It’s not hard to get noticed in the blogosphere. You just gotta know how to do go about doing it. Here are a few things you might want to try and get started with.

Use networking sites such as Stumble Upon and Digg to your advantage. Submit your posts and articles to their lists and watch the hits come in. You may or may not gain some readers this way, or even major traffic, but it’s the best way to go about doing it at first. Another way to get noticed is to write about something that you think could make a big hit in the ‘net. If you’re a niche blog, this could work wonders, especially if you kept writing more posts just like it. Blog carnivals are great for getting your site noticed as well. One thing I found works (sometimes) is pinging other posts similar to your own and commenting on those articles. That way your name is on the page, and so is a link to your site or post(s). Link directories are good to.

In the end, the best way to get out there is to pass around some info and share your opinions with others in some way. So get out there and give it a try!

You may notice that at wordpress reworked an image appears in your browser bar while visiting our page.  We do this for several reasons:

1. It increases the brand imaging.

2. If you have a bunch of pages up, it makes finding our page easier.

3. We like it.

If you would like to make a favicon for your site all you need is a little design know how, a design program, and ftp access into your server.

First, design your favicon.  I prefer using platforms such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator myself.

Then size it down to around 15 x 15 pixels at 72 dpi.

Save the file as ‘favicon.ico’ (as a gif… but take the .gif extension off).

Then you will simply load it into your Public HTML via FTP and voila!  A Favicon.

In my opinion a favicon is a detail every site should  have.  Now you know how to do it.

Wordpress Reworked recently recieved this question from a reader in his/her comment,

Looks really good.

I’m having one issue while doing modifications.

Any idea how to get the header image to link back to home page. I believe it has something to do with the splash in CSS but can’t pinpoint the issue.

Also, I’ve deleted any information in the header because I don’t want it to publish over the header I’m using.

Thoughts?

Great question Joe.

First off, restore that header information. You will need it if you want to make your header clickable. Sometimes the header information includes other information that is necessary to maintain the structure of your blog. To make your own header have heirarchy you may do one of 2 things or both.

1.  In CSS where you have inputed the domain of your image write !important after the address but before the ‘;’.
2.  Just delete the part in the header.php that refers to the old header. Do not do this if you do not know which lines refer to it.

After you have restored the header.php go on the file to edit it. Look for the following Code, <div id=”header”>.

Replace that Code with, <div id=”header” onclick=location.href=”http://www.yoursitename.com” style=”cursor: pointer;”><div id=”headerimg”></div>.

Make sure you put your home site name where it says “www.yoursitename”.

I hope that helps and works for you!

This topic has been debated by the best of them. I can not exactly say that one answer outranks another. It is most important that a blog considers their blog format and their readership when deciding best posting frequency.

For example, Hot Air, a conservative news blog, posts as many as 20 posts a day sometimes. Most blog readership could not handle this amount of posting and may find themselves loosing readership tired of unread posts filling their feeder. On the other hand, other’s post once a day.

Studies show that the more you post the higher your stats will be, but I’m not sure that is all that matters. Most readers are busy and if they are like me, many unread posts stress them out. In that case they may decide that they just can’t keep up with you and quit reading.

Always keep your readers wants and needs in mind when you are making decisions like this for your blog. It does not even hurt to ask them how many posts they would like to see.

How many would you like to see from Wordpress Reworked? Speaking of that,

photo: claudecf

If you have been around any blogs about blogging have heard the term “future post”. Maybe like me you felt to silly to ask what that meant and how to do it? Future Post simply entails writing a post and selecting a date and time you would like it to post in the future. An incredible time-saving techcnique, future post is a tool used frequently by pro bloggers. Often a pro-blogger will set aside a section of time and write many posts ahead of time, rather than sitting down to post every day. This habit both manages time wisely, and leaves more time to engage in conversations through response in the comment threads.

So how exactly do people future post? Get ready for the big secret Simply write your post, scroll down a little bit, look for the menu on the right that says “Post Timestamp”, enter your scheduled date and time, and click on publish beneath the post entry.

If at anytime you need to edit your post or change the date before it goes live, simply go to you dashboard and push manage, posts, and look for your post. Click edit.

Yes, it is that easy. Now go ahead and try it. I dare you to manage your time more wisely.

Yes, Yes, and more Yes. Some of the most well known blogs have had famous themes. Problogger sports an incredibly unique theme perfect for his publication needs.

Copyblogger’s last theme was so popular, it was released to the public.

Design means so much.

