himself, but also produce one of the Year’s best works (IMO) with his excellent book, Engagement From Scratch, a must read for any blogger.

What was so impressive about Danny was the sheer amount of ‘stuff’ he did during the year to get going. Not only did he produce 2-3 great articles each week on his own blog, but he also managed to land more guest posts in one year than anyone I’ve ever seen… by a landslide.

Moreover, Danny also commenced a marketing training program, published his book, and found the time to get married in the process. Seriously, I thought I was pretty motivated until I saw everything Danny was able to accomplish in 2011, but he certainly opened my eyes to the possibilities if we put in the time and truly ‘will’ success into our lives.

2. Think Wayyyyy Outside the [Opt-in] Box

Whenever there is content saturation in an industry, one major key to standing out is the ability to think completely outside the box and offer fresh perspective on principles most folks have never considered. One person that comes to mind immediately when I consider this is Derek Halpern of Social Triggers. Derek was the first person (that I’m aware of) that put an opt-in box on his home page, something that many bloggers big and small have done since learning about this feature. (I added it recently myself and it works extremely well.)

Although Derek doesn’t write a prolific amount of content, the stuff he does write is always extremely thoughtful and often times questions status-quo best practices, a quality that has helped him build an email list of over 10,000 names in less than one year. He also started a podcast on iTunes which debuted at #2 in Business – Social Triggers Insider: Marketing, Psychology, and Business.

3. Know Your Shtick and Go After It Aggressively

I’ve talked about ‘knowing your shtick‘ quite a bit on my blog but the phrase refers to one’s ability to know their core strengths and passions, and then actively pursue this direction without distraction.

A perfect example of this is Amy Porterfield, who, in less than one year, has become known as one of the premier experts on using Facebook for marketing and business.

Instead of trying to be all things to all people, Amy has focused her efforts in one area, and boy have the dividends paid off. In fact, Amy recently launched arguably the most thorough online training course for Facebook marketing ever produced—Facebook Influence.

4. Learn to Post Powerful and Effective Blog Titles

I honestly feel one of the biggest problems in the blogosphere, especially for newer bloggers, is that they simply don’t understand how to write blog post titles that arouse reader interest and lead to a high click-through rate.

Although this may sound self-aggrandizing, I’m going to list a few examples from my marketing blog to show you exactly what I’m talking about:

• Chris Brogan Unfollowed Me on Twitter and Now I Hate My Life
• Eventually, Mr. Blogger, You Actually Have to Do Something
• 10,862 Comments Later, I Realize Blog Comments Are NOT a Business Model
• 7 Reasons Why Having a Twitter Feed in Your Sidebar is a Really Dumb Idea

5. Think Like a Teacher

If you’re a great teacher, and you find a way to speak to your audience in a way they can understand, it’s a good chance you’ll find success as a blogger.

A perfect example of this is Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income. Anyone that has ever read Pat’s blog will always describe it with this word—Helpful. In fact, it’s not just helpful, it’s extremely helpful.

Pat has a magical way of putting himself in the shoes of an inexperienced or beginning blogger, and then showing techniques, practices, etc. in such a way that anyone can understand. If you read Pat’s blog, there is a good chance you’ll leave every post with something new and applicable you can apply to your blog and business—the truest sign of a great teacher.

Your Turn

Although all of these qualities will surely help you to build your blog and brand more quickly in 2012, there are many more worth mentioning, and I’d be curious to know what other qualities you’d add to this list. Also, if you’ve noticed other bloggers demonstrating these qualities, don’t hesitate to mention them as well. As always, your thoughts, comments, and shares are very much appreciated.

You're reading 5 Essential Qualities of Growing Your Blog Quickly in a Crowded Niche by Kristi Hines, originally posted on Kikolani. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Kristi on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

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This is a guest post by Timo Kiander.

Many people live their lives without understanding, that there is a giant potential inside them. In fact, if they would realize this, they would achieve so much more in their lives.

This is where the personal development comes into play. Once you get involved with different self-improvement topics, your mind starts to change and you’ll start seeing everything differently (the people, the world, the events).

What I love about personal development is that it can be applied to many areas in one’s life. When you improve yourself first, you can have better results in whatever you do.

1. Build Confidence

Having a strong self-confidence is essential for any successful blogger. If you don’t own this trait, you are building invisible obstacles of your path to success.

To build your confidence, you need to take action and go outside your comfort zone – constantly. I know, this may not be very easy to accept for some people, but this is the only way to do it.

However, it is relieving to know, that you don’t have to make a huge leaps at once, when you are testing the boundaries of your comfort zone.

For example, if you want to start guest posting, but are afraid to give it a shot, start by submitting your posts to smaller blogs first. As your blog posts get accepted, move on to the bigger blogs. Finally, you have enough confidence to submit your guest post to big blogs too.

Once you have stretched your comfort zone a bit, you will feel more confident to take even bigger steps outside the zone. Finally, you realize that you have a rock-solid confidence and you are not limiting yourself from success.

2. Build Persistence and Consistency

If there are two characteristic that every blogger needs, they are persistence and consistency. Although I could have separated them, I feel that in many ways they go hand in hand.

When you start building your blog, you need to have persistence so that you are not quitting after the first setback. You also need to be consistent on your blogging efforts by creating high quality content – on a consistent basis.

Persistence and consistency build on top of motivation. You need to have a reason to move forward, even if at time you don’t feel like it.

If your goal is to be a successful blogger and an authority on what you do, it is going to take you more than just a sprint – it is going to be a marathon.

Whenever I have felt lost, I have remembered the lessons in various self-improvement books about truly believing in my end goal. Since the goal still resonates with me, I have been able to get back on track and move forward.

3. Get Rid of the Fear of Failing

Do you know what separates unsuccessful bloggers from successful ones? They are not afraid of failing. They have courage to be who they are and they take full responsibility of their actions.

Also, they are not afraid of negative feedback. Essentially, that’s what any blogger can expect at some point – in a form or another.

A very common lesson in personal development is that there really aren’t any failures. Rather, it is a feedback mechanism that helps us to improve ourselves further. Also, in many cases “failing” is success in disguise. It belongs to your journey from unknown blogger to a well-known blogger.

Many people are afraid of failing or receiving negative feedback. Instead, they should evaluate the events and see the positive potential in them.

No matter how well you plan something in advance, be prepared for setbacks and incidents that take your off-track. At the same time, be willing to learn from them and find out a way to turn that negative feedback into your advantage!

4. Control the Time

When I started blogging, I never realized how much work there is involved. I’m producing two posts per week for my blog and even that requires quite a bit of effort from my side.

Time management skills are essential for any blogger. Especially, if you are blogging part-time, it becomes even more important to learn the skills well.

What I have learned is that you should dedicate and prioritize time for those activities that matter the most. When the blogging is concerned, the most important one is naturally content creation.

You have to focus as well. For example, focusing on just the most important traffic sources related to your blog is a much better way to operate than trying to work on 20 different traffic-generating methods at once.

Focus also means cutting all the extra distractions to minimum when you work. You should develop a focused mindset so that when you create content, that’s all you do and everything else can wait.

5. Build Motivation

What keeps you blogging if you don’t see any comments on your blog posts or if people are not singing to your e-mail list?

It’s the motivation and faith: You have a compelling goal you are after and you are motivated enough!

Motivation is a very common theme in personal development. No matter if you set end goals or define visions – if you don’t have energy to “travel the path” from start to finish, you are going to quit.

Obviously, motivation is also faith. Even if you don’t get the results right away but you are still willing to work towards them consistently, you cross the finish line at some point.

6. Find Your Purpose

Finally, knowing your true purpose is one of the most fundamental aspects of your life. There are countless of books, training courses and coaches out there to help you to define and clarify your purpose.

If you are willing to take time, do some soul searching and testing different possibilities, your vision and purpose starts to become clearer and clearer.

In most cases, finding your purpose is going to take time. However, if you are willing to find it, your life can finally make sense to you.

When you take this concept to blogging, I feel that blogging should reflect your purpose in some ways. When you have a purpose and passion, blogging is a great way of documenting that.

Not only is all this important for yourself, but it is important for others too.

At some point, others start to notice your passion and they are willing to join you on your journey. You are not just a blogger anymore, you are the blogger on your market.

People rely on you as an expert by asking questions and advice. Also, you feel confident and grateful, because you are able to help people.

