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><channel><title>Mike Johnson Design</title> <atom:link href="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /><link>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com</link> <description>Web Designer and Developer</description> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 06 Jun 2013 17:04:10 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency> <generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1</generator> <item><title>Generate WP</title><link>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/generate-wp/</link> <comments>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/generate-wp/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 19:21:13 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mike Johnson Design</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category> <category><![CDATA[generate wordpress]]></category> <category><![CDATA[wordpress snippets]]></category><guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/?p=1394</guid> <description><![CDATA[Here is a great website I found to help you grab specific WordPress snippets that are customized for your needs. It really comes in handy when you&#8217;re not in the mood to write all this code from scratch OR to search through different tutorial websites to find it. http://generatewp.com/]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Here is a great website I found to help you grab specific WordPress snippets that are customized for your needs.  It really comes in handy when you&#8217;re not in the mood to write all this code from scratch OR to search through different tutorial websites to find it.</p><p><a
href="http://generatewp.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://generatewp.com/</a></p><p><a
href="http://generatewp.com/" target="_blank"><img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/generate-wordpress.png" alt="generate wordpress" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1395" /></a></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/generate-wp/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Great Design Techniques</title><link>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/great-design-techniques/</link> <comments>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/great-design-techniques/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:31:08 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mike Johnson Design</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category><guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/?p=1137</guid> <description><![CDATA[One way I get inspired with new website ideas is to look through catalogs of interior design elements. This trick has allowed me to broaden my ideas and creativity. Here is an example article that has helped me out in the past: http://www.squidoo.com/best-interior-design-schools]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One way I get inspired with new website ideas is to look through catalogs of interior design elements. This trick has allowed me to broaden my ideas and creativity. Here is an example article that has helped me out in the past:<br
/> <a
href="http://www.squidoo.com/best-interior-design-schools" title="Interior Design Courses" target="_blank">http://www.squidoo.com/best-interior-design-schools</a></p><p><iframe
width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KBM8q3p79_o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/great-design-techniques/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>iPhone 12</title><link>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/iphone-12/</link> <comments>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/iphone-12/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 13 Sep 2012 15:07:50 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mike Johnson Design</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category> <category><![CDATA[iPhone 12]]></category> <category><![CDATA[new iphone design]]></category> <category><![CDATA[phone features]]></category><guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/?p=1092</guid> <description><![CDATA[Our sources say this is 100% legitimate*. Features: - Everything else from the iPhone 11 - Taller display that doesn&#8217;t require scrolling. Since up to this phone, Apple has already invented 99% of the possible features, the taller display is the last that remained. Oh, and did we mention this phone will be able to... <a
class="view-article" href="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/iphone-12/">View Article</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Our sources say this is 100% legitimate*.<br
/><div
id="attachment_1093" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 510px"><img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/iphone12.jpg" alt="iphone 12" title="iphone 12" width="500" height="855" class="size-full wp-image-1093" /><p
class="wp-caption-text">Exact make and model of the upcoming iPhone 12</p></div></p><p>Features:<br
/> - Everything else from the iPhone 11<br
/> - Taller display that doesn&#8217;t require scrolling.</p><p>Since up to this phone, Apple has already invented 99% of the possible features, the taller display is the last that remained. Oh, and did we mention this phone will be able to fly? Yes, fly.</p><p><span
