We were having a discussion about whether or not it's a good idea to publish your articles into an article directory, such as Ezine Articles. I've published my articles sometimes on Ezine, so I was attracted to join the discussion. I personally think Ezine is the best of the bunch, having a high Page Rank (6), and a fair amount of traffic.
Someone asked, what can you do if you find that people are lifting your articles from Ezine and re-publishing them without giving you any credit as the author? The answer is not really an encouraging one. It really seems like there is nothing you can do about it.
Regrettably, theft is part and parcel of the internet. It's ironic really that all these amazing advances in technology that have occurred in recent decades have created a situation in which writers have even less copyright protection than they had in medieval times.
When I re-publish other people's work, I always carefully give them credit and backlinks. Not because of fear of the law, since in effect there isn't one, but only because I prefer to treat others as I would like them to treat me.
When I first noticed my own articles being re-published without credit, I was outraged. I would go to the site and, if there was a comment space, I would write "I am the author of this article, and I assert my right to be named as the author etc. etc." but of course it didn't make any difference!
There are, however, two consolations. First, these people are stealing from everyone, not just you. And you have the God-given talent to produce more, whereas they don't, they can only copy. So you will win out eventually (but it may take a while.)
Second, when the Google Search Robots see duplicates of the same material, they will show on the search results listing the occurrence of the material on the higher Page Rank site. This means that traffic will tend to go to your Ezine article (with its backlink to your site) rather than the pirated version, since pirates generally do not have high Page Rank. In fact, if you have copied the article on to your own blog, the search will STILL usually point to the Ezine article.
What Can You Do to Stop the Pirates When You Write for Ezine or When You Blog
Blogs Can Be Quirky
We like the whole idea of blogging so much, that we have made a blog just to talk about blogging. We think that most people who blog probably use a laptop computer. We're not sure why this is so, or why it is true, it's just that we have a feeling, you know? What do you think?
We would like to tell you about a blog by one of our friends whose user name is zencath. The blog is a bit quirky and a bit, you know, ironic, if that's the right word, but we think you might find it entertaining, so here is the link for it. It's called "Journal of an Ex-Philosopher."
There's a WordPress version of the same blog, but with different content, it's called "Everything is Radio." The link for that one is here.
See what you think...
Why Do People Blog?
There can be no doubt about it. Blogging is big. Everyone, it seems, has a blog now. I just had a look on the Home Page at Wordpress (where I have a couple of blogs) and on that Home Page they have some stats and you know what? The number of blogs currently at Wordpress is over 4 million! Can you believe that?
And that is just at Wordpress. Blogger don't seem to publish stats like that. Or if they do, they don't make it obvious, as I haven't been able to find them. But I bet it's a similar figure.
Some of the blogs I've looked at though, and I really do wonder why the people bothered to even start them at all. I looked at a blog last week and it was all in English words but they were just strung together, it looked like at random to me. I don't know, maybe there are some people in some clique or other that can understand it, but I certainly couldn't!
Then there are the cat-picture blogs - oh, no, don't get me started on that. Sorry to those people that enjoy seeing other people's silly cat pictures, but - excuse me?
So, why do people blog? Is it a) to connect with family or friends? b) to make money? c) to get it off their chest - that is, to voice their opinion about something they feel strongly about? d) or some other reason?
Tell us what you think!
Blogging is a Way of Life
For many people now, blogging is a way of life. It is as though we are addicted to it. Blogging is not something we would comfortably want to do without any more. But what do we like, us bloggers, and what do we not like?
Well for one thing you have to remember that we bloggers have tried just about everything that there is to try. We are not impressed by anyone who comes on and says that this product or that product will change our lives forever if we just transfer $97 into your PayPal account. Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but we are not going to be swayed by exaggerated claims. We have already been there, we've seen it done it, and not only have we got the T shirt, but it's already faded from repeated washings.
We don't mind if you include a link to your product range in your post, that's OK. But what we really like if you are going to do that is for you to say what you yourself are doing with your OWN use of that product. Many people will tell you that you should concentrate always on telling the customer what the benefits will be for them. But we prefer if you tell us how it has benefited you. We can easily apply what you are saying to our own situation.
What Do We Want To Read In A Blog Post?
The kind of things we like to read are those things which tell us about the person who is writing. It is not good enough for us if we think the person writing is following some rigidly mechanical formula. If they are looking at something that has worked in the past, so it should work now by doing that exact selfsame thing, then we find ourselves turning away.