Photo Credit

You're reading 6 Ways Personal Development Can Make You a Better Blogger by Kristi Hines, originally posted on Kikolani. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Kristi on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

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As many of you know, I love writing about Google Analytics. I’m a data junkie, and there’s nothing I enjoy more than learning more about the visitors coming to my blog. One of the best ways to get actionable data out of your Google Analytics is to set up goals.

Setting up a goal in Google Analytics tells it that someone has completed something important on your website, such as buying product, signing up to your email list, or similar. For those who aren’t interested in selling products or capturing mailing list subscribers, is there anything else you can count as a goal on your blog? Absolutely – you can start with your comments!

What You Can Learn from Setting Up Blog Comments as Goals

Here are a few things you can learn from setting up comment form submissions as goals in Google Analytics.

• Discover what referral sites are sending the most commenters. This will let you know what social media sites, guest blog posts, or other referrers are sending traffic that not only reads your posts, but also gets engaged. On the flip side, if you are getting a lot of spam, you might discover the sites sending spam traffic to your blog. This could lead you to finding lists that are sending you nothing but spam and, if that is the case, you can ask them to remove your blog from their list.
• Learn the difference between commenters and regular traffic. On my blog, one interesting tidbit is the average time on site for regular visitors is 1:23 vs the average time on site for commenters is 10:31! A good reason to encourage comments!
• Find out what content on your blog your most engaged audience enjoys so you can produce more of it.
• See what part of the world your commenters are coming from. If you are targeting a specific region, but your commenters are coming from somewhere else, you might want to look into the reasons why.

So now that you know just a few reasons to set up comments as goals, let’s look at the ways you can set up your WordPress and Google Analytics to track your blog comments as goals.

Method 1: Tracking First Time Commenters Using Thank You Page & URL Destination Goal Type

For those who don’t want to get into hacking code and modifying templates, this is the easiest way to go. The only downside to this method is that it will only track the first time commenters to your blog. Also note that it will track every first time visitor that submits a comment, regardless of whether you go on to approve the comment.

The Basics of How it Works

Using a plugin, you will redirect first time commenters to a custom thank you page on your blog. In Google Analytics, you will set up that thank you page as a URL Destination goal type which tells Google Analytics that anyone who reaches the thank you page has completed an important goal.

Step 1: How to Set Up the Thank You Page in WordPress

Setting up the thank you page for your first time commenters is easy. Just create a new page on your blog, name it something like Thank You for Your Comment, and add some good content. This page can be as simple or complex as you choose to make it.

The goal is to think about what you would want your first time commenters to do next on your site, such as check out the main categories on your blog, sign up for your mailing list, or check out your latest product. You could also suggest that they connect with you on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.

Step 2: How to Set Up the Redirect to the Thank You Page

Next, you will want to set up the redirect using the Comment Redirect plugin by Yoast. Add this by going to your WordPress Dashboard > Plugins > Add New and searching for comment redirect yoast. Once activated, you will find the settings for the plugin under the Plugins menu.

Here, all you have to do is select your thank you for commenting page from the dropdown and save settings.

That’s all it takes! All of your first time commenters will be directed to your thank you page.

Step 3: How to Set Up the URL Destination Goal in Google Analytics

The following directions are for Google Analytics 5, currently in beta. To use this version, click on the link at the top of your Google Analytics dashboard for New Version.

Last, but not least, you will need to set up the URL Destination goal in Google Analytics. Simply go to your blog’s profile in Google Analytics and click on the Settings wheel. Then click on the Goals tab.

To add a new Goal, click on the + Goal link.

If you have multiple websites / blogs, and want to view blog comment data across all of them as an Advanced Segment, be sure to use the same name, Goal set and position for each site’s blog comment goals. For example, on my main site, I set up Blog Comments set up as a goal in the second position of Goal set 2.

On my next website, I did the same, even though I haven’t utilized all of the goals in Goal set 1.

You will see why this is valuable later in the section on viewing your data in Google Analytics. Goals cannot be deleted and moved around later, so if you think you have more important goals to set up on your blog (like product sales, mailing list signups, etc.), save Goal set 1 for those and use Goal set 2, 3, or 4 for your comments.

Name your goal Blog Comments or similar. Then select the Goal Type of URL Destination. Enter the URL for the “Thank You for Commenting” page you created earlier into the Goal URL field. If the full URL for your page is http://domain.com/thank-you-for-commenting/, then enter /thank-you-for-commenting/ as the Goal URL. Your goal should look like this.

Click on the Save button to finish. Now your goal is ready to go. Be sure to wait at least 24 hours (and for a few comments) to collect some data before beginning your analysis.

Method 2: Using the Comment Form Submit Button & Event Goal Type

For those who don’t mind getting into the code and modifying template files, this is the alternative. Once set up, this method will track any comments submitted on your blog, by both first time and repeat commenters. Also note that it will track every visitor that submits a comment, regardless of whether you go on to approve the comment.

Disclaimer

Some of the following directions include modifying templates that generally should not be modified. Some things to keep in mind regarding this…

• Whenever you are modifying a template, be sure that you have a clean back up of it that you can upload immediately via FTP to your server in case your modifications make your website crash. Uploading an original file should set things straight. I use FileZilla, a free FTP solution or you can use the FTP client provided by your hosting company.
• Some theme providers will void their support if you modify their templates. Keep this in mind if you are used to getting support and will continue to need it. Or, if your site needs suport later down the road, upload an original template file in place of the one you modified.
• Be sure to note any template files you have changed and record the exact coding changes you have made. Whenever you upgrade the core WordPress platform, themes, or plugins, the upgrade might overwrite your changes. You will need to check after doing any upgrades that your code is still intact and possibly need to modify it again.
• While these modifications worked on my websites, they may not necessarily work on yours due to conflicting WordPress versions, themes, and plugins. While I would love to help you if you get stuck, please note that I am not responsible for anything that happens to your website.

For all of the following directions, I have been using WordPress version 3.3.1 and specific theme versions as noted.

The Basics of How it Works

Whenever someone submits a comment on your blog, they have to click the Submit button. You will add some additional code on the Submit button for your contact form. In Google Analytics, you will set up a Event goal type which tells Google Analytics that anyone who reaches the thank you page has completed an important goal.

Step 1: How to Add Additional Code to the Submit Button

The code you will need to add to your blog’s comment form submit button is as follows.

The words Forms, Submit, and BlogComments sycn with the Google Analytics Event Goal Type settings for Category, Action, and Label. You can use different wording as you desire. You will add it to the Submit button for your comment form like this.

The only challenge is finding the comment form submit button on your theme. The following are locations and code examples for particular themes.

Standard WordPress Themes – Modifying the Comments Template File

If you’re not using Thesis or Genesis, you will want to start your search for your comment form’s submit button code in the comment template file for your theme. To view it, go to your WordPress dashboard > Appearance > Editor, and select the comments.php file from the right side. Then scroll through until you find the following highlighted code (or similar) for the comment form’s submit button.

You will want to add the Google Analytics event tracking code as follows, then click the Update File button to save your changes.

After you save the modified file, you can check your code by going to a blog post on your site, viewing the source code, and ensuring that the Submit button code looks like this.

Be sure to test your comment form to ensure it is working properly by submitting a comment while logged out of your account. If the comment submits and posts properly, you can move on to the next section on setting up the Event Goal in Google Analytics.

Other WordPress Themes – Modifying the WordPress Core Comments Template File

If your theme has a comments.php file, but you can’t find the code for the submit button, you might instead find a call to the following function.

In this case, your theme is using the the comment form from the comment_template.php file within the core files located in /wp-includes/ folder. Most of Elegant Themes‘ templates, for example, do this. I use Notepad++ to edit files, but you can use your preferred source code editor. The line of code you are looking for should be at 1578 and looks like this.

You will want to add the Google Analytics event tracking code as follows.

After you upload the modified file, you can check your code by going to a blog post on your site, viewing the source code, and ensuring that the Submit button code looks like this.

Be sure to test your comment form to ensure it is working properly by submitting a comment while logged out of your account. If the comment submits and posts properly, you can move on to the next section on setting up the Event Goal in Google Analytics.

Thesis 1.8.2

If you are using the Thesis Theme (like I am on Kikolani), version 1.8.2, then your comment form’s submit button code is in the comments.php file within /wp-content/thesis_182/lib/classes/ folder. I use Notepad++ to edit files, but you can use your preferred source code editor. The line of code you are looking for should be at 96 and looks like this.

