I’ve never seen anything anywhere near this powerful, especially being free!

You can download it here:

Google keyword research tool
Be in touch.

Hey! Hope you are off to a great weekend! If any of you are close to the storms going on by Texas, hope you are well and safe!

I was referenced to this web tool from some friends who do SEO for a living. It’s called WEb CEO and from what I’ve tried so far, it’s an awesome tool to help you get the maximum performance & results from your websites.  Did I mention it is free?!? Web CEO helps you analyze keywords for your site/niche, with their keyword research tool that is updated daily to show you what the latest search results are across the engines. This will help you find better keyword results to implement into your site. Helping you increase traffic from search engines & what people are actually putting in for their searches.

The program is downloadable and provides you with a check up on your site to make sure there are no errors. From what I’ve researched so far, it looks like the free version provides everything you need to get optimum results from your websites. So there is no need to pay, unless you feel it will benefit you more. There is also a seo course offered & helpful tutorials/guides.

If you have the time, maybe 1hr per day to learn the tools from Web CEO it will definitely help your web results & improving your current sites. But is also a great resource to use if you want to research a niche or market for future website developments.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Jay

After a long weekend of reading post after post about Page Rank Improvements and of course lack there of, I decided that it was time for post about how to create a successful blog PB style keeping in mind the top 5 ways bloggers screw up their page rank. So why all of a sudden am I oh so willing to write all of this out? Well… to be honest… some of you guys have been pissing me off with some of these and rather than just put up an “Ugly Stick Beat Down” I decided offering a friendly, informative, “Authority Article” would be more beneficial.

You’re not using a “.htaccess redirect”.

Nothing is more aggravating to people like me who take time to write a thoughtful anchor… then it’s discovered the your domain name is spattered across the web in both “www” and “http://” formats! See, not only does that piss us off… but it weakens the “G-Juice Trickle”. To Google, not using a redirect can appear as if you are referring to two different websites. That said, you not only weaken your own rank, but you weaken the value of the outbound link of the author who wrote a little something about you.

You’ve not Updated Your Ping List Dummy

Yeh, I know someone is going to tell me that they’ve got “ping-o-mattic” and that covers it… ha! Okay… you put all your eggs in one basket why don’t ya! Look people, if you don’t have the notifier list updated in your admin panel, then it could take DAYS for your latest post to be listed in the serps. There is nothing worse than finding links through your referral stats rather than you’re serps feed readers! If the serps aren’t showing the backlink, you’re not getting credit Einstein! Oh, did I forget to mention that I’ve already written a post about the importance of the ping list? Yeh, it includes the latest and greatest services to! NOTE: Being listed in the serps is not the same as being indexed… there is a major difference!

Your 404’s are not Re-Directing Either

Nothing pisses off an author more than discovering that their well thought out anchor text to YOUR blog leads to a big fat 404 error. Do you want to lose some Page Rank? How about some love juice from the big “G”? Or how about that oh so valuable anchor text that you worked so hard to earn? I mean c’mon people, I don’t think that there is an easier way to screw yourself and the people who write about you! LOL… What’s ironic is that people often go back and rename their posts for better SEO… the result is a fatty-fo-fatty 404!

Wanna see it work? http://thepissbiscuit.com/best-blogger-on-planet/ (That page does not exist, but you don’t see no stinking 404 now do ya!) As for the Plugin that can help make it happen? Try the 404 redirect for better SEO!

Comment Chatting Needs to STOP!

Okay number three was the fastest way you can lose rank… but this my friends is the fastest way to lose readers and more importantly… commentators so listen up. If you’ve got the “Subscribe to Comments” plugin installed… I AM TALKING TO YOU! Over the past three days alone, I’ve been notified of about three hundred comments being added to the blogs I post on and subscribe to. Of those three hundred or so comments, 25 or 30 of them were actually something I wanted to be notified about. What I don’t want to read… is comment chatting… useless banter sent within minutes and sometimes seconds of each other.

