mad WAHM » Webmaster Stuff

How to Renew or Change Your IP Address

madWAHM — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:00:54 +0000

My son was having some trouble with another kid on one of those online game sites. This other kid was going around trying to get all the players with the highest scores banned by reporting their IP Addresses.

Anyways, so I called my ISP and asked them if there was a way to change or get a new IP Address.

The answer was "YES". Turns out there are several ways to do it. But, for purposes of this example, I'll tell you the fastest and easiest way to do it. What's best - you can do it whenever you want and it's free!

Change Your IP Address:

STEP 1: Turn the power OFF to your router and modem. Unplugging works too.

STEP 2: Wait like 3 to 5 minutes.

STEP 3: Turn everything back on and reconnect to the Internet.

That's it!

Now, the downside is that this will only work if your ISP (Internet Service Provider) assigns Dynamic IP Addresses (DHCP). If your IPS assigns Static IP Addresses this won't work, sorry. You have to contact them directly to change your IP Address.

If you don't know whether your ISP assigns Dynamic or Static, it's worth a try.

Here's your IP Address:

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Complete the 3 Steps above, then Refresh this page and see if your IP Address has changed.

Let me know if it works for you!

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WordPress 2.8 Automatic Upgrade – Fatal Error Fix

madWAHM — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:21:59 +0000

WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugins are great, as long as they work!

Now I know why I put this off! After about having a nervous breakdown the other night with a malfunction when I ran the automatic upgrade to WordPress V 2.8 - I decided to let others know how to fix this problem.

Save yourself hours of going out of your mind with this Fatal Error fix.

This Fatal Error fix works when you can't log in to your WordPress admin area.

When I went to log in to my dashboard, I got this error:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: is_site_admin() in /home/content/b/z/3/br306752/html/wp-content/plugins/sem-google-analytics/sem-google-analytics-admin.php on line 20

How to Fix:

STEP 1: Access your site via FTP or your Cpanel or however you do it.

STEP 2: Go to the exact file or php page that's throwing the error and simply RENAME it . Mine was the plugins/sem-google-analytics....... .php. I just put temp- in front of the file name.

Once you do this, it will deactivate the plugin that's throwing the error.

STEP 3: Log in your dashboard. It should let you in now.

Worked like a charm for me! Let me know if you have other fixes!

8 Easy Firefox Tweaks for Super Fast Web Browsing

madWAHM — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 19:01:27 +0000

Fast loading web pages while surfing the Internet may have more to do with your web browser settings and preferences than your Internet connection speed. Try these easy Firefox tweaks and you'll see that you’re surfing the Internet from 3 to 30 times faster!

To get started, open your Firefox web browser. In the address/location bar type [about:config] and then press your Enter key. (NOTE: DON'T TYPE THE BRACKETS.) Tweak #1: In the Filter bar type [network.http.pipelining]. Then, double-click on this line under Preference Name in order to change the value from false to true. Tweak #2: In the Filter bar type [network.http.pipelining.maxrequests]. Then, double-click on this line under Preference Name and change the value from 4 to a higher number anywhere from 10 to 30. I set mine to 30. Tweak #3: In the Filter bar type [network.http.proxy.pipelining]. Then, double-click on this line under Preference Name in order to change the value from false to true. Tweak #4: In the Filter bar type [network.dns.disableIPv6]. Then, double-click on this line under Preference Name in order to change the value from false to true. Tweak #5: In the Filter bar type [plugin.expose_full_path]. Then, double-click on this line under Preference Name in order to change the value from false to true. Tweak #6: In the Filter bar type [network.protocol-handler.external.ms-help]. Now, you are going to create a new Preference Name with an Integer Value. To do this, right-click on this line under Preference Name and select New, then Integer. In the New Integer value box type in [nglayout.initialpaint.delay] and click OK. Then in the Enter Integer value box type [0] (that's a zero) and click OK. Tweak #7: In the Filter bar again type [network.protocol-handler.external.ms-help]. Now, you are going to create another new Preference Name with an Integer Value. To do this, right-click on this line under Preference Name and select New, then Integer. In the New Integer value box type in [content.notify.backoffcount] and click OK. Then in the Enter Integer value box type [5] and click OK. Tweak #8: In the Filter bar again type [network.protocol-handler.external.ms-help]. Now, you are going to create another new Preference Name with an Integer Value. To do this, right-click on this line under Preference Name and select New, then Integer. In the New Integer value box type in [ui.submenuDelay] and click OK. Then in the Enter Integer value box type [0] (that's a zero) and click OK. Now, close your web browser and restart it. You'll see how much faster web pages are loading. I sure did. Let me know if these tweaks increase your Internet browsing speed. Know of any other tweaks or tricks? Let me know and I'll add them.