Design means branding. Design means being remembered, making an impression, telling a story about yourself.

Aesthetics effect everyone whether on the conscious level, or sub-conscious. Even when people do not realize it, they make assumptions about your blog influenced by how their eye views the site. Yes, design doesn’t bump content out for the first place in what your blog needs, but it does take ranking right next door.

What makes a site pleasant? What does the eye like to see? While this varies from person to person let me touch on a few points that do influence the reader.

1. Something Unique.
Does your blog stand apart? Is it something the reader will remember. Upon returning will they even remember that they have been there before? If you utilize the same theme as many others, chances are, no.

2. Readability.
Being unique does not mean losing your ease of readability. Is their a flow to your blog? Are sections set apart clearly enough for the reader to know the ranking of importance on your site? Do posts look so long simply because different texts (bold and italics) are not used to break up longer entries? Is the name of your site clear? These are all questions you need to ask yourself.

3. Color.
What colors does our site use? What do they suggest? Are they making the impression they should be? Do the colors work well together? Are there too many? Are there too little?

While these are just 3 aspects of the appearance of your blog, my point should be starting to become clear. Design IS vitally important to the life of a blog.

Need help with your Blog Design? Customization? or Anything WordPress Related? We’re here to help! Please contact us today!

While many have varying opinions on whether or not they feel blog posts ending in graphic signatures are appropriate, I believe it depends on the format. No matter how you slice it graphic signature will add a personal touch to your blog.

Who does that work for? Anyone that runs a personal blog, of course. Mommy bloggers, Life bloggers, gossip bloggers, ranters, and more all have a reason to add a little extra touch of personality branding to their posts.

Who does it not work for? Anyone who runs a blog that it may add too much “fluff” for the format. For example, a web-programming blog may not be the best format. Any format where it seems the target market, or readership, would have trouble excepting it. If it would devalue your posts, avoid it.

Getting a graphic signature may not be as hard as you think. A simple plugin found here plus a small amount of graphic design will do the trick.

Simply design what you would like for your signature. Upload it to your server. Upload the plugin. Go to your plugin page and activate it. That simple! You will want to make sure to go to the options page for Graphic signature and select the options you want to determine when it will appear.

I get asked this question a lot,

“Should I move to a self-hosted wordpress, or stay at a wordpress hosted blog?”

I wrestled with the pros and cons for awhile before I made a big leap onto my own domain. So what are the pros and cons? What reason would be worth moving for? Why would they stay?
It mainly depends on your goals.

The upside of your own site is:

• Wide variety of themes available
• Creativity is limitless
• Plugins help you add features like shopping carts and podcasts to your site
• You have one more aspect that is adding to your brand- your domain.
• You are able to use advertising as much as you like and how you like.

The upside of not moving to your own domain:

• It’s FREE!
• Wordpress.com is excellent at generating traffic
• People already know your address there
• Moving risks losing readers not following

If you write a journal type blog only, then having your own domain probably is not a priority. However, if you want to have the ability to grow without limits, you are ready for your move. The sooner the better!

Think of it this way, even if your Technorati is at 100 and you have 50 people regularly reading your blog, waiting will only make those numbers HARDER to switch with. The bottom line is, if you ever think you may move, you should do it soon before your numbers get to tempting to leave.

Yes, When you move it will take time to get your numbers back up. My Technorati score took 3 months to bypass! Practice patience, consistency, and great content and your numbers will go up, I promise.

In Summary, If your blog is something you have plans for, something you want to grow, MOVE. If you are just keeping it for fun, you really do not need to move unless you want to.

Hello. I’m Jenny, a designer and postie here at WordPress Reworked. I am here to tell you about a reworked design I did for Ponn’s blog, Empower Women Now.

I started with the 3 column version of Patriotic by WPDesigner. Ponn actually chose the theme to be used for the site. I was given specifics on colors, organization and what should be added, changed and taken out so that she would have her own design unique to her and her site.

All that was really changed was the colors of the images used in the the theme, the banner on the top of the page (the site logo) and the css. The rest of it was additions here and there of info, scripts, and widgets. I enjoyed working on this design because there was a lot that I learned I could do that I didn’t do to my own site. She was also happy with the end result which is the opinion that matters most.

Thank you everyone for participating in our Free WordPress design contest!

The winner is Jenn of Full of Boys blog! Congrats Jenn!

For those of you who didn’t win, you can stay patient and wait for our next contest, or simply check out our economical prices and contact us for a design quote today!