We do not want that. We want the writer to be spontaneous, we want them to give us something. I do not mean money, I mean we want them to give of themselves. Do they lose out by this? Certainly not! Because they gain our approval, and our good-will, which is worth more than money. The author who is straight and honest with us, who is just trying to be themselves, is far more likely to win return readers, to have their readers clicking on AdSense, to want to try the products the authors recommend.
If we can see from their writing that they are giving of themselves, they want to communicate, then it does not matter so much if their English grammar and syntax is not of the very best, if their spelling is not perfect; we will in those cases make allowances.
These are some of the things we want to read in a blog post. So, when you blog, don't always be thinking about what you should write or what you ought to write, or how much stuff you can sell in one post; rather try every time to put yourself into your writing. Your readers will love you for it.
The Blogs We Like
There are probably as many reasons for writing a blog as there are people writing them. In my travels around the internet I have seen a huge variety of them, some wonderful, some weird.
The kind of blogs I like to read are those that are neat and tidy in their layout (like my one!) making it easier to read them. I prefer if there are not too many ads littered all over the page, but its actually nice to see some ads on a page. Many is the time when I have clicked on an ad on someone's blog and found it led to something that I have later used a lot.
I don't really like blogs that seem to be shouting at me. You know the kind, blaring loud ads, or some kind of political harangue. And I also detest those stupid pop ups that float across the screen at you and tell you that a customer adviser would like to have a one to one chat with you. And those boxes that come up and say things like, Please don't leave!
I think I'm not alone in having the above likes and dislikes, I think that most people feel the same way. After all, we do not like to feel that we are just ciphers, or that we are just ad fodder. And we like to be treated like we are just a little bit intelligent and that we are capable of making our own decisions. I mean, think about it, how do YOU want to be treated when you are reading someone else's blog. That is, or should be, your criterion when you are making a decision about what to put into your blog or what to leave out.
So my advice is, when you blog, don't shout or beg or wheedle or try to con your readers, keep it calm and reasonable. Just be yourself, treat your readers nicely. They will love you for it!
What Is The Blogging Secret?
When you start blogging, the natural questions you ask yourself are things like this: What should I blog about? How can I get people to actually read it? Is it possible to make any money from it?
All of these questions have received a good deal of attention recently, and if you just do a quick search around, you will find literally thousands of people giving their own opinion. I think I must have read just about every one of those thousands - it certainly feels like that anyway! I have picked up a few tips along the way, but there is one thing I have learned that I consider is the most important of all in blogging.
This post is coming out so that I can share that truth with you.
You see, when you read what other people have read, you just have to add a little pinch of salt. I am not saying that these people are lying to you - far from it. Of course, there may be some liars and scammers out there, but you do not ever have to have anything to do with them. To use the current phrase, you do not have to invite them into your experience. But I am not talking about such people, I am talking about the people who have tried something, found it to work, and now they are telling YOU that if only you do exactly what they did, then you will get the results they did.
Often this promise comes with a condition, by which I mean that one of the steps involved in reaching your success, in making money from blogging, is to buy something from them, some software, or a template or the like. Now I am not saying they are wrong to do this. Everyone is entitled to try and make a living in any way they can, and I have no doubt that some of this stuff may well be effective, given the right circumstances. What I am saying is that going along with their scheme is not necessarily going to take you where you yourself want to go, it will take you along their rails like a little train carriage.
The internet is absolutely huge and there is a lot of room for diversity. What works in one situation might not work in another, even if they appear to be very similar. And by the same token, lots of ideas and techniques which at first may not seem very promising have suddenly gone viral in their popularity. What I mean to say then, is that if someone tells you that their way is the only way, then you should reserve judgement until you know a bit more about it, because what they said is just not true.
For the people who are saying this, the important thing for them is to get you doing the same thing they do, so that they can be lifted up by what you do. This is called "duplicability" in the parlance of our times. However, at least for bloggers, duplicability is not necessarily the most desirable goal.
You see, we bloggers are in a uniquely powerful position. Most of us are posting on a blogging platform for which we do not have to pay so much as a dime, we can pick and choose what we want to advertise, who we want to affiliate with, when we choose to work, say what we want to say with no corporate agenda controlling us. We are the people,and blogging has given us, for the first time in history, the opportunity to do and say whatever we want to.
So now I come to what I want to share with you. In blogging, the key thing is to experiment for yourself. Keep trying new things. Keep yourself as free as possible from commitment to anyone else's scheme. That way you have no vested interest in whether it succeeds or fails. Be like a scientist and try out ideas and adapt ideas to see if they work in your own context. Do not be discouraged if such and such an idea does not work - learn from it. It is possible for you to make money from blogging, but don't expect it to come in very quickly at first, you need to be patient. Just keep trying things and finding out what works for you. Reject what does not work and keep going with what does. Your success will eventually arrive.
