Last year’s WordCamp was my introduction to WordPress, and one year later I feel like I’ve come a long way but still have so much to learn.  Two days, two conference tracks, and 15 pages of  typed notes later -  here is a high level overview of key takeaways I learned at WordCamp Chicago, held June 5-6, 2010 at the Holiday Inn Merchandise Mart.

I’d classify myself as a WordPress “advanced beginner,” and I am a user, not a developer,  so I stuck to the User Track and attended sessions on: Using WordPress and Buddy Press for Education, Creating Custom Menus with WordPress 3.0, a WordPress User Experience, session, but for me the meat and potatoes came in the afternoon of Day One.

I was blown away by Amanda Blum’s session entitled “Sitemap to Success” and Scott Stawarz’s session on how to Maximize the All in One SEO Plugin.  So let’s start there.

Every website is selling something.  Is that clear on your site?

Many business cater to multiple audiences, and your website should have a clear call to action for each user group.  After you’ve done the initial leg work of defining what you do and who you serve; address each one specifically and determine what constitutes a success point on your website?  Make sure you create a path to buy!

Amanda suggests starting with the following  four questions:

1. Why do I want crap?
2. Why do I want *your* crap?
3. What is your process to give me crap?
4. Give me crap.

Everything should be a call to action!  On every page what are your options to buy and/or contact for more information. Remove the roadblocks, website design should be supporting content, not the other way around.

That said, Scott Stawarzs’ presented a great session on a popular WordPRess Plugin, called All In One SEO Pack (AIOSEO for short).  Since the bread and butter of a website is its content, ask yourself:  What key words do you want to rank for??

Creating great content is the best way to be Search Engine Optimized, so regardless of what tools you are using for SEO begin by identifying the keywords you audience will use to find your site.  Then write fantastic content and tell a story!  SEO is an important part of the process of improving the volume and quality of search results, and only after you’ve created compelling copy, will the All In One SEO Pack be your blog’s best friend!

Scott offered the following practical next actions steps, which I will use as a guide going forward:

1. Spend 80% of your time on creating new content
2. Spend 20% of your time on SEO
3. Spend 100% of your time helping others
4. Follow Google SEO Guidelines

So you’ve created a sitemap and a plan to get people to take action, you’ve optimized your site for the search engine, but have you backed your site up?

Data losses are very common, 66% of internet users have suffered from serious data loss. Are you prepared?

A perfect way to end this post is with another very important takeaway I had from WordCamp. Chris Jean offered a comprehensive session on Backing Up and Upgrading WordPress – and you guessed it… I can not stress enough how important it is for you to back up your site, both the files and the database.  Make sure you have a strategy to back up your site, before you need it!  After you’ve selected your back up tools, create a schedule, and stick to it, oh yeah…and test the back up too!

Chris suggests the following schedule of how how often you should back up your website:

1. do a full back up at least once a week
2. do a database backup if possible once a day
3. do a  full back up before a WordPress core or major plugin upgrade

Did you also attend WordCamp, what takeaways did you leave with?  Please share the learning!

Related posts:

1. What I Learned at WordCamp Chicago
2. Becoming an Internet Celebrity – Erin Blaskie at WordCamp Chicago
3. My blog has been blessed by Matt Mullenweg

Congratulations, you’ve decided to start a blog!  Now what?

That was me,  a week ago.  I had the good fortune of attending WordCamp Chicago, a conference that focuses on everything WordPress.  Well, everything except for getting started, that is.  In a room of 200, I was one of a handful that wasn’t already a blogger.  Intimidating?  It could have been, rather I seized the opportunity to learn from my peers and decided right then and there that on day two I was coming back with a blog!

I had a website, interactiveAmy.com, but it wasn’t on WordPress and it didn’t have the capabilities to support the type of blog I wanted.  So I issued a tweet for help.

My tweet for Blog help!

Jason Pelker was the first to respond, and we met up during a break.  Jason listened to my dilemma, how to switch my static domain to WordPress, and assured me I could do it!
He also told me that he didn’t think I was ready to start a self hosted blog, so he directed me to WordPress.com to get started with a free WordPress hosted account.

Jason could tell that I was a smart cookie, so he pointed me in the direction of the WordPress.com support page, and then said to figure it out on my own.  So there I sat, the last one to leave the WordCamp conference room – busy logging in and setting up my interactiveAmy.wordpress.com account.

And that was that!   With additional hand holding from Dan Schulz, I was determined to go home and figure it out.  And I did!  Day two of WordCamp I came back with a blog!

