Included in this new package-deal are lots of extras that will offer a complete business web presence ready to take on 2012. I’m making this available to anyone for less than $800.

I am also liquidating an established website forum for only $1500. Both are extraordinary deals, so please continue reading for all the details.

Start 2012 With A Modern, Professional Website

With this web development special you are getting much more than a customized design. I am offering a complete business website launch done right with search and website optimization, design, marketing, social network integration and much more.

The following 10 features and services are all included in this limited-time special offer.

1. eCommerce, Social or Membership Sites – Using the latest online business solutions such as WP-eCommerce, BuddyPress and more, we can create a wide variety of feature rich websites.

2. Professional WordPress Theme Customization – Take your choice of premium layouts from ThemeForest or other professional themes and frameworks as a starting point for your business.

3. Logo and Graphic Design – In addition to customizing your website however you like, a great looking new brand and promotional graphics will give a finishing touch.

4. Comprehensive SEO – Starting from the beginning, your website will be optimized to rank for targeted keywords of your choice. In addition to complete on-site optimization, I am now offering initial link-building and other methods of driving traffic and gaining authority for your new site.

5. Website and Marketing Copy – Content is king. So, for your business to succeed in 2012 you need great web copy. I have written for the web for over a decade and would be happy to get you started with website copy for your products or services. I will also include starter content for your company blog and social profiles.

6. Comprehensive Website Optimization – Your site will load lightning fast and will prove to be a great experience for your visitors. Several plugins, features and tweaks will make your business up to par with the latest website optimization standards.

7. Hand-selected Plugins and Extras – Along with SEO and website optimization, I will also share my favorite WordPress management plugins and other unique solutions that may fit your needs.

8. Six Months of Free WordPress Hosting – I will be glad to host your website on my server for up to 6 months at no additional cost to you.

9. Custom Facebook and Twitter Profiles – You don’t have to worry about finally getting a Twitter profile and setting up your Facebook page. Included in this package are custom social networking profiles that will be linked with your website and drive leads for you in 2012.

10. WordPress Instruction – Each of the elements of your new site may seem overwhelming, but they are really not, and I will be available to walk you through the process of managing your website effectively and easily.

All these services are included in this New Year Special for only $799.

Because many of these services demand a lot of time, I will only be able to accept a limited number of clients. So, please contact me now to express your interest in working with me to build your online business.

Example Works

Here are a few sites I’ve completed for clients who took advantage of some of these services.

RaleighPersonalTraining.com

JukeBoxxMedia.com

UDRP-Attorney.com

WritingAssignmentHelp.com

Contact Me To Get Started

Thank you for your interest in my web development services. For just $799 you can have a professional online business presence. Please contact me here as soon as possible with the details of your online business needs.

Start 2012 With an Established Twitter Forum

I am looking to liquidate TweetSocial.com a nearly 4 year old Twitter Forum. This online community of over 3000 members features discussions on all things Twitter and additionally features an application directory.

Liquidation Sale! Own this website today for just $1500.

I have not attempted to monetize or extensively market this site in recent years, however it grows organically through rankings for key terms on Google. The site receives just under 5000 unique visitors per month.

Included in the sale is all site content, design, and ownership of the Twitter profile (@TweetSocial) with 6710 followers, which as an easy way to send more traffic if you have just a few minutes to spare.

For only $1500 you can be the proud new owner of the TweetSocial Twitter Forum and app directory. Please contact me here as soon as possible with your interest in purchasing this website.

Have a great new year!

New Year Web Development Special: Start 2012 With A Great Business Website DotSauce Magazine

For almost any type of website you’re looking for, I can create a great solution using WordPress, the webs’ most popular and user-friendly content management system.

Get this cool deal on professional WordPress development for only $300 until the end of this sweltering hot summer.

Here is a list of types of websites available as starting points, though I would be happy to discuss other options you might be interested in.

• Personal blog
• Professional portfolio
• Professional business web presence
• eCommerce or affiliate product portal
• Niche magazine
• Startup web presence
• Community / forums
• Question & answer hub
• Directory
• Classifieds
• Job board
• Membership site

August Development Special

Included in this special offer are the following features and services.

• Beautiful designs using the latest standards. Integrate your existing logo or get a new one.
• Full search engine optimization services
• Social media integration and other interactive features
• Advanced WordPress plugins make site management simple and boost performance.

Let’s Build Your Professional Website

I will be in close contact with you throughout the development process to get your feedback and direction as well as to explain how to manage the site. My work will not be complete until you are 100% satisfied with your website.

Hot August, Cool Deal: Professional Website Development Only $300 DotSauce Magazine

[Header image via Flickr]

Multiple Domains Multiplies Risk

I have a semi-dedicated server that I use to host all of my web properties, domain development projects and many client websites. Before today, my public directory had something like 100 folders representing multiple domains for various websites, mainly WordPress installations.

I found out the hard-way that exploits within a particularly vulnerable script on one directory can lead to complete access of the public_html directory. In my case, a neglected old WordPress installation came back to bite me in the butt. I also discovered a vulnerability within an old PHP-LinkDirectory installation.

It’s something I should of known was possible, but never thought an exploit would be so bad as to lead to this.

The hackers placed code within .htaccess files, redirecting Google bots to spam sites. Normal visitors, including myself were none the wiser as search rankings were taken over. It’s an all-too-common, devious form of hacking that you should be wary of.

Luckily, several observant readers reported that something was awry with my search listings (they are still screwed up) and I was able to contact Google to remove the suspected hacking warning.

Avoiding This Disaster

Nobody should have to go through the experience of losing all their hard-earned search rankings. There are several actions you can and should take to prepare for and avoid a potential hack when using multiple domains on the same host.

1. Move inactive projects to a new folder, hidden below the public_html level
2. Be vigilant and timely about updating all web software
3. Regularly check notices from Google Webmaster Tools
4. Monitor website content changes through a third-party service such as CodeGuard

I’m not too worried as DotSauce Magazine should bounce back in the coming days and weeks.

I would greatly appreciate your support in sharing our content and +1′ing articles to help speed the process along. You can earn rewards like free domain registration through our loyalty program if you do. Try out one of our share buttons to sign-up for free.

Security Vulnerability When Using Multiple Domains On The Same Host DotSauce Magazine

I’ve recently discovered a new, possibly better solution for displaying a domain portfolio within any WordPress page using the My Domain List WordPress plugin which is available at CodeCanyon for $12.

As it turns out, this plugin is a great way to both market your domains for sale and manage your portfolio privately.

[Header image via Flickr]

Automated Whois Information

One of the key perks of My Domain List is automated retrieval of whois information. This is a great feature which enables you to keep up-to-date on all of your domain information from multiple registrars in one central location.

My Domain List Management

The following data is displayed for all domains within a private domain management page.

• Domain registrar
• Owner name
• Whois creation date
• Ownership change date
• Expiration date

These details can be displayed publicly as part of your domain list table or kept private.

If you would like to manage your portfolio with My Domain List while keeping some domains private you can do that as well. Select the “Unpublish” to set a domain to only be visible through the domain management page.

Your domain list is displayed by placing a shortcode within a post or a page and customizing it to suit your needs, as in this example.

[my-domain-list-portfolio show='owner,extension,registrar']

With this initial release of the plugin there are some features left to be desired (such as domain search and categories), but all the essentials seem to be covered. The UI is well designed for both owner and visitors and the Make Offer process is user-friendly and inviting with a fixed priced domain.

My Domain List Screenshots

Here are more screenshots of the Domain List display and the private back-end. You can review the full plugin documentation here.

My Domain List – Full Demo

Incoming Offers Stats – Displayed on WordPress Dashboard

Optional Pagination by Letters

Get My Domain List

My Domain List is available exclusively at CodeCanyon. The WordPress plugin is reasonably priced at just $12. This is a bargain for being able to manage and market your domain names for sale.

Let me know what you think. Please leave a comment below if you decide to give it a try.

