CleverSage http://cleversage.com Internet marketing, business and emerging technologies Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:25:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 en Domain Extensions Cheat Sheet http://cleversage.com/domain-names/domain-extensions-cheat-sheet/ http://cleversage.com/domain-names/domain-extensions-cheat-sheet/#comments Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:23:43 +0000 CleverSage http://cleversage.com/domain-names/domain-extensions-cheat-sheet/ A domain extensions cheat sheet so you can quickly find an extension at a glance. It is sorted alphabetically by name in addition to being categorized by top-level domains and country-code domains.

Domain Extensions Cheat Sheet  Click here to download

]]> http://cleversage.com/domain-names/domain-extensions-cheat-sheet/feed/ 4 New WordPress Wallpapers http://cleversage.com/graphic-design/4-new-wordpress-wallpapers/ http://cleversage.com/graphic-design/4-new-wordpress-wallpapers/#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:49:00 +0000 CleverSage http://cleversage.com/graphic-design/4-new-wordpress-wallpapers/ Unable to find only but a couple WordPress wallpapers that you can use to set your desktop background, we came up with a couple designs:

Blue WordPress Wallpaper

Click here to view full size

Grey WordPress Wallpaper

Click here to view full size

Vertical WordPress Wallpaper

Click here to view full size

Horizontal Bar WordPress Wallpaper

Click here to view full size

]]> http://cleversage.com/graphic-design/4-new-wordpress-wallpapers/feed/ The best WordPress theme collections http://cleversage.com/wordpress/the-best-wordpress-theme-collections/ http://cleversage.com/wordpress/the-best-wordpress-theme-collections/#comments Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:42:27 +0000 CleverSage http://cleversage.com/wordpress/the-best-wordpress-theme-collections/ Choosing a theme can be a tedious process. Sifting through the thousands of available options to find one that will work for you can take hours. Here are some of the best WordPress theme collections (in no particular order):

]]> http://cleversage.com/wordpress/the-best-wordpress-theme-collections/feed/ 109 search box designs http://cleversage.com/graphic-design/109-search-box-designs/ http://cleversage.com/graphic-design/109-search-box-designs/#comments Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:08:45 +0000 CleverSage http://cleversage.com/graphic-design/109-search-box-designs/ A search box is a must-have for any site that offers content. Ideally your search box should be located in the upper right-hand corner of your site (users are accustomed to searching from this location). Here is a spotlight of some search box designs collected from over 100 sites to provide inspiration when designing the search box for your site.

We have categorized the search boxes so you can compare some of the similar styles side-by-side.

Right-Side Icon Search Boxes

Right-Side Search Boxes

Left-Side Icon Search Boxes

Left Side Search Boxes

Search boxes with buttons

Button Search Boxes

Search boxes with “Go” or “OK”

Go & OK Search Boxes

Search box only

Search Box Only

Search box combos

Search Box Combos

Standard search boxes

Standard Search Boxes

]]> http://cleversage.com/graphic-design/109-search-box-designs/feed/ Should there be a standardized WordPress plugin icon? http://cleversage.com/wordpress/should-there-be-a-standardized-wordpress-plugin-icon/ http://cleversage.com/wordpress/should-there-be-a-standardized-wordpress-plugin-icon/#comments Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:57:39 +0000 CleverSage http://cleversage.com/wordpress/should-there-be-a-standardized-wordpress-plugin-icon/ Standardization is a wonderful thing. It allows products, ideas and things to be easily recognizable by the masses. In the online world, standards are an important part of the internet. The RSS icon, the PDF icon, and even online video players have been standardized by offering a play button in the middle of the video.

Addressing the topic of this post, a standardized WordPress Plugin icon would greatly alleviate the countless hours that WordPress users spend trying to hunt for links to download a particular plugin. Just as the little orange square identifies where you can subscribe to an RSS feed or a page with red lines identifies a PDF file, a WordPress Plugin icon would instantly identify the link to download a plugin.

Standard nomenclature and standardization of images makes it easier for users to find exactly what they are looking for when they search online. An icon for WordPress Plugins, I believe, would greatly enhance usability and create better user satisfaction.

To get things started, here’s my attempt (I’m not a graphic designer) at a few icons:

WordPress Plugin Icon

What are your thoughts? If you have any ideas, thoughts, input or icons, send them in and we’ll post them up here.

