Revolution News: Wordpress Theme Increases Visitor Duration
Ed and I spent the better part of the weekend before last making updates and revisions to get Roamsters.com, our travel blog, prepared for the holiday rush.
The biggest change that I made was to install a new Wordpress theme, called Revolution News, by Brian Gardner (no relation).
I’ve used Brian’s themes on a couple of blogs now and I love them - primarily because his designs are fresh and fabulous and better yet, they encourage visitors to poke around the site longer. Average visitor duration at Roamsters.com has increased from 302 seconds to 356 seconds since I installed the theme. The number of newsletter and feed subscribers has also increased by result.
Unlike typical themes, Brian’s themes come with uniquely-styled homepages, archives, section and post pages. I particularly like the ‘newspaper’ look and feel of the Revolution News homepage, on which you can display recent posts from categories of your choice, in any order you like, which is infinitely preferable to the endless 10-post homepage scroll on most blogs. The primary and secondary top navigation bars allow you to highlight pages and categories that you particularly want your visitors to see and visit.
A Feedburner subscription button and an email form are already built-in, you just have to supply your own code. Site search is prominently located above the top navigation bar.
Brian’s themes are also perfectly functional out of the box — unlike some of the free themes I’ve found on the Wordpress codex which I’ve installed and later uninstalled. Yes, Brian charges for his themes - $59.95 for Revolution and $99.95 for Revolution News theme. More if you want a multiple-use package. Brian has also recently added a sports theme to the collection.
Brian adds value and service by making himself available by email (he responds to queries very quickly) and providing clearly-written instructions that show you how to easily amend his themes to you liking.
Tutorials include:
- How to Create an Archives Page
- Using a Full Width Header Image
- Creating a Dynamic Home Page
- How to Use the Blog Link
- Using a Background Image
- How to Use the Single Page 2 Layout
- Creating Multiple Featured Pages
- Adding a Padded Color Border to Images
- Customizing the News Page
- How to Remove the Double Border
I still have tweaking to do at Roamsters, not least of which is to make a header graphic for the site. Otherwise, we’re just dashing madly to get travel gift links up there in time for the Christmas shopping rush. Then again, Ed could that… while I change NPT over to the Revolution News theme.
Sssshhhhh… don’t tell him. 
Popularity: 7% [?]
eComXpo: Day 2
OK, I admit that I forgot to post a Day One notice.
eComXpo, the first virtual online trade show and conference for eCommerce marketers, is back.
Hundreds of exhibitors, sponsors, and presenters have gathered and with over 8,000 attendees (making it the largest eCommerce tradeshow in the world), completely online and 100% free to attend. eComXpo provides all the benefits of a top tradeshow without the cost, travel or hassle normally associated with traditional events.
Sign up for Free registration and/or additional information.
Or… enroll in eComXpo University which gives you full access from October 9, 2007 to January 11, 2008 to over 175 on-demand presentations from industry experts. Tuition is $49.95.
Popularity: 4% [?]
But He’d Never Heard of Google Talk
Brad admitted that he’d never even heard of Google Talk when I suggested that we should use it to communicate, instead of emailing back and forth.
Shocking. Simply shocking.
I love Google Talk. The sound quality surpasses both regular phone and Skype, especially when you are talking with folks halfway around the world.
The service is free, and with the Google Talk Gadget you can see which of your contacts are online and send instant messages from your Google Personalized Homepage without installing software.
When you download the Google Talk Client, you can make voice calls, transfer files to your friends and leave voicemails. Better yet, the chats are archived and searchable.
Actually, the service is so easy to use that my 92 year old mother uses it! (She’s also a Skype expert - which she uses to chat with my Dutch cousins.)
Visit the Google Talk main page or learn more about Google Talk here. Happy chatting!
Popularity: 7% [?]
Brad is Going to Vegas
Our very own Brad Haslam, NPT Forum moderator extraordinaire, bought a copy of PPC Classroom and then WON a copy of the course.
After apologizing for depriving me of the affiliate commissions (no apology required, winning is always better than paying and I’m THRILLED that one of our own NPT’ers won a copy), he then let me know that he would also be going to Vegas for PPC Classroom LIVE!
Better yet, he promised to video document his PPC training progress and share it with the NPT subscribers.
Awesome. We’ll look forward to seeing what can be done with the course by someone who is new to the PPC world… and I expect the results will be fabulous!
