this is a re-post from Creative Nerds

Cropping function is called image_resize and it is located in media.php.

Step1. Open media.php file under wp-includes folder.
Step2. Find the function named “image_resize_dimensions” (Around line 309). Unfortunately this function is not pluggable and doesn’t use any hooks so we will edit it directly. Find the lines:

1 $s_x = floor( ($orig_w – $crop_w) / 2 );
2 $s_y = floor( ($orig_h – $crop_h) / 2 );

Step3. Those two variables define the start point of crop that will be used. Here is a sample image that will be cropped with those variables shown:

Step4. If you want top of part of the image as post featured image then $s_y value must remain zero. So we change that line to:
view source
print?
1 $s_y = 0; //floor( ($orig_h – $crop_h) / 2 );

Step5. Save the file and upload it to wp-includes folder.

Last Step. A post image is cropped at the first time it is uploaded. To update thumbnails you need this great plugin called Regenerate Thumbnails. This plugin takes post thumbnails and crops them again using your latest media settings. After you install it click on the “Regenerate All Thumbnails” button under tools. It will automatically crop all the post thumbnails again. This will take a minute or two depending on your server and number of posts you have. After the regeneration is complete all your thumbnails will be cropped from top.

From: Shailan.com

If you blog, you know that it’s good for your business.

But how — and how much?

To answer to those questions, I looked at data from 1,531 HubSpot customers (mostly small- and medium-sized businesses). 795 of the businesses in my sample blogged, 736 didn’t.

The data was crystal clear: Companies that blog have far better marketing results. Specifically, the average company that blogs has:

* 55% more visitors
* 97% more inbound links
* 434% more indexed pages

Take a look for yourself in the graphs below:

Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/5014/Study-Shows-Small-Businesses-That-Blog-Get-55-More-Website-Visitors.aspx

We write a lot of content. For ourselves and for our clients and all of that content writing has tought us a few things.

Most people are unknowingly messing up the effectiveness of their web site content, so here is a list that we found that should help you out: Nine SEO mistakes that we see people making with their content all the time

A milestone in the growth of your ecommerce business is when you realize you have outgrown your current web platform and need to upgrade. Maybe you nailed it the first time around and picked a terrific, scalable platform. But oftentimes, first-time site owners opt for the low cost, set-your-site-up-in-10-minutes option that starts to burst at the seams once they achieve a modicum of success.

When this occurs, site owners are sometimes paralyzed into inaction because they have already gone through so much heartache with their current providers, or fear that any change they make will result in continual problems. Well, change isn’t always easy, but there is a defined process you can go through to make your transition to a new system go smoothly. This article is not about which ecommerce platform to choose, but the steps to take as you prepare the move to a new platform.

1. Domain Name Issues

If your move involves a new web host, make sure your domain registration is in order. By this, I mean that you are listed as the owner and administrative contact for the domain name, and you have the ability to log into your domain account and update the domain name servers (DNS). If what I just said sounds like gibberish, I would start by going to DomainTools and typing your domain name into the “Whois Lookup.” Unless you have a private registration, you should see your domain registration information display on the page. The problem that can lead to heartache is when your previous provider has registered your domain name. When that happens, it can take a little finesse and negotiation to gain control of your domain so you can move it. Start on this process early to avoid problems when you are ready to make the move.

2. Impact on Current Processes

The growth of your business usually requires streamlining and automating business processes. Research how your new platform integrates with shipping vendors, accounting systems, and payment processors. Consider that the more your business matures the more fine-tuned your needs could become. Before you switch, confirm that the new solution offers reports and systems to suit your business, and that the solution will tie into whatever third party vendors you currently use.

3. Security Certificates

If you have an SSL (secured socket layer) certificate associated with your current website, you will need to move it to the new server. If you are not sure about the status or existence of an SSL, go to the checkout pages of your site and see if the URL in the address bar shows “https://” followed by your domain name. If the address shows the address of your provider and not your own domain, then you are likely using a shared certificate. Determine if the new provider offers a similar shared certificate or if it requires you to purchase a new one. Moving your certificate is not typically difficult, but does require some technical know-how. And, you don’t want to overlook the certificate transfer or leave it for the last minute. Not all certificates are compatible with all web server software. So make sure your current certificate will work before making the move.

