The Web Authority

If you have never used WordPress sometime how to add a post is extremely confusing and especially if you want to publish on a future date. Here are the steps that we teach to our new blog writers on how to add a post.

Download and install IE Spell for your browser as many WordPress control panel spell checkers are not functional.

Visit www.IESpell.com. This little spell checker is then accessed from your tools menu. If you use Firefox, do a Google search and download a plug-in that you can use for spell checking.

Login to the blog control panel. You will be on the blog dashboard page once logged in.

Click Posts in the left side bar. The blog listing screen will open. If you have a draft post or pending post you will see it in the links on top of the blog post list.

To create a new blog post click Add New in the post menu in the left sidebar. The next screen will show the blog post entry control panel.

This is crucial – if you have created your blog post in Word or used one from the client, you MUST copy your post, paste it into Notepad, and then copy it from Notepad and then paste into the blog entry field. If you do not do this you will carry hidden font and character styles into the blog post which will be visible when published. You can typically access Notepad from the Accessories menu on your computer in your Microsoft Office products.

Once on the blog post control panel, type in or paste your blog title in the very top one line field. Paste in from Notepad or create your blog post in the larger box underneath the blog title.

To insert a link in your blog post, open another browser tab, go to the web page that you will want the link to direct to, copy the address from the address bar, must include the http:// in front of the link. Go back to the WordPress control panel and using your mouse drag to highlight the text you want to carry the hyperlink. I like to drag from the end of the phrase to the front to have better control over the link and so a space in not inadvertently picked up in the link. Then click the chain or hyperlink icon in the tool bar just above the post entry field. A small window will pop up, paste the link into the very first field overwriting the http:// that is already there, select in the drop down, open link page in a new window, and then click insert. WordPress will then underline and hyperlink your text in the blog post.

Make sure to spell check your blog post using IE Spell.

On the right side bar now create tags in the tag field that are keywords to find your blog post. I use all lower case for tags unless it is a proper name. I usually select one, two or three words based on the blog post.  Make sure to click Add.

Then look just below the tag field and select categories. Categories are like blog navigation so be judicious in adding them. All categories should be proper case.

In the top right box that says publish; look for Publish Immediately and EDIT. Do not click any other buttons at all like draft pending review or okay.

Click the Edit link to open the publish time calendar. If you are publishing ahead, change your date and time. I like to set the clock to 5:00 am as the publish time if I am scheduling a blog post ahead so it is there the first time someone looks. After setting the date and time, click PUBLISH. This is important to not click the okay button or preview button as your post may end up as a draft and not properly scheduled. After you have clicked publish you can go back to the blog post master page and click your blog post to preview it.

Always make sure you preview your blog before you log out to make sure you don’t have any funny characters and that your spacing is correct and images are in place.

To double check that all is well, click Posts on the left menu you will see your blog post in the link at the top that says scheduled and also in the blog post list with a countdown of hours until the publish time.

Google AdWords is a pay per click program. Pay Per Click programs, PPC or Pay For Performance are all the buzz in Internet marketing. The growth in web traffic generated by pay per click services is growing and a marketing option to be seriously considered. With PPC, you pay each time a web viewer chooses your ad listing link and clicks into your website.

Pay per click targets a specific audience reaching up to 85% of all Internet users in a cost effective and immediate way. There can be as much as a $20 return of investment for each $1 spent.

The first step is to select which pay for performance agent to use.

Although Yahoo has more overall visitors statistically, due to their Web properties, than Google, Google AdWords is the most productive pay per click vehicle and the place you should start with when you decide to advertise using pay per click. In the United States, over 80% of all Internet searches will start on Google first. With Google AdWords, you can see your ads in several hours, and have the ability to start and stop campaigns easily. You will show your products and services to millions of viewers and active shoppers using the massive reach of Google. Additionally Google AdWords will typically out perform Yahoo and MSN adCenter when it comes to generating conversions and return on investment.

The second step is to select your targeted keyword or phrases.

At this point you may want to consider increasing the density of your selected keywords in your website’s HTML code, your site’s description, and title. However, we have found that you can still experience great returns using PPC without revising your website, as your PPC ads are triggered by the keywords you selected that are tied to your ad and not your web site’s content.

