Giveaway - Win Exclusive 5x Free Domains And Hosting For SUYB Readers

Today here on Spice Up Your Blog we are launching a fantastic giveaway for readers.We have teamed up with WebHostingBuzz to offer five Yes 5 lucky readers a totally free domain name and free hosting for one year (plus much more see below).I'm sure you all know what a custom domain is, the hosting can be used for example for a WordPress blog.If you use Blogger of course you don't need hosting but you can avail of the free domain and we will help the winners connect their free domain to Blogger.

Important - This giveaway is over you can see the draw and winners here.

About WebHostingBuzz

"..WebHostingBuzz constantly strive to provide fast, friendly and reliable web hosting packages that cater to all budgets. Born from a passion for web hosting, they offer award winning 24x7 customer support, reachable by email, phone and live chat. They have over 30,000 clients from over 200 countries around the world and have earned a reputation for excellence.."

What You Win

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Why I’m Sick Of ‘SEO Is Dying’ Posts

Guest Post - Our host is Jessica, In this post Jessica gives her opinion on why SEO is not on the way out.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

Every day it appears some self-appointed ‘expert’ has declared the industry of SEO dead on its knees, this time next year we’ll all be flipping burgers, stacking shelves or asking people if they’d like a copy of The Big Issue. Whilst I don’t have the advantage of having a time machine (some guy with floppy hair wearing a bow tie stole it) I think we really do have to stop with the doom and gloom before it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Why Is SEO always about to die ?

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WordPress Fixed Floating Comment AnyTime Plugin

The floating share bars are very popular among bloggers.You know the bar the scrolls along beside posts as you read.These allow you to Tweet and Like the post at anytime.This is a very cool WordPress plugin that works with the same principle but for your comments.The floating comments plugin places a miniature comment form beside your posts that scrolls so readers can comment anytime.Once the reader clicks inside the comment field it opens with the options to add a comment.The comment form is then set so the page does not need to reload once the reader adds their comment so they can continue reading.

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5 Top Tips For Optimizing Images For Google Search

Guest Post - Our host is August Drilling, August takes an in-dept look at optimizing your images for search along with tutorials for WordPress and Blogger.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

If you haven’t noticed, a new visual trend has hit the web, and Pinterest is a prime example of this image-based trend in action. High quality, engaging images receive tons of love on Pinterest, generating loads of traffic back to the originating website.

Besides Pinterest, though, even images found in the classic Google Image search provide great potential for increased site traffic. But, similar to ranking well in Google’s traditional search, your images must be optimized to win this extra traffic.

So to capitalize on the image-based trend, lets go over the top tips for optimizing your images for Google. It’s quick and easy, so let’s get started.
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How to Make the Blogger Posts Have a Calendar for the Date in

It's quite common to see calendar style dates next to some WordPress posts but for the Blogger platform it isn't always easy adding it. But who said you can't do it? You need to look no further than this blog. In this tutorial, we'll learn how to create a calendar style for your Blogger posts date!

DEMO

How to create calendar style dates in Blogger

Step 1. Go to "Settings" > "Language and Formatting" - "Date Header Format" and change the date format as you can see in this example below (first add day, month and finally year)
 

Step 2. Go to Template > click the "Edit HTML" button

Step 3. Click anywhere inside the code area and press CTRL + F to open the blogger' search box

Step 4. Type or paste the following line inside the search box and hit Enter to find it:

Step 5. In case you find it twice, replace it twice with this code:

Step 6. Now type this tag inside the search box and hit Enter to find it:

Step 7. Just above the tag, paste this code:

Before saving the Template, here we can make some changes:

- To change the calendar style, replace the url in blue with yours;
- If the calendar doesn't appear as it should, change -108 with 0;
- With green are marked the areas where you can change the color of the dates

Step 8. Now Preview your Template and if everything looks ok, hit the Save Template button.

That was all... Enjoy!

Free Ebook - A Complete Guide To Blogger For Beginners

You know one of the things I constantly have to keep in mind while writing tutorials is the Newbie or Beginner Blogger.Whether it's tutorials for WordPress or Blogger blogs I always try to write posts as if I was writing them for a complete newcomer to blogging.Indeed I think this has been one of the reasons behind the success of Spice Up Your Blog.I have published many Basic Blog Tips and Video Tutorials specifically for new bloggers, along with this the steps in tutorials are usually accompanied by a Video showing the steps required.

But there is only so many posts we can publish which cover the basics of Blogging.For this reason I have often thought of putting together an Ebook on the topic.I never really got around to it but fear not Amanda Kennedy of Blogger Buster has recently done the job and a fantastic job at that.
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Which is More Important in Blogging: Money or Reputation ?

Guest Post - Our host is Jessica Simmons, Jessica looks at the fine line between making money on your blog and keeping a good reputation with your readers.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

Choosing between money and reputation is like choosing between meat and bread—there is fulfillment with reputation, but money offers a special kind of satisfaction.

It’s true that for a lot of blogs, the quality of the website diminishes when earning money is prioritized. Most of the site’s space that was once dedicated for relevant content is now replaced by random advertisements.

The problem though with standing up for a good reputation is that it may affect the availability of income-generating resources that are essential to sustain that good reputation. Without sufficient funding, running your site may be terminated.

To better weigh both options, here are actual blogging experiences that were once caught in this dilemma.

