Selasa, 30 November 2010

25 Free Tips for Marketing your Blog

With so many blogs being created every day, it’s a mystery to many bloggers how to make their blog stand out. It’s simple. People want to read good content, and with good content comes ad revenue. Well, maybe it’s not that easy… We’ve finally unleashed the secrets of successful blog marketing. Do note that these are not guaranteed to increase your click-through ratios and they will not bring good karma to you or your ads.. If only.. Nonetheless, these tips should benefit your blog and make it more user-friendly, more easily accessible, and more content-enabled.

There are many types of blogs or purposes for blogs and a certain number of tactics are applicable to just about all of them, so here is a -short- list of tips for marketing and optimizing a blog:

1. Decide on a stand alone domain name www.myblog.com or directory of existing site www.mysite.com/blog. Sub domain is also an option blog.mysite.com. Avoid hosted services that do not allow you to use your own domain name!
2. Obtain and install customizable blog software - WordPress and Moveable Type are my favorites.
3. Customize blog look and feel templates - aka design.
4. Research keywords and develop a glossary - Keyword Discovery, WordTracker, SitePoint, SEOBook Keyword Research.
5. Optimize the blog:
* Template optimization - RSS subscription options, social bookmark links, HTML code, Unique title tags, URLs, Sitemap
* Add helper plugins specific to WordPress or MT
* Create keyword rich categories (reference your keyword glossary)
6. Enable automatic trackback and ping functionality.
7. Create Feedburner Pro account and enable feed tracking.
8. Setup Google acount for Sitemap, validate and prep for future submission.
9. Identify authoritative blogs, web sites and hubs for outbound resource links and blogroll.
10. Format archived posts, related posts.
11. Enable statistics for tracking - Performancing, Google Analytics, ClickTracks.
12. Submit RSS feed and Blog URL to prominent RSS and Blog directories / search engines.
13. Engage in an ongoing link building campaign.
14. If podcast or video content are available, submit to Podcast and Vlog directories.
15. Submit blog url to paid directories with categories for blogs - Yahoo, BOTW, bCentral, WOW, JoeAnt.
16. Optimize and distribute a press release announcing blog.
17. Request feedback or reviews of your blog in relevant forums, discussion threads. If you have a resourceful post that will help others, point to it.
18. Research and comment on relevant industry related blogs and blogs with significant centers of influence.
19. Post regularly. If it’s a news oriented blog, 3-5 times per day. If it’s an authoritative blog, 3-5 times per week, but each post must be unique and high value.
20. Monitor inbound links, traffic, comments and mentions of your blog - Google Alerts, Technorati, Blogpulse, Yahoo News, Ask Blogs and Feeds.
21. Always respond to comments on your blog and when you detect a mention of your blog on another blog, thank that blogger in the comments of the post.
22. Make contact with related bloggers on AND offline if possible.
23. When making blog posts always cite the source with a link and don’t be afraid to mention popular bloggers by name. Use keywords in the blog post title, in the body of the post and use anchor text when you link to previous posts you’ve made.
24. Use social networking services, forums and discussion threads to connect with other bloggers. If they like your stuff, they will link to you.
25. Remember when web sites were a new concept and the sage advice to print your web address everywhere you print your phone number? The same advice applies for your blog.

Minggu, 28 November 2010

Blogging The Newest Marketing Tool

Do you know what a blog is? It is a journal, which is made available in the web. Blogs are updated regularly and the process of updating the blog is known as blogging.

Another term for the person doing and updating the blog is the blogger. These blogs are typically updated regularly and daily with the use of software, which allows people who have background, or not.

To this day, blogging has come a long way in keeping up journals and other purposes. Not only does it help in personal use but also applied now in expanding Internet business and increasing promotion of the web sites.

Blogging is a sure way to enhance the visibility of the products and services.

If you want to apply blogging, there are some tips that you need to consider in order to improve your online business.

• Offering advice and guiding your visitors on some tips and other opportunities related to your business. This objective will increase the awareness of you and your business.

This will make you an authority of the customers and visitors who might want to check out your services through publications.

• You need to encourage your readers to write comments and suggestions. Their comments and feedback will be helpful because at least you know that someone is paying attention to your services and visiting your website.

• Take their feedback as a means to improve your overall design, layout, the content and the whole business marketing.

• You need to at least post regularly in your bog. If you have many postings in the past, you can keep it in an Archive so that people can still retrieve it in for future reference. In this way, you can also keep track of all your business plans and get some important information.

• Others can reprint the articles that you have written and posted to the different websites. However, they need to ask for your permission with the condition to post them with your resource box with all the URLs that go with the articles. This will give you more links to your site and will give more exposure to your site.

• In adding and updating bogs, you need to add good content. Always make it fresh and up-to-date. In this way, search engines will include your site in their directory listings. If your bog is listed in the different search engines, you will start increasing traffic to your site without paying for it.

• Your blog contains links to your site and links to other site. You can exchange links to other website and this will help in improving your ranking on search engines. You can add affiliate links through banners in the advertisements. You can also include this in your blog in order to earn extra income.

You have the authority to update your blogs and there is no limit with what you want to do. You can write about your own views, expertise, ideas, opinion, pictures and other important information or message that you want to write about.

Blogging is a way to be heard despite the increasing competency in Internet Marketing. Make sure that you make your blogs interesting and readable.

Blogging is a great way to broadcast important information such as news and current events. It does not only focus on increasing web traffic or gaining promotion.

Blogging is a good way to learn about all the important facts with just about anything under the sun. If you missed the reports and updates on the T.V, you can easily get information from blogs updated frequently. Therefore, you will not have to worry about missing your favorite late night show.

Blogging has helped many industries in the easiest way. The good thing about it is that you do not actually need experience to create your own blog. It is as easy as clicking buttons and you can work your way out on your own.

What you need to keep up is a good content that is friendly and interesting so that your readers will frequently visit your blog site and keep it as a part of their daily habit.

Sabtu, 27 November 2010

Is A Blog Right For Your Business

Blogs and Bloggers have certainly made their presence known over the past couple of years. For the politicians and celebrities they have undeniably become a valuable force to pay attention to but...

Is A Blog Right for Your Business?

Wikipedia defines the term 'blog', short for web log, as a web based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles, most often in reverse chronological order...blogs often focus on a particular subject...Although blogs are typically a text medium, there are also non-text versions such as audioblogs (podcasts), photoblogs and videoblogs."

It is my intention in this article to present a list of pros and cons, and sources for more information, should you be considering adding a blog to your marketing mix.


PROS:

-Blogs, like newsletters, can enhance a companies credibility if done correctly. As a blogger you're out there in the blogoshpere providing information about your industry and answering questions. You are the expert.

-Blogs can also be a useful customer service tool-they provide a medium to respond to your customers in an open dialogue and to solve problems before they become problems. If a blog, yours or someone else’s, posts a review of your product and there is a problem that needs to be fixed, you can post the fix on the comment section of the blog.

-Blogs increase your exposure in a variety of ways. A simple trade-advertise on my blog and I’ll advertise on yours’ is an easy method to increase exposure. Additionally, by monitoring and posting on other blogs relative to your industry you can increase brand/website awareness.

-Blogs can also be a tool to direct traffic to your website or storefront. By listing links to your site, your readers can click through and possibly become customers.

CONS:

-Blogs require constant updating and monitoring. According to the Blog Squad, “if you can’t commit to writing short posts 2-3 times a week, and if you’re not open to dialogue with your potential customers, then blogging might not be for you.”

-Results from blogging are difficult to track and generally slow to come. It takes a while to develop a presence in the ‘photosphere’ and tracking reader to customer conversions are difficult.

-It takes a concentrated effort to produce creative, interesting, and intelligent content is difficult to come by. Because anyone who wants to blog can, there is a lot of information out there and thus a lot of competition. The good news is that if you are committed to providing quality content, you have a better chance of getting noticed.

-Distribution and publicity are also challenges. Making people aware of and interested in your blog is a marketing campaign in and of itself. Since people have to search for blogs, and they’re not sent to them like other forms of marketing, you have to be proactive in your attempts to get noticed.

Bottom Line:

Many marketing specialists will recommend adding a blog to your marketing plan, if you can afford the time to make valuable contributions 3 or more times a week. For more information on how and where to market your blog see Marketing Optimization 101 for Blogs. http://rssdiary.marketingstudies.net/content/marketing_optimization_101_for_blogs

If you’re considering adding a blog to your marketing campaign or are interested in more information you may find the following links helpful:

"Tapping into the Blogosphere"
http://www.forbes.com/2006/01/24/google-apple-microsoft-cx_tt_0125straightup.html
"Can Blogging Help You Market your Product Online?" www.bly.com
"The Blog Squad" www.nextlevelpartner.typepad.com/bbab/

And

"Business Blogging or Not" www.webpronews.com


For more information on marketing your business please visit me at www.AMBCreative.net.