style="font-size: 9px;">*Our sources lie to us sometimes.</span></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/iphone-12/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Make a Website in 5 Simple Steps (PART 2 OF 2)</title><link>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/make-a-website-in-5-simple-steps-part-2-of-2/</link> <comments>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/make-a-website-in-5-simple-steps-part-2-of-2/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:37:12 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mike Johnson Design</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category><guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/?p=1045</guid> <description><![CDATA[Click here if haven&#8217;t read part 1 (buying a domain name and hosting account). If you&#8217;ve been following along, here&#8217;s the second part (the fun part). Setting up a CMS CMS: Content Management System. It&#8217;s pretty much a free, website-in-a-box (without the box). It is by far the easiest and quickest way to add the... <a
class="view-article" href="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/make-a-website-in-5-simple-steps-part-2-of-2/">View Article</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a
href="/make-a-website-in-5-simple-steps-part-1-of-2/" title="free website building training online part 1 of 2">Click here if haven&#8217;t read part 1 (buying a domain name and hosting account).</a></p><p>If you&#8217;ve been following along, here&#8217;s the second part (the fun part).</p><h2>Setting up a CMS</h2><p>CMS: Content Management System. It&#8217;s pretty much a free, website-in-a-box (without the box). It is by far the easiest and quickest way to add the &#8220;website&#8221; to your domain name.</p><p>One of the most popular content management systems out there is <a
href="http://www.wordpress.org" title="wordpress" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">WordPress</a>. It&#8217;s free, quick to install, and easy to get your website up and running in no time.  And since you&#8217;ve already <a
href="http://x.co/m1c4a37j" title="purchased a domain name" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">purchased your domain name</a> and signed up for a <a
href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5609157-10409151" title="hostgator hosting plan" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">HostGator hosting plan</a>, you can install wordpress onto your domain name with just a few clicks of the mouse.</p><h3>Why Choose WordPress over Joomla or Drupal?</h3><p>There are quite a few content management systems that are pretty good. So why am I choosing to show you how to install WordPress? Because I find that WordPress offers the best options for getting what you want done with a website. It&#8217;s the easiest to customize and control. You can change the design with the click of a button. I&#8217;ve worked with both Joomla and Drupal sites before and have found that they&#8217;re not as easy to understand as WordPress. WordPress users offer free tutorials and help through their <a
href="http://wordpress.org/support/" rel="nofollow" title="wordpress forum" target="_blank">forum</a>. WordPress also has what are called &#8220;Plugins&#8221; which are like tiny programs that work alongside your website. I&#8217;ve been using WordPress for years and I guess when it comes down to it, it&#8217;s more of a personal choice than anything else. This tutorial will cover the installation of WordPress but you&#8217;re more than welcome to venture off and install one of the other CMS if you&#8217;d like.</p><h3>Installing WordPress</h3><p>First, log into your HostGator control panel. If you have trouble finding your login information, you can <a
href="https://support.hostgator.com/" rel="nofollow" title="contact hostgator" target="_blank">contact HostGator</a> directly.</p><p>So when you&#8217;re logged in to your hosting account, scroll down under the heading &#8220;Software/Services&#8221; and click &#8220;Quick Install&#8221;:<br
/> <img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/click-quick-install.png" alt="click quick install" title="click quick install" width="500" height="156" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1066" /></p><p>Then click WordPress:<br
/> <img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/click-wordpress.png" alt="click wordpress" title="click wordpress" width="503" height="282" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1067" /></p><p>Then click Continue:<br
/> <img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/continue.png" alt="continue" title="continue" width="729" height="254" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1068" /></p><p>Select from the drop down menu the domain name you are installing WordPress onto. Then fill out the information below:<br
/> <img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/install-wordpress.png" alt="install wordpress" title="install wordpress" width="921" height="482" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1069" /></p><p>When you&#8217;re finished, click &#8220;Install.&#8221; You should receive an email with your username and password to log into your website.</p><p>To <strong>log into your website</strong>, go to: http://www.YOURDOMAIN.com/wp-admin</p><p>This will give you a prompt to fill in your username and password (the ones in the email you got after installing WordPress). If you have trouble finding your account login information, <a
href="https://support.hostgator.com/" rel="nofollow" title="hostgator support" target="_blank">contact HostGator</a>. Sometimes it can take a while to receive your login information.</p><p>Once logged in, you will be able to start adding content, images, video, and more!</p><p>Familiarize Yourself With Your Dashboard:<br
/> <object
width="640" height="360"><param
