In the basic view FeedJit display visitors in real time with the link to the referring page so you can check who sending you traffic right from your front page. If you click on “Watch in real time” link on the bottom of the widget it will forward to the FeedJit website where you can see more extended results.

For example if visitor was referred by the search engine - there will be exact search term he used to find your site. Also it shows browser and operating system visitors are using and if they left your site by clicking on one of the links - you’ll see which link it was. Two more options - visitors map and statistics for most popular pages.

This little widget could be a very nice analytical tool but the drawback is - it does not provide any historical data. All you can get is real time 20 or so results. If at some point developers decide to add some historical traffic results it can be very useful tool, probably even better than Google analytics which is far from being accurate.

Good thing I noticed - this widget loads very fast (much faster than Digg of Feedburner) and does not affect speed of your pages. Everything is external - all you do is insert small code snippet (can use sidebar text widget).

So if you want to have some fun watching who is knocking in the door and how they found you - go check out FeedJit.com and let me know what you think of it. Widget is free to use and does not require registration.

In the default (Kubrick) theme there is only one widgetized sidebar created and you can see it if you go to “widgets” option in the “Design” section of your WordPress admin panel. You can place unlimited amount of widgets there but the problem is - you have very little flexibility how these blocks will look on the front end. Appearance of all elements are controlled by the same styling options assigned to the ID=”sidebar”.

Here is a simple tutorial how you can create new widgetized zones (I call them “zones” since they do not have to be placed in the sidebar), place them anywhere on the page and have full control over the style of each widgetized zone.

Before proceeding with this modifications I assume that you have at least basic knowledge of HTML, PHP and CSS… Just a reminder - always create a back-up copy of every file you are modifying just in case something goes wrong. The easiest way is creating a duplicate file like “functions0.php” - this way you know it was the original.

First step would be - identifying how many widgetized zones you would like to have on the page.
Lets say: one - for the banner in the header of the page, second - for the sidebar, third - for the footer. You can have unlimited amount of widgetized zones even inside sidebar (for example one wide zone on top and two narrow zones in the bottom) but let’s understand how the process works.

Step One - Declaring Widgetized Zones

This first modification has to be done to the functions.php file in your current theme folder. I will explain it on the example of the same default theme. The only part of the code that interest us it’s the first section near the top:

if ( function_exists('register_sidebar') )
register_sidebar(array(
'before_widget' => '<li id="%1$s" class="widget %2$s">',
'after_widget' => '</li>',
'before_title' => '<h2 class="widgettitle">',
'after_title' => '</h2>',
));

Since there is only one sidebar was registered there was no need to give it a unique name.
Getting back to our exercise - we will register 3 sidebars (or widgetized zones) and give every one of them unique name so in the future we have complete control over styles of each of them:

if ( function_exists('register_sidebar') )
register_sidebar(array(
'name' => 'Top_Widget_Bar',
'before_widget' => '<div class="Top_Widgets">',
'after_widget' => '</div>',
'before_title' => '<h2>',
'after_title' => '</h2>',
));

if ( function_exists('register_sidebar') )
register_sidebar(array(
'name' => 'Right_Sidebar',
'before_widget' => '<div class="Right_Bar">',
'after_widget' => '</div>',
'before_title' => '<h2>',
'after_title' => '</h2>',
));

if ( function_exists('register_sidebar') )
register_sidebar(array(
'name' => 'Bottom_Widget_Bar',
'before_widget' => '<div class="Bottom_Widgets">',
'after_widget' => '</div>',
'before_title' => '<h2>',
'after_title' => '</h2>',
));

As you can see we have given unique name to each of our new widgetized sidebars and assigned different classes for styling options.

To check if this step was done correctly login to the admin panel > Design > Widgets and check if you see all 3 of new sidebars in the drop-down box under “Current Widgets”.