Tonight on one of the newer blogs that I read, notified me of 19 comments in under 10 minutes which consisted of nothing more that silly fruitless banter like:

“great post”…”Thanks”…”No problem, glad you liked it”…”yeh man your post was great”… “Thanks man, I appreciate it”….”No seriously, it was really great”…” No dude, if only you were a girl”…

I hope that you get my point. Sure, I could go and cancel my subscription… but that requires work, and I’m to busy for that right? What’s easier for me is to either stop subscribing… or stop commenting. Neither option is good for the blog’s author. So what’s the solution? Try holding back your responses a while. When you as the owner, can respond to five or six comments at once… you can reduce the number of “flaky” comments sent out via e-mail by 60% or 70% and give the spiders time to find your fricken post! After your post is crawled… get stupid with comment chatter on occasion. Just remember that your readers should be respected.

You’re not listed in DMOZ

Okay this one is harder than it sounds. DMOZ is the open source directory… the biggie in fact. More so than Google in fact… and while we’re talking about facts… if you’re listed in DMOZ, you’ll likely be auto indexed by Google within days… not listed… indexed! Ya see the DMOZ directory is run by real people. You submit, they review, and if you’re cool enough, you’ll get listed. It’s a cake walk! (Fat joke at myself).

So when should you apply for a DMOZ listing? When you’re blog starts seeing some traffic, comments, and decent posts… it’s probably a good time to submit. Remember that REAL live people edit each submission… you’ve got to impress someone, not just meet some mathematical criterion. Now keep in mind, that this can take a week or it can take 6 months… but because people are involved, you never can tell.

• Don’t want to get “Sandboxed”? DMOZ it.
• Don’t want to lose your PR? DMOZ it.
• Don’t want to be de-indexed? DMOZ it.

Wrapping up my Page Rank Hints

As I mentioned earlier on… I wrote this to not only help you guys and gals… but to point out that good blogging can lead to more than just high PR and Traffic counts. It can lead to a great community, awesome friends, respectful relationships, a useful resource, and a profitable online business. So if all that isn’t reason enough to become a better blogger… go eat a cupcake!Don’t forget to go read my post on “The Best SEO Trick for Bloggers“.

If you like this post, and think it would be a good AUTHORITY article… scratch it… sniff it… lick it… but whatever you do, please Stumble it!

Well people… I’m about to let a dirty little secret out of the bag and it’s got to do with optimizing your blog’s “Header Tags” to improve search engine rankings within a week. Whoa, say what? Yep, you read it right. Unlike the hundreds of articles out there that explain the value of properly labeling your “<Header>” tags… I’m going to show you something that has literally made my company thousands of dollars in SEO optimization services.

The Value of your <H1> – <H6> tags

As most of you savvy bloggers already know heading tags (H1 through to H6) are given more weight by search engines than regular body copy. You also already should know that they should be used wisely to reinforce the page’s overall targeted keywords. That said there are a few basics that you should be aware of before starting to go bonkers with modifying your blog’s CSS Style Sheets.

Learn the “Header” tag’s true value

Today it’s pretty common practice to have theme designers incorporate the header tags within their style sheets. In fact, more often than not, their ideas are on the mark, but with a few simple tweaks, you can out rank and out index your competition. But first, you’ve got to know the value that search engines assign these little bad boys.

• <H1> = Most valuable Tag in the toolbox. Usually used for the title of a blog.
• <H2> = Second most valuable tag. This is usually found in the “Title” of each post.
• <H3> = My H3 tags can be found in the sidebar. They are bold with a little star next to it.
• <H4> = Generally unused but quite valuable and should be used.
• <H5> = Generally unused but still valuable to most search engines
• <H6> = Generally unused and least valuable, but not to be wasted.

Using the tags within your posts.

I run across COUNTLESS blogs everyday where authors don’t ever utilize the Header tag in their posts and it’s mind boggling to me. With the release of WordPress 2.5, the simple drop down menu at the top left o your editing screen makes this once aggravating task, beyond simple. Use them.

Helpful in more than one way

Look at my bright pink title above. That my friends is all it take to ass a little style and SEO love juice to your posts! It really couldn’t be more simple. I’m going to try and keep it simple so combining good design, great copyrighting practices and a little SEO fuel, here i my list of why you should use tags within a post.

Heading Tags can be aesthetically pleasing to read.

Header tags break up the monotony of a long winded posts.