Then you truly will be your own boss.
This article was first published on Qassia
Blogs - 4 Steps to Write a Winning Post
By Sonali Sengupta
Blog posts are a great way to bring traffic to your web site. If your blog offers interesting and useful information to the visitors and is updated over regular intervals of time, chances are high that people will visit it. So, to make the most of this tool, it is important to know what makes a blog post interesting and attractive to the visitors.
The following are some of the factors that will help you to write a winning blog post:
Catchy titles: Your blog should use titles effectively. A catchy and search engine friendly title goes a long way in making your blog work. It also helps readers scan your post quickly. If your title catches their fancy, they will even read what you have written in your post.
Use bullets and bold fonts to highlight matters: Most people scan information on the net rather that reading the full matter. So, it is important to use techniques to get their attention quickly. Using bullets, bold fonts and highlighters can be used in moderation to draw attention to the important aspects of your blog post.
Original content: People love to read content that echoes their feelings and thoughts, is unique in its approach and has a creative and fresh feel. Writing the same thing that everyone else is writing in the same way as others will almost ensure of your content being largely ignored. So, try to bring your unique approach to oft-repeated facts and try to write about something new and in vogue.
Use of images: Images are a powerful medium that can communicate in ways, which words cannot. Try to include some visual elements in your blog that will provide another point of interest to your readers. It is not necessary to use images in every post but whenever you have the chance of using one, do it but ensure that the images are in tune with what your content wants to convey.
Read some more interesting articles on website design and development at our website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sonali_Sengupta
http://EzineArticles.com/?Blogs---4-Steps-to-Write-a-Winning-Post&id=1442278
How to Write Great Blog Content Quickly - 2 Shortcuts to Get More Blog Readers Fast
By Ian Hollander
In this article we are going to take a quick look at how you can write great blog content quickly. The simple truth is that for most of us, creating copious amounts of killer content on our blog sites is often tedious, time consuming and frustrating. Writers block often feels more like the creative equivalent of the great wall of china, and high stepping these hurdles sometimes feels like more effort than it's really worth. (which is why something like 98% of blogs will NEVER make $100 online) I say with the proper amount of philosophical fuel you can create tons of content quickly without having to break a creative cognitive sweat, and I'm going to share with you too elegant and easy ways to do it! Read on..:-)
Shortcut #1: Use great free blogging tools
One of the best ways to build a great readership quickly is to have lots of content, right? The easiest way to do this, especially if you maintain many sites like we do, is to use free tools to help you get there. Flock, for example, is one of MY favorite blogging tools, it's a FREE browser that doubles as a GREAT way to interact with content you find on the web that would be helpful to your own blogs readers. Simply right click, and post great content, pictures and more STRAIGHT to your blog with properly formatted links back to the original content source! Dead simple and a hyper fast way of marking up and creating killer content quick!
Shortcut #2: Plug and Play Content Creation
It's no secret that some of the very best blogs are simple, useful and "list" driven. What does this mean? Simple! Lots and lots of lists! 5 ways to do this. 7 ways to do that. 3 tips for something else. The beauty of these sorts of sites is that not only can you sort of interplay and overview LOTS of topics quickly, people (and search engines) love these sort of bulleted blurbs that are short, sweet and easy to read. I simply create a master list of "power" words, and plug in an article a day, per niche in this simple format, often giving the very same topics a FRESH spin simply by changing the way in which they are presented to my readers! Very easy, and effortlessly efficient as well..:-)
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13 Tips on Writing Blog Posts That Sell
By Jane Robinson
If you are struggling to write posts on your blog and want to improve your style there are a few things you can use to create more interesting blogs.
1. Think of a catchy headline. Your potential reader surfing the net, often stumbles across you via a search engine and all they have to go on is the title, so think of short catchy titles that might catch their attention. It also means you can practice your own skills in writing headlines for your sales letters of the future.
2. Keep your sentence structure short and simple. This isn't about using big words and convoluted (there's a big word for you!) sentences, its about being understood and getting your points across.
3. Get to the point. Put the most interesting information at or near the beginning and engage your reader. There is no point in waffling on, people will lose interest.
4. If you are unsure about anything, research it,don't make it up. Go and look at reputable sources. Check and double check your sources
5. You could make bullet point lists, its easier to scan and your readers will often scan rather than read fully at least to start off.
6. Make your posts consistent in style. Don't chop and change style.
7. Proof read. Copy and paste it into word and do a spell check. Simple (you can do a word count at the same time).
8. Write with your reader in mind. You are giving information,they want to know what is in in for them. Let them know about the information on offer early on .