My Domain List WordPress Plugin: Market and Manage Your Domains DotSauce Magazine

What was traditionally thought of as a blogging CMS has been transformed into a powerful, user-friendly development platform. Virtually any type of business website can be created using a combination of innovative WordPress theme design and advanced plugins.

Continue reading to enter to win professional logo design! (No purchase necessary)

For a limited time I am offering these special rates on development services for the following turnkey web development solutions powered by WordPress.

Updated June 22 – I’ve lowered the prices to make them even more attractive. Pay half up-front to get started and the remaining half when your website is completed. Contact me to get started.

Magazine / Blog / Business – $350

Below is an example of the many high-quality, visually appealing and flexible themes for creating a web based publication, blog or business website.

Affiliate Product Portal – $350

Create a niche affiliate site and earn commissions by referring customers to popular products. Bonus: A plugin will track stats and create custom affiliate URLs.

Product Reviews – $350

Similar to an affiliate portal, you can review products and promote affiliate products. This layout is intended for ratings and reviews from you and a community of visitors.

Q&A Site – $400

Question and answer sites are a popular new trend that is great for business and getting advertising revenue.

Classifieds – $400

Find an audience for professional classifieds site to help people market their products and services. Collect listing fees through PayPal.

Job Board – $400

Certainly a great time to develop a job board as many are looking. Connect employers and job seekers and collect listing fees through PayPal.

eCommerce Storefront – $400

Whether you have your own products or are selling digital goods, this turnkey solution makes use of a flexible shopping cart, but has options for external purchase options.

Membership Site – $500

With premium membership plugins you can setup private membership site and collect subscription payments. A-List Blogging site shown as example.

Group Buying Site – $650

This wildly popular trend is sweeping the world by helping small businesses profit and customers save money. It will take some commitment to get the site started, but the rewards can be big.

These innovative new WordPress themes use the latest standards from WordPress 3.0. Much more than incredible designs, they are built for turnkey online business. Theme and plugin files, documentation and authorized licences are included.

You can select one of these turnkey solutions  to customize and launch your online business, or you can request a comparable design to work with. Pick any premium WordPress theme the web has to offer, the cost will be included in the service fee.

Added Features & Services

The following features are included with all turnkey development options at no additional cost.

• Professional logo design and theme integration
• Design customization and widget setup
• Social media integration
• Navigation and content map setup
• SEO review, consultation and latest plugins
• Website performance optimization and plugins

Pay half to begin development and half upon completion!

That’s right, I can get started for an initial payment of half the special rates listed above. You can then pay the remaining half when the website has been completed and you are 100% satisfied.

I would be happy to discuss design options or answer any questions you might have about the development process.

Please get in touch as soon as possible; availability will be based on demand. Contact me here with details about your development needs to get started.

Logo Design Giveaway

The team at Logo.com has been kind enough to offer professional logo design services to one lucky DotSauce reader.

This is a $199 value!

There is no purchase necessary, anyone is eligible to win. Simply connect with the Rewards widget below and follow the instructions to earn entries.

• Comment on this post saying how a new logo design will help you (+1 entry)
• Like DotSauce on Facebook (+1 entry)
• Tweet about this giveaway (+1 entry)
• Bonus (+unlimited entries): Share your invite link to earn +1 entry for every unique click-through and +5 entries if your friend joins the giveaway.

Enter to Win

Update: Abhinav Gulyani has been selected as our lucky winner. Enjoy your new logo!

This giveaway ends on June 30th at midnight EST. Thank you for participating and good luck!

Again, please contact me soon with your interest in my turnkey web development solutions.

Turnkey Professional Web Development Special and Free Giveaway DotSauce Magazine

I’ve kept watch and tried out many new web development techniques. I’ve also held an active interest in engaging with readers directly on site and through social networks as much as possible.

In this article, I share the optimization techniques and resources that have been most beneficial to me as a web developer and blogger.

Site Header Tips

1. Optimize your title. By default, WordPress and other CMS’s append your website name to the end of title tags on posts and pages. Using your choice of SEO optimization plugin, such as All In One SEO or WordPress SEO, you can configure post titles to contain just the title of your post.

This technique has proven to be beneficial for ranking well for key terms within post titles. It works because you will eventually receive backlinks with better anchor text and more relevancy on social network shares.

2. Set a default image URL for Facebook & LinkedIn sharing. In the past, images accompanying my articles when displayed on social sharing services like Digg, Facebook, bitly, and others always seemed to be the wrong one or missing entirely! The problem annoyed me to the point that I had to seek out a solution.

I was ecstatic to finally work out a simple way to define the proper post image every time. Plug this code into your site header to define the image URL.

<link rel="image_src" type="image/jpeg" href="post-thumbnail.jpg" />

3. Set an author link attribute. (New) Google, Bing and Yahoo recently announced a joint initiative hosted at Schema.org. This HTML tagging platform will work as a framework for defining the structure of a website and individual bits of data. This initiative to create a more open web filled with rich data is just getting started.

Google is getting started right away with a new way to connect authors with their content across multiple websites. Simply define rel=”author” when linking the author’s name in post display as shown here.

<a rel="author" href="http://markfulton.com">Mark Fulton</a>

Site Speed Tips

4. Track page speed with updated Google Analytics code. (New) Last month Google introduced a revolutionary new feature as part of the upgraded Google Analytics, tracking website load times.

With a little adjustment to your tracking code you can begin receiving reports on site speed analytics. Get this rolling and watch as the next few tips greatly reduce page load times.

_gaq.push(['_trackPageLoadTime']);

5. Minify JavaScript and CSS files. WordPress Minify is a must-have plugin for any site using JavaScript files and detailed CSS.

Automagically have all these files compressed and combined. This will reduce the number of HTTP requests, significantly speeding up page speed performance.

6. Compress images and serve them across multiple sub-domains. Another highly recommend solution for improving website speed is the WP Smush.it plugin which compresses images as you upload them.

I still recommend saving all images for the web using PhotoShop before uploading. Then let Smush.it work a little extra magic to reduce the file size further without noticeably compromising quality.

Additionally, hosting some images on different sub-domains allows them to be loaded simultaneously instead of one at a time.

7. Place non-critical JavaScript calls in the footer. By placing your JavaScript calls just before your closing tag you make sure all critical content and design layout is rendered before JavaScript enhanced elements. This is as important for user experience as page loading time.

Ironically, the new Google +1 button code suggests placing the script tag in your header. Put it in the footer instead!

Increase Conversions

8. Split test your business and lead generation copy. We’re hearing more and more about split-testing or A/B tests in recent years as easier tools are made available. The smallest of changes in copy, color or positioning of call to action elements can sometimes yield big returns.

Here are some economical choices for getting started with split testing your website content.

• Google Website Optimizer
• A/B Theme Testing Plugin for WordPress
• Visual Website Optimizer

9. Reduce bounce rate by engaging readers. There are a lot of great methods for engaging website visitors, encouraging them to stick around longer and click-through to further pages on your site.

I’ve written some common sense suggestions for reducing bounce rate in the past. Simple things like improving your navigation or adding images to content can help.

I have been pleased with increased engagement here at DotSauce Magazine using the following applications.

• Wibiya Toolbar (red toolbar at bottom of window) – An incredibly useful toolbar with lots of applications.
• Punchtab Rewards (“Rewards” icon at bottom left of window) – Encourage return visits and sharing content with Punchtab’s innovative new social rewards layer.
• HelloBar – Run a promotion in the header of your site to get immediate attention. Simple app with lots of thought put into it.

I have 5 beta invites to HelloBar for those interested. Please leave a comment and let me know you’d like one.

Extend Your Reach

10. Go mobile. I use the WPTouch plugin which automatically generates a mobile optimized version of DotSauce Magazine. Have you looked at your Google Analytics browser reports to see if many visitors are using mobile devices? It’s likely more than you think.

Greatly improve their user experience and conserve server resources by implementing a mobile optimized display.

11. Get social. Love them or hate them, social networks are driving traffic and allowing your following to engage and endorse your content. Discover the best widgets and sharing buttons for your website and include them in prime positions such as at the top of your sidebar or directly after post content.