Reputation Matters

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Adding 3D Social Icons With Rotate Spin Effect To Wordpress And Blogger

This week we gave away a freebie set of 3D Social Icons with names, the social icons set was very popular with almost 500 downloads in 3 days ! At the time of writing I am using these Icons here on Spice Up Your Blog.I have the icons in the sidebar linked to our Social Profiles and Feeds, however I have added a few effects to the icons.The main effect and I have received a lot of comments and Emails on this is Css rotate.With the Css rotate when you place your cursor over each icon they spin 360 degrees, they then spin back 360 when the cursor is removed (Cool eh).I also have a slight opacity hover effect on the icons.So in this post I will show you how to add the icons to your blog, linked to your social profiles and feeds.

Live Demo

Here are the icons is full working order, see what happens when you place your cursor over them ; don't be afraid to click them and follow us.
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Blog Marketing Lessons We Can Learn From Cake Wrecks

Guest Post - Our host is Courtenay Stevens, In this post Courtenay has some great blogging tips using the example of Cake Wrecks.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.
Disclaimer - The author of this post and Spice Up Your Blog are not connected to Cake Wrecks in any way, they are just a good example is all.

If you haven’t already started following CakeWrecks.com, you are seriously missing out on one of the greatest blogs on the internet today. Cake Wrecks has been featured on Time Magazine’s list of the Best Blogs of 2010 and The Reader’s Digest’s list of 5 Websites for a Quick Laugh. The site has also been featured on such prominent media outlets as CBS News’ Early Show, The Today Show, The Washington Post, and Wired Magazine.

So how did this blog achieve such fame and admiration? And what can we learn from Cake Wrecks about how to promote our own blogs?

Good Content

Anyone who has read even a single post on CakeWrecks.com knows that they’ve got good content. Actually, forget about “good” content; they’ve got great content! Jen, John, and their occasional guest posters write well and they write clearly. We know from Google’s recent Panda and Penguin updates that high-quality content is becoming more and more of an important factor in any site’s search engine rankings, so the fact that Cake Wrecks has content that is readable is a big deal. Plus, it’s hilarious! Once you read a Cake Wrecks post, you want to keep coming back for more. That’s essential in making sure that your blog can attract and then keep your readers! What’s more, Cake Wrecks posts on a regular basis (once a day and once during the weekend), meaning that they don’t lose readers by not providing regular updates.

So how do you get quality content? Jen Yates, the primary owner of Cake Wrecks offers this advice:

“Write about what you love, not what you think will be popular. It takes time to gain a readership, and if you don’t love your content you’ll get discouraged.”

It’s also important to set some standards and dedicate yourself to them. These standards may have to do with the quality of writing on your blog, the topics that are discussed, or the amount and type of advertising that you allow. Perhaps you’ll decide that all content must be 100% free of grammatical mistakes (a lofty goal—we’re all human); or maybe you’ll decide that while you’re free to bring up mature themes in your posts (as Cake Wrecks is sometimes known to do), you refuse to allow explicit content. Whatever standards you choose for your blog, make sure you stick to them. Having high, consistent standards will increase your authority and strengthen your online presence.

Networking

In regular business, it’s important to network. Having friends in high places is definitely important when it comes to blogging as well. Let’s take a look at Cake Wrecks. First, Cake Wrecks is part of the prestigious BlogHer Publishing Network. This network attracts over 40 million readers each month, and these readers rely on the network to hook them up with blogs that are relevant to them. That’s a lot of readers who could potentially be visiting your site! Granted, not every blog network is going to bring you that much traffic, but if you have a high-quality site, it’ll be much more likely that you’ll be accepted into a network like BlogHer. Of course, when you’re joining networks, the key is to join only networks that are directly related to your site.

Joining blog networks is one way to meet new people online. If you’re joining networks that are relevant to your site, you’ll be able to meet and network with people whose interests and tastes are similar to yours. Making friends online is crucial to getting more online attention for your blog. As you meet other bloggers and site owners, they’ll start checking out your blog. If they like what they see, and if your blog is relevant to their site, they’ll be more likely to share your blog with their readers. That’s another audience that you’re tapping into! Cake Wrecks does this really well. They’re listed on Blogrolls and Favorite Sites lists all over the internet. Their most valuable links, of course, are coming from cooking blogs, humorous blogs, and other sites that are relevant to their own site. Cake Wrecks gets these great links because they discuss a related topic, but also because their content is enjoyable to read.

Finally, if you check out the footer on CakeWrecks.com, you’ll find a link back to Jen Yates’ other blog, Epbot.com. Featuring your other sites is a great way to tap into any audiences that you have built there. Chances are that the people who follow your jewelry making site will also be interested in your custom painting site. Even if your sites aren’t directly related, loyal readers may still enjoy your writing style on a different subject. A little cross promotion certainly couldn’t hurt.

Social Media

Jen Yates is very good at maintaining her social media presence. She reads all of the comments on her blog posts (an impressive feat considering the massive number of comments on each of her posts), and she responds when appropriate. The Cake Wrecks Twitter account is also proof that Jen pays attention to the responses and shout-outs that her site receives there; Jen frequently responds to tweets from fans, keeps her readers updated on what’s going on with the site, and shares relevant news and thoughts. She also infuses her tweets with her humor and loads of personality.

Maintaining your social presence is important when it comes to promoting and enhancing the image of your blog. Readers like to feel that they are part of a community, where their thoughts are appreciated and valued. You can give your readers that sense of community and give them validation through your social media presence.

