custom domain name
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Hello! What would it cost to drop the ‘wordpress’ out of my domain name?
Also, would it make my site more easily found? Google can barely find it now :(The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there,
I will answer both questions in reverse order.
re: search engine discoverabilityYou need to start publishing posts not pages https://en.support.wordpress.com/post-vs-page/ frequently ie. at least twice weekly for search engine attention.
A blog is a post based website designed for interactive communication. As the posts are frequently updated and appear on the front page of the site it’s very attractive to search engines.
What most people call a website is merely a page based site that functions as a one-way noticeboard. As the structure is page based and as pages are for static content that rarely changes, and as pages do not have RSS feeds, and as others do not backlink to pages, it is not as attractive to search engines as a post based blog structured site is.
It can take weeks for search engines to index your site content. Please read this support doc https://en.support.wordpress.com/search-engines/ so you know we have no control over search engines positioning or appearance in the SERPs (search engine page results).
To verify blog ownership of a WordPress.com hosted blog with the major search engines you must use this process > http://en.support.wordpress.com/webmaster-tools/
Note: Even if you do not verify the blog the content will be indexed by search engines so don’t feel panicky about this, please.
WordPress.com automatically supplies sitemaps for our blogs to search engines – we do nothing. http://en.support.wordpress.com/sitemaps/#xml-sitemaps-for-search-engines
To gain search engine attention, I recommend that you start publishing posts (not pages) https://en.support.wordpress.com/post-vs-page/ frequently. That’s because it can take weeks for search engines to index content in a new blog and/or to re-index content under a new URL.
For more information on expediting search engine indexing of your site read > http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/omg-i-cant-find-my-blog-on-google
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All wordpress.com hosted blogs are on wordpress.com subdomains like this: *http://NAME_OF_BLOG.wordpress.com
If you wish to you can purchase your own custom domain and map to it for $18 per year, or map to an existing domain URL that you already own for $13 per year from the underlying .wordpress.com subdomain URL.
Read:
Domains: Important Notes Before Upgrading
https://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/#important-notes-before-upgrading
In order to map to a domain URL one must have an underlying .wordpress.com sub-domain blog to map from, and the domain name you desire must be available for purchase, or you must already own the domain URL.All that changes when you are domain mapping is the URL and nothing else. http://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/ The content stays exactly where it is. What domain mapping does its create a seamless transfer between the underlying .wordpress.com blog URLs to the new domain URLs no matter where they are on the internet. Visitors who click the underlying .wordpress.com blog URLs will be seamlessly redirected to the exact same content under the new domain URLs.
See here if you do not own a domain
http://support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/register-domain/We all pay in full for every upgrade at the time of purchase. Make sure you read the comparison very closely do you know exactly what the restrictions and limitations on WordPress.COM blogging are: http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/
You must be logged in as Admin http://en.support.wordpress.com/user-roles/#administrator under the exact same username account that registered the blog to access the blog’s dashboard and purchase upgrades at > Dashboard> Store > My Upgrades
https://en.support.wordpress.com/my-upgrades/Your only options for payment are found here http://en.support.wordpress.com/payment/
Your billing history will be at Dashboard > Store > Billing History
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Here are some tips re: increasing traffic.
If you want to increase traffic then don’t listen to anyone who professes there are passive ways of doing that. Increasing traffic to a blog is hard work. If you want your blog to rank well in search engine results and secure a traffic flow from the SERPs (search engine page results) then that begins with creating and publishing original content posts (not pages) ie. unique content that cannot be found anywhere else on the internet. See How to Identify Your Blog’s Target Audience http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/how-to-identify-your-blogs-target-audience/
It is commenting on other blogs with similar content that encourages traffic to flow to your own blog. If you are a WordPress.com blogger there are onsite tools you can use to find blogs by subject matter that are hosted on this multiuser blogging platform http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/finding-blogs-with-similar-content/ However, do NOT stop there because the classic error new bloggers tend to make here is focusing only on gaining traffic from this site alone.
These 5 videos introduce how Google discovers, crawls, indexes your site’s pages, and how Google displays them in search results. It also touches lightly upon challenges webmasters and search engines face, such as duplicate content http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/5google-webmasters-video-tutorials/
If you are using a WordPress.com theme good SEO is a given.
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/seo-and-your-blog/
http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/seo-on-wordpress-com/However, going beyond the theme what the blogger has done within that structure is worth evaluating. Whether you write informative, persuasive or controversial content learning how search engines work, and how to apply basic SEO to you content will benefit your blog as it will increase traffic from targeted readers. http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/two-seo-videos-for-bloggers/
6 Ways to Make Google Your Blog’s Best Friend > http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/6-ways-to-make-google-your-blogs-best-friend/
12 Tips for Improving Search Queries Ranking Position. If you want people to find your site through the use of keywords, then from the readers perspective, keep it natural and use key words or keyword phrases only if they are a natural “fit”.
http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/12-tips-for-improving-search-queries-ranking-position/7 Common Sense Social Networking Tips
http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2013/12/07/7-common-sense-social-networking-tips/Social Networking Blunders. Despite the ubiquitous statements to the opposite effect, autoposting to socila networks, rather than manual posting results in fewer people reading your full posts on your site.
http://onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2014/09/10/social-networking-blunders/Are you looking for feedback on your blog? This could range from the design of the site to the actual content of a post. You can get feedback from our Community Pool:
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/category/community-pool/Also, if you just want to connect with other bloggers, get inspired, build your brand, and get inside tips from the folks who bring you WordPress.com, take a look at our Blogging University here:
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/blogging-university/Read also:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/getting-more-views-and-traffic/ -
Hey thanks!!!
Do you know how to contact Live Chat?
************************** Nicole Morgenthau Photography http://www.nicolemorgenthau.com (new design coming soon) Stock photos available through- Getty Images office- 801.328.9094 mobile- 801.641.7367
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That link is to a photography site that is not hosted here and has nothing to do with wordpress.COM blogging.
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