An online buddy of mine, Keith Davis, asked me a great question in regards to WordPress 3.0 security. He asked:

Hi John

I notice that WordPress 3.0 has now been released and we are all urged to upgrade.
I would have to make changes to my theme to make it compatible with WP 3.0 and since I’m not looking for additional functionality, the only reason I would upgrade is for added security.

The only reference I can find to increased security in version 3 is the ability to change the default username from admin – but most of us will have done that anyway as per your advice.

Would you say that an upgrade to version 3 is essential on security grounds?

Great question… and here’s my response.

It seems the security enhancements in WordPress 3.0 really only apply to those end-users who are installing WordPress for the first time (manual install).

For better WordPress security and help keep malicious hackers locked out, it’s a good idea to do the following three things:

• Choose a different username than the default “admin”
• Change the default database table prefix to something other than wp_
• Add WordPress security keys

As Keith mentioned, I’ve shown him (and others) how to do those things in my ebook, WordPress Defender. WordPress 3.0 just makes it easier for you to do those things all during the setup process; in fact, the security keys are created automatically for you (see the video below).

So Keith, to answer your question about upgrading, no it’s not necessary in my opinion to upgrade right away; however, realize that although WordPress says they aren’t planning on a 3.1 right away, you never know. Tomorrow we might all discover one major security hole and every one must upgrade immediately.

If I were you or someone else in your position, I’d start planning how I’m going to upgrade real soon. You might contact your theme’s author and see what their plans are.

How To Install WordPress 3.0 Manually

Don’t forget, before you do a WordPress upgrade, it’s important to first fully back up your blog.

Related posts:

1. WordPress 2.8.2 Has Been Released & Provides Security Fixes
2. How To Upgrade WordPress Manually Video
3. How To Install WordPress Manually and Why Beginners Should Do It

And as any good experience does, I’ve been taught a lesson or two along the way and since my blog is mostly about things WordPress bloggers might like to know, I’ve been asked many questions over the years.

After thinking about it for awhile and also digging into my email / blog comment archives, I’ve noticed a few questions asked more than once by different bloggers, mostly newbies.

So I’d like to take a moment and do a Q&A session in hopes this article might help newer bloggers skip ahead in their learning curve so they can quickly forge ahead in their blogging endeavors. Realize, however, that every blog is different and what works for one person doesn’t always work for the next.

6 Blogger Questions and Answers

1. Should I go with a free blog or hosted blog?

This is probably one of the first questions bloggers are faced with when deciding to start a blog.

“Why pay money when I can get one for free?”

It makes me think of that song with the lyric, “The best things in life are free… (that’s, what I want)”.

However, as a blogger that’s not what you always want.

I wrote an article awhile back, called Start a Blog: Free or Paid? WordPress or Blogger?, where I talk about this question. If you really want a more in-depth look into this issue, check out that article.

The general answer, though, is to ask yourself “What is it I really want to do with my blog?”

Free blogs are good if you only care about your content and not much else. You could also toss in there that they’re good for those who are completely computer illiterate. But if you know even a little on how to get around on your computer and the Internet, that might not be a factor.

Hosted (paid) blogs are good if you’re looking to do more than just write articles online for the purpose of conversation. In my opinion, if you’re looking to make money from blogging and have total control over your blog’s design and options, then this is the option for you.

If you’re still unsure which to go with, I’d choose the hosted option if for no other reason than the fact that if you start with a free one and then one day realize you need a hosted blog (graduate up), you’re going to find yourself with a BIG mess in trying to figure out how to move your blog without losing search engine traction and blog subscribers.

Plus, web hosting for your blog is dirt cheap. If you can’t afford $6.95/mo. for something you’re going to spend many upon many hours working on, you need to rethink where you’re putting your money.

2. What’s the best way to secure my blog?

Buy WordPress Defender of course.

It’s impossible for me to tell someone with just one email how to secure their WordPress blog from attack. There’s more to it than simply installing plugins and keeping a strong password.

The best way to secure your blog is to first understand that you are a target–no matter what you blog about, and then take a little time and invest in learning what you need to do.

That is the best way to secure your blog… education and implementation!

3. Why is duplicate content such a big issue?

This might seem a bit complicated to understand at first, but I think with a simple analogy it will become crystal clear.