I recommend you highlight the big 4; Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and email.

• Facebook Social Plugins
• Twitter Website Resources
• LinkedIn Share button
• Google +1 Button (New)
• Sharedaddy (Part of JetPack for WordPress)

12. Become a curator of the latest news and resources. This suggestion goes hand-in-hand with getting social. The most influential people on social networks are found generously sharing editorials, news and resources. It’s a great way to build a following and get recommended.

Every day I share a selection of domaining, online business and web development resources on Twitter, the DotSauce Facebook page, LinkedIn, social bookmarking and social news websites. I’ve been doing this for years and have found the practice to be very rewarding.

I’m now using Keepstream to publish a monthly roundup of the best links here on DotSauce. You can also find over 90 industry leading publications at the new DotSauce News site.

Next Up: Optimizing Publisher Experience

I hope you’ve enjoyed these tips and techniques for optimizing websites for both search engines and readers. I’m considering a related post that will feature methods of optimizing your experience as a publisher on the backend of a website. This year, I’ve discovered some very interesting tools and resources that make professional blogging that much easier. Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading my tips. Please leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions about this article, I would love to hear your thoughts.

12 Tips and New Standards for Optimizing Your Website DotSauce Magazine

I take great pleasure in curating and sharing the most valuable articles, editorials and resources related to domaining, online business, marketing, web development and SEO. I hope you’ve had a chance to use and pass these resources on to your following.

It’s been some time since the last Twitter link roundup. I had considered discontinuing that post series, but the content shared in May is definitely worth a second look even if you did happen to catch the updates on the DotSauce Facebook page or the @DotSauce Twitter feed.

Domaining

Domain name industry news, articles and resources from DotSauce and around the web.

Small Business & Startups

Big collection of inspiration, editorials and resources for small business and entrepreneurs.

Marketing

Powerful techniques and tips for the constantly evolving world of online marketing.

Web Development & SEO

The latest in website development, design, management and optimization.

Like what you see? To stay up-to-date with our online business resources, follow @DotSauce or Like DotSauce on Facebook to receive ALL the updates. Thanks for connecting!

Domaining and Online Business Link Roundup from May 2011 DotSauce Magazine

The development team happily announced considerable optimization and performance gains and hinted at a new plugin community.

By utilizing Custom Post Types and tight WordPress integration we have shaved off more the half the file size of our download!

The WP e-Commerce 3.8 release has been mostly about optimization and aligning our code and our User Interface with WordPress standards.Future proofing our software and stabilizing it by utilizing the most up to date WordPress hooks and filters has been our top priority.

…our goal is to foster a Plugin community around e-Commerce functionality so that the WP e-Commerce Plugin stays fast and lightweight.

WP e-Commerce Preview – Normal Looking WordPress Interface

Other notable WP e-Commerce 3.8 updates include:

• New user interface
• Integrates with WordPress Media Manager
• Better template integration for WordPress themers

The new WP e-Commerce interface blends seamlessly with other WordPress administration pages. Anyone familiar with adding posts and pages will be right at home building an online storefront with WP e-Commerce. Today I’m going to help you do just that by helping you build a custom domain portfolio.

How to Build a Domain Portfolio with WordPress

In just a few simple steps you can now create a functional domain name storefront or portfolio using your choice of widget-ready WordPress theme.

Let’s get hands on! Follow along as I describe the basic steps in setting up the WP e-Commerce 3.8 plugin to sell your domain names.

1. Install WP e-Commerce 3.8

And you’ll want to upgrade to WordPress 3.1 if you haven’t. Go to Plugins > Add New and search for WP e-Commerce.

Make sure to install the original plugin and not an imitator.

2. Configure essential WP e-Commerce options

Under Settings > Store, setup your payment gateway and other basic WP e-Commerce options.

Note: Be sure your WordPress admin user email address is the same as your PayPal account if you choose to use PayPal.

3. Rename the “Products Page”

After installing WP e-Commerce you will notice a few new pages have been automatically created. Navigate to the newly made “Products Page” and rename it to “Domain Portfolio” or whatever you like.

4. Create new Product Categories

Build up your categories such as ‘Short Domains’, ‘Product Domains’, ‘Business’, ‘Shopping’, etc., for easy browsing.

5. Create a New Product for each domain

Be sure to include a description and any other details which may be helpful in marketing your domain for sale.

Example Domain Product Page

6. Set your price or a discounted offer and other details

Also upload an accompanying image, remove shipping requirements and check that other details are correct.

Note: You may want to create a custom-meta entry or edit WP e-Commerce theme files to create a “Make Offer” option that links to your contact page. You can also input external links to auctions or marketplaces which will override the shopping cart action.

7. Set Quantity to Limited

In the Stock Control area set the product quantity to 1. Presumably each domain is unique, so you’ll want to be sure to select this option.

You can also choose to be notified when a sale is completed.

8. Add your choice of WP e-Commerce widgets

Under Appearance > Widgets to your theme you can select widgets such as Shopping Cart and Latest Products, as well as special offers, a search bar and any other useful information for your visitors.

You now have a working domain portfolio powered by WordPress and WP e-Commerce!

You can view this example portfolio page on one of my sandbox WordPress installations to see the results of completing these steps.

Making the Most of It

If you take the time to thoroughly describe your domain and include related data you will gain targeted search traffic. WP e-Commerce allows you to interact with customers in a way that sales by email does not provide. Having a web based portfolio can also be a great way to track your sales and inventory even if a domain isn’t sold on the site.

You can further customize your WordPress theme files to integrate your domains and shopping cart however you like.

Another alternative is to invest in a premium WordPress theme that is customized for and compatible with WP e-Commerce 3.8. You may need to wait awhile for theme developers to catch up to the new release, but it should be any day now that themes will be updated.

How I Am Using WP e-Commerce

Want more WordPress ideas? WP e-Commerce was just 1 of 20 ways to make money blogging featured on DotSauce this year.

I’m currently working on multiple development projects using WP e-Commerce for clients and my own business.  While I have recently transitioned my focus to the DotSauce Domain Club, I am excited to say I will soon update the 2 year old AQDN marketplace with WP e-Commerce, a fresh look and new concept that is sure to turn heads.

Stay tuned for updates and let me know how your portfolio development comes along. If you have any questions about setting up a domain portfolio with the new WP e-Commerce, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will try my best to help you out.

How to Build a Domain Name Portfolio with WordPress eCommerce DotSauce Magazine

Last week, I announced the Domain Club Grand Opening prize giveaway that will run through March 28th. Free professional web development and design services are featured as one of the prizes.

A lot of people have shown interest in this particular prize, so I’ve decided to host this special
March Madness discount. You can take advantage of these services now for one low flat fee.

March Madness Web Development Special

All of these professional services and features are included for just $300.

• Business, personal or eCommerce website development; whatever your project requires, I have the resources to make it happen.
• Beautiful design using the latest standards. Integrate your existing logo or get a new design.
• Full search engine optimization services
• Social media integration and other interactive features
• WordPress and advanced plugins make site management simple and boost performance.

Pay $150 to start and $150 when your project is
complete and you are 100% satisfied.

To get started, contact me here with specific details of your website development project or if you have any questions. I will review your request and get back to you soon with design options.

Don’t delay, this offer will only run through March. Availability is subject to demand.

March Madness $300 Professional Website Development Special and Free Giveaway DotSauce Magazine

Not only does a blog help establish your identity and lend credit to your expertise, it can drive traffic to your business and help pay the bills.

In this article I will describe some of the best ways available today to make money blogging.

Business Services

These scripts and plugins can enhance your website with powerful new features.

1. Job Board – A job board is a simple software solution that functions like a directory and a classifieds system rolled into one. There are numerous solutions for WordPress and other CMS systems you might be using.

Additionally, some major job search networks such as Simply Hired have affiliate programs which can be implemented on your blog through various means.

2. Classifieds – Another great feature to add to a blog is a classifieds system. Essentially enable your visitors to post short advertisements for their own products and services. This could potentially be the focal point of a blog. Classifieds can work well for a local website or a popular niche segment.