Cake Wrecks is one of many sites that demonstrate how important good content, online networking, and social media can be in promoting and expanding your blog’s readership. Of course, I neglected to mention that using your site’s keywords in your Title tags, alt image tags, site description, and H1 tags are important in getting more search engine traffic as well, as are other link building tactics. Cake Wrecks uses these tools very effectively as well, and it’s an important part of optimizing your site for online traffic.

CakeWrecks.com is an excellent example of how to succeed in the online world. If you follow their example, your blog can start seeing the kind of online attention and success that it deserves.

By Guest Author -Courtenay Stevens is the founder and current editor of Monday's Orchids, a site devoted to informative content on a variety of topics. She is an expert in local internet marketing, and her work has been featured on a number of prominent business websites.

4 Major Key Points of Future SEO

Guest Post - Our host is Pedro Cardoso, here Pedro looks into some of the future signals of Search Engine Optimization.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

If you’ve been reading on the best practices of SEO (search engine optimization), there’s a good chance you’ve glimpsed at the industry’s mixed nature: part science, part art and part speculation. There is way too much re-hashed information out there, and the really good advice is often neglected by those not in the know.

Sure enough, content is king, relevancy is paramount, links are important… but there are some other aspects of SEO that will be just as important in the future. Learn to adjust your website today to follow these optimization guidelines, and you’ll be one step ahead of the competition.
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Blogger Add A New Option To Turn Off The NavBar

The Blogger Navbar, when I first started Blogging it was somewhat of an issue.The issue wasn't is there a way to remove it, there were lots of tutorials showing how to remove the Blogger navbar.No the issue was "Are we allowed to remove the Blogger Navbar?".Many at the time feared removal could be against Blogger TOS and therefore end up in blogs being removed or accounts being closed.Blogger were always quiet on the issue but as there was never a story of a blog being effected because of removing the navbar we presumed it was OK.

I guess Blogger have now spoke as loud as possible on the issue as they have actually added the option to remove it or turn it off.So if your not a fan of the Blogger nav bar here is the new way to turn it off.Also check out the links at the end of the post to have a cool hover effect Navbar and move the Navbar to the bottom of pages.
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Exclusive New Set Of Amazing Free 3D Social Icons With Names

Today we have a Freebie for all Spice Up Your Blog readers.We have designed a fantastic set of social media icons you can use on your website or blog to display your Social Profiles and Feeds.The icons have a 3D high quality design using the logo for the social sites and feeds along with the names across the icons.

One of the things I wanted to do with these icons was have the name of the service on each.While everyone is familiar with the Facebook and Twitter logos I feel some newbies online are often confused by some icons.

Included are icons for Rss Feed, Email Rss, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.They are provided in PNG format and in three sizes : 48x48, 64x64 and 128x128 Pixels.

3D Social Icons

Before you download we have some terms.
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jQuery 5 In One Image Effects For Your Photos On Blogger

Bloggers are always using images and photos on their blogs so in this post we will see how you can add five different effects to those images.The neat thing about this is you just have to add some jQuery and Css to your template (We make it easy) then you can easily add from 5 hover effects to add some spice to your blog images.

Lets look through the effects and you can also check out the demo to see it in action.

The five effects will be :

Effect 1 - Popout, this is a basic pop out effect on hover the image will pop out from the page.
Effect 2 - SliceDown, The image will have an dark overlay and on hover a slice effect reveals the image clearly.
Effect 3 - BoxRandom, The image has a light overlay and on hover the image is revealed by boxes randomly clearing.
Effect 4 - FoldLeft, Once again the image has a light overlay and this time on hover an accordion fold effect reveals the image.
Effect 5 - RainGrowReverse, This time on hover the image is revealed from corner to corner.

Add The Image Effects To Blogger

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SEO Checklist Before You Start A New Blog

Guest Post - Our host is Pablo, in this post he has some tips for people starting a new blog.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

To me it’s still amazing that a cms like Wordpress can build you a professional looking site in a few minutes, my first site was built in Microsoft Frontpage and involved many long nights and a few tears! However just because it’s now easier to build a website doesn’t mean it’s easier to create one that is ultimately successful and makes money, because the success of a site is often down to the competition it faces from similar sites in the marketplace. The problem is that many webmasters assume that just because they have an attractive site with quality content that they will automatically rank at the top of Google for their chosen keywords. I’m not saying that good content won’t rise to the top but it can take quite a while to happen on its own and if your competition is established and also providing the information people are looking for where does that leave you?
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AdSense Safety - Select Sites Your AdSense Units Can Be Displayed On

This week I got a strange email from AdSense.To give a summery they told me AdSense had been disabled on one of my sites due to copyright infringement.However the site they say they disabled AdSense on was not mine, in fact I had never seen it before ! This lead to me investigating some more and the results were surprising.

The site AdSense mentioned in the email was indeed using not only my publisher id, they were using the actual units from Spice Up Your Blog.

Why Would Someone Use Your AdSense Code ?

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Five Fresh Free And Premium WordPress Plugins

Guest Post - Our host is Amy Edwards, In this post Amy has listed some of her favorite new WordPress plugins.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

Whether you’re an amateur blogger that’s just trying your hand at blogging because you’ve been bullied into it or you’re an experienced blogger that gets paid to blog for a living, there’s a good chance WordPress is your platform of choice.