9. Keep it lively. Write like you are talking to a friend but make it short and snappy.
10. Think about using keywords. Use them naturally when you are blogging.Think about what keywords people might search for and drop them into the posts where you can. Pepper your posts with keywords without losing the natural flow.
11. Time is money. People don't stay around for long. Give them maximum information and minimum words. Write short sentences and use commas and dashes. This breaks up the post and makes it more appealing to the eye.
12. Ask a question at the end or invite a comment. Encourage interactivity!
13. Be opinionated when possible but only if you feel like it and don't mislead. Creating conflict and tension is what writing is all about and people want to know what other people think, that's the beauty of blogging.
So before you hit the save and publish button ask yourself the following:
-Does it engage?
-Is it clear what the post is about?
-Can someone read the title and have a good idea?
-Do the opening paragraphs give an idea of the content and why someone should read on?
-Would someone who knew nothing about the topic, understand the post?
-Have you got some keywords in?
-Have you written with the reader in mind?
-Have you asked a question at the end or invited them to engage in some way?
There are a lot of things you can do to improve your blog posts.
For my free course and an opportunity to beta test my new product for free, visit.
http://www.janerobinsononline.com/free-course
To read more about this and other topics go to http://www.janerobinsononline.com - Coming soon, step by step videos on how to find your niche, how to get a cheap domain name and more!
I provide help and information on blogging for newbies. FREE tips for you,how to start on the internet, problems you will face and how you solve them. I have been there believe me!
Jane Robinson
Money From Blogging
Author: sandeep
Sometimes I do some blog hopping and I find a lot of good blogs out there. So I try to follow what they are doing in the hope of increasing my money from blogging. Lately I have noticed a lot of "U Comment I follow" sign. It is only now that I have discovered what they really meant. The "U Comment I follow" sign basically means if you place a comment in a certain blog which has that sign, the search engines will follow the author's links, or the links placed on the comment itself. Eventually, this will result in the "commenter" getting a back link. According to some search engines (like google) they do not follow the links in the comments. A test done revealed otherwise. There are other search engines who say they treat the links like any other link. No matter what they say, I am sure it is sensible to say that disabling the "No follow" will be of mutual benefit to both the owner of the site and the commentor. So what really does "nofollow" mean ? Google orchestrated this scheme. They observed that spammers are putting up spam comments in a lot of blogs in the hope of getting a lot of back links. (Note that back links help boost ranking in the search engines) To remedy this situation and to aend spamming, Google enforced a "no follow" policy when it comes to comments. This was then followed by other search engines. The big question is did they succeed ? Unfortunately the answer is no. In fact spamming in websites and blogs are a much more bigger problem today than ever before. Spammers still spam. Word Press founder Matt Mullenweg made a terrific comment on this subject "In theory this should work perfectly, but in practice although all major blogging tools did this two years ago and comment and trackback spam is still 100 times worse now. In hindsight, I don't think nofollow had much of an effect, though I'm still glad we tried it." So why should you continue to allow "no-follow" after all, it has no effect after. (This is enabled by default) You are better off protecting your blog by activating spam filters. The adverse effect of "no-follow" is that it punishes the commentor with legitimate and sensible comments. As one blogger puts it so nicely, "PUNISH SPAMMERS, NOT BLOGGERS."
About the Author:
www.blog-and-ping.com
www.blogging.reprintarticlesite.com
Monetizing Your Blog - Closer Look
By Peter Nedyalkov
Monetizing your blog is probably an idea that came into many people heads primarily because of the different benefits it offers. People are starting to read on these things, leaded by two motivational factors - endless potential, self control.
Let's look closer at the different ways to monetize your blog or website.
1. PPC Advertising Networks
As many of you already know, Google AdSense is probably the most popular option under this category, which doesn't mean that there are no others to chose from. Basically what you need to do is - signup with the network and paste the code snippets on your website. Then the network itself will serve contextual ads, being either images or text which correspond to your website. For every click you will earn a certain amount of money.
The success of PPC depends primary on the traffic levels of your website, which leads us to the click-through rate (CTR) and the cost per clicking an ad (CPC). Have in mind that the CTR might really depend on the design of the website, ads which are placed above the fold or merged within the content will be clicked more frequently.
Talking about the CPC, it only depends on your niche and the current situation with advertisers. Financial products, college related ads etc usually get a higher CPC, and meanwhile site like mine or any tech site get just a couple of cents per click.
The source of the traffic is also important for the CTR rate. For example certain countries, including mine, are probably the worst ad clickers ever. We just have some natural ignorance about it, nothing personal, I was born that way. On the other hand organic traffic, the one that comes from the major search engines, tends to perform better cause the visitors were already looking for something, they found your site and might click on ads often.