name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2oR05Vj1kCQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param
name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param
name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed
src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2oR05Vj1kCQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p><p>Now that you know where things are located in your website&#8217;s dashboard, let&#8217;s talk about Posts. What is a WordPress post? From the wordpress glossary page, a post or also known as “articles” (and sometimes incorrectly referred to as “blogs”) are articles that you write to populate your website.</p><p>Here&#8217;s how to add a post:<br
/> <object
width="640" height="360"><param
name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/m5mknBt4XGM?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param
name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param
name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed
src="http://www.youtube.com/v/m5mknBt4XGM?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p><p>And there you go. There are the basics to adding WordPress to your website and adding a little bit of content. If you&#8217;d like me to personally help you design your website (and make it look awesome), <a
href="/contact/" title="Contact">send me an email</a>!</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/make-a-website-in-5-simple-steps-part-2-of-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Make a Website in 5 Simple Steps (Part 1 of 2)</title><link>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/make-a-website-in-5-simple-steps-part-1-of-2/</link> <comments>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/make-a-website-in-5-simple-steps-part-1-of-2/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:00:13 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mike Johnson Design</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category><guid
isPermaLink="false">http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/?p=1024</guid> <description><![CDATA[Throughout this lesson we&#8217;ll be talking about how to build a website online. We&#8217;ll cover everything from buying a domain name, purchasing website hosting, and putting together your very first website. Ready to get started? If you know what you&#8217;re doing and are here to learn how to add a Content Management System to your... <a
class="view-article" href="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/make-a-website-in-5-simple-steps-part-1-of-2/">View Article</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Throughout this lesson we&#8217;ll be talking about how to build a website online. We&#8217;ll cover everything from buying a domain name, purchasing website hosting, and putting together your very first website. Ready to get started?</p><p>If you know what you&#8217;re doing and are here to learn how to add a Content Management System to your website, skip to <a
href="/make-a-website-in-5-simple-steps-part-2-of-2/" title="add cms to your domain">part 2 of 2</a>. If this is all new to you, follow the instructions below:</p><h2>Your First Website in 5 Simple Steps</h2><p>1) Buy a domain name &#8211; about $10/year &#8211; <a
href="http://x.co/m1c4a37j" target="_blank">http://www.GoDaddy.com</a><br
/> 2) Buy website hosting &#8211; about $6/month &#8211; <a
href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5609157-10409151" target="_blank">http://www.HostGator.com</a><br
/> 3) Add Name Servers &#8211; <strong>free</strong><br
/> 4) Add domain to hosting account &#8211; <strong>free</strong><br
/> 5) Add a CMS &#8211; Content Management System &#8211; (text, images, videos, etc) &#8211; <strong>free</strong></p><h3>1) Buying Your First Domain Name</h3><p>So what exactly is a domain name? It&#8217;s the physical website address or URL (show below). It&#8217;s what people type into the address bar to view your website.<br
/><div
id="attachment_1032" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 486px"><a
href="http://x.co/m1c4a37j" target="_blank"><img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/domain-name.png" alt="domain name" title="domain name" width="476" height="168" class="size-full wp-image-1032" /></a><p
class="wp-caption-text">This is what my domain name looks like.</p></div></p><p>There are many different domain name extensions (.com, .net, .org, .tv, .me, .ws, etc). If I have the option of buying a <strong>.com</strong> I would choose that, as that is the most popular domain extension around. But ultimately, if your sole purpose is to show your friends, family, or anyone else what&#8217;s important to you online, the domain extension really doesn&#8217;t matter. As for purchasing a domain name, I personally choose to buy my domain names from <a
href="http://x.co/m1c4a37j" target="_blank">GoDaddy.com</a>. When I use GoDaddy, I know I&#8217;m buying a quality domain name that doesn&#8217;t have any hidden contracts or fees behind it. GoDaddy is a name I trust and hopefully you will too. Plus, they almost always have great deals on buying domain names for cheap. If you have a domain name in mind, <a
href="http://x.co/m1c4a37j" rel="nofollow" title="buy your first domain name" target="_blank">click here to buy your first domain name</a>.</p><h3>2) Purchasing a Website Hosting Plan</h3><div
id="attachment_1035" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 386px"><a
href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5609157-10409151"><img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/hostgator-website-hosting.png" alt="hostgator website hosting" title="hostgator website hosting" width="376" height="102" class="size-full wp-image-1035" /></a><p