3. Paid Directory – Who says a blog can’t be a directory too? New options are becoming available to add directory features of varying feature sets to blogs. Alternatively, you can use a feature rich platform like PHP Link Directory in addition to your blog CMS.

4. WP Auctions – With WP Auctions you can embed a fully featured auction platform into your blog. This could be relevant to some publications and unique products that are right for auction style sales.

Banner Advertising

Sell graphic advertising positions in your header, sidebar, below or within blog posts.

5. BuySellAds - This is one of the top networks for direct ad sales, particularly in the technology and web/graphic design industries. The directory of sites on the BuySellAds network continues to grow with nearly 3,000 blogs on board. Publishers can apply to setup a profile for their website.

The service will cost 25% of your revenue, but you set the rates. The real value is that thousands of advertisers purchase banners seamlessly through the network website.

6. Google AdSense – This is often the only option for new publications, but can provide some added revenue to established blogs. Google’s network works on a Pay-Per-Click system in which advertisers bid for targeted placement.

Some clicks may only pay out pennies, while highly relevant content for products and services can sometimes bring in clicks of up to a few dollars each. You will need to rake in at least $100 in earnings before receiving a check, so be prepared to stick it out if you decide to invest time implementing AdSense.

One way established blogs can earn revenue from AdSense is by adding the code to older articles that are receiving high search traffic.

7. OIO Publisher – If you do have an established blog bringing in any amount of regular traffic, it’s time to start looking to sell advertising directly to interested businesses and related websites. The OIO-Publisher plugin for WordPress makes for an easy solution to managing direct ad sales.

Affiliate Networks

Connect with the best networks to earn commissions on top selling products related to your content.

8. Share-A-Sale –  This rising player in the affiliate business offers you access to over 3000 retailers in all major categories.

9. PepperJam Network – Another great network with high quality products and services.

10. Commission Junction – The industry leading network represents thousands of the top brands and businesses.

11. Google Affiliate Network – Google recently launched their own affiliate network and now represents hundreds of retailers in dozens of categories.

Affiliate programs offer you the opportunity to sell products that will be widely recognized and possibly already used by your website visitors.

You have the option of making referrals by adding links within related article content, emails, status updates. You can also feature graphic banners for affiliate programs to fill unsold ad space.

Sell Your Products

An excellent way to bring in the big bucks is to dedicate time to creating your own products.

12. Membership Site – Create a subscription based members only area of your site. This can be accomplished using new WordPress plugins, discussion forum software like vBulletin. The most advanced and feature rich option is AMember, which can connect to almost all blog and CMS platforms.

13. Write an eBook – Writing a book on your topic of choice is a long-time standard for making money with your blog. If you are an expert on a subject, it could pay off very well to publish the sum of your knowledge in an enticing digital download. Remember, once you’ve completed the work of marketing your eBook has just begun.

14. Sell Access to Your Tweets – This new concept has just emerged and could become a trend in coming years as more people are accepting of pay walls for premium content. The model has proven to be a success for some stock advisors, celebrities and other experts.

15. WP e-Commerce – This software is the most popular storefront solution available for WordPress. This enables you top open up shop directly from your WordPress dashboard and begin taking orders for your products and services.

16. Downloads – Digital goods are big business. You can sell information, white papers, photos, art, data, and much more. A wise way to deliver downloads is to mange them with an email subscription service. This way you can build a list of your customers or readers and additionally have the download automatically delivered when the subscription is confirmed.

My email marketing and delivery service of choice is AWeber. You can also use scripts, services and various plugins like Ecwid to charge a fee for file downloads.

Bonus! Sell Domain Names – Join the new DotSauce Domain Club to discover how you can build a portfolio of quality .com keyword domains to resell for considerable profits.

Sell Yourself

No, not in Vegas. Offer your technical knowledge and skills at a reasonable rate.

17. Donations - Hook up with PayPal and create a unique donation button to add to your website permanently or within a special blog post. There is no harm in asking for a little support and you may find your loyal readers more than happy to support you.

18. Consultation – Another way to sell your expertise is by offering it on a personal basis with private consultation. Explain how you can help an individual or business achieve success. Include a well formated contact form for interested parties to contact you directly from your blog.

19. Your Services – What can you do to work from your computer? Millions of freelancers are working from home everyday. With some skills on your side, you could be earning added revenue by promoting these services to your blog readers.

Graphic design, writing, web development, programming, marketing, SEO, all that interesting stuff you learned to make your blog better can be put to good use.

20. Sell Your Website – When the time finally comes that you need to move on from your project you may consider selling your blog. The good news is that if you have been putting any of the other methods of making money into practice then there is a chance your blog is quite valuable.

Flippa is the leading website sales marketplace. Post comprehensive auction details including proof of traffic and revenue for the best results.

Happy Blogging!

All these resources and ways to make money have been of particular interest to me personally. I hope you have found them useful as well. I wish you the best on your quest for blogging success in 2011.

I’m sure there are many other great options and companies available to help you earn profits while blogging. Please share your tools of choice in the comments below and pass this article on to aspiring pro bloggers.

20 Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2011 DotSauce Magazine

The newest release, CoverPad takes the concept one step further with cues from the popular FlipBoard news-reader application.

As seen in the video demonstration below, CoverPad uses CSS/XHTML to make your blog appear like a native iPad application without going through the App store.

Blog media is highlighted and content styled elegantly for readability.

CoverPad websites will have a hidden address bar and features for bookmarking as a home icon and social sharing.

Google TV

TechCrunch declared yesterday that the future of TV is HTML. We will soon see solutions similar to CoverPad for converting WordPress blogs into awesome video portals optimized for Google TV.

I have been hinting at the possibilities for awhile. It’s exciting to think that blogs will be able to effectively compete for the public’s attention in the living room.

If you want to learn about optimizing a website for Google TV right now, start at the official guide and read the latest from the Google blog for more information and examples.

Optimizing Your Website for Mobile, the iPad and Now Your TV DotSauce Magazine

Every day on Twitter (@DotSauce), I share links to articles, resources and apps of interest to web professionals. This month I have categorized links as domaining, small business, startups & entrepreneurship, social networking, web development, design, and WordPress.

These links were selected from June 12th to July 12th 2010.

