Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Which Blogging Platform Should I Use?

Tumblr vs. WordPress vs. Blogger

When deciding to start a blog, choosing which platform to use can be confusing and overwhelming. The three most popular free blogging platforms are Blogger, WordPress and Tumblr. All three are extremely useful, but extremely different. This simple quiz will help you decide which one of these platforms is perfect for you based on what results you ideally want to achieve.

Choose the answer that best represents how you feel about blogging and the goals you wish to attain. Keep track of the points of your answers to figure out which platform is best for you!


What kind of online community are you looking for?
  • I want infinite opportunities to build a community. (3 points)
  • I want to have access to a medium sized community - not too large and not too small. (5 points)
  • I want to build a community based on the people who use the same platform as I do - it's safer and more centralized. (1 point)
What is the purpose of your blog?
  • To present my entries in a simple blog format. (5 points)
  • To share my videos, pictures and short excerpts quickly and easily. (1 point)
  • To make my blog look like a Website! I want to make it as unique as I am and to have the tools to do so. (3 points)
How do you feel about people commenting on your blog?
  • I like to hear feedback about my articles. (5 points)
  • Comments are extremely important to have on my blog - I want people to be able to comment, like, and share my content. (3 points)
  • I don't really care what people have to say about my blog. Isn't it my blog anyway? (1 point)
What kind of templates and themes are you looking for?
  • I want simple templates that are great looking - but I'm not looking to modify them. (1 point)
  • I want easily customizable themes that look fantastic. (3 points)
  • Themes aren't my highest priority - I want people to read my blog for the content, not the color scheme. Simple themes are perfect for me. (5 points)
Are you looking to monetize your blog by ranking on search engines?
  • Ranking and promoting my blog is secondary to writing and appearance. (3 points)
  • My blog is for self-expression and expanding my online presence - not for making money. (5 points)
  • Showing up in search results and getting traffic to my blog is extremely important to me. (1 point)
How important is it to you to have your blog accessible through mobile devices?
  • A mobile format is not very important to me. (5 points)
  • It is very important for my blog to have a functional, attractive mobile format because I'm always on the go. (1 point)
  • A mobile format for my blog would be nice, but not top priority. (3 points)
Do you want your blog to have a user profile?
  • All I need is an "About Me" page. (1 point)
  • I want all of my blogs that are on the same platform to be linked to each other through a personal user profile accessible to anyone who views my blog. (5 points)
  • I'd like a common area where I can organize all of my blogs on one platform, but not accessible to the viewer. (3 points)
What is your ideal mode of tracking the statistics of your blog?
  • I want a basic built-in application. (5 points)
  • I want an integrated stats system that is easy to understand but provides me with a lot of information. (3 points)
  • I can use an application outside of my blog - I like Google Analytics and similar products better anyway. (1 point)
Do you prefer to have tags to categorize your blog?
  • I don't need to categorize my blog entries. (1 point)
  • I want to be able to tag and categorize my blog entries for easy organization and archiving! (4 points)
How would you describe yourself?
  • Trendy, Young at Heart (1 point)
  • Professional, Logical and Business-Minded (5 points)
  • Artistic, Creative (3 points)
Which age demographic do you identify with the most (not dependent on your actual age)?
  • 18-27 years old (1 point)
  • 28-35 years old (3 points)
  • 35 + years old (5 points)
Which blog is right for you?

tumblr (10-23 points)
If you scored between 10 and 23 points, the blog that is perfect for you is tumblr. This blog is easy to use with simple designs and little fuss - they don't call it "the easiest way to blog" for nothing! It is a great way to share your experiences and interests without being too wordy. Young, trendy celebrities enjoy using tumblr as a way of sharing their personal style with the world. Enjoy tumblr - it is perfect for you!
WordPress (23-37 points)
WordPress is a blog for people looking to share their artistic side. With a Website feel, WordPress allows for customizable templates that are perfect for any level of web user from newbie to developer. WordPress allows for the creative person to express who they are, and track who likes it. WordPress has a great statistics tracking device and gives anyone on the Internet an opportunity to see what you write.
Blogger (37-50 points)
You are a professional looking to share your expertise or start a company blog. Blogger is perfect for the straight-forward professional who wants to share information without distraction from a crazy template or embedded media. Blogger is also easy to use - a great tool for beginners. On the other hand, the HTML-savvy are able to customize Blogger to make it the perfect fit for their professional tone.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Best Online Coupon Sites

Online shopping is not only convenient, but also a great way to save money. Throughout the holidays, most consumers decided to flex their credit card via Amazon or Overstock.com instead of going and spending their hard-earned cash at department stores.