There are some popular CPC advertising networks, that we will look closer at later.
* Google Adsense
* Yahoo! Publisher Network (YPN)
* BidVertiser
* Chitika
* Clicksor
2. CPM Advertising Networks
Similar to PPC networks, CPM is all about impressions. You get paid for a fixed amount of page views (impressions), CPM is the short for of Cost per Mille, in other words 1000 impressions.
Let's pretend that your blog generates 500,000 page views monthly, and you have a banner with $1 CPM. You will earn $500 monthly only from displaying the ad on your site. The rate may vary, depending on the network, position and format of the ad. The better network you pick, the higher your CPM rate might be, also you will be interested to put the ad as top as you can on the page, that will help your CPM too. Another aspect of the CPM is the size of the ad, in pixels, the so called banners.
Normally the CPM varies from $0,1 to $10 per 1,000 impressions. Keep in mind it works better on community sites that generate lots of page views per visitor, such as forums, magazines and so on.
There are some popular CPM advertising networks, we will look closer at each of them later on.
* Casale Media
* Burst Media
* Value Click
* Advertising.com
* Tribal Fusion
* Right Media
3. Banner Advertising
As stated previously, selling advertising space on your site is a very profitable monetization method, and the best of all is that you can determine your own rates. Will it be either a 120×600 skyscraper, a 125×125 ad space like mine, or a 720×90 leader bord, its up to you. However you do need a lot of visitors to get good advertisers.
Related links:
* How to Find Advertisers for Your Website
* Finding Advertisers for Your Blog
* Direct Advertising Sales for Beginners
* Openads Ad Server
* OIO Publisher Ad Platform
4. Text Link Ads
Text Link Ads are becoming less and less popular cause of the fact that Google will penalize blogers who don't use the no follow tag on their text links. People still use them however.
5. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing involves promoting a specific product or service and eventually earning commission whenever a referred user makes a purchase through your site, or reaching the seller site by coming from your site.
This is quite profitable industry with endless options to pick from. You like cell phones? Promote cell phone selling sites and cell phone plans, simple as that.
The end results of course depends on you, your blog visibility, your product and the way you do it. If you do it the proper way, affiliate marketing is one of the most powerful ways to make money from the web. You can consider using programs such as ClickBank, CJ, Amazon which are one of the main affiliate marketplaces.
List of popular affiliate marketplaces and networks:
* Commission Junction
* ClickBank
* Azoogle Ads
* Link Share
6. RSS Feed Ads
Due to the growing of the RSS technology, website owners started to find ways to monetize even this. Feedburner for example has its own publisher network for displaying CPM based advertising on your feed footer.
Some blogs are even opting to sell banners or messages on their feed directly.
Related links:
* Feedburner
* BidVertiser
* Pheedo
7. Sponsored Reviews
The base was set by PayPerPost, it took a while but many companies followed their example. We have to stop here at Sponsored Reviews as one of the biggest.
In case you join in such community, it will give you the opportunity to write sponsored posts on a wide range of topics which match your blog. You might not be enough, you might not like the product but.. many people are doing this and making good money of it.
List of sponsored reviews and paid blogging networks:
* PayPerPost
* Sponsored Reviews
* ReviewMe
* BlogVertise
* Smorty
8. Donations and Contributions
Placing a "Donate" link or button on a website can be an efficient way to earn money, especially if your blog is on a niche where readers learn and gain value from your content.
While asking for donations you have to be very constructive as this might help the donations them self.
9. Private Forums
You do know that the internet is full with free forums, however there is also a way to create a private one where members have to pay a fee to join. You have to provide good content in the forum however, to keep visitors loyalty.
10.Premium Content
Some websites and blogs give away part of their content for free, and charge for access to the premium content and exclusive tools for a certain amount of buck monthly of course.
There are many possibilities to create a private and profitable forum, you just need to find an appealing angle that will make it worth for the members.
11. Paid Surveys and Polls
Yes you heard me, there are paid surveys and polls, companies that will pay you some money to run a small surver on your website. The most popular is proably Vizu Answers.
Basically, what you need to do is signup with then, pick up the right poll and put it on your site.
12. Selling the website
This should be the LAST thing to do, however it has the potential to generate a big sum of money for a short period of time. Big community forums such as Digital Point or Site Point are the best place to put your site for sale. There are of course tons of parameters that determine the value of your website, the most popular it is, the higher the cost will be.
Blogging For Influence - Part of Your Comprehensive Income Plan
Most direct marketers will know that blogs, or more correctly web logs, are online journals. But what have they got to do with direct marketing, and how can they help you generate instant income?
