Tag results for blog

Content Management Systems

WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, and other such content management systems are commonly talked about on the web. In fact, studies indicate that content management systems (CMS) power around 26.3 percent of the web. That percentage should only go up, because CMS is the best way to power a website. The question must then be asked, what is CMS?

CMS allows web designers to set up their clients with a template to which content can be added via an administrative interface. It is used commonly for blogs or shopping carts that contain content which is constantly being updated. With CMS, every page of content (whether that be text, images, video, etc) contains variables which can be changed by the website owner. This means the site owner doesn’t have to call up his developer just to adjust some text, replace an image, or add a menu item. The owner can do it himself.

If you’ve ever set up a blog with WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, or the like, you’ve used a content management system. The administration area, where you login to type a new post, is known as the backend to CMS. The backend is where a user can administer his/her blog. However, as you may have guessed, CMS doesn’t stop with blogs. CMS is used for e-commerce, social media, podcasting, and even normal websites!

Most of the best CMS out there are free and open source. They include WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, SilverStripe, and many more. As a web designer, I encourage all my clients to go the route of CMS, because it can help give them the independence to update their site without having to use me as a crutch. Allow me to set you up with a CMS website today!

Written by Tim on June 14, 2011
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WordPress.org vs WordPress.com

A few months ago I went over the difference between Blogger and WordPress. At the time, I was still using a remotely hosted blog platform for Prorarity’s™ blog. Since then, I have switched to a self hosted blog platform. If any of you read this post, you will know that I did not recommend using WordPress for your blog.

Ironically, the platform I am now using is WordPress! This seams like a contradiction; however, there are actually two different WordPress’! One is WordPress.com and the other is WordPress.org. While still owned by the same company, the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com is simple. One is a self hosted blog platform, the other is a remotely hosted blog platform. WordPress.org came first and is an open source project for those want to create their own self hosted blog. WordPress.com uses the same software, but is meant for the light user who simply wants a blog hosted on WordPress’ servers.

For those of you who are eager to get a blog up quickly and easily, a remotely hosted blog is definitely what you want. However, if your goal is to make your blog look and act exactly the way you want, a self hosted blog is a must have! There are other self hosted blog platforms out there, but I think WordPress beats them all, hands down.

If, on the other hand, you simply want a blog up fast and do not want to worry about spending much time on it, a remotely hosted blog is the perfect choice. In my post entitled Blogger vs WordPress, I explain why Blogger is a much better remotely hosted blog platform than WordPress.com. If you would like to know why, I suggest you read that article.

Blogging is a great way to promote any business. Although remotely hosted blogs work fine, you will get a much more professional look when you host your own blog. Hosting your own blog means you must pay monthly for a server (if you don’t already), and you will have to spend more time to get it up and running. Which ever you decide, blogging will definitely help market your company!

Written by Tim on June 27, 2010
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Making Great Titles

When browsing for articles on specific topics, people usually look at the title as it appears in Google’s search results before ever opening the page. Many times, as you all know, if the title doesn’t seem interesting or relevant the person in question will simply skip over it without ever clicking the link! That’s why, in my mind, the title you choose for your article is almost as important as the article itself.

When choosing the title of an article you are working on, try to keep it short. People don’t like to stop and read through your title, they want to get the idea at a glance.

Making a funny title is also a good idea, however, always make sure it stays to the point and doesn’t appear to be something its not.

People love articles that give a list of 10 (or 101) things. If you choose to make an article like this (which you should from time to time), make sure you start the title with something like “Top 10″ or “101 Things”.

Another favorite type of article is one that lists two items or ways of thinking and compares them. One tried and true way to make a title for an article like this is to list the two thinks and simply insert a “vs” in between.

The last suggestion I will give is asking a question in your title. Virtually any kind of article can have a title that lists a question. However, I wouldn’t recommend using this kind of title every time!

