I have finally updated my blog to the most recent version of WordPress: 2.6.3. Lots of spammers have been hacking WordPress blogs recently. If you run a WordPress blog make sure you do it as soon as possible if you don’t want to go through the hustle of getting it hacked.

I have also added a plugin that upgrades your Blog automatically. WPAU helps you easily upgrade your wordpress installation to the latest version, without having to download or upload any files. You can find the plugin at:

WordPress Automatic Upgrade Plugin

Take the time to do it, it will only take you a few minutes.

————————————————-
(If you find the information at SEO Practices Blog useful, please help us support it by giving this Blog some “Link Love”: Linking to us or bookmarking our site. Thank you.)
————————————————-

Best Practices Setting up a Blog

SEOmoz Whiteboard Friday-Blogging for Higher Rankings from Scott Willoughby on Vimeo.

Another great video by Rand Fishkin telling us about best practices to set up a Blog for higher rankings and increasing traffic to your Business Site. He outlines 4 major strategies:
-Use the following URL strategy: yoursite.com/blog
-Keep top level links of the Main Site on the Blog
-Sell on your Blog in 2 events: Do it subtlety and when relevant
-Spread out good content
-Leverage your linkbait post

Check the Video on Blogging from Rand… great tips!

————————————————-
(If you find the information at SEO Practices Blog useful, please help us support it by giving this Blog some “Link Love”: Linking to us or bookmarking our site. Thank you.)
————————————————-

Another Great SEO Guide by Aaron Wall

We all realize how important blogging has become in the last few years. We found another great SEO Guide to Blogging by Aaron Wall. As you all know Search Engine Optimization (SEO) “is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic (visitors) to a web site from search engines via “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results for targeted keywords”: SEO defined by Wikipedia

We’re sorry, some times it takes us a while to post on the SEO practices Blog and it´s because of too much work and studying we keep doing every day to keep ourselves up to date on the subject, but we only want to deliver quality information and resources for our visitors.

Make sure you also check our guide to blogging resources for beginners, it gives you first hand information on best resources to get blogs, how to start them, SEO for blogs, finding and writing content, promoting your blog, social networks for blogs and some SEO tools for blogs.

Any ways the free SEO guide to blogging by Aaron Wall covers the following topics:

(If you find the information at SEO Practices Blog useful, please help us support it by giving this Blog some “Link Love”: Linking to us or bookmarking our site. Thank you.)

# What Google Knows About Your Blog
# Why Blog SEO is Different From SEO for Other Websites
# Domain Registration & Hosting
# Keyword Research
# Keeping Up With the Joneses
# Writing Clear & Compelling Headlines
# Optimizing Site Structure
# Web Analytics
# Controversy
# Use Push Marketing After Launching Your Site
# Understanding Network Effects
# Learn More About SEO

So go on and check the Blogging guide by Aaron Wall, he is a leading search engine optimization expert and one who is highly regarded within the SEO industry.

99 Ways of promoting your Blog with Web 2.0.

Today there’s a whole lot of ways to promote your Blog. With so many Web 2.0 sites being created every day we have many…many options.

One of the main characteristics of Web 2.0 is participation. You join, create a profile, share your interests, create and participate in communities with similar interests, create widgets, you can send out messages, submit your blog, submit your RSS Feed, participate in social networks (Social Bookmarks, News, Communities, etc.).

So the key to it is to participate and stay focus on a specific subject, become an expert and a good resource of information for people interested in your main topic, you’ll see how the traffic to your Blog starts growing.

With the growing interest in blogging as a means of online promotion and branding, a lot of marketers are starting blogs to promote their opinions, products, books and services.

But a blog is like a website. “Write and they will come” isn’t exactly a magic formula to bring in traffic by the boatload.

If you need to promote your website in order to build traffic to it, you need to promote your blog as well.

Check the following article to promote your Blog in 2007 with Web 2.0 and become a well-read and influential blogger:

(If you find the information at the SEO Practices Blog useful, please help us support it by giving this Blog some “Link Love”: Linking to us or bookmarking our site.)

We found a great article from Vandelay Website Design: 99 Ways to Promote your Blog for Free, you have to read it, it’s a great resource full of information to promote you blog in 2007.

A few more tips to promote your Blog:

1. Write Posts That People Will Want To Read
2. Optimize Your Posts for Search Engines
3. Submit Your Blog and RSS Feed To Directories
4. Ping The Blog Services
5. Build Links To Your Blog
6. Create Buzz About Your Blog
7. Capture Subscribers By Email

I found a good resource about Blogging to Make Money Online by John Chow. It’s an excellent resource in PDF format that covers de basic of blogging and SEO for Blogs.

