I created a niche blog in September last year. After posting a few pages of content, I waited for the site to be indexed by search engines.

Upon checking the blog days or weeks later, I found something unusual. Something I had never seen in my other blogs.

When I checked in Google (using site:domain.com), there was only one entry. Even that, the listing was a bit awkward and it didn’t look like a normal search result. When I used the same parameter on Yahoo, there were no results.

I thought I might give it some time to get back to normal.

Not until recently, after busy with my other projects, I decided to do something about this weird phenomenon. My initial plan was to move the entire blog to a new domain – thinking the existing domain caused the problem (Google blacklisted it?!).

In the midst of moving the site, I predicted the same problem would have had happened after the move.

Somehow something triggered me to take a look at the source code (Ctrl+U). And this action brought this problem to light. I managed to find out the main culprit for this. It was due to the following code:

<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">

I knew why this happened, now I had to find out what caused this. I thought it was something to do with my settings in my Wordpress theme. After searching for it high and low, my efforts remained fruitless.

Leaving me with no choice, I had to go through every setting in Wordpress to find out the cause, one at a time – starting with General Settings.

When I reached Privacy Settings, I knew something was wrong. It was set to the second choice which is I would like to block search engines, but allow normal visitors.

I thought to myself, “Damn, who and when the setting was done?”

I really don’t know who did that. It could be me but I totally forget about that. Just because of this one radio button, my blog was under the radar (as far as search engines were concerned) for 8 months. Imagine the amount of sales I could have made if not because of this careless setting.

I quickly changed the setting to the first: I would like my blog to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Sphere, Technorati) and archivers

Thank god. Now everything is back to normal.  All my previous SEO efforts were wasted. I have to start all over again.

Don’t make the same mistake as I did. And don’t simply change the settings in Wordpress for no reason. If you are not sure what you are doing, just accept the standard settings. Otherwise, you efforts will be penalized… just like what happened to me.

I was using Thesis 1.5.1 and I didn’t bother to upgrade it until today – as it was running smoothly before this with no hiccups. Why should I rock the boat?

But somehow, for some reason, I think it is now time for me to use Thesis 1.7 before I am being left out in the dust

Before I talk about the upgrade, let me share with you some new features found in Thesis 1.7 first. Features that I like are:

• You can do SEO optimization for every page and post individually – using the meta tag.
• The new Home Page controls.
• Cleaner and faster code.

Now back to upgrade. I did a Google search and found one nicely done article on upgrading Thesis 1.6 to Thesis 1.7, as well as from Thesis 1.5.x to Thesis 1.7. The latter was what I was looking for.

I just followed the instructions mentioned in the article:

Repeating above information as a first and crucial step: Backup your site’s database and its web files, using whatever tools are provided by your web host, before the upgrade. It is not possible to just ‘click back’ to an earlier version of Thesis after the upgrade to 1.7 without the possibility of losing certain settings. This is why backups are vital. It’s your responsibility as a site owner to know how to create them, and how to restore them.

Using your DIY Themes login info, access the Thesis Theme Download Area page. Click the link that says ‘Download Thesis 1.7 now.’

The file thesis_17.zip should be on your local computer in the area where downloads normally go. Move thesis_17.zip to your desktop (unless it’s there already).

Unzip the thesis_17.zip file to produce a folder named thesis_17.

Open the thesis_17 folder that is on your local computer’s desktop to find inside the folder named custom-sample. Now delete the folder named custom-sample.

Start your FTP client and access your web installation. Navigate through your web installation’s file structure until you can see the thesis_16 folder (which is located inside wp-content/themes). Open the thesis_16 folder to find the custom folder inside.

Download that online custom folder (from your 1.6 installation) to your local computer, and place it into the thesis_1.7 folder (replacing the custom-sample folder that you deleted earlier).

Use your FTP client to upload your thesis_1.7 folder into wp-content/themes on your server. (You will put the folder alongside your existing thesis_16 folder, the default theme folder, and the classic theme folder.)

Follow the by-now familiar steps of opening the thesis_1.7 folder and then the custom folder, setting permissions for layout.css (to 666) and the cache folder (to 775). Log into WordPress and go to Appearances > Themes, then activate Thesis 1.7. (If you click ‘Preview’ first, you may see a Thesis site with no content. This is normal for Thesis in preview mode; pay it no mind and proceed to activate.)

As for upgrading from 1.5.x to 1.7:

So far as upgrading is concerned, the difference between 1.5.x and later editions of Thesis is that the later editions have layout.css and the rotator folder inside the custom folder. That’s it.

What this means for the upgrade process detailed above is that in Step 6, when you place your 1.5.x custom folder into the thesis_17 folder on your local computer, you must make sure to put your layout.css and the rotator folder inside of that custom folder. Apart from that extra half-a-step (call it Step 6.5, if you like), the upgrade process for 1.5.x –> 1.7 is the same as for 1.6 –> 1.7.

When I did a preview of 1.7 in Wordpress Dashboard, I noticed the design was not as exactly as the old design. But I activated 1.7 anyway. When I checked out the live site (with 1.7 as the theme), it looked just fine. Phew!