Let’s say you wrote an article called, “How I Met an Alien from Zibwaggy”.

You’d expect that Google would index your article in its search engine and most likely since there are literally NO other articles on the Web about this topic, you would be listed at the top of the search engine results.

But before you published your article, you had sent it to someone for a review and they liked it so much, they decided to steal your content and publish the article, word-for-word, on the their blog at the exact same time you published yours.

Who’s article should Google give original credit to?

Who’s should be listed first?

See the dilemma?

If you have duplicate content laying around all over the Web, it’s difficult for search engines to sift through it all and determine which article should be returned for that search. After all, who would use Google if for every search returned were duplicate copies of the same article.

You could have duplicate articles like this:

http://yourblog.com/how-i-met-an-alien

http://yourblog.com/archives/09/how-i-met-an-alien

http://yourblog.com/tags/space/how-i-met-an-alien

Google would not want to return all three of these to their users, just one. But which one is the right one to return?

The only way to be sure Google knows is if you tell it where to look and where not to look.

4. I want to start a blog to make money. What should I do first?

In this case, before you even start your blog you really need to take a close look at yourself.

Do you have that needed entrepreneurial spirit? Or are you just looking to make a little money without working too hard?

To make money online, you need to become a business minded person to some extent: study data, learn where to put money, how and where to advertise, etc. Trust me, it’s not easy at first (but it does get easier). Surround yourself in the beginning around people smarter than you and try to soak up everything they are doing and learn from them.

Above all, be humble. Realize that you don’t know everything, but then again, neither does anyone else. You rarely will make mistakes, instead you’ll simply be making progress.

Find your passion, discover the message you want to tell people, create a good story around it, and push yourself. And don’t forget that a good entrepreneur must first truly discover who they are.

5. Should I incorporate my blogging business?

If you sell something, I always advise to form either a LLC or corporation.

If you make money by selling other people’s stuff, I always advise forming a LLC or corporation.

So in general, if you do business online, I suggest forming a business structure. You’ve got to protect yourself and your assets. I don’t know about you, but I don’t keep up with every small change that happens in what’s lawful and what’s not; what’s going to get you in trouble with the FTC and what doesn’t.

If you’re going to make money from other people, form a business structure.

6. What are 3 important SEO considerations I should make when first starting my blog?

Okay, I did reword this question and narrow it down to 3 comments because, well, if I didn’t then we could be here a long time talking about SEO considerations.

The first is platform. I’d recommend a self hosted WordPress blog for that.

Next is crawlability. You want clean URLs (no parameters like ? or = in it), no flash on your site, and limited amounts of scripting, like Javascript.

Then it is all about how you focus your blog. You want to focus the site on just a few key areas of your business. In other words, focus your blog on a specific topic so it gets ranked well for that specific topic.

I must admit, I’ve have fallen short on item number three in the list.

My blog is about things WordPress bloggers might like to know (in general). But back in the early days of my blogging career, I didn’t know a whole lot about WordPress; so my blog was about things I did know, like real estate investing and being an entrepreneur.

As a result, I’ve noticed Google is a little confused on what my blog is about. I’m still working on splitting up parts of my blog into other mini sites… it’s on the list!

To be completely honest, the best SEO strategy for my blog and WP Blog Host would be if my blog was all about web hosting. But who writes a blog for SEO purposes only? Not me!

So there you go, six questions bloggers ask me from time-to-time.

What kinds of questions have people asked you about starting a blog and what is your response?

Related posts:

1. Start A Blog: Free or Paid? WordPress or Blogger?
2. A-List Bloggers & Everyday Bloggers, They Do Things Differently
3. 6 Things I Tell People Who Are Looking To Start A Blog

But that’s a good thing, right?

However, something (or some group, rather) has pulled me out of my blogging break early and these A-holes have really pissed me off!

It seems there’s been a lot of talk around blogosphere about WordPress blogs getting hacked lately… and it’s been even more than the usual. Whoever is doing this doesn’t seem to be targeting your site specifically, but rather the web hosting companies, and their hacks infect all files on your hosting account ending in the .php extension.

