Will Your Site Survive the Google Shrink Ray?

Google likes to play a little game with those of us who do business online.

The game is called “change all the rules and see who survives.” It’s often a fun and rewarding game for Google users, but it can be painful for business owners.

In the latest version, Google has rolled out a feature called Instant Previews.

When enabled, users see a cute little magnifying glass sitting next to their search results. The user can view a quick snapshot of sites simply by hovering over links.

Remember the three-second rule for websites? The one that said that your visitor will decide within the first three seconds whether or not they’ll stay on your site?

Forget that: it’s now the 0.3 second rule. Does your site have what it takes to make the cut?

Let’s find out. (And if not, let’s get it fixed.)

Snap judgments served here

With Instant Preview, potential visitors are going to make a judgment about whether or not to visit your site without even reading the content. It’s too small to see in the pop up window. They’re going to decide based purely on — (drumroll, please) — design.

Potential site visitors don’t have to leave Google to get a peek at your pages. What will they find when they see your site reduced so that it’s just large enough to read the name, the headlines, and maybe the subheads?

Don’t despair if you don’t like what you see. You can polish up your site so it holds up when viewed under Google’s magnifying glass. Just follow these few simple steps.

Clear the clutter

Some pages are cluttered with so many ads, sidebar entries, social media icons and sign up boxes the visitor won’t want to see them full size. Why magnify clutter?

To remedy this, decide what one action you want users to take on your page. You may have more than one possible path to send visitors down, but which one takes priority?

Once you know what you’d most like them to do, set up your page so that this action stands out. Put it toward the top, make it larger, use brighter colors to emphasize it.

Then don’t be afraid to strip off the ads, sidebar items and icons that are distracting from that one action. Push them down the page, and display them in colors that are subtle and low-key.

Customize, simplify, implement consistently

Here are a few ways to know if your site looks bargain basement:

• Does your header feature cheap clip art?
• Are you using lots of different colors with no discernible visual branding?
• How about typefaces? If you need more than two or three fingers to count the different typefaces used on your site, you’re in trouble.

You can create a custom header image for your site using a nice, clear typeface and a textured background you download from free or inexpensive photo sharing sites. Combine them using free image editing software, and you have a no-cost, unique header image you can use on your site and in your email marketing. You’ll stand out, even if you can’t afford to hire a designer right now.

When it comes to colors, pick two main colors, and make sure all your headlines, subheads and site graphics reinforce these choices. Black or grey text don’t count toward this total.

This doesn’t mean you can only use two colors: just give your two main colors priority, because that will reinforce your visual brand.

Stick to two typefaces as well. Your graphic style will be clearer and easier to capture in a glance if you’ve used two typefaces consistently throughout your site.

And of course, you can always take a “shortcut” by getting a turn-key premium WordPress theme that incorporates these professional design elements without having to pay for a designer.

Headlines always matter

In a “snap judgment” environment, a great headline is one of the most valuable tools that can stack the deck in your favor.

If headlines aren’t your strong suit, be sure to check out the great resources here on Copyblogger for creating more compelling headlines.

While you’re at it, make sure your subheads also tell a compelling story. Since your readers can often read them from the preview, they’ll help entice and attract the reader to click through and learn more.

And while we’re talking subheads …

Make your content scannable

Readers can’t see individual sentences from Instant Preview.

But they can see if your content has been broken up into short paragraphs, with plenty of white space.

Long stretches of unbroken text can intimidate your searcher. They make your content look difficult and painful to digest.

Just about any piece of writing can be made more reader-friendly by breaking it into short sentences, short paragraphs, and using strong subheads to keep the reader oriented.

Time to clean up your act

I’ve said it in this space before. Sure, content is king. But if your handsome king looks like an ugly toad, who’s going to pay attention?

It’s more important now than ever to spend time polishing up the visual presentation of your site. Not only will it help you with Instant Preview, but all of these enhancements will make your site look better on small mobile device screens as well.

And — added bonus — they even improve reader experience on a full-sized screen. Come take a look at the brand new Copyblogger design for ideas you can implement on your own site.