class="wp-caption-text">Website Hosting &#8211; HostGator</p></div><p>Website hosting is simply this: rented space on the internet.  You rent the space from a hosting company and in turn, they allow you to add your text, images, video, etc to that space and call it a &#8220;website.&#8221; If you only purchase a domain name but don&#8217;t get hosting, you won&#8217;t be able to see your website on the internet. This is why domain names and hosting plans go hand-in-hand. You really don&#8217;t want one without the other.</p><p>HostGator is the largest name in the website hosting business and I highly recommend <a
href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5609157-10409151" target="_blank">purchasing website hosting</a> from them. There are different plans to choose from but I recommend the &#8220;Baby Plan&#8221;:</p><p><img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/baby-hosting-plan.png" alt="baby hosting plan" title="baby hosting plan" width="222" height="248" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1043" /></p><p>This plan allows you to host unlimited domains under this one hosting account. For example, let&#8217;s say you wanted to buy ILoveToBuildWebsites.com so you buy it. Then you think, &#8220;hmmm&#8230;I want to buy ILoveToBuildWebsites2.com,&#8221; so you buy it. With the cheapest hosting plan, you wouldn&#8217;t be able to add this second domain name to your hosting account. You would either have to choose not buy the second domain or upgrade your hosting plan to the Baby Plan. This is why I recommend getting the Baby Plan; it&#8217;s cheap, affordable, and allows you to add as many domain names to your account as you want (hence the term &#8220;unlimited domains&#8221;). In short, the <a
href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5609157-10409151" target="_blank">Baby Plan</a> is the best plan for beginners.</p><h3>3) Name Servers</h3><p>In order for you to sync and connect your recently purchased domain name with your recently purchased hosting plan, you&#8217;re going to need to add your name servers to your domain name. Sounds complicated&#8230;it&#8217;s not. Name Servers look something like this:</p><p><strong>NS101.HOSTGATOR.COM and NS102.HOSTGATOR.COM</strong></p><p>A name server is pretty much a specific &#8220;ID&#8221; that tells your domain name to associate itself with your hosting account.</p><p>In order to find your name servers, you will need your hostgator control panel login information (you should have received a confirmation email after signing up for your hosting plan). After logging into your HostGator control panel, you will scroll down the page and on the left hand side you should see an &#8220;Account Information&#8221; section that looks like this:</p><div
id="attachment_1041" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 240px"><img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/nameservers.jpg" alt="name servers" title="name servers" width="230" height="147" class="size-full wp-image-1041" /><p
class="wp-caption-text">These are what name servers look like</p></div><p>You will copy the two sets of numbers (yours might look different than the ones I showed above). Then you will log into your <a
href="http://x.co/m1c4a37j" title="Log Into GoDaddy.com Account" target="_blank">GoDaddy.com account</a>. To associate the name servers with your domain name, follow the images below:</p><p><img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/log-into-godaddy-account.png" alt="log into godaddy account" title="log into godaddy account" width="502" height="156" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1049" /><br
/> <img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/add-username-password.png" alt="add username password" title="add username password" width="348" height="138" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1050" /><br
/> <img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/click-all-products.png" alt="click all products" title="click all products" width="278" height="171" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1051" /></p><p>Next, hover over the Domains tab and then click on domain management:<br
/> <img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/hover-domains-click-domain-management.png" alt="hover domains click domain management" title="hover domains click domain management" width="775" height="377" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1052" /></p><p>Find your domain name and check the box next to it:<br
/> <img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/select-domain-name.png" alt="select domain name" title="select domain name" width="255" height="35" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1053" /></p><p>In the upper/middle portion of the page, you&#8217;ll see a &#8220;Name Servers&#8221; icon. Click it, then select &#8220;Set Name Servers&#8221;:<br
/> <img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/set-nameservers.png" alt="set nameservers" title="set nameservers" width="212" height="89" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1058" /></p><p>First, select &#8220;I have specific nameservers for my domains&#8221; and then paste the name servers you copied from your Hosting account here:<br
