I’ve been working on several WordPress projects for clients lately that have been expanding my knowledge of how to tweak out and monetize a WordPress Blog. It’s been fun and definitely educational. I wanted to turn you on to 5 cool tools I’ve been using.
Recipe Plugin
Having a recipe site attracts traffic, especially if your niche is trendy such as gluten free or vegan. I’ve found several recipe plugins to help make it easy to plug in your delicious dishes and get Google to optimize it when it comes up in a search. My favorite is called EasyRecipe. Like the name, it is easy to use, simple to style, and there is great support. The easy recipe plugin is free and available in the WordPress plugin directory HERE
Shopping Cart
ECWID is also a free plugin and shopping cart interface that operates on Cloud Technology. (Amazon Web Services) It’s lightening fast! You host all of your products and images on the ECWID site and add scripts to your WordPress Pages for individual products or categories. The plugin automatically installs a STORE page for you. Just click on it and you have an instant boutique. Drag and drop items right into the shopping bag. All the buttons magically appear. I recommend purchasing at least the Silver Upgrade for just $17 per month, as it offers more options, including one that will drive SEO to your blog. ECWID works for physical products as well as digital downloads. ECWID has a WordPress plugin that is available for free at the WordPress plugin directory HERE
In addition to WordPress, you can host your store or individual products on your Facebook page and other sites such as Blogger, Typepad, Google sites, Joomla, or Drupal.. Ship out your products using UPS, USPS, FEDEX and even Australia Post.
I am currently putting up a costume and clothing store using the Thesis Theme by DIY for a client. We are using ECWID as the shopping cart.
Ebooks
Are you freaked out that your Ebook will get into the hands of others who haven’t paid for it? Check out Secure Ebook This program packages your EBook so that purchasers must either use an activation code or secure download. It integrates with Paypal, Google Checkout and several others including Clickbank. You can set it up yourself, or for about $375, the company will set it up for you. Your Ebook has the option of being hosted on the Secure Ebook site, which will help spread it virally, or on your own blog or website. Try it out for only $1 for the first month.
Landing Page
I’m in love with Premise Landing Pages, which is a WordPress Premium Plugin developed by Copyblogger. It is so easy to integrate it with your WordPress site and the best part is that you do not have to set up additional websites to host it. All you do is install the plugin. Create landing pages just like you do pages and then customize the header and other elements. Style it to either match your blog or look completely different. See an example that I created for my WordPress Setup Business HERE. The graphic library has over 1000 images including buttons, shopping cart icons, and more. Design a sales, squeeze, or content page that will resonate with your target audience without having that hard edged look that many sales pages have. Add videos, audios, or slideshows.
Forum
Want to add a forum to your WordPress blog instantly that lets people sign in using their Facebook, Google , Twitter, Yahoo, Paypal or Open ID? Try a plugin called Tal.ki Embeddable Forum. Members get automatically notified of any responses. The free version gives you 15 topics. If you want more, you can join their premium program for a whopping $2.95 per month.
I am constantly amazed at what you can do for your business using WordPress. If you are thinking about installing it to help promote your business, and need some help, or you have an existing site that you need assistance tweaking, contact Rebecca HERE.
Related posts:
- How to Move Your Blog to a New Host the Easy Way
- WordPress Blog Do-it-Yourself Tutorials by Joshua Writer
- How to Monetize Your Passions and Talents on a Blog if You are a Creative Type
- How to Know When You are Getting Ripped Off on Your WordPress Blog Setup?
- A Newbie Guide on How to Write Blog Posts
About Rebecca Olkowski
Rebecca Olkowski
