Today is Day 2 of DeliciousDelivery.com. I love finding new and unexpected plugins that all of a sudden become standard in all my blogs. It makes my day!
I was able to spend 30 minutes this morning creating the categories and installing the plugins. Before I jump into it, I want to make sure that if you are duplicating my efforts that you don’t spend more than 30 minutes or an hour per day. You’ll get overwhelmed and it will take the fun out of blogging.
The last two days took 30 minutes each day, and I moved on to my Halloween costume (ha!).
Step 1: Create the categories
This is a very easy step. On Day 1, I had plotted my navigation out and then, I refreshed (and nothing happened). It took me a second to realize that none of the categories will show up unless you have a post or page filed in that category. So I quickly filed the welcome post in all the categories so I can see the layout and make any changes.
Just remember the categories can be changed anytime (they are not set in stone) but if you are naming your posts with the category name in the middle then you’ll want to keep your category names the same or risk getting a 404 message when you change ‘em later.
The third tip with categories is the long-tail keywords. Under settings>>permalinks – change it to Custom Structure and copy and paste this code in the custom structure field:
/%category%/%postname%/
This will allow you to rank higher for many different keywords. You’ll have a keyword in your category and a keyword in your postname.
Step 2: Plugins
Click Here for a Complete Video of How to Install A Plugin
There are some staple plugins that you’ll want to go ahead and activate immediately.
Plugin #1: Kit Elliott’s Recommended SEO Plugin – Under Plugins.. Add New.. Search for Term: All in One SEO
It should be the first one that pops up.
When you’re filling out your posts, the All in One SEO Plugin remains at the bottom of the post before you publish it out. After you fill out your post, you’ll tell Google and Yahoo what the post is about so they can quickly index and rank you by keyword. You do this by filling out the SEO information at the bottom. Sometimes I get ranked for keywords within minutes of publishing it out.
Plugin #2: Askimet Spam Catcher
This one comes with WordPress. You have to login to WordPress to grab your API key. Then, plug your API key to activate this great plugin. If you’re experiencing blog comment spam, chances are – your Askimet is not activated yet.
Plugin #3: Kamod Advertisement Manager
I picked the lifestyle theme for two reasons: The categories are already configured at the top, and the ads are in place. Now, this is the surprise find this morning.
Here’s how the Kamod Advertising Manager works.
1. You set the zones and it shows up in your widgets. That way – you can drag the widget to where you want to display the ads. Then, you set the ad size when you pick a ad location on your blog.
2. You upload all the ads that you want to display, and the Kamod Advertising Manager rotates through them. That way – if you want to charge for advertising and someone pays for 1 month – then you set their ad for 1 month, and it will automatically stop after 1 month.
I was surprised to see how easy this plugin was to install, activate, and setup. I have three zones setup right now. The header ad, the 300×250 ad on the left top, and the two 125×125 ads at the bottom.
Now – I can place CPA Offers and Affiliate Ads throughout and the ad manager will rotate through.
Click on Plugins>>Add New>> Search for Kamod Advertising and it will come up.
