Beware of Google AdSense Clicks

There are a few things that new bloggers must realize with Google AdSense. The idea of clicking friend's ads, or asking people to click yours, may sound interesting - after all - who knows.

The truth is - Google does. They can track any web site visit, its duration, where it came from, how many pages each visitor viewed, what links they clicked, and now long they were on the next site.

You can get this information if you sign up for a Google Account (different from your AdSense account). Then, go to the web analytics site. Will the stats be better than the ones from the stat counter I suggested? Not really. In fact, because of config problems and the advanced level of Google Web Analytics - you may get less results.

I had one site that the server based software cited more than one million hits, but Google only showed 2000 - because my view was not configured right. However, you can bet that Google's view is config'd right.

The warning is - do not click on Google ads, have your friends click. If you do notice an unusual number of clicks. If you are checking your Google AdSense account (which must be done once a week) and see an unusual number of clicks, just contact customer service and tell them. They are very nice, and will not ban you if you appear to be concerned.

Do You Use Drupal or Wordpress?

Running an online business is frustrating. I know that there are several people here running IT businesses that can add their own horror stories to this blog post.

Building a web platform (website) on a software program that promises to do 10 times what you need, and then only produces half of what you need - and that is with continual updates, bug reports, and a multitude of widgets and plug ins. We did that this year - twice.

Then there are programmers. I can say one name Bxxca and a cold child will run down the spine of any TE at www.inspiredauthor.com who was with us about 15 months ago. Yes, the programmer who did half the job and then demanded more money than my car is worth to finish, that is after we found porn running out of the back end of our server. That hit our Page Rank hard for a good long time.

I have been trying to hire a programmer for months at places like ifreelance. Most of the time I get people who want to be paid to learn their trade. When asked, they don't know the software program - but that is no problem..they are use to being paid to learn. I can't afford that. I doubt many of you can.

Then comes a good day. You find someone that actually knows what you are talking about. I found someone like that in Sheldon www.gamedevguru.com who is not expensive, because he doesn't need to spend fifteen hours figuring out the software before he gets started. He did more on my www.inspiredauthor.com in 2hours than anyone else I've met.

I wanted to let you know about him, one - because he not only knows Drupal but he is great with Worpress, too. I know that many of you are on wordpress - which is a good content management system (as Sharon HH has taught me :).

So, next time you are stuck, want to do something new, want to fix a bug. Don't panic - there is someone who can help you at: www.gamedevguru.com

Compare Web Hosting Services

One question most new web owners tackle is the hosting problem. Trust me, I've been on every level. From buying into a great marketing campaign, only to find that the company is a reseller and doesn't know what they are doing, to owning virtual server space and hiring a programmer to run things (expensive!).

I've been through several hosting companies. Now I use siteground. I can host all of my sites from one dashboard. The service is great. In fact, in a year I only heard of them failing to fix a problem once, and that was a programming problem.

They install scripts free, from wordpress to moodle. And they have alwasy fixed my small problems - like when a script stops working. In fact, they are so good at fixing problems, I've only paid programmers $100 this year! And that was for improving, not fixing.

All of this for a cost of $70 a year for my first site, and about $50 a year for the rest of the sites.

I haven't moved to a dedicated server yet, because my bandwidth allotment is more than it was on the dedicated server, and I have less 404 messages - meaning that the system isn't clogging with traffic. In fact, at one site that claimed to be one of the top 10 in the country, I had 20% 404 messages!!!

They use Cpanel, with excelent stat information, more than 30 scripts for blogs and websites, chats, newsletters, forums, etc - everything you need.

There is a good reason why this site is the #1 hosting site for many of the top ecommerce scripts.



Most important, I have never been hacked, but at the same time, there is no probelm with search engines. I found out - the hard way - that many resllers or 'amateur' hosting services work through Internet companies which make it difficult for search engines.

In fact, our response from Google changed from 2 - 3 months, to days, after switching from the other 'big host' to siteground.

