Mozak Design Blog

Why Add Images to Your WordPress Blog?

Grab a copy of the White Pages off your shelf – if you still own one! – and flip open to any page. Where does your eye go first? Are you pulled into the content? Do you want to read more, or are you tempted to simply slam the book shut and stick it back on the bookshelf?

When visitors come to your website, you have a choice. You can make it inviting and pleasant, or you can make it just about as appealing as the innards of the phone book. The only difference? Images.

Images – photos, illustrations, or other graphics — are often the first thing visitors look at. If the image is compelling, visitors stay to check out the text. If the image is poor quality or unappealing – or non-existent! – visitors leave. It’s really that simple.

Here are some ways effectively using images enhances your blog:

1. They break up text. Facing a page of black-and-white text is daunting. Images can give the eye a place to rest, breaking up the flow of an otherwise monotonous page.
2. They lead into the text. Since people look at them first, the images provide a starting point for the rest of the blog post. Good images are like flashing arrows that say, “START HERE.”
3. They introduce the topic. Picking an appropriate, related image gives the reader an idea of what to expect from the post. For instance, a photo of a street sign that says “Bumpy Road Ahead” lets the reader know that the post is about challenges or change.
4. They support the post content. A diagram, graphic, or other image can further illustrate the post’s content. A flow chart of a sales funnel, for instance, gives you another way to explain the concepts you’re presenting.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that’s true, you can’t afford NOT to use images in your blog posts. They may be the most powerful tool you have.

7 Reasons to Choose WordPress for Your Website

If you’re ready to create your business website, “how” you build it – what software platform you choose – is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make.

As of Sept. 2009, 202 million websites worldwide used WordPress, making it the most popular blog software in use today. WordPress is a great tool for small business owners. It is versatile, free, and easy to use.

Here are 7 reasons why I recommend it:

1. WordPress is versatile. It meets the needs of start-up businesses and seasoned pros. If you just want a blog, WordPress delivers. If you want an easy-to-use professional website, choose WordPress for its type-and-publish simplicity. And if you want both a business website and a blog, there is simply no better program available today.
2. WordPress is free. You don’t have to purchase the software. The basic themes (and there are plenty to choose from) are free. Most plug-ins (software tools that help the site operate more efficiently) are free. Online resources, including blogs and forums, are also free: This means it costs you nothing to become proficient with WordPress.
3. WordPress is easy to customize. Begin with a basic theme, and you can change the colors, layout, theme elements, and more. You can also create a completely unique theme, one that is as individual as you are. This part isn’t free – but by leveraging an existing theme it is affordable.
4. WordPress is all about “WYSIWG” – what you see is what you get. That means updating your content (something you have to do often) is easy. You type, test the page, and go live. This is also called CMS – content management system – and no one makes it easier to manage your words than WordPress.
5. WordPress is a global solution. That means it is designed to work on every browser, in almost every country, in almost every language. There’s peace of mind in knowing that your business website can do its job – selling you – everyplace it goes.
6. WordPress works with Social Media. This means Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and the other social media tools, all work seamlessly on your WordPress business website.

WordPress grows with you. As your business evolves, so will your website. WordPress makes it easy to update everything from your theme, logo, color scheme, to page layout. It’s a snap to add or delete pages. When you’re ready to add a blog, offer a free ebook, or build a mailing list, you don’t have to change software programs.

Including Images in Your Blog Post

Adding your best images in your blogs can be as easy as following these steps:

1. Save your valuable desired image to your desktop inside a usable format – .jpg, .gif, or .tif usually are supported, but refer to your blogging platform’s guidelines for more information.
2. Resize the look. You don’t need a huge image that overtakes the whole post; likewise you don’t want an image that’s so small that it’s hard to see. The ideal size will depend on your site theme, but typically around 300×300 pixels is considered a safe size.
3. Save a smaller, lower-quality file. Nobody wants to wait several seconds for your post to load (hint: It’s usually the graphics that slow things down!). To rectify this issue, save your image as a smaller file. The larger the resolution, the more expensive the file as well as the slower the upload. 72dpi is perfect quality for a web page and loads very quickly.
4. Upload to your article. Most blog platforms (certainly Blogger, Typepad, and WordPress) enable direct uploading of one’s images. Simply click the “add image” button, browse to pick the image you want, and away you go. Many programs enable you to resize once it’s added to your website post.
5. Add caption and copyright info. If you’ve used a photograph from Flickr’s creative commons database or another image with creative commons license restrictions, you’ll need to provide attribution. With WordPress, it is possible to develop a caption that features the photographer’s name and copyright info. On other blogging platforms, you may have to place a communication within the blog text with this information.