Sincerely,

Annette Elton
AMB Creative, LLC

Jumat, 26 November 2010

What is Blogging: The New Form of Journalism

Ever wonder why most all of the teens today are addicted to the internet? Well it has everything a young exploring mind needs. From browsing the net for document researches, shopping, cooking, gaming, chat, and a whole bunch of stuff going inside a website’s offer.

Yep, all of these including one secluded part of a teen’s life which is their journal. Don’t believe me? Then try hooking up on the internet now and see how much there is that is available today.

Aside from being a window for the readers to see what’s on the author’s mind, a blog lets him elaborate on facts or scribble out whatever idea that pops out his head. A blog is a simplified term for “web blog”-a new generation medium for writing articles, essays, statements and the like.

It’s usually composed of texts or sometimes pictures and multimedia topics. If you’re tired of jotting down every single detail of your life’s worth on paper, why not try the new fad of journalism which is blogging. Blogging literally means sharing a comment of life through the internet.

It is an up-to-date source. A sequence of events. A timeless exhibit of creativity and style. An outlet for one’s self.

The popularity of blog comes in different areas. Anyone can write anything that comes out of his head. Whether a walk on a sunny day or a dip into California ’s wild waters, it serves as a diary and is readily updated. What’s good about blogging is that it is not bounded by editing and is cheap.

The commercial velocity of a blog depends on a writer’s instinct to create a worthy article. Either formative or informative, rational or irrational, for as long as the readers can visualize what the author has posted your blog’s a hit.

Technical specialties and skills, not necessary. Publishing freedom, an advantage. All that is needed is for you to have a witty mind, a desire to share ideas and part of your story, and a bit of knowledge to toggle into the internet. Grammatical errors are welcome. No editors and publishing companies to please. Journalism without rules or guidelines to follow and what’s best is that readers could post a comment or be inspired to write one too.

Blogging wouldn’t be difficult if you have the right recipes. Not just a simple-text article, a blog may be enhanced or converted into other types like an audio blog or a video blog. Nowadays, blogs are more sophisticated and advanced. Element of a blog starts from a good and captivating headline down to the author’s personal profile. Included herewith are the blog post, permalink (combined term for “permanent link”), and the reader’s comments.

A friend of mine is a blogger. She would entertain herself by posting blogs on her web page. She told me that blogging is an advantage for her to speak up to the world of the things that’s keeping her shut. And I quote, “I am an internet junkie. I am not a big fan of journalism or any kind of writing.

But it all changed when the blogging fever entered internet society. I appreciated it more when I felt everything that’s written are real and not just a compulsory decoy to deliver information. Right then, I became a part of a bigger picture.”

Trapped in a world of unwanted opinions, blogging is a benefit. But everything has its own consequences. Blogs are much harder to manage than that of the broadcast media. In politically sensitive issues, blogs can be considered as a political misfit. Results are triggered through suppression of bloggers and punishments were made. Another grave case is the issue of defamation and liability.

Nevertheless, blogging is still out there. So if you’re the type who has the snap for writing, give blogging a shot. You never know how much it would contribute to the society and to your pockets.

Kamis, 25 November 2010

How to Start a Blog and Make Money Online

If you are new to the internet and wondering what an earth this blogging craze is all about, or if you already have your own website and you’re wondering why everyone keeps advising you to start your own blog, read on. I’m going to explain to you what a blog is, why you need one, how to set it up, promote it and of course, make money from it.

Blog is short for “web log” and is similar to an online diary or journal. The craze of blogging began in the very late 1990s and has started to become more and more popular over the last couple of years. Almost everyone seems to have a blog these days, from CEOs of large companies to webmasters, from world travelers to teenagers. Even my Dad has his own blog now! A blog allows you to communicate informally with people via an online journal, but it’s more personal and unstructured than a website and easier and cheaper to set up than a website.

If you have your own website, but haven’t yet started a blog you can easily start one using a free service such as Blogger or WordPress. Try to post to your blog at least once or twice a week on topics related to your website. Blogging will help your search engine rankings and open up the communication channels between you and your visitors or customers, encouraging them to interact with you and give them a reason to return to your site in future.

If you don’t have your own website and are looking to set up a blog quickly and easily I recommend opening a free account with Blogger. You can blog about anything you like, for example a hobby, a vacation, your home town, something political, a sport or your business. Just be sure to pick something that you are interested in and knowledgeable about. You can host your blog for free on Blogspot – all you need to do is pick a name that is relevant to the topic of your blog. Once you have set up your profile and chosen a template, blogging is as simple as sending an email to a friend.

There are many ways to make money from your blog, but here are a few ideas to get you started:

- Google Adsense - this is free to join and easy to set up. The ads will match the content of your blog and you will get paid every time a visitor clicks on an ad.

- Affiliate Programs – sign up for affiliate programs related to the topic of your blog and display links to related products on your blog. Clickbank, Trade Doubler and Commission Junction are good places to start, or do a Google search for “affiliate program” + the topic of your blog to find more affiliate programs. Whenever someone clicks through your affiliate link and buys a product, you will receive a commission. If you are knowledgeable about your topic you could also write product reviews to help increase your affiliate sales.

- Sell Advertising Space – if you have a popular blog you can charge people to advertise on your blog. This could be in the form of a text link, a banner or a graphic.

You are not going to make money with a blog unless people can find it. As soon as you have started to post to your blog it’s time to start promoting it. You can get your blog noticed by…

- Submitting your blog to blog directories – just search for “blog directories” in Google

- Asking other bloggers to exchange links with you – you put a link on your blog in exchange for a link from their blog.

- Writing an article related to the topic of your blog and posting it to article directories. Remember to include an author’s resource box with a link to your blog.

- Pinging blog ping services every time you make a new post – pingomatic.com and pingoat.com are two sites you can use to do this.

- Participating in forums related to the topic of your blog. Put a link to your blog in your forum signature.

Finally, once you have your blog monetized and you have started promoting it don’t forget to post regularly. The most important aspect of every successful blog is frequent posting, so be sure not to let the virtual dust gather over your blog!

Rabu, 24 November 2010

So You Want To Setup A Blog!!

So, you have been out on the Internet and hear people talking about blogs. Weblogs (Blogs for short) are web-based publications consisting of information of all sorts. Some people have personal blogs. Others are using blogs to market a product or service. I use one of my blog as a complimentary informational site to my home based business. It allows me to easily and quickly publish information about my home-based business. It is also a portal for my team to keep abreast of business related information.

The first thing you need to decide what type of blog you want. Having decided, go to www.blogger.com (there are other, but for the purpose of this article, I will discuss www.blogger.com.) to setup an account.

Once your account is setup, you will want to login into the dashboard. At this point, I would send some time reading the tutorials and looking at some of the other blogs. By looking at other”s blogs, you can get an idea of how you want your to look and function. Blogger provides a help group (forum) where you can communicate with other members.

First, you will want to create your blog. You do this by using the “Create A Blog” button. This will bring you to page asking you a few questions. At this point, you have two options: simple setup or advanced setup. If you are new and have no knowledge of setting up a website and ftping, stay with the simple setup. But if you are familiar with setting up website and ftping, I suggest the advance setup. The advance setup would allow you more flexibility, but requires more of a learning curve. For our discussion, we will stick with the simple setup.

For the simple setup, chose a title and address (URL) for your blog. Select a title that reflection your intention for the site. Selecting a good title is an important consideration, especially if you are using it to market a product or providing information to your audience. Put in the word verification number and hit “Continue”.

Secondly, you will want to select a template from the ones provided on this page. Make your selection based on how it will coordinate with product or service. Also, the template should have an aesthetic affect on your targeted traffic. In other words, if you are using this to promote a home-based business, use a color scheme that is not loud and boisterous.

Lastly, hit the “Continue” button. Your blog has been setup. You will now want to start publishing to your blog. You are back at the dashboard, so select your blog link.

Under the “Publish” tab, select the “Create” tab. You will have a blank editor box to enter your new information to be published. If you are familiar with HTML tags, you can add it into your text. (i.e.: This is my new text will produce This is my new text.). There are some edit buttons within the editor that you can use also. Once finished entering your new information, hit the “Publish Post” button.

As a side note, once you have published to your site, you will want to draw traffic to your new blog. You can use two sites that will send out your post so others can see them. They are www.pingoat.com and www.pingomatic.com. Every time you make a new post, use these two sites.

Whether you are just wanting expound your personal views, market a product or service, or provide a portal for additional information about your home based business, blogs are great. They can be setup easily and quickly be published. You do not have to worry about web hosting and programming if you are a newbie. Just start typing in your thoughts on a daily basis to keep your content fresh.

Selasa, 23 November 2010

Power Blogging - Blogging For Business Or Pleasure?

Blogging for business
Because the search engines index blogs very quickly, blogging can be a good way to get your company or product to a wider audience. There are two ways to do this, either closely align your blog with your product, or blog about the market your product serves and reference your product. For the first it makes a deal of sense to include either your company or major product name in the blog title and domain. In fact you could just install a blog in a sub-directory of your main website which would tie it in very closely with your company. Many web hosts now have a domain control panel which enable Wordpress blogs to be installed almost completely automatically. I would suggest Wordpress as suitable blog software as there are an enormous number of add-ons and plugins available to make your blog look and act exactly as you want. A second option would be to register a suitable domain, install Wordpress on it and go from there.