Most of you know I’ve recently written a WordPress security ebook, called WordPress Defender: 30 Ways to Secure Your Blog from Attack Anyone Can Do, and packed it with a ton of things you can do today to better secure your blog from WordPress crackers.

Unfortunately, there’s one problem here.

Lately these assholes have been targeting the web hosting server itself and since you personally don’t have access to that level of your website’s security, it’s kind of out of your hands to thwart your site from being infected.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about Go Daddy being hacked and how they have been denying the problem resides on their side, but to be honest I’m not so sure; in fact, it’s not just Go Daddy lately, it’s also been hosting companies like DreamHost and Network Solutions that *seem* to be getting hit.

What These Hacks Might Look Like

Fortunately, the hacks are easy to spot.

Just log into your web hosting’s File Manager and open any file ending in .php. If the file is infected, you should see code at the very top looking similar to this:

<?php /**/ eval(base64_decode("aWYoZnVuY3Rpb25fZXhpc3R

Those dirty little rats!

What You Need to Do Today

• Make sure WordPress is upgraded
• Make sure your plugins are upgraded
• Back up your database and set up an automated backup process for it
• Back up all the files contained in your web hosting’s File Manager
• Implement the security upgrades I talk about in WordPress Defender

The Good News For WordPress Defender Users

Even though there is little you can do to stop these hacks from happening, all is not lost as long as you follow some of the advice I give you in the WordPress Defender book.

The key to being able to recover from such vicious hacks is being:

• Aware of the problem
• Notified asap that your security has been compromised
• Prepared for a quick recovery

I think I do a pretty good job at showing you how to do these things in the ebook.

If you find that your blog has been infected with a virus or some other malicious code, the quick fix checklist is to:

• Put your blog / website into Maintenance Mode (click here to see how to do that without a plugin)
• Restore a clean backup of your database (see how to do that here)
• Restore a clean backup of all your web hosting files and folders (you have a recent backup, right? Click here to see more on that)
• Change your WordPress, FTP, and web hosting passwords

WordPress security is not an exact science.

Protect yourself the best you can and be prepared for the times you can’t.

It’s not difficult to implement, but at times it seems difficult for me to get through to those of you who are easy targets.

WordPress Defender Review

Not sure what this WordPress Defender ebook is all about?

Clive McGonigal of Blog Briefing has done up a wonderful review of my book. The video below will show parts of my ebook as well as a little of what you get in the video tutorials. Be sure to view the video in full window view.

If you find the video helpful and want to purchase the ebook, please use Clive’s affiliate link to purchase the ebook by clicking here.

Shoot them my way by commenting below.

Related posts:

1. WordPress Defender: 30 Ways to Secure Your Blog from Attack Anyone Can Do
2. How To Fully Backup WordPress Anytime With Just A Few Clicks

That hacker set me out on a mission.

Over the last couple of years I’ve soaked up everything I could about WordPress security. I learned many of the tricks those malicious jerks use to hack blogs, I watched as plugin developers developed plugins to fight back, I engaged the WordPress forums and other users in conversations about the topic.

All this time, experience, and knowledge I’ve gained over those last couple of years have culminated into one single resource I’ve been working on.

It’s called WordPress Defender, and it’s mission is to help you to never wake up one morning with the same kind of broken heart my wife had.

It’s a 150 page guide jam packed with things you can do today to start protecting your WordPress blog from malicious attacks. And if you’re worried it might be over your head, don’t. I’ve taken special care to make sure any and everyone can follow it.

You even get over 1.5 hours of video (14 videos in all) where you can watch me in real time set up many of these security features.

3 Day Special Offer

Don’t wait too long, because for 3 days only (March 1st – 3rd 2010) you can get it all for nearly 50% off ($19.99). After that, the price will go up.

Now let me ask you, is your blog worth $20? Is it worth skipping that night at the movies to ensure your blog is protected?

And if you’re the affiliate type… it also comes with an affiliate program which pays out 40%.

So take the time, go check it out and let me know what you think.

And if you ever have a question about anything contained inside the book, you know where to find me.

Related posts:

1. Something New to Blogosphere is Coming, Thanks to a Broken Heart
2. 2 Easy Ways To Set Up A WordPress Firewall
3. So You Think Your Website is Secure? Am I Scaring You Yet? I Hope So…

I know, it sucks.

