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How to Switch from WordPress.com to WordPress.org and Save Your SEO Ranking

Why Should I Switch to WordPress.org?

WordPress.com is a great way to begin blogging. It’s a free service, easy to set up and use, plenty of free themes and plugins, and, well, free.

But WordPress.com does have it’s limits. For one thing, your blog’s domain name is branded for WordPress (yourblogname.wordpress.com). If you’re serious about your blog and/or website, it is vital to promote your own brand name in your url. Yourblogname.com, for example, is more professional and promotes name recognition. Being your own entity is much better than being part of someone else’s.

Also, you cannot easily monetize your WordPress.com blog. For now they do not allow Google AdSense, for example. That is why a self-hosted, WordPress.org site is a much better choice. WordPress.org is also free but there are more options and functionality. You just have to find a host and pay yearly hosting fees and domain name registration. Getting a unique, professionally designed creative WordPress theme to fit your brand image couldn’t hurt either.

I’ve been using WordPress.com for a while now. Can’t I just start a new blog using my own domain name?

Of course you can. But if you’ve been blogging for a while you will have probably built up a following. Search engines will have already found and ranked you. People may have already bookmarked your site or linked to you.

You don’t want to lose that ranking or those links. And while you can and should migrate all your blog posts to a WordPress.org system using your new url, it is also a good idea to redirect your old url to the new name. That way, anyone who has bookmarked your old site will be instantly redirected to the new site. And you will maintain your search engine ranking and permalinks.

WordPress.com now offers Offsite Redirect Support for $12 per year. I am not an affiliate of WordPress and am not getting paid to promote this service. I just think it’s a good idea. But don’t forget to renew the redirect yearly. You will not get a reminder.

05 May

Is IMAP Better Than POP?

Yes, yes it is. Especially if you have your own e-mail domain name.

IMAP vs. POP

With IMAP your e-mail is stored on your host’s server while with POP you download your e-mail to your own computer, which is then deleted from the main server (unless you tell it not to). Therefore IMAP is better if you are getting your e-mail from several computers or devices like an iPhone or iPad.

With IMAP your e-mail is in the same condition from wherever you get it. For instance, if you read your e-mail but didn’t delete it, it will still be on the server as already read, no matter where you are viewing it. But if you are using POP and you read your e-mail on your iPhone and then later checked your mail on your iMac, it will show up again as unread. How very annoying. UpperHost has a simple explanation of IMAP vs. POP.

It is best to start out with IMAP.

Switching from POP to IMAP can be quite a challenge. Here’s my tale.

I was using a local hosting company, then switched to GoDaddy. I always used POP because the local company didn’t want me storing e-mails on their server. One of the reasons I switched.

I read an article in MacWorld Magazine on The IMAP Advantage and decided to make the switch. At the time I had over 13,000 e-mails in my main e-mail account. It was suggested I save these in a folder on my computer. Sorting out 13,000 e-mails would take too much time so I tried dragging them to a generic folder and received an error message.

GoDaddy said they it would be okay to make the POP account inactive while activating the IMAP account. And this worked fine. But then something happened and a few days later all 13,000 plus e-mails became blank. They were missing. Yikes, I said to myself.

With frantic calls to Apple Support I managed to restore most of my old e-mail to my computer from my Time Machine backup. How ironic that the main reason I switched from POP to IMAP was to have a safe back up for my e-mails and in the process I lost (temporarily) all my old e-mail.

So always be sure to save your e-mail to your computer if you are switching from POP to IMAP. And have a backup plan. Hard drives do fail and e-mails do disappear.

Business Practices Computer Tech Support Helpful Hints iPad iPhone Technology

23 Mar

What’s the Most Effective Blogging Platform?

Blogging Options

When first starting out on my blogging journey I tried Google’s Blogger, GoDaddy’s Quick Blogcast and WordPress.com. All are easy to use and set up. I have since discovered that WordPress is one of the most popular free blogging systems.

So I settled on WordPress.com and created a not too regular blog. Blogging takes time and careful thought. Sometimes it takes research or just having something “remarkable” to say. That is not always easy.