Whether you are a fan of driving to the mall, or buying that new pair of shoes with the click of the mouse, everyone loves a good discount. Online coupons offer discounted shopping, additional savings for repeat customers, high-end products at lower prices, convenience, and an early bird special on a lot of great buys.

But what are the top online coupon sites? Where should you browse in order to get the deals that you deserve at the stores that you want? We have the top 10 most visited online coupon sites.

 Top 10 Online Coupon Sites by Traffic (updated through 10/10)

    Website
Unique Visits
Monthly Visits
10,668,919
28,306,150
8,550,945
16,762,680
6,624,954
47,543,794
5,491,135
9,270,281
5,343,286
1,885,213
3,102,632
53,104,629
2,169,533
2,578,183
2,135,098
4,415,182
1,994,445
2,735,889
1,769,295
3,760,458

Groupon is probably the most well known coupon site. They don't have a very wide selection of coupons, but they are extremely convenient. You can sign up for emails that give you the daily deals based on your location (also convenient because you don't have to sort through coupons). You buy online, and get credit similar to a gift certificate. No fuss, just deals.

Groupon.com is a very popular online coupon site that you can
customize by city.
Coupons.com provides internet coupons similar to the Sunday paper, but more environmentally friendly and less black smudge all over your fingers after clipping your newspaper. However, the downside is that some retailers still will not accept Internet coupons. You definitely need to double check with the retailer before you shop.

Retail Me Not is a great way to get great deals. Users will say whether or not a discount works for them, making it extremely reliable. This filters out the bad deals and leaves you with the best deals tried by other users like you.

Coupon Cabin updates their deals three times a day and checks often to make sure each coupon works. It filters by the most used coupons and favorite deals to guide consumers to the best coupons on the site. Plus, you can even sign up for weekly email newsletters if you don't mind a crowded inbox.

SmartSource is unique because it notifies you of local store sales and offers printout coupons and online deals to maximize your savings. It's a great selection that you can filter by zip code. Like Coupons.com you want to make sure that the coupon works at the respected retailer.

Monday, January 3, 2011

2010: The Year Facebook Broke All Records

Undoubtedly, this year Facebook took the world by storm by practically dominating the entirety of the internet. 2010 was Mark Zuckerberg and the whole Facebook team's year. They broke records, made news, and created a website that the majority of society is addicted to.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook
But what made this year different from any other years? Facebook created this social networking empire that other online empires like Google should watch out for. This year was the year the Facebook's true goals came to fruition as we saw Facebook blow up all over pop culture, social media, and technology. Here are the top 10 reasons why the Facebook empire lead by Mark Zuckerberg became a force to be reckoned with in 2010.

  1. Facebook passes Google as the most visited site of 2010.
  2. Facebook reaches 500 million international followers in July, 2010.
  3. Mark Zuckerberg is Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2010.
  4. Facebook hooks up with Skype to create a communication mega-monster.
  5. Facebook reaches $2 billion in revenue for 2010.
  6. Statistics show that over 250 million people use Facebook every day.
  7. Facebook rolls out Facebook Places which adds an aspect of location-based-information-sharing to the social networking site.
  8. 44% of all media sharing was through Facebook in 2010.
  9. Facebook accounts for 25% of all United States pageviews.
  10. The Social Network movie is one of the most popular movies of the year; although it portrays Zuckerberg potentially inaccurately, it gave the social networking site a lot of press and focused the public's eye on the young CEO.
The Facebook empire continues to grow with over 7 million likes, 4.6 million messages, 2.7 million photo uploads, nearly 2 million accepted friend requests, 1.5 million wall posts, 1 million shared links, and 10.2 million comments. If those numbers don't wow you, consider the artist pages on Facebook. Lady Gaga leads the pack with a measly 25,765,753 likes on her personal Facebook page.

2010 will go down in history as the year social media erupted with Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg leading the pack. Happy New Year, Facebook. We hope you impress us in 2011 as much as you did in 2010.