There are a ton of people out there with nothing better to do with their time than snoop around on the Internet watching for people who send login information, such as Usernames and Passwords, unsecured through the webs of the Internet.

Then when they capture someone’s login credentials, they take it upon themselves to easily log into the person’s account and fill it up with spam links and viruses.

Like I said, it sucks.

Unfortunately, it’s true and unless you take steps to protect what you’ve spend so many hours away from your family building, someone some day may take great pleasure in destroying. Even worse, they don’t even care that your website is what helps put food in your children’s mouths or collect donations to help fight cancer.

The worst part is many times they don’t even know who you are.

They use automated scripts/bots/spiders or whatever your choice term is for automated programs designed to sniff you, the unprotected WordPress users, out.

Where They Find Your Username & Password

As a web host, we have to deal with protecting customer Usernames and Passwords when they connect to their web hosting control panel, but when it comes to 3rd party programs like WordPress, it is up to the user to secure their program.

But that’s why I’m here, right?

When it comes to WordPress, there are 3 primary ways your Username and Password will be sent to your web hosting server unprotected:

1. When logging into WordPress
2. When changing passwords and/or adding new users to WordPress
3. Through your FTP connection (independent of WordPress)

In this article, we’ll discuss how to protect your Username and Password through SSL when logging into WordPress and doing things like adding new WordPress users and changing passwords.

In a follow-up article, we’ll discuss our FTP problem.

Encrypting Your WordPress Session

I know, no body wants to spend more money on something that doesn’t immediately get them a return on their investment.

But what does a business owner of a brick and mortar store think when she purchases a security system for their shop? That’s how you should think about your WordPress blog’s security.

The best way to encrypt your WordPress session is through SSL.

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and basically what it does is allow for transfers of information over the Internet, such as your Username and Password, to be done in an encrypted manner.

You can buy one from our company by visiting our SSL Certificate page.

If you’ve ever purchased something online where you had to enter in a credit card number, chances are the web page you were on was encrypted with SSL. You can easily spot if this is so by looking up into the address bar and seeing if the web address starts with https:// as opposed to the standard http://.

The https:// means that when you fill in your name, address, credit card information, etc., it’ll all be transmitted over the Internet encrypted.

We can use this same method e-commerce sites use to encrypt our credit card information to encrypt our WordPress login information.

Setting Up SSL

To set up WordPress to work under SSL, you’ll need the following:

1. Your own domain name
2. Web hosting with WordPress installed
3. A dedicated IP address for your web hosting (purchased through your web hosting provider)
4. An SSL Certificate ($30/yr. if purchased from us)

Assuming you have your own domain name and WordPress blog already set up, the next thing you’ll need to do from the list above is purchase a dedicated IP address for your web hosting. To do that, you’ll need to contact your web hosting provider or visit their products page and purchase one.

Setting this up is easy. For the most part all you need to do is purchase it and tell it which domain name you want it applied to.

Once that is done, you’ll need to purchase an SSL Certificate. Some web hosts sell them while others do not. You can also find other companies that sell them, such as VeriSign; but in my experience, those companies are usually more expensive. Notice how they don’t even advertise the price on their landing page, you have to contact them for a quote.

How to install an SSL Certificate on your web hosting server is beyond what I want to get into in this article, but after you purchase one what happens is you will download the certificate and need to upload and install it on your web hosting account.

The process typically isn’t fun for those of you who think SSL was some kind of Saturday Night Live skit, but your web hosting company should help you get it installed. If not, tell them “Hey . . . thanks, buddy!”

The good news for WP Blog Host hosting customers is that we make this process very easy for you!

What else would you expect from a company whose target customers are newbie bloggers?

If you are a hosting customer of WP Blog Host, we will include free with your SSL Certificate (when purchased from us) a dedicated IP address and best of all, we’ll even install everything for you so your website is SSL ready.

All you’d need to do is wait for an email informing you everything is set up.

From that point, once you have managed to get your website SSL ready, you can move on to the next step and actually apply it to your WordPress admin area.

Setting Up WordPress To Use SSL

Now that you got SSL set up to work on your website (i.e. https:// is available), you can move on to the simple step of telling WordPress it can use SSL to log you into WordPress securely and encrypt the stuff you do from within your Dashboard (write posts, create users, change passwords, etc.).