The third step is to select your monthly budget.

You select the maximum amount that you will pay each month for click throughs to your website. Once the maximum amount is reached your agent will halt click throughs to your site automatically. Additionally, you will select how much you are willing to pay by keyword.

With Yahoo! Sponsored Search, you will be charged your pre-designated budget amount on a monthly basis in advance of the clicks. Clicks are then deducted from your account balance on a daily basis. With Google AdWords, you may pause a campaign or update your settings at any time. There are no minimum monthly spending limits and no contracts or long term commitments. You can select to be charged for clicks after they happen.

How much should you allot for a pay per click program?

I suggest that clients should set a budget of at least $500 and better yet $800 to $1,500 for 30 days of clicks on top of our fees for the first month. This allows Google to have enough budget to not minimally serve the account and allows us enough latitude to find the sweet spot for a market competitive cost per click.

When you are ready to get serious about pay per click for your business we invite you to consider our AdWords services. Not sure which account manager to use? Review our client ratings and testimonials as you evaluate your choices.

Becky McCord here, posting to my Mom’s blog on Job Shadow Day…

Fiesta Online is a game that many people in the younger generations play though i do know some older people that play fiesta.Fiesta is a game much like Runescape where you level and fight things and in some locations can fight other players such as during a guild war ( a group of people that are under a group) or in abyss (one place a player can level)or on a Free Battle Zone (self explanatory). Fiesta also has been sponsored by T-pain yes the singer that sang the popular song Low and is based in San Fransisco. When you or your child play fiesta there is four different types you can be a mage who uses magical attacks ,a fighter who uses magical sword move thingys, A archer who uses magical arrow moves which along with the mage can create mobs (mobs of monster that you run around and kill them so they don’t kill you) and the cleric which magically heals and buff you which is an extension of your health and is what most players flock cleric for. I myself am a cleric, level 60.

 Fiesta if you look over ones shoulder is rather odd game with great graphics has manga looking characters with hair colors ranging from blue to light yellow how ever if you don’t have spark cash which is what your child will be after to make their character look better because the basic “noob” character has blue or purple crazy hair which to most isn’t very becoming. So spark cash is something like money that you purchase with real money to buy clothes ( there is only armor on the game) character enhancements weapon enhancements, permanent outfits oh and hair coupons, etc.Spark cash to player makes your character something like a celebrity on the game hence why i have spark cash.

 You get special title for specific title for things you do for instance not talking for a month earn the title silent, celebrity for filling up your friends list, talk show host for shouting in one area for if i remember correctly four hours. Shouting is when everyone in the map can hear you instead of on normal when people only in close range can hear you.Fiesta does block out cuss words or close to cuss words but however most players figure out to get around that so be warned not to let maybe younger children play on the game because the age is around 13-18 years old that play the game. You can get married on the game also which you get a marriage buff which increases stats on the player.

 Stats are something you increase to make your character better such as endurance to raise your health or strength to increase how hard you hit the foe.Different characters need different stats to be higher such as mages and archers need there magic stats to be higher than cleric and fighters that hit on contact which is endurance and strength.

Fiesta is like a social networking site people ask for your I.M which is you can sneakily not answer that for private issues my best suggestion is to ignore that question or change subject if it  comes up.Fiesta has something like Facebook pages called spark pages on their home website (http://fiesta.outspark.com/community) Another warning if somebody (probably one of those type we call no lives) offends you on the game you can report them on contact a CSR on that website and the will get a warning if they get reported again by somebody else their account will be banned.A CSR or a GM (Game Maker) often play the game and host events online. You can befriend one which has many perks if I do say so myself.

Here I have listed some of Fiesta language :

Pleveling: v. (power leveling) when somebody who’s a higher level take you with them to get you to level faster.

