General

Creating a new site, blog or a web app is easy. But most of such new sites created every day do not work.

And there’s a very good reason why.

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OK, first of all I’m sorry for disappearing from the face of blogosphere all of a sudden. I made a few posts in past couple of months to make a comeback, but things didn’t go as expected. But I do promise to stick around this time and do what I love doing: sharing what I know about blogging on this very blog. (For more on what’s going on in my life, and to chat with me, follow me on Twitter)

With that aside, I’m once again, and as always, excited by the spanking new release of WordPress with a shiny new backend.

WordPress was good and well before it switched to the new backend interface with the release of 2.5. WordPress 2.5 looked sexy, but it wasn’t all too usable.

Although I dislike having to use a completely revamped backend every couple of months, WordPress developers have taken a step in the right direction this time. WordPress 2.7 is here to right the wrongs of 2.5, so to speak.

There are plenty of new features and improvements in WordPress 2.7. Here are the best ones, without further ado.

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As you might have noticed, this place has become a little dead in past couple of months. I haven’t been able to post regularly on Blogging Bits due to my involvement in several other web projects plus some unproductive circumstances in my life. And as much as I want to get back to blogging, it might not be possible for me to do so for another month or two.

So for now, in order to keep things fresh, I’m opening the doors of Blogging Bits to guest bloggers.

If you want to reach 700+ subscribers, send me your post or post idea to the.syed {at} gmail.com. If your post is published, you’ll be given proper credit at the start of the post with a permanent link to your blog. Or we can discuss the detail in email.

Thank you for your interest, and thank you for being a reader of Blogging Bits!

Do you make money blogging? I, for one, don’t.

It may seem like a a strange question, but do you really blog for money? Will you stop blogging if you don’t make money with your blog?

When I started this blog, I wanted to make money from it. But slowly, as time passed, my perspective changed. My blog became my identity, and people who read me (yes, you!) became my friends.

Now I don’t blog for money. I blog just to share my take on different issues in internet marketing, blogging, and web design world. And I really love doing it.

Note: I’m not averse to money. And I certainly wouldn’t reject it if a money making opportunity arises!

In my observation, most bloggers start blogging for money, but as time passes and they don’t make more than a few pennies, they either give up, or persist – just for the fun of it!

Those who persevere, gain new insights into their target market, and actually find out how to monetize their blog, directly or indirectly. Those are the ones who really make money blogging, and become an inspiration for a new generation of bloggers.

Well, see, I’m still here. And I don’t make money from blogging (though in my case, it’s intentional). I’m in the second phase of blogging.

Now the real question (and please answer) Do you make money blogging? What phase are you in? How long have you been blogging? Do you plan to keep on blogging no matter what?

This is weekend, and if you are still glued to your computer pretending that the world around you does not exist, here are some great articles to keep you busy.

Blogging and misc

Using Trends In Google Reader To Manage RSS Overload by Abhijeet

To Tweet or Not to Tweet? 50+ Links & Tools by Tad

How Social Proof Can Kill or Fill Your Blog by Jonathon

8 Ways To Add Value With Link Roundup Posts by Tay

How to Show You Care About Your Customers by James

Design

19 Visual Effects That Entertain And Amuse by Brian

A Comparative Study of Logo Design between the 70s and 90s. by Jacob Cass

A Plea From 16 Most Overused Fonts by Vivien

10 tips for writing graphic design briefs by David Airey

45 Photo Editing Tutorials for Photoshop by Steven Snell

Shock! Horror! I suddenly stopped ranking for many keywords in Google SERPs.

I noticed yesterday that Google, that had been sending me 200+ visitors daily, started pretending as though I didn’t even exist. I can’t figure out why it happened. Maybe it’s just some algorithmic change and I’m just making a mountain out of a molehill, but it’s equally possible that Google thinks I’m selling text link ads.

I’ve been creating web sites for four years, and I know if a site all of a sudden drops from all its rankings, there’s definitely something wrong.

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And it feels great!

OK, so if it sounds too preposterous, I’m not really having sex. But according to Michael Martine (aka Remarkablogger) tweeting is as fun and as unexplainable as having sex.

Last night when I read Michael’s unique view about Twitter, I said to myself, what the heck, why not give Twitter a try and find out if it’s really so addictive? So now, I’m officially joining Twitter.

If you are on Twitter, please follow my tweets.

I’ll write a detailed post about my experience on Twitter when I’ve familiarized myself with how things work on Twitter. In the mean time, if you have good or bad things to say about Twitter, please cough ‘em up in the comments!