Written by Tim on May 7, 2010
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Blogger vs WordPress

Although there are others, Blogger (Blogspot) and WordPress are the two most popular blog platforms. Today, I will attempt to give a fair comparison between the two. (I do realize that I may not make a completely fair comparison considering, as is obvious, I use Blogger!)

As far as templates and layout, Blogger wins hands down! Although WordPress offers many templates to choose from, you have to pay to be able to edit them. As far as free editing goes, WordPress is very limited. Blogger, on the other hand, offers a lot of great tools for editing your blog to make it look just the way you like. With Blogger, you can edit both the CSS or, if you aren’t very code-savvy, Blogger provides some simple color editing tools. You can also very easily (no coding required) change the layout of your template.

Blogger and WordPress both allow you to use your own domain or sub domain. However, WordPress charges for this feature.

WordPress has done a good job with their widgets and have more than Blogger does. Although this is good, Blogger offers the “HTML/JavaScript” widget. This, in essence, allows you to make whatever code you want into a widget. You can use third-party codes, or simply make your own.

The last thing I want to point out is that WordPress allows you to import content from many different blog platforms. Blogger only allows you to import from Blogger blogs.

WordPress has a lot of cool features, but you have to pay for most of the good ones. Blogger, however, is completely free. Blogger also gives you much better customization. So, in the end, I think that Blogger wins. If you like WordPress, post a comment. I’d like to hear what you have to say about your favorite blog hosting!

Written by Tim on April 26, 2010
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10 Blog Article Ideas

Today, as I sat down to write an article, I was struck with a question which I am many times haunted with, “what do I write about?!!” This is a question I doubt any blog writer is free of! So, in today’s post, I’m going to list ten ideas for your blog. I think it will help those writers out there, not to mention it will help give me something to write

1. Post a Link. If you’re on the go, a really good way to post something fast is to post a link to a website that your readers may find helpful.

2. Write About Another Blog Article. Take ideas from other posts. It’s even OK to rewrite what another person wrote – just make sure and mention you weren’t the one who came up with it!

3. Answer Questions. Do some research, find what people are confused about in your niche and post the answer in your blog. You can even do a survey to find out exactly what your readers are confused about – this leads me to my next idea.

4. Take a Survey. Write a post that simply asks your readers a few questions about what they think. This will attract more comments, and give you an idea of where your readers stand.

5. Write About Current Events. Keep up with what’s happening in your niche. People love to hear different opinions on what’s hot in the news.

6. Post What’s Happening in Your Business. Although you shouldn’t bore your readers with stuff about your company all the time, it’s good to let them know how you’re doing every once in a while.

7. Look Into Your Blog Archives. Try digging way back into some of your past articles and see if you can improve them so they’re more relevant.

8. Write Something Controversial. Usually the posts that get the most comments are the ones that are the most controversial!

9. Post a _____ vs ______. Compare two products or ideas in a blog article. Give the pros and cons to both so it seems like a competition!

10. Write Something with 10. Give an article that lists the 10 best ____ or 10 great ideas

Written by Tim on April 12, 2010
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Don’t Just Write to Search Engines!

As a blog writer, it’s so easy for me to get caught in the trap where I just write so search engines will rank my site higher. Although writing blog articles does help your website’s ranking with Google, don’t make that your primary purpose for writing.

A lot of business owners understand that keeping up a blog helps your website’s ranking – and they are right. But, many times people write blog articles with search engines as the only reader in mind! So, they are tempted with making their blog articles rather sloppy.

Try not to get caught up in doing this. Even if you don’t feel like too many people are reading your articles, by making your articles sloppy ensures that no one will ever want to read them. If no one ever wants to read your articles, no one will comment or digg them. If Google notices that none of your articles have any diggs or comments, it may catch on to what you are doing!

Also, be encouraged, just because you don’t have a big response right away doesn’t mean that no one is reading your blog. You would probably be surprised at how many people are actually reading your articles and learning from them.

Written by Tim on March 19, 2010
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