Domain Names

Mahalo uses keyword domains to drive traffic http://bit.ly/aLs5L3

Worldwide domain registrations double over past 4 years http://bit.ly/b9BXVh

How To Automate End User Domain Sales Marketing http://bit.ly/aUqqv8

Domain Name Dispute and Arbitration Resources http://bit.ly/cSKSdo

Right Brain Domaining http://bit.ly/dlEb0Q

Job.com: 50% Of Visitors Come From Direct Navigation http://bit.ly/cximY3

How Domaining is Like Collecting Baseball Cards http://bit.ly/caKm1h

Premium TLDs: Not All Extensions Created Equal http://DotSauce.com/3753

Small Business

Self hosted options voted best to set up shop online http://bit.ly/d0B7W4

A look at the freemium business model http://bit.ly/aeONDQ

How The World Spends Time Online http://bit.ly/cGT6hH

10 Ways To Be Your Own Boss http://bit.ly/bT4Vnf

How to Bootstrap a Business http://bit.ly/a2dEca

9 Expert SEO Tips for Small Businesses http://bit.ly/cghbdY

Everything I learned in business came from 3 charts http://bit.ly/akZOYv

Startups & Entrepreneurship

76 Powerful Thoughts from Paul Graham http://bit.ly/9IX3dU

Everything You Need To Know About Startup Ecosystem http://bit.ly/aPzV9w

How to hire a programmer to make your ideas happen http://bit.ly/atnHXg

10 Tips for Startups on Naming Your Company http://bit.ly/bqFL62

Competition Is Overrated http://bit.ly/d6Ufv0

Why many successful entrepreneurs came out of PayPal http://bit.ly/dlW2Lz

BBC Special: Start-Up Stories http://bit.ly/bBho96

Social Networking

15 Awesome Social Media Infographics http://bit.ly/ap5KNk

Twitter T.CO Domain As Official Link Shortener http://bit.ly/d9wkdb

How Much Is a Facebook Fan Really Worth? http://bit.ly/ba6em0

Measure Social Media and Its Impact on Your Brand http://bit.ly/bel6H4

Is Social a Source for B2B Leads? http://bit.ly/bF9oXv

Jive Software Wants to Be Facebook for the Enterprise http://bit.ly/d55Yw4

Pick&Zip – Download All Your Photos from Facebook http://bit.ly/cPLyyH

MySpace will attempt a comeback later this year http://bit.ly/9nvyIy

2/3 of Web Users to Visit Social Networks by 2014 http://bit.ly/bkx8xT

6 Social Media Mistakes And How to Fix Them http://bit.ly/af12fc

Web Design

Get a head start: Designing Websites for Google TV http://bit.ly/9g44sd

Fancy Sliding Form with jQuery http://bit.ly/ctk3Ak

10 Beautiful Minimalist Icon Sets http://bit.ly/9PdbSV

Will LESS Make CSS Obsolete? http://bit.ly/aqCX7V

50 Powerful Time-Savers For Web Designers http://bit.ly/cfugo9

Web Development

Information Architecture: Enhancing User Experience http://bit.ly/cjUSml

Spice Up Your Website With jQuery Goodness http://bit.ly/ds5Ik6

30 Pro jQuery Tips, Tricks and Strategies http://bit.ly/9iy88e

Firefox Reveals Websites’ Best Friend and Worst Enemy http://bit.ly/92yf6q

The Right Keyword Analysis For Your Website http://bit.ly/9qI2o4

The Right Keyword Analysis For Your Website (Part-2) http://bit.ly/93y0fw

The State of HTML5 Apps http://bit.ly/bxDaAt

29 Worst Practices: SEO Checklist http://selnd.com/c66S5S

Beginner’s Guide to SEO from SEOmoz http://bit.ly/cpLPaH

Collection of website user experience misconceptions http://bit.ly/aeAwre

The 10 HTML Tags Beginners Aren’t Using http://bit.ly/dwLbSi

HTML5 Rocks!: A resource for web developers by Google http://bit.ly/aKgViR

Link Building With The Experts http://bit.ly/cam58E

WordPress

WordPress Plugin – Ozh Drop Down Admin Menu http://bit.ly/bkLyhD

WP 3.0 Easy Post Types Plugin http://bit.ly/9MGtCd

WordPress Plugin – Compresses  files – WP Minify http://bit.ly/aS7TEB

The Ultimate WordPress Shopping/Ecommerce Toolbox http://bit.ly/cuL8yb

Essential Plugins for WordPress 3.0 http://bit.ly/bQGDNg

Build Your Own Website Network  With WordPress 3.0 http://bit.ly/cNPpVR

10 Useful WordPress Security Tweaks http://bit.ly/akY5PB

Email Commenters WordPress Plugin http://bit.ly/9uSHau

WP Facebook Plugin http://bit.ly/boKJJe

Top 15 Premium WordPress Plugins http://bit.ly/9IwgWz

Random & Useful

Best Chrome Addons for Power Blogging http://bit.ly/crj42ab

Google Chrome Gets Extension Sync http://bit.ly/a0iCMT

Encrypt the web – HTTPS Everywhere for Firefox http://bit.ly/9glXUe

Everything you need to know about the internet http://bit.ly/cm0zsV

Bounce – Fun, easy way to share ideas on a website http://bit.ly/aLVGZq

67 trendy innovations – Innovation Insanity: http://bit.ly/9felnf

How People Are Using the iPad http://bit.ly/df5aY5

I hope you found a lot of these resources useful.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for all the latest updates. You may also want to bookmark this post for quick access and feel free to share these resources with your social following.

Link Roundup 2 – Domaining, Startups, WordPress, Social & More DotSauce Magazine

WordPress 3.0 has introduced some exciting new features, not the least of which is a merger with WordPress MU!

That’s right, the WordPress team has made it much easier to quickly deploy a network of WordPress powered websites on the same host, using the same WordPress installation and administration.

How To Enable WordPress MultiSite

To get your website network started, you will need to enable the WordPress Multisite feature and become a Super Admin! Reason enough, right?

I’m going to direct you to this great MultiSite walk-through at Weblogtools Collection to get the job done.

Follow a few steps, and once enabled, you will notice a new “Super Admin” menu appear.

Setup Domain Names for Each Site

Next, you’ll want to be able to map your domain names to each of the websites you setup in your new network. Unfortunately, this requires a special plugin that has to be installed manually.

Not to worry though, Otto on WordPress has created this great MultiSite domain mapping tutorial.

Follow these two simple guides and you will be well on your way towards building a powerful website network. Your websites will have their very own administration panel, unique plugins and themes.

Each site on your network will be empowered by the innovations and flexibility that WordPress has to offer.

Make Your Network Beautiful

The new default WordPress 3.0 theme “Thelonius” has some cool features and is pretty customizable, but I would like to recommend an even more advanced and more customizable new theme from PliablePress: the Chameleon framework.

With this one theme you can make each of your websites look unique. Setting up the theme options is fast, without any design or coding skills required.

You can learn all about PliablePress here at DotSauce. For a chance to win a free PliablePress theme, join the all new DotSauce Q&A Forum to be entered into our prize drawing!

Build Your Own Website Network Easily With WordPress 3.0 DotSauce Magazine

The Pro Blog Design team has just launched a wonderful new set of feature-rich, premium WordPress themes called PliablePress.

Continue reading for previews of the lovely themes and innovative features or if you simply can’t wait… Visit PliablePress through this link.

PliablePress Theme Features

These themes use the latest innovations in WordPress theme design by taking advantage of an advanced theme control panel as well as useful custom fields.

This is what PliablePress is calling the Chameleon Framework. These new features make each PliablePress theme extremely customizable; simply drag and drop the elements of your design to arrange.

Those custom fields I mentioned make your new PliablePress blog SEO friendly by letting you set a custom title and meta tags for each post as you write the post. This is one of the most important things for WordPress SEO.

Also of note, each PliablePress theme incorporates nice social bookmarking features and RSS subscription for both readers and email delivery via Feedburner.

PliablePress themes come with comprehensive documentation, video tutorials and a full support forum if you run into any trouble or want to take your customization to the next level.

PliablePress Theme Designs

This is what you’ve been waiting for. These awe inspiring designs are not only flexible and functional, but visually appealing, highly usable and coded with the strictest standards.

Chameleon is the backbone of PliablePress themes, but it is also very stylish on it’s own as a clean design with beautiful typography.

Creative Soul is a vibrant theme that comes in 3 different colors.

Creative Soul Minimal is for those who love the features, layout and details of the original, but not quite so wild.

Backdrop is a bold magazine style theme that color-codes content and highlights imagery very well.

Oracle is a very professional style magazine theme with a wonderful layout for articles and imagery.

More theme designs by PliablePress will be released soon!

Video of Chameleon Framework Control Panel

Michael from PliablePress walks us through the innovative control panel included with the themes.

Saves Time for Developers

Chameleon is used as a framework for all of the other PliablePress themes. Highly flexible design features make using it for your development projects a pleasure and a time saver.

Even if you are not a WordPress pro, you can create awesome looking unique WordPress themes of your own! (With the full flexibility of the Chameleon control panel to impress you clients!)

So, to recap PliablePress themes are…

• Awesome designs
• SEO friendly
• Innovative admin controls
• Affordable
• Fully documented with support forum
• Highly flexible and customizable
• A no brainer!

Check out all the details and demos of PliablePress themes now!

Innovative New Premium WordPress Themes from PliablePress DotSauce Magazine

A New Medium: Sponsored Comments

TalkAhead.com recently launched with a new approach to advertising through sponsored comments on blogs. The idea is that advertisers can connect and engage with readers of a targeted article and promote relevant products and services with a link to their website.

This chart shows the benefits and potential of sponsored comments as compared with traditional and often shady contextual advertising.