First established in 2003 as a single piece of code to enhance the typography of everyday writing, WordPress has grown from a handle of users to millions of users in less than 10 years and it’s not hard to see why. Easy to use, adapt and 100% free, WordPress is constantly being developed by the Open-Source community which means it’s actually improving week on week. Its simple design means it can be used for anything from a Fortune 500 website to a personal blog, while its hundreds (if not thousands!) of themes make it easy to personalize and manage.

Another massive draw of WordPress is its extensive back catalogue of Plugins. A bit like an app for your smartphone, a Plugin is simply a tool or mini programme which you can download to your WP blog or website to carry out a certain task or feature. Like I said earlier, WP is constantly being developed and its Plugins are no different. Most WP Plugins are free to download and easy to install on your personal blog or website and the active WP community means it’s usually pretty easy to find a Plugin which is effective and has good rankings.

Although the WP community is pretty active when it comes to new releases, it can still be pretty hard to keep up with the latest Plugin releases – according to WP, there are currently nearly 20,500 Plugins currently available on the platform! Now, while I can’t give you a run-down of the entire 20,500 Plugins on the market, I can give you a quick run-down of my top 5 WP Plugin picks for 2012.
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How to Effectively Write for a Specific Audience

Guest Post - Our host is Stephen Burrell, Here Stephen has tips to tackle the challenge of writing to a specific niche.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

The primary goal of most blogs is to develop a loyal readership, and the best way to do that is to identify a specific audience that you want to reach and write specifically for them. You'll find that by better connecting with their needs and interests your blog is able to grow faster and your visitors are more engaged.

But how do you decide who to target? And what can you do to get them interested?

Who are your writing for ?

You want to be specific about what your blog will discuss. You don't want it to be too broad since you won't be speaking directly to anyone's needs, but you also don't want it to be so narrow that the number of people you can reach is too small.

For instance, there are hundreds of mom blogs out there and millions of potential moms to reach, so if you wanted to start your own mom blog, you need to find a way to differentiate yourself from the crowd. You could share experiences as a work-at-home mom or an African-American mom to hone in on a more specific group of moms.

Learn more about this group

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The Quick Yet Ultimate Guide for Guest Posting

Guest Post - Our host is Matt Powers, In this post Matt shares his Guest Posting experience with us.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

For all of us in the Internet Marketing world know by now, guest blogging is one of the few ‘white hat’ activities left we can do to gain high quality links and anchor text from sites that may not initially think to link to us. The reason webmasters are willing to link to our sites is because of the time and effort we put forth in order to produce an interesting, informative or entertaining piece of content for their site. How long this marketing strategy will be considered ‘white hat’ only time will tell. Google could easily change their algorithm to discount these links one day based on how many people decide to abuse the privilege of getting these ‘free’ links or the content becomes spammy enough like it did with article directories.

For now though, I believe as long as the person behind the computer is putting some thought into their writing and giving readers information they want to see, this is still a win-win situation for both parties involved. But now with the basic knowledge that guest posting works and the mass amount of marketers fighting for space on others’ blogs, it’s not as easy as it once was to get a post published. And while there are many posts out there with guides on how to guest post, many are lengthy and wordy to show off their college educations.

Here is the quick, yet ultimate, guide for guest posting.

Research

• It is important, imho, when researching to find blogs that are in your niche. I don’t find the value on posting your 12 favorite recipes on a cooking blog to get links back to your advertising agency.
• Twitter is a great way to find guest post opportunities and tools like Ethan Lyon’s Guest Post via Twitter make it that much easier!
• The ‘best of’ or ‘top 10’ lists in your niche are another great way to find opportunities.
• Follow the path of other guest authors by simply searching their name ‘+ guest’ or some other combination of keywords in Google.
• Find a blog you like but can’t figure out how to contact them…reach out to them on Twitter or their favorite form of social media.

The Pitch

• After compiling a list of potential blog matches, it’s key to take some time to get the overall feel of the site. Read some of the most recent posts, determine what they like to talk about and the tone they use.
• If guest post guidelines are posted, READ THEM. The easiest way to get rejected is to overlook the guidelines. The easiest way to get your post picked up is to READ THE GUIDELINES.
• If you are asked to contact someone, DO NOT just ask them if they accept guest posts. BE POLITE! Tell them how much you enjoying reading a specific piece or compliment them on the overall design of their blog. Give them a concrete idea of what you plan on writing about and why it would be beneficial to them and their audience.

Writing

• After your pitch has been approved, again, FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES! If no guidelines were provided, you should have a pretty good idea of how they like to write anyways based on reading prior posts.
• Don’t half ass it. This is a great opportunity to gain a couple free links and usually the one and only opportunity to pick the anchor text you would like to use. Write something you would be proud to post on your own blog.
• If possible, provide supporting links to other articles on their blog. It shows that you’ve made the effort to do a little research on your end and helps them with internal linking.
• Provide supporting pictures to go along with your post. Screenshots of actual data or examples of real websites do so much more for a reader than stock images.
• And please DO NOT get greedy with links in the byline. You should never put more than 3 links in the byline. Most webmasters won’t allow it and it’s bad for SEO anyway.

Follow Up

• After you’ve sent your initial draft to the editor, DO NOT assume that it will get posted. Assure them that if they need any other information, edits or revisions you’d be happy to provide them.
• When the article is posted, be active in the comments. People like to interact with the author and give the page more authority.
• SHARE, SHARE, SHARE! Yes, I know it’s not your blog, but you wrote it. Share your work with your audience. The webmaster will appreciate it and it will give your audience something to read until you get around to your next blog post.