What will you do to survive the Google shrink ray? Tell us about it in the comments.

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How to Nurture Your Creativity

This guest post is by Ali Luke, from The Creativity Toolbox.

How creative are you? A lot of bloggers feel that they’re not very creative people. Perhaps they come from a technical background. Perhaps they’ve never picked up a paintbrush in their life, and think that means they’re not creative. Perhaps they see creativity as something for other people.

The truth is, if you’re blogging—or even planning a blog—then you’re already much more creative than a lot of folks.
As a blogger, you’re not just creating content (though that’s the biggest area where you’ll be exercising your creative muscles).

Right from the start, you’re also creating:

• the brand for your blog
• your business plan and blogging strategy.

And if you’re bootstrapping your blog (almost all of us are, when we start out), you may well be creating:

• your logo and site header
• the look and feel of your blog (the fonts and colors you choose, for instance).

If you’re a little further along with blogging, you’ll be looking at creating extras like:

• a regular email newsletter
• ebooks
• audio programs
• physical books
• membership content.

All that involves a lot of focused thinking, hard work, and a few sparks of inspiration.

Why creativity is so important for bloggers

When you visit a new blog, what encourages you to stick around? I’d guess it’s the quality of the content and the overall design.

If the posts are original and well-written, the blog looks good, and the topics fit together, then you’ll probably read on.

But if the posts comprise scrappy content, or long quotes from other people’s blogs, you’ll be gone within seconds. If the blog’s design looks like something from 1995, you probably won’t stay long. And if there’s no sense of cohesion—no plan or brand—then even if the content is good, you’ll probably not want to read yet another post about that cute thing the blogger’s cat did.

Your blog will succeed or fail on the strength of your creativity.

Blogs start to fail when bloggers:

• get burnt out and carry on posting substandard content out of a sense of obligation
• get tired and just post links to other people’s content
• get bored and stop posting for weeks on end.

You don’t have to be wacky and weird in your creativity. It’s fine if your style is quite straight-laced, or casual and laid back, rather than humorous. You don’t have to have a complex metaphor or a really neat hook for every single post.

But you do need to create. Which means crafting your blog posts, not dashing them off. It takes energy, focus and dedication.

How to be creative—all the time

A lot of the folks I talk to seem a bit scared of creativity. They’re convinced that it’s something mystical or magical, like a bolt of lightning from the heavens.

The reality is that we’re all naturally creative. Not convinced? Think about your dreams: we’re all capable of making up wonderful stories and vivid pictures in our minds.

It’s important, though, to nurture your creativity—especially as you go further and further with your blogging. You might well feel hugely excited and motivated when you’re getting started with your blog, only to gradually lose that sense of inspiration and run out of steam. There’s nothing wrong with you—you just haven’t been focused on keeping your creativity bubbling away.

Write on topics you care about

This is crucial for me, and for many of the bloggers I talk to. You’ll find it tough to write consistently on a topic which bores you.

Sure, celebrity blogs might be big business. But if you couldn’t care less who’s sleeping with whom, then you’re better off writing about something else. Comic books, fine art, food, personal finance—whatever interests you.

If you’ve got a blog on a topic in which you’ve lost interest, see if you can find a particular angle that gives you a way back in. Maybe you’re fed up with writing about the technical specifications of the latest gadgets, but you could easily create a series on the innovative use of technology in the developing world.

Keeping learning more

Whenever I go to a conference, like BlogWorld, I come back with a bunch of ideas. There’s something invigorating about learning new things—and it often gets me back into a creative mood if I’ve been in a bit of a rut.

Of course, you don’t need to go to conferences to learn (though if you can make it to South by South West or BlogWorld, they’re well worth the investment). There’s a huge amount of learning material available for bloggers, including:

• free blog posts here on ProBlogger, as well as on other blogs like Daily Blog Tips, Copyblogger, and Men with Pens
• free podcasts such as BlogCastFM
• ebooks and other downloadables like 31 Days to Build a Better Blog (I don’t think anyone could work through that and not come up with dozens of new ideas!)
• online courses like Getting Started Blogging (which is free) or The ProBlogger Academy.

