If you run a WordPress blog, you probably use Akismet to handle and manage comments left by readers. Akismet is the default plug-in and works very well.

Or does it?

While Akismet does an excellent job in weeding out the spam comments from the legitimate ones, it does have its flaws.

Akismet is Flawed

The problem with Akismet is that it allows blog owners to specify which comments are legitimate and which are spam. This is completely opinion based and differs for each blog owner. Because of this, blog owners could inadvertently mark legitimate comments as spam. Sometimes this happens by accident, and other times they truly think the comment is spam, even if it isn’t. Obviously, one’s opinion can differ from another’s.

Once a comment gets marked as spam, any new comments that reader makes will automatically get marked as such across all blogs that use Akismet to manage comments. This is done through tracking the IP address and email address.

The system is obviously flawed. Akismet allows users to request that they be white-listed again, but it’s no guarantee that will happen.

There are other problems I could get into, such as privacy issues, but I’ll leave that one alone. Here are my two gripes I have with Akismet and why I have found a better alternative to manage comments on this blog.

1. Marking Legitimate Comments As Spam

Most likely you’ve scoured the spam folder, looking for legitimate comments to un-mark as spam. I used to spend a lot of my time doing this, as legitimate comments would get filtered out and be marked as spam, even though they weren’t.

Not only is this annoying, but it wastes so much time – time I don’t have.

2. Not Allowing Legitimate Comments At All

This was the last straw for me. It’s one thing to prevent spam comments from getting through, but when legitimate comments from readers are being blocked entirely, it’s time to make a change. A blog isn’t a blog unless readers are able to comment on posts, and I wasn’t about to ignore this problem. I needed to make a change, FAST!

I don’t know how long this was going on for, but Ana from Traffic Generation Cafe made me aware that her comments weren’t getting through. It was apparent that Akismet was blocking her comments altogether. She advised me that I find an alternative comment management plug-in to handle comments, otherwise I could be losing out on other legitimate comments, and ultimately readers. Thanks, Ana!

So that’s exactly what I did.

Akismet Alternatives

There are quite a few alternatives to manage blog comments. Some paid, some free. If you’re like me, I’m a huge fan of free stuff. Let’s take a look at 5 of them.

5 Free Anti-Spam WordPress Plug-Ins

1. Bad Behavior – Bad Behavior is a PHP-based solution for blocking link spam and the robots which deliver it.

2. Sblam! – Stand-alone PHP script or WordPress plug-in, whichever you choose.

3. AntiSpamBee – Protects your blog from spam by replacing the comment field.

4. Defensio – Defensio is an advanced spam filtering web service that learns and adapts to your behaviors and those of your users.

5. G.A.S.P – This plugin will add a client side generated checkbox to your comment form asking users to confirm that they are not a spammer. It is a lot less trouble to click a box than it is to enter a captcha and because the box is genereated via client side javascript that bots cannot see, it should stop 99% of all automated spam bots.

My Anti-Spam Plug-In Recommendation

I am currently running G.A.S.P. on this blog, and I absolutely love it. If I had to recommend a plug-in to manage blog comments, it would be G.A.S.P. I also use a plug-in called Simple TB Validation. Simple TB Validation performs a simple but very effective test on all incoming trackbacks in order to stop trackback spam.

With both of these plug-ins combined, I get very little comment spam. I still get a small percentage that I just delete, but I don’t have to go sifting through the spam folder anymore. It has saved me a ton of time, and I know it will help you manage comments more effectively.

The best part is, you won’t be turning away readers due to them not being able to comment on your blog. I urge you, consider deleting Akismet and finding an alternative. You and your readers will benefit greatly.

What Do You Use?

What are you using to manage blog comments and combat spam? Let us know in the comments below. And while you’re there, see G.A.S.P. in action by checking the little box to confirm you’re not a spammer.

I follow quite a few blogs, and I like to comment on posts I find interesting. What irritates me, though, is that some blog owners don’t utilize any sort of “threading” within comments. No “@” replies utilized, either. This can be very annoying.

Not sure what I mean? Here’s an example:

Notice my reply is indented in and is contained within the original comment. This is considered a threaded comment, and any new replies act the same way, getting indented even further in. In this way, the replies are obvious and aren’t mistaken with new comments that aren’t a reply to a particular comment.

