If you keep up on WordPress news, you should have heard of the ongoing attacks of WordPress websites.

If you keep your install up-to-date, you are protected from most attacks, but a few more things can help you protect your install even more:

1. Limit login attempts.
2. Change “admin” username to something else.
3. Update login passwords to WordPress-recommended at least 8 characters, upper and lower case, numbers and special characters.

Because of this latest news, I’m providing a new service for WordPress Maintenance. I know how busy we can all get and being able to ask someone else to help keep up with security on your website is a relief.

How do you maintain the security on your WordPress website?

There were a lot of results returned for the term “Free Coming Soon WordPress Themes“.

Go ahead, try it yourself.

I’ll wait.

Did I not tell you! Crazy right? So, after looking through what seemed a thousand plus posts for free coming soon WordPress themes, I found many were just repeats… a rehashing of other’s posts with the same 10 or so themes getting recycled as new content.

I did notice a few attractive themes not listed in every list. These 5 were the least mentioned:

“Coming Soon” WordPress Theme

“Makeover” WordPress Theme

“Launcher” WordPress Theme

“Changing Room” WordPress Theme

“Under Construction” WordPress Theme

What’s your go-to coming soon theme for WordPress websites? 

“Abandoned” by mrlins, on Flickr

Honestly, I don’t want you to hack me, but it’s what my site screamed.

I wasn’t thinking that until an interesting tweet caught my eye in the #WCATL Twitter feed on Friday. It said:

“A neglected website is a hacked website.” #wcatl

— ChantelleCatania (@ChantyCatania) March 15, 2013

Shame to say, I neglected my site. Simply abandoned. I spend so much time working on client sites and ghost blogging for others that I just stopped blogging myself. And when you stop blogging, you stop visiting the backend of your blog. I’m constantly amazed at how much love and attention we can give others, but when it comes to our houses, we tend to not clean up.

Suffice to say, I brought a broom to this party.

I had 14 plugins needing updating.

FOURTEEN.

Not to mention, my WordPress core needed an update, too. I was a hacker’s dream. “Was” being the operative word here.

So I updated the site Saturday night on a WordCamp high. (Sorry hackers.)

And I’ll be giving my neglected site a bit of love.

Have you neglected your site? Tell me how can I help you update.

WordCamp Atlanta 2013

It was that time of the year… WordCamp Atlanta, where hundreds of WordPress enthusiasts, designers and developers got together for 2 solid days to talk all things WordPress.

This was my second year at WordCamp and I greatly enjoy it. Not because I got to leave my girl behind and discuss adult things having nothing to do with diapers and what plastic food I want to eat at the moment. (Although, that is a nice perk.)

It’s more because it helps me feel connected to the pulse of WordPress and how it’s being used in the community. As an independent contractor, I spend a lot of time home alone. Conferences like these help me connect with others outside of my solitary bubble.

There were tons of developers this year (probably double that from last year), yet most of the topics seemed a rehash of last year’s themes. Even though I consider myself more of a developer, it was the sessions in the User track that really caught my attention this time around.

Stories of great success always draw interest. Yesterday morning’s session with Wade Kwon on “How to Win Awards and Influence Readers in 439 Days and 668 Posts” was a full crowd as was “Finding a Niche Through Experimentation” given by John Saddington. (I, once again, missed his session this year, but hear it was excellent as usual.) Saying we “flocked” to hear these speakers would be a good way to describe the attendance.

Today, I attended another session on “The Power of Your Story Through WordPress” by Kimanzi Constable. As a charismatic and engaging speaker, it was an excellent choice for my late morning. In the afternoon, the other stand out session for me was “Wrestling The Writing Muse Down To The Dusty Earth” with Chris Ames. Just the right touch of funny with enough inspiration to not make you feel overwhelmed. Also helped he is a “Brony”. (Look it up – won’t disappoint.)

Suffice to say, I took tons of notes – plenty of photos - tweeted a lot - had an excellent time… and I’m planning on attending next year… As should you.

What was the best session you attended at this year’s WordCamp Atlanta?

Yes, there are.

However, there will always be someone better than you, smarter, wittier. The percentage is so low, it’s safe to say no one is ever the top dog. Yet, you can still help your customers and clients grow with the information you do know, crafted and molded just for them.

And there are reasons people will continue to come back to your blog to read what you have to say. Maybe it’s the way your write, or how you write it. Your funny or direct point of view. Or simply, you might just break it down for them in a way they can understand… in a way no other person has been able to do for them.

But you can’t discover what that is until you start writing.

