Articles by Ileane Smith

Welcome! I'm Ileane and this blog was created to help you learn about WordPress blogging, Social Media Optimization, YouTube Tutorials and more. Visit my YouTube channel packed with additional blogging and social media tutorials. and add me to circles on Google+ If you have questions, or want some feedback about your blog, sign up to get free tips and resources to help you expand your audience!

Ileane has written 104 awesome articles for us at Basic Blog Tips

Twitter @Ileane | Facebook | Google+ | Blog → Basic Blog Tips

Ileane

52
By May 12, 2012

At times it can be a little tricky to stay on top of your social media game. In this post I address some common issues I see on your blogs (that’s right I mean you!) and provide simple solutions and a few short steps you can take to make sure you come out a winner. A few of these tips might not apply to you, but if you need help fixing any of them, let us know in the comments and we’ll get you some solutions fast! I want you to be successful, and like it or not, social media plays a big role in helping you reach your online goals. So let’s play ball!…continue reading…

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109
By May 6, 2012

Twitter ads are not as laser focused as Facebook ads, however you can choose by country and you also have a choice of 5 different messages you can promote with the ad. I like this option because it allowed me vary the test and promote a wider range of offerings. I also, think that people tend to have a level of ad blindness on Facebook and they may not have their Twitter ad blinders on yet, since the platform is so new. I found some level of success with using Twitter ads and I certainly recommend using them to promote your small business, launch a new product, generate buzz for an event or to grow your Twitter following.…continue reading…

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By April 22, 2012

Let’s discuss the benefits of having a podcast. Starting a podcast can be the answer to your content marketing prayers. You don’t need to get in front of a camera and yet you can create a connection with your audience through a podcast that goes deeper than the bond you create on your blog. Your readers will get to hear your voice which helps them relate to you on a more human level. Once you start your podcast, you can instantly boost your credibility and elevate yourself as thought leader and recognized authority figure in your niche.…continue reading…

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117
By April 18, 2012

Scoop.it allows us to keep a visual collection of the stories that hold our interest. You might compare it to Pinterest in some ways but for me, it’s so much more. You get to shine the spotlight on your favorite images but more importantly – you can gather snippets of information in an organized collection based on your topic of interests. Curating a topic helps build your authority and helps keep you focused. There are some added benefits that you’ll learn more about in this post (and in the video).…continue reading…

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By April 7, 2012

Now that you’ve started recording YouTube videos to promote your website or small business, you can take it to the next level and by enhancing those videos with interactive applications powered by Viewbix. For those of you who haven’t heard about it yet, here’s the description of Viewbix taken from their website: Viewbix lets you add interactive apps and calls-to-action to your videos. The apps put dynamic content on top of your YouTube, Vimeo or Facebook videos to create a rich viewing experience that engages viewers and can be shared across the web, social and mobile platforms.…continue reading…

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111
By April 4, 2012

In the scramble for social media success, some of us are getting caught up in the madness and losing sight of the true benefits that social networking has to offer. I truly believe that one of the best ways to get the most out of any social network is by being a “giver”. Spend time each day and make it a point to go out of your way to visit other blogs and share other people’s content. Check out this episode of the Ms. Ileane Speaks Podcast called Avoid These 5 Social Media No-Nos…continue reading…

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57
By March 22, 2012

When most bloggers think about building an email list, the first email service that comes to mind is AWeber. Of course there are other options available, but it’s not my intention to debate the pros and cons of other popular email delivery services in this post. AWeber was an obvious choice for me, or anyone who wants to sell affiliate products while they are in the early stages of list building. One of the reasons Aweber has become so popular with many bloggers and small business owners has to do with the flexibility of the platform and list segmentation features.…continue reading…

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By March 17, 2012

During the evolution of Facebook pages, about a year ago, Facebook did away with the FBML tabs and everyone moved over to using to the more popular iFrame tabs. Lujure has a nifty iFrame widget, which is the one everyone “oohed and aahed” over in Amy Porterfield’s webinar (including your’s truly). Lujure’s iFrame app is one of my favorites because you can drag an entire web page right into your Facebook Page with the iFrame. It’s so easy to build an application with the iFrame widget, by simply adding the URL to the wigdet and dragging the frame to fit the page. Sounds super awesome right! You can build a page in less than 60 seconds flat. No kidding and absolutely NO CODING involved…continue reading…

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56
By March 16, 2012

In this installment of the blogger interviews series, I have the chance to introduce to you to Joost De Valk aka Yoast. We chat about WordPress, plugin development, SEO, blogging conferences, social media and more. He also give us an insider tip about what might be coming to the next version of WordPress.…continue reading…