Here's the skinny...
1. Interactive: Blogs are interactive. They allow your readers to participate by posting their own entries below your write-ups. They can also provide honest, public feedback to your entry/product/service. For instance, you are an image consultant; you offer makeover advice and tips on your blog and also share photographs from successful assignments from time to time. This is a good direct marketing strategy to demonstrate your service and showcase skills with an interested audience. On their part, your readers can respond after they have tried your makeover tips or share their opinion of what they thought of a particular makeover. Over a period of time, the readers express confidence in your skills, and you come to be seen as an expert. A great system process that can lead to future business!
2. The 'Personal Touch': Blogs give a personal touch to your direct marketing efforts. Your candid entries are seen as honest and credible communications that are not high on marketing spiel.
3. Cost-effective: There is practically zero cost to set up and maintain a web log. Plus, you will find hundreds of free publishing tools to get your blog up and running. Once your blog is up, you will only need to devote a little time and effort to update your entries and keep them current. The readers' comments, on the other hand, will provide you with invaluable and free market research.
5. Viral Marketing: The popularity of a blog spreads from keyboard to keyboard. It's like the 'word of mouth' publicity that direct marketers crave for.
6. Different!: People have become immune to direct mail, catalogs, email marketing, even DRTV. There is no guarantee that your sales pitch is going to find its mark and generate instant income. But when it comes to blogs, they feel empowered. They are able to participate and communicate in what is perceived to be an open column that allows them to drop their defenses and relate on a human level.
7. Highly Targeted: You don't have to fine tune the definition of the target audience for your direct marketing efforts in the blogosphere. People will subscribe to your blog only if they find the content matches their interests and needs. So you are assured of a well-segmented audience.
Armed with this basic knowledge, you can now craft your subtle direct marketing campaign as part of your comprehensive income plan, and decide the right time to share the right information with the right people.
Guy and Alicea Artuso have seemingly 'cracked the code' for creating an endless stream of highly-qualified visitors to their home based businesses.
Helping others who are looking to achieve their goals is what they are passionate about.
Pick up a free copy of 'As a Man Thinketh,' and learn more tips, strategies and techniques that Guy and Alicea use everyday to create Instant Income Streams on demand at their official site: Get Your FREE Copy Here!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Guy_Artuso
http://EzineArticles.com/?Blogging-For-Influence---Part-of-Your-Comprehensive-Income-Plan&id=1397131
How to Increase the Traffic to Your Blogging
Author: Sudesh Kumar
The whole purpose of a blog is to put your content in front of as many viewers as possible; so many new bloggers are disappointed when their blog doesn't get a flood of traffic right off the bat. Quite simply, it's not that easy. Blogs have a number of built in features that make it much easier to get traffic that a conventional website, but that doesn't mean you don't have to provide some input to get the traffic flowing.
With that in mind this article covers 7 ways you can get more traffic to your blog. All the tips are tested and proven to be effective.
Tip One: Get Yahoo on your side.
By submitting to My Yahoo! you can get a good return of viewers to your blog. Submit your RSS feed to the My Yahoo! site and you are more or less instantly spidered and added to the Yahoo search rankings.
Tip Two: Get Google On Your Side
What's better than Yahoo on your side? Having Google on your side, of course. You can submit your site to the Google Reader and watch the results you get from being listed in Google's Blog Search.
Tip Three: Submit Your Site to DMOZ and other directories.
Google just plays favorites with some sites and the DMOZ directory is definitely one of them. They are a picky bunch, so you may not have your site accepted, but the resultant pickup in traffic if you do get listed is well worth the effort of submitting your blog.
Tip Four: Add some PING to your site.
Blogs have inbuilt ping capabilities, but you can increase listings by adding to their default list or using an online service such as Ping-o-Matic to get the word out every time you make a new post.
Tip Five: Know Your Keywords
When you first set up your blog you should have researched the hottest keywords for your niche. Don't forget them. Keep using keyword rich articles. Keep checking on how you are performing for each keyword. Keep tracking and testing. Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing to rank above you.
Tip Six: Get Social
Social Networking is without a doubt the biggest change in the way the web works since someone connected one network with another and thought they might be onto something. It's about participation. Use sites like Digg and Stumble Upon to get yourself back links and potentially heaps of traffic.
Tip Seven: Piggyback on your opposition’s success.
If there's a site ranking higher than you work out why and duplicate it. If they are a blog then post a comment or three and get yourself a cheap back link to your blog. If Google likes their blog so much then how much emphasis are they going to put on a link back from that site?