/> <img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/paste-nameservers.png" alt="paste nameservers" title="paste nameservers" width="526" height="304" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1055" /></p><p>Then click &#8220;OK&#8221; when you&#8217;re done to save your changes.  The reason I am having you add your name servers first is because sometimes it can take up to 48 hours for your name servers to &#8220;sync up&#8221; to your domain.</p><h3>4) Add Your Domain to Your Hosting Account</h3><p>Now that you&#8217;ve associated your name servers with your domain name, you can now add your domain name to your hosting account. Log into your HostGator control panel (this will be the same log in information as when you found your name servers). Scroll down the page and click the icon called &#8220;Addon Domains&#8221; (under the Domains section).</p><p><img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/addon-domains.png" alt="addon domains" title="addon domains" width="498" height="109" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1047" /></p><p>Then fill out the appropriate information. Here&#8217;s a quick example:</p><p><img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/addon-domains-2.png" alt="addon domains" title="addon domains" width="489" height="252" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1048" /></p><p>When you&#8217;ve filled out your information, click &#8220;Add Domain.&#8221; Now your domain has been added to your hosting account and you&#8217;re ready for the next step; adding your CMS.</p><p><a
href="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/make-a-website-in-5-simple-steps-part-2-of-2/" title="Free Website-building Tutorial (PART 2 OF 2)">&raquo; Click here to read part 2 of this tutorial</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/make-a-website-in-5-simple-steps-part-1-of-2/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>ArticleRanks Review</title><link>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/articleranks-review/</link> <comments>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/articleranks-review/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:17:49 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mike Johnson Design</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category> <category><![CDATA[article ranks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[articleranks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[articleranks review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[authority link network]]></category> <category><![CDATA[build my rank]]></category> <category><![CDATA[buildmyrank]]></category> <category><![CDATA[seodestiny]]></category><guid
isPermaLink="false">http://mikejohnsondesign.com/?p=915</guid> <description><![CDATA[Over the past few months, I have been trying to find a good way to rank my &#8220;money&#8221; websites in the different search engines results pages (SERPs). I&#8217;ve come across more than 15 article submission directories (such as ArticleRanks, Authority Link Network, BuildMyRank, SEO Link Vine, LinkVana, SEO Destiny) that &#8220;claim&#8221; you&#8217;ll get a ton... <a
class="view-article" href="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/articleranks-review/">View Article</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a
href="http://www.articleranks.com/?ref=9bab73a30080676112612890bf999266"  rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img
src="http://www.articleranks.com/images/banner/it1/articleranks_300x250.gif" alt="ArticleRanks" width="300" height="250" border="none" class="alignleft" ></a> Over the past few months, I have been trying to find a good way to rank my &#8220;money&#8221; websites in the different search engines results pages (SERPs). I&#8217;ve come across more than 15 article submission directories (such as ArticleRanks, Authority Link Network, BuildMyRank, SEO Link Vine, LinkVana, SEO Destiny) that &#8220;claim&#8221; you&#8217;ll get a ton of high quality baclinks which will help you rank higher in the SERPs using their system. I was very hesitate to sign up with these different sites mainly because they have a monthly fee (some of which were $89 a month!). How could I pay that if I wasn&#8217;t making any money yet? So I decided to search for a free option.  I found a website that did what I wanted called Authority Link Network (ALN). It allowed me to add a few high page ranked websites to their system.  These high PR sites would earn me daily credits. With those credits, I was able to submit articles daily (the number of articles was dependent upon how many high PR sites I added to the system). Within 2 months of using ALN, I had gained a few hundred backlinks per website I submit articles for. I started seeing my websites appear higher in the SERPs and got really excited when I started making money from these websites. AND THEN&#8230;I started dropping in the results and haulted completely from making money. But why?! I was building backlinks. I was article marketing the correct way, right?</p><p>Apparently, Google (for example) allows newly created websites to experience a &#8220;honeymoon&#8221; phase where, in the SERPs, you&#8217;ll get pushed to the top to see what it feels like to rank high. So, this whole time, I thought ALN was working! Ahh. After I started dropping in rankings, I thought I needed to find a different article submission site to help me rank back up to the top. And that&#8217;s when I found <strong>ArticleRanks</strong> (AR).</p><h2>What Does ArticleRanks Do?</h2><p><span
style="text-decoration:underline;">ArticleRanks</span> allows you to submit spun articles (yes, I know people claim that submitting spun articles might not be the best way to do article marketing, but hey, I&#8217;m still in my trial-and-error mode here).  Those articles get distributed to different high PR sites, social bookmarking sites, and RSS feed sites. Submitting articles through these other types of web 2.0 sites, apparently allows for quick indexing. In theory, the quicker you can get articles with links to your sites indexed, the faster you&#8217;ll rank for certain keywords. At least that&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve read. <a