If you want to initially distance yourself from your product, then you might well find it easiest to register a blog with one of the major blog hosts and set yourself up as a special interest blogger. You may wish to do this to attract visitors who might not frequently visit your site but are interested in the markets you serve. If you sell wine for instance you could blog about wine in general and reference the special offers that you sell, maybe including short tasting notes. It might be beneficial to come clean about your association in an About Me page, as being professionally involved in a specific market adds a certain authority to what you write. It would be clear to frequent visitors that you only mention one company but they would have initially been attracted by the content, and would most likely continue to visit as long as the content is valuable to them. The important thing about doing it this way is that your content should hold up regardless of your promotion of your product otherwise you won't get visitors returning.

Blogging for pleasure
If anything this is the most rewarding way to blog. Writing about something you have a passion for is most likely to get visitors who share the same passion and can grow a community as you link to other blogs which have the same focus. I am an Arsenal Football Club supporter and have a blog http://blogs.goonerville.com/blog/LGS_blog.php where I vent and applaud everything about the club and football in general. If you leave the comments turned on, you will get visitors posting their replies to you which can help you gauge reaction to your opinions. But beware, you may not always like what people say about you! It's not compulsory, but you may also be able to make a little money from Adsense or affiliate sales as long as you don't overdo the adverts because you will have a very targeted audience reading the blog.

Whether you are blogging for business or pleasure, the important things to remember are:

1. Write in your own style, don't try and copy anyone else.
2. Use original content. You can use other material, but make sure you are not breaking copyright and add your own content.
3. Pace yourself. Don't start out intending to post every day if you don't have the time and inclination. It is better to start slowly and increase if you can rather than gradually tail off.
4. Use humour if you are humorous. Even if the blog is factual, visitors like to be entertained.

If used well, blogs can be a tremendous aid to communicating whatever message you wish to advance. There are many things you can do to make your blog more accessible and popular, but that are beyond the range of this article and will be covered in future articles.

Senin, 22 November 2010

Make Money With your blog - Why Are Blogs Profitable

There are many bloggers out there that do not comprehend the potential of their blogs; specifically, the money making potential of a blog and how it can be optimized to generate a steady online income. Here are a few reasons why anyone can make money blogging. Blogs are becoming increasingly popular due to the fact that they can be put to use for income generation. Online Marketers use blogs for marketing and bloggers capitalize on that need and make money blogging. So why are blogs so profitable? Well here are four reasons:

Highly Targeted Marketing
Blog visitors are there for a particular reason. Blogs, being constantly updated are a great source of information on a particular topic. Visitors become repeat visitors, readers and subscribers. Good blogs, the ones that are maintained and updated regularly can and do have steady readership that keeps coming back awaiting the next post and article. These blogs have audiences allowing marketers and advertisers easy access to particular groups.

Blogs and Physical Evidence
Before I spent a few thousand dollars to buy my new laptop a couple of months ago, I read reviews, testimonials and consumer opinions on many different products. I spent a good 10-12 hours reading, comparing taking notes and asking questions before I made up my mind and spent my money. Most of that time was spent on technology blogs; I read reviews, compared products and was actually pretty happy to find out that this information was readily available online. It helped my make the purchase.

Even if the company I bought the laptop from provided me with the reviews I might had been weary and perhaps not taking it seriously. The bloggers that reviewed the products, even if they where paid to do it, gave me a completely different perspective; a perspective that actually helped that company make a sale without using any of its own resources to do so! I was impressed, and still am; particularly of the effectiveness and direct nature of this media, blogging. Here are some more reasons for making money with a blog:

Blogs are Interactive
Readers will post comments, participate in discussions, talk about their experiences about particular products/topics, draw their conclusions and possibly write about the same topic on their blogs. Aside from the extra exposure an advertiser can get it helps build a better presence for their website with more backlinks. More backlinks, means better rankings and as a result better placement on a search engine result page and more money.

Building Backlinks
All internet marketers are aware of the importance of building backlinks. Ideally, one way links pointing back to their sites. When someone posts a link with a keyword pointing back to their page, it is like a vote; a vote of confidence for that particular site, at least for search engines. In order for, Google, lets say to weed out all the irrelevant results from searches, they came up with an algorithm that only shows the most popular pages for that keyword. In order to achieve this they rank pages with more links pointing back to them with particular keywords, better and higher. If you want your page to rank better for searches you should strive to get all the backlinks you can find. Other blogs are an excellent way of getting these links.

It is not hard to start a blog and turn it into a money blog. All you need to do is first comprehend the potential of your blog and then start putting some work in optimizing it. Once you start getting some visitors you can start making money right away. You can make money blogging with paid reviews. Or if you are into Web 2.0, and a fan of social networking, you can still make make money blogging with Entrecard.

Minggu, 21 November 2010

What Are Blogs And How Do You Profit From Them?

'Blogs' or 'Blogging' have existed for several years and there are still many people who don't know what one is and how important it is to making you money.

A blog is a web log. It's used to add contents of a diary or news by the owner (blogger). For example, I may want to blog about the latest affiliate programs there are and ones that have good commissions as soon as I know about them. People can visit my website and see new contents on my website regularly.

A blog should contain information about a similar topic. For example, cars, computers, stamps etc... The good thing about blogs is that you can write whatever you want on it. Your visitors can even comment on what they think about a particular blog. With a blog you do not need to have any programming experience. You can update a blog easily by just typing what you want just like with a word processor. What an easy way to update a website.

So now we know what a blog is, what's so good about a blog? Why are so many talking about it?

Owners have found that updating fresh content to their websites has been made easier by using blogging software. Before blogs were popular, people had to create the content, get it transferred into HTML by the programmer, and then uploaded to the website. All this hassle is gone with blogging.

Perhaps, the most important thing about having a blog is that the search engines love them. Yes, search engines love new content. It means a website is not static, therefore search engines will visit that website often and get them indexed. If you have a blog, search engines will have your website in their listings quickly.

Blogging should be done regularly by your business. The customers should have the feeling that your blog will be updated regularly so that they will feel the need to visit often. If your blog is stagnant, then people will not go back. This is not how blogs are used.

What a lot of people don't know about blogging is that it can also help make you money. Yes - blogs can be profitable too.

One of the ways you can profit from blogs is to provide valuable content to them, and keep them regularly informed. Once you have created that relationship with them, you can place affiliate links within your blogs. These have to be products or services that you recommend to your readers to use. Good commission comes with using this idea.

You can even ask your readers to donate money to maintain your blog. Stress that your blog is a free service and you hope that they will support you etc...

Once you have a lot of visitors to your blogging website, you can use Google's Adsense which shows Google's ads on your blogs. When your visitors click on those ads, you'll get a percentage of the payment for each click. With a lot of visitors, this will add up to a nice check every month.

You can even have an advertising space at the top of your blog. Advertise this space. You can charge people weekly to advertise what they want. You may even have more than one space for advertisements. The more popular and more visitors your blog gets, the more you can charge for these advertising spaces.

The blog http://www.home-business-setup.com shows the ways in which money can be made which I've discussed throughout this article. Notice the AdSense at the top of the page and also the text link which other people will pay for once they know the blog gets traffic.

Just shows that there are so many ways to profit from blogging that it would be crazy if we don't start now.

Sabtu, 20 November 2010

Tips for Bloggers

Blogging Tips:

Write the Best Possible Content even if it is not every day
Writing often is advice that most bloggers come across on other sites. The reason why it is popular advice is due to the fact that it is based on the assumption that posting often demonstrates that you are committed to what you do. This results in visitors and readers coming back to your blog to see and read about what you’re up to. Posting too often may sometimes have the opposite effect. Visiting a blog for the second time, readers might be looking for the same post to re-read or something similar. Forcing your readers to go through a bunch of new posts, 1, 2 sometimes 3 a day might be a deterring factor. In these cases I will just use a search engine to find what I am looking for. Furthermore, the 2nd and 3rd posts of the day are usually of lesser quality due to writers fatigue and therefore less interesting. Instead of posting several times a day just post once a day or just whenever you think you have something interesting or useful to write about. Put some though in your posts, give your readers a reason to come back and always avoid bombarding them with clutter. Focus your effort on a few good topics.