I’d suggest setting aside one hour, twice a week, just for learning. That might mean listening to an audio program, reading a section of an ebook, or browsing through blog archives. Use a notebook or blank document on your computer to jot down your thoughts.

Write down all your ideas

Ever had a great idea when you were out walking, on the bus, or watching TV?

Often, ideas don’t crop up when you’re at your computer. They’re sparked off by something which you see or do, and they pop into your head at the oddest moments.

It’s so easy for those ideas to slip away, or to end up half-remembered. If you’ve got a notebook in your bag, you can just scribble them down—you may even find yourself outlining a whole blog post or an entirely new strategy.

In fact, any time that you’re fleshing out an idea, try writing it down. It’s often easier to think things through when you start to put them into a physical form, rather than trying to hold everything in your head.

Don’t force yourself to create

Some days, you don’t want to sit down at the computer and write. But you drag yourself there anyway. You open up a document and stare at it for a bit. You resist the urge to check email, or play on Twitter.

You make yourself write.

You think you’re doing the right thing—after all, isn’t this what all the productivity experts would advise?
So after a couple of miserable hours, when you’ve finally managed a half-hearted post, you shove it onto your blog and go and do something fun.

You don’t get as many comments as usual. You don’t get retweets or links. And the next day, you feel even more fed up. But you sit down to write anyway…

I’m hoping you can see why this is a mistake. Creativity isn’t something you can force. Sure, you can probably apply a bit of self-discipline when you need to get the dishes done or clear your emails—but writing blog posts takes energy, and a certain amount of enthusiasm.

A number of the bloggers I talked to at BlogWorld said that they’d rather not write a post at all if they’re really not inspired—and I agree with them.

Don’t force yourself to create. Give yourself a regular time and place to write, but if you’re really not in the mood, take a break and do something else instead.

When you need inspiration

Sometimes, you’re keen to write, but you’re just not sure where to start. You want to write a blog post, or come up with an ebook outline, or get a brilliant headline for your latest piece—but that creative spark needs lighting first.

Here are four easy ways to find that inspiration.

Start with an image

If you use images for your posts, you probably write the post first and choose the image afterwards, right?

When you’re stuck, head over to Flickr, looking for a great image, then write the post to go with it.

As soon as you start looking at an image, your brain will begin to make connections and see possibilities. The picture you choose doesn’t have to have any obvious relationship to your blog’s niche—in fact, a seemingly-unconnected image will usually work best for sparking your creativity.

Brainstorm on paper

Staring at a blank Word document or the text box in WordPress?

Grab a piece of paper and a pen, and start jotting down ideas. If you’ve no clue where to begin, write down your blog’s name or topic in the center, or use your list of categories.

Don’t judge your ideas at this stage—write them all down, however unoriginal or boring they might seem. You’ll find that the ideas start flowing after a few minutes, and often a weak idea can lead to a great one.

Read news articles in your area

This works better for some niches than others, but often a news report can bring you a new idea. If you’re writing about health and fitness, you might look into some of the latest scientific research. If you cover techy topics, there’ll always be something new to write about.

Even evergreen content can be inspired by a news article. A report on average happiness levels, for instance, could lead to a thoughtful post on why we’re less happy today than in the past—despite generally having a better quality of life than people living 50 years ago.

Do something else entirely

When you’re waiting for an idea to develop, try getting away from your computer. Go for a walk, take a shower, tidy your office—anything that doesn’t require much mental effort. The thoughts you’ve been playing around with will continue to develop, and you’ll often find that a great idea comes effortlessly into your mind.

Just don’t forget your notebook so you can write it down…

What could you do, today, to bring the best of your creativity to your blogging?

Along with Thursday Bram, Ali Luke created The Creativity Toolbox—a set of three action-focused guides and seven powerful interviews with creative practitioners and experts. Want a huge creativity boost? Check it out…

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How to Get Started Video Blogging

Lots of people have been asking me about video recently. Partly because I am pretty vocal on Twitter about finding it difficult but keep doing it anyway, and partly because I have been encouraging my clients to do more of it.

