Big Foot Web Marketing

Best WordPress Themes?

This is a tough one. Some themes START OUT better than others. ALL of them you will constantly adjust and play with. For example, I rarely use the sidebar right of the box and almost always will hard code my sidebar categories, etc. I don’t do it right away bit after a few months I will start ripping apart the themes. Most common problem I see is misuse of header tags. Using h2 tags all over the place.
The header tags are used for semantic layout- the most logical layout choices. Many theme creators think that by adding H2 and H2 tags everywhere it will help in search rankings. It has the opposite effect. The spiders get confused and may abandon your site all together.

SEO’d WordPress Themes

I have re-written a few Wordpress Themes for my own purposes and have thought about posting and making available here- however sometimes the wheel has all ready been invented and no need to re-invent.
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Best Resources For SEO’d WordPress Themes

A excellent resource is Courtney Tuttle’s Internet Marketing and Strategies Site. Not only does he have some outstanding advice to offer anyone starting to use a web site to make money- he also has a vast database of SEO’d WordPress themes he himself has gone through and optimized.

Courtney has done a superb job on these. I do quibble a bit with the use of h2 tags with Site header title ( I prefer a h1 tag), however no need to split hairs
You will do well with any of his re-worked WordPress themes and Courtney offers such a large variety no need to look elsewhere.

Types of WordPress Themes To Avoid

The them listed below are very popular themes- there are MUCH worse offenders. I chose them because they are popular. My beefs are subjective and in no way mean to offend or insult the designer. All of themes mentioned have excellent structure and designs can be easlily modified.

Avoid Reverse Type

I do prefer some types of themes over others. I am NOT a fan of reverse type. It is very hard to read for anyone. About 3 years ago I lost most of the sight in my left eye. I cringe when I come across a site using reverse type ( i.e white type on black background) “Dust WordPress Theme” is an example. Please avoid these. I don’t mind so much in a header- as long as font is large enough.

Supersized Headers

Yikes. HUGE header that take about most of the space above the fold. This *may* work for you if you are going to pop in Google Adsense ads in your header and you will get a good CTR but for the most part I would stay away from them - You don’t need to have the most valuable real estate on your site taken about by giant header. If you love the theme and you are comfortable making changes then you can tweak and make header smaller- by changing font or removing some of the images.
Examples of Giant Header Themes:
Dark City
BlueBird ( I like this LOOK of this one even if it does scream Partridge Family ) Header is larger than I like- but will work on some sites. It was originally designed by Randa Clay ( of the U Comment I Follow fame) and she does wonderful design. Clean, modern and beautiful. She also has some solid tutorials on her site for DIY WordPress Theme Customizations. A good tutorial on playing around with CSS. Don’t be scared to try this! It is a good way to learn. Just copy and keep the original CSS in safe spot.

Avoid Bizarre Colours. Please.
Your themes should suit your niche. You have more freedom with creative type blogs- but people are turned off by jarring colours. Also don;t use heavily feminine colors on a site geared to unisex or male audience- no matter how much you love it.

Some themes that I think are bit over the top ( but may work for you…) :
I don’t know why- I am both attracted and repelled by this theme. Maybe it the 70’s carpet look. OranJuice 1.0 Large header and carpet texture. It IS eye catching. I might use this on a craft type site.
I actually love this theme for certain types of sites, Techdesigns.co.uk 004 It it funky and fab. Great for an artist, fashion,, personal blog, etc. My younger sister is an artist and I recommended this one to her.

Boring Themes.
The is a plethora of white/blue/dark blue or black themes. I guess they make a statement. TAKE ME SERIOUSLY. I just find them boring. I do like the light, CMS style look of them- however keep the structure and jazz up the colours using CSS.
These are nice well thought out themes that are on life support and need infusion of colour:

Blue Pix 1.0.0 Zzzzzzzzzz. Nice design- pop in some of your own colour.

How Many Columns In A WordPress Theme Is Best?
For our purpose- how many columns should you have to make the most money? I like 3 column. My preference is center split. (left sidebar|content|right sidebar) . More flexibility for Adsense Ads when you are starting out, and button ads when you have advertisers. When you start adding Ads to 2-column it looks cluttered. I also feel the same way about 4-columns. I also don’t use fancy calenders and other widgets.

Are Widget-ized Themes Better?

I avoided those for a long time. I prefer to have simple code to change myself. I gave in a while ago and now use widgets on many of my sites. I do find when you start adding tons of widgets and doo-dad to your site site load time suffers and may turn away some visitors- maybe even bots. I tend to aim for lean and mean rather than flashy and splashy. If you are new to blogging widgets are an easy way to personalize you blog and by all means go for it. You DON’T have to use every single widget available however.

Good WordPress Theme Resources

WordPress Theme Viewer Official WordPress Theme Site
Courtney Tuttle’s SEO’d WordPress Themes- Excellent.
Best WordPress Themes to Use for Google Adsense
10 Remarkable (and Free) Wordpress Themes
Comment and theme recommendation by internet marketing gurus at Problogger.

Tags: Blogs and Blogging, Internet Marketing and Blogs, Wordpress Themes by Lisa Stewart
1 Comment »

Ahhh… site wide links. This is pet peeve of mine. . Sites that have all kinds of outbound links off the header, huge sidebars with categories and pages and mile long blogrolls. All these links are affecting page rank on specific pages- the page hit hardest is your main page- arguably the most important page on your site.
The minute you install word press you have a bunch of sitewide links on your blog. They are every where. Most themes will have at least one outbound link in the footer. All these outbound links are not only unnecessary but they are leaking page rank that could benefit your site. By using free plugins and doing some pruning to your site you can control page rank flow on your site- and even increase it.