Any other suggestions to help getting guest posts picked up? Please feel free to leave them in the comments

By Guest Author - Matt Powers does Internet marketing for Blue Soda Promo, an eCommerce promotional products website based in the Chicagoland area. BSP imprinted company logos onto items like promotional sunglasses. We make your brand POP!

How To Use Video To Increase Your Website Revenue

Guest Post - Our host is Neil Davidson, Here using examples and studys Neil shows how video can benifit bloggers and webmasters.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

If your goal is to increase the revenue generated by your website or blog then video is a tool you should most definitely consider. Video is being used online more and more and we are reaching a stage where video is no longer a luxury; people expect it. Take the analogy of two candidates applying for the same job (in this case, your website and a competitors website are the two candidates). Both have exactly the same qualifications and experience... except one of them has a video explaining their benefits. Who is going to get the job? The answer is the one with the video.

Video has qualities that engage viewers far more effectively than static websites displaying lots of copy. Video is visual which is an immediately convenient factor; people prefer passively watching video to putting effort into reading large amounts of text. Also, video is emotional. If used intelligently it will set off emotional triggers in your audience which could be the difference between a sale and someone leaving your website.

Here I have looked at some long-term and some short-term ways that video can help to increase website revenue and offered some handy practical tips for harnessing these to your advantage.
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Blogger Now Allow You To Choose The Permalink For Your Blog Posts

A few weeks back Blogger added a permalink feature to Blogger In Draft, Blogger In Draft is like a separate dashboard they use to test new features.You may have seen some Blogger related sites write about the permalink feature at the time.I held off covering the topic until the permalnk feature was added to the main dashboard.OK, If your thinking 'Test Dashboard' and 'Main Dashboard' what's he talking about, don't worry that's not important.The main point is every blogger user can now choose the URL for their posts.This leads to the next question 'What Is A Permalink?'.

What Is A Permalink

Every post you publish on Blogger has it's own URL or address.Until now this URL was automatically generated.Now however Blogger have giving the you the option to actually choose the URL that will be generated for your posts.

Why Use A Permalink

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How I Used Industry Leaders On Twitter To Spike My Blog Traffic

Guest Post - Our host is Nick Steeves, Here Nick shows us how he has managed to get huge brands promoting his content.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

So you’ve got a blog and you’re picking away at the basics - getting backlinks, optimizing your tags and meta-data and posting to but you’ve yet to see any major spikes in traffic.There are people out there with established audiences which you would love to tap into, but how? These people are bombarded with requests at all hours - how do you get their attention?

Flattery is Your Best Weapon

Everyone loves to share a glowing review about themselves, and thought leaders are no exception.Talking about why someone is successful and how others can emulate them to be successful will get you a much quicker shout-out than simply soliciting one by telling them why you’re so great.

I have done this successfully with a number of large brands on Twitter - most notably DKNY who retweeted me (@GetLocalShopprs) each of the three times I tweeted them over the course of several months.
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Foreign Search Engines and Your Blog: How to Optimize Smoothly

Guest Post - Our host is
Amanda DiSilvestro, in this post Amanda looks beyond Google to see how people in other country's may be searching for your blog.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

Being that Google controls nearly 60 percent of the search market, many blog owners put their focus on optimization entirely on this search engine—and rightfully so. People from all over the world use Google and translate Google results into their own language, so finding your way to the top is great for businesses. However, it is important to put your focus on your audience, and not the entire search market. In other words, although 60 percent of searches may be completed on Google, 90 percent of your search might be performed somewhere else. This then begs the question: What’s the deal with foreign search engines?
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How To Override Blogger Country Specific Blogspot URLs

A few months back Blogger introduced a system were by Blogs using the blogspot sub domain would redirect to a country code Top Leval Domain (ccTLD) depending on which country a visitor viewed the blog from.

Confused ?

No need to be, basically all blogger blogs using the free blogspot domain have always been blogspot.com.So when you create your blog the URL would be for example myblog.blogspot.com and everyone who visited would be on myblog.blogspot.com.

Now for some reason Blogger have changed this.
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Top Apps And Tips For Blogging From Mobile Devices

Guest Post - Our host is Jane Johnson, Jane loves Blogging on the Go and in this post lists some tips and her favorite apps.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

I’m writing this blog post from a lovely little cabin on the lake. I know; I’m a lucky lady. Well I can thank my iPad for making it possible.

Today’s smart phones and mobile devices are making it possible to blog from anywhere, anytime. I take my iPad with me whenever I travel so that I can post a daily blog from the airport, train station, or aboard a bus whisking me to another state. I’ve even been known to take a coffee break during road trips so I can post a quick blog from the comforts of a padded booth with an apple fritter at my side.

However, it wasn’t always like this. It took me some time with my iPad figure out all the little tricks and shortcuts that I could take advantage of. Once I did, it became my favorite device, and now I use it far more than my laptop—and it’s much lighter to transport too.

Why I love blogging from mobile devices as opposed to desktop or laptop computers:

• Tablets and smart phones are extremely light weight and specially designed slide into any carry-on bag
• I personally find, that when I use my iPad, I’m less likely distracted because its software architecture is basic compared to my laptop—so fewer distractions
• Mobile devices have pretty good battery life—I find my laptop dies after about 4 hours while my iPad lasts up to 10 on a single charge

Now that you see the benefits of using your smart phone, I’d like to share my personal tips for using one to blog effectively using some easy downloadable tools:

For brainstorming ideas and capturing notes I use…

Must have blogging tools for publishing on the go!