The key to real success with a blog is continuous sustained activity. Keep posting, and keep building back links to your site. Traffic can come in a flood if you hit the front page of Digg or something similar, but it is far more likely to be something that builds up gradually over time.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/blogging-articles/how-to-increase-the-traffic-to-your-blogging-524097.html
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Recounting the Virtues of Guerrilla Blogging
I like going against conventional wisdom.
Some very good people with strong reputations and whom I respect deeply are giving some misguided advice. One such place is the Church of the Customer. Like most blogging professionals, they're telling people to not be self-centered:
"Do not make your blog a branding exercise of self-centeredness. If you endlessly promote yourself and your services, no one will care."
That's one of five points listed on their five don'ts for small business bloggers. I take issue with this one. Such people are blogging like it's 1999.
There are many different reasons to blog and their are different focuses for every company blog. Depending on the focus of your blog, you may very well want to be self-centered. We all know about political and social blogs, or personal online journals. They're written to encourage comment and debate. Up until now, business blogs have too. The future of blogging, however, will be quite different.
For one thing, not all blogs are aimed at customers. Some may be internal company blogs or simply instructional blogs. Let's run through some of the different types of business blogs:
1) Customer service blog
2) Instructional, or how-to, blog
3) Dialogue between professionals within the same industry
4) Sales and marketing blog
5) One-way conversation about a certain industry
6) AdSense blog
These are just a few of the potential blogging focuses. Obviously, customer service blogs, instructional blogs and dialogues between professionals are blogs where you would want to encourage feedback and discussion. They should be interactive, sparking debate and encouraging criticisms. Other-centered and human-focused.
But what about sales and marketing blogs or AdSense blogs? With an AdSense blog, the most important things should be keywords. You want search engines to recognize your keywords, rank your blog post accordingly, drive traffic to the blog and, you hope, get the click through on the ad.
With sales and marketing blogs, you could style it any way - the first way, with interaction encouraged, or you can approach it from the "hard sell" angle, making each blog post about a specific product or service in an attempt to get your web site pushed up in the search engines. It all boils down to search engine optimization. Your focus is on three things:
1) Link popularity
2) Search engine saturation
3) Fresh content
If your blog is on the web site you want to promote, search engine saturation and fresh content will be more important with link popularity more important at Yahoo! and MSN than Google. If you have an off site blog, link popularity will be your primary focus with search engine saturation a close second and fresh content not at all.
Suppose you have several web sites you want to promote from one single blog? You can do that through an aggressive link popularity strategy by linking profusely to your sites from your blog in an attempt to drive them up in the search engine rankings. Here's how you do it:
1) Focus on one web site at a time
2) Link no more than three times to that web site in the body of your blog message
3) Include a signature at the bottom of each blog entry that is a link to the site you want to promote (you can promote more than one but not more than three)
4) If you do #2, don't #3; if you do #3, don't do #2
5) Keywords may or may not be important, but if they are, don't use more than two instances of your keyword for every 50-100 words in your blog entry
Remember, every blog entry is counted as a single web page at the search engines. Use the same search engine optimization techniques for each blog entry that you would for a web page. I call it guerrilla blogging and it's the future.
Allen Taylor is an award-winning journalist and freelance ghostwriter. He manages more than 50 business blogs and runs a local Internet marketing company at http://taylor-and-associates.com
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Why Should I Start a Blog?
Do you find yourself wanting to write about the things you enjoy? Do you have something of value to share? Will your expertise in a certain topic help others?
The above are questions you may want to ask yourself to find the answers to "Why should I start a blog"?
I've asked myself that question many times before actually launching my blogs. My niche is business entrepreneurship so I decided to express my thoughts and expertise by writing what has helped me along the way. My passion is to help others benefit through my experience and knowledge.
The questions that helped me along the path to deciding why should I start my blog (s) are:
1. Why
2. What
3. When
4. Where
Why start a blog?
Why not? I can list hundreds of reasons why starting a blog would be beneficial to you and your business. First, it allows me to express myself through my writing. I can share my expertise in a blog that can be seen by many. It is a form of promoting myself and my knowledge on a certain topic.
What do I write about?
I write about things that will interest those seeking information about starting a lucrative home-based business. What inspires you? You can post photos and write about what inspired that photograph. You can also post videos of your favorite song and write about what makes it so special and why you feel others may think the same. You can write anything that has helped you become successful so that others won't have to re-invent the wheel so to speak. There are hundreds if not thousands of blogs that are unique in many ways. Think of the things that bring you joy and share them with others. If you enjoy writing, then showcase your writing skills.