The whole upgrade process was done in less than 20 minutes (including copying and checking).

Cool.

More often than not, by default, Wordpress blogs always display the latest posts on the home page. If your blog is located at the root and let’s say your domain name is domain.com. You will see the latest posts at domain.com.

Sometimes, we don’t want this. We want to display a static page as the front page. In other words, the content at the root directory (hence domain.com in our example) is always showing the same thing. It won’t change even though we have just posted a new entry.

[One of the examples of such sites is my PLR Articles site. I don’t want the home page to display the latest offerings of my PLR article packs. But instead the home page acts more like a mini sales letter.]

How do we set a page as our home page in Wordpress? It is easy and it doesn’t need complicated coding.

Just follow the steps below:

1. Login to your Wordpress Dashboard
   
2. Goto Settings > Reading panel
3. At Front page displays, select A static page and select the page you want to have as Home page from the drop down menu
4. Set Blog pages show at most to 1
5. Click Save Changes

Voila. That is it!

The main reason people surf the Net is to look for content. Content that they can use and help them solve problems or get informed.

Hence, providing great content is the main job of any website that wants to attract readers.

There are many ways you can use to provide content. You can create your own content by writing it yourself, hiring writers, or even using PLR articles.

But there’s one secret weapon that I use to create content… without writing a word. This method really serves me well but it’s not widely discussed.

Here’s the method: I create content from interviewing people.

These Are No Ordinary Interviews

I am not talking about normal folks. One reason that makes this approach so wonderful is you are not going to ask ordinary persons to write content for you but those who are renowned in their own areas.

For example, people such as published authors, authority bloggers, and famous personalities.

Not sure how you can do this? Guess no more. I have personally done this several times. And I am about to reveal to you how easy it is for a “nobody” to interview famous guys.

Step #1 – Find Famous Persons to Interview

The first question is who to interview. The answer is anyone who is an expert in your market or industry is your potential interview candidate.

It doesn’t matter what they do. They can be writers or bloggers or anyone who commands respect in your field.

One of the best places to start your search is blogs. Use Google or any blog directory for this purpose.

We are not looking for any blog but popular blogs. One indication of a popular blog is it has a large number of comments and followers. It’s a good sign when a blogger attracts a high number of comments for each of his posts.

Once you’ve found a blogger you like based on this factor, approach him for an interview.

Step #2 – Initiate the First Contact

Where do you find the contact details? Most probably, there’s a contact form on the blog. Use it to make the contact.

Keep it short. You don’t want to write a 10-page email in your first email. What you need to do is to write a short and sweet email by telling him how you admire him (or his blog) and you’d like to have him for an interview.

Your first email is also used to test his responsiveness in reading and replying emails.

If he replies and shows some interest, you can discuss more details about the interview in your follow-up emails.

Step #3 – Prepare the Questions

After getting confirmation of an interview, it’s now time to compile your interview questions. How long should it be? I’d suggest not more than 10 questions.

In any subject, there are always top burning questions or frequently-asked questions. These are the exact questions your readers want to know the answers to. Get the interviewee do the answering for you and your readers will thank you for doing this.

Follow these 3 steps and you will have content created without writing a word. And your readers love you for the excellent content that you have created for them.

For more detailed steps on how to create content from interviews, check out my report Power Interview Formula. It’s a step-by-step guide that also provides real life email templates on how to approach interviewees and get them to say “yes” to your interview invites. Personalities I have interviewed include Guy Kawasaki and Darren Rowse.

Okay, if you are long enough in blogging, you must have heard of premium Thesis Wordpress theme by Chris Pearson of DIYthemes.

Testimonials and praise people have for this theme are fantastic. Not only is the theme excellent, they claim that Thesis support is one of the best in the market.

It’s phenomenal, I must say.

How Did It Start

I admit that I am slow in adopting new products. After making sure there’s nothing to worry about using a new product, then only I proceed to try it out.

The same goes to Thesis theme. I decided to try it out myself and this is what I think of it.

Recently I tried Thesis on my new site and the moment I installed it, I said to myself, “Boy this animal is different from the rest! It’s truly great and unique.”

And I like it so much that I use it even on this blog! For this site, it took me about (maybe less) 30 minutes to migrate from my old WP theme (also by Chris – Neoclassical) to the current one.

Old Blog Design Using Chris Pearson's Neoclassical

Nothing much to change except to create a couple new Widgets on the sidebar. Really, it was very simple to make this switch except with one minor problem: I used the wrong version of Wordpress for Thesis 1.5.1. But after I upgraded to Wordpress 2.8, everything works fine.

Tada! New Blog Design Using Thesis Theme

If you look at the new design, nothing seems impressive. Because it is not something that I can use to compete with other “magazine” style theme. But being a simple person, I like the simplicity of the Thesis theme. No flashy graphics and just plain transparent background with texts. Of course, you can have colored background, if you want.

