My husband got to find out the answer to that question this past weekend, and it was my fault. Fortunately, there is a happy ending.

I was doing some file maintenance on my servers and deleted the test version of his site. What I didn’t realize was that the live version used the same data base the test version had used. Oops. When hubby went to access his site it wasn’t there.

Here is where the good news comes in: Both my husband and the hosting company had recent backups, so we were able to restore the site in minutes and he was back online. Whew!

So what would happen if your blog got wiped out? It can happen because of hosting problems, because your blog service decides to terminate your blog or because you screw up like I did and damage or delete your files.

Make regular backups to avoid losing all of your hard work. Most hosting companies do automatic backups on a regular schedule. Online backups are great, but also store backups offline or on a server other than where your blog is hosted, so that if your account is terminated or something happens at the server level you still have your files.

There are lots of ways to do backups, including plugins that will automatically back up your files. Automatic backups are great because you don’t have to remember—your blog remembers for you. However, even if your site is being backed up automatically, it is wise to do a manual backup after any major changes or updates. For example, if you change the design of your site or you add a lot of content, do a manual backup.

Blogs such as WordPress require that you back up two sets of files: The theme, plugins and related files, and the data base. Make sure you back up both. You need to back up the WordPress files (e.g., themes and plugins) and the images to have your blog look as it does. However, without the data base there will be no posts. The data base stores the posts, pages and comments that appear on your blog.

At this time there are no free plugins that will back up both your WordPress files and your data base. However, you can get the backups you need by using two free plugins.

WordPress Backup will copy all of the files from your WordPress installation (e.g., theme, plugins, images) to a zip file. The plugin will run automatically on the schedule you set (from hourly to weekly), store the backups online and, optionally, email a zip file of the backup to you.

WordPress Data Base Backup will, as the name implies, backup the data base of your blog. You can run a backup on demand and/or schedule backups to run every 10 minutes, once a week or something in between, and email a zip file of the backup to you.

If you do not want backup files coming to your regular email inbox, you might set up a separate email address to receive them.

Want more step-by-step help or advice for other blog platforms? Here are a few resources:

Back up a self-hosted WordPress blog

Back up a WordPress.com blog

Back up a Blogger blog:

For other blog platforms, do a search for the name of your blogging software and “backup” or “automatic backups.”

The blog you save may be your own!

P.S. Don’t forget to save copies of content you have posted elsewhere on the web, such as your guest posts, EzineArticles, Squidoo lenses, Hubpages, etc. That content can disappear in a heartbeat, and you don’t want to lose it.

Changing the copyright date on your site each year is a simple but important task. Better yet, with one line of code you can make your WordPress site automatically update with the new year. (It can be a little more complicated in sites that do not use PHP, but I have a suggestion for you, too.)

Copyright notices on my sites use this format:

Copyright &copy {year site established} – {current year} {my name or company name}

Here is how to put this type of copyright notice on your site.

If you are using WordPress or another PHP program for your site, the code is simple:

<p>Copyright © 2007 - <?php echo date("Y"); ?> <a href="http://www.IdeaLady.com">Cathy Stucker</a></p>

Copy and paste the above code into your footer file, changing 2007 to the year your site was established, IdeaLady.com to your blog or website name (I link from this blog to my primary site) and Cathy Stucker to your name. This will add the copyright statement to the footer on every page of your site.

If you are running a site written in HTML, one way to automatically change your copyright date is with Javascript.

<p>Copyright &copy 2007 - <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
var today = new Date()
var year = today.getFullYear()
document.write(year)
</script> <a href="http://www.IdeaLady.com">Cathy Stucker</a></p>

Make the same changes suggested above, then copy and paste this code wherever you want the copyright notice to appear in your site, such as the footer file.

This is a great “set it and forget” solution to keep your site current.

Something else that may get in your way is the idea that every post has to be a certain length. Many of the articles and posts I put online are in the range of 400 – 600 words. Some bloggers write longer posts, perhaps 800 to 1000 or more words. However, there is no rule that says posts must be at least a certain number of words, or that all of your posts must be the same length. In fact, there is no rule that says your posts have to have words at all. Posting a video or a photograph (your own or one that you may legally use) can make a good post.