You will want to add the Google Analytics event tracking code as follows.

After you upload the modified file, you can check your code by going to a blog post on your site, viewing the source code, and ensuring that the Submit button code looks like this.

Be sure to test your comment form to ensure it is working properly by submitting a comment while logged out of your account. If the comment submits and posts properly, you can move on to the next section on setting up the Event Goal in Google Analytics.

Genesis 1.8

StudioPress just released Genesis 1.8 Framework on Friday. I made the following changes to my blog before making the Genesis framework update, and everything was still working after the automatic upgrade to 1.8.

The Genesis Framework pulls the comment form’s submit button from the comment_template.php file within the core files located in /wp-includes/ folder. I use Notepad++ to edit files, but you can use your preferred source code editor. The line of code you are looking for should be at 1578 and looks like this.

You will want to add the Google Analytics event tracking code as follows.

After you upload the modified file, you can check your code by going to a blog post on your site, viewing the source code, and ensuring that the Submit button code looks like this.

Be sure to test your comment form to ensure it is working properly by submitting a comment while logged out of your account. If the comment submits and posts properly, you can move on to the next section on setting up the Event Goal in Google Analytics.

Step 2: How to Set Up the Event Goal in Google Analytics

The following directions are for Google Analytics 5, currently in beta. To use this version, click on the link at the top of your Google Analytics dashboard for New Version.

Last, but not least, you will need to set up the Event Type goal in Google Analytics. Simply go to your blog’s profile in Google Analytics and click on the Settings wheel. Then click on the Goals tab.

To add a new Goal, click on the + Goal link.

If you have multiple websites / blogs, and want to view blog comment data across all of them as an Advanced Segment, be sure to use the same name, Goal set and position for each site’s blog comment goals. For example, on my main site, I set up Blog Comments set up as a goal in the second position of Goal set 2.

On my next website, I did the same, even though I haven’t utilized all of the goals in Goal set 1.

You will see why this is valuable later in the section on viewing your data in Google Analytics. Goals cannot be deleted and moved around later, so if you think you have more important goals to set up on your blog (like product sales, mailing list signups, etc.), save Goal set 1 for those and use Goal set 2, 3, or 4 for your comments.

Name your goal Blog Comments or similar. Then select the Goal Type of Event Type. Under Goal Details, configure the Category, Action, and Label that is equal to Forms, Submit, and BlogComments. Your completed goal should look like this.

Click on the Save button to finish. Now your goal is ready to go. Be sure to wait at least 24 hours (and for a few comments) to collect some data before beginning your analysis.

Viewing Your Data in Google Analytics

Now we are on to the fun part – analyzing the data! There are a few ways you can view your Blog Comments Goal data in Google Analytics.

Explorer View

In any section where you have the Explorer, you can click on the Goal Set corresponding to where you placed your Blog Comments goal. Since mine is in Goal Set 2, I would click on that in the Explorer.

You can then see the percentage of goal completions for the specific data you are viewing.

Click on the column for your Blog Comments goal to see data related to the highest goal completion rate. Specific types of data you can see in relation to your blog comment goal completions include the following.

• Audience > Demographics > Location – View the top countries in which visitors are located and see the percentage of blog comments completed by these visitors.
• Traffic Sources > Sources > All Traffic – View the top traffic referral sources and see the percentage of blog comments completed by these visitors.
• Traffic Sources > Sources > Search > Organic – View the top keywords from search and see the percentage of blog comments completed by these visitors.
• Content > Site Content > Landing Pages – View the top landing pages that visitors enter upon and see the percentage of blog comments by these visitors.

Conversions & Goals Overview

Next, you can visit the Conversions > Goals > Overview section of your data, then select your Blog Comments goal from the Goal Option dropdown.

Here, you can see a graph of the number of blog comment completions in the date range specified.

Below, you can see Goal Completion URLs which will generally correspond to the posts that have received the most comments.

You can also click on the Source / Medium link to see the top traffic sources that lead to blog comments.

Advanced Segments

This one is my favorite. By creating an Advanced Segment based on your Blog Comments goal completions, you can see all of your data within Google Analytics based on just those visitors who submitted a comment. To do this, click on the Advanced Segments tab, and then the + New Custom Segment to create a new segement.

Name your segment Blog Comments Goal or similar. Click on the green dropdown that starts with Ad Content, and start typing in the name you gave your Blog Comments goal. Select the one that includes Completions.

In the next dropdown, select Great than, and then enter 0 as the value. Your completed segment should look similar to this.

Click on the Test Segment to see data from this segment, or click Save Segment to finish. Now you should see your Blog Comments goal like this.

To compare the data for visitors who comment vs. those who do not, click on the Advanced Segment area again and make sure the boxes for All Visits (under Default Segments) and your Blog Comments goal (under Custom Segments) are checked. Then click Apply.

Now you are ready to learn even more about your visitors and the differences between those that comment and those that don’t. I find that pages per visit and average time on site are much better for commenters compared to other visitors – a good reason to encourage comments!

Speaking of comments, if you have applied something similar to your blog or apply this, let me know how it goes!

You're reading How to Set Up Blog Comments as Goals in Google Analytics Using WordPress Hacks by Kristi Hines, originally posted on Kikolani. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Kristi on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

• Post Case Study: Triberr Visits vs. Google Analytics
• Is Closing Blog Comments a Good Idea?
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• Blogging, Goals, and 101 Things
• Blogging and Social Media Goals for 2010

This is a guest post by Richard Adams.

There are literally tens of millions of blogs online and yet only the tiniest fraction of them really make their owners any significant income. While there’s nothing wrong with simply starting a blog for pleasure or as a networking tool, for those people considering trying to make money blogging there are a few home truths you need to be aware of which you might not have considered before.

In this article then we’re going to “devils advocate” and look at five reasons why it can be harder to make money blogging than with some other Internet business models.

1. Constantly Changing Front Page

When it comes to getting free traffic from the search engines arguably the most important page of any website (whether that’s a static website or a blog) is the homepage. After all, the homepage receives the vast majority of the links that point to a site and furthermore is typically built around a specific keyword phrase which the owner hopes to rank well for in the search engines.

With a static website it’s easy to constantly test and tweak your homepage – adding or removing text, images, videos and links until you find the combination that gets you the highest search engine ranking possible.

However by definition the average blog’s homepage displays the latest posts that have been added to the site. This has two effects. The first is that it becomes impossible to “tweak” your homepage because it’s content changes constantly. Secondly you are likely to find your rankings for the primary keyword phrase you have chosen going up and down over time as the content on your homepage changes unless you have invested serious time and money into an effective link building campaign that makes you “untouchable” for your keyword.

This means getting predictable, reliable, long-term traffic for your main keyword phrase can be far more difficult than if you were creating a static website.

2. Regular Content Updates

A further key element of blogging is that a blog is meant to be regularly updated. And this need for regular new content puts you under pressure to constantly be producing it – either personally or through the use of paid writers or guest bloggers.

I have a static website that I haven’t added to, changed or modified for the last 8 years yet it still brings in AdSense income and affiliate commissions like clockwork without even being touched. Only when the AdSense income stops do I realize my domain or hosting must have expired, then I renew them and the income carries on.

Not so for a blog though. A blog requires a more constant source of effort when it comes to creating content which makes it far harder to generate “passive income” from a blog than a static site which can be left for months or even years between updates. Blogging, in many ways, is therefore harder work and requires more effort than some other ways to earn a living online.

3. Time-Intensive Link Building

Every article you add to your website needs to be focused on a specific keyword phrase that you hope to rank for. And while onpage SEO will take you so far, the other key element to a high-ranking web page is the number and strength of the incoming links pointing to it.

In short – every article on your site needs links pointing to it.

And as we’ve already said blogs require more content than most static websites, which in turn means more link building required.

There are those people who just keep churning out article after article and over time the long-tail phrases these articles appear from draw in some traffic but if you really want to get the most traffic possible to your site (and consequently make the most money possible) then you need to create articles based around keyword phrases that get a decent number of searches and then you need to build links to these.

4. Less Content Structure

Static websites typically use a “forking” structure for their site navigation. Let’s take the example of a website about how to make money blogging. The site may be split into categories such as “setting up a blog”, “blog layout”, “blog traffic” and so on. And within each of these categories may well be subcategories and so on, all linking to each other in a neat, organized way.