Step Two - Inserting Widgetized Zones into Templates

Since we already decided how to use new widgetized zones this process should be quick. Sidebar zone probably will remain in the same place as it is and we should just slightly update “sidebar.php” template file. Near the beginning of the file we are looking for the code:

if ( !function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') || !dynamic_sidebar() )

As you remember we gave this sidebar unique name “Right_Sidebar” and now need to update the code to identify this sidebar:

if ( !function_exists('dynamic_sidebar') || !dynamic_sidebar('Right_Sidebar') )

In similar fashion we will need to insert code for top and bottom widgetized bars into header.php and footer.php files accordingly (don’t forget to back-up both original files).

Step Three - Inserting and Styling Widgets

Now is the fun part! From the admin panel > Design > Widgets select one of the widgetized zones we just created and insert widgets you were intending to use there. For the top bar most likely it’s going to be a “Text” widget with empty title bar. What you need to remember that Wordpress is inserting widgets as an “Unordered List” (<ul></ul>). For each of new widgetized zones you will probably need to add following styles:

div.Top_Widgets {}
div.Top_Widgets h2 {}
div.Top_Widgets ul {}
div.Top_Widgets ul li {}
div.Top_Widgets ul li a {}


Similar for the “Right_Bar” and “Bottom_Widgets” section. You can play with floats, margins, paddings, colors, background colors and images - every section can have it’s unique look.

That’s it! Now you don’t have to dig into the code every time you need to update advertisement banner or change some links - everything is just a few clicks away in the admin panel.

I would also highly recommend to install SuperLinks plugin which replaces original WordPress Links widget. This plugin can be used many times (not like original - only once) in any sidebars and gives you ability to display any selected link categories separately from the rest.

I hope you will find this little tutorial useful and feel free to submit your feedback. Remember - top commentators are getting free site-wide do-follow link in the sidebar!

After you generate some credits (you also have an option to purchase credits directly from EntreCard) you can use it to buy one-day banner ad on the website of your choice. The prices for these ads are determined by how many people are paid and waiting for theirs turn to display the banner. Also every website owner have an option to decline any ads.

Ideally this system should work and if used properly could generate quality targeted traffic. The problem is - not every one understands meaning of Targeted Quality Traffic…

As usual some webmasters are trying to capitalize on popularity of a new program and generate extra traffic to their site with initiatives like “power dropper” and such… In the same time they destroy the whole point of targeted exchange. What they do is provide pre-coded list of EntreCard users which opens up 10 browser windows so user can drop cards quickly. Do you want this kind of traffic? I don’t! Even more - if I was EntreCard owner I would ban these “power drop” inventors form the program instantly!

I would like to see visitors who is actually interested in my site and would not leave as soon as he finds the widget to drop his card. All they do is bringing down value of my site by increasing bounce rate. More and more experienced bloggers who has tried EntreCard program at some point removed are removing widgets from theirs sites.

Another thing that I don’t understand is how some users are creating advertising banners… Placing some photo or cute image on it doesn’t do you any good. When I look on the banner ad - I want to know what the website is about. Insert relevant images or logo with brief description so I can get an idea if I am interested in your site. Otherwise you just wasting my time and even if I go to your site - I will not read your posts, I will not click your ads, and for sure I will never come back… Is that the type of visitors you really want?

Bad banner ad can also cost you potential visitors if you decided to use credits for advertisement on someone else’s site. Same thing - people want to know what’s behind the banner before clicking on it. Misleading ads with beautiful girls for example may catch someones attention and get you a click but not the targeted visitor…

These are two main problems that I see with the way people are using EntreCard program. Do yourself a favor - take care of your ad and stay away from all these artificial traffic exchanges for the sake of gaining credits. Otherwise you will just damage your own reputation and help to destroy potentially good traffic source.

• user friendly
• search engine friendly

Here are some basic guidelines you should follow to satisfy both - human visitors and search engine spiders.