Try mixing it up. Continue to write some posts with your usual word count, but also do some that are short. For example, if your usual posts examine an issue in depth, do some quick tips that are just 150 – 250 words. Or link to a blog post or website that you found useful, with a brief description of what you liked about it.

These short posts can be created as you run across interesting ideas and sites, or you can set aside an hour or two now and then to stockpile several posts.

Here are some additional ideas for quick posts:

Put up a poll. Many blogging platforms have poll applications built in. Run a poll and get input from your readers about an issue. Then write a post about the poll results. That means you get at least two blog posts from one poll.

Answer a question from one of your readers. I get lots of email questions, and sometimes publish a question and my answer as a blog post. Watch for questions in your blog’s comments, too.

Share a favorite quotation, and add a bit of commentary about why you like it or what it means to you. Here’s an example from my blog: http://cathystucker.com/does-success-mean-you-can-slow-down

Do you ever write blog posts such as “Seven Ways to …” or “Six Things You Need to Know About…”? Take a point from one of those articles and expand on it. For example, I could take any of the individual marketing ideas from this article and create a new post with more details on that idea.

Have an open mind about what a blog post can be and you will find many opportunities to create interesting and useful posts for your readers.

I do not take it as a compliment when someone takes my work and republishes it without permission. It is not legal or right to publish someone else’s work on your blog, even if you give them credit for it.

In the last few days, I have discovered several blogs where the authors republished articles from my newsletters. They probably thought it was fine because they gave me credit. It is not fine. They may even believe they are doing me a favor. After all, they are giving me “free publicity,” right?

Well, no. It is not a favor and it is not right. Only the person who holds the rights to a work gets to decide how it may be used.

Within the blogsphere it is generally considered acceptable to quote a small portion of a post (perhaps a few sentences) and then link to the entire post. Most bloggers would not object to this, and a case could be made that it is “fair use.” This is especially so if you are commenting on what the blogger wrote. (It should be noted that there is nothing in the law that defines a specific number of words or percentage of a work that you may use as “fair use.” Fair use is a defense you may use if you get sued for copyright infringement, not a blanket right to use other people’s works.)

So before you publish something written by someone else, get permission. In the case of copyrighted material, it is better to get permission than to hope you get forgiveness.

Here’s the secret: Did you know that many flickr members will allow you to use their photos on your blog? You can not take any and every photo, and there typically are some restrictions on use, but there are many quality photos available. In most cases, you need to properly attribute the photo and include a link. The license information can be found on each photo’s page.

If it says, “All rights reserved,” then the photographer does not allow use of the photo. However, many say, “Some rights reserved,” or some variation on that. Click on the “Some rights reserved” link and you will see exactly how the photo may be used and you will see the link that should be copied and pasted into your webpage as a photo credit.

The photographers who allow use of their photos still own all of the rights to their photos. They have just decided to freely grant certain rights to others who wish to use the photos. The photographers do this on the flickr site via Creative Commons (CC) licensing. CC licensing may allow commercial or non-commercial use, or it may or may not allow any modifications to the original work (aside from resizing it).

An easy way to find photos you may use is to start your search from the Creative Commons site: http://search.creativecommons.org/. Make sure you check the box about allowing commercial use, then search for keywords related to your blog. You will be amazed at what comes up! (If you want to be able to modify the images, be sure to check the box that says “modify, adapt or build upon” before doing your search.)

When you find a photo you like, verify the license terms then download the photo and copy the attribution link. You can also use the search at CreativeCommons.org to find text, music, video and other content that you may legally use.

I not only find great photos I can use, I get ideas for additional posts as I go through the search results. Photos have a way of getting the creative juices flowing. Before I know it, I have ten or more great post ideas.

If you already have an idea for a post, but need a cool photo to go with it, the PhotoDropper WordPress plugin will use criteria you set to find photos for you. Thanks to Marc Mackenzie of JustEyewear.com for suggesting this plugin.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spcbrass/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

In a recent post I told you about some of my favorite sources for stock photos. Today I will give you some tips on how to choose the right photos to go with your posts.