The benefit of this type of site structure is not only that it makes it easy to navigate for visitors but thanks to the different sections it also makes it easy for the search engines to find all your content, understand what it relates to, and rank it well in the search engines.

Blogs, in contrast, typically don’t use this rigid structure and instead broadly categorize their posts into a small number of categories which may each contain hundreds of individual posts.

This structure can not only make it harder for your visitors to find what they’re looking for because they have to search through page after page of content to find a topic they are interested in but it can also make it harder for the search engines to find, index and rank that content that lacks a clear navigation structure. Which can mean yet more lost traffic (and as a result, revenue).

5. Entrepreneurial ADHD

Blogging is exciting and there are constant stories about new technology or new marketing strategies. From Facebook and Twitter marketing, to social bookmarking, podcasting, video marketing and so on. From selling text links, display ads, product reviews and even sponsored blog comments. From new themes to new plugins, widgets and applications that all promise to make your blog better, boost your visitors or help you earn extra money from your site.

Whilst all these “bells and whistles” are one of the things that can make blogging exciting – after all it’s a constantly changing landscape – it can also become a big problem and can lead to lack of focus.

Rather than concentrating on getting the basics right – producing great-quality content and then building high-trust links to it – it is too easy to find yourself going round and round in circles, investing time and/or money into the latest “must have” tools only to find that at the end of the month you’ve seen no noticeable increase in the results that really matter – such as your profits, traffic and subscriber numbers.

Older, more “boring” ways to earn a living online such as building static authority sites rather than blogs can help you to tune out the “noise” and achieve the results you want sooner.

Conclusion

I’m not in any way trying to knock anyone trying to make money blogging. It can and has been done and I’m certainly not saying that blogging is necessarily “worse” than any other way of making money online. Instead my goal is simply to highlight a few issues that readers here may not have considered. If you’re currently trying to make money blogging but are having a hard time of it, or if you think I’ve missed any important points out, please leave a comment below with your opinions.

Photo Credit: Steve Depolo

You're reading 5 Reasons Why It is Hard to Make Money Blogging by Kristi Hines, originally posted on Kikolani. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Kristi on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

• How Do You Make Money Blogging?
• How to Make Money Online Through Blogging and Writing
• 5 Bad Reasons to Quit Blogging
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• 7 Ways I Make Money Online

One of the best ways to make a good first impression for a freelance writing or guest blogging opportunity is to present someone with your writing portfolio. A portfolio that showcases your best work can go a long way at turning a maybe into a yes!

While I typically suggest that freelance writers have a portfolio set up on their own domain like I have done with my own freelance writing portfolio using the My Resume design from Elegant Themes, there are other great networks that allow you to create an online portfolio. The best part is that most of them are free for writers.

Introducing Contently

Contently is the newest site to allow writers to create a free online writing portfolio. Their tagline is “Empowering And Connecting Quality Writers And Brands.” Their goal is to help writers and journalists manage their freelance careers while helping publishers connect experienced journalists and writers.

The Contently service is currently in beta. As a writer, you can sign up for a beta invite.

Setting Up Your Writing Portfolio with Contently

When I received my invite this morning, I thought I would see just how easy it was to create my online portfolio. They say it only takes seconds, and that might be a bit of an exaggeration. The process did take about 10 minutes, but that is only because I was finicky about editing each of my clips.

Basic Information

The first thing you will do is enter your name, email address, and password. You will also choose your username, which will be a part of your portfolio’s URL. I always go with my first and last name, kristihines, making my URL http://kristihines.contently.com/. This is always a good option for strong personal branding.

Adding a Clip

Next, you will start adding clips which are simply URLs to your writing. You can enter the URL of each piece of writing directly, or you can enter the full URL of a website for which you are a contributor.

You can edit each clip discovered by clicking on the Edit link, or you can remove clips that you do not want on your portfolio by clicking on the red X.

Be sure to use the Load More button at the bottom of the list to get more selections from that publication, or click the Save button once you have found and edited all of your clips from that publication.

You can add more publications, or edit clips under your publications by going under your Portfolio menu and selecting Manage Portfolio.

Featuring Clips

If you want to highlight particular pieces of writing on your portfolio, you can use the Star icon next to clips under each publication to mark them as Featured Clips under the Manage Portfolio section.

Once you have selected a few pieces of writing, you can change their order using the drag and drop in the right sidebar.

These clips will now be shown first when someone visits your portfolio.

Update Your Bio

To update your bio information, you will go to the Update Bio option under the Your Portfolio menu. Here, you will add your photo, a 140 character bio, your location, and topics you write about.

Next, you can add your education, awards, and recognition. I chose to highlight some of my blog’s awards and recognition as they correlate to my writing and areas of expertise.

Beneath that, you will add your website and blog URL, plus extended bio information.

Finally, if you’re a freelance writer, be sure to tick the Available for Freelance checkbox before saving your bio.

Connecting Your Social Accounts

Last but not least, go to your portfolio. At the top next to your name, you will see your social icons.

When you click on each, you will be asked to connect your social account to your profile. I connected all of mine and did not have any issues with any unwanted status updates.

The Completed Online Writing Portfolio

Once you are done setting up your profile, it should look a little something like this. You can click on the image to make it larger or just go check out my writing portfolio on Contently.

Need a Contently Invite

If you’re ready to put up your online writing portfolio on Contently today, I currently have three invites. They will go to the first three people who tweet this post and leave a comment!

UPDATE: Thanks to Contently, I now have 25 beta invites – please let me know if you would like one in the comments!

Share Your Online Writing Portfolio

Do you have an online writing portfolio on Contently, your own website, or on another free network? Please share yours in the comments!

Hat tip to Karl Staib of Party Biz Connect and Work Happy Now for letting me know about this site!

You're reading How to Create an Online Writing Portfolio with Contently by Kristi Hines, originally posted on Kikolani. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Kristi on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

• How to Make Money Online Through Blogging and Writing
• How Bloggers Can Create and Use White Papers
• It’s Not Enough to Create Content on a Blog
• 7 Ways I Make Money Online
• How to Create Awesome List Posts

This year, along with my Fetching Friday weekly roundups, I compiled several major resource collections for a variety of topics. As 2011 comes to an end, I thought I would share my 10 favorite list posts for anyone ready to learn more about analytics, conversions, email marketing, engagement, link building, keyword research, social media, starting their own business, usability testing, and WordPress. I hope you enjoy them!

• 50 Google Analytics Resources – 50 resources to help you get to know Google Analytics inside and out, from the new version, latest updates, social engagement tracking, advanced hacks, and much more!
• 50 Awesome Posts on Conversions – Are you ready to learn more about conversions, but not sure where to begin? Catch up on the latest and greatest information in this list. There’s something for everyone, from blogging to social media, landing pages to squeeze pages, increasing conversions vs. conversion killers, design, and more!
• 50 Awesome Posts on Email Marketing – Learn the ins and outs of email marketing, including building your email list, crafting the best email content, email newsletter design, and more in this list of 50 awesome posts on email marketing.
• 50 Posts on Engagement for Bloggers, Businesses, and Social Media Enthusiasts – Ready to start increasing your engagement in 2012? Find out the best strategies for blogging, business, and social media engagement from these awesome posts!
• 79 Link Building Resources – The latest, most up to date resources when it comes to link building including general information, tools, and where to look for links.
• 40 Top Keyword Research Posts of 2011 – This list will guide you to even more keyword research tools, strategies, and keyword optimization. Mix and match strategies for the best keyword discovery and analysis for your business and clients.
• Top 25 Social Media Blogs For Businesses – Want to learn more about social media for marketing your business? Then you’ve come to the right place – the following are the top authorities in social media and online marketing.
• 101 Resources for First Time Entrepreneurs – 101 resources that will help you learn more about entrepreneurship, startups, small business, and much more.
• 45 Awesome Posts on A/B, Multivariate, and Usability Testing – These 45 posts will teach you all you need to know about A/B testing, multivariate testing, and usability testing for copy, design, landing pages, PPC, and much more.
• 70+ Resources on How to Start a WordPress Blog – The following are resources for starting your own blog on WordPress including choosing a domain name, purchasing your domain, hosting, WordPress installation, themes, plugins, settings, essential pages, backups, updates, and more!

What were your favorite list posts in 2011? Please share them in the comments! Also, I wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year!