href="/" style="color:#525252; text-decoration: none;" title="articleranks">ArticleRanks</a> is one of the least expensive article marketing sites, coming in at $39 for adding 10 websites with unlimited articles or $89 for adding unlimited articles to unlimited websites (both are per month). There is a free option too but you can only use 6 website URLs within your articles and there is a low priority when distributing your articles. With the free site you don&#8217;t get your sites distributed to social bookmarking site, unlike what you get with the paid versions.</p><p><img
src="http://mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/articleranks-pricing.jpg" alt="articleranks pricing" title="articleranks pricing" width="600" height="522" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-936" /></p><h3>Inside ArticleRanks</h3><p>I have only been using ArticleRanks for 1 week. But, in my first week, my sites have literally jumped up in the SERPs and I&#8217;m already getting more traffic. Here&#8217;s a quick look into the <em>ArticleRanks</em> system:</p><p>This first image is how many articles I&#8217;ve submitted over the past week. It shows how many of those articles have already been distributed.<br
/> <img
src="http://mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/articleranks-1-550x262.jpg" alt="articleranks" title="articleranks" width="550" height="262" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-924" /></p><p>This image shows where you add new articles. Take a look at the 4th image to view the format ArticleRanks requires for submission.<br
/> <img
src="http://mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/articleranks-21.jpg" alt="articleranks" title="articleranks" width="600" height="598" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-938" /></p><p>Here&#8217;s a quick shot of the rate in which my articles are accepted. The percentage of acceptance would by higher if I spent a few more minutes perfecting my spun articles. But I&#8217;m ok with this percentage <img
src='http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /><br
/> <img
src="http://mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/articleranks-3-550x169.jpg" alt="articleranks" title="articleranks" width="550" height="169" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-926" /></p><p>Here&#8217;s the format you&#8217;re going to need to use when adding articles to ArticleRanks. It&#8217;s really easy to add this extra format when using The Best Spinner.<br
/> <img
src="http://mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/exporting-to-articleranks-format-550x371.png" alt="exporting to articleranks format" title="exporting to articleranks format" width="550" height="371" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-923" /></p><p>ArticleRanks is really easy to use and it&#8217;s already giving me great results. I&#8217;m excited to see where I&#8217;m ranked over the next month. Hope this review helped and that you&#8217;re interested in <a
href="http://www.articleranks.com/?ref=9bab73a30080676112612890bf999266"  rel="nofollow" target="_blank">signing up for ArticleRanks</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/articleranks-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Backlinks Update</title><link>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/backlinks-update/</link> <comments>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/backlinks-update/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:56:13 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mike Johnson Design</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category><guid
isPermaLink="false">http://mikejohnsondesign.com/?p=830</guid> <description><![CDATA[As we&#8217;re now approaching the end of January, I wanted to talk a little bit about how my &#8220;experiment&#8221; went. So far&#8230;REALLY well. I&#8217;m seeing huge jumps in the search results. I&#8217;m even ranked #1 for a few of my keywords. So all is well. I&#8217;ll let you know more as time continues.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As we&#8217;re now approaching the end of January, I wanted to talk a little bit about how my &#8220;<a
href="http://mikejohnsondesign.com/writing-articles-to-get-backlinks/" title="Writing Articles to Get Backlinks">experiment</a>&#8221; went. So far&#8230;REALLY well. I&#8217;m seeing huge jumps in the search results. I&#8217;m even ranked #1 for a few of my keywords. So all is well. I&#8217;ll let you know more as time continues.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/backlinks-update/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Writing Articles to Get Backlinks</title><link>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/writing-articles-to-get-backlinks/</link> <comments>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/writing-articles-to-get-backlinks/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:39:21 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mike Johnson Design</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category><guid
isPermaLink="false">http://mikejohnsondesign.com/?p=820</guid> <description><![CDATA[I was introduced to a program/website the other day (won&#8217;t mention the name until after my &#8220;experiment&#8221;) that allows you to submit content to high-page-ranked websites. These websites are dofollow, which results in getting 3 backlinks per article written. I&#8217;m going to track my progress for one month. From Alexa.com, I noticed that all of... <a