1)  iThoughtsHD ($9.99 – for iPhone and iPad)

As a blogger, having a tool to generate ideas for my blog posts is important. The iThoughtsHD app is a mind mapping app that synchs up to Dropbox (a central storage app) so I can create a mind map to help me brainstorm blog topics, themes, drafts, and then save everything back to Dropbox, so I can take my drafts with me and access them whenever the mood to write strikes.

2) Evernote (Free – for Android & iPad, iPhone)

As far as free apps go, Evernote is the best note taking and storage app you will find! Simply take notes whenever you have a “eureka” moment and know that all will be saved and stored across all devices—your desktop, laptop, smart phone, and tablet device. Evernote provides peace of mind for bloggers like me who like to transport all of their work with them when they’re on the go.

3) Blogger (Free – for Android & iPhone & iPad)

The must-have publishing platform is available for your mobile device. The Blogger app makes it easily to publish quick blog posts, and even upload pictures, add hash tags, and location information. However, the thing I like the most about Blogger is the list view of posts that it offers—you can view all blogs across multiple accounts and easily switch between them with ease.

4) Dropbox (Free – for Android & iPhone, iPad)

When it comes to reliable storage, you can’t ask for more than Dropbox. This all provides storage and synchronization for all of your photos, documents, and videos for free. Any file you save to your Dropbox will be instantly accessible from all of your computers and mobile devices. You can even save items to your favorites for fast access and viewing.

By Guest Author -Jane Johnson is a writer for GoingCellular, a popular site that provides cell phone related news and commentary as well as reviews on popular providers and devices like the popular Samsung phones.

4 Things to Make Sure If You Plan to Sell Your Blog

Guest Post - Our host is Lee Ka Hoong, Here Lee looks at what he thinks are the important factors for those looking to sell a blog.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

For a blogger, there is nothing more important than their blog. They love it, care for it and make sure it gets the best treatment so that  success can be achieved. For them, the blog is like a baby whom you nurture so that it stands out of the crowd. But sometimes, things do not turn to be so easy.

Giving your time to a blog depends a lot on the personal issues and circumstances and for a part time blogger, it sometimes becomes difficult when there is excess work pressure or the family issues that need to be sorted out. And at that moment, you feel you need to part ways from your blog.

Well, in the long run; it may not be a bad decision. It is no good that you are clinging on to something just because you love it but you won’t be doing anything with it. It will ultimately die and lose its existence. It is important to be proactive in this case and you may plan to sell it.

Selling a blog is a tough decision for any blogger because it is something that you have cared for and tried to make sure it looks best. But then, what is the use of making those efforts if nobody is going to see it? Selling looks the only feasible option.

But selling a blog is not easy as it sounds. You have to make sure you have certain things clear in your head. Through this article, I will try to take your attention towards 4 of the most important issues that need to be taken care of as you plan to sell a blog.

1. Value
This is the most important thing. You want to make sure that you get more than what you have invested in the blog. So, make a rough but reasonable estimate of it. Think "If I was to buy this blog how much would I be willing to pay ?". And don’t be rigid. Be open to negotiations. Listen to other offers but do not just succumb to their demands. It is your blog and you have every right to sell it and you surely won’t sell it at any road-side price. So, a cool, sensible head is required while dealing with price negotiations of your blog.

2. Person
So, you want to be sure that the person who is going to buy it will care for it and keep the blog intact. Just don’t sell it to any random person for the sake of money. Try to get a brief background of the buyer and check out his credentials. After all you have to make sure that your blog is being passed through to the right hands, the responsible person. Although, after buying; he has every right to do whatever he wants; a bit of background won’t be a bad idea.

3. Updating
Do not expect to get a good value for your blog if you have not updated it for a month and now you suddenly decide to sell it. A blog’s most important USP is its activity. If the Google bots are not tracking it; you will lose a lot. So, if you are planning to sell it; announce the sale notice but keep writing so that the blog does not die down immediately. After all, the buyer will also find it easy to carry on your work rather than build on to the left alone stuff.

4. Accounts
It is important you use one email id for all the accounts that you with your blog. For services like Gravatar, CommentLuv, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other stuff; use a single id because if you have to pass on to the account details of the services associated with the blog; you do not pass on to him different email for every service. Also, keep the password of that id different from what you use for your personal emails. You will certainly not like others poking into your mailbox.

These are the 4 most important points for me. The list and the priority can change from person to person and it will be nice if you can share them below with us to benefit all.

Thanks for reading.

By Guest Author -Lee is a part time blogger and he writes about blogging tips, brand building, make money online, SEO , affiliate marketing, traffic building and etc. He shares his adventure and experience on how to make money blogging with a blog.

Google+ Authorship - Profile On Search Results For Wordpress And Blogger

Google are working astonishingly hard to push their new(ish) social network Google+.One of the features they have implemented is the option to connect your Google+ Profile to your blog.This will in turn verify you as the author of the blog which has some advantages.Possibly the main advantages is your Google+ profile will be displayed beside your blogs on search results.

If you look at the screenshot below you can see By Paul Crowe with My Google+ profile Picture.Pretty cool and it's easy to do the same for your blog.

Connect Your Google+ Profile To Your Blog

On Wordpress.

Wordpress users can have their Google+ Profile connected to their site using this new plugin.