Let’s start with human visitors…
They are the primary target and will define if your site worth to look at. Your goal is to get them interested from the first visit and willing to come back for more information again and again…

Make your site to load as fast as possible

Two major elements that slow down your website are images and external scripts. Always slice background images to the smallest elements possible and optimize them for web.
If you have more than one script powering up your website, like blog and directory for example - create one common “images” folder and use it for both templates.
For all bullets and roll-over elements always use CSS Preload so there is no delay when hover the menus or switching from page to page.
I also recommend to preload any large images, especially if they are located on popular pages of your website.

Be very selective in using widgets or any external scripts on your website - they may freeze your page. Stay away from all those stupid counters and cut statistics scripts to the minimum. If you have a choice - use html/php scripts instead of java and place widget or banner graphics on your own server if possible.
Any flash element will slow your website - try not to use them or cut to the minimum.

Make website navigation clear and consistent

Nothing annoys visitors more than bad navigation! Make sure to place navigation elements in visible area and keep it consistent from page to page. Every page withing your site should be reachable with no more than 3-4 clicks otherwise no one will go there…
If your site has a lot of sections with many deep pages - consider to use drop-down menus to reach those pages faster. Great option is a breadcrumb menu - use it if you can…

Choose amount and type of ads carefully

Everyone wants to make money with his website but remember that visitors are coming for the content, not advertisements. DO NOT stick bunch of ads, pop-ups, fly-ins, anything talking/singing/screaming in front of visitor before he can see what the site is about. All this stuff may earn you one accidental click but loose visitor forever… Analyze which types of ads and areas of ad placements are working the best and get rid of the others.
Display only advertisements directly related to the theme of your site, otherwise you are just wasting ad space and disturb visitors - no one will click on those ads…

Now let’s talk about search engines.
Search engines algorithms are constantly improving in order to being able to recognize content similar to humans and define content quality.

Use external CSS and script files

To keep your pages clean and increase % of content comparing to code. Search engines love content and can easy separate it from the source code. Using external files will also improve page loading time and prevent from potential validation errors.

Properly use meta tags, title tags and alt tags

The first thing search engines see when accessing your pages are meta tags. Make sure always have title and description mata tags inserted in the head section and filled up for EVERY page. Do not use same titles and descriptions for multiple pages - this is a duplicate content and I will talk about it later…
Since search engines can not actually “see” - always insert and fill out alt”" tags for images you are using on the page. Make those descriptions brief but relevant to the subject you are talking about. For example “picture” or “pic1″ are not good descriptions…
In addition to the anchor text for internal links include “title” tag with description where this link will take you. Sometimes you can not use desired text for the anchor - at least you will have descriptive title tag.

Validate your pages for errors

Even though I am not a huge fan of w3c validations it is always good to check pages for major errors. Most of the time errors could be created by included widgets or java-scripts (another reason not to use too many). At least check that your page validates according to the declared DOCTYPE and does not have any broken links.
Validating CSS is also very important for your website to work properly in multiple browsers.

These are just a few basic tips to keep in mind when creating or updating website. If you are planning to hire someone to do web design work for you - always ask for samples of created websites and try to check them for the elements I described…

There is a very good chance that feature I want to include on my blog has been already implemented by someone but I have no idea how he named this plugin or which section he posted it in.

Last time I got lucky thanks to the Pixel Shoppe with his recommendations on plugins that I can use with WordPress blog.

They were describing AdSense Manager plugin which supports multiple ad networks and that’s exactly what I was looking for. In addition this plugin gives you full control over ad placements without need to modify styles or source files.

I found more good recommendations on other WordPress plugins, tweaks and template modifications. General tips for bloggers section they have is also interesting read…

I can’t write about all the good stuff I saw on Pixel Shoppe blog but you can find articles about web design, SEO and marketing, wordpress and blogging, money making tips.

For bloggers, internet marketers and especially for newbies who is just starting out on the internet it’s definitely worth few minutes of your time to read Pixel Shoppe articles or watch some of wordpress video tutorials.

For starters - “Widget” usually is some kind of image, providing statistics or adding interactivity to your site. In most cases it’s powered by java script located on the server of the widget provider. On my site you can see four examples - PayPerPost direct and EntreCard widgets in the gray sidebar, FeedBurner subscribers in the right sidebar and MyBlogLog Latest Visitors in the bottom area of the page.