If it is so hard, why do some people make it look easy? And if it is so uncomfortable, why bother?

Fact is technically it does not have to be difficult. In fact I am going to show you that it is very easy technically.

There are many benefits, not least of which are the traffic and attention aspects that you get from video, but also because people really respond to being able to see and hear you.

Video blogs, where all the content is video, are becoming increasingly popular. Man on the Go is one. Here is a video I contributed over there about the best seats to choose on a flight (of all things).

Most people, however, use video occasionally. Either to mix up the content and keep it fresh, or just where visual is more appropriate than words.

Why Video is Hard

My problem with video is because of the performance. I have the technical side pretty much perfected and it really isn’t tough once you know how. Darren can set up his camera and talk out a video on one take. Chris is another “video natural”. You might be the same. I am not.

I’m a writer rather than a natural performer.

The good news is it does get easier! Just practice. The more you do, and the more constructive feedback you get, the easier it becomes. There are more tips and strategies of course but practice really does make the most difference for most people.

How to Do a Video Post in 5 Minutes

Want to know the easiest way to just do video? YouTube.

Go to YouTube, register or log in. Go to “Upload Video” and you will see there is a feature now where you can record direct from your desktop webcam!

Once you have recorded your video you can use the Embed feature to copy the embed code:

Remember though to paste it into the HTML editing tab of your blog rather than “Visual” otherwise screwy things happen when published.

What if Your Video is Not Public?

If you want to run an online course, and most of my video is this type, then obviously YouTube is not a good answer. Fear not though, you can still do it far more easily than it seems.

I use Flowplayer which allows you to embed videos into your WordPress posts that, unlike most Flash-based video players, will even work with iPad and iPhone. There are WordPress plugins that make the whole thing easier but if you are doing for-profit then you really need a license.

Summary

Don’t get caught up thinking that there is a whole lot of super-technical things you need to overcome. Really the hardest part is doing it. You can improve everything incrementally.

Of course there is gear you can buy, techniques for audio and lighting, and obviously ways you can improve scripting and performance, but the main thing is to try it and see if you and your audience like it.

Let me know if this is something you would like me to talk about more or if there are questions you would like answered. Also let me know your own experiences. Looking forward to seeing what you have to share in the comments …

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Personal Blogging in the 2010s

This guest post is by Karen Andrews of Miscellaneous Mum.

Personal blogging has changed a lot in the last two years. Some writers now run blogs or social media campaigns to extend their profiles for current (and future) readers; some bloggers are using their reach to find or be offered writing work.

The line between ‘writing’ and ‘blogging’ is blurring, which is terrific, but can also be confusing. I know this first-hand. So today I’m going to share with you some points I try to keep foremost in mind. Maybe they’ll help you too.

Making money is possible, but prepare for tough decisions

Here’s a description: you’ve built up a pretty healthy traffic flow, or a solid RSS subscriber count. Long before that, you signed up to an ad network, thinking that by this stage the money would be steadily coming in … except it’s not.

You think about selling private ad spaces, but worry that would be a turn-off for your audience. You’re hesitant about doing sponsored or affiliate-related posts for the same reason. And as for all those opportunities out there in waiting, the longer you’re stuck, the harder they seem to be to grab.

Does this scenario sound familiar? Well, I’ve got a message of hope for the personal bloggers out there. You have one thing on your side. You’re making decisions that matter every day. Here are just a few: how much or little do I reveal about myself or my family? What are some ways I can frame or contextualize a story for effect? What is the best response I can give if I’m challenged about an issue?

What’s needed to answer those questions? Integrity. Look into that part of yourself when asking yourself how far you’re willing to go to make money from your blog. The answer is often there waiting.

Making sure ‘I’ am enough

Here’s another description: you’re chatting to a friend who also blogs, but does so in more traffic-heavy niches (such as entertainment and technologies). You compare the time you spend and your blogging tactics, and are roughly doing it the same way. The difference is that your friend’s site’s hits are triple yours. You start to feel discouraged.