Good Plugins To Control Page Rank Flow

Some plugins in can actually hep you control flow of links and page rank passing. There are tons out there- but these are the ones I like best.
One I like quite a bit is the nofollow from home plugin. What it does is add nofollow tags to external links on the main page.

Get Rid of Duplicate Outbound Links- Not Content

A plugin in that is highly underrated is Andy Beard’s Andy Beard’s NoFollow Those Dupes Plugin
. I think the reason is not as widely used as it should be is the lack of understanding of how it works.

Hidden Outbound Links
When you publish a post with a link in it- you have in effect created several pieces of content that have the same outbound link it- the same external link flowing OUT through multiple leaks. The post- and all the link sin it- will be in archive pages, category pages and popular posts, etc. What Andy’s plugin in does is not block the duplicate content- just the duplicate external link. Brilliant, eh?

it is customizable buts works great right out of the box. 99% of users will not need to make any changes.

If you do not have this installed- do so!

Clearing Out the Dark Recesses of Your Blog

You have site wide outbound links in all kids of places in your blog. Here are some places to check first.
Check your Footer
Go to Presentation/Themes/footer.php ( or similar)
You will see all kinds of garbage. Get rid of it. If you are using a free theme- leave the link to the theme creator- just add a nofollow tag. he will get credit and reader will be able to find out where you got your theme- you just wont; be giving him a link from every page on your site. You can always write a post about why you like his/her theme with a link to their site. This is much more valuable than a general link in the footer.
Take out any links you REALLY don’t want and add nofollows to the ones you want to leave.

Tackling Sidebar Clutter
There is a haven for links. If you STILL have those blogroll links that come with every Wordpress install- delete them now. I am not a fan of blogrolls. Keep your blog roll to a minimum. say 5-10 tops .Make sure links in your sidebar are relevant. Remove the link to your Aunt’s Israel vacation pics. If you want to showcase links or sites that you love- crate a page or write a post. If you must you can always write something like ” Sites Worth Mentioning” in a page and list there. “Top Ten….. ” type pages an posts are great. Better to do that than pop in a blogroll.

Go to sidebar.php or look in your widgets for superfluous sidebar links. Meta sections are notorious space wasters. if you feel bad about getting rid of them and think they MUST serve some purpose- then add nofollow tags to them

Re-Assess Widgets
Examine you widgets. I know- I am a widget JUNKIE so hard to believe I am offering up this advice. I am constantly trying new widgets and tools… but most times they create clutter and are not useful- as well as stealing your page rank.

Add NoFollow Tags to Ads
If you want to stay within Google guidelines- you have to have nofollow tags in all paid links and ads. If you have text links or buttons in your sidebar- or anywhere else- add nofollow tags to them.

Feedburner type links are also sometimes pre-installed in themes- add no follow tags to that link as well.
Many sites will have an Amazon product picture or link in the header or sidebar- add nofollow tags to those. I make it a habit to add nofollow to all my amazon links.

Here are some sites with more in depth help on de-cluttering your Blog’s Sidebar
Declutter your Sidebar
What’s Really Necessary in Your Sidebar
Reasons and Ways to Clean Up Your Sidebar

Control Link Flow - Add Nofollow Tags To Your Category and Pages.
I prefer to hard code my side bar. It is quite easy. Just open up your source code and copy into notepad. Find the section you want use, ie. “Pages” and paste into sidebar.php or use widget. You can also comb through the links and add nofollow tags that you don’t need or want page rank. I do this with pages like ” Advertising rate Information” “contact me” , etc.

Pair down Category Pages if you can. If you hard code your pages you can create a page that will not show up in sidebar- but you can add link to it elsewhere on the site.
Example:
Page: Most Popular Dog Breeds
links to:
( created but not hard coded in sidebar)
Schipperke page
Golden Lab page
Poodles, etc

Some of these ideas will take you minutes to implement some longer. Understanding the why will give you insight into the how. Knowing that site wide outbound likes can hurt you will make you think about your links and link placement- when or when NOT to add a link or use nofollow tags.

I am not condoning adding nofollow tags to every outbound link- this is a BAD idea. Adding links prudently is good practice. I am very generous with links and think they are the lifeblood of blogs.
You can control the page rank flow on your site by limiting outbound links with plugins and cleaning up sloppy external AND internal links on your pages and posts . By doing so you will get a page rank boost for your site and its key pages- as well as give readers a cleaner and more professional looking blog.

Useful Links:
How to Add NoFollow Tags To Your Links
Andy Beard’s NoFollow Those Dupes Plugin

Tags: Google, WordPress Blog, WordPress Plugins by Lisa Stewart
7 Comments »

I make no claims to being a PPC expert. I have had some experience using AdWords. Just read a quite good, easy to understand article on using PPC to make money with your affiliate marketing. Some good solid ideas great for those new to PPC.
PPB is a good way to get traffic and convert to sales if you do it right. With niche markets can also be quite inexpensive.
Take a look if you have ever thought about using PPC or have no clue what I am talking about and are but curious.

Tags: Blog For Money by Lisa Stewart
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I have been on the road in Sunny Florida… and m my laptop died. I would be miserable except the 80 degree weather is a good distraction. I will be back next week. Apparently I CAN survive a month without Internet access! Sceduled to be back home next week.
Wish You Were Here..
Lisa

Tags: Internet Marketing and Blogs by Lisa Stewart
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