There it is; a simple, five-step process to jazzing up your blogs quickly and easily with the images of your choice.

All about layout

Good design and your WordPress business website

Once you decide to use WordPress for your business website, you’ve solved a big part of the “what makes good design” equation.

The next step is to design a layout that is simple and streamlined. You can use an existing WordPress theme (sometimes called a template) or have a custom one designed by a web designer.

A well-designed WordPress business website should:

1. Connect with visitors – make them feel comfortable on the page

2. Present information in a way that guides the eye

3. Help the user find information quickly and easily

All good layouts follow a basic design principle: Every page should guide the reader’s eye left-to-right, top-to-bottom. The call-to-action – sign up for a newsletter, call, or send an email – should be visible and easily accomplished. Good layouts are also intuitive: This means first-time visitors should quickly understand what your site is selling, and what action they need to take.

Whether it’s your first professional website or you are updating an existing one, WordPress themes are ideal for business owners in any industry. Basic themes can be further customized so your website is as unique as you are.

Be predictable: A business website should be easy to scan, with key information placed in predictable locations.

Why is predictability important?

You might think – “Because I am different, I want my website to be different.”

But that’s not a good design decision. Over the years, internet users have come to expect that website pages should look a certain way. When people visit your site for the first time, they orient themselves by looking at the main navigation bar and skimming the content on the page.

If your layout is dramatically different, the user becomes frustrated and leaves the site.

Pair predictability with the intent of your website: Think of your first-time visitors: What is the first impression you want to create? What kind of experience do you want them to have? Match that goal with a WordPress theme – either basic or customized – and you’ll soon have a business website that generates results.

Plugins In Review: Login LockDown

When you have a WordPress blog, one of the problems has always been hackers. While I have never had the displeasure of having my website hacked, I do know those who have. Of course, the default username ‘admin’ does not help with this. Through trial and error, hackers can get into your dashboard and have their way with whatever they want. The Login Lockdown plug in is an effort to stop anyone from entering your WordPress website without permission.

The plugin itself is pretty straightforward. You install it pretty much like any other WordPress plug in by uploading the file to the plug in directory of your website. Activate the plug in after installation and you are protected. However, there is a little bit of customizing you can do. Through the options panel you can set the number of failed attempts and the length of time the person is locked out of your blog. This is a good thing just in case you forget your password.

One of the great things about this WordPress plugin is that it also captures the IP addresses of those failed log in attempts. This way you can see who is trying to access your blog!

Where to Host your WordPress Blog

So you have decided to begin blogging with WordPress … but now what to do. For most of us the next natural step is to Google the term “wordpress” and begin creating our blog.

When I type WordPress into a Google search I get two results.

1. www.wordpress.org > Blog Tool and Publishing Platform
2. www.wordpress.com > Get a Free Blog Here
   

Humm … so what is the difference?

WordPress.org is the true open source software avaliable for download. The benefit to this is that you will be able to install and customize you blog however you wish. You own the domain. You own the design. The downside, you need to install it in your hosting area.  Thankfully the majority of web hosts  have Fantastico or another Open Source software installer to simplify this task. Most hosts also have great customer service so feel free to give them a call and ask them to walk you though the process if you want the extra support.

WordPress.com is a site that will host your wordpress blog for you for free. However, free is not exactly free.  With the free blog you will not be able to pick your own domain; you will be given a subdomain of www.{business_name}.wordpress.com. You will not be able to  customize the blog presentation beyond choosing one of seventy seven options and there will be  ads on your blog. Now, you can pay $55 a year to enable the custom domain, custom presentation and removal of ads; but why? You are already paying for hosting for your business’ website.

Give a choice between the two for a Business Blog I highly recommend wordpress.org. I’m a big fan of controlling all the strings when it comes to my business.