Log into your web hosting control panel and head over to your File Manager.

From there, locate your wp-config.php file and open it up using your control panel’s file editor.

Once opened, paste this code anywhere inside it:

/* Force Login and Admin SSL */
define(‘FORCE_SSL_LOGIN’, true);
define(‘FORCE_SSL_ADMIN’, true);

Source: WordPress.org SSL

I know adding security to your blog is not fun, but it really is a necessity.

I think $29.99 a year for an SSL Certificate is money well spent. I know it might suck getting it set up (unless you’re a hosting customer of WP Blog Host), but once it’s done, it’s done – and you’ll be logging into your blog over an encrypted channel from now on.

You can see that I’m using SSL for this blog, just go up to the address bar and add a “s” to the http (i.e. https://wpbloghost.com/blog).

I don’t run my frontend encrypted because many of the images I have linked to are not https and would cause Internet Explorer to pop up a warning box to users which I feel might scare some of them away. It just tells them there are some items which are secure and some which aren’t (like pictures).

Questions:

Do you think your blog’s security is worth $30 a year?

How many of your are convinced this is something you really should do but in reality you probably will never get around to it?

UPDATE: I forgot to mention WP Blog Host is running a few promotional codes you can use when purchasing products. If you purchase an SSL Certificate, you can save 5% or more by using the promo codes below. Codes are good through Thanksgiving.

Promo Code Description Start Date End Date 100CN15 15% discount off any order $100 or more 11/2/2009 11/27/2009 50CN10 10% discount off any order $50 or more 11/2/2009 11/27/2009 5NC25 5% discounts on orders $25 and over 11/2/2009 11/27/2009 Visit our Product Catalog to view all our hosting and domain products.

Related posts:

1. WP Blog Host Domain, Blog Security, & Hosting Promotions – Get'em While Their Hot
2. 2 Killer WordPress Security Plugins You Probably Don’t Know About
3. WordPress 3.0: Security Upgrades Overview & How To Install It

People’s blogs get hacked on a daily basis. A simple Google search for my blog was hacked returns 2,620,000 results.

I tend to think of blog security like the progression of driving a car through the years.

At 16 when you’re new to driving a car, you know driving a car safely is good, but you don’t do it. Instead, teens tend to drive more carelessly than older more seasoned drivers. However, the one time one of these teens get in a serious car accident, all of a sudden a light bulb turns on and they realize just how dangerous it is to drive carelessly.

The problem is, the process keeps washing its hands and repeating itself. As that teen ages, new teens begin driving and take to the roads, and can you guess how they drive?

The same holds for blogging. When newbies begin blogging either they don’t know the statistics of blog security or they don’t think it’ll ever happen to them. Then one day if they do get hacked, all of a sudden blog security becomes an issue. If, however, they are lucky enough to not get hacked early on (i.e. as they age), they begin to realize blog security is becoming more and more important since they have a lot more to lose (posts, comments, design, etc.).

2 WordPress Security Plugins You Should Consider

1. Chap Secure Login

In order to log into WordPress, you need to enter in a username and password. The problem is, unless you log in through a SSL connection (tutorial post coming soon), this information is sent through the Internet unprotected and can be seen by snooping eyes.

That’s where the Chap Secure Login plugin comes in.

Chap stands for Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol and what it does is encrypt your password through the use of the MD5 hashing algorithm in JavaScript so that it is sent to your web host in a secured manner.

Whenever possible, I suggest logging into your WordPress blog through SSL, but if that’s not an option for you, I highly suggest using this plugin; and the best part is, there’s no configuring, just upload and install the plugin and you’re all set.

2. WordPress File Monitor

Securing WordPress is great, but as I’ve mentioned before it’s impossible to completely secure WordPress 100%. Just as important as securing your WordPress from being hacked in the first place is knowing when your blog has been hacked.

Matt Walters developed an excellent file monitoring plugin, called WordPress File Monitor, which will monitor all your files for any alterations made to them.

Many times WordPress crackers will attempt to insert vicious viruses or spam links directly into your WordPress files. These viruses can be designed to do just about anything they want, including downloading viruses to your website’s visitor’s computers.