4. Moving the Data

A site migration can range from mildly challenging to arduous. A key component is how easy it is to move your data from one system to the other. Ideally, you can export your products, accounts, and orders into a simple comma-delimited or tab-delimited format and then import the data into the new system. The more complex your products are, the more difficult it will be to import your data, particularly if you have complex product options. Most ecommerce systems will provide some explanations or charts of their database structures. If this information is confusing, then solicit the help of a professional for this part of the project. Product data is pretty straightforward. Order and order history data varies much more from system to system. Moving order data from your old system to your new system might not be realistic.

5. Avoid Search Engine and Linking Glitches

If your business success has been built on good organic search engine placement, that success easily evaporate if your new system generates different page URLs. Before making any move, study the page titles and URLs of some sites using the new system. Be sure that you will be able to adjust the page titles and URLs so they are identical to your current site. The next best option is install 301 permanent redirects of old URLs to new ones. This means that you create a file on your server that will direct web browsers and search engines to a new URL on your site that replaced a previous one and tell them that the change is permanent. Check with your new provider to be sure one of these options will be available to you.

6. Email Interruptions

Keeping your email flowing is key during the possible chaos of a site move. I recommend that you have a way to check email on the old server as well as the new server, or temporarily forward email going to the old server, for at least 48 hours after the move. Review all the accounts and aliases that your company uses. Sometimes site owners lose track of their list of email addresses and don’t correctly set them up in the new environment. Once the new site goes live, test every address and every form on the new site to make sure the email is functioning correctly.

7. Determine the “Live” Date

This is the crucial step to make a site transition happen quickly. At least 48 hours before you move your site to the new platform, log into the server management account at your old provider and update the DNS records so the time-to-live (TTL) is established within 300 seconds. This is a fairly technical subject; but by taking this step, when you actually update your DNS servers, the changed address information of your website should spread across the Internet within five minutes. If you are unable to adjust the TTL, then you dependent on the global Internet routing system as far as whether a site visitor sees your old or new site when he enters your address.

8. Test First

Before making your site live, place some test orders and confirm that the new site is connected with your payment processing system. Better to work out those bugs before actual customers are ready to order.

9. Schedule the Transfer

I recommend doing the cut over very early in the morning, say 1:00 a.m., before most of your customers are active. If you were able to establish the TTL, then the change should happen almost instantly and you can do your test orders and make sure all links are working correctly. If you have access to the log files on the old and new servers, you can see what is happening to your site’s traffic. Checking these files throughout the day is a good idea, as it will also show you if visitors are getting to pages that no longer exist.

10. Keep the Old Site

Keeping the old site active for an overlapping month is a good strategy. This gives you time to archive all old files and make sure that you didn’t miss a vital file, script, or piece of information.

Summary

Migrating your web site can definitely presents challenges, but following these steps will ease the transition and keep your website operating smoothly.

by Practical eCommerce

by doshdosh.com

Social media marketing is the process of promoting your site or business through social media channels and it is a powerful strategy that will get you links, attention and massive amounts of traffic.

There is no other low-cost promotional method out there that will easily give you large numbers of visitors, some of whom may come back to your website again and again.

If you are selling products/services or just publishing content for ad revenue, social media marketing is a potent method that will make your site profitable over time.

Those who ignore the efficacy of social media usually fall into three categories; the ones who don’t know much or anything about social media, the ones who are interested but don’t know how to use it and those who don’t believe in the value that a social media strategy can bring to any site or business.

The Value of Marketing Through Social News Websites

For those who don’t understand or see the value of social media websites, let’s take a look at the benefits of creating viral content and effectively promoting them through social media channels.

Developing link baits and successfully getting it popular on various social media websites like Digg and StumbleUpon will lead to multiple benefits for any website:

• Primary and Secondary Traffic. Primary traffic is the large amount of visitors who come directly from social media websites. Secondary traffic is referral traffic from websites which link to and send you visitors, after they come across your content through the social sites.
• High Quality Links. Becoming popular on social news websites like Digg or Reddit will get you a large number of links, some of which may be topically relevant, some not. A good story can realistically acquire a large number of high quality editorial links, most of which cannot be easily bought.