Also notice that my reply begins with “@author” and then my reply follows. This lets the commenter know that there is a new comment specifically in response to them. They also receive an email letting them know (more on this later).

What I see a lot on other blogs are new comments that are meant as replies to other people, but the reply is separate from the original comment, and no “@” is utilized. This can make it really, really difficult to determine if the comment is in reply to you, another commenter, or if it’s even a reply at all or a brand new comment from another reader.

Since I make sure I receive emails with any new comments on the posts I comment on, bloggers who don’t take advantage of any type of threaded system make it frustrating for me, and most likely others, as we don’t know if our comment is getting any replies. What this leads to is me having to go to the actual post and check my comment and any new comments to be sure I’m not missing any replies. It wastes time.

There is a much better way to manage comments and replies, both as a blog owner and as a blog commenter.

WP Thread Comment Plug-In

What I recommend doing is installing a very handy plug-in called WP Thread Comment. This WordPress plug-in will save you and your readers a ton of time by eliminating any confusion when it comes to replies and new comments left on your blog posts.

No coding required. No changes need made to your current theme. Just download, install, activate and adjust the settings as you see fit. That’s it. Your blog is then equipped with threaded comments.

Here’s what this powerful little plug-in can do:

• Edit Reply Text & Cancel Reply Text – This is for both you and your readers (Shouldn’t need to be changed)
• Edit Comment HTML – Only change if looks funny.
• Edit Comment CSS – Same as above.
• Edit maximum nest level – This is the amount of replies aloud for one comment thread. I have mine set to 15, although I doubt I’ll ever see it go that high for one comment thread.
• Email notify the parent commenter when there is a reply – This feature is HUGE. I would highly recommend choosing the “default checked” option, so this way, commenters will receive an email when there comment has a new reply, even if they would forget to check the box, as it’s checked by default.
• Edit the subject of notification email – I wouldn’t change this unless you want to.
• Edit Notification Message – Only change if you want to.
• Reply in WordPress Admin Panel – This feature saves me a ton of time. You can reply to comments directly from your Admin panel and automatically have them “nested.”
• Add author in reply comment – I highly recommend enabling this option, so that your replies begin with “@author”.

By now you should see just how vital this plug-in can be for your WordPress blog. If you’re not yet utilizing threaded comments, you should really start. A better way to manage comments will only benefit your blog and your readers.

This may sound too good to be true for some. For others, this may be only a fraction of what they make from their blogs.

No matter which category you fall in, $750 is easily obtainable by implementing various money-making strategies. However, I’ve recently been introduced to a new blogging network that will actually pay you up to $750 per month. Sound crazy? Perhaps…

Blogging Network that Pays You

Guest blogging is super popular these days, and if you’re subscribed to my blog, you’ll know that I regularly publish guest posts on here. I know a lot of other bloggers who allow guest posts on their blogs as well. It’s a great way to build relationships with fellow bloggers/authors and introduce them to a new audience of readers.

But…

Guest blogging doesn’t have any monetary gain whatsoever. The guest author doesn’t get paid, and the hosting blog owner doesn’t get paid. This isn’t a bad thing at all, and frankly, that’s the way it should be. There are plenty of other benefits for both parties involved that don’t involve money.

However, this is about advertisers wanting to get in front of a target market, and they’re willing to pay to be seen.

What if there was a way to get paid for hosting guest posts? Would you be interested?

That’s exactly what WebTrafficControl.com does. They connect advertisers with blog owners and will pay you $15 for every guest post you publish to your blog. This isn’t your normal advertisement/sales type posts, though. The posts are useful, helpful, and don’t try to sell you anything.

They’re essentially no different than any other guest post that you would find on a blog, including this one.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons to get a better understanding of what WebTrafficControl is all about.

The Pros

I had a chance to email one of the guys behind the blogging network back and forth regarding functionality and what all the blog owner could control regarding the content their blogs would receive.