The WordPress File Monitor plugin monitors each of your files for changes that occur inside them. So, say for example, someone uploads malicious code to your footer.php file, the WordPress File Monitor plugin would capture that change and email you that a change has occurred. There’s also notification in your Dashboard.

Once notified, you can head over to that file and check for anything suspicious.

As a bonus, this plugin can also be configured to monitor and report changes to files outside of your WordPress directory. This is a huge bonus for those of you who run a static HTML website for your home page and have WordPress installed in a separate directory, like /blog.

Here’s a couple screen shots from this plugin:

Have you thought about blog security lately?

How would you feel if one day you found your blog has been cracked into?

Would you be prepared to deal with the problem and make your blog right?

If you’re interested in keeping up to date with the latest in blog security, WordPress, and my own personal blogging tips, you can subscribe to my RSS feed here. Also, if you’re interested in locking down your WordPress blog and add some security features to it, I can do that for you.

Related posts:

1. 50+ WordPress Plugins & Hacks Candy Store
2. WordPress Security: The First Thing You Should Understand
3. Increase Your WordPress Blog’s Security By Running It Through SSL

Since I posted that article I’ve had more than a few people ask me what other ways I know that can help speed up a WordPress blog. To be honest, most of what I know is from what I’ve found online.

Something to note before we begin, though, is that if you’re going to toy around with your blog’s performance and theme’s code, be sure to back everything up first. Do NOT skip this step!

Also, always make sure your website is working properly immediately after attempting any of these hacks.

Speed Tip #1: Enable Caching Through .htaccess

If your web host supports mod_deflate, try adding this code to your root .htaccess file to compress javascript and css before it is sent to your visitor’s browser.

<IfModule mod_deflate.c>
<FilesMatch "\.(js|css)$">
SetOutputFilter DEFLATE
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>

Source: AskApache

Speed Tip #2: Combine and Minify Javascript and CSS

One way to speed things up is to rearrange Javascript and CSS files so that everything loads quicker. In practice, if you combine all your Javascript files into one file and load it at the end of your website (i.e. in the footer), your site will load quicker because there are fewer stops and waits for multiple Javascript files to be accessed.

Similarly, the same holds true for CSS files except you’d rather have those load at the top of your website, not the bottom.

WordPress makes this very difficult because of the use of plugins. Many plugins come with their own CSS and Javascript files and unless you’re into coding big time, it’ll be extremely difficult to combine all your plugin’s CSS and Javascript files.

There is hope, however, thanks to (ironically) minify plugins.

Two minify plugins I have experimented with are the WP Minify and Head Cleaner plugins.

These plugins attempt to speed up your blog’s load time by combining Javascript and CSS files respectively and loading them in their appropriate places for increased speed. Of the two plugins, the WP Minify plugin worked best for me as seen by these screen shots below using the Firebug/Y-Slow add-ons for Firefox.

Before WP Minify my blog had a B rating because it made too many http requests (which slow things down):

After installing the WP Minify plugin my blog now has an A rating:

One thing to note about the WP Minify plugin: if your blog is located in the /blog or some directory other than your website’s root, make sure to define its location in the plugin’s settings.

There are lots more little tips and tricks you can do to increase the speed at which your blog loads, some things work, others don’t or have very little performance changes. It’s always best if you can find articles which back up claims with statistics.

By the way, if you’re still looking to get your own WordPress blog or you’re in the market for a domain name, SSL certificate, etc., don’t forget we provide all these hosting/domains services here at WP Blog Host.

SSL certificates are a great way to log into your WordPress admin area and do whatever it is you want to do under the protection of everything being encrypted. We’ll talk more about that and how to set it up in a future post.

Related posts:

1. WordPress Defender: 30 Ways to Secure Your Blog from Attack Anyone Can Do
2. 2 Easy Ways To Set Up A WordPress Firewall
3. How To Install Google Analytics On A WordPress Blog Without Using A Plugin

Here are a few tips I give to newbie bloggers when they’re just getting started. Please note that I have included a bunch of links in this article in case newbies are looking for more in depth discussions on the topics below.