]]> http://cleversage.com/wordpress/should-there-be-a-standardized-wordpress-plugin-icon/feed/ WordPress popular posts plugins & widgets http://cleversage.com/wordpress/wordpress-popular-posts-plugins-widgets/ http://cleversage.com/wordpress/wordpress-popular-posts-plugins-widgets/#comments Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:17:36 +0000 CleverSage http://cleversage.com/wordpress/wordpress-popular-posts-plugins-widgets/ If you are looking to improve and enhance your site, offering a link or list of the most popular posts in your site is a great feature.  This allows visitors to your site to view your best and most useful content.  There are several plugins and widgets available that take the hard work out of displaying the most popular posts, articles and content on your site:

Daily Top 10 Posts

Daily Top 10 PostsIf you want to know how much hits your posts are receiving on a daily basis, then the Daily Top 10 Posts plugin is just for you. What it does is track the hits of each blog post for the current day and cumulatively at the same time. You may also display sidebar widgets containing a list of the most popular posts for the day and most popular posts overall.

Daily Top 10 Posts Plugin

JAW Popular Posts Widget

JAW Popular Posts WidgetAdds a sidebar widget that shows the most popular posts. Requires the Sidebar Widgets plugin from Automattic and the Popularity Contest plugin by Alex King.

JAW Popular Posts Widget

Most Popular Categories by Posts

Most Popular Categories by PostsMost Popular Categories by Posts is a WordPress plugin that allows you to list your blog’s most popular categories based on the number of posts assigned to those categories within a user-configurable time period. What a mouthful. Basically, it allows you to display the categories with the most posts this week, this month, this year, etc.

Most Popular Categories by Posts

 Most Popular Posts - WordPress Widget

Most Popular Posts WidgetThis widget allows you to display the most popular posts on your WordPress-powered site.

Most Popular Posts Widget

Most Wanted - A Popular Posts Plugin for WordPress

Most Wanted - A popular posts plugin for WordPressThis WordPress Plugin which lists the most popular posts in a blog, according to the records held by StatTraq.  MostWanted lists the most popular posts on a wordpress powered site.  This list can be used in the sidebar to provide visitors with an indication of what are the most visited pages.

Most Wanted - A popular posts plugin for WordPress

Popularity Contest

Popularity ContestThis plugin will help you see which of your posts are most popular. Views, comments, etc. are tracked and given configurable point values to determine popularity.

Popularity Contest

]]> http://cleversage.com/wordpress/wordpress-popular-posts-plugins-widgets/feed/ WordPress Title Tag Plugins http://cleversage.com/wordpress/wordpress-title-tag-plugins/ http://cleversage.com/wordpress/wordpress-title-tag-plugins/#comments Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:23:18 +0000 CleverSage http://cleversage.com/wordpress/wordpress-title-tag-plugins/ The titles of your pages are considered by many to be one of the most important on-page SEO factors for your website and pages. By optimizing them to achieve maximum results, you not only increase your visibility in the search engines, but you can also greatly enhance their aesthetics and call-to-action.

For your site(s) you may sometimes require more customization or flexibility than is standard with a WordPress install. These plugins will allow you to modify and display your page titles to your precise specifications:

Optimal Title
Optimal Title Plugin

Optimal Title is a WordPress plugin that mirrors the function of wp_title() exactly, but moves the position of the ’separator’ to after the title rather than before. This allows you to have your blog name tacked on to the end of the page title instead of having it appear first.
Optimal Title

Reverse Title Plugin
Reverse Title Plugin

“A reverse breadcrumb in the title.” The Wordpress default is the latter of the examples above so I wrote a plugin and a bit of code to reverse the title tag. This is not rocket science, but I thought it might help out some beginners.
Reverse Title Plugin

SEO Title Tag Plugin
SEO Title Tag Plugin

SEO Title Tag makes is dead-easy to optimize the title tags across your WordPress-powered blog or website. Not just your posts, not just your home page, but any and every title tag on your site! If this plugin, along with a few hours of keyword research and copywriting of optimized titles, doesn’t make a significant impact on your search traffic, you’re doing something wrong!
SEO Title Tag Plugin

]]> http://cleversage.com/wordpress/wordpress-title-tag-plugins/feed/ Alex Tew & The “Million Dollar Home Page” http://cleversage.com/affiliates/alex-tew-the-million-dollar-home-page/ http://cleversage.com/affiliates/alex-tew-the-million-dollar-home-page/#comments Sat, 15 Mar 2008 18:46:42 +0000 CleverSage http://cleversage.com/affiliates/alex-tew-the-million-dollar-home-page/ Million Dollar Home PageThe “Million Dollar Home Page” was the brainchild of a young college student, Alex Tew. Alex created the site in hopes of earning $1,000,000 by selling advertising on pixels on his site. The ads were sold in blocks of 10 pixels at a cost of $1 per pixel, thus in order for Alex to earn the one million that he was shooting for he would have to sell one million pixels.