Photo Credit: KTVee

You're reading 560 Resources for Blogging, Online Marketing, and Starting a Business by Kristi Hines, originally posted on Kikolani. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Kristi on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

• Unlock Your Marketing Genius to Make Money Online
• How to Become a Local Business Marketing Expert as a Blogger
• The Pros and Cons a Home Based Blogging Business
• Make Blogging Work for Business
• How to Make Money Online Through Blogging and Writing

One question I get asked often is how to start a blog. While there are many platforms to choose from, I always suggest that if your purpose for blogging is anything related to branding, business, or making money online, then you want to go with WordPress on your own domain. While WordPress.com, Blogger, Tumblr, and other platforms are great, there is nothing like having full control of the design and functionality – something you will only get if you are running WordPress from your own domain.

Sure, there are other blogging platforms and content management systems you can use on your own domain, but none are quite as popular or powerful as WordPress. The traffic trends for each platform’s site speak for themselves.

The following are resources for starting your own blog on WordPress including choosing a domain name, purchasing your domain, hosting, WordPress installation, themes, plugins, settings, essential pages, backups, updates, and more!

Choosing a Domain Name

Your first step to staring a blog on your own domain is choosing a domain name. There are many ways you can go with this, from using your own name, business name, keywords, or a quirky but brandable word. Some great resources to help you out in this choice include the following.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool

Considering a keyword based domain, but not sure where to start? Try out Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool. It will give you additional keyword ideas plus their estimated monthly searches. If you use the option to sign in with your AdWords account, you can increase the number of results plus see CPC cost data for each keyword.

DomainsBot

This site will let you search a specific domain you are interested in (domain.com) or search for a keyword. If the main domain / keyword you search is not available, it will show you if alternatives such as the .net, .org, .co, and .me are available. You can use the checkbox at the top to toggle whether results should show premium domains for sale that are related to your search or only show domains that are available at average domain registration prices.

You can also use the options in the left sidebar to refine the results based on your needs.

KnowEm

Before you register that domain, be sure that it is available on social media! Knowem lets you search names / keywords to see if they are taken on over 500 social networks. This is also a great place to find social networks by niche including business, design, entertainment, health, music, photo, tech, and travel. Hover over each network’s name to learn a little more about it.

Purchasing a Domain Name

Once you have settled on a strong domain name, you are probably ready to go out and buy it. The following is my choice for domain registration plus the top two others I have heard used by other bloggers.

• GoDaddy – This is the registrar I use. Be sure to search godaddy coupon code plus the month and year to get the best deal. New .COMs prices starting at $11.99.
• NameCheap - New .COMs prices stating at $8.99.
• Network Solutions – Domains are cheap (or even free) but only if you get a one year annual hosting agreement along with them.

Hosting Your Domain

Once you’ve purchased your domain, the next thing you will need is hosting. The above companies also offer hosting plans, but I’d like to focus on ones that have easy WordPress installations. Be sure to look at which hosting companies:

• Offer plans that allow you to have multiple domains, unlimited storage, and unlimited bandwidth.
• Have the best customer support options (do you prefer text chat, 24 hour phone support, or forums).
• Have better deals based on paying for several months at once vs. paying on a month to month basis.
• Do or don’t require annual contracts or agreements.

The following are hosts I have used, people I know have used successfully, or are recommended by WordPress.

• GoDaddy – Again, this is the main hosting company I use for this blog and my most important sites. There’s nothing like having your hosting and domains on the same site that way you don’t have to worry about redirecting DNS servers and other mess. Plus it’s only one place to call if anything goes wrong! Plans starting at $5.99 per month.
• HostGator – Although I have had some issues with this company, I still use them for some of my smaller websites. Most of the bloggers I know swear by this company, and I seem to be one of the only few people who have actually had any issues. Plans starting at $3.96 per month for a single domain or $6.36 for unlimited domains.
• Network Solutions – This links specifically to their WordPress hosting packages. Plans staring at $4.95 per month with annual agreement.
• Bluehost – They offer 1-click installation of WordPress and are at the top of the recommended by WordPress.org hosting list. Only shows you $6.95 per month plan before signing up – not sure if there are other options.
• DreamHost – Also recommended by WordPress.org and has easy WordPress installation. Plans starting at $6.95 per month.
• Media Temple – Offers more high-end hosting options starting at $20 per month with 1-click WordPress install. Also recommended by WordPress.org.

If you need a little more than just a host, then you might want to check out outstandingSETUP (affiliate link). They not only offer WordPress friendly hosting, but they also will help you with set up, design, domain, and WordPress install. After your website is running, they will also have continued support, backup, and security. Learn more about why they believe WordPress is the best solution for you in their free eBook on 9 Website Building Mistakes.

Importing Your Content

If you have blog content on other platforms including WordPress.com, Blogger, Drupal, Joomla, or other blogging platforms, then you might want to consider importing it into your new WordPress site. WordPress.org has a Importing Content guide that includes information on how to import content from almost 50 different sources (or, in some cases, if it is even possible).

Installing WordPress

Depending on which hosting company you choose or are already hosted with, there are various ways you can install WordPress. If you have to go with manual installation because your hosting company does not have any simple installation process already in place for WordPress, then you will need to download the latest version of WordPress and follow the instructions on installing WordPress.

Here are some guides provided by the above mentioned hosts on how to install WordPress on their websites.

• GoDaddy – Installing WordPress on Your Hosting Account.
• HostGator – How to Install WordPress through cPanel QuickInstall (easiest), Installing WordPress via Fantastico (never used it), and Installing WordPress Manually (only do this if QuickInstall doesn’t work).
• Network Solutions – nsHosting for WordPress Setup Guide.
• Bluehost – Using Simple Scripts to Install WordPress.
• DreamHost – WordPress Wiki including instructions from installation through troubleshooting.
• Media Temple – Installing WordPress using the 1-Click Application Tool.

You can always try searching Google for site:yourhost.com wordpress installation to see if you can find easy instructions on how to install WordPress with your host. Or just do a general search for your host wordpress installation to find guides written by others.

Choosing a Great WordPress Theme

Next on your list of priorities, once WordPress is installed, is the design. There are many, many free WordPress themes to choose from and over the course of three years, I have tried a lot of them. In the end, I have ended up only using premium themes for a few simple reasons.

• Better support if you can’t get things working or want a specific customization (because you paid for it).
• Less likelihood of malicious coding embedded with the theme (yes, I’ve seen it happen).
• Overall better designs, better administration panels, and better usage.

That said, the following are themes that I have used or am currently using on my own websites or client websites. Yes these are affiliate links because I have had my hands on all of them and recommend them.

• StudioPress – StudioPress is the premium theme collection I recommend the most. It has hands down the best built-in SEO options, lots of great designs that look awesome right out of the box, and easy to follow installation & customization instructions within the support forums. You can buy designs individually (ranging in price from $79.95 to $99.95) or get the entire collecion in the Pro Plus package which gives you access to every theme StudioPress makes and the ability to use them on your own sites and sites you design for clients.
• Thesis – Thesis is the premium theme I use here at Kikolani. It is a great them for SEO, but requires a good bit of customizations if you want the design to go beyond minimalism. The personal license for use of the theme on one website is $87, and the developer’s option for use on unlimited sites that you own is $164. There’s an additional cost of $40 per client site usage. If you’re stuck between this and StudioPress, check out my post on Thesis vs. StudioPress to see the difference between the two.
• Elegant Themes – This theme collection is just that – elegantly designed themes. You get lots of them too – currently there are 72 designs available! It is $39 per year for a personal license to use any of the themes on your own websites or $89 per year for a developer’s license if you need Photoshop files and the ability to use the themes on client sites.
• Press75 – Press75 has a collection of beautiful themes (currently 27). Pricing is done in packages. For $100, you get 2 months access to all themes, updates, and support. For $200, you get 6 months access to all themes, updates, and support. For $400, you get lifetime access to all themes, updates, and support.
• Headway – Headway markets itself as the drag and drop theme, best for new WordPress users. I can tell you that while it is a great theme, it is not as easy as drag and drop because I have worked with a new WordPress user that was very, very confused by the system. Nonetheless, it is a great theme and, like any WordPress theme, has a bit of a learning curve. They are currently working on different out of the box designs that work with their base system (similar to the way StudioPress does things). For $68, you get the base theme with unlimited installations and one year of support. For $174, you get the above plus 3 of the new Headway designs. For $378, you get access to all new Headway designs for one year.

Basic WordPress Settings to Check

After design, but before you start posting, there are a few settings you need to configure in your base WordPress installation. The following pages will help you understand what each of them mean.