Spark cash:n. Fiesta store money

gift:n. a person who get paid in gold to buy people things with spark cash

gold, silver,copper,gems:n. fiesta in game money

+9:n. fully enhanced weapon

Hammer/mace:n. cleric weapon

two hand / one hand:n. fighter weapon

Bow: n. archer weapon

Staff/wand:mage weapon

job change:v. the act of taking a test at level 20 , 60,100 to continue

moves:v./n. what your character uses to magically attack foe

High level:a really high leveled person usually is on all day not necessarily liked

noob:a person who doesn’t know how to play fiesta or a person under level 20 or a person that doesn’t have spark cash

enhanced: v. the act of bettering your weapon (n-han-scid)not enchanced!

license: another way to better your weapon by killing alot of one foe

monster: the foe

I hope this was helpful to you and you understand this game better.And maybe play the game yourself (i suggest the server epith)thanks again!

This month we have some great topics in our e-newsletter. Here’s a quick review:

Are You Missing Google Local or Google Maps Exposure Opportunities?

You can get free exposure on Google.com, when you match a local search query, if you have a Google Local Business account. What makes it all even sweeter is that the exposure is free.

First, if you don’t have a Google Local Business Center account, I would strongly recommend that you consider setting one up as sometimes local searches are shown above the organic results accompanied by a map. Why wait when you can set one up for without charge? Read more…

Brite Idea Tip: Google AdWords Ads to Show on Smart Phones and Will Offer Click to Call

Google will be rolling out a new mobile advertising program in AdWords this month. But to have your ads show on iPhones and other smart phones you need to make sure that you are opted in. Here’s how you can tap into this mobile network so that when Google rolls out the program to your account you will be automatically able to participate.

For quite sometime in the campaign control panel you could select to show your ads on iPhones and Smart Phones or just on desktop PCs. Now Google is going to finally enable special features just for iPhones and Smart Phones. Read more…

Confused About the Google Caffeine Update? Join the Club

We’ve heard conflicting reports about the release of the new Google Caffeine update and whether it is already live. First, the professional chatter in the first week in January was that the new Google “Caffeine” algorithm was out. Then, on January 14th, the professional chatter was that, no, the algorithm had been delayed. So who do you believe and why would the update possibly be delayed?

As with all important new algorithm adjustments on Google, there is a fine tuning period after launch. When the infamous Florida update was rolled out several years ago, the blow back that Google received was so strong, parts of the algorithm were tweaked for performance to soften the impact or rolled back all together.  Read more…

If you have enjoyed these articles make sure to subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter.

Hello I’m Bobbie, and my mom is in charge of McCord Web Services; but the reason I’m here is because it’s Shadow Day and you get to shadow a person of your choice, and I chose my mom.  So since this is one of the things she gets to do, I get to make a blog!! Yay!

Anyways…  

Kids & Parents Guide to Fiesta Online

(www.outspark.com or http://fiesta.outspark.com/).

Pssst, if you’re a kid and you’re  reading this, the second link is so you can download the game~ Well, if your parents say so, that is~

OHH! By the way! The game is completely safe!! I’ve been playing for, hmmmmm..  maybe a year and a half? And nothing bad has ever happened to my computer. Pinky Promise.

Kids Guide

Okay, once you download the game from the link you can go to the launcher and log in once you make an account on the homepage. Then, you are free to choose a world: Epith, Teva, Bijou, Legel, Apoline, and Cypion. (Hey, if you asked me, i would suggest Epith… *hint hint* That’s the server I’m on… My Character’s name is Teeta and feel free to add me if you need a friend or need some help getting used to the game.)

Anyhoo, after you have selected your world you are free to make a character of your choosing: Archer, Mage, Fighter, or Cleric. The you can start training!! There will be tons of controls so it can get a little confusing. Haha, I know how it feels, there was this other game Asda Story that I’ve been playing recently and when i first made an account– holy cow — it had alot of controls! Anyways after you get used to the controls on fiesta and you can move around, you can talk by pressing enter on the keyboard and then typing what you want to say and then pressing enter to send it.