Free Keyword Suggestion Tools

madWAHM — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:43:21 +0000

Since I've started paying more attention Search engine optimization (SEO) techniques and strategies I wanted to share some of the free keyword suggestion and selector tools that I've found to be useful. 1. Overture Keyword Selector Tool http://inventory.overture.com/ 2. Adwords Keyword Tool https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal 3. Digital Point Keyword Suggestion Tool http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/ 4. Wordtracker Free Keywords http://www.wordtracker.com/ 5. Slow Seo Keyword Selector Tool http://www.slowseo.com/tools/keyword-selector-tool.php 6. SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/ Another useful tool is the Google Traffic Estimator. You can get quick traffic estimates for keywords and estimated CPC averages. Know of any other free keyword related tools? Let me know.

Multiple Google Adsense Accounts

madWAHM — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:58:54 +0000

In a previous post I was complaining about how using Entrecard Effects Adsense CTR and as a result of running both Entrecard and Google Adsense ads on this blog it was wreaking havoc by causing a significant drop in my Adsense CTR and earnings. My Adsense account is actually set up as a business account in my business' name and is therefore attached to the business websites I run. My temporary fix was that I removed most of the Adsense ads from this blog. Next, I decided to see if I could just set up another Google Adsense account. No-dice. It's against Adsense policy to have multiple accounts. But, there's an exception. The exception, according to Google's TOS:

4) I need a separate account for my business * In this case, you may submit a new application. Please make sure that the account type (individual or business) and payee name are different from your original application, and ensure that you can accept payments to that payee.

Wa-la! Since my Adsense account is already set up as a business account, I was hoping I could just do the opposite and set up another account as a individual - personal account. I contacted Google asked. Google's response:

Hi Becky, Thanks for writing in. Please note that you may apply for another AdSense account in your own name. This is not in violation of your policy guidelines.

So, there you have it. Now I can use a separate Adsense account for this personal blog and any others I might create in the future. I guess another way to create multiple accounts would be to set each website up or blog up as a separate business and name. As long as you can receive payments in the names, you'd be good-to-go. What do you think? Do you have multiple Adsense accounts? How do you do it?

Ugly Blogs and Web Sites Make Money

madWAHM — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:17:46 +0000

If you're spending a lot of time worrying about how flashy, cool and hot your website or blog looks, it may be costing you potential revenue. Early last year I read "The Surprising Truth About Ugly Websites" by Mark Daoust. This startling and provoking read examines the ideas and theories behind why ugly seems to sell. Now, I'm not talking about "ugly" as in using those huge bolded fonts, in all caps or harsh and clashing colors. I'm talking about ugly in the sense of plain, basic and without frills. Like sites that are extremely clean, simple and highly functional and that don't focus on design aesthetics, but rather on making their sites unbelievably user-friendly. As far as websites go - Plenty of Fish, Wikipedia, eBay, Google, Amazon, Craig's List, My Space, YouTube and Ryanair are all perfect examples of ugly websites yet they are all hugely successful. For example, Plenty of Fish earns over $10,000 per day on Google Adsense. That's over $300,000 per month. Yet when you look at this free online dating site, it is plain, simple and basically an ugly website. Recently, after reading How to Make Money with Adsense on Grizzly's How to Make Money Online Blog, I got to thinking about the ugly website concept again and how it relates now to blogs and Google Adsense revenue. I'm not going to go into the details about how Grizzly does it, you can have a read for yourself. But, his blog is certainly a great example of an ugly blog that makes money. So, where's the beauty in ugly blog or web sites? Besides their money making potential, what I've found is (not necessarily in this order) they all have some common factors: 1. The Trust Factor. I don't care who you are - people hate being marketed to (at least they think they do). I don't like the idea of anyone trying to sell me something either. We all like to believe that when we buy something, it's not because we were lead by advertisers, marketing teams or pushy sales people. Rather, we tell or convince ourselves we weren't lead or seduced into buying at all. Instead, it was of our own conscious choice and decision to do it. Why? We don't always trust the motives of big players with big money, right? The beauty of ugly sites is that it may be easier to convey that the site doesn't have a pushy marketing team who's trying to sell something, but rather an individual or mom & pop site who's focused on providing you with something you want or need on a more personal, authentic and honest level. By keeping it real, these sites may be provoking the notion that they are therefore, trustworthy. 2. The User-Friendly Factor. People want to be able to find and use the information, tools and/or resources with ease. The beauty of ugly sites can be found in sheer simplicity by providing users with no-brainer approaches and methods for using and navigating their sites. 3. The Content Factor Gerry McGovern points out that the fact is, we don't spend our time looking at websites. We spend our time reading and using them. There are three things a great web design must be: useful, useful and useful. The beauty of ugly sites can be found in their purpose and focus of providing an abundance of useful and quality content rather than flashy ads, slow-loading graphics and other web design clutter. As with everything, there's got to be a proper fit. So, I'm not saying that as a general rule every site should follow the ugly rules. For example, sites like Gucci, Mercedes and Disney wouldn't fit. These sites are all about beauty, glamor and glitz. Since dabbling in the blogging arena the past few months, I have found many sites that I think would do better if they played by the ugly rules. Blogging is largely about content and if I can't easily navigate a blog or they take too long to load - I click away. In fact, now that I think about it, the blogs I tend to read and subscribe to are the ones that apply the ugly rules. They're fast loading, basic, simple and easy to navigate – free from clutter. I hate clutter. Think about it. Do your favorite blogs and sites follow the ugly rules? Come to think of it, back in 2006 when I started a work from home jobs site it followed the ugly rules (not on purpose). I started making money from Google Adsense immediately. You can see by my 2006 Adsense Earnings. By the end of Dec 2006, I decided that my site looked too plain and I wanted to make it look better so I made it prettier. Looking back, I think this was a mistake. This is precisely when my Adsense earnings started to drop. Until I did this, my earnings were consistently increasing each month. On the other hand, maybe I've got it all wrong. Maybe ugly websites are profitable and successful because visitors are willing to click on ads just to get away from them? What do you think?

