I often find myself in my daily work coming up to some issue’s that I need to find some answer’s for.  While looking yesterday I came across a great article that helped me out a lot.  It helped me complete some SQL issues I was having while moving some WordPress databases to a new server.  This helped me and I hope you will find it useful as well.

1. Creating a Backup of Your Database

The problem. While the tips in the rest of this post have been tested, you should definitely not try any of them without first having a proper backup of your MySQL database.

The solution. To create a manual backup of your WordPress database, follow these simple steps:

1. Log in to phpMyAdmin and select your WordPress database.
2. Once done, click the “Export” button located in the horizontal menu.
3. Choose a compression method (personally, I use gzip), and click the “Execute” button.
4. Your browser will ask you if you want to download the backup. Of course, select “Yes,” and then store it on your hard drive.

Explanation. Note that creating a backup of your WordPress database can be more easily executed with the WP-DB-Backup plug-in. WordPress users should install this plug-in if they have not yet done so and create regular backups of their data.

2. Batch Delete Post Revisions

The problem. Post revisions, a new WordPress 2.6 feature, can be very useful, but they also increase the size of your MySQL database. Sure, you can manually delete posts revisions, but that’s very long and boring work.

The solution. The solution to this problem is simple: we batch delete post revisions by using a simple SQL query. The result can be almost unbelievable if you have a lot of posts: Your database size will be reduced by half!

1. Log in to phpMyAdmin and select your WordPress database.
2. Click the “SQL” button. Paste the following code in the SQL command window:

   1	DELETE FROM wp_posts WHERE post_type = "revision";

3. You’re done. Depending on how many posts you had in your WordPress database, you may have saved lots of precious space!

Code explanation. The wp_posts table has a field named post_type. This field can have one of many values, such as “post,” “page” or “revision.” When we want to get rid of post revisions, we simply run a command to delete any entry in the wp_posts table in which the post_type field is equal to “revision.”

3. Erase 5000 Spam Comments in a Second

The problem. True story: a friend of mine recently created his own blog and started to promote it everywhere on the Internet. After some weeks of intensive work, he spent some days on vacation without Internet access.

When he came back home, he looked at his blog and saw… 5000+ comments awaiting moderation! Of course, most of them were spam, but he was actually about to check them all to make sure he did not delete a valid comment made by one of his regular readers.

The solution. Happily, my friend told me about his spam problem. He had already spent 45 minute manually deleting spam when I showed him this useful SQL tip.

1. Log in to phpMyAdmin and select your WordPress database.
2. Click the “SQL” button. Paste the following code in the SQL command window:

   1	DELETE from wp_comments WHERE comment_approved = '0';

3. Goodbye bad comments! Enjoy your spam-free database!

Explanation. The wp_comments table contains a field named comment_approved, which is a boolean value (1 or 0). Approved comments have a value of 1, and comments awaiting moderation have a value of 0. By running the above command, we simply delete any comments that haven’t been approved yet.

Be careful. While this solution can be pretty useful if you have millions of spam comments to delete, it will also erase valid unapproved comments. If you don’t already use Akismet, install it now to prevent spamming.

4. Change the Post Attribution

The problem. When you installed WordPress, an “admin” account was created. Some bloggers make the mistake of using that account to write their posts, until they realize that it’s not personal at all.

The solution. Modifying author attribution on each post takes a lot of time. Happily, SQL can help you get things done:

1. Log in to your phpMyAdmin and select your WordPress database.
2. First, we have to get the right user IDs. To do so, open the SQL command window and execute the following command:

   1	SELECT ID, display_name FROM wp_users;

3. phpMyAdmin will display a list of user IDs associated with WordPress users. Let’s say that NEW_AUTHOR_ID is the ID of the more recently created author, and OLD_AUTHOR_ID is the original admin account ID.
4. After you swap the NEW_AUTHOR_ID and OLD_AUTHOR_ID IDs, run the following command:

   1	UPDATE wp_posts SET post_author=NEW_AUTHOR_ID WHERE post_author=OLD_AUTHOR_ID;

5. That’s all. All posts previously attributed to admin are now attributed to whichever valid user you have selected.

5. Manually Reset Your Password

The problem. In order to protect their blogs, people often pick strong passwords, such as u7*KoF5i8_. Of course, this is a good thing, but I have heard many stories of forgotten admin passwords.

The solution. When you lose your password, WordPress can email you a link to reset it. But if you don’t have access to the email address recorded in the WordPress database anymore, or if you prefer just running a simple command instead, here is the hack.

1. Log in to your phpMyAdmin, select your WordPress database and open the SQL window.
2. Insert the following command (assuming your username is “admin”):

   1	UPDATE `wp_users` SET `user_pass` = MD5('PASSWORD') WHERE `wp_users`.`user_login` =`admin` LIMIT 1;

3. You’re done. Your password has been successfully replaced by whatever you inserted in space above marked “PASSWORD.”

Explanation. User passwords are stored in the wp_users table. Of course, an MD5 hash is used to secure the password.

We have to set up an “UPDATE” SQL request and use the built-in MD5() MySQL function to convert our password to MD5 and then update it. The “WHERE” clause ensures that we’re updating only the admin’s password. The same request without the “WHERE” clause would result in all passwords being updated!