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154
By March 11, 2012

My blog maintenance routine is basically a proactive approach to avoid problems with my blog before they ever happen. As most of the community here knows, Basic Blog Tips is a very active blog with loads of fresh content, attractive high-quality images and plenty of social sharing options to choose from. I always try to limit the number of plugins that I install on the blog but there’s always a new one that comes along that it seems like I can’t live without. When the blog seems to lag and perform poorly or if something isn’t working as it should, I can usually hone in on the problem. Here’s what I’m doing to keep things running as smoothly as possible.…continue reading…

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107
By March 2, 2012

It’s no secret that video marketing is one of the best ways to promote your blog and your brand. Create a video that’s educational, artistic, funny, captivating or interesting enough to capture the attention of your audience, and you’ve just made a new fan who can’t wait to subscribe to your YouTube channel or share your video on social networks with family and friends. You might even be the next YouTube sensation, but at the end of the day, what you really want is for people to take enough of an interest in you, that they take the time to subscribe to your channel and eventually visit your website or blog…continue reading…

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124
By February 19, 2012

It’s important for us to have incoming links from around the internet coming back to our blogs and websites. Google and the other search engines use this as a barometer to measure the importance and value of our content. As time goes by, and we start to accumulate more and more quality incoming links we’ll see a direct correlation to the rise in the amount of traffic coming to our sites from Google as well as the other search engines. In this video you’ll see 3 free resources that you can use on a daily basis to check on your incoming links…continue reading…

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46
By February 9, 2012

Winners are announced in the Blog Engage Membership Giveaway of February 2012! Learn about the Affiliate Lights sign up bonus too.…continue reading…

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42
By February 4, 2012

Marcie Hill from The Write Design Company is a prolific writer and live blogger. For those of you who are curious about what live blogging is, check out Marcie’s guest post where she gives us Quick Lessons in Live Blogging. I was introduced to Marcie during the Small Business Influencers Awards in 2011 and we have been Twitter buds ever since. I jumped at the opportunity to interview her and gain more insights into her expertise in freelancing, writing and of course to learn even more about the process of live blogging…continue reading…

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70
By January 25, 2012

One crucial component to starting a podcast that cannot be overlooked, is getting the right podcasting gear. You might find podcasting gear to be one of the most fascinating and down-right fun aspects of the whole concept of podcasting. And just like anything else you can take the high road and make a huge investment or you can try to do it on the cheap. I started out using a really cheap headset microphone that picked up tons of background noise and hum. I ended up somewhere in the middle of the road with a USB mic from Samson.…continue reading…

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By January 23, 2012

You might remember that last year Small Biz Trends along with Small Biz Technology hosted the Small Business Influencers Awards and we all got a chance to nominate someone or a company who had significant impact on the success of small businesses. Anita Campbell, the CEO of BizSugar and Small Business Trends, is spearheading these awards and I’m proud to be one of the media partners along with the other supporters of small businesses you’ll find below…continue reading…

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143
By January 17, 2012

It’s no secret that you can embed videos from YouTube on your WordPress blog to keep readers on the page longer and to add interest and variety to your blog. You can also add attractive and eye catching images to help set the mood or tone of your post and instantly grab the attention of anyone who visits your blog or shares your posts on Facebook or Google+. Now, WordPress has made it simpler than ever to embed YouTube videos and images from Flickr by simply adding the unlinked URL in your post editor…continue reading…

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40
By January 14, 2012

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Tom Shivers a few weeks ago, and you can listen the the audio podcast of the interview, on his SEO blog Capture Commerce in this post How to Blog Successfully – Tips from Ileane Smith. Now I get my chance to ask the questions and in this interview we get the inside scoop on Tom, as he shares his blogging journey with us…continue reading…

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96
By January 9, 2012

A few months back Brian, the owner of Blog Engage made the decision to stop taking free memberships and he began charging a fee for all new members. The fee is $29.99 but after today and for a limited time, you no longer need to worry about the sign-up fee for your Blog Engage membership!…continue reading…

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118
By January 3, 2012

I hope you’ve had the chance to read some of the blog interviews I’ve conducted here on Basic Blog Tips. Interviews are like a hybrid blog post – on one hand it’s like a guest post, but on the other hand, not really because the interviewer picks the topic. The reason we all enjoy blog interviews so much is because they are a great example of those successful collaborations I’m so in favor of, and the “engagement” that we all seek to have on our blogs is pretty much built in by nature.…continue reading…

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