Checkout the latest posting at RM about Analytic Stratagies for Retailers. It’s a good one…
April 2009 Archives
MSJ New Article
A few months back I had an interview for the MSJ alumni news paper. The article was about Alumni that live outside of the Cincinnati area (as a side note, the bulk of the alumni live in the greater Cincinnati area).
Above is my quote (because this is my blog)…but check out the whole article: Hey Alumni, We’re Not Just In Cincinnati Anymore
Facebook became famous becuase of its adoption on college campuses. But like every national icon, college kids love to make fun of it. Checkout CollegeHumor.com or its Youtube Channel to see some great clips. Preview listed below:
Facebook Off:
Extreme Facebook Wall Makeover
Apparently So…. Yahoo OMG! News is reporting that Ashton Kutcher is the first Twit (I guess that is a person that tweets on twitter.com) to reach a 1,000,000 followers. He beat out “rival” CNN Breaking News. Normally I stay as far away from celebrity news as I can, but this I found interesting because…well just because there is that many people on the planet that actual care about what Ashton Kutcher has to say. That being said, it is a classic example of if you have something worth listening to and a personality worth paying attention to, you can use Twitter, and the whole social media platform for that matter, to keep in touch and build relationships.
Congrats Ashton.
Disclaimer…the Twitter plug was not really a dig as I also Tweet. Follow me @NathanJanitz.
Migrating Blogger to WordPress
Earlier this year I talked about how to get a new blog out of Google’s sandbox by starting your blog in Blogger and the moving it to WordPress for its advanced SEO features. Aaron Goldman commented that he would like to know exactly how to do that. Well, I’m sure he isn’t the only one. The first step is to look at if you are working on Google’s server or your own. Some people don’t want to pay for hosting (like me with my wine blog) while some don’t mind chipping in the money for a hosting service (like Intellect Interactive). This migration will only work if you are looking to host your blog on your own server (not Google’s or any other free service), and if you are looking to drop the .blogspot from your URL.
First Migrating From the BlogSpot domain to Your Own Domain:
This step is important because Google WILL NOT run its 301 redirect program unless it does so through blogger. You WILL lose a lot of your rankings if you do not move your blog to your new URL through blogger.
Start by buying the non-BlogSpot domain name and migrate your files over to that domain. Blogger will auto-build the 301 redirects for you if you stay on the blogger profile. Follow the blogger external hosting instructions. You will instantly see the blog instantly work on your new domain, but the BlogSpot 301 redirect will usually takes about a month to complete (have seen it in a few days but can take up to a month). Once you have your blog working in a non-BlogSpot domain, you can start the blogger to WordPress process.
Download WordPress -
Once you have your dedicated URL (newblog.com), setup another folder within your FTP folder for WordPress. This will keep your Blogger files and WordPress files separated while you work , and this step will allow you to work on your new template without interfering with your present publish schedule.
Download WordPress for free and place it inside its newly created home on your FTP folder. WordPress is pretty self explanatory and they have a very in depth help section. Don’t worry about where on not your URL is point to your homepage right off the bat. Those are setting you can switch later. In fact, it is probably a good idea to temporally host your new blog in folder no-one knows about until you have it fully setup.
Setup Template -
One of the best parts about WordPress is the endless number of free design templates. Before you migrate your blog over to your new platform, take the time to setup your template to your exact standards and speciation. That includes:
- Install all widgets like: HeadSpace2, SphinnIt, and AskApache Re-Write Plug In
- Setup URL parameters. If you want to change your structure, then here is your chance.
- Look and Feel (3 column blog, 2 column blog, 1 column blog, right or left nav, etc.)
Again, set it up in its own folder and use that folder as a beta folder until you are ready for launch. Once you have the new blog looking good, then it is time to migrate your blog.
Migrating Your Blogger Blog to WordPress-
Once you are in your WordPress CMS system, navigate to the import tool: Tools > Import
WP Blog Import Tool Dashboard
Pick your blog platform to import by clicking on the name. It will take you to a start screen that looks like the screenshot below. Follow the onsite instruction to import posts, comments, and tags.
WP Blogger Import Tool
Once you have moved your blog over, you will have to categorize the URLs as to give them new SEO friendly homes. Depending on which plug in you have to handle URL building will depend on how you go about re-categorizing your posts. If you do not keep the same structure as blogger (which I wouldn’t), make sure you setup a 301 strategy for each URL so you don’t lose link popularity and give your visitors a bad user experience.
If this sounds simple, it is because it is a simple process. Just make sure you take the time to plan out your categorization, build your template, and have a good 301 strategy in place. Happy hunting!