Does this sound familiar? My message this time is a little more sobering. Yes, it can be hard, but this is the time when you need to decide if you are enough. Does it really matter if your traffic isn’t like so-and-so’s? Perhaps your ambitions can be channeled differently, or your goals need redefining.

It never hurts to stop, take a step back, and see what personal bloggers have achieved in recent years. People who live with or are affected by mental or medical challenges, for example, have been able to raise their voices to advocate the networks which support them and are, in turn, worth being supported by others.

Personal blogging isn’t easy—you might be surprised how many other people feel the same way. This is why meetups and conferences are so important: they create opportunities for open discussion and learning among like-minded peers. It’s also worth remembering that your blog will go through its ups and downs, just as all lives do.

If you’re struggling, perhaps take a day—or a week—off to clear your mind and refocus. It might make the difference between two or three mediocre posts or one terrific one. It might make the difference between quitting or sticking it out. At these times we need to take care of ourselves. We’re all worth looking after.

Karen Andrews is an author, publisher, speaker and blogger at Miscellaneous Mum.

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How to Make Your Website Mobile Friendly (And Keep Your Readers Happy)

Is your website content ready for mobile devices?

By the year 2013, forecasts predict that there will be 1.7 billion mobile internet users.

And it’s a pretty safe bet that at least a few of them are visiting your site, and seeing it on a screen that takes up just a few inches.

So what happens when readers feel cramped or have to work hard to navigate your site or read your content?

They leave.

Connection speed can also frustrate readers. A lot of the time, people are trying to access your site on slow cellular data connections. And despite the attempts by providers to increase capacity, it still feels “slow,” since the more they add, the more we consume.

You want both regular and new readers to have a great experience with your site, whether it’s at home on a nice large screen or while they are mobile and seeing it on a tiny device.

Brian Gardner of StudioPress summed it up pretty well when asked about mobile site design.

Many folks spend a lot of time working on the design of their site for modern browsers, but fail to realize the ever-increasing percentage of site visitors that come by way of mobile devices.

Not only is having a great site design important, you also need to prioritize usability and a quality user experience. That’s why we recommend using a plugin like WP Touch.

So how can you make sure your site is up to par for all those mobile readers out there?

Well, as luck would have it, there are some fairly easy things you can do to assure a more mobile-friendly site.

Here are some quick improvements you can make, starting today.

Install a mobile plugin

If you are using WordPress, you can transform your site into a mobile-friendly version in about 30 seconds with a simple plugin.

There are a lot of these plugins out there, but as Brian recommended, WP Touch is a great place to begin. It’s free, and you can customize it in several ways to best suit your site.

Learn more about WP Touch here.

Oh and one other thing about mobile versions of your site. Make sure you give readers the choice of viewing the standard site as well.

There are options in each plugin to do this. There are times when readers will want to view the full website, depending on their device and internet speed.

Note: before you install and activate any plugin, make sure your site has been properly backed up.

Create smart navigation

How’s your site navigation? Creating smart, thorough navigation for your website is a key aspect to making your site mobile friendly.

Make sure you offer readers clear and distinct ways to get to your most important content.

For example, do you see the red tabs along the top of this site? Those are examples of links to cornerstone content. Not only are they great ways to attract traffic, but they are perfect examples of clear navigation.

Write clear content

Now more than ever, you need to grab reader attention instantly.

When your site is being viewed on a much smaller screen, make sure you have compelling headlines that let the reader know she’s going to have a great experience reading this content.

Clear content that gets right to the point also assures readers can digest your material on their mobile devices, even while they’re distracted and busy.

Don’t use too many images

I’ve been guilty of this one. And I’ve also noticed in my analytics that when I include a lot of images in a particular article, I get less traffic reading it on mobile devices.

Lately, I have been limiting my use of images to one or two, and now my articles are getting read more by those with mobile devices.

Images are a great way to get a point across or break up text, but just try to imagine someone reading your content on a really slow connection with a tiny little screen. It might mean you don’t need that 20th image after all.

Notice that Copyblogger has, for most types of content, always had just one single, attention-getting image per post.

Don’t rely on Flash or Javascript

All arguments aside about the relevance of Flash, it is generally a safe bet that not all mobile devices will be able serve up either of these technologies.