Now let’s translate this into tangible benefits for your website:

1. Links = Better Search Engine Rankings.

When a website receives a large number of natural, permanent links from trusted domains, it develops authority. Search engines trust it. If you optimize your linkbait and website structure properly, you can easily start ranking for competitive keywords, which will in turn bring in search engine visitors.

Do this often enough and your search traffic will undoubtedly increase. In a sense, you are obtaining these quality links through borrowed trust. Many bloggers and webmaster still think that if an article is on the Digg or del.icio.us homepage, then it’s probably worth checking out and referencing through a citation link.

A new website may find it difficult to gain links from a critical mass that is not familiar with it but a trusted social news resource makes it easier for links to come in, because the community and buzz has somewhat ‘certified‘ the value of the site. Note that the actual strength of the article is still of utmost importance for all.

2. Primary + Secondary Traffic = Community/Supporters.

Some people claim that social news websites only send useless traffic, visitors that will often just view a specific webpage and click away. Yes, that’s usually the case. Sites like Digg are notorious for their poor bounce rates: many visitors drop in for the article and then leave after reading it. StumbleUpon is much better in this aspect.

But don’t mistake this with a lack of interest. Your subscriber figures will often take big jump up and then stabilize after a few days. If your entire site is relevant to the general interests of the social media website, there will always be a handful of social users who will start to track your site in order to submit future content.

Detractors also ignore the power of ultra targeted secondary traffic. General sites or blogs in the same niche will link to a story that’s popular on social sites, because it adds value for their readers or users. This is done naturally on a daily basis for many.

While primary traffic usually comes in a larger volume, I would argue that secondary traffic is more valuable. Why? Because links from other websites bring visitors who are very likely to be interested in your content. These citation links demonstrate recognition of your site in the eyes of others. It builds your brand.

Think of the social news site as a platform or a soapbox. As something that gives you a chance to be heard or read, even for a brief moment of a few hours. The people who are drawn to your message will visit your site and recommend it to others.

Four Reasons to Practice Social Media Marketing

Why bother exploring social media as a marketing channel for your website or business? After all, you could stick to link exchanges, search advertising or the purchase of banner and editorial ads on relevant sites.

Here are some reasons why you should consider using social media:

1. It’s natural. Not only do you get natural links without any discernible pattern, your website is exposed to large groups of people in a spontaneous fashion. This differs from paid advertising which has overt commercial overtones.
2. It’s defensible. Once successfully mastered, social communities can be a great source of web traffic on top of any traffic you are already receiving from search engines. While you can’t easily increase your search engine traffic, social media traffic can be very easily controlled through strategic marketing.
3. It’s low-cost/high returns. If done by yourself, costs are limited to only time and perhaps the expenses involved in hiring a freelance programmer/designer. The benefits will often exceed the cost. It would take you thousands of dollars to buy many links; social media has the ability to give you that for free.
4. It complements other efforts. Social media optimization and marketing is usually community-specific. It doesn’t interfere with any other methods of getting traffic to your website. It can and will fit perfectly with an advertising campaign targeting other websites or search engines.

So How Does Social Media Help Me to Make Money?

It doesn’t. At least not directly. Every site or business that wants to expand and become profitable, needs a core group of supporters who will be willing to make purchases or recommend the site to others. Your site needs to perpetuate itself.

The more supporters you have, the faster word spreads about your site. Social media marketing is an excellent way to get people to come into your site to take a look at at what you have to offer. You will grow when there are a group of loyal visitors ready to always act upon what you have to offer.

Because social media websites can be leveraged for links and better search rankings, they can greatly increase your site’s income potential. For example, you will be able to price ads higher or generate revenue from any paid business models.

Why Bloggers Should Learn How to Use Social Media

There are many ways to build a popular blog and many methods to promote your website. For example, you can start leaving comments regularly on many high traffic blogs in your niche or perhaps, consider guest posting on other bigger blogs.

My marketing strategy for blogs is very simple. I don’t comment actively, hold contests or write guest posts. I’ve never done any of that for any blog I’ve ever set up. Some people might enjoy doing it but its just a little too tedious for me.

What I do instead is strategic. I focus on creating just one excellent blog post, which I will then push through social media sites and email pitches to other bloggers. This is straightforward and I don’t have to run around many blogs putting up my URL and thinking of something insightful to say.