The strengths of this theme are not on the outside but inside. Let me explain…

The Good of Thesis Theme

Thesis has a different approach as compared to conventional WP themes and these are the exact differences that make it so popular among bloggers. Personally here are the features I love about Thesis theme:

• Flexible and easy to customize – With other themes, you have to mess around with the coding if you want to change something. For example the header or the footer. With Thesis, all you need to do is go to Thesis Options panel and Thesis Design Options panel. You can click your way to configuration. No messing around with complicated codes. Things you can change in Thesis Options panel include title tags, header scripts (excellent for Google Analytics) and footer scripts, navigation menu (for your blog pages), CSS stylesheet and so on. In Thesis Design Options, you can specify how many columns you want for your blog (from 1 to 3) and its order. You can pick and choose fonts and font sizes that you prefer. And other designing options.
• SEO friendly – You can do on-page search engine optimization for the site (site wide) or for a particular page (eg: title, meta description). When you use Thesis theme, you don’t need to install any SEO plugins.

• Need more customizations? Use Thesis Hooks – You can use these hooks to further add, remove, or modify the theme. For example, I use it to add Adsense code after the post. You can use hooks for just anything.

As you can see, Thesis theme is highly flexible, extremely quick to customize, and SEO friendly.

The Bad of Thesis Theme

Having said good things about it, does Thesis theme have its bad points?

I would say nothing seriously bad about it but it takes you a while to experiment with the theme to figure out how it works and how to make it work for you.

Make sure you read Thesis Theme User’s Guide on how to get started and tips on customizations.  Once you can get hold of it, it will become one of the easiest themes you will ever get.

Where To Purchase Thesis Theme

Interested in giving this theme a try? Great but unfortunately it’s not free.

There are two purchase options: $87 for personal use (one site only) and its developer’s option is $164. For the latter, you can use Thesis on any number of sites that you own. However, both options come with lifetime upgrades and support.

To find out more about Thesis theme, click here. Happy trying and see the difference in your blogging experience!

Thesis Demo Site — See the Thesis Theme in action!

You hear this many times over: “You must rewrite your PLR articles before you use them on your website!”

(Note: PLR articles is private label rights articles. Besides using them for content, some Internet marketers also use them as email marketing, article marketing, and affiliate marketing tools)

The main reason for rewriting PLR articles is you want to make sure that the articles are unique and are of high quality. And not duplicate content as everyone else is having. As I have found out, all things being equal, having original content will boost your search engine ranking and attract more traffic to your website or blog.

It’s even more so if you plan to submit articles to article directories such as EzineArticles. You need to make sure that the articles are not just duplicate PLR content. Otherwise, your articles will not be accepted.

Personally, I prefer hiring freelancers to rewrite PLR articles for me. But if you want to do it yourself for some reason, I have a valuable video for you.

The “How to Re-Write PLR Articles” video was made by a popular “green” writer. Her name is Tiffany. She outlines the tips and tricks of how you can rewrite your PLR articles for uniqueness, freshness, and quality.

She doesn’t use any fancy article rewriter software. She only uses the good old Microsoft Word.

In summary, here are the main steps for rewriting for your quick reference:

1. Change the article title to make it eye-catching.
2. Add a new introduction paragraph. Latest news is best for this.
3. Rewrite the paragraphs by modifying the structure without changing the meaning of the paragraph.
4. Replace words with synonyms.
5. Add product links and reviews in the article.
6. Add personal story/graphic/video to the article.
7. Before posting, use DupeFreePro to check for uniqueness between the original article and rewritten one. I have been using DupeFreePro myself and I find it very useful.

For the full scoop, watch the 6-minute live demo video here:

Note: When you rewrite, there is a tendency to stuff as many keywords as possible. This is the biggest mistake you can make. Stop doing this! Keyword stuffing make your article look weird. Remember, you write for your readers not search engines.

If you want to buy PLR articles, here is a great resource you may want to check out: ReliablePLR.com. Here you will only find limited edition PLR article packs in profitable niches. Best of all, besides high quality and well written, you can pick and choose the topics you want to buy. No membership is needed. Every pack is limited to 100 licenses only.

You’ve heard enough. But is it true that people can make real bucks just by blogging?

What if you could have a peek at who’s making what. Then that could well answer your doubt.

Paula’s List of Blogger Salaries

After having a look at this, you may want to seriously consider starting your own blog.

What? You don’t know how to start a blog? Don’t worry, that’s why I am here.

I have something for you to help you kickstart your blog. It’s called Blog Profits Blueprint. Written by Yaro Starak.

Interestingly, Yaro is one of the bloggers featured on Paula’s list. Why is it important? Because you learn from someone who has made it.

Click here to download the Blog Profits Blueprint

In the free report, you’ll learn:

• How to choose your blog topic: passion or profit?
• Why bloging is not a job, it’s business
• 7 ways to create pillar content that attracts traffic
• How to market your blog and marketing mistakes most bloggers make
• Single best way to make money from a blog

If you still find it hard to take action on the advice in the report, you can sign up Yaro mentoring program.

In the program, you’ll be coached on successful blogging. Details here:

Click here to join the Blog Mastermind Mentoring Program

Good luck.