Optimize your Blog for Search Engines
Most bloggers out there start blogging the wrong way. After they start blogging they do so by relying primarily on social networks for traffic. Social network traffic is great but it rarely converts into money. The best traffic to make money is search engine traffic. A blogging tip everyone should get a chance to read and re-read is that search engine traffic will be the most profitable kind. Although Social networking is an easy way to generate traffic you should always spend some time to make sure your blog and posts are properly optimized to rank well in search engine result pages. Take a few hours a week and perform a few scheduled and simple search engine optimization tasks.
Blogging SEO
In your blog
Make sure your titles are relevant to your topic, make sure you refer to your topic keywords throughout your posts, and make sure you tag your posts properly. Also make sure to interlink your posts with older relevant posts. Always use keywords you are interested in ranking high for and keep these keywords concentrated around a specific topic.
From other sites
Get as many one way inbound links with anchor text as you can; by many I mean thousands. Think of your site or your blog as a property you acquired in the country side. After you start building you will need to make a road, get it hooked up with power and so one. Backlinks are the essentials your blog or site will need to prosper. Don’t only rely on other bloggers to link to you. Create backlinks to your blog by submitting articles in databases. Write a few 500 word articles on similar topics you write about in your blog, add back links with ancor text and start submitting. Ideally you should submit a few articles to thousands of directories for every post you write. There is software available to help you do this. Do the same thing for every post. You can easily create thousands of one way links your blog and particular posts in less than a few hours.
Social bookmarking also works great for this purpose. Make sure you get your posts bookmarked at as many bookmarking sites as possible.
Once a week or once every two weeks, use Google Webmaster Tools and see which posts of yours showed up in search engine result pages. Go back to them and optimize them. Add more keywords, make the title catchier, tag them better or even elaborate on certain things you wrote and think will help them rank better in searches.

Jumat, 19 November 2010

Blogs What Good Are They?

Blogs; what good are they anyway? Well, actually blogs are both fantastic whether you are running a business website or you are simply using blogs for fun. In terms of business, blogs can prove to be a supplemental form of advertisement and you will find them to be a unique device that you can use to keep in contact with your clients. Further, in terms of personal use, blogs are definitely an excellent way to stay in touch with your family and friends, even if they are across the globe. Best of all, blogs can often be established for free and can easily stand on their own, without an existing website to support them.

Blogs have become quite popular and more and more blogs are appearing all over the Internet. In fact, the more people realize the great benefits that they can get from using blogs, the more people will be using them. Blogs, not only serve as personal journals, they also serve as business supplements and people love communicating with others by using blogs and allowing others to comment on their postings.

Blogs are regularly updated which means that they have fresh content on them all the time. This makes them appealing to visitors and search engines alike. Every new posting means new content on your blog and if you update your blogs daily or weekly you will see them grow rather quickly. With fresh content, you can improve your search engine ranking. Whether you use the blog alone, or you used it to accompany an already existing website, your fresh content can be used to draw more and more traffic to either your blog or your website, or both.

Additionally, you can add links to your blogs and start a link exchange campaign. In doing so, you will see your page ranking increase in search engines because SE algorithms frequently focus on the number of links that are pointing to your website. The more external links that recommend your site or blogs, the easier your site or blogs are to find in the big search engines like Google.

Blogs can be used to freely advertise your products or services. That’s right, blogs can serve as free web space for you to use to advertisement of your business. Also, blogs are great from providing existing clients with updated information about new products and services you may be offering. Want your clients to share there feelings about your products and services? You can use blogs to receive and share client testimonials. There really is no end to the benefits one can derive from using blogs.

What is equally fantastic about blogs is that there are ways that you can create blogs for free. Sites like Blogger, recently purchased by Google, allow you to establish a blog free of charge. Moreover, there are a variety of layouts, fonts, and templates to choose from and Blogger even allows you to post images. Finally, sites like Blogger give you the opportunity to archive your postings so that visits can return to them again and again.

Finally, creating blogs can be simple fun for everyone. No matter what one’s age is, Blogging is the new wave in Internet entertainment. Friends can create clubs and use blogs to establish them, friends and family can share photographs and sentiments, and finally, personal expression can be satisfied when creating blogs. In fact, if you have a particular passion, why not share that passion with the world by starting one or more blogs? Communicate with people from all over the world that share the same passions that you do!

Kamis, 18 November 2010

Blogging Going Forward

Blogging is your online diary of events, thoughts or for the business person a reserve of articles and comments directed toward your business. That definition is just the beginning of what blogging is becoming -- it's becoming much more.

Since Google Adsense has allowed Google Ads to occupy a place on your blog -- additional revenue, is at your disposal. "Oh", you say, "is that all?" No way. There are some individuals that do not have a website, but are utilizing their blog or multiple blogs to create an income, even testing the waters before a website goes up, and again, creating a presence on the web. And as for advertising for your blog -- take a look at BlogSnob at http://blogsnob.simpleads.net.


Your Blog, Your Website

For those who have a website, your blog can help you with your SEO process. As your readership increases so will your ranking -- what is dependent on that, of course, is the quality of the content. Content and search engines are extremely compatible as you know -- thus, your search engine ranking can take a big jump.


If you have a website, here are some ways to getting noticed:

1. A remotely maintained blog or one on your own server, place a link on your website. This can help you to increase traffic to your blog.

2. When you make an entry into your blog, try to make reference to something on your website -- this creates an inbound links. In addition, I would use absolute links -- which will enable you to place a couple of keywords in the title. 

3. Be keyword aware -- and relevant to your website. This helps your SEO process as well.


Blogging Accessories and Necessities

After you have written your quality content -- get it out to the masses -- have it pinged by Ping-o-Matic (http://pingomatic.com/)-- again, it's free. Pinging gets your blog out to the masses, letting them know that you have updated your blog and it is ready for them to read.

As your readership increases you may feel the urge to create a blog forum -- a tagboard services, which enables your readers to interact, as if in, a forum. If you are on blogger.com they have several free tagboards that you can use -- look under "Third Party Add-ons", or do your own search in Google.


Will there be Misuses with Advertising?

Will there be and misuses with advertising in blogs? Yes. People have different agendas, priorities and scruples.

You will probably see article misuse as well as, reader frustration to advertising if it is overkill. Thus, first and foremost, the blog must give potential readers quality content, and as to advertising -- it must be appropriate without overkill, or your reader will just simply click the blog away.

For example:

1. If you have more advertising then content -- you've lost the premise of a blog.
2. And if you put links to your own products within the body copy of another person's article, this, in my opinion, is changing copy, and saying that the author endorses the product. (article misuse)

Blogging can be a positive addition to your website or even to your first attempt to gaining a presence online. But with everything, there is a right way and a wrong way of presenting your product, service or views on line. Remember, to always keep your reader in the forefront -- by asking yourself -- if I was reading a blog, what would I want to see -- and most importantly, what would annoy me the most.

To conclude, blogging is beginning to grow, and its uses, are only limited by an individual's imagination, and of course, the search engines rules -- and I might say, individual readers tolerances and your ethics.

Rabu, 17 November 2010

Blogging On Free Hosts Not A Good Idea

This article is about blogging and why you should never blog on a free host like blogger.com or wordpress.com I am writing this to alert people out there who are building blogs on free blog hosts like blogger.com and wordpress.com

Installing wordpress is free and gives you full control over your blog. There are other platforms like moveable type to choose from as well. Take a look around and find the platform you like or that best fits your blogging style. I've learned an expensive lesson and now will only build blogs on my own domain names.

The reason?

Lets start with blogger.com

They have a new out of control spam bot. Search the blogger help forums and you will find the horror stories. Legitimate blogs are being deleted, people are getting locked out of their blog until reviewed, and assumed to be a spammer because either the bot flagged the blog or someone clicked the little flag button at the top of all blogger blogs.

That and the fact that they have constant problems with the publishing getting stuck at 0%, slow load times, etc. it makes blogging through blogger.com a buggy experience at best and your content or reason for blogging is up to someone else's interpretation of what is or is not legitimate.

I understand getting rid of splogs and spammers, but in blogger.com’s case the cure is worse than the disease. They were not always that way. I've been on blogger a long time and the service used to be good.

As far as wordpress.com, they are just as bad. If the blog links to a website and looks as if it might be promoting people to go to that website they will suspend your account without warning and lock you out of all the content.

I'm not sure what they think blogs are for, but they seem to think they have a noble purpose in life and that they alone decide what is a "genuine blog" or not.

A "genuine blog" is one that is controlled by the individual who writes to it, not one that must adhere to someone else's idea of what their blog should look like and what it should say.

If you blog on freehosts just be aware your content and your blog is in the hands of others who will decide for the world whether or not your blog should be seen by others.

I recommend all bloggers get their own domain names and install their own blogs. You probably have learned that using a freehost for your company’s website is bad for business so why put your company’s blog on a freehost?

The same goes for individuals. Blogs allow you to express yourself the way you want to express yourself. That is the beauty of blogging. Are you willing to sacrifice your individuality to conform to what blogger.com or wordpress.com thinks is a “genuine” way to express yourself?

Many times the person deciding your fate is someone who has never had any authority over other people and who think that now they have Godlike powers to decide the fate of content written by others. These are people who likely produce no content of value themselves and think they know what is best for the rest of the world.

Get your own domain name and install a blogging platform that fits your needs. It’s the best advice you will ever get about blogging. You only own the blog if it is on your own domain name. Everything else is just providing content for someone else.