Think about it. Why write 50 guest posts for 50 different blogs when you can easily just write one article and get an equal amount of links and greater traffic through the use of social media? Guest posting builds relationships but I reckon there are many more powerful ways to network with others.

It isn’t just about creating articles and then promoting them on social sites as an afterthought. It’s about putting social media in the center of your marketing strategy, optimizing your site or content and making it an attention magnet.

Social Media and It’s Potential for Your Site: An Example

I recently launched a new blog a months ago and took around 20 hours to create a feature article. I subsequently promoted it on various social websites through my own influencer profiles. I also sent out emails to large sites in the same niche.

The article eventually got to the Digg, del.icio.us and Reddit frontpage and received over 140+ reviews on StumbleUpon. It accumulated well over 800 unique links, including some from very heavily trafficked websites. Some of them alone sent more traffic than the frontpage of del.icio.us.

The article is more than a month old and it is still receiving incoming links. Subscribers are up by over 800% and I received around 12K pageviews everyday for the first month. Bear in mind this is only a one month old site.

While not every article in every niche will receive the same amount of attention or success, this illustrates the great potential of social media. I’ve become a firm believer in having a solid social media strategy for every website I develop. It is important for success on every level, even for sites that are already popular.

Fundamentals of Social Media Marketing: An Article Series

Social media marketing is not difficult at all. It is something every one can do with some effort and knowledge. It isn’t some secret art form that only experts can master. Unlike other skills, social media has a remarkably low barrier of entry. Everyone is invited to the party. No one is excluded.

I know how social media works. I know what type of content/bait works for different websites. I know what type of marketing strategy to adopt for a high possibility of success. This knowledge is something you can acquire yourself too.

Now that I’ve illustrated the value of social media, a step by step introduction to social media websites and the appropriate marketing strategies to adopt is in order. I plan to start an article series on DIY social media marketing, to teach absolute beginners and bloggers/webmasters what they need to do for social media success.

Some of the advanced social media strategies I have in mind might not be appropriate for a large audience as they can be extremely intricate; unless you’re an active user of the site, it probably isn’t something you’ll appreciate reading about.

I might consider setting up some private newsletters or forums for these advanced tactics, so those who are serious about learning about them can opt-in and we can discuss them away from the public arena. More details later on.

I’m quite sure most of you will find this article series useful so if you have any specific topics you want to see addressed, feel free to drop your query in the comments.

Recent announcements with the way Google Pagerank flows via nofollow links at Google has bloggers… concerned. So, this has prompted a new WordPress plugin that rewards regular contributers with a link, but removes the actual link from comments from those that haven’t bothered to continue participating on your blog past that first comment.

So Basically;

• Regular commentors will get a dofollow link that passes link love – with this, you really reward regular contributors
• Those with less than say 3 comments will not get a link at all (although you can modify this) but when they do hit 3 comments, hey presto, link love, and with anchor text value!
• Pagerank won’t evaporate through nofollowed links from link droppers because they won’t be links!
  You can see it in action below once comments appear (or on any other post on the WebDog site) when you comment.

What does this mean? Well, if we’re to believe Google, this may help increase the amount of pagerank circulating on your site and indeed improve your overall Pagerank score, just by watching who you’re linking to using nofollow.

Download the plugin here – It works on WordPress 2.8, and should be backward compatible (though clearly no warranties – it’s free – use at your own risk)

We are using this plugin ourselves, so if you want a link on your comment, be sure to participate in the discussion often!

Installation is simple – just install as you would any other plugin, and go to the admin section (Settings > Hobo Link Love) and ensure in the field;

“Keep dofollow off comments less than some number of days old?” – You insert the value ‘0′.

This plugin is based on Lucia’s LInky Love so you MUST UNINSTALL THAT PLUGIN FIRST FOR IT TO WORK (if you have that installed).

We get asked “The million dollar question” all the time:
Can someone tell me the best way to help my posts move up the ranks on google?