The town you’ll start in is called Roumen, and at first the quests will give you what you need like armor and skills to use so you can use more cooler and fiercer attacks on the monster’s you need to fight.  You can walk out of the town and *gasp* there’s these weird purple poofballs in your way! Heh-heh those things are called slimes, the first monsters to kill that are for beginners. Later in the game, you can fight bosses like the King Crab (that’s the first elite monster you’ll need to fight for a quest) but chill, it’s not hard~ the Giant Goblin King or ggk for short, and the Mini Dragon (that’s for about level 80’s).

Oh! Almost forgot, if you press “c” on the keyboard your character’s stats will pop up and the box can show you things like: what level or “lvl.” your character is, the guild its in, how much experience or “exp.” it has, the percentage it’s at to show how much you have until you level, which the highest levels currently are, hmmm 105 for players but for GM’s (Game makers) it’s 150. **Also, something you can’t play the game without! Stats will also be shown, and depending on what class or type your character is, these are the stats i suggest.. (they will help make your character be the best it can be.)

Cleric: Raise the End, Str and if you want Dex stats.

Fighter: Raise the End, Str and also, if you want, Dex stats.

Archer: Raise the End, Str, and Dex stats. Dex is highly useful on archers.

Mage: Raise the End, Int, and optional again, Dex. Mages have low health so putting some stat points on Endurance comes in handy.

And if you’re wondering what  ”End” and “Int” and the others mean: Endurance, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Spirit. So Yup, those are some starter things to know.

Also, on the bottom right-ish side of the game screen there should be some panels and scrolls among them:

Help: If you need help with something, this may be able to assist you.

Character stats (explained earlier)

Fiesta Store*

Inventory or your items which you can pick up from monsters.

Community or your friends, guild,  guild academy, master and apprentices, your mate (you can marry on the game.. kinda corny i know ), and party matching (where you can post notices like when you’re selling stuff or if you need help or if you uh obviously.. need a party).

Skills which is where you can use skill points to enhance your attacks (Note: skill points and stat points are not the same.)

 Quests which is where it shows the quests you’ve accepted to do. The max number of quests you can hold in 20.

Actions which is where you make your character laugh, dance, follow, etc.

Mini House: The place is where you can rest and heal your character.. you can’t rest if you’re by a NPC or a computerized character that sells stuff but is not actually played by a person like you or me or anyone else. This is also where your character can sell or buy stuff, also it can have different houses and when your character gets to level 25 you get get a new house, and by “Changing Outlook” it can change and heal your character faster.

Options: where you can change the sound, game, shortcut and graphic settings, and also where you can change characters and servers. This is also where you can log off the game.

*The Fiesta Store is where you can buy spark cash which is purchased by spending money on the site (5 bucks, 10 bucks whatever) and then you can buy these cool outfits or dress your character up and change their “do” and face and such. You can also buy leveling packs and pets that you can ride to help you get around the world, Isya, faster.

The world of Isya is big and so each realm of the land will have the monsters you need to kill to excel in the game. I sincerely hope that this has or will help you in the game. Until then, See you later… maybe in the game, who knows.

Parent’s Guide

Whew, thanks for still reading through that. If you’re a parent and here phrases like “plvl” or “sc” or something like that, those are shortened meaning or words like “plvl” mean plevel and pleveling mean to power level someone by helping them with their quests. “sc” means Spark cash, which above, it says what that is.

Yes, this is a big game but it has very very good graphics and most likely will not clog up your computer and will not give a virus. No, I’m not bluffing. Anyways hope this has been useful to you or your kids because let me tell you: it makes time pass by and you’ll be hooked for a very long time.. handy for long summers where there’s nothing to do.

     Have a great day. This is the end of my blog… for now. -Bobbie McCord

Brace yourself my thirteen year old triplets will be on my blog, Twitter, and Facebook tomorrow for their school Job Shadow Day. What better way to see what Mom actually does for clients than to check it out for themselves.

I have two budding bloggers and maybe three budding Tweeters so what ever they come up with will be fun. Last year they blogged about online game reviews and their blog posts are still getting comments as of just last week. It will be interesting to see what they point of view will be in regards to Twitter. Personally I like the application but am curious what they will think about it.

So tomorrow get ready for massive online coverage as I will be keeping them busy all day long.