Selasa, 16 November 2010

Dear Diary, Dear World – All About Blogging

The Internet has changed the way we live, breathe, and even write – in fact, it is mainly due to the blogging phenomenon that we receive headlines, change them, and even get the latest buzz on issues newspapers and popular media will not dare tackle. Blogging has become so common, it has prompted dictionary makers to create new terms. For instance, each article on a blog is called a “post,” “entry,” or “blog post.” A person who blogs is called a “blogger.”

But what is blogging, and why is it so popular?

Blogging refers to the activity of updating one’s blog. What is a blog? A blog is a web log, or an Internet-based publication which contains articles about a variety of topics. Blogs are either run on dedicated hosting services, or they can be run on any ordinary web hosting service using scripts meant for blogs.

Blogs often focus on a particular subject. They can tackle movie reviews, political issues, important local news, or one’s personal opinion. Most blogs serve as online diaries, and will contain personal images, artwork, and writing.

Blog posts will contain the following elements.

• A title – Some personal bloggers have modified this, and have added subtitles to add “meat” to their entries. They may indicate the music they are currently listening to, their current mood, and the subject of their post. Journalistic bloggers will often link their title to similar articles available online.

• The body – This is the main content of the blog. It can be a fictional entry, in the case of story or novel blogs; or a non-fiction entry, in the case of other blogs, such as news blogs or diaries.

• A permalink – this is the link to the individual blog entry, which other bloggers can use if they would like to link or refer to the article.

• The date – this is simply the date, time, and sometimes place in which the entry was first posted.

Some blogs may also contain the following.

• A comments section – this enables readers to make comments or react to the blog entry. This is also a useful way by which other bloggers can make themselves, and their blogs, known.

• The tags – this is the section where bloggers list the categories under which their current article falls. For instance, a post on “Saving the Whales” can be categorized under “environment,” “whales,” and “ecology.”

• Trackback – Also known as pingback, this is a list of links of other sites that refer to the article or post.

There are many different kinds of blogs available, depending on the topic they tackle. A few types include the following

• Personal – These blogs focus on personal experiences, and feature an online diary, usually with images or artwork. Some photoblogs fall under this category, where bloggers post pictures instead of writing about their experiences.

• Paid – Some bloggers are paid to blog their career experiences, or the latest news about a company.

• Socio-cultural – Some blogs are devoted to socio-cultural experiences, and can allow people of other cultures a glimpse into the quirks and specialties that make other cultures unique.

• Science – Some scientists have taken to blogging about their research findings, or to share laboratory techniques. Such a method, however, has been met with derision in the science community, since it overrides the traditional peer-based review of research.

• Political or News – Some blogs focus on the latest news, and can even offer political opinions on certain subjects.

Blogging is definitely here to stay, and it can influence cultures and headlines through the widely popular medium of the Internet. Have you tried blogging yet?

Senin, 15 November 2010

Blogging - Developing A Readership

You've finally created a blog and you've made your first post. Now how do you get people to actually read what you're blogging about?

Here are some tips on promoting your blog.

1) Quality Content - Interesting content will keep your readership returning. Update your blog regularly.

Googlebot, which is Google's web-crawling robot loves content. The more you update your blog, the more frequent the search engine spiders will return to it.

2) Take part in forums that are related to blogging. Ask other bloggers for their opinion on your blog and take their suggestions to heart.

Ask other bloggers for their opinion on your blog and take their suggestions to heart.

3) Publish an RSS/Atom/XML feed. If you're using Blogger, you can turn on RSS feed by clicking on settings in your dashboard and then clicking on site feed and make sure that your settings are set to yes.

4) Carefully choose your subject titles, taking into consideration what other internet users may be searching for.

Use keywords in your title. I suggest subscribing to Word Tracker. Their report of the most popular searches is published each Tuesday and distributed to over 30,000 subscribers.

Technorati.com , is a blog search engine that also lists the top search words. The more targeted your keywords are, the greater your return in search engines will be.

5) Involve yourself in commenting on other blogs. You can gain a loyal readership just by offering feedback to your fellow bloggers. The comment feature allows you to add a link back to your blog as well.

6) Be sure to include your blog address in forum signatures and in your email signature.

7) Submit your blog to directories.

Submit your blog's url to Technorati, Daypop, Blogdex and Popdex.

8) Write articles. Include a resource box in your article and submit it to article directories such as http://iSnare.com

9) If you're using blogging software such as Blogger, there is an option to notify the central blog update services (such as http://weblogs.com) whenever you've made a new entry to your blog. Make sure that this option is turned on! In blogger, click on publish in your dashboard and make sure that your settings are set to yes under notify weblogs. Alternatively, you can go to http://ping-o-matic.com and send out a ping each time you update your blog. This lets everyone know that you've just updated your blog.

10) Link to other blogs. Use services like blogrolling, which is similar to linking. Blogrolling allows you to maintain an updated list of your favorite blogs. But, don't build a long blog roll of sites that you have no intention of returning to. There is nothing more annoying then visiting a blog that has a humongous blogroll.

Be patient, traffic doesn't happen overnight. The best way that I've found to increase traffic is by getting to know people. Spend what free time that you have, reading blogs, leaving feedback and building friendships. Try to leave comments on the blogs that you visit as often as you can. While you are waiting for the traffic to come, just enjoy blogging. You'll be improving your writing in the process.

Eventually you'll build a network of not just readers, but friends and loyal supporters. Blogging is not just about marketing; it's about creating lasting relationships.

Minggu, 14 November 2010

Getting Blog Links

A lot of time is spent by bloggers trying to get other blogs to link to them. A lot of traffic can be gained by doing this with blogs that are both related to your topic and blogs that have a lot of readers.

This can sometimes be very difficult for new bloggers because they do not yet have enough readers or page rank to interest the bigger blogs.

Talk to other bloggers who are in the same position as you right now and develop a lasting relationship. You link to them, they link to you and as both of your blogs grow those links will pay off for you.

Many people find a blog they like, then will take suggestions from that blog about other blogs they might like. So someone goes to a blog you have traded links with and likes them, then they follow your link and if your content is good, they add you to their reading list. The same happens in reverse for the one you link back to.

Sooner than you think both of your blogs will become ones that a circle of people read. The more blogs you do this with, the more your circle will eventually grow.

Don’t be too concerned with page rank. Many of the established blogs with good page rank are not going to link to you until you build up your readership at least a little. There is a reason for this and it isn’t arrogance, though it may feel that way at times.

The reason is that many people start blogs, but few people actually become bloggers. Blogging daily takes a commitment that many are not willing to make. The established blogs might link to you regardless of page rank and traffic issues if they see you are committed to writing your blog and becoming a blogger.

They don’t want to link to someone’s blog that may or may not be around next month. It is a disservice to their readers and a hassle to remove your link later or check and see if you are actually still blogging. They do not have the time to hold your hand on it.

If they check out your blog and you have been posting to it every day for quite awhile, say 6 months at least, then they might give you a helping hand and welcome you to the blogosphere.

Put it into your schedule to make a post every single day, even if it has to be a short one due to lack of time. When there is a time you know you will not be able to post for a few days, make a post for each of those days and if you are using wordpress you can timestamp the posts so that each one appears on the scheduled day. That is one way to keep your blog fresh for your readers every day.

Another tip is, as we post to our blogs daily, there are times when you have two or three things you want to blog, but if you are finding it hard to post daily, timestamp the second or third post for other days rather than posting them right now unless it is something time sensitive. Try to stay two or three days ahead so that if you miss a day, it won’t hurt you.

If you are using blogger or other blogging software that doesn’t have the timestamp feature, save them as drafts, then log in when you have little time and post your draft. If you have time to blog a post, then leave the draft there until you need it.

Don’t let yourself get frustrated if everyone doesn’t want to link to you right away. If you are blogging good content, you may find they are linking to you before you even ask!

Sabtu, 13 November 2010

Blogs - Freedom Of Thought And Expression

A writer who writes and maintains a blog is a blogger and the journal that he makes available on the web is a blog. Most blogs are like personal diaries with material appearing in a chronological order. The blog is also a forum for exchange of ideas and opinions as the reader can, in turn, if he wishes write his own comments to the blog. This innovation to personal expression has its own lexicon and is fast emerging as a new way of communication.

Since its inception in around 1994, blogging has evolved from being personal views and diaries to news and commentary blogs. The question is are blogs just random thoughts and personal expressions or are they similar to well sourced traditional journalism?

Blogs straddle two worlds that of talk shows be it radio or television and reporting. Just as SMS made clear inroads into evolution of language, blogging is set to revolutionize journalism. What blogging brings to the fore is unfettered freedom of expression. The writers give flight to their inner voice and just as medieval writers of the periods of revolution did, state in no uncertain terms what they perceive as facts. More often than not, the information is not contained by editors or political affiliations or the patronage of people in power.

Blogging has caught the imagination of the young and old and established writers, lawyers, techies, and other professionals are using the avenue to “spread their thoughts and words.” Blogging is on the fast track and has established a place in “opinion journalism.” It is seen by many to be a form of self declared independence.