However, to be fair. Godaddy is a better place for newbies. You can phone about everything, you can get 'instant' websites, and they will help you with problems - but they are more expensive. While siteground does offer a domain service - I still manage my domains through godaddy. One thing I did learn, is that many resellers work for godaddy-which gives them the right to say they are the biggest.

Make $20 - $50 for 8 Hours Work

I am starting to send people ideas of places where they can earn money writing. I am not a full time writers at Helium. I've been there for about one year, but only have about 200 articles posted. My entire time committment has been about 100 hours - maybe 8 hours a month. Usually, Helium is where I go when I am between projects and have a down time.

I use to play solitair. Now I play at Helium. I make about $20 - $50 a month from Helium. They always pay on time. It is free to join. You are never asked to upgrade. And, you never receive spam from them. Did I mention that it is free to join?

Click the link to take a look, there is no obligation -



PROMOTION

We all know that PR is everything, and that we need inbound links to build PR. Helium has never refused any article with less than 4 links to my blogs - especially if they link to more articles, not the home page.

Making Your Blog Template Look Right

Sometimes a blog page doesn't look right. You may have put three scripts into the HTML box on blogger, or onto your web page code.

One problem bloggers face when adding their blog to directories is that they get long lists of blog names. This is okay if the code is at the bottom of the page, but not if it is in the sidebar (the menu at the side of the page).

This problem can also mess up a page when using affiliate codes.

First - make sure your code is not wider than the column. If the widget or code will not appear at all, then you need to select the code for a smaller widget.

(A widget is the small picture that advertises. At the top of this blog - the 'vote for this blog' picture is a widget)

One way to fix this problem is to add the code

after the script. This will tell the HTML to leave two blank lines UNDER the first script. This way your widgets and affiliate codes will appear in a straight column with 2 blank spaces between.

If the

code does not work then try

which tells the HTML page to start a new paragraph.

Stay out of the 'edit template' feature if possible. Most of today's blogs work on 'blocks' that let you paste your scripts into these. If you do need to go into your edit template make sure you copy and paste the template in MS Wordpad before working on the template.

Blog Catalogue

There are many directories where bloggers need to submit their blogs if they want to increase their PR and their hits. Most of these come and go regularly. Others, stand our among the crowd and actually do what they were meant to do - help bloggers increase their rank.

I use several, but the first one I am going to talk about is blog catalog


Blog catalogue lets bloggers network. It tracks their neighbourhoods and gives bloggers and easy 'one step' place to find blogs of similar topics. The trick is to make sure that your user name has something in common with your topic.

For example: FamousAuthor would be a great user name for someone selling books. Their normal user name - say it is Sunny - will not help promote the blog. But, that doesn't mean the tool will not work well for you.

Listing is free, but you will either need to paste a small piece of code into the bottom of your web page, in the HTML code, or if you are on blogger, use the HTML/Java tool.

However, there are more features. I have added the 'recent visitor' widget to this blog. I only neighbourhood with blogs that have this widget. I an 'into' networking, but I want something in return - I want the blog owners to reward my participation by giving their visitors the opportunity to view my blogs.

I also want people to view my blog - so I include a widget.

I also believe that this widget (Recent Visitors ) lets my readers know that other people are visiting my blog.

How To Make a Widget.

Before starting, make sure the title at the top of your widget is the correct blog name. There is a drop down box that will list all your blogs.

1. Reset the widget size from 180 to 120. Most blogs do not have templates which will accept 180.

2. Reset the number of views to whatevery you want. I like to select 10.

3. Reset the icon size to small.

4. Leave the user name active.

5. Click on the color label (background, boarder, link, title) and it will turn bold. Then, pick a color which will blend with your template.

6. Click the 'update code and preview widget' button. If you like the result, then you can paste the code into your blog. I suggest putting it near the top.

You are done.

Profiles & Lenses

The net is becoming a social network. If you want to make money then you need to start making lenses. There are a few good places to put a lens. Many people wait for months (with no hits or money) before they click on the link and make a lens.

Create a FREE Profile
Yahoo is a great tool.