Even if they do, it tends to be an extra step or two to actually view the content. The best practice is to stick with plain (X)HTML/CSS standards.

Practice good design

In the non-mobile web version of your site, it might be easier to get away with a few design problems that are far more visible and obvious in the mobile version.

Keep in mind the whitespace around paragraphs and words. If your content is so cramped that it makes readers physically uncomfortable, they might not hang out for very long.

Making your content scannable and breaking up long blocks of text is great for all readers, but even more so for mobile readers.

And cluttered, visually busy sites are hard enough to read on a large screen. Don’t ask mobile readers to go there!

So there are several ways you can begin making your website content more mobile friendly. Get started on a few of these and you will be way ahead of the competition.

(If you’re not sure where to start, the best payoff for the least amount of effort is probably getting a mobile plugin for WordPress like WP Touch.)

Have you recently turned your website mobile and noticed more readers? Fewer?

Share your experience with others in the comments below. And let us know your favorite tip for making your site more mobile friendly!

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How to Ajaxify Your WordPress Site

This guest post is by Jeff Starr, co-author of the book Digging into WordPress.

Injecting a dose of Ajax into your WordPress-powered site is an excellent way to enhance functionality and streamline the user experience. Without touching a line of code, you can harness the power of Ajax to boost performance, improve usability, and fill your site with win.

Ajax enables your web pages to respond very quickly and smoothly to user input by loading only snippets of data instead of the entire page. The WordPress login/registration screen is a perfect example. Without Ajax, logging into the WordPress Admin requires a URL redirection and complete page load. With Ajax, users can log in from anywhere with no redirection or page load required. This translates into a more luxurious, sophisticated experience for you and your users.

Beyond the “coolness” factor, Ajax can also improve the responsiveness and performance of your site. Instead of loading new pages to leave comments, view posts, and share content, Ajax empowers users to interact with your site with greater intimacy and efficiency than ever before. By eliminating page loads, Ajax helps to save valuable server resources and bandwidth, resulting in improved performance for your site. And you can “ajaxify” just about anything: from logins and comments to navigation and updates, Ajax can speed things up, save resources, and make your site better than ever.

WordPress + Ajax = Awesome

Using WordPress, implementing Ajax functionality couldn’t be easier. By installing and configuring a few choice plugins, you can ajaxify your entire site (or any part of it) without touching a single line of code. The trick is choosing only the best plugins for your site, and only what’s needed. There are a zillion Ajax plugins available, but only a handful of them really work as advertised (or at all). Let’s check out some of the best WordPress plugins for adding Ajax to your site from within the comfort of the WordPress Admin.

• Ajax plugins for WordPress comments
• Ajax plugins for user login and registration
• Ajax plugins for the WordPress Admin area
• Ajax plugins for other cool stuff
• Ajax plugins to ajaxify everything
• SEO considerations for ajaxed content

Ajax plugins for WordPress comments

A majority of the Ajax plugins listed in the Plugin Directory are aimed at improving the commenting system. Here are five of the best plug-n-play Ajax plugins for your WordPress comments area:

• WP-Comment-Master: Put simply, WP-Comment-Master ajaxifies the entire commenting system: comment display, comment paging, comment submission, and posting. It features a great Settings page for easy integration and configuration and is definitely one of the best Ajax-comment plugins available.
• iF AJAX Comments For WordPress: Another excellent plugin for ajaxifying the comment-submission process. iF AJAX Comments enables users to preview and post their comments without refreshing the page. It includes a ton of options for fine-tuning required fields, CSS styling, status messages, and more. It also features a host whitelist for tighter security.
• AJAX Comment Page: AJAX Comment Page is a nice little plugin that ajaxifies the display of your comments with a fancy slide-in effect. It works great for paged or unpaged comments and includes a simple Settings page to control the number of comments per page.
• Ajax Comment Preview: So far, this is the best plugin I’ve found for true comment previews. Ajax Comment Preview enables your users to see exactly what their comments will look like when submitted. This plugin uses Ajax to send the preview through WordPress’ “inner voodoo” and then instantly display the results. The plugin features a nice Settings page to control functionality and integrate the comment preview with your design.
• AJAX Report Comments: One of my favorite Ajax plugins, Ajax Report Comments enables your visitors to report inappropriate comments with a single click. The Admin page includes basic settings and an email template. This plugin offers truly tight functionality and amust-have for sites with tons of user comments.