Marketers can sign up to receive automated alerts anytime an article of interest is published.

Oddly enough, I found a blog comment by TalkAhead founder Philippe Lang with some insight into how the system is working thus far.

…we are getting positive feedback from readers, our advertisers receive high click-trough rates and our publishers generate new premium revenues.

I went through the process of registering as a publisher and am quite impressed with the administration, setup and configuration. There are options for creating new channels for multiple blogs, moderating incoming sponsored comments, viewing performance reports and more.

Another cool feature I found was the option to create a coupon code which can be used to offer free or discounted sponsored comments to a business of your choosing.

Why Do Work? AdSense Plugin Works For You

An intelligent AdSense plugin found here at WhyDoWork.com allows you to display AdSense units on posts older than X days. This plugin has been around for quite awhile and has received excellent reviews and confirmed increase in AdSense revenues.

It makes sense to display AdSense on older posts. Visitors coming in from search engines are looking for something specific on your blog. The bounce rate is typically quite high and the return visit rate is typically very low. Why not take advantage of this and serve them prominently featured targeted advertising?

An important feature was not left out, any article can be excluded from displaying AdSense units individually.

I have included AdSense units on certain articles which receive daily search traffic and it’s paid off well. This AdSense plugin makes it simple to do just that and automates the process to strike a balance between respecting regular readers and monetizing search traffic.

Want more? Check out VigLink Affiliate Links and Ecwid eCommerce Widgets, two more innovative solutions for WordPress business that have been featured on DotSauce.

Two Free WordPress Plugins Aim to Earn Your Blog More Money DotSauce Magazine

Oddly enough though, the majority of SEO responsibility is placed within the hands of third-party WordPress theme developers as well as yourself, the site owner.

Some theme designers may not be familiar with SEO best practices, so you should take some time to examine your site for any ways to improve it’s effectiveness on search ranking performance.

I’ve come up with several common WordPress SEO mistakes that I see day in and day out. I hope you can use these tips to improve your blog or website!

1. Bloated Title Tag and Abandoned Post Titles

One of the simplest concepts goes overlooked on even the best of blogs. The title tag is essential for ranking well on search engines.  Consider looking into the effectiveness of the way your title tag is currently displayed on search results.

The following method has proven to work wonders for me in getting posts to rank well on Google.

How To Optimize Your Titles

Luckily, this is a fairly simple, but important issue to correct. The code below will feature only the title of your post as the title tag of the page.

With a few simple statements in your WordPress header.php file you can make sure that titles on all posts and pages are properly formatted. Replace your current <title> tag with this code:

<?php if ( is_home() ) { ?><title><? bloginfo('name'); ?></title><?php } ?>
<?php if ( is_search() ) { ?><title><? bloginfo('name'); ?> - Search Results</title><?php } ?>
<?php if ( is_single() ) { ?><title><?php wp_title(''); ?></title><?php } ?>
<?php if ( is_page() ) { ?><title><?php wp_title(''); ?></title><?php } ?>
<?php if ( is_category() ) { ?><title><?php single_cat_title(); ?></title><?php } ?>
<?php if ( is_archive() ) { ?><title><? bloginfo('name'); ?> - Archive</title><?php } ?>
<?php if ( is_month() ) { ?><title><? bloginfo('name'); ?> - Archive</title><?php } ?>

If you must have your website name in the title of every post, then place the most condensed version of your name after the post title separated by a simple, search-friendly dash.

2. Lack of Relevant Keywords and Phrases

Repeating the same keyword or phrase over and over again will eventually hurt your rankings as search engines will recognize this as “keyword stuffing.” It’s a bad idea for usability as well, you don’t want to bore visitors.

Adding supporting keywords keeps content fresh and readable. This practice may show search engines that you have been doing your homework and deserve to be listed as a credible resource for a specific subject.

How to Find Keywords

As mentioned in the previous article here on DotSauce, the new Google AdWords Keyword Tool (Beta) has just been released. This is just one of many great tools for finding complimentary keywords and phrases to use for blog articles.

We’ve also featured SEO Blogger, a free keyword suggestion tool for Firefox. This tool opens up as a sidebar and suggests keywords as you write posts!

3. Disregarding the NoFollow Link Attribute

Love it or hate it, the nofollow tag is helpful for publishers to direct mindless search engine indexing robots to your most important content.

How to Use NoFollow

It is very important not to abuse this link attribute. Slapping a nofollow tag on every external link is not the way to go about it. Here are some basic guidelines on when to use nofollow.

• Use nofollow for external links to large sites that don’t influence your own or are not directly related to the content on your website. (Examples: Twitter.com, Facebook.com).
• Use nofollow for internal links that lead to pages you don’t want to appear in search results.
• Use nofollow on affiliate links and advertising banners, unless otherwise requested by sponsor.
• Use nofollow on untrusted blog commentors.
• Use nofollow when linking to an external video, image or other downloadable file.

4. No Sitemap or Ping Notification to Search Engines

A sitemap is a cleanly defined list of every post and page on your website. Search engines use sitemaps to quickly and efficiently find and index all of your content.

Unfortunately, WordPress does not come packaged with a site-map solution. There is some good news though! This is one of the easiest mistakes to fix.

How to Create a Sitemap

Simply visit your WordPress admin, search for and install the Google XML Sitemaps plugin. You will find there are options to exclude certain categories, posts, and pages that you don’t want indexed.

This plugin will also ping search engines whenever your website is updated with a new post.

5. Not Adding Images in Posts

Yes, just one simple image can have search ranking benefits and I’m not talking about appearing in image search. Adding images is one of the most valuable things you can do for a blog post.

Take note, virtually all of the best online publications and blogs include images in their posts.

Your readers will love the accompanying graphic and will be much more inclined to read the post, share and potentially link to the post.

How To Properly Add Images

WordPress takes care of uploading media and clean image markup. So, you just have to take the initiative! Spend just a few minutes finding a cool image, crop and re-size it to fit nicely above or alongside your content.

Check out the WP Smush.it plugin to compress image file sizes on the fly.

Be sure to include 2-4 keywords that are related to your article and image as the ALT attribute of your image. This may get your original images indexed within image search.

6. Improper Anchor Text for Internal Links

Sometimes we have to trade off search engine value with usability, as is the case with most “Home” links. Website owners don’t won’t to rank for the keyword “Home” but it is good practice for usability.

Using proper keywords as link anchor text is important as it reinforces the keyword or phrase you want to rank for.

How To Format Links Correctly

Identify the root keyword phrase of the page you are linking to.  Check Google Analytics often to stay on top of what keywords are driving traffic to your articles. You will want to reinforce rankings that are doing well by using those exact keywords as anchor text for the article.

For example, a post entitled “55 Active RSS Directories to Help Promote Your RSS Feeds!” would benefit from using the keywords that are sending traffic to that article (i.e. RSS Directories). This is much better than using the entire article title as anchor text.

Make sure the links are readable within the context of use in an article. Users clicking through is ultimately more important than search ranking.

That’s all for now!

Know of any other common WordPress SEO mistakes? We’d love to hear your tips or success stories. What works for you? Comments are always open. Thanks for reading.

Common WordPress SEO Mistakes and How To Fix Them DotSauce Magazine

With so many options available today, selecting the right WordPress theme for your website or blog can be a daunting task. ThemeGrade was created to make finding quality themes with the features you want much easier.

ThemeGrade is not your typical WordPress directory. Quality themes are selected to be reviewed (2 per day) and are then scored against over a dozen critical points related to theme design and search optimization.

Tried and Tested

Each theme is given a bronze, silver or the coveted gold seal of approval. Gold rankings are awarded to themes which excel across the board in general usability as well as enhanced design features like browser compatibility, threaded comments, and designer support.

ThemeGrade also makes sure that top ranking themes perform well for key factors that effect search ranking performance.

• W3C Compliant – XHTML
• W3C Compliant – CSS
• Home page Heading SEO
• Post & Page Heading SEO
• Post & Page Title Tag
• Content Code Position

Sweet Select-boxes!

