I was asked if there were any benefits to buying a premium or unique theme as opposed to using a free one. For this, we must look at your intentions of the blog.

This covers themes made by someone else.

Photo by gary.baldi

Questions to ask yourself:

• Is the blog for corporate or personal use?
• Are you trying to make money off the blog?
  • Is it a get rich quick scheme or a long-time investment?

If your blog is for corporate use, you should go with at least a premium theme. Although there are some advantages to free templates, a corporation should in no way or form be associated with spam.

If you are trying to make money off a blog by using a get rich quick scheme (pyramid scheme, spam, etc) a free template should do justice. There isn’t much reason to throw money at a theme you are going to get rid of in a few weeks.

On the other hand, if you are in it for the long haul, a premium or unique theme is the way to go. Being associated with other websites, large or small can hurt your brand in an unimaginable sense.

Questions that should be asked when choosing a theme:

• Customizable?
• Widget ready?
• Compatible with the newest WordPress?
• How many others use it?

Free Themes

• No money money can be spent on advertising, etc.
• Anyone can use it.
• Possibility of your theme being associated with spam.

Premium Themes

• Less people use it.
• Less cost than unique.
• Small possibility of your theme assiciated with spam.
• If a larger blog uses the same theme, possibility of getting accused of stealing it.

Unique Themes
No one else has it, easy to brand

• People will relate the theme to yours.
• Designer may customize the website to your liking.
• Much less spam.
• No association with larger blogs.

I am trying something new for this weeks link love Thursday, blockquotes. Instead of me saying something witty, or more precisely, stupid, you can get a glimpse of what the article is like before clicking through. So without further ado, here is this weeks link love Thursday:

Break All The Rules (and Still Be Successful)

With great design and implementation you can break all the rules and still be successful. This, by any other means, shouldn’t have worked. It shouldn’t have reached the ridiculous number of 3,338 diggs after being posted just 4 days ago. It was Flash animation.

Why you should submit your own content to Social Networks and why you shouldn’t:

Responsability: if what you submitted to the social network doesn’t succeed, you would be completely responsible for it and you wouldn’t be able to say it was because of another person. If someone else submits your content and it doesn’t succeed, you could blame that person for that and you wouldn’t ever know what would have happened if it was you who submitted that content.

del.icio.us Bans Search Engine Spiders

This evidence seems to be indicating that del.icio.us has recently started blocking the major search engine spiders from crawling their site, by way of the requesting User-Agent. Given the recent crawl dates and cache dates, it looks like this started happening within the past 2-3 days. This raises some questions as to the intentions of del.icio.us, and perhaps Yahoo! With Yahoo! recently integrating del.icio.us bookmarks into its search results this could an attempt to enhance the effectiveness of that new feature by preventing competing search engines from indexing content from del.icio.us. While Yahoo!’s Slurp bot is also blocked, it’s unlikely that Yahoo! would need to crawl the content of one of its own sites, as Yahoo! actually owns del.icio.us.

Make the Most of SEO Competitive Research : Evaluating the Competition

You can either do it ‘at home’ using Google search and Excel or try paid tools returning complete competitor’s report. I usually perform all possible ways of analysis because I (1) cannot fully rely on reports compiled by someone else (be it an automatic tool or another person); (2) do not feel I have the full understanding of a niche unless I spend long hours on searching Google and compiling data into tables…

How not to write that SEO sales page

This is a genuine site seoconsulting.com a nice domain name the owners also have seoexpert again a very nice domain name and if you watching I will happily take the first off your hands for a reasonable fee…

50 Networking Thoughts Everyone Should Read

Below are fifty thoughts to help you on your way. Before you read on, remember: if you think you’re poor at networking, don’t worry, you’re not alone. It’s not a skill we are born with but one we have to learn.

13 Sure Signs Your Landing Page is a Turn-Off

If you’re trying to sell a product or service through your website (or if you’re open to the possibility in future), here’s an opportunity to get inside the mind of your average prospect and learn the thirteen things that make good landing pages go bad.

The 120 Day Wonder: How to Evangelize a Blog

I know a fair amount about evangelism and a little bit about blogging, so I’ve combined the two in order to provide some insights into the evangelism of a blog. Granted, I’ve only been at blogging for 120 days or so, but marketing is marketing, right?

The Ultimate Blog Post

As a handy guide for crafting your horrible lies, here’s a list of some of the already popular blogs out there. (I’m omitting the blogs at Wired, because, hey, I have to work with these people.) Along with each blog’s name, I’ve provided what would be the ultimate perfect blog entry for that particular blog. I’m tired of the word “blog” now.