Here are some of the pros that really stood out to me after some of my key questions were answered:

• Quick process to add WordPress blog to system
• Clean and user-friendly member dashboard
• Built-in moderation system in place to ensure quality content only
• Blog owners can accept/deny each post that is received
• Once approved, articles are automatically posted to the blog via an Author account, with relevant categories
• Each post is relevant and targeted to your blog and your readers
• Posts are informative in nature and not a sales letter
• “Advertisers” download reports of all posts, able to see which articles were left on your blog

My main issue was the blog owner level of moderation, which they just recently implemented. This was important to me as I wouldn’t want an irrelevant/non-targeted post on my blog. My other issue was whether the “advertisers” would know that their articles were being published to my blog.

I was happy to know that both issues were fully addressed with systems in place. Overall, I was quite satisfied with what I found out.

Cons

The only issue I could see, that I find with any form of guest blogging, is the author coming to the blog and replying to comments left on their post. While the authors can download a report of their posts, there’s no guarantee that they will visit the blog/s to reply to comments being left.

I see this as a con only because I’m someone who encourages community and author/reader interaction. Replying to comments is something I require of my guest bloggers, and while it doesn’t always happen, I feel it’s better than no requirement at all. Most are more than happy to, as they also see the value in engaging readers.

Final Thoughts

I have added my blog to the network about a month ago but have yet to receive any articles to add to the blog. They provide you with up to 10 categories you can add your blog to, which increases the amount of articles your blog could receive. So, I would recommend adding your blog to 10 categories if at all possible as it may be a while before you start receiving articles for your blog.

All in all, I feel this blogging network could be good for supplementing your blog with additional, relevant articles, all the while increasing your monthly income.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think? Do you agree with my concerns about moderation and reader interaction?

After reading this, would you be inclined to add your blog to the network as well?

Please do share your thoughts by leaving a comment below…

If you have been doing affiliate marketing as long as I have, you’ll know that your blog is undeniably one of the most effective marketing tools you can use to promote affiliate products and services.

You can find a fair share of reviews and product recommendations on my blog, so I’m speaking from experience. Blogs are powerful, and they shouldn’t be underestimated as a promotional tool.

However, to ensure that you continue to use your blog effectively, you should always be aware of nifty WordPress  plug-ins to make your life easier as an affiliate marketer.

One plug-in I believe to be an essential tool and should be part of every affiliate’s arsenal is MaxBlogPress’s Ninja Affiliate.

MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate

I’ll be honest. I’m lazy. Not all the time, but the less work I have to do the better. Since I promote a wide range of programs and products on my blog, it can be tedious to go through posts and link certain keywords with relevant blog posts or even affiliate links.

Then on top of that, I have to track clicks and stats on those links I just created. I don’t want to have to use several tools to manage my links. If I can do everything and automate the process with just one single tool, I’d be stupid not to use it, right?

Well, that’s what the Ninja Affiliate Plug-in for WordPress does. Ninja Affiliate was created by MaxBlogPress. While it was created with the affiliate marketer in mind, essentially any blogger can use this plug-in who want to create links that can be tracked, easily and effortlessly through their WordPress blog.

Keywords/Affiliate Link Management

The most prominent use for Ninja Affiliate is the link management tool and the ability to define specific keywords in your posts that you want turned into affiliate links, or any type of link you want for that matter.

Here are some key features:

• Convert any of your chosen keywords inside any posts on your blog to anchor text affiliate links, or plain old regular links as well. Can be very useful for linking certain phrases to existing blog posts as well.
• Assign multiple keywords to the same link or the same keyword to multiple links.
• Set a maximum number of affiliate links on each page or for the whole blog so as to avoid making your blog looking like a spam site. For instance, say I want the words “ninja affiliate” to link to my affiliate link. If I used that phrase quite a few times throughout my blog post, I don’t want each instance being linked. It would turn people off pretty quickly. Instead, I could choose to have just the first two or three instances of that phrase linked to my affiliate link.
• Easily insert your links using a drop-down box in the write post page.
• Categorize and manage your links in separate groups, specified by you.
• Cloak  affiliate links  to prevent any affiliate sabotage and loss of your hard-earned affiliate commissions.
• Use the affiliate link URL on any web page you want. You’re not restricted to only using the generated links on the blog using the plug-in. Even use the links in your emails.
• Choose to put “no-follow” on your affiliate links. In some cases you may want to do this, so they give you the option.