Searching ThemeGrade is very simple. They have implemented a nice selection box theme fetcher. I’ve never seen this style of search on a WordPress site, very cool! Simply select the boxes related to your interests and go.

ThemeGrade features both free and premium (paid) themes from select designers.

Sort by design structure (1 or 2 columns, magazine style, portfolio style, etc.) or  by theme category (Business, Art, Nature, Internet, etc.).

And, of course, you can select themes by their gold, silver or bronze rankings.

ThemeGrade Tip:

Don’t be discouraged by themes with low SEO ranking.

Proper title tags and other factors can be corrected with a few tweaks to theme files. Stay tuned to DotSauce for more on that very topic soon.

Be sure to check out ThemeGrade WordPress Themes now and follow along by RSS or @ThemeGrade on Twitter as new themes are reviewed.

ThemeGrade SEO and Usability Scores on Quality WordPress Themes DotSauce Magazine

These 10 WordPress themes and plugins could each be used to launch your own online business or breathe new life into your existing website.

1. YellowPress

This premium quality theme features custom plugins which transform your WordPress website into a yellow pages style directory. Accept payments automatically through PayPal and have your members sign-up and create their own listings. A ThemeForest exclusive.

2. WPAuctions

This is a plugin that you can incorporate into any WordPress Theme. A sleek user interface and powerful auction administration make this a great plugin for managing your own private live auctions.

3. WPClassified

Created by the same developer as YellowPress. WPClassified has further features for managing classified style listings directory through WordPress. Potentially generate good revenue from user listings. A ThemeForest exclusive.

4. WordPress Affiliate Theme

Developed by the Unique Blog Designs team, leaders in WordPress design and development, Affiliate Theme overhauls your WordPress admin and allows you to quickly customize and develop beautiful mini-sites, landing pages and blogs without touching any code!

5. Flexibility

This advanced theme is similar in concept to Affiliate Theme, allowing you to create an unlimited number of landing pages and squeeze pages for your products or affiliate offers.  Advanced backend features give you the ability to customize and build great landing pages.

6. WordPress Shopping Cart

Market Theme adds excellent shopping cart and product management features to your WordPress dashboard. Using custom fields you can transform blog posts into product features.

7. wpShop Reloaded

Another WordPress shopping cart plugin featuring a light and dark style.  Advanced features for publishing, managing and making product sales through WordPress. A ThemeForest exclusive.

8. WordPress Wiki Theme

A beautiful theme that comes in 6 vibrant color variations and features some innovative details for developing a user-friendly Wiki or FAQ website. Unique sidebar features and a clean layout with great whitespace.  Wiki Theme is a ThemeForest exclusive.

9. ReviewAZON

This plugin can incorporate Amazon customer reviews into your blog posts. Earn more affiliate commissions from Amazon when you write about any product your readers can view relevant reviews from actual customers.

10. OIO-Publisher

The premier WordPress plugin for managing advertisements, affiliate offers and sponsored content on your blog. You keep 100% of advertising profit and set it on auto-pilot!

I hope you enjoyed the list! I would love to hear your comments and would appreciate it if you would share this post with fellow WordPress fans.

Powered by WordPress: 10 Themes and Plugins for Turnkey Online Business DotSauce Magazine

Twitter Friendly Links – Yup, Your Own Short URL

Download Twitter Friendly Links or Visit Plugin Website

This is quite simply an in-house URL shortening service that creates links using your short post ID’s.  For example you can visit http://DotSauce.com/1632 to access this very post!

Twitter Friendly Links plugin can help you preserve and increase your domain name brand exposure on Twitter and give your shared links more credibility.

The only caveat is that you are sacrificing click analytics, though I’m sure the developer of this plugin already has that in mind.

Analytics360 by MailChimp – Bringing Google Analytics to WordPress

Download Analytics360 or Visit Plugin Website

To use all of Analytics360 options you are asked to register a free account with MailChimp,  a web based email marketing and newsletter management system, but you don’t necessarily have to use their service.

Analytics360 adds a feature to you WordPress admin that connects with Google Analytics to display traffic stats, top referrers and most viewed articles.

A really cool feature of Analytics360 is the orange dot marker next to each of your blog posts over time so you can visually see how your posts are performing!

Disqus Comment System – Revolutionizing Blog Comments

Download Disqus or Visit Plugin Website

The default WordPress comment system is severely dated! I tried the WordPress threaded comment system for awhile and while it is slightly better it still fell short. Disqus simply has alot of appealing features…

• Track your comments across all blogs
• Verified emails and avatar uploads
• Instantly connect with Twitter and Facebook
• Moderate comments via email or assign moderators
• Top commentators and recent comments widgets

I am extremely happy since installing Disqus. It was surprisingly easy to install as any WordPress plugin usually is. Large sites like TechCrunch and Mashable have adopted Disqus and I foresee it soon becoming the standard for blog comments.

WP Smush.it! – Better User Experience by Reducing Image File Sizes

Download WP Smush.it or Visit Plugin Website

I was ecstatic when I found this plugin, a plugin that actually shrinks your image files on the fly!  Most people should know how to use the “Save For Web” feature when working with images to keep file sizes down.

I found that Smush-It actually works better than PhotoShop for getting down to the smallest file size, especially with GIF and PNG files! Amazingly, no image quality is sacrificed.

You can even go in to your gallery and smush previously uploaded files!

Sexy Bookmarks – Making Social Sharing Fun

See Live Example Below!

Download Sexy Bookmarks or Visit Plugin Website

This plugin is quite literally beautiful! There are lots of social bookmarking plugins available for WordPress already, but this is by far the most appealing and unique set of bookmarking icons. In just a short time since installing I have noticed a few readers making use of my Sexy Bookmarks!

So yea, maybe you want to have unique looking icons and that’s cool, but I think it will actually benefit blogs on the whole because readers will be able to instantly recognize Sexy Bookmarks buttons and share blog posts.

These plugins rock, huh? Please share this post using my Sexy Bookmarks buttons…

5 Fresh WordPress Plugins Ready to Enhance Your Blog DotSauce Magazine

Blogging is one of the most beneficial things a business or individual can do to increase exposure to their product or service. Many even consider blogging essential for successful presence on social networks.

There are many ways you can enhance the effectiveness and exposure you can gain from blogging and the most important is optimizing your posts so they rank high on multiple search terms (SEO).

Popular keyword research company, Wordtracker, has recently released an excellent Firefox addon for bloggers called SEO Blogger.

While some bloggers use alternate keywords and phrases related to your post subject by simply pulling them from memory, the free SEO Blogger tool can provide real world search data to back you up.

Ken McGaffin, CMO at Wordtracker makes a great point in this comment about their new SEO Blogger tool…

“Bloggers often don’t take the time to do keyword research… they just want to get their story out there. Now, bloggers have instant access to relevant keywords…That’s sure to bring them extra traffic.”

SEO Blogger Keyword Suggestion Tool: How to Use It

Once installed, click the small Wordtracker icon in the lower right of your screen that looks like this…

The SEO Blogger tool opens in a sidebar panel in your browser (see screenshot) where you can enter any keyword or keyword phrase and then be presented with keyword suggestions ranked by popularity.

You are then able to select which keywords you would like to use in your blog post.

Your saved keywords will be shown in the lower half of the sidebar and you may continue to type in additional keywords in the upper half to be presented with more keyword suggestions.

One of the cool features of SEO Blogger is that as you write your post it tracks how many times each chosen keyword is used.

I might find myself using this tool outside of WordPress also for quick keyword suggestions, domain research, article ideas and other writings.

So, give SEO Blogger a try and let us know what you think of this free tool by commenting below.

SEO Blogger: Free Keyword Suggestion Tool for Firefox DotSauce Magazine

I discovered this disturbing exciting trend while looking for fellow geeks to follow, have a look…

These ladies are actual @WordPress followers from twitter.com/wordpress/followers brought to you by @DotSauce and @ThemeHunter!

Actual hot chic status not confirmed.

