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How to Add a Blog Post to WordPress

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.

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Google AdWords Explained

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.

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Our February Newsletter is Posted

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.

 

 

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Fiesta Online – Kids & Parents Guide

fiesta21Hello 🙂 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.)

fiesta21Cleric: Raise the End, Str and if you want Dex stats.

pictures-2008-10001211Fighter: Raise the End, Str and also, if you want, Dex stats.

fiesta1Archer: Raise the End, Str, and Dex stats. Dex is highly useful on archers.

fiesta31Mage: 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 :P), 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 🙂