6. Change Your WordPress Domain Name

The problem. Although it is not recommended, you may want at some point to change your domain name while keeping your blog and its data. Because WordPress records your domain name in the database, you have to change the database in order to connect your new domain name to your WordPress blog.

The solution.

1. You guessed it: the first thing to do is log in to your phpMyAdmin and select your WordPress database.
2. Click the “SQL” button to open the SQL command window. In order to change your WordPress URL, execute this first command:

   1	UPDATE wp_options SET option_value = replace(option_value, 'http://www.oldsite.com', 'http://www.newsite.com') WHERE option_name = 'home' OR option_name = 'siteurl';

3. Then, we have to replace the relative URL (guid) of each post. The following command will do that job:

   1	UPDATE wp_posts SET guid = replace(guid, 'http://www.oldsite.com','http://www.newsite.com');

4. We’re almost done. The last thing to do is a search and replace in the wp_posts table to make sure that no absolute URL is still here:

   1	UPDATE wp_posts SET post_content = replace(post_content, 'http://www.oldsite.com', 'http://www.newsite.com');

5. You’re done. You should be able to log in to your WordPress dashboard using your new URL.

Explanation. To easily change our WordPress domain name, I took advantage of the super-useful MySQL function “replace,” which allows you to replace one term by another.

7. Display the Number of SQL Queries on Your blog

The problem. When trying to optimize your blog’s loading time, knowing the number of queries made to the database is important. In order to reduce queries, the first thing to know is how many queries are made on a single page.

The solution.

1. This time, no need to log in to phpMyAdmin. Simply open the footer.php file in your theme and append the following lines of code:

   1	<?php if (is_user_logged_in()) { ?>

   2	<?php echo get_num_queries(); ?> queries in <?php timer_stop(1); ?> seconds.

   3	<?php } ?>

2. Save the file and visit your blog. In the footer, you’ll see the number of queries made to the WordPress database as well as the time it took to make them.

Explanation. Seems that many WordPress users aren’t aware of this useful function. The get_num_queries() function returns the number of executed queries during a page load.

Note that the above code will only display the number of queries to logged-in users, because regular visitors and search engine bots don’t need to know about it. But, if you’d like to make it public, simply remove the if (is_user_logged_in()) conditional instruction.

8. Restore Your WordPress Database

The problem. Let’s say, for some reason, such as a hacking or upgrade problem, you have lost your blog data or it has become corrupted. If you have a backup (and I hope you do!) you will have to import it to your WordPress database.

The solution.

1. Log in to phpMyAdmin and select your WordPress database.
2. Click the “Import” button in the horizontal menu.
3. Click the “Browse” button and select the most recent database backup on your hard disk.
4. Click the “Execute” button. If everything went well, your WordPress database is fully functional again.

This Article was found at Smashingmagazine.com

As you will learn I am a local SEO here in Hickory, NC.  I have thought about many things I could do with this site, and I am learning towards targeting the Hickory Market and doing reviews of local sites and listing the Best sites, and my experiences around town.

With this being said if you would like to me review your site or would like to exchange links you can email me at info@birdseyeseo.com. With that being said, check back often for reviews and discussion about local companies.

I would like to take a few minutes and show everyone a simple trick that will allow you to make keyword based landing pages.  I will also use this script to build pages on my sites which google will index and so technically they will be hosting pages for me.

First thing you will do is create a landing page.  You will name it index.php so I usually will make a subfolder to do this.  The page can either be a sales, e commerce, article, etc.  It will just need to have text on the page.

After you have made your page you will want to go through and make sure you have a keyword or keyword phrase throughout the page.  This will be the default keyword phrase for this page. When you have finished creating your page you will open it up in your html editor.  Go to the very top of the page (line #1)  You will insert this code.

if ($_GET['page'] != “”)
{$title=ucwords(str_replace(”-”,” “,$_GET['page']));
} else {
$a=”KeyWord Phrase”;
}
?>

Now where it says keyword phrase you will put your default keyword phrase there.  For instance if you were selling an ebook you would put $a=”Best Ebook Alive”; or whatever your phrase is.

Next step you will go through the index page and anywhere on the page you would like a keyword phrase to appear simply put <?php echo $a;?> So  I am offering you <?php echo $a;?> Today.  This can be anywhere on the page that you would like it.

After you have done this go ahead and save it then upload.  Then go ahead and check it out on your site by going to the page location.  Now since they are landing pages you will go to the url like this. http://www.yourdomain.com/?page=your-keyword-phrase (To test it enter in your default keyword phrase in the url string.)  If you have done it right you will see your keyword phrase anywhere you inserted it on the page using the echo command.  If you have done it right and see it then you are ready to see how this works.  Simply in the url change your keyword phrase, so ?page=The-New-Keyword.   Automatically when you go to the new url in will insert the new phrase on the page in place of your default phrase.

