Adding a Flash gallery to your blog can really make your pages and posts pop. If you are a small or home based business a flash gallery can really step things up a notch and breathe life and visual interest to a page. They add a professional look and give blah pages pizzazz. You don’t have to be an expert programmer or know anything about Flash to create a slick Flash slideshow – here’s how.
I love the WP=Amazon plugin. Its one of the first I ever installed. I have used it for several years. If you are not familiar with WP-Amazon plugin- it lets you EASILY search and insert amazon content – using your affiliate ID- into your blog. Without question it is the best Amazon affiliate plugin available for WordPress. Over time the plugin has had some problems working with newer versions of WordPress and as developer has tried to make it compatible with other platforms.
Despite the efforts of developer Rich Manalang – who admittedly has very little time to support it- this Amazon plugin for Wordpress has more and more problems with every Wordpress upgrade. The plugin itself is brilliant I in no way intend to degenerate Rich!
After upgrading to Wordpress 2.5 this week I thought there has to be a way to get this to work. Other people seem to still be able to use it. I did some digging around and found that you could add some java script files, offered by Jacob Lundberg to get it to work. Getting the files was a challenge in itself. I just added them to the original 2.2 version WP-Amazon plugin so I could simply upload to my other blogs.
You are welcome to download the fixed and working WP-Amazon Plugin .
Also available- a hacked version of WP-Amazon- the one with the ” add Amazon content here” link at bottom of post. Please read some of the disclaimers.
if you are NOT using this plugin- it is FANTASTIC - don’t; be scared off by some of the problems mentioned above. You can very easily search and add Amazon content using your affiliate ID to your blog with a few clicks.
This weeks Tuesday’s Tool is the Wordpress Plugin, Alinks by Headzoo. Alinks will let you define a set of keywords and attach a link to them – sitewide and instantly. Being able to create mass crosslinks on your blog can create traffic for “lost” posts, make your blog more easily crawled as well as giving pages and posts better rankings with proper use of keywords. With the ability to add Amazon links to any text you will greatly increase your potential for Amazon affiliate revenue with very little effort. Alinks used with FAQ posts will also help you educate your readers.
Having crosslinks in your blog will keep your site healthy and well crawled/indexed. Using another Wordpress plugin Related Posts also crosslinks posts with the added bonus of offering your reader related content. You should be getting into the habit of manually crosslinking to all your posts; however plugins like Alinks are a handy tools to have in your chest.
So many times I will write a post and use a term I am not sure is familiar to reader. I prefer to write under the assumption every post I write might the primary portal for a reader- it may be the first post they have ever read n my blog or even the first post they have read about my niche..
I can sometimes get bogged down and have trouble deciding how much to explain about a term . Using Alinks I can easily link possible insider terms to a definition, post or FAQ page. Using the Faq-tastic Wordpress plugin you can link industry terms with in-depth pages that explain a term; i.e. link “linkbait” to a page with definition of linkbait.Take some time this week to install and experiment with Alinks this week. It does not replace good old fashioned manually added links but it does serve a purpose and can be a valuable tool . By using it to create crosslinks and deep links to your posts and setting up with FAQ posts you will have a blog that is more user friendly and spider- friendly. Older posts may get read more often and offer value previously hidden. Use Alinks in conjunction with Amazon Affiliate links and your Amazon revenue will go up.
There are also several additional modules you can add to the standard Alinks plugin including ebay, iTunes, Commission Junction and Clickbank .
Creates links for Commission Junction. Created by Martin Brinkmann at ghacks.net.
Let me know of your experience with Alinks. If you decide to install- tell us about it and how it affected your blog ( and revenue!) .
All links in comments will be followed. More information on dofollow blogs and the dofollow directory.
Yes- my sidebar is more cluttered. I install Twitter Tools plugin and it displays my last 3 Twitters. You will learn about my online battle with the raccoon family , be appalled at my typing ability and see what latest SEO and blog ideas I am researching.
Follow My Twitter’s for insight on how I think and work. You will be AMAZED.
It was reading Anita Campbell’s post , Are You Using Twitter Yet? that made me rethink Twitter’s value. Anita echoed my thoughts and reservations about using twitter and she had complete turn about so I decided to take the plunge, again.
I can see potential in the further building of relationships as well as the quick- if not instant- easy sharing of information. Its more than just knowing when eMom blows her daughter’s nose.
She will also share a great website or promotion
.
It is a good way to see what your mentor is up to and to further establish your role as an expert.
Following a mentor, seeing who THEY follow and what interests them offers valuable insight.
If you have a niche hobby blog in pottery or painting you can connect with like minded people and learn what they are interested in so you can write about it. Do post info and URL’s that will interest your followers.
You can easily set up multiple accounts and have multiple personas.
I will say it is HIGHLY addicting and appeals to the anyone who likes immediate gratification.
