Category Archives: Tools

Fast Domain Name Checker Tool

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I use Namecheap for my domain registrations and I was using it to check domain names after my keyword research. The domain checker on their website was a little slow and since I was checking a lot of domains I needed a faster tool. I know they have a bulk search tool and I use it for bulk checks , however it doesn’t fit to what I exactly needed.

After a simple Google search, I came across this simple but fantastic website that does domain checks almost instantly, Fast Domain Checker. I don’t know who owns that website and I am aware that it is a made for Adsense site, however, it really helps me in my domain research. You can check it if you are also looking for a simple and fast domain name checking tool.

EDIT:

After a little more search I found a better site, Instant Domain Search, that allows you to check three top level domains (.com, .net, .org) almost instantly. Well, this is absolutely better than the tool I mentioned before.

EDIT 2:

I found another site that allows you to bulk domain research really fast and there is no limits on the number of domains you can check at once. You can see the site here: Bulk Domain Check. This will absolutely speed up my keyword-domain research process. At the moment it seems to work right. Though it does not include .net and .org results on the result page, you need to click on to show more details.

EDIT 3: As I refine my search I find better and faster tools that offer bulk domain research. This one shows .com, .net and .org domains on the result page and that was exactly what I needed. Also it does not have a limit on the number of domains per check. I hope it works correctly, anyway I will be checking results with Namecheap time to time. Here is the link: Registrar Stats.

Which Article Directory Script to Choose?

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The basic monetization model of an article directory, if it is not paid, is to use Google Adsense ads on it. Most of the ones with paid membership options serve ads as well. I  did a simple research and noticed that there are hundreds of article directories around and most, if not all, might be making some good money with Adsense.

This idea lured me and I started thinking about creating a simple article directory site, where I could post the PLR articles I have collected up to now. Besides, I would be posting my own articles for backlink purposes and other article marketers might be interested in posting their articles on my article directory as well. For that reason, I brainstormed some domain names suitable for an article directory and checked if they were available or not. Luckily, found some good ones ready to register. But before registering the domain name, I checked the available article directory scripts.

Next step was to find a good article directory script. I didn’t want to pay a big amount for a custom created one so that I searched for free scripts in search engines and in forums. I’ve found a number of free article directory scripts and some of them had paid versions too.

What I realized after a few hours of search was that running an article directory as a business model might not be as lucrative as it first seemed to me. In most of the discussions, people told that article directories are not well performing as they were before because of the competition. Many article directory sites are opening and closing every year due to poor strategies. To be successful and make a name as an article directory, and in return make money, unique features should be offered to article writers to post articles on the directory. This idea discouraged me a bit and I realized that I will need to go with a custom build article directory script if I go on with this project.

Anyway, I made a list of article directory scripts and will talk about them briefly below for those of you who want to start an article directory business.

Article Dashboard

Article Dashboard is an article directory itself and it offers the script it uses for free as well. What I learned about this script is that it is no longer reliable and not preferred by serious people as it is open to hacks and attacks. It is really simple in design and although I will not recommend using it, for a first try, you may check how it looks and performs. The download link is here.

Article MS

Article MS is another free article management system, it seems to have a better design than article dashboard. It has different templates you can choose from and a WYSIWYG editor for article submissions. This script can also be tried, you can download it here.

Article Friendly

Article Friendly is a newer and more preferred script amongst others. It has two versions, standard for $25 and pro for $50. Most of the article directories I came across are using this script. I guess it is a good choice for someone who has a little money to invest in it. However, to distinguish from others, this is not exactly what you need.

AJ Articles

Another paid article directory script is AJ Articles, I haven’t seen much directories using this script, since it looks more like a news blog or portal rather than an article directory site. Nevertheless you may check it yourself and decide if you want to go with it.

Those were the article directory scripts that I came across during my search and I hope it helps on your decision. Just not forget that simply creating an article directory and loading it with tons of PLR content is not a wise business model anymore unless you have the time to waste.

Effective Use of Google Reader in Blog Commenting

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Most of the bloggers use blog commenting to get backlinks and traffic so that they rank well in the SERPs. If done properly, blog commenting can be really powerful and gain you lots of backlinks and traffic in a short time. Even, it helps you to establish your authority in your niche.

This is a strategy I use to get backlinks and traffic to my blogs. Basically, the idea is to find popular blogs related to your niche and visit them occasionally and post comments on the articles that you are interested. This way I gained some PR juice as well as some traffic. This is something you will see the benefits in the long run, so do not expect a traffic overload in one day. Just, post your comments patiently and you will see it. On the table below, you can see the traffic that I got from blog commenting.

blog-commenting-traffic

Recently, while organizing my bookmarks, I noticed that if I used Google Reader for that purpose, it would be faster and easier to comment on the blogs that I follow. So, what I did is I collected all the blogs that I am following in a folder in Google Reader and classified them according to their subjects. This way, now I am able to see all the new posts in one screen and choose the posts that interest me and comment on them.

You can see a screenshot of my Google Reader account where I have blogs related to affiliate marketing in a folder.

google-reader-followed-blogs

Note that what I talked about is not spamming others’ blogs with nonsense comments or posting thousands of automated comments at a time. What I do and urge you to do is to contribute to the discussion, this way, you will gain more traffic to your sites and establish your authority in the niche faster.

Remove “Category” Base from Permalinks in Your WordPress Blog

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Everyday I am learning new stuff about wordpress, such as new plugins new functions and my adoration to it grows by so. This one took a lot of my time to finally find a decent solution.

I was looking for a way to remove the “category” base from the permalinks on one of my other wordpress blogs. The link structure that wordpress inserts automatically is as follows:

http://www.yoursite.com/categories/category1

Although you can change the word “categories” to anything you like from the dashboard>permalinks by changing the category base in the optional section, I needed to completely remove it and have permalinks such as the following:

http://www.yoursite.com/category1

I searched how to do this a lot on the forums including the wordpress support forum, and tried all the things they suggested. Nothing worked. Finally, I found a plugin called WP No Category Base that did the job exactly as I needed. The good thing is that it is free and installable from inside the dashboard. Just do a search with the name of the plugin and you will find it. You simply install it and it is done, no modification needed.

You can also go to the official page of the plugin here to download it manually and read more about how it works.

As you can see, it works flawless on this blog too, however I can’t guarantee that it will work with any theme or any other plugins. You have to see it yourself.