“H” TagsHelp direct your readers to focus on your content.

Subliminally gives anxious readers small achievable goals.

Allows you to re-enforce staple points of your post

Add content space to what my be a short post.

Allows you to insert relevant keywords & phrases

Cuts out the trashy “self spamming” routine

… and those are just to name a few. I kept the list short, because that’s not really what this post is all about. So without further ado, here’s my little secret that can change the way spiders look at your site forever!

Re-Styling your <H> tags!

The look and style of your “Header” tags are controlled within you blog’s main style sheet. Usually, named style.css. Now I’ won’t go into lessons of coding CSS because every design is different, but I will tell you that with a few simple tweaks, you can add even more punching power to your posts. How? Ha ha…. just restyle them to match your body text.

Choosing the right tags to alter

Since the <H4>, <H5> and <H6> tags are almost ALWAYS under utilized, we are going to start with those. The idea is a simple one. Edit your last three available head tags to mimic the style of your body text. Huh? It’s easy I promise! Here is an example of body text I’ve got:

body{
color:#333;
font-family: Georgia, “Times New Roman”, Times, serif;
font-size: 11px;

As you can see the color of the font is not quite black, the font is Georgia, and the size is 11pts. Now we want to locate the <H> tags within our style sheet and modify them to match. For this example… here is an existing <H6> tag that we are going to re-style:

h6{
margin:5px 0;
padding:0;
font-size:12px;
color:#333

As you can see there are quite a few differences. But your job is to make the <H6> identical to the <body> tags and don’t worry It’s as easy as a little cut and paste… here is the final code!

h6{
color:#333
font-family: Georgia, “Times New Roman”, Times, serif;
font-size: 11px;

Now you’re locked an loaded! Save the file, upload it back to your server and start blogging using this little trick in every one of you posts. Choose your three main keywords and key phrases and order them according to what you find their value to be. The most important words and phrases for you blog should be assigned <H4> and the least important should use <H6> tags. But be consistent! Use the same tags, for the same words and phrases!!!

Some good advice to follow

Now that you’re done writing your awesome post, go back through it, highlight your target copy and simply choose the appropriate tag from the drop down that WordPress oh so graciously provides us (2.5 and higher)…. that’s it! Oh and one thing to remember… using tags is like steroids… DON’T over due it. A handful of tags is worth more than a post loaded with keyword spam (A good example of self spamming) Keyword spam might make you feel good now, but within weeks, you can quietly disappear off the grid and never be found again. So get out there and tweak that CSS!

If you thought this was informative… Stumble it for me, it only takes a sec… and if you’re really feeling randy… comment on it for me!

Click here to make your Google rankings last a LIFETIME…

Well people today was the day! I ran a bit behind from a meeting that wouldn’t end, but never the less, I’m finally here with the winners of my very first premium theme giveaway. Over all, it was a great success and if you guys and gals are open to it… I’d be willing to do it again very soon. Interested? Let me know, and I’ll set up another contest!

Just so that you all know what I did, I went to the random.org and had the generator pick numbers. I wanted to video it, nut I’ve got upload issues and I don’t have the patience to figure out why. That said… let the games begin!

Random Linkback / Trackback Winner

Well the winner is number… one! Number one according to my linkbacks is “The Affiliate Post“.

Random Feedburner Subscriber Winner!

So who is it? And the winner is… number seven! mirzania@gmail.com

Congratulations claim your prizes!

Okay winners… head on over to my premium theme section of the site, and dig around a bit. Look for the theme that you want and send me an e-mail letting me know what theme you want! You don’t have much time so, go… go… go!

I need your answers by noon central standard time tomorrow (Friday) so I can get them ordered before leaving town for my conference! Thanks to everyone who participated and don’t forget to let me know if you all are interested in doing it again!

Alright ladies and gents, I’m a few days behind schedule on my Tweak A Week giveaway due to some errors setting up the theme, but regardless, I’m moving forward and as promised here is a sneak peak at what “Robin” of NOAFILM.be is getting!

The Re-Design of the Re-Design

As mentioned in an earlier post, MimboPro is a bit of a pain in the butt to set up. I was pretty stressed out about it for about a day and a half until Darren offered some help. I’ve got to give it to him, that’s one great way to earn the respect of your peers. So, Darren… good show.

