Welcome back!

I’ve installed and configured quite a few wordpress blogs in my time. During this time, I’ve compiled a core of 10 plugins which I install with every wordpress site I work with – some of which make it easier to track and manage readers, some help me to categorize and create posts, and more:

Akismet – Nowadays, (I’m dating myself here in internet-land) Akismet comes preinstalled in wordpress, you just have to configure it with your WordPress.com API key.  (FYI – find your API key by reading this) Akismet has been around for a long time, but it’s still the best spam filter for WordPress.

All in One SEO Pack – WordPress is fantastic for search engine optimization, but it’s difficult to change the meta settings for singular posts manually. This plugin allows you to change the description for each page, including keywords, meta description (the part that comes up in search engines) and more. The best part is it’s very simple to use as it’s placed on every write page.

GoCodes – Do you give out links to your blog posts? If so, GoCodes will help make this simpler and more effective. Let’s say, for example, you were going to link to this article – the full link would be http://www.trinityjacobs.com/blog/2008/08/06/10-must-have-plugins-for-wordpress/. What a PAIN to type out, right? However, if you’re using GoCodes, you can shorten that link to make it easier on you and your readers – for example, it would be trinityjacobs.com/go/10-Wordpress-Plugins. This great tool also works to shorten and track click-throughs with any affiliate links you may have.

Google Analytics Plugin – Google Analytics is a free website statitistics program from Google. It’s robust and has all the tools you need to track your website visitors – the only issue is getting the code placed correctly on the page.  This plugin will allow you to just enter your GA information in one area, and it will immediately propogate on the pages for you.

In Series – This is a new plugin for me, but it’s a fantastic tool. When you’re writing a series of posts, it can be tiresome to create the series links for each article. Instead of fooling around with it, use In Series, a simple tool which allows you to specify with each post a) if the post belongs in a series b) the name of the series c)what number the post is in the series. THEN, it automatically adds the links into your finished post! (And, if you upload the entire series at once to be published later, it won’t show the links for the future posts until the articles are live on the site!)

Simple Tags – The great thing about this plugin is that it allows you to enter tags directly into the writing interface (it can even display your most commonly used tags to choose from), and then it takes those tags to create a ‘related posts’ list at the end of each entry for the user to explore.

Sociable – Sociable adds user-defined social networking buttons to the end of every post, thus allowing your readers to easily Digg, Stumble, or otherwise share the information with others.

Twitter Widget – It’s no secret that I’m a newly-appointed Twitter addict – It’s a great networking medium and I’ve found a lot of like-minded entrepreneurs over there. The Twitter widget allows you to place your most recent twitter posts in your sidebar. (I’ve gotten quite a few Twitter Followers this way)

What Would Seth Godin Do? – This is a fantastic plugin! For the first 5 times a visitor comes to your site, it embedds a message (see top of post) that urges you to follow the rss feed. After 5 vists, it welcomes the visitor back. It’s a great way to get your readers to take action without being intrusive.

Feedburner Plugin – Feedburner is a great tool to help track your RSS readers, it gives you an overall count of subscribers plus some subscriber data – much like Google Analytics, but less robost and exclusively for your RSS feed (which Analytics doesn’t track). In order to get this to work, however, you have to replace all your RSS feed links with the feedburner RSS feed link, which can be a hassle if you’re not a WordPress Coding Wizard. Thankfully, the Feedburner plugin automatically changes all RSS feed links from the default WordPress version to the Feedburner version, with only a little configuration in the settings panel.  (Feedburner was purchased by Google about a year ago… hopefully, they’ll integrate this functionality with their Analytics program.)

Do you have any plugin suggestions? Let us know in the comments below!

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As a long-time blogger and blogging assistant, I know the frustration that comes with the ‘blogger jargon.’ It’s rough, especially for businesses just getting their feet wet on the Internet to grasp all the nuances of what goes into blogging. Fortunately, Daniel Scocco over at Daily Blog Tips has posted a comprehensive list of blogging terminology at http://www.dailyblogtips.com/the-bloggers-glossary/.

Here are a few to get you started, with some clarification thrown in:

Backlinks: Hyperlinks present in other blogs or websites that point either to the homepage or to internal pages of a website. They are important because Google and other search engines relate the number and quality of backlinks to the trust level of that website.

When you put a business website on the internet, your main purpose is for potential customers to find you. Your website can be found in several ways:

• Search Engines
• Forums
• Advertising
• Discussion Lists
• Social Networking Sites
• And so much more

Many internet users don’t use all of these methods, in fact, many users just use one mainstay to find what they need: a Search Engine. We use Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc to find everything from a local plumber to a life coach, from parts from your 1926 Ford Model T Coupe to an ecard to send to a colleague. It’s so easy to get lost in the mix – some business pay exorbitant fees to be found first in Google for specific keywords (i.e. Credit, Golf, etc)

If you want to be found in Google, and not fall by the wayside, one of your first plans of attack is through backlinks. As stated above, Google and other search engines judge your trustworthiness by the amount of backlinks your site has, and therefore puts you higher in the ranks the more you have.

A here are a few quick and simple ways to get backlinks:

• Create a Squidoo Page
• Create a Hub Page
• Join and Participate in Forums (like Ryze, Yahoo Groups, Etc.)
• Write and Submit Articles to Article Directories

And remember: the higer number of backlinks you have, the higher search engine placement you’ll get.

Pingback: A network tool used to notify a website when someone else has linked or referred to it. Most blogging platforms handle pingbacks automatically. That is, when someone links to an article that you wrote, his link will appear in your comments section.

Trackback: A network tool, similar to the pingback, used to notify a website when someone else has linked or referred to it. The difference between the two is that Trackbacks are more often subject of spam.

Ping/Trackbacks can be very important to you as a blogger. When you find something interesting on another blog, and choose to write about it it automatically notifies the other blog that you’ve posted their link.

So why are trackbacks and pingbacks important?

In the grand scheme of the blogosphere (which is a term that encompasses all bloggers writing on the internet) one of the goals is to get backlinks (see above) and to become part of the overall conversation in your niche. When a blogger receives a track/pingback, they may read your post, and in turn comment about or begin an offline conversation with you. This, in turn, increases your reach, which will, in turn, help get the word out about your blog.

And, even if a conversation doesn’t happen, oftentimes track/pingbacks are noted with an excerpt in the comments sections of posts, so even if you don’t begin a conversation with another blogger, a reader might find your comment useful and visit your site. It’s a win/win!

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Finally, there’s a good way to track your current subscriptions in Feedburner, while using the functionality of Aweber.

I’ve been using both of these services for some time now, although separately, because I like to see all my blog subscribers in one area. This morning, AWeber announced that they’re now working directly with Feedburner, allowing subscribers that signup through AWeber (using their blog broadcast service) to show up in your feedburner subscriber page. Hooray!

Why is this so important? Well, for one thing, you can’t customize Feedburner emails, templates, or subject lines — but with AWeber’s blog broadcast services, you can! Also, if you’re running promotions, you’ll be able to run deals especially to your blog subscribers.

If you know me, you know I’m an AWeber Junkie – and this integration is something I’ve been pining for a long time. So, if you’re using Aweber and Feedburner, check out the blog broadcasting services — it’s a valuable tool to connect to your readers, and integrating it with feedburner will allow you to maintain accurate subscriber rates.

*Image, Pleased with a Christmas Present, by Flickr user joelwillis

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