With blogging all you need to do is convert your musings or fire and brimstone into a pdf file and upload it for all interested to view. Gone are the days when you had to knock on the doors of editors and publishers to get your work published. And, if your blog is popular you could attract millions of readers each day.

Concerns serious journalists have is that blogs can be biased opinions and contain inaccurate information. Yet blogs contain skeptical analysis, critical commentary, and alternative perspectives that are rarely exposed by mainstream journalism. Very often in situations of unrest and war it is blogs that bring to life personal, colorful, and first hand experiences. Not all blogs are random thought, and writers often provide sources and links so that readers can verify facts. Surprisingly today often breaking news can be found on blogs earlier than in traditional media. And many bloggers have established for themselves a great standing in their field.

Blogging according to lawmakers needs to address closely aspects of trust, credibility, integrity, transparency, and ethics. Many bloggers feel that the very basis is to: disclose all pertinent information and never to state as fact anything but the truth; provide links to facts that are present online; publicly correct misinformation; note questionable and biased sources and opinions. Freedom must be savored and not misused.

Web blogs according to experts are all set to outrank the New York Times web site by 2007. Blogging, the creation of pure love for writing and opinions, is all set to establish new trends in journalism. It gives wing to the freedom of thought and the written word.

Jumat, 12 November 2010

How To Create, Promote And Earn Money From Your Own Blog

For starters, what is a blog? In general terms, it is a sort of interactive, regularly updated online journal. A blog owner is called a blogger, the activity of keeping a blog is called blogging, and the blogging community and everything related to blogging is collectively known as the blogosphere.

How are blogs created? There are several options. The cost-free way is to start a blog at one of the countless free blog services, such as the Google service called blogger. Another option is to use one of the free blog scripts and install it at a paid or free hosting service. Such free blog scripts are also numerous, the most popular of them being wordpress. It is also possible to sign up for a paid hosting service with an already installed wordpress blog, but this service is somewhat costlier.

Now let's assume that we already have a blog. The next question is: Where do we get content? Choose the subject for your blog. It may be your professional occupation or hobby. In any case, you must have solid knowledge of the subject. For instance, if you are a proctologist, you may write about hemorrhoids, their treatment, prevention and suchlike as long as these are not scientific articles, but materials written in layman's language. To give you a more practical example, if your hobby is dogs, write about them and people will enjoy it. There is another way to get content. The web has many services offering free articles. All you have to do is select the most interesting ones and publish them. In this way you can quickly fill your blog with content.

Moving on to the question of promoting your blog, it is worth noting that blogs are better indexed by search engines than ordinary web sites due to the specifics of the algorithm used in blogs. For instance, a new article in a well-promoted blog may appear on the search engine results page already on the following day. Of course, this requires registration in special catalogs devoted to blogs, which is what you will do next. Another way is to publish articles with a link to your blog. There are also services meant for just this purpose.

But most importantly, a search engine needs external links to your blog from other web sites. These should be good links generating heavy traffic. What does it mean? It means that ideally the link should be on the web site's main page. What's more, this page should have a PR rating of at least 4 (PR or Google Page Rank reflects the significance of any particular web page). Five or six such links will do more than hundreds of other ordinary links. How can you get such links? There are also various options. For instance, you can find a resource thematically related to your blog and offer its owners to reciprocate links. Finally, you can buy such links. The higher the web site's PR rating, the more such links will cost you.

Now let's move on to the question of how you can earn money from your own blog. The scheme is quite simple: traffic is converted into money. Your income increases proportionately with the traffic volume. One way to earn from a blog is to place ads, which is done most often through google adwords. Another way is to participate in partnership programs associated with the subject of your blog. So if your blog is devoted to dogs, you should advertise flea control products and other dog-related merchandise. A third way is to sell your own merchandise or services. Of course, you can combine several ways of generating income in a single blog. Last but not least, remember that strength is in numbers, which is why it's a good idea to maintain several resources at the same time.

Getting Your Blog Indexed And More Exposure

A blog is defined as a website that contains information, comments, thoughts and links by a writer. A blog can be a very personal site for writers looking to express their innermost personal thoughts or can be very general. Blog indexing means that blogs are listing on cross Internet searches and search engine sites. There are special sites that lists blogs that makes them easy to find for readers

When you first start writing a blog, it is usually because you have something you want to express. If you choose to share your blogging thoughts, you will want a steady stream of readers for your blog to be successful. More exposure to your web blog means more readers. Blog exposure is important and one way to get this type of exposure is through blog indexing.

Readers can find a blog about almost any topic in the world and in any language. A blog index helps readers find what kind of blog they are most interested in reading. Some blog indexing sites list several different topics to choose from and then list blogs that relate to a particular topic. For blog writers this can mean increased exposure to a blog site.

Blog indexing can also include indexing your blog pages within your site. When you add an entry to your blog, it will be included with a link on your site. Keeping these links can help readers go back and read your past entries. Many times, when you include certain keywords within your blog writing, a search engine can also pull up your past blog entries. This makes it easy for your readers to catch up with current entries as well.

Web searching through blog indexing is very beneficial. You can have the option whether or not to include searches to your site. When a blog is indexed, it helps readers easily locate your site. If you do not index your site, it still may be found using a search engine; however, the link will be blank if the entry is old or if you have removed it for whatever reason. Indexing your pages and including searches to your blog site means that a reader can enter your blog they are looking for and produce results.

When you get ready to index your blog pages and implement searches, there are few tips that can help readers easily locate your entries. One easy top is to keep your page noticeable. This means that you want to keep your search options easily accessible for your reader. Also, enter your blog on as many search engines sites that you’re possible can. Many search engines sites such as Google and Yahoo have steps you can use to enter your web site on their search engine. This process may take a couple of weeks, but it is well worth it if you are interested in more exposure through your blog.

Another way to increase the traffic on your blog with indexing and searching, make sure all of your links works. Check your links often and make sure that they are leading your readers to your site or to where you want them directed. Also, if you change your web blog location, you will need to update your search engines or include a link from your old site to your new site. If a reader clicks on your link to get to your blog and finds that it is no good, chances are that they will not attempt to find your location.

You can also increase traffic to your blog site by using a blog-hosting site that is easy to use and that offers features such as searches and indexing. There are many blog sites that are available to those that want to blog, but some may not offer the type of features you want to use. If you choose to keep your blog personal and private, then you will not need to worry about indexing or entering your blog on a search engine.

Blogging can be a great way to share your writing with others. In order to make sure that you have the maximum amount of exposure to your blog consider indexing and search engines. This can help readers easily locate your blog and will help them locate interesting entries in the future.

Kamis, 11 November 2010

Blogging with Word Press

I only entered the blogosphere in late 2005 after realizing that I was missing out on an important part of the whole “online communication” genre. As I had been busy managing forums, web sites, and writing articles, I soon realized that I could firm up my two niches – aviation and article writing – by blogging on these topics regularly. With that in mind, I soon launched a pair of blogs and I am very happy with my decision. I selected Word Press as I believe that they offer one of the best blogging communities out there. Are you a blogger? If not, why not?

My decision to go with Word Press and not with one of the other big blogging entities such as Blogger, had everything to do with my having complete control over the site. Since I host with Powweb, I discovered that my web hosting company offers over thirty different software downloads for its members. Word Press and a few other blogging entities are represented, but I selected Word Press due to the recommendation of a friend.

Within two or three minutes of my download, I had Word Press up and running. In less than thirty minutes, I had the layout I wanted, although I kept the traditional template in place as I knew I wanted to work on my content first and on the design later. Next, I updated the links on my two related sites to reflect a “Blog” tab. In addition, I picked a few places within each site to announce the new blogs and I emailed everyone on my members list to inform them of my entrance into the world of blogs.

If you select Word Press as your blogging platform, you will soon discover that Version 2.0 was recently released. Because I am new to blogging, I haven’t yet updated from my downloaded version, 1.5. I want to first make certain that Word Press has worked out any kinks that may be in the updated version. In addition, not all the plug-ins you can use [there are plenty of them] with 1.5 are compatible with 2.0 just yet. Most are, but some still are not.

Beyond the update issues, I enjoy using the administrative “dashboard” which allows me to create each blog. Because I include pictures with one of my blogs, Jet Movements, I also have to make certain that the HTML I use to put each picture in its place [alignment] is exact. Word Press allows for you to do that.

In addition, I like the fact that Word Press allows administrators to schedule their entries. You can blog today, but schedule your submission to appear online at an appointed time several days away. Since much of my writing inspiration comes in bunches, I often will tackle several days worth of entries at once and spread them out over the coming week. If I want to later change the timing of an entry or squeeze in a separate one, I can do that too.

Word Press is current with today’s web standards and looks much cleaner and professional than some of its competitors. You can change the template over to one that is in the Word Press arsenal or design a template yourself and upload it to your site instead.

Yes, Word Press is designed to be set up through your own web host, but if you do not have a web site, you can get a free account through Web Press and they will host it for you.

Although Word Press is an “open source” community, meaning it is derived from and driven by volunteers, they have an active forum and many helpful links to assist you with building and maintaining your own blog.