There is a but… The image issue is still not fixed making it hard for me to properly code and test the css and background images the way I need to in order to make this one kick ass theme tweak! After a few days of back and forth with no prevail, I decided to go ahead and re-design, the re-design. So what you see is actually the second version which isn’t as in depth as I would have liked, but hell it got the job done and is looking pretty fricken awesome!

Bunches of changes!

I’ve moved a few elements around, changed some CSS, and of course… I went bonkers with the graphics to just set this MimboPro showcase over the top. I used a number of design stratagies when thinking of both of these re-designs and I’ll be going over those in a later post so don’t worry, I won’t leave you hangin’!

As for the screenshot, you’ll notice that those pesky thumbnails still aren’t showing, so once Darren gets it fixed for me, I’ll be able to get it all finished up with the final little touches.

Comparing apples to apples… I’d like to know.

Just to show you guys what some of the other proud MimboPro theme owners have done, I’m going through the task of putting a few of Darren’s showcase links in here for ya. Take a gander… compare notes… and let me know what you guys think of the ULTIMATE MimboPro re-design!

• http://www.stampersquest.com/
• http://www.nicegirlstv.com/
• http://www.rch103.com/
• http://www.lesenfantsterribles.org/
• http://www.fbodyonline.com/homepage
• http://www.revolverfm.com
• http://www.gitrknowswow.com
• http://www.momworx.de/
• http://www.UrbanSake.com
• http://www.realabaco.com
• http://www.radiolightstream.com.
• http://www.napnam.nl/site
• http://www.Qwowi.com
• http://www.massena28.com/
• http://www.raproject.com
• http://www.adaequat.org

Like tips… great feedback is always welcome!

Now I’m sure that asking for feedback might be like asking for a hole in the head, but I’d like to know what you guys and gals think so far. You know… motivation! We all need it and with so many install headaches and two re-designs just to accommodate the silly error, I’d like to think I’m on the right path with things anyway.

Get your own theme tweak…

Remember that you have way to many chances to get yourself your own custom theme tweaks by yours truly by just checking out some recent posts where I’m selling my soul for some traffic.

• http://thepissbiscuit.com/free-blog-redesign/
• http://thepissbiscuit.com/blog-flipping-contest/
• http://thepissbiscuit.com/pbs-premium-theme-giveaway/

Alright people it was about time that someone offered up another contest! When I saw the post go up on Bryan Clark’s Site Flipping University… I was THRILLED… and then… I was INTIMIDATED! Even though you guys should go read the full contest rules on your own… I’ve put the points system up just to show you guys how well thought out this contest is.

Contestants will be given points based on the following criteria.

• 10 Points for each Feedburner Subscriber
• 2 Points for each unique visitor
• 1 Point for each pageview
• 5 Points for each unique visitor from an ORGANIC source (i.e. Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.)
• 10 Points for listing the auction
• 100 Points for a successful sale (price doesn’t matter)
• 50 Points for having the MOST traffic
• 100 Points for having the most ORGANIC traffic
• 100 Points for having the most Feedburner Subscribers
• 50 points to anyone who opens a new Hostgator account under my (his) affiliate link. The proceeds will be split with the winner of the contest. Pretty good deal right? And it’s $10 a month for unlimited domains, and the best host on the market… (I’m actually the best host on the market)

I Need a Brand New Domain?

After you start reading… you start to understand that this isn’t your normal contest. No way… this sucker has got a twist in the pickle like none other! Holy smokes Bryan… I’ve got to register a brand new domain name? You’re really making this a toughie aren’t you? As if domain names aren’t already hard enough to find we’ve got to find a good one… that’s never been registered before… build a blog around it… and sell it in 30 days!

Who Needs Money When You’ve Got Traffic?

Okay so we all know by know that Bryan’s no push over with his “rules and regs”… but he’s kicking up a notch by not giving ANY credit to the blog that sells for highest price. C’mon Bryan can’t ya give a guy a break! We only get points for organic traffic! When this thing is all done, I’ll never want to sell it after all that bloody work!

Get Over There and Register!