On Blogger

Blogger do the work for you on this, you just need to use Google+ as your Blogger profile.Check out the video below for further instructions.

Easy as that !

Drop Your Comments And Questions Below.

Add A Fixed Jump To Comments Button In Blogger

Guest Post - Our host is Deepak Kamat, In this post he walks you through how to add a fixed jump to comments button on Blogger blogs.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

Comments are the major way of getting feedback about our blog posts from readers, therefore comments are really an essential part of any Blog. If you are a blogger too then your always delighted to see new comments on your posts.But there are times when you don't get any comments at all, often in long posts. The problem is that readers don't scroll through the whole page thus they miss the comment area.Even though people are reading your posts you are not getting any comments at all and it's frustrating.

So, how can you improve your site in a way that your blog post gets more comments and the comment form is easily accessible to readers?

This post covers this topic and tells you an easy and effective way of encouraging your readers to comment.The button will be fixed in the bottom right of the page, check out the demo.
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How To Create A Sustainable Social Media Strategy

Guest Post - Our host is Marcela De Vivo, In this post Marcela has some fresh social media tips and ideas for you.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

After Google's Penguin update, establishing and maintaining an active social media strategy is more important than ever. Since Google uses social media markers as part of their ranking algorithm, being active in social media will not only gain you new followers and visitors, it will also increase your search engine rankings.

The question, however, is how do you create a sustainable social media strategy where by you are adding content to all of your social media channels, while also running a blog, business, taking care of your customers, etc?

Why Use Social Media?

When you use social media to promote your brand and website, you can do so for free or for very little cost in comparison to paying for an advertisement or listing in a newspaper, magazine, or even on a billboard. When you use social media, you are also able to update and share new releases at any time with you fans and the followers of your brand or website.

Understanding Your Brand and Audience

Before you begin implementing a social media strategy for your website and company, you should first take time to understand your target audience and its age range and demographic to help you with reaching them as efficiently as possible. This will also help you to stay relevant.

Updating Consistently While Staying Relevant

Updating all of the social media sites and pages you have created to represent your website and brand is recommended daily to keep the consistent updates happening, allowing you to easily reach an audience regardless of the time of day. Also, staying relevant is important so researching your industry frequently for new discoveries, advances, and even trends can help you to draw in more page views from links clicked on and shared using social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

How to Draw in New Visitors to Your Website and Brand

You can draw in and attract new visitors to your site and brand's pages online by featuring eye-catching titles and information along with sales, and even giveaways or contests, depending on the type of budget you have and the services or products you have to offer. Ask your followers and fans to help by sharing the links you post with their own family and friends to get more genuinely interested click-through links when the links have been shared with someone personally, helping to grow your site.

A Sustainable Example Schedule

Most small business owners only have 1-2 hours a day to dedicate to social media marketing. Below are a few ideas for how to organize your schedule:

Day 1: Spend time on Google News and other News sites researching what's happening in the world related to your industry. As you are reading and researching, write down notes and ideas, and bookmark relevant articles. By the end of this time period you should have a nice database of topics.

Day 2: Write as many tweets, FB wall posts, and Google + posts as you can, with links to their relevant sources. Then use a tool such as TweetDeck to schedule them so they will be "dripped" into your social channels slowly over the coming days.

Day 3: Write 4-5 articles for your blog. Post and schedule them on your blog so they will be posted one at a time over the following few days.

Day 4: Write 4-5 articles for other industry sites or blogs. Send them out to sites that accept guest blogs so you can increase your links to your site.

Day 5: Write 4-5 articles and distribute to web 2.0 sites such as Wikia and Ehow. Make sure you link your articles with other articles on other profiles written by you.

The following week, you can follow the same strategy, but sending/distributing the content to other sources so you are not sending content to the same sites over and over again.

By the end of the month you would've successfully created new content for your own blog, social media channels, as well as increased your authority and popularity by getting published on other blogs and web 2.0 sites.

By Guest Author -Marcela De Vivo has been in the Internet marketing industry for 12 years.She blogs about life and SEO at MarcelaDeVivo.com

3 Things You Must Consider Before You Start Guest Blogging

Guest Post - Our host is Slavko Desik, Slavko has some great advice for Guest Bloggers.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

Probably all of you by now know that if you truly want to succeed in blogging, you must understand, or start to understand promotion as an inevitable part of every blogging success. That being said, you should embrace the idea of guest blogging as one of the leading ways of promoting your new brand.

Why is guest blogging so important?
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30 Best Free WordPress Themes Of 2012

We are over half way through 2012 so it's about time we looked at what WordPress Theme designers have been up to.At the start of the year we published the very popular 25 Best Free WordPress Themes Of 2011 this time I have listed 30 free themes for WordPress from the first half of 2012.So check out some themes to make your blog brighter.

Note - Some of these themes have free and paid versions so look for the free download link.

Click the title of each theme to see the demo and download details.

New: Also see The Best Free Wordpress Themes For 2013 !

30 Best WordPress Themes From The First Half Of 2012

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Jump On This Bandwagon And Rock The Blogosphere !

Guest Post - Our host is Jane Smith, here Jane shows us the advantages of having a focus on local in your blog.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

Act locally. Think globally.

The mantra made popular by the recently deceased 'Occupy Wall Street movement' is a super-hot consumer trend right now. And though some of us like to blog for fun, most of us would like to see some Benjamins thrown our way for our hard work. (Can I get an ‘Amen’!?)