Obviously, I am a very satisfied Word Press customer. You can be a satisfied blogger too whether you select Word Press through your web host or host your blog directly with them.

Blogging For A Living? Here's How...

People are often amazed to find out that people are out there making their living as bloggers. Most people will create their own personal blog to post personal opinions and views. Professional bloggers can make money using their own personal blog or they can work for other websites. If you are interested in how to make a living as a blogger, consider this information before you get started.

If you decide that you would like to use your own personal blog in order to create an income there are a few things you should know. First, most bloggers make their income using partnerships with advertisers. You can easily form a partnership with an advertiser, using programs such as AdSense. When you create an account with using something like AdSense, you will be giving the advertiser permission to advertise on your blog. You will choose the placement and size of the advertisement boxes; however they will choose what advertisements will go up in the space. The ads will change periodically depending on the content of your text.

Whenever a reader clicks on the advertisement, you will get paid. This can be very effective, especially if you have high volumes of traffic on your blog. These programs will even tell you how much traffic you have, in case you had no idea. Many of the advertising blog programs are free to begin. Some of the fancier versions may cost a little, but overall, a beginner can stick with the free versions.

Since making a living as a blogger all boils down to trying to get more traffic to your site so they might click on the ads, content is very important. The best thing to do is cover a wide variety of topics. Posting a large amount of short articles on your blog is a great way to get people to your blog. The more keyword rich your content is (saturated with specific keywords), the more traffic you will have. The idea is that when someone goes to a search engine and types in a keyword, your site will come up since you have an article rich with that keyword.

Obviously you cannot have an article on everything. You can however do research to see what the most popular keywords are at the time and try to use them to help you along. Using the time of year is a great thing to. Christmas keywords are extremely popular right after Thanksgiving occurs, so keep important holidays in mind when thinking of keyword phrases to use in your articles. If you are not a great writer, you can even hire freelance writers to help you with the content. The more content you have, the better off you will likely be.

Although this may seem simple, it can be quite difficult really to get people to your blog. There are studies that show different success rates based on the most minor things, like where the advertising box is located on your blog. Some experts will say the left side of your screen is the best place for it, while others will argue that the top is the best place. You really have to do your research and stay on top of the game in order to make a living as a blogger. Simply signing in and creating a post each day is not going to be enough to draw enough people in to make a difference. Since programs don’t pay a large amount per click, you need to get more and more people to click on the ads in order to make any cash at this venture.

But, you can feel great knowing that there is a possibility you can make a little cash blogging. Basically, the more time you put into the blog and researching the advertising programs, the better off you are going to be. While AdSense is probably one of the best places to begin, there are many other programs out there that you can utilize. Just do a search on the topic and you will have a handful from which to choose. After everything gets rolling, you will be happy to know it doesn’t take as much work down the road as the initial setup requires. Soon you could sit back and watch the money roll in without doing much at all!

Rabu, 10 November 2010

Blogging about your Business

There are many uses for blogging. In most cases, blogging can be used for advertising. If you own a business, you can make use of blogs to promote your products or services. The usage of blogging in businesses is gaining popularity because it can establish a business’ credibility and name recognition.

The internet is a very competitive arena for online businesses. Many people are now into home-based businesses. There are certain advantages in putting up home-based business such as lower capital requirement, free to work any time, and you can spend a lot of your time with your family. If you want to establish a successful online business, make sure that you use blogging.

You don’t have to be an expert blogger. You simply have to know the basics of blogging and you’re on your way to success. Through blogging, you can create a priceless platform where you can demonstrate readily your expertise, experience, talents, and your business to the whole world. Now, you have a more effective way of presenting your business to the world and most especially, to your customers or clients.

You can also look into other online businesses which previously made use of blogging for promoting their products or services. If you want, you can contact them and ask how blogging has helped them in establishing business success. You’ll be surprised to find out that some business owners exerted their own efforts to create blogs for their businesses. They did not seek the help of expert bloggers to do the job for them.

Aside from enhancing your business’ reputation online, you can also use blogging to enhance the web presence of your business. If you can make a comprehensive website for your business and you’re able to create effective blogs, the name of your business will be known online.

Many online businesses spend thousands of their capital to enhance web presence but if you want to save some money on the promotion of your business, you must learn to create blogs for your business. This way, you can create personal blogs that your business can benefit a lot. Customers are easily attracted to businesses that are considered leaders in the business arena. You can inform the world about your expertise through the blogs you post in your website.

Many people read blogs nowadays. If you can post blogs regularly, prospective clients and customers can be kept informed. You can create a buzz so that you business will become more popular. Oftentimes, readers who are interested in your blogs will also pass the links to their friends, colleagues, and family members. This way, you will have a wider audience.

If you can blog appropriately, your business can be among the top ranked in search engine results. If you can achieve top ranks in any search engine, your business will become more popular and more profitable.

With more readers and subscribers for your blogs, you can increase the traffic in your business’ site. You will then be able to reach more customers so that your business will earn more profits.

So don’t just sit down and watch as your business fails. Start learning the basics of blogging and post blogs in your business’ website. Soon, your business will flourish and you can earn huge profits.

Always have fresh blog ideas at hand so that your readers and customers will remain interested.

Selasa, 09 November 2010

Get Started With Your First Blog

There is no question that blogging is one of the best ways to get keyword rich content on your site, get your message on the search engines and get traffic to your website. But how do you get started blogging?

When you consider starting a blog there are many options. A great way to get started blogging quickly (and for free) is to use an online ‘standalone’ service like WordPress or Google’s Blogger. These are free, highly customizable tools that support both new and more advanced bloggers. The negative is that you can’t use your website’s domain name. For instance, if using Blogger, you blog address would be something like ‘yourblog.blogspot.com.’ While you can link to this from your current website, search engines won’t know give you ‘credit’ for the extra content since it is a different domain. With creative cross linking however, you can still benefit from the increased exposure you can get from a blog.

These free services provide powerful software tool that balance value, quality, and ease of use. While some people prefer to use more basic blog services, they too can truly benefit from the ‘built-in’ benefits of WordPress or Blogger along with its existing large community of users.

One of the most notable benefits of these services is the ease of use, and advanced functionality of the service compared to some blog software applications. Neither Blogger nor WordPress require you to know any ‘coding’ and allow you to built and post to your blog with easy to use icons similar to what one would see in a word processing program. Having the ability to utilize a program like this allows people to create blogs that are as high tech, and complete as full blown websites.

If you are occasionally ‘offline’ you can benefit from WordPress’s ability to import posts. This means you can put your blog together while you are not connected to the internet and then import it later. If you already use another blogging service such you can also import your posts directly into Blogger or WordPress.

Another benefit of these services is their large widget or element and theme libraries that allow you to instantly add useful features, and professional looking styles to your blog. A very simple drag and drop interface allows you to add features such as an RSS feed with a few clicks.

Another option to consider would be blogging software that you can directly integrate into your website. Some hosting provides such as GoDaddy allow you to use your existing domain name for you blog. The benefit is that the content of your blog becomes part of what search engines see for your domain. In these cases you are more likely to pay a monthly add-on fee to your hosting provider. As an alternative, Google’s Blogger allows you to publish to a FTP site, which means you can blog from your own domain. You lose some of the flexibility of the ‘out of the box’ service, but with a little effort you can have a customized template and pretty easy posting capability that resides within your domain.

As your needs become more advanced or if you are a more technical blogger you may also consider blogging software that can be directly integrated into your website. One to consider is bBlog. bBlog is an open source, PHP/MySQL application. If you don’t know what the last sentence means, then this isn’t for you. If you do know, then you may benefit from the expanded flexibility an integrated application could provide.

In the end, you have a wide, wide range of very inexpensive (or free) options to get started.

Senin, 08 November 2010

15 Tips To Drive Traffic To Your Blog

There are many factors that make blogs much better than normal WebPages including the speed at which blogs are indexed, ability to submit to blog directories & normal directories, pings and track backs. All these little things can help drive more traffic to blogs. Here are 15 popular techniques you can use:

1.) Create at least four keyword posts per day. Most of the top blogs such as Boing Boing, Daily Kos, and Instapundit (with literally tens of thousands of visitors per day) publish an average of 30 small 100-150 word posts per day according to "Secrets of the A-list Bloggers: Lots of Short Posts" by http://TNL.net

2.) Submit to My Yahoo! When you submit your own RSS to My Yahoo it is indexed by Yahoo.

3.) Submit to Google's Reader. When you submit your own blog RSS to Google's Reader the Google Blog Search will index your site.

4.) Add a relevant link directory to your blog and trade links like a demon possessed! Although it may take more time than simply submitting to a search engine one time, this method is perhaps the best way to drive traffic to your site. Use software such as Zeus to speed up the link trading process.

5.) Use ping sites like ping-o-matic. Ping your site every time you add a new post.

6.) Submit your blog to traditional search engines such as AltaVista, and MSN.