I navigate the Internet every day checking the best Blogs and Forums to find information related to Search Engine Optimization and Marketing for SEO Beginners, and every time I find a good resource I think is worth sharing, I post it so others interested in the topic can have access to it. That’s my main purpose at SEO Practices Blog.

The E-Book’s main topics are:

- Recommended Money Makers
- Beginner’s Blogging Tips
- Must have WordPress Stuff
- Pumping Out the Content
- Monetize your Blog
- Google Optimization
- Promotion Ideas
- John Chow’s Story.

As usual, I recommend you to be critical about the information you find on the internet. Practice, experiment, research and take what you think works best for you.

Download the free PDF Guide: Make Money Online with John Chow dot Com, it’s worth reading.

—————————
I.T. Testing and Certification Tools
For 640-802 as well as 642-372, make sure that you prepare for the material for 642-642 and 642-892 so that you don’t have an issue with the former items or new courses like 646-203 and 70-282.
—————————

Start Making Money with Blogs and Quit your Boring Job!

Blogs are a great option to start making money online today.  It takes some time and effort, but with a couple hours you dedicate a day to learn about the subject, you will soon find yourself making some extra money.

Blog is a short for Web Log, they are Websites regularly updated, displayed in reverse chronological order, very easy to use, and you don’t have to be an expert.

Blogging is fun and easy, you just have to pick a subject of your interest, the one you are passionate about, choose a Blog platform (WordPress.com, Blogger.com) and start writing.

You will find different options to monetize your Blog: Google Adsense, Chitika, Auction Adds, Ebay, Amazon, etc.  Just check these options thoroughly and pick the one’s that accommodate best to your interests.

A lot of people are living of the Internet today; some are making really good money: Shoemoney with his Adsense check picture.

As I said this is a learning process, it’s going to take some time, but Blogs are a great option if you are looking to earn some extra money and who knows maybe you’ll get the chance to quit that boring job you want to leave long time ago.

Remember learn, experience and take what you think works best for you, there is a lot of great information out there, but there’s also a lot of non informative, misleading sources.

I found a couple great readings for you to start learning about Blogs and make money out of them: 10 steps to start a Blog and make money online and how to make money online from Jennifer and Dan, a couple of successful entrepreneurs from Ask Dan and Jennifer – Dating, Relationships, Love, and Great Sex.

Enjoy and let us know when you start making money.

Are you Bloggin yet?

I just finished a major update of my Blog to the last WordPress version available: 2.2 “Getz”. I started my Blog back in December and let me tell you that I’m very pleased with the results.

I began this Blog as a way to learn, practice and share any information related to Search Engine Optimization and Marketing, those subjects are my major interests and since I was going to be learning, I just thought a Blog would be the best way to share my experiences with like minded people.

So what is a Blog anyway? In simple words a Blog is a type of Website with a journal format, entries are written in chronological order and displayed in reverse chronological order. Blogging is hot in the online world today. It is the fastest rising new activity on the internet.

I can give you a few reasons to start a Blog:

1. A Blog is free, you can start your Blog at WordPress.com. It’s one of the most popular blogging platforms.
2. It’s very easy to use, you can find all the information and support you need to set up your own Blog.
3. It’s a great way to learn and share your thoughts regarding to a specific topic of your interest.
4. It lets you create a network of friends to share similar interests with.
5. With a Blog you can promote your business, products, ideas, etc.

Those are a few basic reasons to start a Blog. So if you get in the mood, go to WordPress.com and start your own blogging experience. No matter what your interest is, you will find millions of people to share them with.

Blogs are hot today! If you are interested in learning the basics of it, I found a good guide to blogging for SEO beginners. This guide will give you a basic understanding of what blogging is about, the fundamentals, terminology used, why is it important to have a blog today, etc.

Even though it is meant to be for the Lodging industry, for us SEO Practitioners is always interesting to get information about different Industries and businesses on the Internet (you can be asked to optimize any Website of any Industry); you can also apply these tips to your own Industry. You will find the following aspects on this guide:

What blogs are
Blog glossary
Why to blog
Blogs and Search Engines
Blogs in the Lodging Industry
Tips for making your Blog successful
Promoting Blogs
Tracking your Blog’s ROI
Examples of Lodging Industry Blogs
FAQ’s about Blogging

So go on check the Guide to learn the basics of Blogs for SEO Newbies, this guide is written by Benu Aggarwal of Milestone Internet Marketing, a Company that provides comprehensive Internet Marketing Solutions for the Lodging, Hospitality and Travel Industry.

I have also written an article that will definitely complement the information on this guide: Best Guide to Blogging Resources for SEO Beginners in 2007.