Granted, there is a problem with working an exclusively local angle, and I’m sure you’ve already guessed it. Local and independent businesses generally don’t have the dough to advertise on multiple platforms, which means you can’t rely on local businesses to fund your blog.

Siiigh. Looks like you’ll be relying on Google AdSense and the other standard ways of revenue generation.

Ok, now that you’ve heard the downside, cheer up! By making your blog a local hub, you can expand your network, generate popularity and gain a real cultural presence.

Newbies can form blogs based on a single local angle and blogging vets can reshape a blog to include one.
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Add Pinterest And Other Bookmarking Buttons To Images In Your Blogger Posts

On Spice Up Your Blog I have tutorials for lots of Social Bookmarking gadgets.We have posts showing how to add Social Bookmarking gadgets at the top of your posts, below your posts, scrolling beside your posts and in fixed positions.These are of course for readers to bookmark the content in your posts.But with so many Blogs having a focus on Images how about having the bookmarking icons appear on the actual images you have on your blog ?

People love to share images and the success of Pinterest has served to confirm this point.So in this post I have a tutorial to add social bookmarking icons from AddThis to your images, the icons will only appear when readers hover over the image and they appear with an overlay.

The buttons we are adding to the images are for Twitter, Facebook, Print, Pinterest, Google + and the Add This button which will cover all other services.

Check out the demo below then follow the tutorial.
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Benefits Of Joining A Blog Network

Guest Post - Our host is Charles Mburugu, Charles looks at how blog networks can help Bloggers.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

A blog network is simply a group of blogs which share a common theme. Some of the networks are primarily focused on promoting blogs, while others have a commercial aspect. Blog networks come in a variety of sizes and shapes, ranging from the small networks which focus on specific topics, to the large ones which cover a wide range of subjects.

Some of the most popular blog networks include b5media, Hubpages, Simply Good Media, Content Quake and 451 Press.

You can find many other networks by doing a simple Google search or finding out which networks other blogs in your niche have joined. Once you identify a network that suits you, get in touch with the network manager and explain clearly how your blog would add value to the blog network. Make sure your blog meets the requirements for being part of the network.

As a blogger, the following are some of the benefits you will enjoy by joining a blog network.
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Yes, Your Blog Should Be Using Pinterest

Guest Post - Our host is Samantha Peters, Here she tells us why Bloggers should be using Pinterest.See How To Become a guest author on Spice Up Your Blog.

Your blog may have an obscure theme, or you may be carefully targeting a very specific niche. You may be a seasoned blogger, or you may be new to writing and managing your own blog. Your blogging goals may be purely personal, or you may blog for a living. No matter what your approach or your goals, pictures make your blog more appealing. Pinterest makes it more visible.

While many bloggers are oblivious to such interests as search engine traffic and monetization strategies, the reality is that many have become aware of the potential to blog for money. Others have recognized that they can build a following for a business or cause through the use of a blog. If your goal in blogging is to have your blog read, then Pinterest is a tool that you should be using.

Popularity

One of the main reasons you need to use Pinterest in tandem with your blog is that it is popular. Most of the world is familiar with the rapid growth of Facebook. Pinterest is moving rapidly in that same vein, gaining traction as a unique source of social networking. Pinterest works in similar ways by allowing friends and acquaintances to follow each other. It also gives the images shared a lot of exposure through organizational methods.

Categories and information allow those searching for something particular on the site to find suitable images from a variety of sources. The attraction seems to be more influential among female users of the platform.

The Power of a Picture

 Making your blog compatible with Pinterest involves using photos on your site. The more interesting the images, the better. Try to select images that are interesting and unusual as they are more likely to be liked, pinned and repinned. A picture really is worth a thousand words in this case because that picture may be the device that attracts a new reader now or in the future.
Easy Sharing

Pinterest has facilitated one of the easiest sharing venues on the Internet. Your post being pinned by a reader leads to your image being on display for the Pinterest community. Your reader's friends and followers have access to your image and related comments that have been posted. They have the opportunity to like that image or to further share it. The process is quick.

Unique Descriptions 

When you write a blog post, you select tags or labels that describe your post to search engines and searchers. When your post is shared on Pinterest, it is defined by the interest of your reader. As your post’s image is repinned, it may be described from a new perspective. It may be organized according to a different purpose.

The keyword research you have done in order to optimize your post may be effective in attracting search engine visitors, but your readers sharing your post on Pinterest are mining all sorts of traffic in their unique interpretations of your image and its uses.

Return Visitors 

Bookmarking a site can be easy to do but difficult to manage. Using Pinterest boards, though, your readers can add your posts for later reading. The image pinned to a board provides a direct link back to your blog. As the image is repinned, it provides additional links. These aren’t of value in search results, but they may be of value in attracting traffic in the future through searches within Pinterest.

Pinterest results are beginning to frequent the first page returns of search engines for a variety of search terms. As you grow your blog, it’s important to make Pinterest a part of your blogging activity. Create a Pinterest button on your site that makes it easy for a reader to share your posts. Additionally, create your own Pinterest account so that you can share your posts. Your sharing will be more focused on images and brief descriptions, and your networking within the Pinterest community will facilitate further sharing.

By Guest Author -This Guest Post is written by Samantha Peters, an avid blogger who helps provide tips on how to be successful to fellow bloggers. Sam relies on the services of BrainHost.com for all her web hosting needs.