Brainstorm and jot down your ideas for blog posts. Write those things you know a bit about. Once you start putting them on paper, you will have a better idea for blog posts. There’s plenty of content fodder in our minds. Our ideas are fleeting and sometimes we just need a reminder of what that good idea was.

Need a place to keep your blog post ideas? Pick up a notebook or open up a free Evernote account.

Just. Start. Writing!

Recently, a client asked me if they should have just one blog or split up their blog into two different blogs.

The answer? It depends.

First, it is always best to start with one blog. It’s easier and more accepted by your target audience if you ramp up your blog activity, instead of starting off strong and then tapering off. After you have established a schedule, you can choose to add a second targeted blog to the lineup.

Second, you may simply want to consider keeping all your content integrated. Generating content is an involved process and splitting your energy across two or more blogs can add to the amount of work and time you invest in your business blogging. Remember, the goal is to blog efficiently, not constantly, for results. You might best be served by blogging from one blog and separating your content by tagging it with proper keywords, allowing you to present the content in separate channels within one blog.

Either way, it is important you define the mission statement for your blog. Writing out the mission and creating a short elevator pitch helps you focus your blog posts. It also helps define goals for what you want to do with blogging. Knowing where you want to go with the blog helps you be successful at your goal.

Have you decided to maintain one blog or more than one? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to see how you have handled your content!

Ask 100 people why they blog, you’ll get 100 different answers.

“I blog to showcase my talents.”

“I blog to produce sales.”

“I blog to gain traffic.”

“I blog for fame.”

“I blog to share a piece of me.”

…and so on, and so on.

It’s important to know why you blog. It gives your writing direction and purpose. It also the wonderful side benefit of fashioning you as an expert in your niche.

Tell me, why do you blog?

I purchased my personal copy last week and have already made a few recipes from it. It’s small, but full of many great recipes and good information for detoxing your body and eating healthy.

And check it out – I even got a photo credit!

To find out more about the book, visit the Amazon store.

To find out more about my client, visit MyHealthKick. (Redesign in the works…)

Remember the Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams, where as Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, he hears a voice in his corn field tell him, “If you build it, he will come.” While that works for movies, it doesn’t work online. Sadly, it’s the line many web design and development companies feed clients. “Build it and your clients will come!”

I don’t say that here.

As a matter of fact, one of the things I tell my clients is just that – “If you build it, there is no guarantee they will come!” If you’re a small business and you build the website and do nothing else, I can just about guarantee you they WILL NOT come. Why? It’s the same as in the brick and mortar world. If you don’t announce your location, it’s highly likely no one will ever find you.

That is why it’s important you do community management for your site. What is community management? It comes down to this – getting your name out there online. Here are a few ways you can do just that:

Twitter

Let’s be honest. Twitter is a massive distraction. If managed correctly; however, it can bring you a ton of business. Most of this involves doing your research, following the right people, and tweeting regularly. While all of this a bit of work, once you get the combination and schedule down, it is a great way to funnel people to your website.

Forums/Message Boards/Blogs

Visit forums, message boards or blogs of your market niche.  Establish yourself by commenting on other posts. Then slowly start introducing what you are doing and how you can help out others.

In addition, I find the best customers are those already interested in what you sell or what you are about. If you visit a blog or website often for your niche, make sure you comment. Well thought out, insightful comments always draw others and start the process of establishing you as an expert in your niche.

Two things to note so you don’t seem a spammer:

1. Forums and message boards have specific rules – make sure you follow them otherwise you could be banned. Also, use your signature line to link to your website or blog. It’s a more accepted practice than spamming people with a link to your blog in your forum response. The more active you are, the more people will see your signature.
2. Blogs are the essence of ”community”. So no spamming your blog link in the comments. Most blogs have Gravatar or CommentLuv installed, but if not, make sure you fill out your profile for whatever blogging platform the blog is on. Also, you can simply control the linkback to your blog by entering your name, email and website address information manually, as many blogs have a means for you to do just that.

Write a guest post

This last one builds on the previous idea for building your community. Once you’ve commented on a blog regularly and the owner “knows” you, think about approaching them to do a guest post on their blog. Guests posts are great, because not only do you get the exposure of the existing base on the blog you are writing for, but you also get a great solid backlink to your site which ups your SEO value.

Finding all of this overwhelming? I know it is! However, these are just a few of the things I can help you get started with community management. Contact me if you’re interested in learning more!

So this past week, we sat down to take a few shots of one of her recipes for the cover of her new cookbook. Here are a few photos from the shoot:

Makes me hungry just writing this…

Lunch, anyone?