• Settings → General – This includes your site title, tagline, site address, registration options, timezone, and date / time formats.
• Settings → Writing – This includes basic settings for writing your posts including size of the post box, default categories, whether you can post by email, remote posting options, and updating services (sites that WordPress will let know you have published a new post).
• Settings → Reading – This includes what your homepage will display (posts or a static page), how many blog posts to show on your homepage and in your RSS feed, and what will be displayed in the RSS feed (full posts or a summary – I always go with full).
• Settings → Discussion – This is primarily about your commenting settings. I always check the option for “Comment author must have a previously approved comment” and uncheck “An administrator must always approve the comment.” Also, if you plan to have guest bloggers, keep the E-mail me whenever setting “Anyone posts a comment” checked so guest authors will get an email when their posts get comments.
• Settings → Media – This controls the settings for images in your posts / pages and the folder on your server where your images will be stored. I always leave these settings as default unless a theme gives me instructions to change them.
• Settings → Privacy – You have two options here. More than likely you will want to allow your site to be visible to everyone so it can be indexed and discovered.
• Settings → Permalinks – Here you will determine how your URLs will be displayed. I usually go with Custom Struction /%postname%/ that will make my URLs look like http://domain.com/this-is-the-post-title/. Whatever you choose, make sure you include /%postname%/ somewhere so the keywords from your post title will be in your URL for SEO value. Learn more about Permalink formats on the Using Permalinks page.

Aside from the main settings, you will also want to go to Users → Your Profile and fill in your information accordingly. Be sure that your Display name publicly as shows your name as you want it to be displayed throughout the site, and that you fill in the website and biographical info fields. Also, if it isn’t already, make sure that your email address is linked to a Gravatar. This is the service that puts a picture next to your comments on any WordPress site.

Favorite WordPress Plugins

WordPress plugins can help enhance the functionality and design of your WordPress site in a multitude of ways. Chances are, if you want your WordPress site to do something, there is a plugin out there that will help it along its way. Here are the essential ones I use on my sites. To install any free plugin, simply go to your Plugins → Add New, search for it, and install it directly from your dashboard. Make sure it matches the referenced pages linked below as some plugins have similar names.

• Akismet – This plugin helps moderate likely spam comments coming to your blog into a spam folder. You will need to get an API key from Akismet which ranges in price from free to $50 per month for multi-site enterprise access.
• All in One SEO Pack – This plugin adds additional fields to your dashboard so you can optimize your homepage, posts, and pages for SEO. You don’t need it if you use StudioPress or Thesis as they come with those options built in. If you need actual suggestions on how to optimize for search engines, you can also go with the premium plugin Scribe SEO which will actually help you with SEO.
• CommentLuv – This plugin lets commenters leave the link to their last post with their comment. It’s a great way to get to know your commenters better as you will see their latest post with thier comment.
• Contact Form 7 – This is a simple little contact form that will ask for a name, email, subject, and message. If you need something more robust, you can go with the premium plugin Gravity Forms which allows for more customization of fields and additional add-ons to integrate with Paypal, Aweber, MailChimp, and more.
• Google XML Sitemaps – This plugin creates a simple sitemap for your website and keeps it updated, notifying search engines of additions and changes to your posts and pages. Be sure to visit the settings for it after installing to create your sitemap for the first time and it will do the rest!
• G.A.S.P – This plugin adds a simple checkbox to your comment form to ensure that the commenter is a real person and not an automated spambot. Works great alone or in combination with Akismet.
• Redirection – This plugin allows you to create permanent redirects from one page on your website to another URL in your WordPress dashboard.
• Subscribe to Comments – This plugin adds a checkbox to your comment form allowing commenters to subscribe and receive email notifications for new comments on a post. You can also view the subscribers in your admin dashboard.
• WP Super Cache – This plugin helps your site deal with a huge influx of traffic so your site doesn’t crash just because there were too many visitors at once.
• Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – This plugin adds related posts to each one of your posts which can help visitors stay on your site longer.

There are also specific ones for specific purposes. For example, if you want an archives page like mine, you’ll need the following.

• Compact Archives – This plugin creates the calendar grid for dates based archives.
• Configurable Tag Cloud – This plugin lists the top post tags.

And there are ones that are essential if you’re using a particular premium theme such as the following.

• Genesis Hooks or Thesis OpenHook – These plugins make implementation of custom coding simpler for StudioPress and Thesis themes.

Once you have installed a new plugin, be sure to look for its settings. Settings links for plugins can appear in various places in the admin dashboard including under Appearance, Plugins, Tools, and Settings. Many plugins will require a one-time setup and confirmation of customized settings.

Essential Pages

No matter what the purpose of your website, there are some essential pages you will want to create. Here are the ones I use on my site.

• About – This page will tell visitors to your site what your site is about and a little about the person or persons behind it.
• Contact – This page can have a simple contact form (using the above mentioned plugins) so that visitors can get in touch with you.
• Hire Me – If your site is a primarily a blog, but you also happen to offer services, a Hire Me page will help you share those services with your visitors.
• Guest Post Guidelines – If your site is a blog, you will eventually start receiving offers from people wanting to guest post on your site or, alternatively, you will want to start reaching out to others to guest post. Include full details of exactly what you want in a guest post on this page.
• Advertise – If your site accepts banner advertising, make sure you have a page that tells people why they would want to advertise on your website and how much it will cost them.
• Archives – If your site is a blog, you will want to give visitors a place where they can go and find just about everything. This is that page!

Essential Sidebar Widgets

Your sidebar, especially on a blog, is a great place to put important information you want every visitor to see no matter what landing page they get to on your website. Some essential things to have in your sidebar include the following.

• About This Site – This is just a short blurb that tells people the point to your website and who is behind it. It can end with a link to your about page for more details.
• Subscription Options – This is where you put your RSS link, top social media profiles, and mailing list opt-in if you have one.
• Categories – I list mine in my main navigation bar at the top, but if you don’t, be sure to list your main categories in your sidebar so people know what topics your site covers.
• Search Box – If you have a ton of content on your site and you know people will want to search it, be sure to include a search box.

Analytics

I am a huge, huge fan of analytics. I don’t think you should get sucked into the trap of checking your analytics ten times a day when you should be engaging with your audience or creating new content, but I do think you should have it available to you when you are ready to dig into it.

There are two types of analytics that are essential for bloggers – general analytics for the entire website and analytics for the RSS feed.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics will take care of your entire website’s stats and installation is as easy as signing up for an account, setting up a website profile, and copying your analytics code. You then paste the code into your theme’s admin panel (many include an option for analytics code, tracking scripts, or scripts/code to be placed in your header) or within your theme’s header.php file itself IF there is no option in the theme’s admin panel.

FeedBurner

FeedBurner will handle the stats for your RSS feed like the number of subscribers as well as allow you to create an email subscription option. The best set of directions on how to set this up are here.

Additional Considerations

This goes into the more advanced side of WordPress usage, but there are two things you must stay on top of.

Backups

Backups are a priority when owning any website. What would you do if your website were gone tomorrow and you had to start all over?

There are many different ways you can back up your website, from manual database backups (as described on WordPress) to using backup plugins. Sometimes the latter will now work so well if you have a huge database.

There is also a service called VaultPress that will do the job for you for $15 per month, per site. My suggestion is to get this for your priority sites (like your business), that way if there were to be a major disaster, you would have someone to connect with for support.

For smaller, less priority sites, you can stick with the manual backups or backup plugins. Also, don’t forget that backing up the database doesn’t backup any custom theme modifications you’ve made, plugins, or files you’ve uploaded. Those would need to be downloaded manually via FTP. I use FileZilla for transferring files.

Updates

Occasionally, you will see a friendly link at the top of our WordPress dashboard letting you know that there is an update available. Updates to WordPress are very important as they patch security vulnerabilities and help the functionality of your site.

Of course, as with any update, an update to WordPress could break something like your theme or one of your plugins. Most of the time, nothing will happen. But you might want to do a little reading about them first – simply Google WordPress #.# Update. Chances are, someone has written about it and noted any issues they ran into.

There are also updates to look for with your plugins. You will see a circled number next to the Plugins menu in your dashboard if your plugins need an update. Normally these go smoothly using the automatic update option, but be sure to check your site after any update to make sure things are going smoothly. If a plugin update seems to disrupt your site, just deactivate it.

