Erika Napoletano is Redhead Writing

Bloggers weren't meant to be leashed creatures...

Hey pretty blogger…what’s your name?

Yeah? You’re a writer? That’s hot.

Why don’t you, uh…come on over here and chat with me for while. We can talk about…umm…about…

Gee, I dunno…we could talk about how pretty you look sitting in front of that little MacBook, the silver case reflecting the auburn in your hair.

Or…we could talk about why you’re a little whore.

There – I said it. A whore.

Last week I admitted that I’m Google’s bitch and this week, I’m going to give my speech to all you inner-city disadvantaged bloggers out there about being a Wordpress whore. Ari Herzog even called me out on it in the comments of last week’s blog. It was a shameful day for me as I was faced with what I already knew as both a writer and an SEO professional:

I am a whore for Wordpress.

By hosting my blog here at a Wordpress.com domain, I’m giving away all my take. My tricks – these posts – are giving Wordpress all of the SEO juice when you, my cherished and slightly skewed readers, visit my site each week when I post. At the end of the day, it’s like I’m walking the streets for Wordpress, turning tricks and acting like a freelance writer from India who will pound-out 500 word articles for $3 each.

I

am

a

whore.

I am pleased to announce that effective February 1, SEOCopywritingRedhead will be found at its very own domain. This has been in the works for awhile, but Ari lit the fire under my ass necessary to get me out of Wordpress’ stable and into the groove of being my own madam.

Now, for those of you out there using free blogging platforms (i.e.: http://blog.freebloggingthingie.com), I’m going to do a little “scared straight” on your ass and tell you what’s what.

• If you blog for fun and don’t care about the SEO juice, go ahead and whore it up on a free blogging platform.
• If you’re attempting to establish a personal brand or a subscriber base – you need to stop being a dirty little blogging whore and get your own domain.

But Erika (you ask…) HOW do I stop being Wordpress’ dirty little blogging whore?

C’mere little blogger…sit down. I’m going to have the same conversation with you that a wise man once had with me.

You’ve got your entire blogging career ahead of you. You’re young (kinda), you’re smart (after all, you’re reading my blog) and you write some damn good looking words. Seriously – if your words were legs, they could kick for the Rockettes. So with gams like that, sweetheart, were gonna get you walkin’ in the right neighborhoods.

If you’re on Wordpress.com, there are several hosting services out there with one-click install of Wordpress when you purchase a domain and hosting. I’ve heard wonderful things about both Bluehost and Dreamhost, and while I’m currently embroiled in GoDaddy’s rat bastard practices, I encourage you to check them out.

You can also redirect your current Wordpress.com blog to your own domain for a mere $15/year. Under your Dashboard, go to Settings/Domains and then tell it the url you want it to point to. Then it’ll ask you to buy 10 Wordpress credits and BAM! You’re on your way. (and yes, your page still gets the SEO juice this way)

So, the bottom line it that it’s simple to get off the streets and end your acceptance of sub-par take for all of your hard work. Writing is very (very) sexy stuff, and there’s no reason to be giving away the milk without making the search engines buy your cow first.

Get your own blog domain. Open your own brothel. Be your own pimp. Keep your link juice.

And you can keep Wordpress, too, if you like.

Please note: no bloggers were bitch-slapped in the crafting of this post.