Installation is pretty simple.  You simply download the add-on and add it to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory.  Then, activate the plugin from the Plugins menu inside of WordPress.  You have the option to insert the code automatically or via a shortcode.  The choice is up to you.

You can pick up the Google +1 plugin for WordPress from the WordPress Plugin Directory.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an often talked about, yet rarely mastered trait that gets brought up in web hosting discussions.  Most people usually come down on SEO tips and tricks one of two ways.  They think it is legit and the business works, and others think it is all nothing but snake oil.

The truth of this age old debate is that search engine optimization is a legitimate business and way to get more traffic to your website.  However, there are SEO snake oil salesmen out there that have given the business a bad name.

Search engine optimization is the art of maximizing the volume or quality of traffic to a website from search engines via regular or unpaid search results.  The higher your webpage is in the results, the more traffic your website will get.

Is it Wise to Invest in Search Engine Optimization?

Now there is no secret voodoo at work with this.  Any one of you out there right now could do the same thing that any SEO expert could do.  Then again, you could also all build your own house brink by brick too.  The point is, SEO as a business is there to do the work for you, that you don’t have the time to do.  You may not have the desire or knowledge on how to build a house, so you go buy one instead.  The same could be said for buying the services of an SEO expert to make your website rank higher on the search engines out there. So yes, you can pay somebody to optimize your website for the search engines.  It is just like hiring the kid down the block to mow your lawn.

The big search engines out there have also come to realize that this business, in the most part, is there to help them and have provided webmasters with information on how to get a higher search engine ranking.  They all try to nail the fact that you need quality content to succeed too.

I would suggest that any small business out there that does not have the budget for an SEO expert to learn more about what you can do to optimize your website yourself.  This is just one more hat out of the many that you or somebody inside your business or website will have to wear to be successful.  Focus on the positive things you can do to increase your website rank – and you should have noticeable success.    Speaking as an example, I have learned a lot by reading up on articles and blogs about the SEO topic enough that my websites do fairly well.  Am I an SEO expert?

No, I am just the sort of guy who would rather build his house himself – brick by brick.

Want More? – Check out the rest of the SEO conversation in Podcast 209!

The title tag might be a feature many people overlook, but it is just as important as having a nice looking web site layout.  Some might even say it is the most important thing, because it is often the first thing a web site visitors sees.  Today I’ll be telling you what the title tag is and what you can do to make yours better.

What is so Important About the Title Tag?

The title bar is important because it tells your readers what they can expect on that page.  If you are missing a title tag, often the Internet browsers out there just name the actual file name as the title.  If that happens, the title tag is not doing the job of telling the web site visitor what that page is about. Title tags are also used by search engines. The title tag is typically used as the first line of the search result.  Once again, this is another reason why it is important to use a title tag.

How do you Write a Better Title Tag?

Now that we have gone over the importance of a title tag, let me tell you how to write a better one.

Keep the title under 65 characters. This is mainly for search engine optimization reasons, so your last few words or your title don’t get replace with a “…” when showing up on the search engines, like Google.

Use keywords phrases specific to your web site. Now this one might seem overly obvious, but some people still forget it.  Use your most popular keywords that lead people into your site, or that best describe your site in the title tags.

Put your web site name at the end of the title tag. Now some people put the site name at the end, some people put it at the beginning and then some people leave it off, all together.  Unless your site name is keyword rich, like “Best Coupons for Hosting” – I would say bump it to the end of the title.  It helps to identify what page you are on.  Then you can put the web page title before it, such as:

How to Write a Better Title Tag – Web Hosting Show

There you have the page’s name first, and the web site’s name second.  Both are relevant when describing the web page in question so both should be mentioned in the title tag.

Re-use your title tag in your web site too. Your web site’s title should mirror your headline title on the web page you are editing.  This is easy to remember to do with blogs, however it might be overlooked with hand coded HTML web sites.

There you have it.  Those are my own personal tips to help you write a better web site title tag.  Have any other advice or tips to share?  Give me your feedback in the comments.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #202 of the Web Hosting Show!

When it comes to extensions, Firefox is king – with thousands upon thousands to choose from.  However, Google Chrome is just now starting to gain ground with the idea of having an extendable interface, so how many good web development extensions are there for this alternative browser from Google?  I did my search and found five of the best web development related extensions for the browser.

Speed Tracer

Speed Tracer is a tool to help you identify and fix performance problems in your web applications. It visualizes metrics that are taken from low level instrumentation points inside of the browser and analyzes them as your application runs.

Lorem Ipsum Generator

Chrome Extension that generates random dummy text.It uses a minimalist and well looking design. Many other extensions of this type – in other browsers – simply complicate this task, using really extensive code, XHR, etc. The main purpose of this one, is to use the less amount of code (and also memory) and help the developer/user to get the job done.

Kuber PageRank Checker

This handy SEO tool shows you the Google PageRank of web pages beside the address box. If the PageRank of the page in current tab is not available, the tool shows the PageRank of the domain instead, prefixed with ‘S’.

Chrome SEO

The Google Chrome SEO extension provides easy access to Search Engine Optimization Tools that can help you with Competitive Analysis, Keyword Research, Backlink Checks and other daily SEO tasks.

IE Tab

Use Internet Explorer to display web pages in a Chrome tab. Some sites can only be displayed using IE, and with this extension you can now see those sites without leaving Chrome.