Provide basic, real, useful information as well as resources to go along with the information you're writing. What are your interests? Will it interest your readers as well?. Offer "how to tips", "top ten tips", etc., did it make you successful? Be creative!
There will be times when you are going to encounter writer's block. It happens to the best of us. Not to worry, look for other interesting articles that are related to your blog theme. Remember to ask for permission to use an article and never alter the content of a guest article. These can help when you're experiencing writer's block big time.
When do I blog?
Personally, I love to write and post to my blogs 4 times a week. Others, may want to blog on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, it's up to you. Perhaps you may want to get your feet wet first and start off slowly, that's fine also. Remember that the goal is to write often so that you can create a long lasting readership for your blog visitors.
Where do I host my blog?
There are many hosting companies out there. Visit VisionThisHosting.com or if your a new blogger, blogger.com is a great place to start. Do you prefer to have your own domain name? Check out NameCheap.com. Again, there are hundreds if not thousands of hosting and domain registration sites out there to choose from.
Most of all, have fun! Find something that does not feel like a task but is fun to write about. Show your personality through your content writing and make your readers comfortable.
There are many other ingredients to spice up your blog and add important value to your readership. Remember start with your own writing first and everything else will fall into place!
So, with that said. Why should you start a blog? Tell me what you think.
Sonia Yvette Colon is writer/publisher of http://www.myfashionemallblog.net & http://thebizbuzzofalatinamom.blogspot.com
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Blogging in a World Gone Mad With Olympic Fever - Totally Web 2.0
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Cathy_Perkins]Cathy Perkins
Can you blog about the Olympics even if your blog has nothing to do with sports or China or The Olympics?
Of course you can! The whole world is watching the 2008 Summer Games in China - I bet you are too. So why not talk about it on your blog. I have a friend who blogged about his vacation recently. Has nothing to do with his area of expertise but it helped people get to know, like, and trust him. He posted pictures of his boys swimming with Dolphins!
Another friend 'tweeted' on the road while on vacation - nothing to do with HIS area of expertise either but it was fun. A huge part of Web 2.0 is having fun while getting your message out to the people you want to hear it. What good is life or our 'home' on the internet if we can't have fun too.
What is more fun than watching athletes compete for the Gold! And then blogging about it? Web 2.0 is all about building your community. I bet your readers would be happy to read your thoughts on The Games - and not wonder why you are talking about them either.
So go ahead and have fun - put pictures up from your favorite events. Scrape the Beijing logo and put it on your site - as long as you aren't using it for personal gain or some nefarious purpose I bet no one will mind. It's going on my blog shortly - along with a picture of the men's swimming team! What heart they showed and absolute joy in victory. We can all take a lesson from that.
The Bottom Line: Have fun and let your readers get to know you!
I'd like to invite you to find out all about Blogging With WordPress in a Web 2.0 World by going to http://www.WordPress20.com Presented by Cathy Perkins, The WordPressWizard.
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Monetize Your Blog With the Right Posts
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Christie_Love]Christie Love
Are you tired of going through processes to add an extra source of income to your blog; with no result? Do you often wonder why your blog is making less money than other blogs? Or why other bloggers seem to make money with their blog while you don't?
Making money from your blog may be just a simple act of how you formulate your posts. There are many people who didn't make any money from their blog but after they began to really take time to write posts that are written specifically to make them money, they started to see results.
The easiest way to write an effective blog post is to first use an article as an outline. Remember, blog posts should be under 250 words and therefore, small and specific bullet points.
If you are not a writer, outsource your writing to a freelance writer. You can find the best deals on article writers from Elance. Prices range from $4 to $20 for writers. Be sure to give you're your keywords and topic. You don't have to be an expert at writing, so finding a good article outline to follow by doing a Google search should be just as effective.
Post articles to your website regularly. This will allow you to stay in contact with your visitors and always give them a reason to look forward to coming back to your website or blog. Make your blogs interesting, stay on topics but add something entertaining every once in a while like salon blogs (blogs about salons) or celebrity movie blogs. A boring site will most likely not get visitors to come back for more.
Within your posts, you can add affiliate links to promote a product you have reviewed. Respectful visitors will honor that the affiliate links are your means of making money on line and most likely will purchase products from you. It's kind of like needing to buy a product that you know your friend sells. Of course, you are going to purchase the product from your friend over anyone else as you would expect them to do the same.
You'll also want to post your articles to affiliate directories. You can do a Google search to see which article directories are most popular. I like EzineArticles best, but there are many other article sites you can review.
Go to your blog and really take a good look at it to see which areas you can improve upon.
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Countdown To Blasting Off Your Business Blog
Does your blog need a bit of a kick start? