The easiest way to get acquainted with the conventions of the blog format is to start reading them. The more blogs you read, the more you'll get a feel for the depth and breadth of style and subject matter they have to offer.
Here are a few sources:
Blog Monitors
- Blogdex (http://blogdex.com/)
- Daypop (http://daypop.com/)
- Technorati (http://technorati.com/)
These three sites monitor millions of blogs every minute of every day, searching for the top key words being mentioned in blog posts or in the most popular links and sites. It's like being in a huge convention hall eavesdropping on billions of conversations at the same time. This is a fantastic way to do market research and to see what everybody is buzzing about. The collective 'hive' of blogs is often called the blogosphere. Often, links and news bubble up in the blogosphere first, even before they reach your evening television news program.
Blog Search Engines and Directories
- Blogarama (http://blogarama.com/)
- Globe of Blogs (http://globeofblogs.com/)
- The Open Directory (http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Weblogs/)
Just like web sites, there are also directories and search engines devoted to cataloging the ever-growing global network of blogs. Try searching by topic or geographic location.
Search Engines
- Google (http://google.com/)
- Yahoo! (http://yahoo.com/)
- A9 (http://a9.com/)
As usual, Google and friends to the rescue! These are the more traditional and widely known search engines. Type in some topic and the word 'blogs' and see what results come up. The more specific keywords, the more likely you are to find bloggers talking about what you're interested in.
Blogrolls
And number ten is the blogroll. Most blogs have a blogroll, which is a list of a blogger's favorite blogs and websites. If you find a blog you like, try checking out the other sites that the blogger likes. You might find other valuable sites and blogs to read. The more your read blogs, the more you'll catch the nuances and conventions that have made them the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to publish online.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
How to Use A Blog for Free Traffic
One of the Number 1 traffic building secrets is adding content to your website. Have you ever considered that a blog could be the tool that makes this very possible, fast and extremely easy to do.
Blogs are written in RSS or Atom, both very effective content managment systems. Getting a blog for free is easy at www.blogger.com. After you set up your blog you need to change your settings to archive daily so you have a new page of content every time you make a post to your blog.
Blogging daily is best if you want to add new content every day. If you archive daily, then post each day the blog software will generate a new page of content for you. It's definately the fastest and easiest way to add content.
The best way to integrate a blog into your website is to make your website into a blog. If you have fresh relevant content on your blog then top search engines like Google will return more often to gobble up that fresh content. That means your site will be spidered more often, and if you just built another page you want spidered, just leave a link within your blog posts to that page and the spider will follow it.
This is a great way to get your pages spidered fast. But it's important to have the pge you are linking to be somewhat related to the topic of your post. Google is getting more picky about the content of the pages where your incoming links are coming from.
Also, it is important to optimize your blog just as you would for a website if you want to get theat free targeted traffic. Optimizing is easy, include your keywords within the title and description of your blog, as well as in the title posts occasionally. And don't forget to include the same keywords within the link text of your incoming links to your blog.
Most bloggers don't see the traffic potential their blog holds if it was oiptimized just like any other webpage.
One more factor to consider: Google loves blogs Not simply because it's a blog, but because of the nature of blogs; They usually have fresh relevant content on a specific topic. That's what Google loves. Give it what it wants and it will visit you more often.
Blogs are written in RSS or Atom, both very effective content managment systems. Getting a blog for free is easy at www.blogger.com. After you set up your blog you need to change your settings to archive daily so you have a new page of content every time you make a post to your blog.
Blogging daily is best if you want to add new content every day. If you archive daily, then post each day the blog software will generate a new page of content for you. It's definately the fastest and easiest way to add content.
The best way to integrate a blog into your website is to make your website into a blog. If you have fresh relevant content on your blog then top search engines like Google will return more often to gobble up that fresh content. That means your site will be spidered more often, and if you just built another page you want spidered, just leave a link within your blog posts to that page and the spider will follow it.
This is a great way to get your pages spidered fast. But it's important to have the pge you are linking to be somewhat related to the topic of your post. Google is getting more picky about the content of the pages where your incoming links are coming from.
Also, it is important to optimize your blog just as you would for a website if you want to get theat free targeted traffic. Optimizing is easy, include your keywords within the title and description of your blog, as well as in the title posts occasionally. And don't forget to include the same keywords within the link text of your incoming links to your blog.
Most bloggers don't see the traffic potential their blog holds if it was oiptimized just like any other webpage.
One more factor to consider: Google loves blogs Not simply because it's a blog, but because of the nature of blogs; They usually have fresh relevant content on a specific topic. That's what Google loves. Give it what it wants and it will visit you more often.
Blog Your Business
Does your business need a blog?
A blog is a Web log, an online journal. Blogs started out as
online diaries, in which diarists shared their everyday lives
with the world. From their beginnings as a weird Web fad in 1998,
blogs have moved on, and are well on the way to becoming a
standard business tool.
Why? Because in February 2003 Google.com bought Pyra Labs, the
company which owns the Blogger weblogging tool. Blogger.com, one
of the main sites providing blog software and hosting, boasted a
million hosted web logs in early 2003.
Google.com's interest in blogs indicates that blogs are
mainstream. A blog help your business in many ways, depending on
whether you create a private or a public blog. Blogs are so
useful that you'll want to create both.
=> Your business's private, internal blog
These days, no one works alone. Even if you're a solo business
operator, you have colleagues --- partners, contractors, and
suppliers with whom you communicate daily. A private blog makes
working with a group easier, because you can streamline your
interactions, saving time and energy.
A private blog can contain notes to yourself, or to colleagues.
It's a place to store information and tips that might not warrant
a special email message. You can post information like meeting
notes, project tasks and summaries, and updated price lists. You
can also post links to large files --- no need to email, fax, or
mail them to and fro.
Your blog is more useful than email, because blog postings are
dated, and easily searchable. You can post a message you want
everyone to read, and the message stays on the blog. With email,
you read and delete, or read and forget.
If you've worked on a project with someone in another state or on
the other side of the world, you've blessed email, because it
makes sharing information so easy. Using a blog to share
information is even easier than using email.
A blog is a Web log, an online journal. Blogs started out as
online diaries, in which diarists shared their everyday lives
with the world. From their beginnings as a weird Web fad in 1998,
blogs have moved on, and are well on the way to becoming a
standard business tool.
Why? Because in February 2003 Google.com bought Pyra Labs, the
company which owns the Blogger weblogging tool. Blogger.com, one
of the main sites providing blog software and hosting, boasted a
million hosted web logs in early 2003.
Google.com's interest in blogs indicates that blogs are
mainstream. A blog help your business in many ways, depending on
whether you create a private or a public blog. Blogs are so
useful that you'll want to create both.
=> Your business's private, internal blog
These days, no one works alone. Even if you're a solo business
operator, you have colleagues --- partners, contractors, and
suppliers with whom you communicate daily. A private blog makes
working with a group easier, because you can streamline your
interactions, saving time and energy.
A private blog can contain notes to yourself, or to colleagues.
It's a place to store information and tips that might not warrant
a special email message. You can post information like meeting
notes, project tasks and summaries, and updated price lists. You
can also post links to large files --- no need to email, fax, or
mail them to and fro.
Your blog is more useful than email, because blog postings are
dated, and easily searchable. You can post a message you want
everyone to read, and the message stays on the blog. With email,
you read and delete, or read and forget.
If you've worked on a project with someone in another state or on
the other side of the world, you've blessed email, because it
makes sharing information so easy. Using a blog to share
information is even easier than using email.
How To Make Money From Your Blog Content
Writing a blog can be fun and exciting, but it can also be rewarding. If you do not know how to make money from your blog content then you need to consider implementing the following suggestions in your blog.
Make Money Tip #1 Adsense
Adsense is an incredible service offered by Google to help you make money and help others advertise as well. Basically, with Adsense you choose several ads that blend or complement the information talked about in your blog. Then, when individuals click on the ads that are present in your blog, you receive money! Best of all, Adsense is free to use on your site, so this is a great opportunity to make money without really having to do very much.
Make Money Tip #2 Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate programs are another great way to make money as well and work on the same premise of Adsense. The web surfer has to click on the affiliate website's link and when they do so they are redirected from your blog to the link they clicked on. You will get paid affiliate income for the click, and if they make a purchase when they are on that website you will get paid affiliate income again.
Make Money Tip #3 Blog Ads
Blog ads can help you make money as well. Blog ads are not too different from Adsense or Affiliate marketing, but they are in the sense that blog ads connect web surfers with advertisers. Then, when any ad placements are made a commission is exchanged.
Make Money Tip #4 Business Blog
You can use your blog to simply converse about any topic that is important to you, but you can also use your blog as a tool to help you make money. Advertise your business services; make your blog a business blog by focusing at least part of your blog on your business services. This way, you can still communicate whatever it is you need to and make money as well.
When it comes to making money from your blog you can do so easily with these tried and true tricks of the trade. Whether you utilize Adsense, affiliate marketing, blog ads, a business blog, or a combination of all of the above, you will certainly benefit and make money. Don't delay and start implementing these types of money making strategies in your blog today. Not only will you make money, but your blog will become more popular as well.
Make Money Tip #1 Adsense
Adsense is an incredible service offered by Google to help you make money and help others advertise as well. Basically, with Adsense you choose several ads that blend or complement the information talked about in your blog. Then, when individuals click on the ads that are present in your blog, you receive money! Best of all, Adsense is free to use on your site, so this is a great opportunity to make money without really having to do very much.
Make Money Tip #2 Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate programs are another great way to make money as well and work on the same premise of Adsense. The web surfer has to click on the affiliate website's link and when they do so they are redirected from your blog to the link they clicked on. You will get paid affiliate income for the click, and if they make a purchase when they are on that website you will get paid affiliate income again.
Make Money Tip #3 Blog Ads
Blog ads can help you make money as well. Blog ads are not too different from Adsense or Affiliate marketing, but they are in the sense that blog ads connect web surfers with advertisers. Then, when any ad placements are made a commission is exchanged.
Make Money Tip #4 Business Blog
You can use your blog to simply converse about any topic that is important to you, but you can also use your blog as a tool to help you make money. Advertise your business services; make your blog a business blog by focusing at least part of your blog on your business services. This way, you can still communicate whatever it is you need to and make money as well.
When it comes to making money from your blog you can do so easily with these tried and true tricks of the trade. Whether you utilize Adsense, affiliate marketing, blog ads, a business blog, or a combination of all of the above, you will certainly benefit and make money. Don't delay and start implementing these types of money making strategies in your blog today. Not only will you make money, but your blog will become more popular as well.
How to Profit from your Home Business Blog
A blog is a simple tool which all affiliate marketers should be utilising to explode their affiliate sales.
I set up my blog in about 15 minutes at http://www.blogger.com/ it's a completely free service, and it's really easy to set-up. I followed directions on an excellent article on getting a new website listed in Google in 48hrs check it out here, http://www.scamfreezone.com/gg/ . I just followed the advice in the article and got started with no problems in no time.
I've been doing a lot of research with regards to blogging and came across a case of a 19 year old kid who was making something ridiculous like $50,000 a year with a blog on mobile phones, from his bedroom! So clearly there is a good earning potential through blogs, but they do take time to grow and build up a readership. Treat your blog as a marathon not a sprint, because it will take time.
Blogs provide a very simple, quick and easy means to add fresh content to your website. As I'm sure you've heard many times over 'content is king' in the search engines eyes and if you can provide high quality, regularly updated content your website should benefit with regards to your search engine ranking.
By providing fresh, high quality relevant content you will gain an increase of both first time visitors and repeat visitors, they will come back to check out your new content. Providing it's interesting, relevant and useful to them. You will begin to build relationships with your readers, increasing your credibility and building their trust in you.
These repeat visitors will be exposed to your messages more and begin to trust you and your recommendations. This in turn will fuel sales and referrals. Just make sure you don't recommend a product you haven't tried because if it is bad you will lose all credibility!
Never recommend something you haven't tried and tested your self.
You want to send traffic directly to your blog, do it through multi-dimensional strategies. Have a subscriber box for your newsletter to build your list from your blog. Use it as an exit pop-up from your main site or thank you page for new subscribers, directing them to relevant content immediately. As once your prospects have got to know you through the blog they are much more likely to explore your website and check out whatever you are offering.
Whenever you sign-up for an affiliate program or buy a product, review it in your blog and be brutally honest, your readers will love you for it. Take a completely unbiased view point and talk about both the positives and negatives of each product. In essence you are providing more of an insight into the product than the sales page itself, almost a sample, this will help convert those prospects that are 'sitting on the fence' so to speak. Obviously when you review your affiliate products, make sure that you use your affiliate links.
It has been shown that prospects are 7-10 times more likely to buy from a blog recommendation than from other sources!
Other ways that you can generate extra income through your blog are through the Google ad sense program, selling banner/link space as your traffic increases or as I mentioned earlier by adding you own opt-in sign up form to which you send your newsletter or other targeted offers.
Your blog can be syndicated using RSS, which I won't go into here, that's another article. But savvy webmasters can use your blog content on their web pages. This benefits them as they have regularly updated fresh content for their website and benefits you through increased exposure and free targeted traffic.
Be passionate about your blog, love your blog. If you do not then it will become obvious through your posts and you are unlikely to be anywhere near as successful as you could be.
Add to your blog regularly provide good quality content and reviews and you will be on your way to blogging success.
"A man would do nothing, if he waited until he could do it so well that no one at all would find fault with what he has done". -- Cardinal Newman
Get that blog started today!
(Feel free to use this article online and in your email newsletters as long as you leave it intact and do not alter it in anyway. The byline and biography must remain in the article.)
Resource Box:
Ian Canaway is the owner of http://www.asuccesfullhomebusiness4u.com/ and you are invited to come and have a look round his new home business blog at http://ahomebusinessblog4u.blogspot.com/
For home business tips, advice and product reviews. Happy Blogging!
I set up my blog in about 15 minutes at http://www.blogger.com/ it's a completely free service, and it's really easy to set-up. I followed directions on an excellent article on getting a new website listed in Google in 48hrs check it out here, http://www.scamfreezone.com/gg/ . I just followed the advice in the article and got started with no problems in no time.
I've been doing a lot of research with regards to blogging and came across a case of a 19 year old kid who was making something ridiculous like $50,000 a year with a blog on mobile phones, from his bedroom! So clearly there is a good earning potential through blogs, but they do take time to grow and build up a readership. Treat your blog as a marathon not a sprint, because it will take time.
Blogs provide a very simple, quick and easy means to add fresh content to your website. As I'm sure you've heard many times over 'content is king' in the search engines eyes and if you can provide high quality, regularly updated content your website should benefit with regards to your search engine ranking.
By providing fresh, high quality relevant content you will gain an increase of both first time visitors and repeat visitors, they will come back to check out your new content. Providing it's interesting, relevant and useful to them. You will begin to build relationships with your readers, increasing your credibility and building their trust in you.
These repeat visitors will be exposed to your messages more and begin to trust you and your recommendations. This in turn will fuel sales and referrals. Just make sure you don't recommend a product you haven't tried because if it is bad you will lose all credibility!
Never recommend something you haven't tried and tested your self.
You want to send traffic directly to your blog, do it through multi-dimensional strategies. Have a subscriber box for your newsletter to build your list from your blog. Use it as an exit pop-up from your main site or thank you page for new subscribers, directing them to relevant content immediately. As once your prospects have got to know you through the blog they are much more likely to explore your website and check out whatever you are offering.
Whenever you sign-up for an affiliate program or buy a product, review it in your blog and be brutally honest, your readers will love you for it. Take a completely unbiased view point and talk about both the positives and negatives of each product. In essence you are providing more of an insight into the product than the sales page itself, almost a sample, this will help convert those prospects that are 'sitting on the fence' so to speak. Obviously when you review your affiliate products, make sure that you use your affiliate links.
It has been shown that prospects are 7-10 times more likely to buy from a blog recommendation than from other sources!
Other ways that you can generate extra income through your blog are through the Google ad sense program, selling banner/link space as your traffic increases or as I mentioned earlier by adding you own opt-in sign up form to which you send your newsletter or other targeted offers.
Your blog can be syndicated using RSS, which I won't go into here, that's another article. But savvy webmasters can use your blog content on their web pages. This benefits them as they have regularly updated fresh content for their website and benefits you through increased exposure and free targeted traffic.
Be passionate about your blog, love your blog. If you do not then it will become obvious through your posts and you are unlikely to be anywhere near as successful as you could be.
Add to your blog regularly provide good quality content and reviews and you will be on your way to blogging success.
"A man would do nothing, if he waited until he could do it so well that no one at all would find fault with what he has done". -- Cardinal Newman
Get that blog started today!
(Feel free to use this article online and in your email newsletters as long as you leave it intact and do not alter it in anyway. The byline and biography must remain in the article.)
Resource Box:
Ian Canaway is the owner of http://www.asuccesfullhomebusiness4u.com/ and you are invited to come and have a look round his new home business blog at http://ahomebusinessblog4u.blogspot.com/
For home business tips, advice and product reviews. Happy Blogging!
Small Business: To Blog or Not To Blog
A weblog, or "blog" started out as a personal journal on the Web. They have evolved far beyond that initial concept. Now, weblogs cover as many different topics as there are people writing them. Some blogs are highly influential and have readership which exceeds most traditional newspapers, while others are mainly intended as personal journals to be shared with only family and friends. So, should you consider blogging?
The power of weblogs is that they allow millions of people to easily publish their ideas, and millions more to comment on them. Increasingly people write, read and comment on blogs. Many people mistakenly believe that blogs are only personal diaries. More and more, blogs are being used by businesses to attract customers. Since blogs now come in all flavors, let's look at the basics of blogging.
A blogger is someone who writes a blog. The "Blogosphere" is a word used to describe the online community of bloggers and their writings.
