I’ve promised a post on all the plugins I use here on Ready Fire Aim, and that every blog should use to increase traffic and usability. I won’t focus as much on SEO in this post, however, some of these plugins will certainly help readers not only discover your blog, but encourage them to click around once they’ve arrived, increasing pageviews and ad impressions. Some others on the list exist only to make your job easier as a blogger. So here we go -

• Akismet

Yes it comes with newer versions of WordPress, but it’s still worth highlighting. Akismet will almost eliminate spam comments on your blog. It does this by checking all submitted comments against a common database shared by all Akismet users (read, almost every WordPress blog in existence), so it’s extremely accurate. TechCrunch has caught over 1,000,000 spam comments with Akismet. Enable it if you haven’t already.

• Custom Admin Menu

This plugin allows you to organize your WordPress Administrator menus in any way you like. This becomes especially useful as you install lots of plugins, each with a separate configuration page.

• deli.cio.us cached++

Automatically grabs your latest tagged links from Deli.cio.us and displays them on your blog. Great for links that don’t deserve their own post, but are worth sharing with your readers. You can see it in action on the bottom right of my footer.

• Firestats

Simply the best statistics package for WordPress I’ve come across. Tracks all referring links, so you can see where your traffic is comings from. Also breaks down your visitors by operating system, browser, and country. Extremely useful, in a narcissistic way.

• Feedburner Feed Replacement

Another stat tracking plugin, this one ensures that all your feed subscribers go through FeedBurner. If you don’t use FeedBurner, it’s something you should look into. It gives you total control over your feed, the option to add some extras, and the ability to track how many feed subscribers you have.

• runPHP

A little more hardcore than some bloggers may need, this plugin allows you to run blocks of PHP code inside your posts. I use it to generate the direction listings in my Files section.

• Similar Posts

You can see this post in action in the sidebar of every post on this site. It compares the text of the post currently being displayed with all the other posts on your site, and displays links to those it deems most relevant. This is a good way to make your site “sticky”, so visitors will click around, instead of just reading one post and leaving.

• WordPress Reports

Another statistics package, which compliments FireStats very nicely. Whereas Firestats gives a nice view of the past 24 hours, WordPress Reports integrates with Google Analytics and Feedburner to provide all kinds of useful stats for the past week and month, and shows you how they compare to the week or month before that. Lets you see which posts are “hot” and which are cooling off.

That’s pretty much everything I use here, I’ll probably post again on this topic in a few months, as I find more useful plugins. Until then, enjoy these, I hope they make blogging easier and more fun for you and your readers.

Almost everyone has heard of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). What is it? Wikipedia defines SEO as “…a subset of search engine marketing that seeks to improve the number and quality of visitors to a web site from “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.” Put in plain english, SEO is anything you do to your website to maximize it’s visibilty in Google, Yahoo, MSN, and any other search engine spider that comes crawling your way.

So what are some things that you can do to move your site up in the rankings? If you use WordPress, as many blogs do, you can start by installing the following plugins to give yourself a leg-up on the competition. You can see them all in action on billda.com.

• Google Sitemap Generator

This plugin will automatically generate a Google Sitemap for all the pages in your WordPress database, and resubmit your sitemap to Google whenever you post something new. A sitemap tells Google where all the pages on your site are, and increases the chance that Google will fully index all your content.

• Head META Generator

Automatically inserts a meta description tag for your blog, inserting a dynamic description depending on the page being viewed. Search engines use this tag to link your site with search keywords, and to generate a short summary of what your site is about.

• Optimal Title

Replaces the default wp_title() function that generates titles in the form “Blog Name -> Post Name”. This format doesn’t put your content first, and can be confusing in search results. The plugin changes the default behavior to generate titles in the more readable “Postname -> Blog Name” format.

• Permalink Redirect

Ensures that there is only one URL for each blog entry. By default, WordPress with accept URLs with or without a trailing slash. However, this means there are actually two URLs for each blog entry, and your hits and linkbacks will be split between the two. Permalink Redirect uses a search engine friendly 301 redirect to ensure your site isn’t penalized by Google or sabotaged by your competitors.

That’s all I’ve got in terms of SEO, however in the next few days I’ll have a post detailing ALL my favorite WordPress Plugins (and everything I use on this site).

This article is the third in the Entrepreneurship Series.