Entrecard Effects Adsense CTR

madWAHM — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:49:23 +0000

I've been a member of the new Entrecard program for a couple weeks now and really love the traffic it generates to my blog! With that being said, I have noticed a huge hit to my Google Adsense CTR. Since a lot of card droppers will just drive-by and drop their card - they are not sticking around to read posts or visit advertiser links - this causes a rock-bottom Adsense CTR. As a further result, since I use Adsense on a couple other sites, it was costing me my Adsense revenue. So as to continue to benefit by Entrecard traffic but reduce the damage to my Adsense CTR, I did some rearranging of my adsense ads on this blog. First, I removed the ads from Main Index, Header and Sidebar. Then, instead, I added the ads to my Pages and Single Posts. The way I see it, visitors who click on pages and single posts are the ones who are interested in your content and are more likely to visit the advertiser and sponsor links anyways. The results were immediate! Now, I continue to benefit from the Entrecard traffic while keeping my Adsense CTR in check and at a higher performing rate. How about your Adsense CTR? Have you been affected? What have you done about it?

I DoFollow. Do You?

madWAHM — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:40:50 +0000

Although being mean, nasty and rude can be loads of fun, I DoFollow now - do you? If you don't know what I'm talking about - sit up and pay attention. Wordpress by default, just like other blogging platforms, has automatically been adding the "nofollow" microformat extension to all links from user generated content such as comments and trackbacks - thus giving no credit to these outbound links. Which basically means, these links are not being recognized by Google or other search engines that would otherwise help increase pagerank and popularity. So now, on the rare occassion I get an accidental visitor to this blog and they take the time to fill out the form and leave me comment, I've installed a plugin that automatically removes the WordPress "nofollow" tags/attributes that link to their website. If you want to be a generous blogger (like me) and encourage more comments and discussion on your blog, you can download and install one of these Plugins too. Andy Beard features the Ultimate List of Nofollow & Dofollow Plugins. What's more, there's a No NoFollow| I Follow| Dofollow community on Bumpzee.com where can also get one of those UComment - IFollow graphics for your site.

Google PageRank vs Izea RealRank

madWAHM — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:34:01 +0000

A few months ago many bloggers took a major hit to their Google PageRank (including me). Hit hardest were bloggers who do paid blog posting and link selling advertising. So, for a small-timer like me - going from a PR 3 to a PR 0 was like getting punched in the gut. If you haven't heard about this controversy, you need to crawl out of that rock you've been living under because there's a new kid in town. IZEARanks.com (parent company of Pay Per Post) has recently launched a new tool that ranks bloggers based on their actual traffic and influence and is causing a big shakeup in the blogosphere. Google's PageRank is basically derived from backlinks and popularity - where IZEARank RealRank, similar to Alexa, relies more on actual traffic. IZEARank - RealRank breakdown: 70% weighted towards visitors per day. 20% weighted towards amount of ACTIVE inbound links per day. 10% weighted towards pageviews per day. So, a couple weeks ago I opted-in to the new IZEARank Blog Ranks system. Already a member of PayPerPost, I immediately noticed an increase in the number of higher paying opportunities that I qualified for. And, unlike Google's PageRank that only seems to update Pageranks every couple to few months, RealRank stats are in real-time and updates constantly. I really like the fact that I can see, on a daily basis, how my blog is ranking. Now, you don't have to be a PayPerPost blogger to use IZEARanks. Further, since the code is different, you don't have to worry about a hit from Google either. Simply insert a small piece of javascript on your blog and it will collect and report your site's RealRank - based on actual traffic. What's more, you can decide if you want to display just your RealRank or if you want to include pageview and visitor stats. Unlike Google, IZEA asks for and welcomes suggestions and feedback. Even better, they promise to continue making their formulas open to the public and provide explanations upon any changes they make. I like this alternative because it's adding a new variable to the mix. What do you think? Try it out and you decide.

Changes in Google Pagerank Again

madWAHM — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 22:46:30 +0000

Looks like Google has started to make some more updates and shifts in pagerank and backlinks. I, for one, noticed an increase in my pagerank today. From a PR 0, I'm up to a PR 2. Problogger reported today that ALOT of their readers are reporting shifts in both PR and back link numbers. Anyone else noticing any differences? Want to check your Google Pagerank, use the Blogflux PR Checker.