I don’t see anything wrong with using widgets but some people are taking it to the extreme - they use each and every widget they can find no matter if serves any purpose…

The main drawback with using widgets, like I stated above, it’s hosted on the remote server of widget provider and in many cases - very busy servers. If some of those servers are busy or experience some kind of problems - your own site may freeze or take forever to load.

My advise - before adding any new widgets to your website or blog ask yourself a simple question: is it worth loosing visitors??? Yes this is correct - if your site takes more than 10-20 seconds to load at least half of potential visitors will hit “back” button!

The only reasons for having slow loading widget on your site - if it brings you money (PayPerPost widget in my case) or help you to promote your site (MyBlogLog and EntreCard widgets on my site). Some of widgets are not java-script based and powered by simple php code with link to a regular image. In this case if you like to use this widget - download the image and save it on your own server. This way at least image itself will load even if remote server is down…

I saw a lot of widgets that display your blog ratings in some directories, traffic exchanges and many other useless things. Many of those sites (widget owners) advertise their services as greatest sources of traffic as long as you have widget with a backlink to their site inserted on yours. This is a complete bull$**t!

The only time ranking numbers of your site matter - when you are trying to sell advertising space. For this occasion you can have all those things inserted on one page where you describe advertising options.

One more time: before inserting next cute widget on your site ask yourself one simple question (like Matty in “The girl next door”…) - does the juice worth the squeeze?

I recently joined EntreCard Viral marketing program (look on a little widget in the narrow sidebar). As any other traffic exchange program it’s pretty much useless in order to bring you quality targeted visitors, but can help a little bit to generate some initial traffic.

To find some relevant sites I looked over the list of categories with numbers of blogs submitted. No surprise there - by far the largest number of blogs is listed in category “Making Money Online”. I guess John Chow and Jeremy Shoemoney should watch out - new generation is coming!

So… I visited some of those websites in case I would need to chose where I would like to have my banner displayed. Sadly enough about 95% of those sites are worthless…

Just to give you a clue one of those so called “gurus” suggest to “…write quality content for 5 websites within 3 days…” Can I have some of that good $**t he is smoking???

Than I found this line that explains a lot: “…when author is not teaching how to make money online he is playing guitar…”

One more I repeat - when choosing a niche for the new website PLEASE choose something you are interested in and competent enough to talk about. Otherwise your website will look and you sound just like one of those thousands of gurus…

The interesting part that all most popular names that could be in high demand were reserved and already offered for sale at the premium price anywhere from $1000 to $50,000 . For example “girls.la” or “star.la” are priced at the highest $50K while “kids.la” or “gifts.la” could be acquired for only $1K.

Personally I think these new TLD extensions would work for a local business and can actually be kind of useful to identify company as local. It may be even cute to have your name registered as a domain with local extension if you want to show off where you live…

For the website looking for global exposure this new local domain in my opinion will do no good…

Few years back over 90% of web surfers were using Microsoft Internet Explorer but nowadays other browsers fast gaining share of the market. Most popular are Mozilla Fairfox and Opera.

Even Internet Explorer has released new version (IE7) which works much different from the preceding version (IE6).

Layout and styles configured to work fine in IE may appear all broken or not readable in other browsers. I can guarantee - no one will open another browser just to see your site, so you will loose potential customer.

Multiple browsers can be easily installed on your computer without any interference with exception of IE versions - you can have only one version running.

This is even more important if your site has anything to do with web design services. Recently I did some research on local web design companies just to check competition and found very interesting thing… Some of those companies are claiming to be in web design and development business for years and display tons of feedback from so-called happy customers. Amazingly many of their own sites appears to be very poorly styled and appear broken in Fairfox… Would you consider to hire one of those companies to develop your site? I don’t think so!

So… Take your time to make website multi browser compatible or hire someone to do it for you - you will appreciate it later.