Here are a few basic concepts to consider

1. Keyword rich and natural site content is the number one way to get your site to rank as well as possible.
2. Tags are meant as a method of cross-posting and linking like content together. If you have 1000 tags with 1 post each then it’s not going to do it’s job. Clicking on a tag should bring you to other relevant content.
3. Avoid having the same content appear in different ways on your site. An example of this would be a category (or tag) archive, if it’s being indexed, with only 1 post will look like duplicate content to the search engines.
4. If WebDog built your site, use the SEO features built into your site. This includes the set it and forget it SEO Settings and the per post/page settings.
5. Always use unique page titles that include key words, but aren’t key wordy
6. Always fill in the image title with a relevant image title and accurate but brief description in the alt field.
7. Always use the SEO settings to give a description and keywords

Some tips on keywords

1. A million other sites are going for the easy, generic key words. This means you are a very small fish in a very big pond
2. The more specific your key word target is, the smaller the pond becomes
3. If you are most interested in traffic from your region, or city then use that in your keywords for an instant boost in the standings.
4. Use Google Adwords to analyze your site to get suggestions on more complex and specific key words. This is free.
5. Don’t use the same keywords on every page/post. The crawlers at Google prefer unique content.
6. Keep a list of the keywords you are using to build on with new pages/posts.

Some tips on building backlinks

1. The more links going to your site the more engines like Google will like you and rank you higher.
2. Building links is best done the hard way, through dedicated service and building relationships with other bloggers/people in your industry.
3. There are many services that will do this for you and you will get a quick boost, but the long term ranking is still going to be based on building relationships.
4. Comment on other blogs with thoughtful and useful comments
5. Use comment love or other services to promote your readers.
6. Spend time in twitter and other social media.
7. Participate in follow Friday, retweet others, and build community, don’t just share your own links.
8. Participate in Stumble, Digg, and similar services.
9. Promote others before yourself and people will see you as an authority. This will eventually cause you to get promoted.
10. Remember that this is usually a long process unless you happen to go viral.
11. There is no good way to force your site to go viral.

Facebook applications are basically like plugins for your Page and there are tens of thousands of them available. Deciding what apps you’d like to incorporate depends on how you’d like to engage with your “likers”.

Here’s a compilation of some must have applications for any Page. They’re great additions to the the basic layout that Facebook provides and they can be used in interesting ways to move your ‘likes‘ into action.

Static FBML
This application is what lets you customize tabs and content on your Page and transform it into part of your brand. The only downside with Static FBML is that you need to have some knowledge of HTML, CSS and Facebook Markup Language (FBML) so that you can create the code needed for content display. Examples of Static FBML in action are the Victoria’s Secret Page, MontBlanc Page and Gary Vaynerchuk Page.

Twitter for Pages
Involver’s Twitter for Pages is a quick and easy way to bring your Twitter stream into a tab of its own so that people can catch up with your tweets from Facebook. Just add and you’re done.

Fan Appz
For serious social media marketing, you’ll want to install Fan Appz on your Page. The Fan Appz application is comprised of a suite of sub-apps. It contains polls, sweepstakes, promotions and coupons and more. There’s even a gift store that you can set-up to monetize your Page with brand merchandise that people can purchase. The advantage of Fan Appz is that instead of having to install individual applications for each one of these functions, you get them all in one central location. Convenient and powerful.

Welcome Tab For Pages
This very simple application lets page owners showcase just about anything. From profiles and businesses to products and upcoming events, the Welcome Tab for Pages is an ideal way to communicate with ‘likers‘ (still hate that word, sigh). This application has a fantastic bonus feature – it comes with its own analytics and metrics so that you can track and measure how your Welcome tab is being received and make adjustments if necessary. Uber cool!

Page Maps
Give your business more visibility by adding a custom map your Page. Highlight your location and include surrounding points of interest too. The Page Maps application displays a mini-map with links to a larger map or directions. In a virtual world, having a map that features your business lets people know that you’re not just an electronic profile, but an actual person and/or company.

Eventbrite
If you have special events, upcoming activities or group gatherings that you need to promote then consider adding Eventbrite to your Page. Created by the online event management and ticketing services company of the same name, Eventbrite publishes an event page directly on Facebook with your event details and a link to buy tickets. Your event is promoted through your newsfeed for all to see (and hopefully attend). Do you have to sell tickets to your event? Not a problem. For a small fee, Eventbrite can help you coordinate ticket sales too.

My Top Fans
Just like it says, this application shows you who your top fans are for your Page (wonder if they’ll rename this to My Top Likes – sorry, I just can’t seem to let it go). The application analyzes interactions and calculates who is sharing and engaging the most with you. Once you find out who’s at the top, why not profile them as a ‘Fan of the Month’ or thank them with branded merchandise, like a t-shirt and post a photo of them wearing it on your Page. Stretch your creative muscles and put this app to work.