9 Ways to think about linking in a blog post

I think all the time about why I am linking, and where I should link, and what should be underneath the link. Here are the types of links that I think about:

How To Make Your Previously Written Content Valuable Once Again

Do you have hundreds or even thousands of articles hiding behind those “previous” buttons on the bottom of your page? I bet that many of you do. They, unfortunately, offer little or no value to your readers. Valuable page views are being lost if you fail to make an honest attempt to promote past content.

Everyone’s been there. Hell, I was there a few times just this week. It’s just part of the job and the longer we are working it gets harder and harder.

Photo by Jan Tik

How To get your brain stirring

1. Review posts that did well in the past. You might find something interesting or think of something new to relate to it.
2. Look around the web for time-sensitive posts. I’m not too much of a fan of these, but I have been caught red-handed doing it. It’s a great way to find new information and give information about new products or changes within your industry.
3. Review comments that might make a great post. Commenters are a great part in our community and sometimes they even offer up a great idea for a new post. Is there something hovering over your commenters? Write about it.
4. Change the way you think. There’s blog posts ideas everywhere around us. How does a star relate to your industry? How does sex?

Do something that will help you think

What’s the number one thing I am doing when I think of the next idea for a post or a new plugin? Using the bathroom. There’s just something about that place that makes me think. I’m not always doing a #2 mind you, but washing or taking a jizz is just as though provoking. Maybe because it is quiet and I’m away from the computer, or maybe it’s the atmosphere. Hell if I know, but it makes me think, and think big.

Everyone has seen the Google AdSense heatmap however, it is very limited and very general.

As an alternative we can look at the map in terms of where the content actually goes:

• Logo and title at the top
• Links on the left
• h1 tag in the center
• 300×250 AdSense ad on the left with content floated around it.
• An AdSense ad block directly below the content (468×60 above the comments if on a blog or a 300×250 if a site).

Ah! But this does not fit everyone, only those who have either a two-column layout with the links on the left or a three-column layout with the content in the middle.

Google leaves us hanging after this. Where do we go? What if I want to monetize a three-column layout with both sidebars on one side? Or what about just a single column on the right side?

Two Sidebars Floated Right

• Logo and title at the top.
• h1 with a 300×250 AdSense ad block directly below.
• Content floated next to ad block.
• 468×60 (if a blog) or a 300×250 ad block directly below content.
• Links on the first sidebar.

To monetize the layout further there are a few changes that can be made.

1. Move the links to the far right, using the left side as an ad block. Your users eyes are guaranteed to cross the ad block.
2. Leave the links on the left sidebar, but instead float the 300×250 ad block to the right. Both readers who come to read your content and those who want to click through links will see the ad block.
3. Change the top 300×250 ad block to a 468×60 and place it directly below the h1 centered. Use images only for a clean look, but image/text will monetize the best.

Why use the 300×250 AdSense ad blocks and not the 336×280?
The 300×250 is a favorite of mine as well as Google’s. The ad block generally looks the best when floated allowing more words next to it. Repeat visitors are less likely to complain while new visitors are more likely to see the ad due to eye movement.

One sidebar, Right Side

• The exact same as the two sidebar, right side except less eyes may go to the right. This is because of less content being there and a smaller width.

How to monetize it further?

1. With the additional width of the content available, you are able to show a wider ad block. The 336×280 is a great option.
2. Instead of using the 468×60 ad block at the bottom, a wider width brings the 728×90 leaderboard to our discretion.

Have a Blog or Forum?

Google chimes in to give their take on the best ad placements for forums:

And blogs:

Internet marketing has been compared to quite a few things, but really there is only one that internet marketing relates closest to. Sex. How does it relate to sex? Well you are about to find out. Here are 34 ways sex is like internet marketing.

Photo by SuzyJane

1. We are always learning something new.
2. We react to the response.
3. We must stay focused to do a good job.
4. Sometimes we just can’t get enough.
5. Anyone can do it.
6. It takes practice.
7. Size doesn’t matter.
8. It is the way you use it that matters.
9. It comes in all flavors.
10. Protection is always wanted, especially the first time.
11. Risks aren’t always worth it.
12. Risks sometimes pay off.
13. It’s always good to start out slow.
14. There are many different places to try out.
15. Practice makes perfect.
16. Most people only last a short amount of time before quitting.
17. More than one way to do it.
18. It gets messy.
19. Sometimes we are over our head.
20. The more money we have the more we get.
21. Sometimes doing it alone is better.
22. Free is best, but some people just have to pay.
23. It can last any amount of time.
24. We must bring our best game.
25. Everyone has different techniques.
26. It’s not always as good as advertised.
27. You can read as many books, but you won’t know the results until you try.
28. Sometimes it looks free, then they ask for $19.95.
29. Under the covers you might find a surprise and scream.
30. Exchanging favors can do wonders.
31. Some prefer others to give them a hand.
32. People lie about how much they get.
33. Businesses use it to create sales.
34. Some people need a little help.