As an avid fan and advocate of WordPress, it immediately caught my attention and I clicked on the link to check out the list. I wasn’t surprised to see the likes of Lorelle, Darren Hoyt, WP Tavern, WP Engineer, Justin Tadlock, WP Recipes, WP Hacks and a few others, but I was definitely surprised to see JaypeeOnline on the list. Another pleasant surprise was finding out that my blog’s Google Pagerank is now back to 4. I was aware of the recent Google PR updates but I wasn’t expecting mine to increase.

Anyways, here’s a screenshot I took of the Best WordPress Related Blogs list from WP Ninja.

I’m not sure how often this list is updated but from what I can see, it uses a script to automatically check and fetch the Google PR and Alexa ranking for each blog/URL. Btw, aside from Pagerank and Alexa, you can also sort the list according to the number of Feedburner subscribers. I wonder why my blog along with a few others aren’t displaying anything except a N/A. To see the list for yourself, go to Best WordPress Related Blogs.

There are a few other WordPress related blogs that aren’t included on the list yet and one of those is my friend Leland’s blog – ThemeLab. Oh yeah, I wonder why Weblog Tools Collection and Yoast aren’t on the list? Maybe the author hasn’t updated the list yet. Overall, I’m just happy and honored that JaypeeOnline is listed alongside the best WordPress related blogs in the blogosphere. Anyways, if you want to keep track of the recent WordPress news and developments, this list is a good place to start with.

Do you know of any other WordPress related blog or blogs that aren’t on the list? If you do, please do share it with us or contact the author about it.

This will be the first time for me to do something like this for my blog. I’m not doing this because I’m just following what other bloggers are doing but rather, I’m doing this so I will have something to motivate me to do my best, improve on my strengths and work on the weaknesses to further improve JaypeeOnline. Since this is my first blog goals post, I don’t have anything to compare it to so I’m setting these goals based on the current statistics and set some “ideal” goals for me and my blog.

1. Reach at least 500 RSS subscribers (currently at 300+).
2. Increase the average daily blog traffic (pageviews and unique visitors).
3. Increase the monthly earnings on Adsense and other affiliate networks.
4. Increase the posting frequency to 6 or 7 weekly posts.
5. Get the blog’s Google PageRank back to 4 (currently at PR 2).
6. Get back within Alexa’s top 100,000.
7. Have guest bloggers write for JaypeeOnline.
8. Improve the community around JaypeeOnline.
9. Continue the Weekend Roundup feature.
10. Host a group writing project (You can share any good topic that you have in mind).
11. Release a free WordPress theme.
12. Have more blog contests/giveaway.
13, Attend a WordPress WordCamp or a Blog World Expo.
14. Attend the 2009 Philippine Blog Awards (more of a wish).

Even though a few of the goals are a little difficult or a bit too high for me, I believe that if I do my best and with your help, I would be able to accomplish all or most of these goals by the end of this year. If you haven’t subscribed to JaypeeOnline’s RSS feed yet, you can help me accomplish my first goal sooner by subscribing via RSS reader or receive RSS updates via email.

How about you? Have you also set up any blog goals or maybe personal goals for 2009? Care to share it with us? Maybe we can help each other accomplish our goals.

Pinoy Blogosphere

• Have you decided to ditch your old PC and get a new one? Pinoy Tech Guy’s latest article talks about the things you need to consider when upgrading your PC.
• Blogging Mix has 11 blogging tips on writing for non native English speakers. Good read for bloggers who don’t have English as their native tongue or for anyone who are having difficulties with writing in English.
• PinoyMoneyTalk warns PayPal users about a new type of PayPal email scam. It’s always good to be cautious when it comes to these things. If you get an email from someone you don’t know and you’re not sure about it, then just ignore it. Better safe than sorry!
• Recently lost PageRank because of paid links? Jam shares this WordPress plugin she recently found that automatically puts a “rel=nofollow” attribute to all paid links. Before you install this plugin, you’ll have to make sure you won’t be violating any TOS with your affiliate programs.

Around the Web

• Are you an effective networker? I have accounts on several social networking sites but I never or barely use them for networking. One of my newest blog friends, Katy, shows us how to effectively use social networking websites.
• Want to make your blog unique and customize the way your posts are displayed in the index page? WPCandy’s tutorial will show you how to modify individual posts in the loop using multiple loops.
• Do you often edits your posts and want your readers to know about it? With this tutorial from Ardamis, you can now display the last modified date of your WordPress posts.
• Darren has a very good article about using humor on your blog to bring about change. A good example of this is his open letter to Adsense regarding the changes they made to their referral program.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or want your article to be featured in the next Weekend Roundup, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message via the contact page.

Btw, most people know or call this as a “reinclusion request” but Google refers to this as “reconsideration request“. Why? Because not all penalized sites or blogs get removed from Google’s index so reconsideration is more accurate than reinclusion. Got it?

Here are the steps you need to follow to file a reconsideration request:

• First, go to Google Webmaster Tools
• Sign in with your Google account. If you don’t have one, then you’ll need to create one.
• Once you’ve logged in, click the link that says “Request reconsideration” at the right side of the dashboard



• Specify which site you want to be reconsidered and don’t forget to put a check on the checkbox.



• In the blank space provided below, write down what you did, the measures you’ve taken to fix the problem/mistake, and that you won’t do it again.



• Click on the Request reconsideration button and you’re done.

Wasn’t it easy? Of course, you’ll have to make sure that your blog/website doesn’t violate any of Google’s quality guidelines. Once they received your request, they’ll send a message that goes like this:

We’ll review the site. If we find that it’s no longer in violation of our Webmaster Guidelines, we’ll reinclude the site in our index. Please allow several weeks for the reconsideration request. We do review all requests, but unfortunately we can’t reply individually to each request.

After that, all you can do is wait. There’s no way of telling how long it will take and I guess it varies for each account or situation. I also don’t know how many times or how often you can submit a request. What I know is that it could take several weeks or even months before you could get an answer or result. So just do what you can and hope for the best.

Was your blog’s PageRank recently penalized? Have you submitted a site reconsideration request at Google Webmaster Tools? Was your request granted or denied? Please share your experiences, thoughts and opinions on this matter. We’d love to hear it.

• What could be worse than the recent Google PageRank penalties? How about SERP penalties for link sellers?
• Lea Woodward gives tips on how to become a happier and healthier blogger. via Problogger.net
• TaskSwitchXP a cool alternative to Window’s ALT+TAB feature or also known as the Task Switcher.
• Allen of Silkenhut talks about his recent experience on transferring his blog from domain/blog to the root domain.
• Do you have a PayPal account? PinoyMoneyTalk has a post on how to earn money with PayPal.
• Annalyn Jusay and Jayvee Fernandez share their thoughts and experiences on the recent Verzio product launch in the Philippines. I also received an invite for the event but unfortunately I couldn’t attend it since I’m here in the US.
• On the topic of blog post intervals or frequency, Marhgil’s advice is blog as often as you can.
• The Yahoo! localization team makes a booboo by spelling Philippines as Philipinas. Like what Andrew Dela Serna said, they obviously need a crash course in spelling.

Thanksgiving is a big event here in the US and we celebrated it last Thursday. As part of thanksgiving, I would like to thank the regular and loyal readers who continue to support this blog. I’m also thankful to God for restoring my health after being sick for more than a week. Hope you guys have a great week ahead!