As your blog demands attention, everybody will take heed of your posts. This not only includes your target audience, but also trolls, who by far as the worst kind of people to interact with on your blog. You don’t even have to attract them – if trolls see something they can feast on your blog, they’ll do so without hesitation.

They take part in your blog by offering inane and useless vitriol for the sake of commenting on your posts. While most of your readers will deliver constructive criticism if they disagree with any of your ideas or thoughts, trolls will pounce on you using sweeping generalizations, poor sentence construction, and f-bombs that would make a sailor proud.

The psychology of trolls is traced to the sense of disinhibition they possess at the moment. Because their real identities are hidden behind an ambiguous username, they feel the compulsion to let go of social inhibitions and just unleash their true, inarticulate feelings against a blog.

It’s easy to give in and stoop down to their level especially when trolling comments come in droves. But before doing anything rash, below are some things that you should keep in mind to counter against these pesky online users.

read more

As of 2014, an estimated 6.7 million people blog via “traditional” blogging platforms. Think WordPress and Blogger among others.

This number has surely grown since the survey was done, with bloggers in every niche popping up like mushroom after the rain. We can’t deny that there are a lot of talented new bloggers today, but with the blogosphere already so crowded, it is crucial to find that special sauce that will give you an edge over everyone else in your niche.
read more

While the First Amendment certainly protects your right to free speech, you know that it’s really not that simple. Just because you have the right to say what you want, doesn’t mean you can always say what you want, where you want.

The catch is that regardless of where you say something, there are always consequences. If you say something to your spouse that’s laced with sarcasm, you may end up sleeping on the couch. If a child says something inappropriate to their teacher, they may find themselves in the principal’s office. If an athlete talks back to his coach, he’ll likely end up running or sitting on the bench.

In fact, one of the best examples of not being able to say what you want, where you want involved a recent case of not talking at all. Last NFL football season, Seattle Seahawks star running back Marshawn Lynch was fined multiple times for his refusal to speak with the media.

What do all of these examples have in common, and why are they relevant to you as a blogger? They all point to one important fact: Free speech may be allowed, but you must be wary of the consequences. Each of these instances is legal, but they come with significant results. read more

Starting an online store is one of the easiest ways to do business these days. However, what is tricky is to drive rankings on the search engines, converting the visitors into actual sales and retaining them so that they keep coming back. It is between these points where the success of online business lies.

You can consider these points before starting your own online store. While these steps may not be easy, it will definitely help your e-commerce business to get the throttle it needs!

read more

We hear about cybersecurity all the time, and we know “everything” we need to do in order to make sure that we are safe from unscrupulous individuals who branch out their illegal activities online.

Or do we?

On a personal level, you might have to admit that you do not change your passwords regularly or that you use the same password across several accounts. We know what happens when hackers get into the databases of credit card companies and even gaming entities.

On a larger scale, cybersecurity is even a bigger issue.
read more

Editor’s note: This post was written by Kanika Sharma, who works as a writer at ProofHub. For the past 2 years, she has been writing for various technology blogs. Being an engineering graduate, her background allows her to connect with cutting edge technologies and relate them with real world scenarios. Follow Kanika on Twitter to know more about her.

Every now and then, we see successful entrepreneurs around us or read stories about those who made it big, and we wonder how they did that! Well, they’ve got no super-brains or magic wands. They’re normal human beings, just like you and me. Then where’s the difference? Let me tell you the secret behind their success. Besides putting the best of their efforts, they resort to those ‘key points’ where others fail to make the stroke.

Productivity, i.e. getting the most out of your everyday, is one key area where most of the startup entrepreneurs, project managers and even employees lack. So, if you’re looking for ways to improve your own productivity along with that of your employees, this is how you should go about it. read more

Editor’s note: This post was written by Christopher Latter, co-founder of Trendii. He’s a digital marketer and entrepreneur. The majority of his experience is based in SEO and social media, and he also performs a range of other digital marketing techniques. He is a keen writer and enjoys bringing all his experiences together in an interesting way. He’s currently helping to launch a new social network as part of a new start-up incubator program called Start Tank, run by PayPal & Braintree. You can find him on LinkedIn.

Writers, artists, musicians, all us hopeless dreamers seem to have one thing in common. We like to sit back from our keyboards, easels and keyboards (the other kind of keyboards), and think, “if only I could make some money doing this”. Which we probably could if we spent less time fantasising and more time actually working on our art, because it turns out there are ways to make money from it. As always, whether you’re looking to promote your art, start a business or misinform the public about vaccines, the internet is here. read more

In the modern search environment local SEO is vital to ranking your business for your major keywords and search terms. If your business serves a particular location and its surrounding areas, making sure your website is optimised locally is crucial. If you are in a location and expect people to be able to find you on Google for that location, you should be optimising your web pages for your local area. The following infographic looks at how local SEO is important for lawyers. read more

Are you experiencing a considerable dip in your traffic and search engine rankings? You probably know that you’re not the only one dealing with this problem. With the way Google has been tweaking its algorithm, bloggers and web site owners always have to be on their toes to continue reaching the goals they have set – or at least maintain the status quo.

One of the things that we now have to pay attention to – more than ever – is the Google mobile-friendly algorithm. You may have been getting notices about mobile issues from Webmaster Tools.

Source

This is indicative of the importance that Google is placing on sites being absolutely mobile-friendly. read more

Editor’s note: This post was written by Will Norquay, who is part of the team at Stayz. He likes to discover new places and eateries around the world and share his experiences and stories with other travellers.

Source

Being a travel blogger isn’t easy – it’s not like you’ve got a comfortable office and an organized file to keep all the records from your trips. Fortunately, mobile devices can be just as practical in your daily travels. They’ll help you store the details of your trip, edit your photos or videos and easily share your content to your community. Here’s a selection of top apps for travel bloggers. read more