1. What is it going to cost you?

Ok, I stoled this question from a buddy of mine, James Chartrand. I really like that question because as an experienced blogger it’s my responsibility to educate newbies as to just how much time and sacrifice goes into blogging. Blogging takes huge chunks of time away from your family life, personal time, and just about everything else.

2. Get a self-hosted WordPress blog as opposed to a free one.

I’d say this is probably the one I hear the most – “I want to start a blog but I’m not really sure if I’ll like it, so I’ll start out with a free blog and then purchase my own down the road.” It’s even worse when they tell me they want to start a business and they want to know where they can get a free blog.

I have way too many issues with this logic. Just thinking about it makes my toe hairs itch.

I mean, who builds a business, empire, or something else you plan to invest such a large amount of time in on something that is free and limited?

There are many advantages to a self-hosted WordPress blog and with our company you can start one for around $10 and then $10 a month (hosting and domain name). That’s a small price to pay for such a big investment. Many people say they want to “test” it out first before they spend lots of money. It really doesn’t cost that much.

Ok – like I said, I have way too many issues with going the free blog route. If this is what you’re considering, read these other articles for more information on why free blogs are a bad idea:

• 8+ Drawbacks to Free Web Hosting
• Start A Blog: Free or Paid? WordPress or Blogger?

3. Choose the right hosting company for your needs.

A while back I wrote an article, How To Choose The Best WordPress Blog Hosting Company. In the article, I mentioned how you should pick a web host which is in line with your needs.

Do you need:

• Phone support?
• Someone there who knows about blogging?
• Someone you can talk to when you have WordPress questions?
• Do they provide services that allows you to grow if your blog becomes successful?

Also, don’t believe people how say you need cPanel with Fantastico if you plan to use WordPress. Someone somewhere started that nonsense. While Fantastico is a nice feature because it has an auto installer of WordPress, it’s not necessary because it’s not the only option for easy installs of WordPress.

Our company doesn’t use Fantastico, but take a look at the programs we offer which installs are as easy as giving usernames and passwords.

4. Focus what you write about and are you passionate about it?

Blogging is an on ongoing process. You might think you have a lot to say but trust me, it fades quickly. Imagine writing 3 articles a week for 5 years. Do you really have that much to say? Realize that the ongoing process is all about you learning and converting that knowledge into something useful for others.

To stay the course, make sure you’re really interested in that topic. That’s the key to longevity in blogging, if you ask me.

5. Why do you want to start a blog?

What’s the purpose? Is it to make money? Gain fame? Learn something?

You first have to understand what you want to get out of blogging; only then can you devise a plan to get you there. Work your plan backwards if you have to.

Also, realize that the goal of your blog may change down the road. That’s ok, but always remember why you are blogging and strive to reach that goal you’ve given yourself.

6. Try installing WordPress on your own.

If you plan to be a WordPress blogger, I suggest you try installing it on your own when you’re first starting out. Doing this will give you a jump start and insights into how WordPress is organized.

Got any other tips?

Share below.

UPDATE: Not sure why, but for some strange reason I forgot to mention blog security. I always urge new (and seasoned) bloggers to think about securing your blog. The easiest time to do security upgrades is when you first install your blog.

Though I stress this point, most people skip this step until they get hacked. It’s kind of like the person who never cares much about installing a home alarm system until after they get robbed.

So point 7 is think security.

Related posts:

1. Start A Blog: Free or Paid? WordPress or Blogger?
2. Fantastico & cPanel Are Not Your Only Options For Easy WordPress Installs
3. How To Choose The Best WordPress Blog Hosting Company

Here’s an incredibly easy trick you can do to reducing that “but wait”-time for your blog to load. In most cases, it’s as easy as copy & paste.

Now who doesn’t like the copy, paste, and done tutorials?

Let’s first show you what to do and then for those who are interested, we’ll talk about what we did (in easy terms).

Copy This and Put It Here

Copy

<?php if (substr_count($_SERVER['HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING'], ‘gzip‘)) ob_start(“ob_gzhandler”); else ob_start(); ?>

Paste A (for WordPress users)

For WordPress users, paste the code up at the very top of your header.php file (above the DOCTYPE line). If you’re not sure how to do this, see the video at the end of this tutorial.

Paste B (for static .html pages)

If your website is coded in html and not php, then what you’ll need to do is copy the code above and paste it up at the very top of each web page you want to compress (above the DOCTYPE).

