The latest change to Google search that set off the usual SEO IS DEAD hullaballoo is Google Instant. It works very simply – as you enter a search phrase into the Google search box, Google trys to predict which phrase you are searching for and offers up a few suggestions. As well as showing the suggestions, Google also includes the results for each suggestion underneath the search box. The page changes according to the phrase you highlight (using the arrow keys).

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Read the rest of Will Google Instant kill SEO or is Steve Rubel just talking linkbait? (225 words)

© Stephen for The Blogging Academy, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blog search, Google Instant, Google search, search developments, search engine rankings, SEO

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But the chances of that being the case are actually quite slim.

And while this might seem like a massive problem, when you dig deeper, it might not actually be that much of an issue.

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Read the rest of Google indexed pages – does Google know about your money pages? (779 words)

© Stephen for The Blogging Academy, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Google indexed pages, Google search, indexed pages, money pages, search engine friendly, search engine rankings, SEO, SEO basics, submit search engines

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I got so close to moaning about this ridiculous option that I logged into my Google account and found a thread bemoaning the same. I skipped to the bottom of the thread, and noticed a comment by someone who said that, although the http:// part of the URL doesn’t appear in the address bar of the browser, it does appear when you paste an address (copied from Chrome) into another document.

Oh!

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Read the rest of What has Google done to Chrome? (138 words)

© Stephen for The Blogging Academy, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: browser wars, Google Chrome, Internet browsers, web browsers

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Three little words – search engine optimization (or SEO) – may strike fear into the hearts of many a blogger intent on writing and nothing more, but understanding the basics of SEO can go a long way to getting traffic to your blog for years and years.

I can totally understand why bloggers are “afraid” of SEO. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the subject, but if you learn the principles of how search engine optimization works and apply them to every blog post you write, you could be the owner of a blog that attracts traffic like crazy. Every single day. Forever.

Before running my own sites full-time I worked in the SEO industry. Over the years I have learned a lot of the techniques used by search engine optimization experts, but when I read blog posts by true experts like Rand Fishkin or Danny Sullivan, I realise there will always be something to learn.

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Read the rest of Why bloggers should give a sh*t about search engine optimization (828 words)

© Stephen for The Blogging Academy, 2010. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Getting Traffic, high rankings, search engine optimization, SEO, SEO basics

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Maintenance Mode plugin – an unknown gem?

There are times when you may need to take your blog temporarily offline. You may have made some slight changes to the CSS file and everything has gone horribly wrong, or perhaps a newly installed plugin has broken your site. There may be other reasons too…

One of the better ways to stop people accessing your site at such times is through the use of the Maintenance Mode plugin.

The Maintenance Mode plugin is very simple and very useful. You might not use it often, but it is a good plugin to know about and I recommend you have it pre-installed on your blog in the hope that you never need to use it in an emergency.

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Read the rest of Maintenance Mode plugin – an unknown gem? (290 words)

© Stephen for The Blogging Academy, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blog maintenance, essential WordPress plugins, maintenance mode, WordPress Plugins, WP plugin review

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A couple of months ago Daniel Scocco of DailyBlogTips.com re-launched his Online Profits training course. The program is aimed at people who would like to develop a new or exisiting online business, create a blog or just earn themselves some weekend beer money.

When the Online Profits training course first launched it cost the best part of $400 to join. This time, Daniel allowed anyone to join free of charge (almost).

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Read the rest of Daniel Scocco’s Online Profits training course – a review (988 words)

© Stephen for The Blogging Academy, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blog monetization, blogging basics, blogging for beginners, blogging strategy, make money, making money, online training

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The iPad is an Apple product that has taken the world by storm. I haven’t got one and it’s not high up on my current wishlist either, but I have tried one in a local shop. It was a quick go – I didn’t want to get drawn into the touch it, try it, buy it scenario (those salesmen know all the tricks of the trade).

My use of an iPad was so short I didn’t get a chance to see what any of my sites look like on one. However, that is now possible, using a neat little virtual ipad at iPadPeek. The principle is simple, type in the address of the blog you want to check and hit the return key. The page should instantly appear inside the iPad simulator.

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Read the rest of Test your blog on a virtual iPad (70 words)

© Stephen for The Blogging Academy, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: site testing, theme design, virtual iPad, Web Design, Web Tools

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IMReportcard.com review

During the past few weeks I have made it a priority to evaluate my online business and the direction it’s taking. Part of my plan for the future is to delve deeper into affiliate marketing. As a result of this slight change in direction (AdSense is currently my main source of income) I’ve spent some time researching products that will help me on the way to achieving my goals.

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Read the rest of Knowledge is power in this game – IMReportcard.com review (585 words)

© Stephen for The Blogging Academy, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blogging advice, blogging basics, blogging strategy, product research

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The site in question is my most popular. It offers desktop wallpapers to download for free, it’s been around for many years and gets a fair amount of daily traffic.

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Read the rest of How I doubled the income generated by one ad unit by making a simple change (826 words)

© Stephen for The Blogging Academy, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: AdSense earnings, AdSense for content, AdSense testing, affiliate marketing, affiliate programs, blog adverts, make money, making money

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A couple of days ago I published a post about the benefits of having a pre and post publication checklist for your blog. The post quickly received a couple of legitimate comments so I approved and replied to them. The next time I looked at the post I noticed my replies did not sit directly underneath the comment I replied to (in a nested style). Instead, my comments appeared in the normal flow of the comments section at positions three and four. This makes it hard for the reader to know who I am replying to and for conversations to start and continue.

Threaded comments (aka nested comments) has been a feature of WordPress since the release of Version 2.7 in December 2008. Prior to this release, threaded comments could only be created using a plugin.

However, it is not enabled by default. It needs activating.

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Read the rest of How to enable threaded comments on a WordPress blog (249 words)

© Stephen for The Blogging Academy, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blog commenting, Blog Comments, enable threaded comments, threaded comments

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