Most photo collections are indexed by keywords, so the way to start is to enter a keyword related to your post in the search box. The photos returned in the search may include some that are way off base. Refine your search until you find a photo that works with your post. For example, to find the photo I used with this post on making up to customers when you make a mistake, I tried to looking for several different keywords before trying “sad.” That was a winner!

Don’t be too literal. You picture does not have to be a literal interpretation of your post, just something that captures its spirit. For example, this post on creating trust in client relationships could have been illustrated by a picture of two people shaking hands or something else showing a client relationship. Instead, I chose a photo of a cat sleeping in someone’s hand—a perfect example of trust.

Use pictures of people. People like to look at other people. Choose photos where the subject is looking out at the reader and making eye contact to draw the reader in. If the subject is not looking at the reader, they should be facing into the post. The reader will look where the subject of the photo is looking.

People love kids and animals. I used a photo from ICanHasCheezburger for this post on finding work you love. I often use pictures with kids, such as the one with this post.

Be a little humorous, when appropriate. Photos such as the cat photos from ICanHasCheezburger, or other amusing pictures, get noticed and draw readers in to your blog.

Edit the photo, if necessary, to get exactly the image you want. Crop the photo to get a close up of an interesting detail. Change the colors, flip the photo horizontally or make other changes. (Note: Before editing a photo, make sure that the person or company you got the photo from allows you to make changes. Some do not allow you to make derivative works or edit the photos.)

You can use Photoshop or other photo editing software to modify photos. For simple editing, such as resizing or cropping photos, I use IrfanView. It is free (although the creator asks for voluntary donations) and simple to use.

Can’t find a photo you like? Consider using a drawing or an abstract image. Or text. For this post about using Twitter hashtags, I created a graphic of a Twitter hashtag.

Be open minded when choosing images for your blog posts. Choose pictures that will engage your readers and entice them to read your posts.

You should never just grab an image from someone else’s website or from a Google image search. Most of the images you discover that way are covered by copyright, and using them without permission is illegal (not to mention unethical).

What images may you legally use? There are many sources for images, including:

Photos you took;
Drawings and illustrations you created;
Images in the public domain;
Licensed images; and
Images the owners permit others to use.

First the easy one: If you took the photo or drew the picture, you own it and may use it any way you choose. There are a few caveats here, though. You may not draw a picture of a copyrighted character, or other image that has legal protection (such as Mickey Mouse or other cartoon characters). If you take a picture of people, you may need a model release to use the photo publicly. And you should never use a picture of a famous person (or anyone, for that matter) in a way that implies they have endorsed your product or service if they have not.

There are millions of images in the public domain. Photos and other images fall into the public domain because (1) the copyright has expired, (2) they were never eligible for copyright protection or (3) the owner has released the work into the public domain.

Copyright law varies from country to country, but in the United States, works created before 1923 are in the public domain. Works created by employees of the Federal government, as part of their duties, are generally not eligible for copyright. And there are people who give up their copyrights and allow their works to enter the public domain.

You can find images from the Federal government by doing a search at http://USA.gov/. Before using any photos or graphics from a government website, check the licensing or rights information on the site. Some images are not government works and are covered by copyrights.

Two sites for images contributed to the public domain are http://www.photos8.com/ and http://www.public-domain-photos.com/.

Licensed images include photos and illustrations from stock photo collections. You may license individual images, buy CDs or DVDs containing image collections, or subscribe to a website such as ClipArt.com. When using licensed images, be sure to read the license. For example, some may not be used in commercial projects. Some may limit the number of images from the collection that may be used in one project.

There are many people who allow use of their photos under certain circumstances. They may require that you give them credit and/or a link, or that you get their permission before using the image. You can do a search of images you may use from flickr.com by doing a search at search.CreativeCommons.org. The terms of Creative Commons licenses vary, so read the license for the photo you want before using it. Make sure you properly attribute the images you use, according to the wishes of the copyright holder.

Images make your blog posts more interesting to readers. In an upcoming article, I will share tips on how to find the images that will grab the attention of your readers.

Are there holiday topics you should address in your blog? Almost any blogger can find a way to write posts about the holidays: gift guides, dealing with family members and other relationships, how to celebrate on a budget, travel, managing your business over the holidays, etc. Start working on those posts now.

Will you be away, or busy with family and celebrations, over the holidays? (I hope so!) Now is the time to start accumulating a supply of posts so that your blog doesn’t go dark while you are enjoying the season. Request some guest posts at http://BloggerLinkUp.com/ to give yourself time to work on stockpiling future posts.

Do you sell products (your own or as an affiliate) through your blog? What promotions will you schedule for your customers? And what content (posts, emails, etc.) do you need to have in place to support those promotions? Plan ahead to get the best results. (And are there holiday products you need to create? Oooh, you had better get busy!)

Also, if you sell your own products, get some reviews to get your products in front of more customers. You can offer your products for review at http://BloggerLinkUp.com/review

With a little preparation, you can have a happy, successful and sane holiday season!

Here are a few quick tips to encourage blog comments:

Ask questions. Near the end of your post, ask readers for their opinions or what has worked for them.

Take a contrary position. Go against the conventional wisdom and be a little controversial.

Dofollow comment links. Most blogs use the “nofollow” tag in comments, meaning that the links do not pass search engine juice. Making your comment links “dofollow” means that more people will be interested in commenting. You can even post your blog in dofollow directories to encourage traffic and comments. (Of course, you will also encourage spam comments, so you may need to moderate comments to keep out the junk.) Get the plugin to dofollow comments on your WordPress blog at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sem-dofollow/

Form a blogging alliance. Darren Rowse recently wrote about joining with other bloggers who write blogs in similar niches to support each other. One of the things alliance members do is comment on each other’s blogs.

Interact with commenters. Keep the conversation going. Respond to comments readers leave on your blog. Let them know you are listening. (This applies to your guest posts on other blogs, too. When you guest post, watch the comments and interact with the blogger’s readers.) Respond to a blog comment and you continue a conversation that will keep the commenter coming back to your blog.

Tweet your blog posts and ask your followers to share their opinions. Use other social media (e.g., Facebook, FriendFeed, Plaxo, et al) to spread the word about your latest posts and get people to join in the conversation with a blog comment.

So what have you found works in getting readers to interact with your blog by leaving comments? Leave your comments below. ;o)

Listings in quality directories can be good sources of backlinks. And backlinks can help you get better rankings in the search engine results.

You can find a list of blog directories at http://info.vilesilencer.com/niche/blogs. Before you start clicking and submitting, take a few minutes to prepare some information about your blog, such as keywords and a short description. Some directories allow longer descriptions than others, but if you keep the description to about 250 characters, that should work for most directories.

In addition to blog directories, there are RSS directories where you may submit your RSS feed(s). Most just want you to submit your feed address, but there may be some where you will use the keywords and description you prepared for your blog. (Note: If you are not sure of the RSS feed address for your blog, look for the RSS logo on your blog and click on it. You can see the RSS logo for this blog in the upper right corner. If you have a WordPress blog, the RSS feed address is probably http://YourBlogURL.com/feed. For example, the RSS feed address for this blog is http://CathyStucker.com/feed.) There is a list of 35 RSS directories at
http://www.tipsblogger.com/2009/01/35-best-rss-directories-to-submit-your.html.

If your blog has multiple RSS feeds, you may submit them all. You can also submit the RSS feeds from other places you have a presence on the web. For example, as an EzineArticles.com Expert Author, I have an RSS feed of my articles available. At IdeaLady.com, I have RSS feeds for articles, products, classes and press releases.

Although most of the directories are free, it will take time to submit to all of them. You may decide to submit to just a few, or you may submit a few at a time until you have gotten through all of them, or you could outsource it to an assistant or your kids. (It’s not hard, just time consuming.) An alternative is to hire a service or use submission software. You can get inexpensive software to submit your RSS feeds to directories at http://IdeaLady.com/rss-submit.

Submitting your blog and RSS feeds to directories will not send an immediate flood of traffic to you, but over time the backlinks you create can help you build a stronger web presence and attract more visitors.