Ajax plugins for user login and registration

Ajax can literally revolutionize the user login/registration/lost-password experience. Instead of requiring multiple clicks and page loads to log into the Admin, here are three plugins that ajaxify the entire process into a single click.

• Login With Ajax: Login With Ajax is a popular, well-ranked plugin (it has over 45K downloads). It enables users to log in, register, and recover lost passwords from the sidebar (via widget) or anywhere in your theme (via the login_with_ajax() template tag). It features a great Settings page with role-specific redirects and custom registration email templates.
• iRedlof Ajax Login: Much more than a login widget, iRedlof Ajax Login adds a complete user dashboard to the top of the screen. The dashboard is pre-styled and includes complete login functionality as well as links to random posts and admin menus personalized to each user according to their role. Downsides: there’s no Settings page, and you need to add updateHeader() to your theme template.
• AJAX Login Widget++: Another good plugin for Ajax-powered login, registration, and password functionality, this one also features login redirect. The login form can be placed in your sidebar with a widget, or anywhere else with add_ajax_login_widget().

Ajax plugins for the WordPress Admin area

On the other side of WordPress, the Admin area is another excellent place to enjoy the smooth and sophisticated comforts of Ajax. Unfortunately there aren’t quite as many Ajax-based Admin plugins to choose from, but here two that are both fun and useful.

• Ajax Plugin Helper: It’s simple: save time while keeping up with WordPress plugin updates. Ajax Plugin Helper lets you activate, deactivate, delete, and upgrade plugins without leaving the Plugins page. Very smooth stuff, and there’s even an “Upgrade All” feature for knocking out multiple upgrades with a single click! Nice.
• Admin Ajax Note: Ever wish you could leave notes and stuff for other admin users? Admin Ajax Note makes it easy with an Ajax-powered notepad in the upper-right corner of the Admin area. Create, edit, and delete as many notes as you want, and share with all users, one user, or none. Good stuff.

These two plugins are great, but it would awesome to add more to the list. If you know of any sweet Ajax Admin plugins, please share them in the comments!

Ajax plugins for other cool stuff

Here are some other keen plugins for ajaxifying different parts of your WordPress site:

• DynamicWP Contact Form: The DynamicWP Contact Form puts a floating Contact button on the upper-left side of the page. Click the button and the dynamic contact form slides into view. Messages are sent via Ajax to keep the user on the same page throughout the process. Snazzy indeed, but the styling is distinct and may need to be tweaked to fit your design.
• AJAX Calendar: An ajaxified version of the classic WordPress calendar, AJAX Calendar enables you to browse the months without reloading the page. It features a link to display all posts for the current month, as well as a caching option to enhance performance. If you’re already using the classic WP calendar, this plugin is highly recommended.
• Ajax Category Posts Dropdown: This plugin is perfect for sites with lots of subcategories. Ajax Category Posts Dropdown lists your categories in a dropdown box. When a user clicks on a category, all posts from that category are displayed via Ajax. Easily display the list in your sidebar via widget, or anywhere in your theme via the acpd_display($acdp_title) template tag.

Ajax plugins to ajaxify everything

One of the coolest things to ajaxify is your WordPress navigation, so that when users click to the next post, it’s loaded instantly and on the same page, without a reload. Here are two awesome plugins that use Ajax to load posts, pages, comments, and archives to basically ajaxify all default functionality on the public side of your WordPress site.

• Ajax For All [Demo]
• AJAXed WordPress [Screenshots]

As with any plugin that greatly modifies WordPress, these plugins involve a lot of options. You’ll need to spend some time to understand and configure them properly. Most of the other plugins mentioned so far are plug-n-play, but Ajax-everything plugins like these require some time to familiarize and customize.