The site’s popularity and sales of pixels grew amazingly fast. Started in the summer of 2005, Alex managed to sell over $1,000,000 worth of ad space on his site in just a little over four months. Many contribute the site’s novelty and word-of-mouth that helped sell-out the pixels in such a short amount of time.

After finishing the ad sales for the Million Dollar Home Page, Alex attempted to start another site Pixelotto, which by many accounts was underwhelming and produced mediocre results. However, the site did still manage to bring in over $100,000 in a few months.

Interviews with Alex Tew

Related Articles & Links

]]> http://cleversage.com/affiliates/alex-tew-the-million-dollar-home-page/feed/ Using association membership to build visitor trust and site authority http://cleversage.com/public-relations/using-association-membership-to-build-visitor-trust-and-site-authority/ http://cleversage.com/public-relations/using-association-membership-to-build-visitor-trust-and-site-authority/#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:24:42 +0000 CleverSage http://cleversage.com/public-relations/using-association-membership-to-build-visitor-trust-and-site-authority/ One of the most powerful ways to build the trust of your site’s visitors is by becoming a part of professional organizations and associations. By showing affiliation with established and trusted entities, you show that you have conformed to guidelines, rules and standards. Joining these types of professional groups not only enforces in your visitor’s mind that you are willing to adhere to best practices, but associate with individuals and companies that follow these same standards.

In addition to the networking, education, discounts, etc. that are typically part of these types of associations you also gain some often overlooked benefits.

  • Use of the association’s logo or badge on your website

    Many organizations allow you to use their logo or a website badge to place on your site. This builds trust in a visitor’s mind (whether real or perceived) that you are alright to do business with. Whether online or off you see badges and logos of associations used all around you. They are used to build trust and provide an aura of safety (government seals, police officers, secure site badges), all attempt to look official and offer feelings of comfort and trust.

  • Many offer a link to your site from theirs

    Associations often offer a membership directory that includes a link to your site. While this does promote to the visitor’s of that association’s site that you recommended to do business with, you simultaneously receive a link from a high-quality, trusted and authoritative site.

  • They enhance your awareness of your own operation/website

    Part of the process for joining many associations is that you follow certain procedures that have been set in place. This is a mutually-beneficial aspect of becoming a member of a group. The guidelines that you must follow not only ensures a sound and ethical membership base, but makes your business/website adhere to these rules also. Often you will find that this raises the bar for your site and makes you aware and more conscious of some areas of your site that you might have overlooked.

  • Many logos and badges are instantly recognizable by many website visitors

    This somewhat goes hand-in-hand with being able to display the logos and badges of the sites that you are a member of. Many visitors will recognize some of the logos and badges that they see when they are browsing websites and trust is automatically built.

Finding and deciding which organizations to join can be a lengthy and costly process. Look within your industry and select the groups that most closely align with your site/business. Also, you should look at general associations you can join like the Better Business Bureau or your local Chamber of Commerce.

]]> http://cleversage.com/public-relations/using-association-membership-to-build-visitor-trust-and-site-authority/feed/ Does your site have a favicon? http://cleversage.com/usability/does-your-site-have-a-favicon/ http://cleversage.com/usability/does-your-site-have-a-favicon/#comments Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:53:12 +0000 CleverSage http://cleversage.com/usability/does-your-site-have-a-favicon/ If you have ever noticed a little image in the address bar or in the favorites/bookmark menu of your browser while you are surfing websites or bookmarking pages, you have seen an example of favicons in action. Having a favicon built into your site allows you to further brand and promote your site.

Where favicons appear

  • When visitors bookmark your site in their favorites/bookmarks menu.
  • To the left of your domain name in the address bar of your browser.
  • Many browsers now display favicons in tabs next to the page title.

How to create a favicon

  1. Create an image that is 16 pixels high by 16 pixels wide.
  2. Save the image you just created as “favicon.ico.” However, many browsers are now supporting the .GIF and .PNG file types.
  3. Upload this image to your site (root directory is preferred)
  4. Put the piece of code below in the <head> section of your site:
    <link rel=”icon” href=”http://YourSiteHere.com/favicon.ico”>
  5. You’re done, be sure to double-check to ensure that it is now working properly

 

WordPress Favicon Plugins

WordPress Logo

  • Admin Favicon - Creates a link to a favicon in the header of the Wordpress admin console.
  • Favicon Manager - Allows you to manage the different aspects of your favicon image.
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