Get Help With Linknet Products
This is the place to look for help in configuring, using, getting the most out of your Linknet products including such things as AutoBlog, Quick Web Video, Level 3 Link Building, and other products.
Logging In To Wordpress
Item 1: Logging Into Wordpress
In order to do anything in Wordpress that involves adding or changing something that shows up in the browser, you first have to log in to your own “SiteAdmin” area.
The link that takes you into the “SiteAdmin” area is normally somewhere in the right sidebar, usually near the bottom.
You will have to log in using your login ID and Password - the one given to you when your blog was initially set up.
Creating a Basic Wordpress Post
Item 2: Creating a Basic Wordpress Post
Once you’ve logged in to Wordpress, click on the “Write” tab along the the top. This will take you to the “Write Post” screen where you can create an original post.
There are basically 4 parts to each post…
1. Post Body - Most people will enter their post with the “Visual” tab clicked on. However, if you know a bit of html code - such as how to create a hyperlink using html - you might want to click on the HTML tab over on the right side of the form and do it that way.
Either way, it is often best to create your post in a Notepad or Google Docs document beforehand. That way you’ll have a clear text version of it that you can use in different places later.
However, you definitely should not copy from a MS Word or Adobe Acrobat document right into Wordpress. Doing that will almost always bring in odd characters and formatting instructions - things such as curly quote marks, hyphens, copyright and registered symbols that tend to create problems in Wordpress. If you want to bring material in from a MS Word or an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) doc, then copy it first into Notepad or Google Docs, clean up the oddball characters, and then copy it into Wordpress.
Of course you can always create your post right in Wordpress (like I am doing right now), but if you are bringing in text from an external source, clean it up as described above, then just copy it from the original document and paste it into the form.
Adding a Link to Your Wordpress Post
Item 3: Adding a Hyperlink to Your Post
When you want to add a link (or more properly, a “hyperlink”) to a post you should remember that a link has two parts:
The anchor text - these are the actual words that the link is applied to. For example, if you want to create a link to an article about “barcode scanners”, it will usually be found in a string of text like this:
“Check out this article about barcode scanners.”
The words “barcode scanners” are called the anchor text because these are the words you want to apply the link to.
The target URL - this is the web address you want your readers to be taken to when they click on the linked anchor text. In the above example, if the words “barcode scanners” are linked to the address - http://www.waspbarcode.com, then this is is the target URL.
While in “Visual” mode, to apply a target URL to a specific anchor text within your post do the following:
Adding An Image to Your Wordpress Post
Item 4: Adding an Image to Your Wordpress Post
It is quite easy to add images - photographs or graphics - to Wordpress posts, but it is important to keep a few things in mind. First, add images that are properly sized before being embedded in your blog posts. For example, if you want to embed an image you just recently shot with your digital camera, don’t just bring it in at 800 x 600 pixels, or whatever was its original size. That is too large for the typical blog column width.
Rather, downsize it to a more manageable 400 x 300, or some other similar size. Here is a sample of an image that is 400 x 300 pixels:
You might even think this is too large. If so, downsize it using image manipulation software such as Adobe Photoshop. Or use one of the many online image resizing sites such as resizr.com or shrinkpicture.com - many of these sites will also let you crop your image too. And some will help you make adjustments to brightness and contrast, and sometimes even to the color balance of the image.
How Often Should You Create Blog Posts?
The general answer to this question is: “As often as possible.” An active blog will keep readers coming back - especially if what you write is interesting to your readers. If you only write once a month, there will be very little incentive for regular readers to come back and check your content.
On the other hand, if you write new material every couple of days, and you encourage an active dialogue with your readers, then they will come back more often and you will gain a loyal following of regular readers.
At one end of the spectrum, some bloggers like to write detailed and fairly complicated articles. In that case it is unrealistic to think you can create new posts every day. You will find it is just not possible.
This is one good reason to make the tone and approach of your blog less formal and more conversational. Make your posts less like “articles” and more like comments or “thoughts”.
When blogs were first developed a few years ago they were a way for people to share ideas quickly. An important feature of early blogging was the way bloggers would link to other resources - other blogs, articles, websites of interest, etc. So these blogs contained a lot of quick “reviews” and links to other bloggers who were writing about mutually interesting stuff.
In some ways this conversational function of blogging has been overtaken by other social networking sites such as Twitter and Myspace where the emphasis is on “here’s what I am doing right now”. These sites are not meant to contain deep and involved content. They are generally light and often frivolous by design.
The best blog content is probably somewhere between detailed “articles” and frivolous content. Think of a blog post not as an article, and not as a random thought either, but more as a “report” or “comment” on some topic.
Stay with your general theme as much as you can. Look for other blogs that share your focus, news items about your areas of interest, or original articles on some topic within your niche. Keep your posts relatively short - say, about 150 to 300 words. Express your opinion rather than just regurgitating what other people say.
That way you’ll find lots to write about, and you will be able to create interesting posts more often - to keep your readers coming back.
What Should You Write About in Your Blog?
What should you write about in your blog? Again, there is no simple answer to this question.
Some people advocate you try to dream up “link bait” - short provocative articles that are likely to get links from other bloggers or article writers. This is easier said than done. If your objective is to get noticed by other bloggers, or to get Diggs from readers, then you might do well to study the kind of posts that are likely to get this kind of reaction. I wrote a blog post about this a while ago called “Making Social Sites Like Digg Work For You.”
Being a bit of a contrarian and a closet academic/elitist I find this idea of appealing to the sensational difficult to do and generally phoney. It’s not me… which brings me to a major point: try to be yourself. Express your opinion - but please, try to be a bit more original than going for self-indulgent “rants”.
Generally people appreciate useful information, so talk about things you know something about. You don’t have to be an “expert”, but it definitely helps to speak from experience. If there is some topic you know something about - it doesn’t really matter what it is - just remember there are probably many people out there who know a lot less than you do and will find your stuff interesting enough to read and perhaps comment on.
Look for other interesting blogs or websites that share your interests. Use articles or posts you find on these sites as a jumping off point for your own posts. But don’t just summarize them for your readers. Pick out interesting points and then add your own commentary.
Some self-proclaimed blogging “experts” claim they have discoverd the formula for writing effective blog posts. For instance, one such authority suggests you always open your blog post with a story to get your reader’s interest and attention.
Let’s say I want to write something about the recent Canadian election (yes, there was a Canadian federal election earlier this month). This formula would have me start with a story that might tweak my readers’ interest. For instance I might describe the time 30 years ago when I attended a Pierre Trudeau rally (he was then the Prime Minister of Canada) in the hotel ballroom where my son and new daughter-in-law just held their wedding reception.
Ok, that’s boring. Well maybe the story about how Robert Stanfield (also running for Prime Minister a few decades ago) was caught by a reporter’s camera missing a ceremonial kickoff at a football game, and that photo essentially lost the election for him.
Or how about some innane comment by Rush Limbaugh to illustrate how tame, rational and moderate we are in comparison, or perhaps a story about how the Canadian health care system saves people from the kind of health-care induced bankruptcy they suffered from just a few decades ago.
On second thought maybe stories like that might alienate half your readers. Better stay away from them unless you’re really sure they work. In other words, if you’re going to tell stories, express opinions, or try to be a bit controversial, make sure it accomplishes what you want it to accomplish.