Congratulations WordPress, You’re Doin’ It Right! DotSauce Magazine

The presentation is titled, “Straight from Google: What You Need to Know” and provides excellent advice and insight from Google on optimizing WordPress for search engine ranking.

Please browse through the slides and read the highlights below the presentation. Update: Video is here to accompany slide, enjoy!

Matt has also provided a link to download the presentation in PowerPoint format.

Highlight Slides from the Presentation

• Slide #12: Use WordPress to get a head start!
• Slide #13: Basic but essential WordPress Plugins.
• Slide #21: SEO Tip – Choosing content keywords.
• Slides #22-#23: Ask yourself, “What will my visitors type?”
• Slide #26: Tweak your titles, URLs and content.
• Slide #27: Use keywords as categories and use dashes between words.
• Slide #29: Be passionate, write often, but don’t over do it.
• Slide #34: Be useful, creative and informative.
• Slides #36-#39: Use Google’s free Webmaster Tools to optimize.
• Slide #46: Save the Internet! Support net neutrality.
• Slide #48: WordPress Security – Block access to wp-admin with htaccess.

Straight from Google: What You Need to Know

As you can see, this presentation was a wealth of information, thanks Matt!

Pass it along to your fellow bloggers and developers!

If you have any questions or additions to the topic of SEO and blogging, the comments area is always open.

SEO Advice of the Year! Google’s Matt Cutts on Successful Blogging DotSauce Magazine

I know of several domainers who have live portfolios accompanying their blogs and services, and still others who prefer to do things privately through email and newsletters.  Both of those methods can be a powerful and personal way of selling domains.

Some, like myself, like to do a little bit of everything by listing domain names in popular aftermarkets like Sedo or Afternic in addition to posting sales on domain forums, email newsletters, domain marketplaces, and even Twitter.

So what about you? Please respond in our poll…

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

I have found my best sales results come from direct sales to people visiting my domain portfolio pages. You can place your portfolio website address in email and forum signatures to spread the word to your associates, friends and social networking contacts.

Having your own portfolio website can open up new avenues for building contacts and reaching potential end users.

My personal domain portfolio has evolved over the years.  Initially it was placed as a simple page addition on my personal blog which proved hard to update, then I customized various portfolio scripts to my liking, but finally opted to build a custom site using WordPress.

Some of my domain portfolio is now found at AQDN.com – Affordable Quality Domain Names. I have not had a chance to update in awhile (I have been buying names more than reselling lately). However, be on the lookout for some fresh names and new features at my portfolio soon.  You can also follow @AQDN on Twitter.

I would suggest you keep things simple by using an open source software like WordPress.  While it is primarily a blogging CMS, there are features built in for keywords, categories, posts and pages that are perfect for building out a domain portfolio.

Do solid domain research and a little marketing know how to get your portfolio website off on the right foot.

If you have any questions, would like any tips or suggestions on where to get started building your own domain portfolio website, please leave a comment below.  I may do a guide on building a custom WordPress site if there is any interest.

Poll: Do You Have a Domain Portfolio Website? How One Can Help You Build Business & Customers DotSauce Magazine

Something unique to the ThemeForest web design marketplace is the fact that they show sales stats to the public.  I have purchased several themes from ThemeForest because of their exclusivity, professional designers and design standards.

It’s not to be left out that alot of their themes have some really cutting edge features.  I’ve previously featured the WordPress Wiki Theme and others on DotSauce as part of the Innovative Use of WordPress series.

The themes featured below are sold exclusively on ThemeForest and have not been so fortunate as to get alot of sales. Maybe it was poor branding or lack of promotion by the designer… either way these themes are gems that got passed over!

The themes listed below have official stats of just 4 or less total sales.  Meaning only 4 total people could possibly be using these themes at any given time.  Of course, that number may go up after this article is published, but you will still be able to see the stats on ThemeForest.

This is a chance to own and use professional WordPress themes on a budget and you won’t see them all over the web.

Membr Theme by Cams – View Theme

WPB Wood by Mateous Souza – View Theme

Magazine o’ Tuts by Dan Harper – View Theme

Business Solutions by rkquest – View Theme

Colour Vault by Cams – View Theme

Modern Portfolio/Blog by Hein – View Theme

Sweet themes, huh?  Hope you enjoyed the list and possibly get some use out of these rare WordPress themes!

Great WordPress Themes Nobody is Using – Be One of a Kind on a Budget DotSauce Magazine

Just recently developed, the WordPress Wiki Theme, by Valen Designs, is built specifically for developing a knowledgebase or wiki style website where articles and FAQ’s can be posted with ease and displayed in a user-friendly way.

Beauty, isn’t it?

Design and Navigation

The WordPress Wiki Theme is extremely clean, easy on the eyes and built for quickly delivering the content your visitor wants to see.

You can actually choose from 6 different color variations on installation and the PhotoShop files are included to customize the logo.

Other Wiki scripts and software are bulky and may be intimidating. While they may possess more features, this Wiki theme is built for speed and will surely impress website visitors as well as search engines.

Plugin Ready Features

Going beyond the call of duty, the WordPress Wiki Theme features a custom built FAQ plugin as well as integration with a star rating plugin and an advanced page navigation plugin.

Also included is a simple but highly-effective “Related Posts” section in the sidebar of each article.

Many of the WordPress Wiki Theme elements are enhanced with AJAX for better usability and definitely some cool factor.

Purchase the WordPress Wiki Theme

The theme is for sale exclusively at ThemeForest for the modest price of $30.  ThemeForest is the premier marketplace for theme designs and features a ton of amazing WordPress themes.

Launch a professional Wiki knowledgebase fast with the WordPress Wiki Theme!

If you’re interested in other innovative uses of WordPress…

We have previously written about the WordPress Shopping Cart, the WordPress Link Directory and there are a few more features lined up in this series so subscribe and stay tuned!

WordPress Wiki Theme: An Innovative Use of WordPress DotSauce Magazine

Innovative Use of WordPress: JustTweetIt.com

WordPress as a link directory! Who would have thought?

The JustTweetIt.com Twitter Directory went above and beyond simply turning WordPress into a link directory. The site features a beautiful design and alot of great content in traditional blog posts. So, you can’t do this over-night, but I’ll give you a quick explanation of just how they did it.

By the way, DotSauce is on Twitter!

How Did They Do That?

The concept is quite simple… turn your comments system into link submission! With a few tweaks and word-swaps (change any mention of “comment” to “submit link”) within the template files, specifically the comment system, comment display, single post and single page, you can have a fully functional link directory.

Once those modifications are done, any page can be created to represent a “Category.” Enable comments on your “Category” page and the link submissions can start coming in!

What’s Your Script Got that WordPress Doesn’t?

If you think about it… WordPress already has most of the features you want for any link directory; moderation, Akismet spam filter, and even membership logins, but I’ll save more on that for the next installment.

Yet Another WordPress Link Directory

The concept is starting to spread, another example of WordPress as a link directory just launched this past month and living up to it’s name.  DirectoryForDesigners.com is a social media directory for, you guessed it, designers of all types.

What do you think about using WordPress as a link directory? Know of any other innovative uses of WordPress? We’d love to hear your thoughts… please leave a comment below.

Innovative Use of WordPress: The WordPress Link Directory DotSauce Magazine

Visit: The Definitive Guide to High Rankings for Your Blog

While I must admit I have not read completely through the article due to it’s comprehensive nature. Virtually everything you could possibly imagine related to optimizing your WordPress based website is included.

The guide is broken down into 7 main optimization points:

1. Basic Technical Optimization
2. Template Optimization
3. Advanced Technical Optimization
4. Altering Your Blog’s Structure for High Rankings
5. Conversion Optimization
6. Comment Optimization
7. Off Site Blog SEO

This is a must read for anyone serious about the success of their blog!

If you like Joost’s WordPress SEO guide then you will love his professional and extremely useful WordPress Plugins. I especially recommend the RSS Footer plugin for anyone who’s blog content is being syndicated elsewhere.

Yoast’s Definitive Guide to WordPress SEO DotSauce Magazine