If you use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, a blog, and other online news and link sharing tools you are ahead of the curve and taking full advantage of some of the newest ways to drive traffic to your website, connect with readers, and share news and information. If you are not doing these things, should you be? Where should you invest your time? How should you get started?

First, if you are doing any of the things I mentioned and you are serious about growing your website presence, want to start to lower your pay per click budget, and want to tap into new ways to reach customers, it is time for you to get involved.

If you are not willing to invest the time or money to dive into the social connection phenomena that is growing on the Web, this may not be the right time for you personally to get involved. However as time marches on, don’t sit on the fence too long as those that are embracing these new media resources will have the leg up on you for organic web position and web authority over time.

For those of you that say YES, I am ready and feel that I have been missing out on the social connection and am ready to get started here is the plan I suggest.

1. Get involved with Twitter right away. It is easy to use and you don’t need to hire a writer if you have time. Tweet three to five times a day. Provide value of cool sites you find on the Web, interesting articles in your field. Take a moment to thank others for retweets and comment on other’s tweets. Remember this is about connection and conversation.
2. Integrate Twitter badges and your Twitter feed with your blog and website. You may need help in this area, but make sure you are promoting that you are using these cool tools to your audience.
3. Start on Facebook right away.  Don’t get hung up on doing a private page for friends and lock out business resources. Do a fan page but don’t lock your personal page and open up your fan page. Why? It creates so many problems with application interaction and auto status posting and scheduling applications when you do this. I recommend using your website email address for a Facebook page. Accept anyone as a friend to this site. Consider it your business face. If you want to build a fan page for your business do that as well tied to this business site. If you want a Facebook page just for personal friends and family set up another account but tied to a different email address not the one tied to your domain. Lock this one down and point your family and friends to this much smaller private site.
4. Get going with LinkedIn, Tagged, Naymz and other social sites that make sense for you. There are services that you can use to auto publish your status at these locations with one click to make it easy for you. Even if you don’t regularly update these sites, set up profiles and work them for a bit to at least get a presence.
5. If you are not blogging, you need to get going right now. You may want to hire a writer. You will most likely need help getting the blog set up and integrated with your website. The minimum posting we recommend is three times a week with about 200 to 250 words per post. Don’t snatch content and paste it in your blog post. You need unique content – there’s no fooling Google.
6. Optional – you can integrate into your website Google Friend Connect or Facebook Connect features. These can be fun and help other to share and comment on your content.

The big key to take away from this blog post is that to just have these social services and a blog is not enough. You must use them and work them. I have found that if you do not work to connect with others your friend list, followers, and subscribers will not grow. Having them is not enough, you must use them to reap the benefits.

The benefits are huge and will play an even bigger factor in organic search placement in the very near future. If you don’t believe that, check out Monday’s blog post on Google’s experimental Social Search feature. There is no rolling back the clock, social media is here to stay. Now it becomes a factor of are you going to embrace it and get the visibility and “authority” before your competitors do?

This post is not about selling, but rather information, but we do offer many services that can help you grab the “gold ring” when it comes to social media. Check out our website for more information on our services.

Well I guess I have made it into the big time. Entrepreneur Magazine interviewed me several months ago and the article is finally out. It is called “The Ghost Speaks”.  In the article our business and several others are highlighted. My firm is given some very favorable press and one of our clients was interviewed as well. The article can be found in the print and online magazine.

Our blog writing services provide unusual quality at a very low price. With blog posts ranging from $18 to $32 there is a price level for almost any business client.

If you read the adjunct article “Deconstructing a Blog Post”, keep in mind this client paid $18 for this post. Even the Entrepreneur Magazine experts think that it is pretty good. Now, not all of our writers provide more words than the word count one of our specific price level requires of them, but many of our blog writers are writing because they love to write and don’t watch their word count when they are on a roll.

We have an excellent blog writing team with seasoned professional journalists all the way to stay at home Moms who really know how to weave an excellent story. The post that Entrepreneur Magazine deconstructed was written by one of our Junior Level writers. She has a wonderful chatty writing style that is wonderfully engaging. I don’t think that you could find a better value for $18 any where else. Check it out and see what you think.