A blog differs from a website only because it is a website that is updated frequently, most often displaying its material in journal-like entries. An entry, a post, or a posting, are the terms often used to refer to a specific article or commentary written by the blogger on his or her blog. Many weblogs allow readers to write a reaction to what was written in the blog entry. These comments can often be found directly following the blog entry.
For millions of people, blogging is a hobby. For some, like journalists, writers, business leaders and political leaders, writing blogs enhances their professional careers. A blog gives the voice a broader audience and allows more direct and interactive contact with the readers. Some bloggers have readership numbers approaching that of big media and are able to earn income from their blogs. But potential profit should not be the primary motivation for blogging.
Why should a blog be part of your business' marketing strategy? The blogging movement is picking up speed, particularly for businesses. Blogging is one arena where the size of your company won't matter. A blog is NOT the place to promote your product or company. It is a place to promote your ideas, provide tips, and express yourself in the hopes of building an audience. That audience may , in turn, become customers.
The power of weblogs is that they allow millions of people to easily publish their ideas, and millions more to comment on them. Increasingly people write, read and comment on blogs. Many people mistakenly believe that blogs are only personal diaries. More and more, blogs are being used by businesses to attract customers. Since blogs now come in all flavors, let's look at the basics of blogging.
A blogger is someone who writes a blog. The "Blogosphere" is a word used to describe the online community of bloggers and their writings.
A blog differs from a website only because it is a website that is updated frequently, most often displaying its material in journal-like entries. An entry, a post, or a posting, are the terms often used to refer to a specific article or commentary written by the blogger on his or her blog. Many weblogs allow readers to write a reaction to what was written in the blog entry. These comments can often be found directly following the blog entry.
For millions of people, blogging is a hobby. For some, like journalists, writers, business leaders and political leaders, writing blogs enhances their professional careers. A blog gives the voice a broader audience and allows more direct and interactive contact with the readers. Some bloggers have readership numbers approaching that of big media and are able to earn income from their blogs. But potential profit should not be the primary motivation for blogging.
Why should a blog be part of your business' marketing strategy? The blogging movement is picking up speed, particularly for businesses. Blogging is one arena where the size of your company won't matter. A blog is NOT the place to promote your product or company. It is a place to promote your ideas, provide tips, and express yourself in the hopes of building an audience. That audience may , in turn, become customers.
Write Good Blog
There's a lot of blogs out there on the Web, most of which don't entice one to go back regularly to read updates. What is missing from these on-line journals that would essentially make them 'good' blogs? Well, the answers in life usually come down to simplicities. So let's look at the problem like we were children. Children don't complicate life with miscellaneous information, and when they speak they tell you straight to the point exactly how they feel and think about a subject. First of all, we should ask the questions," Why do blogs exist? And what are they here for?" Well, in an ideal world 'good' blogs would help people connect, sharing knowledge and feelings about issues in life. As they are journals written by individuals we would hope that they'd be readable and open to comment by all other people, not just a select group of friends. The key is speaking in a way that is understandable by the masses, get rid of acronyms and local slang that only few will comprehend. Keep the sentences grammatically simple and generally short and concise. Try to write in your blog as often as possible because if people enjoy reading your thoughts and ideas they'll want to communicate or at least be filled in regularly on 'your world'. Ask questions, comment on other blogs of similar content, start communities with others you've never met, based on your interests. Keep focused; if your blog is about thoughts on war and peace, keep your thoughts on the latest movie and how hungry you are for somewhere else. The idea is to incite intelligent communication so that in time our collective stockpile of knowledge and wisdom will gradually grow like a tree in fertile soil. I think of most importance is the fact that you want this journal to be 'good' reading. Of course we all have ideas about what genres and styles we like, but writing from your heart and soul is imperative for the connection with others that you're looking for. Share yourself; don't hide behind walls of fear of ridicule and judgment. In real life relationships trust, respect, intimacy, and unity are all necessary for a bond to form. It's the same in the 'virtual' world; people want to hear from real people-not just one-sided, highly opinionated arguments from egos that don't want to hear the 'other side of the coin'. Now, in my last article I really tore apart most writers out there, and here I'm giving some pretty complex ideas on how to fix the problem of 'bad' writing. In my next article I'll attempt to go back to the simple basics of how to write for beginners. I hope I haven't come across as too judgmental, I just truly believe the 'blog world' could become a real asset to humanity, and at the moment it's missing the mark. Ideas about sentence structure, grammar, paragraphing, using a thesaurus (varying terms used so as not to sound repetitive), whether or not your blog is suitable for a personal or professional approach, are all important to creating a simple and enjoyable read for the blogging visitor. If you are a beginner, please check out my next article on the basics.
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