Steps to getting started:
The WordPress.com sign up page is the place to begin.  Simply sign in, register a blog domain and blog title and then wait for your confirmation email to arrive in your inbox.

After confirming your account, you can log back into to your newly created blog!

On the front page of WordPress.com you will find the link to your blog’s Dashboard.  That is the hub of your blog’s activity.  From the Dashboard you are able to set up pages, create new blog posts, modify your blog’s theme, and once you publish your work, you can access your stats including traffic, page views, etc.

Many people are using WordPress not only for their blog but also as their primary website as well.

What is the difference between a post and a page? Pages are category headings on the top of your webpage.  Setting up a page is the same process as posting a new entry. Within the Dashboard you can Add or Edit new pages for your website.  In my case my pages include a welcome letter, my bio, an overview of social media and a page for each of the services my company provides – social media consulting, digital publicity, personal branding.  Since this information was already on my static site, setting these up was as simple as cutting and pasting my previous text and formatting within the page entry.  I had 7 pages set up in about 2 hours.

Upon logging in, WordPress issues a “Hello, Word!” post and invites you to edit, approve or delete.  I modified mine to let the world know that I have arrived in the blogosphere.  To post a new entry simply go to your dashboard, select “add New” from the drop down menu and type away!  WordPress allows you to save drafts as you go, and also lets you preview your post before publishing.  I admit I was a little trigger-happy and over the course of this week I accidentally published HTML code as an entry, which I had to delete right away, no biggie it was easy to fix!

And the crazy thing is, that as soon as I published my first posts, I tweeted about it and invited people to check out my new blog.  The best part was, people came and they left wonderful comments congratulating me on launching my blog and engaging in conversation.  When blog post comments come in, you receive email notification and then are directed to approve and publish or ignore the comments.  Comments are a sign that you are engaging your audience, so if you stop by let someone know you were there: say Hi, offer advice, express your point of view, share an experience, I invite all of my visitors to leave me a comment!

I have been posting diligently every day so far this week, and the more I play around with WordPress.com the more confident I am that I can handle self hosting and site maintenance on my own!  I am allowing myself one week on WordPress.com, and then everything will be rolled over to a self-hosted version of InteractiveAmy.com, my home on the World Wide Web.  I hope you’ll come visit!

** Thank you to Nile Flores, who invited me to write this guest post for her blog Blondish.net!

Related posts:

1. WordPress.com is the Gateway Drug!
2. What I Learned at WordCamp Chicago
3. What I Learned at WordCamp 2010

Matt Mullenweg - WordPress.com is the Gateway Drug!

InteractiveAmy blog was born on Saturday June 6th, 2009.  The very next day, I got a shout out from Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress at WordCamp Chicago.  Now, less than a week into blogging, I am ready to make the move to WordPress.org, a self hosted version with many more tricks and customization options.

In my first five days as a WordPress’er, I have been relieved at the simplicity of getting my blog up and running, but I want more pizazz!

I have been asked to write a guest post at Blondish.net recounting my experience getting started on WordPress.com, so I am not going to steal the thunder for my guest blog debut, just know that I will have more to say on that subject in a few days.

Matt Mullenweg is a visionary in more ways than one.

I am hooked on WordPress, and can’t wait to get started on WordPress.org!  You will know when I’ve made the switch…I’ll make sure of it.

Did you start blogging on WordPress.com and then make the switch to WordPress.org?  If so, please share any transition tips, or pointers to make my switcharoo as smooth as possible!  Thanks, in advance!

Related posts:

1. My blog has been blessed by Matt Mullenweg
2. WordPress.com – Let's Get You Started!
3. To Blog or Not To Blog

Do you find yourself wanting to write about the things you enjoy? Do you have something of value to share?  Will your expertise in a certain topic help others?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you or your business may want to consider starting a blog.

What is a blog?

A blog, or online journal, is a powerful communication tool that can help you engage your site visitors, deepen relationships with your readers and customers, and increase repeat visits to your site.

• The word “blog” is a contraction of the term “web log.”  It is a type of website featuring entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

As of June 2008, blog search engine Technorati indexes over 112 million blogs!

How do you know if blogging is right for you or your business?

There are hundreds of reasons why starting a blog would be beneficial to you and your business.

A few potential benefits of blogging include:

• A blog allows your business to engage with current and potential new customers in a direct, informal, no-pressure way, allowing people to get to know you, your products and services and gain a better understanding of your company.
• Blogs are collaborative in nature, and will provide insight into customers’ needs, concerns and interests.  That information can be used to develop new products or services, or tweak existing ones.
• Blogging will give your company a personal voice, and is a great platform to share the expertise of top executives, division leaders, all the way down to interns!  Getting to know company personnel can help boost customer loyalty and become more approachable.