Chances are if you’re starting a company these days, you’ve also thought about what your website will look like. This is especially true for web based startups – your website is your storefront and your public face, probably your most direct and frequent contact with customers. Therefore, you should spend time to ensure that your website is as effective and user friendly as it can be. The best websites clearly and pleasantly convey your company’s message, and make it obvious how the casual browser can become a customer or user. You can take large steps toward these goals by following these guidelines:

1.) Put your most important content “above the fold”
For years, newspapers have put their headlines and biggest stories “above the fold” – meaning the top half of the page that you would see before opening the paper. This same principle applies to web design. Put your most important content at the top of the page, where people can see it without scrolling. Visitors should be able to get a clear picture of your site’s purpose, learn how to navigate around, and hear your call to action (see below) without ever scrolling.

2.) Have a prominent “call to action”
Virtually all web sites have a persuasive purpose – to get someone to register, subscribe, bookmark, or buy something. The success of your business is often measured in terms of the number of users you have, and a loyal user is worth more than you may think. As an example – Google recently bought YouTube for $1.65 billion, or $82 per each of YouTube’s 20 million unique monthly visitors. So how can your business convert a casual visitor into a user? All you have to do is ask, and be sure your visitors hear you. Somewhere above the fold (as discussed above), make sure there is a colorful, prominent, and clickable “call to action”. In marketing speak, a call to action is text that compels a person to take action (typically buy a product). For example – “Register for free today”, “Call us at (704) 555-1212″, or “Buy our widget now”. This conveys to the visitor what you want from them, and what they need to do right now to get involved.

3.) Minimize “hoops”
Web surfers in general have notoriously short attention spans, so if you’ve been lucky enough to hook them with your call to action, you need to make sure you reel them in quickly and successfully. Even if a visitor is interested in registering for your site, an overly long, elaborate, or invasive sign up or order process will quickly send them elsewhere. Minimize the number of hoops they must jump through to become a registered user. When designing your sign up form, consider what information you need right now, and which can wait until after the person is registered (prompt them to fill out their profile). Chances are, all you really need right now is their email address and a password. Unless you’re going to charge them up front, their name, credit card, address, dog’s name, and favorite food can probably wait until later.

4.) Play well with others
One of the hallmarks of “web 2.0″ is open content. Sites like Flickr, Facebook, and YouTube have all made their data available to other applications via APIs. Take advantage of their openness – let your users import their information from these sites and others (assuming it’s relevant) instead of uploading it again themselves. This minimizes “hoops” for the user, as they only have to upload/update/enter their information once, even if it’s on another site. And as we’ve learned before, having fewer hoops is crucial for getting and retaining users.
If you’re going to take advantage of other site’s openness, you should also follow their lead. Make your own content available for your users to view and use anywhere on the internet. Implement an API, offer RSS feeds and email notifications. Let people embed your content in blogs, MySpace pages, and personal homepages. Witness how successful this philosophy has been for YouTube. One of the major reasons YouTube has been so successful is that their typical user never actually visits their site. Most of YouTube’s videos are embedded elsewhere on the web, with only a small YouTube logo in the bottom right to identify them. YouTube’s brand is spread across the entire internet, making it nearly impossible to not see their logo during a browsing session. As a web designer, your first instinct is to try to increase traffic and page views, but remember – by being social and opening your content, you are able to put your content and brand in front of your users, even if they’re not actually browsing your web site.

5.) Be transparent
In the same spirit of openness, also make an effort to make (parts at least) of your company transparent. Today’s internet is all about community, and your company needs to be a part of that. One of the best ways to keep in touch with the community is to keep a company blog. Periodically write a teaser post about an upcoming feature, an update on the direction of the company, or call for feedback. Let your users comment on these posts, and read their comments. Then, next time you’re looking at new features to add, consider what your users asked for. If you end up adding what they asked for (and you should!) write a post announcing the new feature, and credit the original feedback you received that inspired it. This makes your users feel involved and connected, and encourages them to continue participating in your community.

In summary, keep the user in mind when designing every aspect of your startup’s web site. Everything you do should be designed with the user’s experience in mind. Today’s internet is a fast paced place with tons of new startups, and if you want yours to be relevant, you’re going to have to fight for it. Grabbing visitors with a well designed and usable web site is the first step toward success.