Moved from free blog at WordPress to my own host

Welcome to the new SEO Practices. Finally into the transition from my free blog at WordPress to my own host. I’m still doing some changes to the blog, so it can be seo friendly and get indexed well by Search Engines. But I believe the most important part was done.

SEO Practices is a guide dedicated to Search Engine Optimization and Marketing for beginners. We will continue providing you with the best resources on the Internet so you can start your own business online.

If you are planning on starting your own business on the Internet, there are a few basic steps you want to have in mind, before you really get into it, but before:

• Be cautious, there are plenty of opportunities on the Internet, just give yourself the chance to learn, so you can start developing your idea.

• Be dedicated, don’t get discouraged if your first attempts don’t give you any results, it happens to many people when starting their own Web Business, it takes time to learn the basics.

• Don’t believe every thing; people promising you to make millions fast and without much effort, as I mentioned it takes time, patience and a disposition to learn.

• Most important, find an idea (business) you feel passion for and have some knowledge about, that way you will be willing to spend more time on it, you will try harder, you will enjoy it more, you will feel more confident and you will sound more convincing to your website visitors.

At SEO Practices you will find the best information and resources to Search Engine Optimization and Marketing best practices for beginners:

• Online Market Research
• Keyword Research
• Title and Meta Tags Creation
• On Page Optimization
• Link Popularity
• Tracking Results
• And much more related to Search Engine Optimization and Marketing

I want to thank Jim Westergren, he has one of the best guides to SEO for WordPress, it has been really helpful in the whole transition, I invite you to check the article it’s worth it and it’s up to date.

Having a Blog today has become very important if you are interested in starting your own Business Online. Blogs are a simple way to publish to the Web, they are easy to maintain, you can easily start contact and communicate with others on the same field you are at and are a great tool for Online Marketing.

At SEO Practices we want to share with you a nice list of some of the best resources for you SEO newbies, it will guide you through blogging step by step:

Get your Own Blog:

Choosing the right blog platform is very important if you want to stand from the crowd, you can either host it on Blogger, Word Press, Type Pad or on your own domain (most recommended). Of course if you are just starting to find your way around the Internet any hosted solution on any of the CMS mentioned bellow will do to begin with:

Word Press
Blogger from Google
TypePad 
Movable Type

Starting your Blog:

I’m very aware of my own limitations as a blogger and strongly believe that it is only by researching, reading and practicing that we get to know anything. So I encourage you to start going through the resources on this guide and working on your own blog.

Blogging for Beginners
Guide to Building, Customizing, Promoting, and Monetizing your Blog
21 Tips to a Successful Blog Launch
Blog Usability: Top Ten Design Mistakes
21 Tactics to Start your Blog

Search Engine Optimization for Blogs:

SEO for Blogs is about preparing your blog so Search Engines are able to index it easily and therefore to improve the chances to be found by Internet Users. In Wikipedia is defined as: “marketing by understanding how search algorithms work and what human visitors might search for, to help match those visitors with sites offering what they are interested in finding”. So lets not get too complicated and read the following resources:

SEO Best Practices for Blogs – Problogger
Blog Optimization
Search Engine Optimization Tips and Resources for Blogs
Optimize your Blog

Finding and Writing Content:

There are four basic characteristics that a piece of content must have:
-Uniqueness
-Related to your topic
-Usefulness
-Quality

Here are some of the best resources related to best practices for writing content and how to find it:

10 Web Tools to Help Generate Blog Content Ideas
How to Write Magnetic Headlines
29 Topics and Sentence Starters for Your Next Blog
5 Simple Ways to Open Your Blog Post With a Bang

Promoting your Blog:

How to make your blog noticeable, it’s about bringing readers to your blog, weather you are generating leads, selling a product, or offering a subscription to a newsletter or a download, you want visitors to come to your blog and take an action. Promoting is about letting others know your blog exists. Check some of the best resources with tips, ideas and tools of how to promote your blog:

25 Tips for Marketing your Blog
How to get traffic for your blog
23 Ideas for Finding New Readers for your Blog
Blog Promotion Tools

Blog Useful Tools:

Here is a list of resources of useful tools that will help you enhance the look, functionality and security of your blog:

Add a Styled Flickr Photo Stream to Your Blog
Backup Your Blog
Make your Own Feed Button
Share the Blaughter: Put a Comic on your Blog
What bloggers are saying about a page you’re viewing in Firefox
Social Bookmarks for your Blog

Social Networks for Blogs:

You can get you blog noticed on the Social Networks, those are sites where thousands of Web Navigators participate, looking for information, news, entertainment, games, etc, and most important deciding which ones they have found are the best resources. Check some of the following:

Social News Network
Social Bookmarking Site
Search, Surface, and Organize Blogs
Find Out who is Reading your Blog
Subscribe to and Manage to lots of Web Information