Well I must say that just reading Bryan’s post is bringing out the competitor in me, so I’m seriously thinking about getting on board and joining up even though I’ve now officially got NO extra time! All in all, I think that this is a sweet contest with some pretty sweet prizes that every blogger would want! Let me know if you guys and gals plan on joining… you never know… I might just beg Bryan to let me donate some sort of kick ass prize!

Now go check out the Blog Flipping Contest!

Here’s A Kick Ass Update for Ya!

I’ve just been notified that Bryan has now been persuaded to take me on as a contest sponsor! That’s right people… as if I’m not already giving you guys the world… here’s one more chance to get an awesome theme design worth about $900.00 bucks from yours truly! So get off your rumps and get registered!

Well it’s the moment you all have been waiting for… Okay, so maybe not… but after some serious debate and a whole lot of thinking back and forth, I’ve finally decided who will be getting the totally awesome theme tweak for week one. Drum roll please… and the winner is… “Robin” of NOAFilm.be

What makes Robin this week’s winner?

Contests are a tough thing to hold, especially ones like this, where I have to make a personal decision. Unlike my random winner contest like “PB’s Premium Theme Giveaway“, I’ve made this weeks decision based on what I feel is best for my business.

I feel that while Robin’s site is not in English and making it more difficult to complete, it will truly have an impact on the Premium Theme community. Because he’s already using MimboPro I this makes the buzz factor all that much greater. That said, I chose this site based on nothing more than the potential for future business, traffic, publicity, and a well thought out e-mail explaining what he was looking for… oh wait, he did what I asked for… moral of the story… effort prevails every time.

Robin’s Well Thought Out E-Mail

The thing with my site is that I feel everything looks a bit full on the front page, based on the reactions my clients give me I know that they often just look at the top 2/3 of the site. On the other hand all the info on the front page has to be there. What I was thinking is to remove the vertical boundaries, much like this site: http://www.raproject.com/ and maybe change the color combination as well though I really like combinations with brown and blue.

He also used Mimbo Pro as a base and by removing the side boundaries but keeping the content within boundaries it looks like the site has more breathing space (hope i express myself right)

I also want the header which now contains my company logo and some wedding pictures which I threw together in Photoshop to be redesigned,  f.i. I liked what http://www.queromedia.be/ did with their header, it also spreads itself horizontally over the site and their tree’s roots end were the tags begin, very simple yet elegant. Now i don’t want a tree on my site but something simple incorporating my Logo and some artsy fartsy video/photo related stuff.

Let the magic happen…

Robin has issued me complete design freedom on his site which I’ll take seriously. I’ve already got some mock up done and to be honest I’m pretty excited about it.As you can see in the picture above, he’s already made some tweaks on his own and I’m hoping take it to the next level for him.

I’ve take some design cues from the most popular styles of 2008 and mixed them in with a seductive, sensual, classic feel that is sure to lend a real focus to his business. Robin does some wonderful work in both photography and video so showcasing his awesome talent is something that this theme tweak will aim to do.

Robin mentioned in his e-mail that his readers tend to be interested in the top two-thirds of his site. In the deign world, regardless of the medium, is called “Above the Fold”. I reviewed a little bit about the importance of this area of a site in my article about “Building a Better Blog“.

The nuts and bolts…

I’ve already received the original theme file from Robin and so I guess you could say that the work has officially begun. I’ll make one brief mention though, that I’m not all that impressed as of yet with MimboPro’s image and thumb-nailing system. It’s very cumbersome to implement and even for a seasoned WordPress fanatic, it’s not user friendly in the setup.

Usage is pretty straight forward using “Custom Fields” but wow, I’ve fiddled with it for about four hours and just can’t manage to get the imaging system to work properly. Inevitably, I’ll be writing a review on the Mimbo Pro theme when this is all done so you can fully understand what to expect should you purchase this premium theme in the future so be on the look out for it.

In the meantime, I’ll be finishing up my mock ups and hopefully posting my progress tomorrow. with some totally awesome screen shots. if I can get the darn imaging system to act right, I might even have a live demo for you guys and galls too.

Three weeks to go!

