I’ve known Melanie Milletics for a while now (list building secrets), and I’ve been hanging onto a notice of hers called, “What is a Magic Blog Post?” for a few days.

Today is the day I made the time to go read (and you should, too).

There are certain vital points she makes that really impact your posts (or your website for that matter) that I won’t rehash, she’s stated them quite nicely. However, I did notice a glaring what I’ll call “mistake” within her post. A mistake I see way too many web site and blog owners make – not coding their click-able links to open in new windows!

Such a small thing, with such huge implications!

When you are reading, and someone mentions a resource or reference to even more information (and assuming you are really interested), ten to one you’re going to click that link (like above) – which is also what I (and anyone else with common sense) is praying that you will do – it’s there to be clicked for a reason.

Yet after you click on it, do you think I want you to disappear for good? Of course not! I want you back to either finish up reading and/or to take the time to look around (use the search bar on this blog), watch the videos (there are even more “how to’s” in the right hand sidebar on a wide range of topics, that’s just one example), and (of course) COMMENT about what you’re reading.

So that simple bit of code – your “target” to open in a new window or blank window is critical.

You work hard to get your visitor, don’t let them just slip through your fingers. The coding is:

target=”_blank”

To see it in action, just right click anywhere on this page outside the framework of the blog itself (in other words pick a “white area” even if it’s colored, but doesn’t have words) and View Source (in IE) or View Page Source (in Firefox).

o  Go up under EDIT on your browser (very top)

o  Choose FIND and type in Milletics (it’s unique and only mentioned once on this page – okay twice but this one doesn’t count there’s no link involved)

o  Now look closely at the coding just prior to her name.

See how the code is put together? See the “target” part?

You can hand code this yourself in HTML or if you are a WordPress blog user, from the what-you-see-is-what-you-get view, just highlight the words, click on the little chain to make the link, and then select TARGET (new window).

Website owners you really need to do this, too.

It’s actually very sad to me when I see someone just willingly giving up their visitor. Don’t make me hunt to get back to you!

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Please COMMENT, we love feedback!

I don’t know about you, but in the past 10 years or so being online, I don’t know how many times I’ve changed hosting companies. It really has gotten so out of hand, that I cannot count on one hand the number of times I’ve moved websites.

I wish I’d known about the reviews you can find over at webhosting geeks.

Visiting their website today I was astounded at the number of hosting companies – not only out there – but listed in an easy-to-use directory. Yep, they’ve taken most of the work out of finding a decent one and posted it all there in black and white (and other cool colors) so you can select a hosting company just right for you.

A visit to just their front page immediately shows you:

o  The top 10 highest rated hosting companies

o  Features like how much space you get, how much traffic you can have without it impacting your bandwidth, and the price

o  Bonus features! Every hosting companies offers something extra (okay maybe not every one, but those listed in the top 10 certainly do) like a free domain forever, and marketing bonuses to get you headed on the right track for doing business online.

You also can easily click on any link for even more information.

But it doesn’t end there!

Down the left hand sidebar you’ll be astounded at even more ratings, the awards these “geeks” have won since 2004 (I love a website with longevity, that says a ton), along with links out to the Web Hosting Geeks’ Blog.

Loving blogs, of course I had to click.

Their most recent post (at the time of the writing of this post) is their April 14th, called Is Your Business Website Secure?.

Excellent advice to read, especially with the increase in attacks and hackers apparently with a ton of time on their hands. Why be sitting on hosting that does nothing to protect your hard-earned, hard worked asset – your online domain!

Here’s another post I found, that I think you’ll also find fascinating. It’s called Fantastico: cPanel’s Best Kept Secret.

Of course you’ll find even more information and stay up to date just by bookmarking the webhostinggeeks blog

If you’ve chosen the “lazy man’s (or woman’s) way” of creating a website, you might find your current hosting company short on this amazing feature. Fantastico is a wealth of ready-made, one click installations of a large variety of extra goodies for your website:

o  Forums
o  Shopping carts
o  Blog installations
o   Drupal (community building)
o  Wikis
o  and a whole lot more.

The great thing is you don’t have to know how to install a single thing, if your hosting includes Fantastico!

Frankly, I could spend hours looking around Webhosting Geeks at all the tools, resources, suggestions, and recommendation the folks over at webhosting geeks provide (and you should, too!)

Never, ever rush into choosing a hosting service. Always do your homework. And again, their website is the perfect stop to begin to make sure you choose the best hosting for your needs.

Enjoy!

Thanks to Barbara over at GoalForTheGreen, who was kind enough to send this wonderful free resource, we’re able to call your attention to a truly marvelous (I did mention free to use) graphics conversion tool.

Have you ever been stuck with an image that just won’t do the trick? Need a spot to convert your image into something more suitable?

Well head on over to Picturesize.org.

Honestly we were astonished at the huge variety of image conversion choices. Not just your typical change a .gif to .jpg or .bmp to .jpg, etc. The list of conversion choices goes on seemingly forever. Formats, frankly, I did not even know existed!

So the next time you locate a great image, but it’s in the wrong format, head on over to Picturesize.org and change it to exactly what you need.

Again, thanks Barbara!

DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT! If you’re not commenting, you are missing out on some sensational free marketing and advertising for yourself. Of course, do make your comment relevant to the post above, and be sure to leave your name and link to your own website!

And… Scroll down for a whole list of additional posts… there’s sure to be something else that also catches your attention

You’ve got to admit that blogs that give you visuals help ease the “text only” versions, and tonight I was lucky to come across a free to join website called Acobox.

Sort of along the Flickr line, Acobox gives you free signup access as either a blogger or a photographer (actually as a blogger I do see I have the ability to upload images to their site).

Then you just go hunting for interesting pictures they call “hotlinks.”

For example, you’re looking at one right now.

It was very easy to get and insert, too – don’t you just love that!

This particular image came from their Animals Gallery under Birds, which lists 316 additional images. And, of course if you opt to add yours into their system, just think of the advantages of having your images hotlinked on other peoples websites and blogs.

The only trouble I seem to be having is what I see inside the wp-admin is space between the picture and my words. Outside on the blog, the words hug tight to the image. I’ve tried playing with the horizontal alignment, but it doesn’t seem to do much of anything (sorry I’m a bit of a stickler, but I’m sure there is a workaround for this).

Oh and as the title tells you, this isn’t just for bloggers. Website owners can come to Acobox and get their images, for free, too!

So don’t be shy. Again sign up is free, and I had this image inserted in the blink of an eye.

Enjoy!