SEO considerations for ajaxed content

As you ajaxify your site, keep in mind that search engines aren’t yet crawling or indexing ajaxed data, so make sure you’re enabling Google et al to find your content. There are numerous solutions to this challenge, the easiest of which involves the use of a well-linked sitemap and actual HTML content delivered via noscript tags.

Also consider SEO when ajaxifying your comments. User comments add content to your web pages, but they won’t be crawled, indexed, or considered in page rank if they’re served with Ajax. For many sites, this shouldn’t be too big a deal, but it is something to think about.

For more information on Ajax and SEO, check out Scott Allen’s article, AJAX, Web 2.0 and SEO.

Wrapping up

These are the Ajax gems that I’ve managed to find, but many other great plugins are available. If you know of any good WordPress Ajax plugins (or themes!), please share them in the comments. Thanks!

Jeff Starr is a web developer, graphic designer and content producer with over 10 years of experience and a passion for quality and detail. Jeff is co-author of the book Digging into WordPress and strives to help people be the best they can be on the Web. Read more from Jeff at Perishable Press or hire him at Monzilla Media.

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Adsense Ready Wordpress Themes

Mention Google Adsense to anyone that is making decent money online, and they will probably have something negative to say about it. It’s true… Adsense doesn’t get the love it deserves. As much as everyone loves to hate on the thought of running Google Adsense on their site and losing site visitors for pennies, Google Adsense did help pave the way to online advertising and affiliate marketing. It’s also safe to say, Google Adsense is the “easiest” way to make money with a web site.

Not only is Google Adsense the easiest way for anyone to make money with an established web site, but it’s also become a huge favorite in the blogging space. The thing about blogging, is so many people are blogging simply to blog, not many people are blogging for money or know how to make money. It’s easy enough for a blogger to copy and paste a code and maybe make a few bucks with Google Adsense.

One the other hand, making blogs that are strictly used for building tight niche sites and monetizing them with Google Adsense is another issue. There are literally billions of different tight niche sites that you could build a mini blog about and make a few dollars a day to a few hundred dollars a day (using Google Adsense) if you get indexed into Google, have decent content and the necessary backlinks.

Whether you are just looking for a new blog theme and would like to try out Google Adsense, or you want to take a stab at the mini blog / Google Adsense game, I’ve compiled a list of the top Adsense Ready Wordpress Themes available around the web. All of the themes I have listed here are free to download, and I’ve also listed a few other useful resource sites at the bottom.

Golod Adsense Ready Theme:
A 3 column AdSense ready theme, which leaves a lot of room for customization and improvement with it’s header, social widgets and right/left columns.

Live Demo | Download | Template Home

Prosense Adsense Ready Theme:
A very simplistic 3 column AdSense ready theme that comes in three different colors. Easy user navigation and not forcing Adsense down the user’s throat, makes this a good choice among other Adsense ready themes.

ProSense | Download Prosense | ProSense Gray | ProSense Blue

Blueiz Adsense Ready Theme:
A simple design with a 2-3 column layout, but the proper ad placement and content, it won’t look like your typical bland Adsense ready theme.

Live Demo | Download

Monetizing the Web Adsense Ready Theme:
A very clean design which blends content and Adsense nicely. Leaderboard, skyscraper, regular banner ads and and content area Adsense spot all availalbe with this theme.

Live Demo | Download | Template Home

SEOMaxAds Adsense Ready Theme:
This theme pack comes with 16 different themes for Google Adsense monetization. From the screen shot below you can clearly see how monetized the site is for Adsense placement as it’s right in the users face.

Live Demo | Download

Other Adsense Ready Wordpress Theme Sources

42 Adsense Ready Wordpress Themes Optimized For Monetization

18 Adsense Optimized Wordpress Themes to Maximize your Contextual Ad Earnings

The Ultimate List Of Adsense Ready WordPress Themes

There is actually a large amount of Adsense Ready wordpress themes out there, but the few I selected have the best layouts and color schemes. If you know how to code a bit, you can easily download any of these themes and throw together a decent looking blog, but keeping the same Google Adsense concept in mind.

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