Just remember that you all have three more weeks, with three more winners. I’m hoping that some of you will start to fully appreciate the time and energy involved in doing this stuff… so help me out and spread the word! Until tomorrow…

Say what? Yeh, I know it’s pretty damn cool aint it… I’m begging you to let me re-design your blog’s theme for free! Yes in deed, you heard me right… Free! Yeh, I know I’m going off the deep-end especially since I’m so busy these days, but heck… if you know of a better way to get some great publicity and jump start a new  business… I’m all eyes.

I’ll tweak it for free.

If you’ve got a blog, then you’ve got a theme. No matter where it came from or who built it, EVERY blog could use a nice tweak to make it stand out from the crowd and I’m willing to do it for  ya for free! I know that some of you have hacked copies of Photoshop, and possess a handful of hours of meddling with it’s capabilities… but let’s get real people, you need the whole package from someone who knows what their doing! I’m your man.

What will you get…

Like I tell all of my real world clients, this is my job and I build websites every day. That said, I’ll take a theme that you already own… or already use, and make it your own. I’ll use my talents to not only give you all something that you can be proud of, but also make your blog more profitable. With a background in design, development and marketing… you’ll have everything you need to become a force to reckon with.

While I’m open to hear your dreams and listen to your ideas… what I’m really interested in are folks who can tell me about there goals and let me work some magic to help you reach them. Every blogger has and objective… (except for me)… and as a designer it’s my job to try and make that happen. So if you;re open to the power of persuasion, and keen on having me dig around and twist things up a bit… this is one shameless self promotion you don’t want to miss.

What you won’t get…

I’m not a push over so be prepared! Just remember, I’m the guy doing the work, so while your ideas are important to me, they may not be the best for your blog… that said, I may not follow your direction to the T and you should be prepared to hear it. I won’t re-invent the wheel, so please don’t ask me too. I’m not going to be building you a whole new blog, or recreating your online purpose. I’ll be taking something “established” and hopefully make it “better”. If you sell widgets, but want to sell video widgets, that’s fine… it just means that you’ll have to hire me instead. I simply do not have the time to re-invent what your doing online, so those of you with those requirements need not apply.

It’s time to earn it!

I was trying to think of a good way to build publicity and have yet to figure it out. I could request a post on your blog, or some silly e-mail subscription contest like I’ve got on one of my other giveaways, but nothing really struck my fancy. What’s a guy to do?

I figured that since it’s you all that will get the theme tweaks, I’d like to know why you think it would be good for my business to redo your blog!

Okay so does everyone understand it? It’s really simple. You tell me, why on earth it would help my new business. Tell me things like, I’ve got a page rank 7 blog… I’ve got 79,000 daily visitors… I’ve got 350,000 subscribers… tell me you’ll where a Piss Biscuit T-Shirt… tell me that you’ll do a viral video… just tell me something that makes sense!

As a business man, I need to make sure that whenever I spend valuable time doing something there will be a purpose… and of course a gain. I guess you could say that I, like most, want to be gainfully employed… not just employed. So while I am not trying to collect cash from this awesome offer, I would like to see that my work and dedication to my craft will be put to good use.

Sealing the deal…

Okay so you all now know that the goal here is to promote my business, acquire some great testimonials, help out fellow bloggers, and read all about why it would help us both out if I spent my time working for you. So, in the spirit of things, I’m going to choose four (4)… yep, four of you all who not only make an impression on me, but also make a good impression for this blog and my new found service. That’s one tweak a week for a month! I must really be nuts.

Maybe a good idea would be to blog about it… ask your readers for their thoughts… ask for help from your readership, just as I ask for help from you all. Heck, even though the linkbacks will earn you a bunch of brownie points, I’d love to see your readers come to your aid too! If you blog about it, and people start stepping up, I’ll see that… I promise I read every one of my visitors blogs.

* Credits: Bryan Clark & The Affiliate Post for their help in pushing me to do this. I think it will be an excellent way to create another online business, so my thanks goes out to the both of you for your inspiration.

Oh, I almost forgot…

Stumbles and Technorati Favorites make me smile! I’ve never “really” understood what benefit stumbling has on a blog’s actual traffic, so more brownie points for stumbles and let’s see what it does! Thanks for the help!