The cool thing about Ninja affiliate is that it uses a smart caching feature that doesn’t slow down your blog, which I’m sure you know is a big issue with other plug-ins, especially ones of a similar nature.

Both Affiliate Marketers and “Regular” Bloggers Need This Plug-In

I’m sure you can see the benefits that can be obtained, whether you’re an affiliate marketer or just a “regular” blogger that wants an easy way to manage links on your blog.

Ninja Affiliate, as I briefly mentioned before, also provides stats monitoring. Basically what this means is that you’ll be able to track the stats for all of your links, on all of your blogs that you have this plug-in installed on.

And with that said, you only need one license. You can install Ninja Affiliate on as many blogs as you own, without the need to purchase separate licenses. So, buy the plug-in once, and you’re done.

One More Reason Why You Need This Plug-In

Think about this for a minute…

If you have an established blog that has A LOT of content with hundreds or even thousands of posts, then the keyword/link management feature alone is going to expedite your affiliate marketing, link setup work quite a bit. You cannot possibly go to all these pages to manually insert your links, can you?

That would just be crazy! Like I said, I’m lazy. I would have to be nuts to even think about doing such a thing. I have better things to do with my time, and I’m sure you do, too.

Spending a few minutes to setup your list of keywords and target URL’s is all it takes to convert phrases into text links for your entire blog. I have no problem taking the time do that, when the rest of the process will be automated. Seems like a sure winner to me.

Get Your Copy of Ninja Affiliate Today

Here is the link to get this amazing plug-in:

MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate

Yes, that’s my affiliate link, currently being tracked by Bit.ly. Sadly, I just found out about this plug-in, so I haven’t had time to get it on my blogs yet. I assure you I will, as I can’t imagine going any longer without it as it will save me a ton of time!

If you click that link you will be taken to a page where you can see all the features of the plug-in, including a video showing you how it works, screenshots and examples, and an order button to buy it.

The price of the plug-in is a one-time payment of $97. They offer a 60-day money-back guarantee if you’re not completely satisfied with how it works. I can’t imagine you wouldn’t be, though!

I think $97 is a good deal, especially since you should be able to make more money from using Ninja Affiliate. Afterall, affiliate marketing is all about tracking your links and seeing what works and what doesn’t. This plug-in takes care of that for you along with turning key phrases into money making links.

I hope October treated you all well (and no pun intended there). October had it’s up and downs for me. The up being I had the opportunity to spend four days in Myrtle Beach, S.C. As you can tell by the picture (playin’ some mini golf) the weather was absolutely beautiful down there. I couldn’t have asked for nicer weather.

Did you do anything exciting this past month? I’d love to hear about it! So, let me know in the comments section!

Let’s take a look at last month’s blog posts that you may have missed

October’s Blog Posts on ReplaceYourSalary.com

It’s All About Traffic and Knowing How to Get It!

Q&A: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

3 Home Based Business Ideas for Senior Citizens

Site Build It Review – Don’t Build a Website Before You Read This

Business in a Box – The Entrepreneur in You

Are You Marketing Your Blog on Facebook?

Bad Economy – Good Jobs?

Other Blog Posts from Around the Web

Now, if you recall I mentioned I’d be adding a new addition to the monthly roundups. The time has come, and I’m pleased to announce the blog posts that I’ve found written by fellow bloggers to be of value and inspiration to me. Check them out, and I hope you’ll feel the same way.

Rich from RichesCorner.com talks about the importance of keeping track of your blog and offers some tracking solutions that blog owners can utilize to do just that. Definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re not keeping track of your blog.

Tia from BizChickBlogs.com talks about protecting your RSS feed and suggests a really cool plug-in to do so. In fact, I now use this plug-in for my RSS feed as it allows you to add custom HTML to the end of your feed. You can add a copyright notice, links, pictures and whatever else you want to say to your readers.

Andrew from WeBuildYourBlog.com talks about time management and the realities of working from home and being your own boss. This is a must read if you work from home.

