To use Scribe, right now you need to be using self-hosted Wordpress, but I understand they are developing another version, including a very-soon-to-be-released web-based version that you can use with any blogging tool.

If you’d like to try it right now and you’re using Wordpress, here’s how it works -

1.  Sign up for an account with Scribe (they have a free trial), then install the Scribe plug-in on your Wordpress blog.  Don’t forget to activate it in the plug-ins area in your Wordpress dashboard.

2. Pick a blog post (or static page) that you think could use a little SEO help.

3. Write a page title and descriptions for your post, using the All-in-One SEO Pack Wordpress plug-in.  Don’t have it? Get it here.

4. In the upper right corner of your post’s Compose screen, you’ll see a little box that looks like the image on the right. Click on the blue Analyze button and get ready for some magic.

Scribe will take a few minutes to analyze your page content, page title and page description.  Once it’s finished its analysis, you’ll see a pop-up box that gives you a ton of information on how to maximize the search engine results for that post.

5. This pop-up box gives you specific recommendations for how to change you content, add hyperlinks, modify tags, and maximize keyword usage.  It even gives you a rating on how you did – 100% if you a fantastic job, lower percentages if you’ve got some work to do. Take the recommendations and implement them! This advice does you no good if you don’t put it to use!

6. Repeat this process for more posts and pages – you get a certain number of Scribe evaluations with each level of service, so you can buy the level that’s right for you.

Click here to find out more about Scribe.

NOTE – You may not be ready for Scribe right now.  Or you may not be a Wordpress user right now. Either way, if you need a more general description of how to tackle the Search Engine Optimization world, I highly recommend Naomi Dunford of Ittybiz.  She’s got a great product called Ninja SEO School that I think it an excellent introduction to SEO. It’s not overwhelming, she’s a great teacher, and she’s funny, to boot.

Full disclosure – I am an affiliate for both of these products, but I truly would recommend them both even if I wasn’t! I know everyone says that, honest to goodness, it’s true.

For hosted Wordpress (Wordpress.com) users, you can do a backup of your whole blog by going to Tools => Export in your Wordpress.com blog dashboard. Then click on “Download Export File”. That will give you the backup of your content (posts, pages, authors, etc).

For anyone using the self-hosted Wordpress (Wordpress.org), I recommend installing this plug-in, which will do an automatic daily, weekly or monthly back-up of your database.  Once the plug-in is installed and activated, go to Tools > Backup to configure the options for when you want to have the back-up done.  It gives you the option to have the back-up mailed to you automatically, which I think is pretty slick.

In Blogger, you can do an export of your blog (which is also useful is you want to switch to Wordpress, not that I’m HINTING or anything) by going to Settings > Blog Tools > Export Blog.

If you’re a Typepad blogger, go to “Settings” once you’ve clicked on the blog you want to back up, then click on “Import/Export” > Export.

If you’re using another blogging tool, ask tech support or do a quick Google search for the words “export” or “Backup” and your blogging tool name, and you’ll likely find a way to do a backup.

Once you’ve run an export or back up and you have the exported file, make sure to save it somewhere safe (preferably on an external hard drive, if possible).  I recommend backing up about once a week.  That way if something awful happens, you never lose more than one week’s worth of posts.

Something else to think about – don’t use a fly-by-night hosting company if you’re blogging with a self-hosting blogging tool like Wordpress.org.  I recommend Bluehost – they are incredibly reliable and very Wordpress-friendly.  Yes, that is an affiliate link, but I use Bluehost myself and love them, especially their very knowledgable customer service, which has saved my butt more than once when I’m backed myself into some weird technical corner. 

This year, we should all be thankful for blogs that don’t disappear!  Do your backups!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

So my question to those of you who are already blogging with Wordpress is – what did you have trouble with?  Is there anything that you got stuck on (when you first getting started) that you definitely think should be included in my guide?  What gave you pause, or what did you need to seek help with?  Thanks in advance for your suggestions – you will help make this guide as complete as possible!