Know of any more that I might have missed? Be sure to drop then in via the comments, and help us all learn a little more about the web development tools the Google Chrome browser provides.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #201 of the Web Hosting Show!

video was removed by uploader

It isn’t very often you see hosting personalities being covered in the news. I don’t know why, because they are often some of the most successful out there.  That is why I was happy to find this video of Lanham Napier, Rackspace Hosting’s CEO, talking about how is company is competing with the likes of Google and Amazon.

You can see the chart for yourself here.

So what does this mean?  Well, a hundred different people could read into that data a hundred different ways.

Negative View – I would say the main reason why web hosting is down, is because social networks like MySpace and Facebook have kind of taking the place for some people of a standard web site.

Positive View – People don’t search for “web hosting” when looking for a place to start their web site.  Doing a search for “blog hosting” shows it has stayed steady since 2005.  People are looking for ways to host a particular type of site, rather than just general web hosting these days.  It is a much more niche market now.

As you can see, there are arguments to be made for either side on why web hosting is such a falling trend in Google searches. Which way do you see it?

Web Hosting + Coupon = Win for Everybody!

This is a secret I have been sharing for a number of years, and now I want to let you know.  Search for them.  That’s right, any web host worth his disk space will have coupons and rebates out there on the Web.  All you have to do is search for the web hosting in question, plus the word “coupon” or “rebate”.

For example, let say I search for Random Fake Web Hosting Company #5 and coupon.  Via Google, I find a page that says I can get $50 off if I sign up with the coupon code “50OFF”.  Now, all I need to do is go to Random Fake Web Hosting Company #5’s web site and try the coupon out.  If it works, I just saved $50, if not – then I’ll go back out to the search results to find the next best deal.

Ok, so I am sure some of you might be a little disappointed with this tip, however you would be amazed by how overlooked it really is.

This is a great ‘bit of new for hosting customers who can have an easier one stop shop where they can get all their web site and web hosting tools.  It also offers a perk to web hosting companies, cause they can draw people in by offering these services. Google is offering web hosts the ability to have quick and easy access to Google Webmaster Tools, Google custom and site search, and Google AdSense.

• Google Webmaster Tools – helps customers understand site traffic and diagnoses potential problems by giving the user information on how Google crawls their web sites.
• Google Site and Custom Search – helps customers improve user retention and conversions by customizing the search experience on their sites.
• Google AdSense – allows customers to provide relevant ads with search results and contextual ads to match their content.

The perks for the web hosts are the ability to integrate these Google tools into their control panel, and display a Google badge to generate referral fees.  To find a list of web hosts providing the service, check out their partner success stories. Some of the web hosts included are Dot5Hosting, eHost, FatCow, PowWeb, DomainHost and more.

I would highly suggest any web host interested, go check out the Google Services for Web Sites page and sign up to give your customers an easy, one-stop access to Google’s services for web sites.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 184!
Running Time: 14 minutes | File Size: 6.16 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• Make Your Hosting Support Better
• Find Special WordPress Tags Faster
• Become a Better Web Hosting Client
• Google Offers Services to Hosting Clients

Here are this week’s web hosting news headlines:

• Web Hosting Talk was Hacked!
• DemoWolf Tutorial Updates and Sale!
• Surpass Launches Plan for Web Developers

Trivia Question – What year did cPanel first start? (to find out the answer, be sure to download and listen to this week’s podcast!)

Now I am not going to get all touchy-feely Dr. Phil on you here, I am just going to tell both the web hosts and the web hosting clients what they need to know to make the working relationship between them even better. So lay down on that couch over there, and let me know how your feeling.

How do you Sign Up and Use Google AdSense?

Signing up is a pretty easy process.  All you need to do is sign in with your Google login, and follow the on screen instructions.  Once that is done, you can create the ads you want to use, then grab the code for them to place them into your web site.  I have been using it for so long, I don’t see where this could be seen as a complicated process.  They make it all pretty easy.

You also have several different ways you can setup ads.

• AdSense for Content – your run-of-the-mill ads you are used to seeing.
• AdSense for Search – use Google to power your web site’s search and make money from it.
• AdSense for Feeds – Place relevant ads in your RSS feeds.
• AdSense for Domain Names – Park your un-used domains with Google.
• Video Units – add YouTube partners’ video content to your site, and earn extra revenue.
• AdSense for Mobile Content – create ads for special “mobile” pages.

What Are the Rewards of Using Google AdSense?

The good thing about Google AdSense is that it automatically crawls the content of your pages and delivers text and image ads that are relevant to your audience and your site content.  Relative ads are what you want in the long haul.

Now you will not become rich over night, so if you want to quit your day job – you had better set your goal a little lower.  However, aiming at small goals first (such as having the ads pay for your $5 a month hosting bill) is a good start.

Want to learn more?  Here are some Google AdSense resources worth checking out:

• Google AdSense Blog
• Google AdSense Help Forum

Overall, I would say it is definitely work checking into. If you are looking for a name you can trust, Google has won many people over in that aspect too.  Sometimes, I don’t want to sign up with some company I have never heard of, especially when I need to get or receive important information from them (thinking about tax related stuff).  So overall, I would say Google AdSense will not make you uber-rich but it is a trustworthy choice out there.