Now You can create keyword based pages on your site.  This works well for ppc, or sending people to your site based on a keyword phrase.  You can send people all day long to a new page with new keyword phrase.  You can dig and bookmark as well all your new keyword phrased urls.  Now if you would like the url string to show up as keyword-phrase.html then there is a .htaccess rewrite code that will do it.  It is located on the CPAMindrime members area.  I may try to get it and provide it if I have request for it.  However if you are willing to spend $20.00 and join cpamindcrime it will be well worth it.  I am not saying this because I work for the guy but because I know what he has back there.  You can pay the one time then cancel and you wont need to pay again if you like.

Anyways moving on to the next trick that I do with this.  I like to build my site up with pages to get a supersite.  Now as I explained there is only duplicate penalties on your site.  However you should be using the echo command in the Title Tag.  You will also have several locations on the page including in the article, sidebar, navs, or wherever you like.  By doing this you will not receive any penalties.  Make sure you have a keyword themed page and you are good.  (this has been tested many times)

Now how I do my pages is this. I will go to my competitors, google keyword tool, google trends, wordtracker, and get all the keywords and phrases  I can get.  I usually end up with hundreds to thousands when i am done.  Now having those keyword phrases I will create a sitemap for this subfolder.  In the sitemap I will list the urls using the keywords in them.  If you end up using the ?page= that is fine because it just looks like a default wordpress url.  If you are worried about google penalizing for having to many pages over night simply do a hundred urls, every week into the sitemap. Now after I have put in the URLs in I will simply upload to the subfolder.

Last step is to go to your Google Webmaster tools account and submit a second sitemap by just entering the location.  Having a second sitemap is just fine.  Last thing I do it put my analytics code on the bottom of the index.php page so I can track the landing pages.

That is all you need to do to make a ton of pages or landing pages.   If you have questions about this simply contact me or leave a comment.

Using twitter to take your business to the next level

Create a twitter account -

Go to TweetLater or another client and set up a automated welcome DM. This will be a free impression to people who follow you.

Now there is a trick to a DM, and this is what I have done.  I have done one of the two things, send them to a blog or to a free gift landing page. If the followers think you are spam right of then you have wasted your time.  By sending them to one of these options will still allow you to get them with your product. Simply on your blog page put your offer in a blog post or on the side nav.  If you chose to do a free offer simply capture there email and auto respond with a thank you page.  You can do an up sale or a link to your offer on the thank you page if you like.  I usually will send them a email following up with the free product and send them to a squeeze or sales page.

Then do some keyword research in your niche. Search for the keyword topics and find a person that talks about your niche. Go into a persons followers and follow everyone that would fit your criteria. You can usually get 2000+ followers in an hour or two if your good.

Be careful to not push to hard right at first with links and products.  People tend to turn you in and get you flagged. (happened many times)

This is why I will do general chat for a few days to work up my update amount. Then when this is done you can start promoting your products.  Often you will find people looking for your product or asking questions when you search.  I have had great success when I find these people.

Log top people with thousands of followers and focus on talking to them in tweets and replies.

Find local people in a community, college, etc. talk with them. ( this is if you are going after a local market)

You can pay someone to talk about your service or product.  Most likely they will have a blog as well.

Most people will not know the price of the ppc cost in your niche so 2-300 bucks someone would be delighted to review your product on a high value blog with lots of page views.

Make 4 to 5 targeted keyword based twitter accounts
Manage them on Tweetdeck for easy management.

By doing these simple things you can  usually get 6-8000 followers  in a day or two.  The best part that I like is I can target exactly people who may want or need my product. Such as if I was doing skin creams I can target women, who are in the age bracket I need and talking about the very thing I am selling in some way or another.

This will also help you get practice writing compelling titles which will help you in both PPC and SEO.

For more info simply contact me and I will do my best to provide an answer.

At a recent conference I was in a discussion about article marketing for links.  The whole recap was basically you would get 10 articles to start out with.  You would begin submitting 5 articles a day to various article directories.  along the way you would progressively add more submissions every day.  Eventually you would have an enormous amount of good links from marketing these articles.

This seems like simple marketing, however often people worry about duplicate content penalty.  Well as I have learned from being around the top marketers and SEO’s in the market is THERE IS NO DUPLICATE CONTENT PENALTY.  This penalty only exist on your site and can be easily prevented by some simple steps.  First of all you must have different title tags for all your pages.  Also you can prevent duplicate content by using the WWW. protection in your .HTACCESS file. If you do not have this here is the code.

# Begin non-www page protection #
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.yoursite\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.yoursite.com/$1 [L,R=301]
</IfModule>
# End non-www page protection #

There are additional tips to prevent penalties to happen which I will cover in the future.  I will also cover building killer landing pages on the fly with some basic code.  With that being said is article marketing or just getting links better?  Well for long term I believe you should get a mixture of links, whether it is buying them, reciprocal links, article marketing, blogrolls, social media etc.  For a short term or a tweak to an individual page I recommend doing some article marketing.  Why? simply because I hate finding links and the whole process.  With article marketing all you need to do is submit a few articles to the top sites. In a recent test on a local site in need of some link building on some pages the links from the articles showed up almost overnight…which meant the serp was increased quickly. this was done with only a few links.  Around seven days later the analytics was showing a 55% increase in traffic.

That is Real Testing and Real Results.