7.) Submit your blog to traditional directories such as DMOZ. Directories (particularly DMOZ) increase relevance with Google. DMOZ is very picky, but what do you have to lose by trying?

8.) Submit to as many RSS Directories and Search Engines as possible. This is a simple but repetitive process that can be done with software such as RSS SUBMIT.

9.) Comment on other blogs. Do not just leave short, lazy comments like "I agree." Leave well thought out replies that will force readers to wonder "who wrote this?"

10.) Use track backs. If there is a blog that you refer to or quote and it is highly relevant to your subject, leave a track back. It increases your link popularity and may even score a few interested readers from the linked site.

11.) Go offline. Use newspaper ads, public bulletin boards, business cards, even stickers to let as many people as possible know your blog exists.

12.) Ad a link to your blog in your e-mail signature block.

13.) Use Groups (Usenet). Find a relevant group on Google groups, Yahoo groups, MSN groups or any of the thousands of other FREE group services and find like minded people and talk with them. Make sure your use your blog URL like it is your name.

14.) Use Forums. Forums are one of the best places to go for advice. Go to forums and find problems to solve. Make sure you leave your blog name, but be tactful about it; some forums get annoyed with those who selfishly drop a few links to their own site and leave.

15.) Tag your website. Tagging is a new idea that has erupted across the web. Sites like http://Del.icio.us, Technorati and many others have a social feature that allows you to place your article under keywords or "tags" that everyone interested in that tag can see.

Although these are some of the most popular ways to drive traffic to your blog, do not limit your self to tips and lists. Use your imagination and you will come up with thousands of ways to drive traffic to your blog!

Minggu, 07 November 2010

Blogs: Free Promotion For Your Online Business.

It's been a few years since blogging first emerged. But it's only recently that it's been considered as more than just a fad.

Many teenagers have resorted to blogging as an outlet for their emotions, a little online nook where they can sound off about whatever bugs them or makes them happy.

Now savvy marketers have discovered that blogging is one of the best Internet marketing methods that doesn't cost a cent.

So, what exactly is a blog? Blog is the shortened form of "web log". Basically, a blog is an online journal. A blog can be set up for no cost at all, and can be used just for the fun of it or for business purposes.

Blogging for your Internet business is a great way to boost the visibility of your products and services. Here are a few ways that your internet advertising will benefit from using a blog:

1. Keep your clients or customers abreast of changes to your website. You can announce new products and affiliate websites through your blog.

2. Publish your opinions, advice or reviews on specific products or services that are related to your business. Publishing is an easy process with blogging.

3. Include articles that will fetch back-links, and links to your website that will subsequently improve your ranking on search engines. This can be helped by putting well written articles in both your blog and your website.

4. You should also include affiliate links in your blog to earn extra income. In fact some people earn good incomes just from niche blogs with relevant affiliate links.

5. Collect responses through the ability of blogs to accept comments from your blog readers. Not only does this build your content without any effort on your part, but you can learn and improve your products and services through the feedback from your readers.

6. Connect with other bloggers. When other bloggers notice that you have something good to say in your blog, they might put you in their favorites lists - that will automatically link you to their blogs and further help your rankings and traffic.

So, how do you set up a blog? There are a few options you can use to take advantage of this fun and fairly easy way to advertise your Internet business.

You can either load blogging software, such as "wordPress", on your own domain or use a blog hosting service. Host services such as LiveJournal and Blogger.com are the most popular in this field. Those hosts provide you with easy instructions on how to put up your blog.

Once you've got your blog up and running, you can promote it through the usual methods. Some examples are blog directories, participating in relevant forums or writing and submitting articles.

Remember also that most blog software or providers have an inbuilt function to provide an RSS feed of your blog contents. So you can also submit that feed to RSS directories, and to feed servers such as FeedBurner.com

But whatever else you do, remember to add the RSS feed as content to your personalized home pages at Google, my.yahoo.com and my.msn.com It'll help get your blog spidered and listed faster by those search engines.

So now you know a bit more about the free advertising benefits of blogging, the next step is to take action - now. Happy blogging.

Sabtu, 06 November 2010

Make Money Blogging.

A free blog is an excellent way of beginning your online empire. Costs are low and potential returns are high.

Getting started is easy. Just head over to www.blogger.com and setup your blog. Alternatively if you want a more feature rich platform, consider getting your own domain and web hosting so you can take advantage of freeware like Wordpress. Many people start with Blogger then move to Wordpress once they grow in confidence,

Pick a topic you are really interested in and which has good keyword traffic (these are the words people use to search for things in search engines). DigitalPoint has a free keyword tool that is very easy to use. You can also check your keyword (or tag) out at Technorati to see how popular it is. In general, the most popular keywords are the most profitable.

Now, all you need to do, is ensure you post something every day, then when the post is done tell the world that you have updated your blog. You do this by issuing a ‘ping’. Platforms like Wordpress do this automatically. If you use Blogger then you must use a service like Pingomatic to do it for you.

As the number of your posts increase, search engines will regularly stop by to pick up new content. Your visitors will begin to grow. Your objective is to get as many visitors as possible to visit your blog. The more people who visit your blog the more money you will make.

Make no mistake, the opportunity is there. The top blogs make in excess of $10,000 per month. But be warned, there are no shortcuts. Lots of hard work, unique fresh content and a dash of inspiration and you too can achieve these returns.

By now you will have put in the hard work to develop your weblog. It's become a labor of love. Now its time for all that hard work to pay off. Here are some suggestions for making money with your blog:

(1) One of the most popular methods of making money with blogs is to host ads. Google Adsense is a good example. You let Google put their ads on your site and get paid when people click on the ads. Other advertising works in a similar way. Blogads, Adbrite, Chikita and Double click are other examples of paid advertising.

(2) For a fee you can allow people to place links to their blog or website on your blog. These advertising positions can be sold on Ebay, via somewhere like TextLink Brokers or directly from your site.

(3) Affiliate programs work on blogs as well as they work on websites. Affiliate with companies that sell products related to your site. When people click on the link in your blog and purchase a product, you profit. This is another way of making money online with blogs that doesn't cost you anything. If you are passionate about a product and write about it, this can work very well.

(4) If you have a website, blog about some aspect of it and provide a link. Your weblog can effectively sell the product, and all the customer has to do is click to your site and order it.

There are many ways to make money with your blog. I hope this simple guide helps you on the way to earning a good return.

As a parting piece of advice, don’t believe the hype you read. There are no short cuts. You are unlikely to make instant, riches, but with some hard work and great content, you can generate a good additional income from your blog.

Jumat, 05 November 2010

Make More Money Online With A Blog

Did you ever consider to start your own blog to make more money on the internet? If not, you really should, because by tapping into the blogging scene you can easily increase the profitability
of your website.

Just right now is a great deal of hype and talk about blogs, but when one strips them down and looks at them clearly, they discover that a blog is nothing more than a web site. In essence, a blog is a website featuring an easy to use content management system that allows for quick updating in chronological order. The roots of blogging trace back to online journaling and community-building efforts, but approached from a business perspective, blogs are uniquely positioned to make you money. Their structure, treatment from search engines, and ease of use make them a wonderful moneymaking tool.

The structure of blogs is perfect for revenue-producing efforts. This is because the sites are, invariably, heavy on content and are naturally organized in an intuitive fashion. Regardless of what platform one uses for blogging, they will be able to produce a content-based site featuring a series of potentially well-targeted pages.

Search engines love content. Textual content keeps search engine spiders well-fed and persuades them to visit again and again. Google, Yahoo and MSN reward informative sites chock-full of information with better positioning in search results and index these sites quickly. Because blogs are content-driven, they serve as a model for how to build a “cooperative relationship” with a search engine. In the end, effective blog use produces high search engine rankings and, thus, great traffic levels. Traffic, of course, is a key to profitability. It is hard for a site to profit if no one sees it! The traffic advantages vis-à-vis search engines is one of the chief selling points of blog use.

If you are familiar with running a traditional website, you have undoubtedly learned two things. First, success will hinge, in large measure, on your ability to provide fresh content to your visitors. Second, adding new content to a static site can be a definite hassle.

One must write the content (or pay to have it written), convert it to HTML, insert it into the static page and then upload the page to the server again. The inefficiency of doing this makes it all too tempting to “overlook” making updates as frequently as one should.

Blogging solves this problem. All major blog platforms allow users to create new “posts” (which are nothing more than blocks of content) via an easy interface and to add them to the blog with a few simple mouse clicks. The result is empowering. Instead of dreading content updates, webmasters can actually look forward to adding new material in moments. Whether a blog user writes their own content or outsources the job to a pro, adding the new text is a simple and convenient proposition. This makes it easy to build the content-rich sites that soar to the top of the search engine rankings. It also creates a heightened level of stickiness for the blog, making return visitors far more likely. That traffic, when coupled with the right moneymaking strategy produces impressive results.

If you are relying exclusively on traditional static websites for your online ventures, you may want to reconsider your perspective. Using a blog affords some unique advantages and can be a great way to create profitable, highly-visited sites that require minimal effort.

So why not start blogging today?