SlideShare
Import your existing SlideShare.net presentations from your account directly into Facebook. This application is integrated with the SlideShare application on LinkedIn. That means if you upload a presentation to LinkedIn, it will also show up on your SlideShare application on Facebook and on your main SlideShare.net account and vice versa. A major timesaver, but also a nice social media aggregation feature with SlideShare.

LinkedIn
Since your Page is already promoting your business, services and products, kick it up a notch and make it easy for fans to socially network with you on LinkedIn. Installation of this application is super simple and it gives you the option of featuring a LinkedIn button in a tab or box on your sidebar.

Web Profiles
Show off your other social media profiles with Web Profiles. There are more than 180 different social media platforms to choose from so chances are no matter what site you’re a member of you’ll find it on the Web Profiles list. If your site is more obscure than common you can instantly add it and feature it in your customized complilation. Much nicer than having to email the developer with a request to add and then having to sit back and play the waiting game.

My Countdown
Build up excitement around new product launches, grand openings, give-aways or just about anything that you have going on with your company. My Countdown can be added to any Page to countdown to the big hoo-rah that you’ve got cooking. And, you can customize its appearance and add icons to make it your own.

DivShare
With DivShare you can expand the types of content that you’re sharing with your fans. Instead of being limited to sharing just links, DivShare allows you to attach MP3s, images, videos, documents and just about any other type of file that you can think of. You have the option of posting shared files to your Page, adding them to your news feed or choosing to share among groups of people or individuals. Max files size is 200 MB, which is a more than ample file sharing size.

YouTube is more than just a place to upload your videos. It’s an extremely popular video search engine, an online community and a powerful marketing tool for every business promotional campaign.

YouTube offers marketers the chance to develop great inbound traffic to their business websites, since an interesting and well-optimized video can attract many viewers. As you already know, YouTube is one of the most popular sites on the web. According to Alexa, it ranks as the 3rd most popular website in the world and it receives millions of users per day.

1. Video content

Be original and create interesting videos. Use existing material of your business such as virtual tours, flash presentations, various videos shots and quality images in order to make a clever montage targeting your videos’ theme. Also add music or voice-over for a nice presentation.

2. Video Length

The most popular videos on YouTube have an average length of 3 minutes. This means that the ideal length is between 2 and 4 minutes. Keep in mind that longer videos usually make visitors lose interest.

3. Video Resolution

Upload high resolution videos when your presentation includes slides. It makes them easier to be read.

4. Watermark your video

Add your domain name, your contact details or your logotype, in order to increase the chance to turn video viewers into loyal customers.

5. Optimize your account

In order to post videos on YouTube, you will need to create an account. Make sure you use your brand name as username or/and a keyword term relevant to your videos. Update your YouTube profile, write optimized texts, add links and use the appropriate theme and colors.

6. YouTube search results

YouTube works as a typical search engine regarding listing results. The search algorithm checks the title, the description, the tags, the number of views, the links and ratings of the video. Therefore you should focus to the above factors to make sure that you have fully optimized your videos and get high rankings not only on YouTube but also on Google.

7. Use Captions/Subtitles

Having Captions/Subtitles in your video is something very important since you give the chance to people who do not speak your language to watch them. Lately having captions in videos become easier since YouTube uses experimental speech recognition technology to provide automatic timing for English transcript.

8. Include a URL on the top of description

When you post a video make sure you add a URL before the descriptive text. In that way, even when the “more info” option is collapsed, the user will still see the link and he/she will be able to click it.

9. The commandments

1. Include keywords in your video name, titles & description.
2. Build a video library to make your channel more relevant
3. Activate comments, rates, favorites through your channel
4. Add a link to your website within the description

10. Create a channel with multiple videos

A single video upload does not lead to a successful video campaign. To be successful you must upload content on a regular basis. Don’t forget that the more videos you create, the more chances you will have to attract new visitors and increase your online reputation.

If you follow these tips, you will ensure popularity and higher rankings YouTube Videos and consequently you will increase the traffic of your online business. Don’t forget to have fun while creating your videos. It will surely increase your “optimization” if your feelings are translated in the video’s results!