WordPress Support

There are lots of different places to go to for WordPress support. The first thing I always do when I get a particular error message is simply Google it – you’re likely to find someone who has run into it before and knows the solution.

After that, you can try the WordPress support forums. You can use the search to see if your issue has already been discussed or add your issue to one of the forum categories. Note that sometimes geeks are cranky, so don’t be hurt if you get a somewhat irritated sounding answer.

The next would be the support forum for the specific product if it’s a product related issue. StudioPress and DIYthemes (for Thesis) both have great support forums for users of their themes. Some premium plugins also have great support forums. In general, if you paid for something and it’s not working accordingly, make sure to try their site and contact them directly if there isn’t a community forum.

Past this point, you can always try querying your audience on Twitter or Facebook, especially if you have lots of connections. I have had several friendly Twitter helpers direct me to solutions to my WordPress issues.

Further Reading for Learning WordPress & How to Blog

If this hasn’t covered everything you need to know about WordPress (which I’m sure it doesn’t because WordPress is almost impossible to fully cover in one post), then be sure to check out the Getting Started with WordPress page that covers most of what was mentioned above and more.

If you are just starting out in the world of blogging, you can also check out WordPress’ Introduction to Blogging which goes from “what is a blog” to “6 basic blogging tips.”

Next, if you’re ready to start learning about content development and really honing in on the blogging process, I recommend the following guides.

• Guide to Your First Week of Blogging – This guide helps you put together your content action plan. I have a full review of this eBook here.
• 31 Days to Build a Better Blog – This eBook includes a daily task to complete for 31 days. At the end of the 31 days, you will have published a variety of different types & styles of posts, learned how to come up with new post ideas, promoted your blog, deepened reader engagement, reached out to other bloggers, developed an editorial calendar, and designed a plan for your next month of blogging.
• Guide to Blogging for Your Business – If your main objective is business blogging, then this eBook is for you. It covers setting up a WordPress blog (just in case you need more info), conducting keyword research, understanding your online competition, building a strong social media presence, and setting up a successful business blogging strategy.
• Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers – This eBook covers everything to do with one blog post, from what to do before you start writing to checking for SEO optimization & grammatical mistakes. I have a full review of this eBook here, although it doesn’t include the latest updates since it was first published.

Last, but not least, once you have developed a strong community and you are ready to promote your posts like a rockstar, I have written the Ultimate Guide to Blog Post Promotion. My eBook focuses on one goal – to promote one single piece of content, whether it is a post on your blog or a post on someone else’s. It is for those posts you want to to be extra successful with reader engagement!

If you have any questions about anything in this guide, feel free to contact me and I’ll do my best to help you out!

Photo Credits: Tom Raftery, Tyler Ingram, Mr. T in DC

You're reading 70+ Resources on How to Start a WordPress Blog by Kristi Hines, originally posted on Kikolani. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Kristi on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

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This is a guest post by Tim Brownson.

I suspect that as you are reading a blog like Kikolani, if you’re not a blogger as such, you’re at least interested in blogging.

Even if you’re not though and your merely passing through, bare with me, because the information I am about to share with you is equally useful to everybody.

For the purposes of the post I’m going to presume you do blog, but please feel free to substitute whatever it is you do for a living in place of blogging if that’s more appropriate.

Why do you blog?

There’s a good chance you have asked yourself that question before and equally there’s a good chance you have been asked it many times by friends and family. As such I’m guessing you replied without too much difficulty.

The problem is though I’m about 95% sure the answer, or answers, you gave were wrong.

I would be happy to wager a substantial amount of cash that you don’t really know why you blog other than at a superficial level. And that’s dangerous.

• If you answered, “To earn a living” You don’t really know why you blog…”
• If you answered, “Because I like writing” You don’t really know why you blog…”
• If you answered, “To be seen as an expert in my field…”

Then you don’t really know why you blog.

If you answered, “To connect with other people,” you’re possibly closer to knowing why you blog, but unfortunately on this occasion, there’s no cigar.”

You may be confused at this stage and even questioning my sanity, because after all, I don’t even know you, so how could I possibly have a clue as to the reasons you do what you do?

The answer is an even more confusing, I don’t.

I have no idea why you do blog, but I do know that the reason is hidden deep within you and very few people ever dig deep enough to find it.

Let’s suppose you answered that you blog to provide an income. I cannot argue with that and of course there are bloggers like Kristi that do indeed make a living from blogging and writing online.

However, money is always a means to an end and never the end in itself.

Money has been scientifically proven time and time again to be a terrible long-term motivator. And there is also almost no correlation between money and happiness once you earn a six figure salary.

So why do you want the money?

Ask yourself now, “What does that money give me?”

If the answer comes back that it gives you a shiny new iMac, a Coach handbag or a bigger house, ask again:

“And what does that give me?”

And keep asking it again and again and again. Until you can’t answer with anything other than a single word which will be a core value.

There are dozens of core values and examples are peace, freedom, connection, love, gratitude, integrity, family, happiness etc, but money is never a core value.

• You may identify with your blog, but if I took it away, you would still be there.
• You may claim to bleed the color of your favorite sports team, but if it closed down you would still be alive.
• You may claim to be a huge patriot, but if your Government did something that made you feel deeply ashamed, you would still be left standing.

Values aren’t like that however, values are part of your identity as a Human Being and nobody can take them off you.

Values drive every single major and many minor decisions you make. Or at least they should if you want to make great decisions and live a more purposeful congruent life.

And that last part is key.

If you don’t know what your core values are, you are rolling the dice on your life. And no, I’m not exaggerating with this stuff, I have seen it with clients hundreds of times and with myself less than a decade ago.

I spent 20 years working in sales and the last 5 or 6 thoroughly miserable. I had no idea why I felt so stressed or why I was job hopping, especially considering I was so “successful” in terms of income and hitting targets.

Now I can look back with hindsight and realize that with integrity critically important to me, often being asked to sell unethically was a real problem.

Similarly, as somebody that values freedom so highly, being trapped by the golden handcuffs was more than a little problematical.

I had two huge value conflicts sat right under my nose and I never even noticed them, because I had never taken the time to work out what was important to me at a level much deeper than the cash I was being paid.

Knowing your values so you can avoid value conflicts is really, really, cool.

It means that if family comes above everything else for you, then you commit to stop writing at dinner time so you can spend quality time with your kids. No excuses.

If integrity is important to you, then you realize you have to be upfront with your readers when sliding affiliate links into posts, and no pretending you’re somebody you’re not. No excuses.

And if peace of mind is the be all and end all for you, you will walk away from petty online squabbles and avoid people that just love to gossip like the plague. No excuses.

It gets better though.

Knowing your values and practicing being in alignment with them whenever possible will make life feel so much easier, but when you also use them to motivate yourself, then it moves into the realms of the sublime.

Imagine it’s the middle of the winter and it’s bitterly cold outside with the windchill hitting -30 degrees and your central heating has broken down. You’re alarm goes off at 5:00am because you have a load of writing deadliness to meet that will require a long day.

Your bed is warm and snuggly and you really don’t want to leave it and start working in your bitterly cold office. You start focussing on what’s wrong with your situation and why you don’t want it to be that way and your mood deteriorates before you have even put your first foot on the floor.

What if you shifted your focus though? What if you made your focus value based, wouldn’t that make life easier?

You’re not getting out of bed to work, you’re getting out of bed to write something that will help other people improve the quality of their life and give you a warm glow. (Significance and/or Legacy)

You’re not getting out of bed to work, you’re getting out of bed early so you have time to play with the kids when they get home from school later on. (Family)

You’re not getting out of bed to work, you’re getting out of bed to deliver a masterpiece of writing that you will then get paid handsomely for thus allowing you to travel to Europe next year. (Freedom)

Got the message?

If you want your blog and life to really succeed, first understand your own values. Then align with your values. And finally, use them to motivate you when things are going entirely to plan

I have written a book/audio program on values because I think it’s the single most important work I do with my clients.

Giveaway Time

I’d like to give 3 copies away to readers of Kikolani. If you would like one, simply leave a comment and tell me what your most important core value is and we’ll choose 3 at random.

You're reading Do You Know Why You Blog? by Kristi Hines, originally posted on Kikolani. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Kristi on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

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This is a guest post by Dr. Bob Clarke.

It’s hard enough to build a successful and profitable blog when you have all day and night to devote to it. But when you’re a part time blogger working around a full time job, taking care of the kids and/or your elderly parents, success can seem like it’s a mile away.