Somewhere along the way I started reading and researching the blogging world and soon discovered that you can conceivably make money by blogging. What will they think of next. At the very least you can promote your existing business or service by creating useful, helpful, interesting, fascinating or humorous blogs on a regular basis.

Monetize your Blog

Making money with your blog is great. One of the easiest ways to make money blogging (by easy I mean setting it up, not getting people to buy) is by using Google AdSense. Then there’s the whole world of affiliate marketing. And of course selling your own “stuff”, such as an e-book or physical product or service. I soon discovered you cannot use AdSense or place ads with WordPress.com. But you can on WordPress.org. While WordPress.com is hosted by WordPress for free, you must find your own host for WordPress.org. This is not very difficult or expensive.

Why I Switched to WordPress.org

Since I am a GoDaddy reseller and I have a deluxe hosting plan for cjuices.com this was a no-brainer for me. GoDaddy makes it easy to set up WordPress.org. It’s just a matter of downloading the software into your server.

And with WordPress.org you get quite a lot of options to design, add to, and monetize your blog. As with all things in business, it’s a process that takes time, education, studying and work to make it pay. It’s also fun and relatively painless to set up and use. There are tons of widgets and plugins to help you with anything from simple forms, Google Analytics, Facebook and Twitter follows, shopping carts, photo galleries and much more. You can find lots of free information on setting up and using WordPress.org too.

Custom Designed Template for that Special Look

A custom designed website makes your business stand out and look professional. Call me at Creative Juices and I will explain all the possibilities on getting your website/blog up and running with a customized WordPress template. Yes, this is a shameless plug, but I am also here to help you by answering questions on the benefits of WordPress.

Free quotes too at 310-791-5803.

Blogging to promote business. Business Practices Helpful Hints Marketing 101

13 Jul

15 Ways to Website Success

A lot of thought needs to go into designing your website before you put it online. Your website is who you are (or want to be). It’s often the first thing people see and learn about you and your business. It’s the first impression you give and you only have a few seconds to hook a potential client.

So here are some things to think about when setting up your website.

Choose a Domain Name that is easy to remember and has meaning. It should relate to your business.
Use your logo on your website. If you don’t have one, get one. Just typing your name shows very little thought went into your business and people will pick up on that right away.
Put your logo on every page to maintain your brand. It’s also helpful to link your logo back to your home page.
Find a reputable host. Preferably one that offers 24/7 phone service and tech support. Don’t trust those you can’t reach. Creative Juices Domains is one of thousands of places to choose from. I prefer it because it’s part of the Creative Juices creative factory of services.
Make sure your website looks unique and professional. The navigation should be easy and the color scheme should match your image. Don’t just use a template. If you’re on a budget (and who isn’t these days) call Creative Juices to find ways to stand out on the web.
Test your site to see if it looks good on all browsers and platforms. The main ones are Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome. There is also a difference between Windows and Mac.
Have something interesting to say on your website. It’s not enough to just have pretty pictures or fancy Flash effects. You want to include information that people will find helpful. If you are a plumber, include articles on how to fix things yourself or explain why it’s better to hire a plumber and not mess up your pipes.
Test all your links and make sure they work. People want to feel you’re on top of all this stuff.
Include title tags, keywords and meta tags. These are important for search engine optimization. Check out your competitors and see what they are doing. If you haven’t a clue about what these are, give us a call. We’re here to help.
Sign up with Google Analytics and see who’s searching for your site, what keywords they used to find you and where are they coming from.
Register with the main search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing and especially target local search engines. There’s less competition there.
Find directories in your field and sign up to be listed. It’s usually free and also provides links to your site which helps with your optimization.
Write a blog about what you know best, preferably related to your business, and link it back to your site.
Twitter about yourself, your business, helpful hints, specials and reach a whole tribe of followers who look to you for information.
Add new content on a regular basis. Search engines love this and it gives people a reason to come back to your site. That’s a good thing.

When in doubt, consult a web professional. I recommend the folks at the Creative Juices factory, primarily because that’s me. And advice is always free.

Advertising Business Practices Marketing 101 Search Engine Optimization (SEO)