Ken from The Web Mechanic provides 10 WordPress security tips to keep your WordPress blog safe and secure from unwanted intruders. If you’re not taking all the necessary precautions to protect your blog, you’re leaving it open to hackers that could reek havoc on all your hard work. Don’t let that happen!

Onibalusi from YoungPrePro.com talks about facing criticism as a blogger. It doesn’t matter what you do in life, there will always be people who get satisfaction from putting you down and ridiculing you. It’s important to understand how to deal with people like this and also understand why they act this way. This post explains it all and is a must read.

That does it for last’s month’s roundup. I encourage you to not only read through my posts but also take extra time to read through these other blogger’s posts. They all do an excellent job with their blogs, and it’s been a pleasure following them. I hope you see the value that they provide just as I do.

This is a problem that all bloggers have to face, including myself. There’s a million different reasons why someone doesn’t like your blog or doesn’t like what you write. And, these reasons could even be causing some loyal readers to unsubscribe from your blog’s RSS Feed.

However, this post isn’t going to cover any of that stuff. Yes, that happens a lot, but there’s another reason why you may be losing blog readers. In fact, this problem could be hindering people from even reading your blog in the first place. And, I know for a fact that you want as many people to read your blog. Afterall, I feel the same way.

So, what could this problem be?

You may be l0sing blog readers because your blog simply takes too long to load. In this day and age, people are more impatient than ever. I happen to be one of those people, so if a page takes forever to load, I’ll just move on to something else. Well, good chances are there’s more people out there that do the same.

If your blog takes more than five seconds to load, you may want to look into speeding it up a bit.

This idea hadn’t even dawned on me until I read Sid Savara’s guest blog post on ProBlogger’s blog about 5 Plugins To Make Your WordPress Blog Blazing Fast.

The post covers 5 amazing WordPress plugins you can use to speed up the load time of your blog. I highly recommend you check out the post, especially if you’re having problems with your blog loading slow.

This could be due to images and other factors, including the popularity of your blog and how much traffic it receives on a daily basis.

One plugin that is recommend is WP Super Cache, which I’ve installed on this blog. It’s only been a day so far, so I haven’t noticed a huge difference yet. But then, my blog doesn’t get 1,000′s of visitors a day.

This is something that all bloggers need to be aware of and take into consideration. You don’t want to be losing blog readers before they even have a chance to read your blog.

The title says it all. Those are the reasons that this site is now hosted by HostGator web hosting. If you tried visiting my site yesterday, you may have been presented with a blank page or a database error message. For that, I apologize.

My site had been hosted with Host4Profit as part of the PIPS program. I still like Host4Profit as their support is one of the best around, probably second to HostGator’s. But, I wanted to consolidate my sites and save a bit of money every month. You can’t blame me, can you?

The steps involved in transferring a complete website is a bit complicated, and having never done it before, I was a bit overwhelemed. Thankfully I had tons of support from fellow peers as well as both hosting company’s support departments. Without them, I would have never gotten it done.

With that said, I highly recommend HostGator for all of your cheap web host needs. They provide cpanel web hosting, which is a huge lifesaver, especially the one click WordPress setup. You can host unlimited domains without the price ever going up, which is real handy if you have quite a few sites or plan to build more than one. And, as I said before, their support is top notch. They’re very hard to beat in price, and the site up-time is also the best around.

After the switch, I was recommended to transfer my domain to NameCheap.com. What a lifesaver that was for me. I was looking at paying $25 or more for my domain renewal every year. With NameCheap, it’s less than $10 a year for domains. My transfer was even less. I highly recommend them!

Another awesome benefit about NameCheap, which I didn’t know about until I transferred my domain, is that they offer free WhoisGuard protection. This means the Whois information for your domain is guarded. Very cool and makes them even more worth it!

So, if you’re looking for reliable yet cheap web hosting, make the switch to HostGator. You can’t go wrong. And, I’ll even throw in a little bonus if you sign up through me. Sign up for a hosting account through my links, and I’ll setup a WordPress blog for you free. That’s my way of saying thanks. Then you can take what you’re learning here and apply it to your new site.

Are you using HostGator? What’s your feelings about NameCheap.com? Have you gone through the hassle of switching hosts?

I’d love to hear your thoughts…