This isn’t a how to, as much as it is an awareness article. Read it, study it, enjoy it, learn from it, but most importantly understand it’s true potential for influencing your blog’s value. Then take what I tell you and run with it!

“Designing by Thirds” Rule…

The rule states that a blog’s above-the-fold viewing area can be divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines. The four points formed by the intersections of these lines can be used to align the major, most important parts of your blog’s layout. Sounds simple right? Well it is in theory, but getting it just right might be tougher than you think!

A Quick How to? I know…!

Take a screen shot of your blog or in the case of a premium theme you’re interested in, use the available “demo”… Doing this NOW should save you some heartbreak and money later if the premium design you’re thinking about buying isn’t ideal for earning you more money. Remember that programs like Snag-It, have an option to scroll the entire page and capture the screen shot… we don’t want this. We want the area that’s “above the fold” of your page… it is after all, the most important part of ANY blog! Above the fold is the real estate found on your page when the site first loads in your browser. No scrolling people!

Next we create the grid. This grid has been explained as the “Divine Proportion” of design, but because I hate math, and most of you likely don’t give a hoot… I’m not going to get into the arithmetics behind it all. But, if you’re interested ,it involves some wonderfully fun equations like: 1.618033988749895 ≈ 1.618

I’ve gone ahead and overlayed a dark wash on my screen shot to show you visually EXACTLY what portions of my blog stand out.

Taking your visitors by the hand…

• Top Left Quadrant: My latest post. For obvious reasons it’s great to have it right there in someone’s face screaming “Read Me, I’m NEW”!
• Bottom Left Quadrant: Yesterday’s post. I love this aspect of the design. My previous post shows up in JUST the right spot. Usually, by the time a post end up here, it’s got quite a few comments which of course breeds more comments!
• Top Right Quadrant: My profile. There are way to many articles out there already about how important it is to put a face with the name. So just do it.
• Bottom Right Quadrant: My “Extras” slot. This is one of the most valuable pieces of real estate above the fold. Here you’ll always find something fun, or something new. It’s my way of communicating with you all in an instant without needing to write a three page post. Use it!

Get out of the same old rut!

With thousands of blogs popping up all over the internet everyday, we all know how hard it has been to stand out from the crowd. Get noticed. Become a name. A Resource. A place you stop in at everyday because you know that something useful is going to be there!

You’re dedicated right? You’re ready to blog your heart out on the ways of the web and all you want in return, is a little traffic… Okay and maybe some money right? I’m with ya here… but with all that work going into building relationships, and making friends, and earning… don’t you think that it’s time to step up the game and really strut your stuff? When your sitting around next time saying to yourself what can I do to make my blog better… think of this!

Of course and while what I’m showing you isn’t all that complicated, but it’s something that few bloggers ever think about. Does that this is useless? Hell no! I’d even venture to say it makes this simple concept even more valuable… simply because no one is using it!

Get out of the public pool, quit playing kickball with friends from the neighborhood, and change how people value your blog! Stand up and get out of the rut… Do something different for a change. Your blog will thank you for it.

Make “Designing by Thirds” a standard practice.

What’s the first thing you do when you set up a new blog? Install WordPress or equivalent, upload your favorite plugins, change the URL structure, and dig into your SEO All-in-One Pack. But what about when it comes to choosing your blog’s theme? Sure, you might dig around and find something you think is great, but is it really? Does it follow one of the oldest rules in the book for great design? Does it utilize one of the most successful strategies known to the marketing world (Since 1797) If your not sure, than adding this step to your blog setup process, is something you should start doing.

Can this make you money?

Yes, in fact it’s made my employer quite a large bit o-cash if ya know what I mean! I’m not kidding either! When properly demonstrated to clients, it’s been a deal closer every time. Not many web designers take the time and explain to their clients why they do certain things. I ALWAYS do. It locks them in thinking that going elsewhere, would only be getting them second best.

This system is perfect for turning low budget website client maybes… into millions of dollars of business over the years. Hey, when it works, it works! Regardless of your blogs purpose, the goal is the same… make more money… increase traffic… add subscribers and build a valued resource that people will follow. So, stop talking about it and get to it. Now you’re aware of how important great design can really be even when simply picking a theme!