Speaking of PPC Classroom, if you bought a copy through my link - you are on the list and I’ll be contacting you to schedule consultations when the refund period is over.
Too, you should have received a notice from Evelyn at PPC Classroom that reads: Read more
Popularity: 7% [?]
Woohoo! What a Worthwhile Promo…
An email filtered into the ‘Commissions’ folder made me sit right up and take notice the other day.
No, it wasn’t the ‘$26.63 paid to Rosalind Gardner’ portion right at the top. It was what followed…
DATE ORDER # AMOUNT DESCRIPTION
2006-03-04 545194 0.04 Network Ad
2006-03-05 547823 0.04 Network Ad
2006-03-08 553431 0.03 Network Ad
2006-03-08 553485 0.05 Network Ad
2006-03-08 553636 0.03 Network Ad
… followed by 2634 more such lines detailing 3 and a half years of commissions to warrant cutting a check. Gee whiz… a WHOLE $26.63 since 2004! Oh well, at least we won’t have to do K.D. tonite… we’ll order pizza instead.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Reporting Arbitragers to Google
Jake posed the following question in response to my Google Slap or Salvation? post.
Ros, can I prevail upon you to post a link to where on Google it would be easiest for us to report such arbitragers?
Also, regarding the example arbitrager site in post #3 above, would we be able to automatically notify Google by clicking on the ads A LOT?! I heard somewhere (hmmm, I think a Joel Comm email from way back when) that if a visitor over-clicks AdSense ads, it can send up a red flag to Google and they’ll have a closer look at the website.
Thanks.
~Jake
I would never suggest clicking on any ad a LOT… although it may indeed be tempting.
So, here’s what Dave from Google told me… Read more
Popularity: 7% [?]
Javascript Plugin for Wordpress
I was keen to use Kasamba’s javascript code to promote their live professional relationship coaching and counselling services on my Sage-Hearts.com blog but the javascript wouldn’t work, so I wrote up a small endorsement and plugged in a standard HTML banner.
When I mentioned the ‘problem’ to Debbie Shapiro, Kasamba’s Affiliate Program Manager, she responded quickly and suggested that I upload the Inline Javascript Plugin to my blog.
Installation and getting it to work was Sooo easy. Download the plug, unzip it, upload it to your plugins folder and then activate it under the Plugins tab. Then, when you want to add a javascript to a post or a page, simply encase the script between [inline][/inline] tags.
Here’s what the new post on the dating blog looks like.
Wow, gotta love an affiliate manager who is not only helpful, but geeky too.
About Kasamba: With thousands of experts in over 600 categories, and with over 5 years of experience in the Expert Advice industry, Kasamba provides a user-friendly platform for customers to find experts for consultations in real time, via email, and chat.
Affiliate payouts are good. They pay you a one-time referral fee in the amount of $50 for each new customer in the fields of Spirituality, Professional Counseling, Coaching & Personal Development, Computers, and Tutoring. Generate more than 10 new customers in any month and the fee goes up to $75, and if you generate more than 100 new customers in any month and the referal fees goes up to $100.
Well worth a look.
Popularity: 7% [?]
BaconSalt?
This month’s issue of “Secrets To Their Success” features…
- Justin Esch and Dave Lefkow started their business over dinner — and now thousands of people now enjoy Bacon Salt with dinner every day! Their unique and tasty product has been sizzling through social networking sites all over the world since they launched just a few months ago. And now they’re on track to make $300,000 this year!
- Chris Bryant won the Secrets to Their Success Site Review contest in October 2006. He was already making decent money with his website, but wasn’t satisfied. Then the IMC team stepped in to help him discover the best strategies for his site — and in just 12 months, he’s seen an incredible 35% rise in profits! Learn how Chris’s “makeover” took his site to the next level…
- Tammy Johnston has a great product that EVERYONE will need at some point in their lives — first-aid kits. Unfortunately, she’s also fighting to survive in a highly competitive market with some big-money players. She needs more than a Band-Aid solution! IMC goes to the rescue and shows Tammy how to turn her website into a top-to-bottom selling machine that will generate a healthy income.
Each and every month “Secrets To Their Success” features 2 inspirational web business success stories and one website makeover from which you can learn EXACTLY how these unlikely Internet entrepreneurs do it as well as “steal” their strategies and duplicate their success!”
Popularity: 6% [?]