The one change you’ll need to do here is change the extension of your web pages from .html to .php.

So for example, change: index.html to index.php

What Did We Do?

Without going into a bunch of techno talk, we basically instructed, through PHP, that the Web server compress files for transit to your visitors’ Web browser by use of gzip.

I’m sure you’ve seen zip files before (myfile.zip). Zip is a compression utility that takes a bunch of data and files and compresses them into one smaller size file.

By using gzip, we compressed your blog’s data into a smaller file size before sending it over to your visitor’s Web browser. As a result, your blog loads faster for your visitor.

Simple. Easy. Works.

How To Test It

Of course you’ll want proof that your site is loading quicker. You should notice a difference in load time just by clicking around your blog before and after the line is pasted in. But if you want to see actual data, head over to http://www.port80software.com and type your blog’s address in the Compression Check box.

Here’s the results for my blog. I circled the parts that showed my after compression data.

As you can see, my blog loads more than 4 times faster with the gzip compression enabled.

Also, the file size transmitted over the Internet and to my visitor’s browser was reduced from 60,241 bytes to just 12,963 bytes. That’s a 47,278 difference in file size!

WordPress How-To Video

For those who like videos, here’s how to copy and paste this command into your WordPress header.php file.

Share It

This little tip has helped many people decrease how long it takes their sites to load. If you have a moment, please consider sharing it through your social networks like Stumble Upon, Twitter, etc. While you’re at it, feel free to follow me on Twitter.

Related posts:

1. Hammering Down 2 More Ways To Speed Up Your WordPress Blog
2. How To Install Google Analytics On A WordPress Blog Without Using A Plugin
3. WordPress Management: Cleaning Up Your Root Folder

It’s my pleasure to introduce our new tutorials Web television channel, WP Blog Host.tv.

As many of you know, I’ve been spending lots of time creating easy to follow WordPress and WP Blog Host product video tutorials for bloggers and customers who host with WP Blog Host. The tutorials can be for anyone blogging and using WordPress, but bloggers who host with our company get the extra advantage of watching how to do everything using our hosting (click-by-click).

Here’s a snapshot of our new television channel:

Ok I know, a nice slick video slider would be nice on the home page. I spent days toying with lots of WordPress video themes and you know, none really clicked with me. Most of those themes are all very dark and hard to read. Some come with various color choices and I did experiment with color changes, but in the end a simple blog style theme worked best for me.

Down the road when I start doing “in the news” related videos, I’ll probably shell out the big bucks and really build a nice customized site.

I do have to give one mention, though, to a guy named Vishal from Fresh Lime Sode. They have a number of WordPress themes and this one in particular I really liked and tried. The best thing about him is when I ran into a few issues, Vishal was quick to reply to my emails and even did a little customization for me.

If you’re looking for nice WordPress Themes and want to know there will be someone available to help you with your support needs, I highly suggest checking out Fresh Lime Sode.

Subscribing To The Videos & Scheduling

The new site, http://wpbloghost.tv (opens in a new tab), has its own RSS subscription so you can keep up to date and notified when new videos are uploaded.

Because this is my project and it is relatively new, there is no set posting schedule at this time; however, that may change in the coming months. I do have a nice running to-do list and will add videos regularly, though.

WpBlogHost -> WP Blog Host

Converting our old tutorials page into its own tutorials Web channel is only the first step in some exciting changes coming to WP Blog Host.

Ah yes, did you catch that? I used WP Blog Host, not WpBlogHost. After months of watching how others reprint our name, WpBlogHost felt it best to go with what everyone usually remembers, WP Blog Host. Why not, right? That change will come to the main site real soon.

Also, released shortly will be a new design of our main site and my blog. I’m really excited about the redesign of my blog because it will be more representative of me, John Hoff the blogger, rather than our “corporation’s blog”.

Feedback

Back to the topic at hand, if you have a few moments, I’d love to hear a little feedback on the new site, WP Blog Host.tv and I hope you find the tutorials useful.

Related posts:

1. My 3-Year Old Son’s First Video Blog Article!
2. How To Upgrade WordPress Manually Video
3. Fatten Up Your Wallet by Using Online Videos