What do I write about?

I can’t help with that, but I can encourage you to write about what you know, what inspires you, what interests you, share your experiences and takeaways, teach people about your products and services, etc.  Most importantly, pick a topic that excites you, and make sure you are passionate about your chosen subject!

Some basic tips for developing blog content:

• Provide useful information and resources on your chosen topic.
• Include your personality, and your experiences to make the information come alive, and reflect your voice.
• Mix things up – include photos, videos, links to other sources, and offer your interpretation
• Not every post has to be a novel – offer How-To tips, Top Ten lists, etc,

Remember – The goal is to write often so that you can create a long lasting readership for your blog visitors.

How to Be a Successful Blogger

You will not know if you are successful unless you define what success looks like to you.

If you decide that a blog makes sense for you or your business, keep the following in mind:

• Start by setting goals. Decide what you want to accomplish with your blog, and let that influence your content strategy and tone.  If you are a business, establish policies upfront.
• Make sure to keep it relevant.  Your audience wants to know who you are and what you are up too.  It is OK to make posts personal and speak directly to your audience. Readers want to know your thoughts on industry trends, what type of projects you are working on, what events you are hosting/attending/sponsoring, and how you feel about them.
• Use relevant keywords throughout your blog.   This will help with search engine optimizations, frequent content updates will keep readers coming back for more, and many times shorter and more frequent updates are preferable to longer, infrequent ones.
• Stick with it! If you decide to start a blog, make a commitment to keep it going!  An abandoned blog looks worse than no blog at all!

So, to blog or not to blog, what are you going to do?  Are you a blogger, please share what you are writing about and what inspired you to get started!  Don’t forget to tell us where to find you, leave your blog address so we can come visit!

Related posts:

1. My blog has been blessed by Matt Mullenweg
2. WordPress.com is the Gateway Drug!
3. What I Learned at WordCamp Chicago

Is  it possible for a weekend at WordCamp to turn someone into a blogger?

Yes, I am living proof!

This past weekend, I attended WordCamp Chicago to immerse myself in the world of WordPress.  While not an entry level blog conference, this blogging newbie was on a mission to learn from the best.

I will follow up with more WordCamp Chicago highlights and presentation recaps in posts to come, but in the meantime here are some takeaways that inspired me to log into WordPress and create an account before heading home after my first day at WordCamp Chicago.

Liz Strauss, founder of SOBCon and blogger extraordinaire kicked off WordCamp Chicago with a lesson on how to make your blog stand out.  With over 100 million blogs out there, any and all tips will certainly help!

If you’re still thinking about what you’re going to blog about  – choose something that you love! Blogging about your passion will attract like-minded people, and you will also look really smart!

People can find information anywhere, blog your experience with your information.

• For example – if movie critics only blogged information, all of the movie reviews would be the same.

(And speaking of movies, if you are a movie buff with a small bladder, check out RunPee.com, it tells you the best time to run to the restroom mid-movie, just heard about that site and had to share!!)

So now that you have something to write about, how does one build online influence?

According to Micah Baldwin, founder of #FollowFriday, if you truly want to be influential online, just influence one person.  He even provided a formula to back that up:

• Influence = Reach [Brand*Expertise*Trust], where reach is a multiplier of influence.

If I lost you at #FollowFriday, here is the run down – each Friday on Twitter, users recommend interesting and exciting people to follow, and people follow them back.  Talk about extending your influence, a recommendation from someone you trust goes a long way!

WordPress can do just about anything…So where does one begin?

A great way to learn is by example, and seeing how other people have used the platform is a great place to start! Luckily, Doug Hanna’s session was about “Showcasing the WordPress Showcase.”

In order to be included in the WordPress Showcase:
-    you have to use WordPress in a unique and innovative way,
-    have thousands of regular readers,
-    be written by someone famous, or notable in his/her particular field,
-    or represent notable organization, government entity, corporation as an official blog or website.

If WordPress is good enough for Martha Stewart, Sir Richard Branson, Harvard Law School and I Can Haz Cheezburger, it is good enough for me! Check out the showcase, what are your favorite WordPress sites?

You didnt have to attend WordCamp to have great advice to share – so tell me, what are your tips for new bloggers? Please share some pearls of wisdom, resources or words of inspiration for those who are just joining the world of WordPress.

Related posts:

1. What I Learned at WordCamp 2010
2. Becoming an Internet Celebrity – Erin Blaskie at WordCamp Chicago
3. WordPress.com is the Gateway Drug!