class="view-article" href="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/writing-articles-to-get-backlinks/">View Article</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I was introduced to a program/website the other day (won&#8217;t mention the name until after my &#8220;experiment&#8221;) that allows you to submit content to high-page-ranked websites. These websites are dofollow, which results in getting 3 backlinks per article written. I&#8217;m going to track my progress for one month. From Alexa.com, I noticed that all of my sites only had 1 site linking in (except this website which has 35, and two other sites have around 16). So we&#8217;ll see how many one-way links I can get after one month and I&#8217;ll be sure to post my stats.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/writing-articles-to-get-backlinks/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Russell Acupuncture</title><link>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/russell-acupuncture/</link> <comments>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/russell-acupuncture/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:02:32 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mike Johnson Design</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category> <category><![CDATA[acupuncture calabasas]]></category> <category><![CDATA[best acupuncture]]></category> <category><![CDATA[russell acupuncture]]></category><guid
isPermaLink="false">http://mikejohnsondesign.com/?p=761</guid> <description><![CDATA[Dr. Rachel Russell is a California Board Certified Licensed Acupuncturist practicing in Calabasas (West San Fernando Valley). A lifelong devotee of healthy living, she specializes in chronic pain issues, stress management, recovery from physical injuries, allergy alleviation, detox protocols, Pediatrics, Fertility, Woman&#8217;s health and general health preservation.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a
href="http://russellacupuncture.com/" rel="nofollow"><img
src="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/russell-acupuncture-636x310.jpg" alt="Russell Acupuncture" title="Russell Acupuncture" width="636" height="310" class="alignnone size-single-thumbnail wp-image-1016" /></a><br
/> Dr. Rachel Russell is a California Board Certified Licensed Acupuncturist practicing in Calabasas (West San Fernando Valley). A lifelong devotee of healthy living, she specializes in chronic pain issues, stress management, recovery from physical injuries, allergy alleviation, detox protocols, Pediatrics, Fertility, Woman&#8217;s health and general health preservation.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/russell-acupuncture/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> <item><title>Best SEO Practices</title><link>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/best-seo-practices/</link> <comments>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/best-seo-practices/#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:23:41 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mike Johnson Design</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[General]]></category> <category><![CDATA[best seo practices]]></category> <category><![CDATA[seo tips]]></category><guid
isPermaLink="false">http://mikejohnsondesign.com/?p=660</guid> <description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been working really hard the past few months on strengthening my &#8220;SEO Game&#8221; and I&#8217;d like to share a few of the things I&#8217;ve learned: 1) Create links that contain the keyword you&#8217;re trying to rank for: Here&#8217;s a great example: Tailor Made Health. Notice how the link contains the keyword both in the... <a
class="view-article" href="http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/best-seo-practices/">View Article</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve been working really hard the past few months on strengthening my &#8220;SEO Game&#8221; and I&#8217;d like to share a few of the things I&#8217;ve learned:</p><p>1) Create links that contain the keyword you&#8217;re trying to rank for: Here&#8217;s a great example: <a
href="http://www.tailormadehealth.com" target="_blank" style="color:#000;" rel="external nofollow">Tailor Made Health</a>.  Notice how the link contains the keyword both in the actual text AND the URL. This way Google (or any other search engine) gets an idea of what it&#8217;s going to find when it follows that link.</p><p>2) Write keyword rich content.  Here&#8217;s a sentence from a friend&#8217;s website: If you&#8217;re looking to buy a home or condo in Orange County, you&#8217;ll find the best deals from KEYWORD LINK HERE. See how the keyword they&#8217;re trying to rank for is located within the sentence?</p><p>3) Use meta tags: title, keywords, description.</p><p>4) Use H1, H2, and H3 tags within the content, along with relevant images (with alt tags).</p><p>5) Write articles that actually make sense. Don&#8217;t just write fake content just to throw your keywords in. You AND Google knows what you&#8217;re doing. I don&#8217;t recommend it.</p><p>6) Get backlinks from high page ranked sites.</p><p>These are just a few great and easy-to-do examples I&#8217;ve found across the way. Hope this helps!</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://www.mikejohnsondesign.com/best-seo-practices/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> </item> </channel> </rss>