While it’s not impossible to transform yourself from a part time blogger to a highly successful full time blogging machine (think Kristi Hines, creator of this blog and others), those blogging part time face unique challenges.

The fact is, if you want to succeed as a part time blogger, you’d better bring your “A game” at all times. You simply cannot afford to be wasting time in the few hours you have to devote to blogging each day.

While it’s always a good idea to study those who are successful, sometimes it works equally well to examine the reasons why many fail to thrive.

With this in mind, I share with you the most common wasteful habits that will torpedo a part time blogger faster than a submarine can sink it’s unsuspecting prey.

1. You Don’t Understand WHY You Want to Blog

Everyone thinks they should have a blog when they start marketing online; yet, you’d be surprised how many “bloggers” have no idea why they’re doing so. The result is a mediocre blog lacking direction and results.

Take some time to figure out what you want your blog to accomplish. Are you looking to build your email opt in list, sell products or an income opportunity, or simply wanting to build your reputation and value to others?

Understanding why you are blogging in the first place will help you become clear about your expectations and what actions you wish your readers to take.

2. You Don’t Understand WHO You are Writing For

This is just as wasteful as #1. If you try to write for everyone and anyone, your results will be just as diluted as your profits.

For example, I wasted over a year with my Network Marketing blog because I was not clear about who my target audience really was. But when I focused my writings on helping Part Time Entrepreneurs navigate the struggles and difficulties associated with building a business “on the side”, my blog’s popularity grew by leaps and bounds.

3. You Treat Your Blogging as a Hobby Instead of a Full Time Enterprise

Being a Part Time blogger doesn’t make you any less serious than those that blog full time. It simply means you have less time than most to build your business.

Don’t make the mistake of treating your blog like a hobby.

Be sure that you have a dedicated work area that is used solely for your home business, if at all possible. Open up an email account just for your business and perhaps get a dedicated phone line, as well.

Get your family to respect your business hours by discussing the benefits they’ll receive when you’re successful!

Be professional and be serious when it comes to your business.

4. You Fail to Set Goals and Have a Plan

A sailboat with a broken sail and no rudder will float aimlessly in the ocean, going wherever the tide takes it. Similarly, a part time blogger without goals and a plan will flounder aimlessly with not much to show for his effort.

Set some goals for your blog, make them specific, measurable and attainable, and check your progress regularly. Create a plan that is consistent with reaching your goals in a reasonable period of time.

By doing so, you’ll go a long way towards boosting your productivity and the success of your blog.

5. You Don’t Have a Blogging Schedule

Setting a writing schedule is all about organization. Decide how many blog posts you can reasonably write on a weekly basis and stick to it. I use the Editorial Calendar WordPress Plugin to map out my posts each month and create reminders to publish, but it can be as simple as putting a pen to paper.

However you decide to do it, most successful Part Time Bloggers have a rigid system for scheduling their posts.

6. You Lack Consistency and Accountability

This one is true for all bloggers, but especially so for part timers. Being consistent in your blogging efforts works on a couple of different levels — it creates a routine for the blogger and gets her readers used to expecting posts on a regular basis. Both are crucial for the success of the Part Time blogger.

It’s also a great idea to have an accountability partner, someone who helps you stick to your schedule and expected work output.

The bottom line: Be consistent in your efforts and accountable to yourself and your readers.

7. You Fail to Identify and Plug Productivity Leaks

If you are a Part Time Blogger, it is especially important that you identify leaks in your productivity and do your best to plug them.

What do I mean by productivity leaks? Simply, places where you are not using your time as efficiently and effectively as you could. For me, I was spending too much time browsing social media and not enough time performing tasks that would actually generate income.

Also, I made the mistake of keeping Skype and my email open while trying to blog. The result?

Too many distractions and wasting too much time.

What are your productivity leaks? Where are your time-wasters?

When you identify them and make adjustments in your work habit, you’re productivity will skyrocket and success will soon follow.

8. You Believe That Multi-Tasking is the Answer

It is my opinion that multi-tasking for a Part Time Entrepreneur is rarely a good thing and can cripple your productivity rather than boost it. While it may seem like you’re getting more done by doing two or more things at the same time, this usually results in many half-finished projects or putting out mediocre work.

If you’re tempted to multi-task, think again. It will make you more unproductive and ultimately less successful.

9. You Edit While You Write

Editing your posts as you write is a very unproductive way to create a post. You can be a much more prolific blogger if you just write a post from start to finish, without editing. Later, go back and reread your post, cutting unnecessary words and fixing spelling and grammatical errors.

Write first, edit later — it’s the strategy of most productive bloggers.

10. You Don’t Batch Your Work

Batching involves setting aside a certain period of time for writing and creating multiple posts at one sitting. By blocking out time specifically for writing, your blogging productivity will soar.

I find it much easier to create several posts during a 2 hour period of writing, rather than writing posts as needed. It’s also helpful to have backup posts when “life happens” and you are unable to blog for whatever reason.

11. You Don’t Have a Method for Capturing Ideas

Everyone struggles at times with finding topics to blog about. For the Part Time blogger, this can be especially daunting since you don’t always have the time to go searching for ideas.

Ideas for a blog post can come at any time — at your computer reading a related article, standing in line at the supermarket, even in the shower! It’s really important not to waste a single idea.

Have a system for capturing these ideas immediately. One “old fashioned” way is to have a pad of paper and pen with you at all times. Alternatively, you can turn to technology.

In the past, I have used a voice activated recorder to capture ideas as they come to me. Now, I use my iPhone for this purpose.

I also use a Mobile app called EverNote to take more extensive notes about blogging ideas. Wherever I am, I can open EverNote on my iPhone or laptop and capture an idea when it hits.

12. You Fail to Leverage Technology

There are so many ways that technology can make your life easier; to not leverage that technology is simply foolish.

Here are just a few ways that technology can make the part time blogger more productive and successful:

• Using RSS feeds to keep up with your competitors and provide ideas for future content.
• Sharing your content on social networks
• Using services like OnlyWire to share your posts on dozens of social bookmarking sites simultaneously
• Installing WordPress plugins that automatically make your blog SEO friendly and faster to load

The technology available to bloggers is amazing; leverage it to your advantage!

13. You Don’t Leverage The Skills (and Followers) of Other Bloggers

Asking other bloggers to guest post on your blog is a win-win situation in my view, as long as your blog posts predominate. By having another blogger in your niche post on your site, not only are you creating more content for your blog but you are potentially attracting a whole new set of readers to your site.

Similarly, guest blogging on other blogs is an extremely productive use of your time. You get exposure to new readers and build relationships with other bloggers.

It can be a little intimidating to do it the first time, but don’t let fear stop you. Just do it!

14. You Don’t Take Advantage of Blog Commenting and Syndication Tribes

Some of the fastest ways I’ve found to boost the popularity of my blog has been through the use of blog commenting groups and content syndication tribes. The concept is simple — you arrange with other bloggers to promote their content and comment on their posts and they do the same for you.

For the struggling Part Time Blogger, this strategy can really help your blog get a foothold and established in your niche.

15. You Don’t Take Care of Yourself

It’s really tempting to skip your workout or grab some fast food when you are pushed for time and need to get writing. But to ignore your health is a huge mistake for Part Time bloggers.

In order to be more productive, you must feel well. This means getting enough sleep, eating well and getting physical exercise on a regular basis. Don’t skip this — it will come back to haunt you. I speak from experience on this one!

Bonus Tip: What If Life Gets In the Way?

I’ve added this last tip because it’s been an issue for me lately. What do you do if life “happens” and you just can’t find time to blog?

It happens to all of us at some point, and it’s important that you don’t beat yourself up over it.

My advice here is to direct your focus on taking care of your life issues first and foremost. If not, you will likely be distracted and not be very productive anyway. Give yourself permission to take a break and resolve your other problems.

Your blog will be there when you get back.

Explain to your readers why you’ve been missing in action and maybe even share some aspects of your personal struggles. They will love you for your openness and honesty.

Final Words

As a Part Time blogger, it will be easy for you to become frustrated when your blog readership isn’t growing fast enough or your blog isn’t generating much income.

The most important advice I can give you is to be patient! Your time will come! Make sure you are using your limited time as efficiently and effectively as possible, and the results will follow.

You're reading 15 Wasteful Habits of Unproductive (and Unsuccessful) Part-Time Bloggers by Kristi Hines, originally posted on Kikolani. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Kristi on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

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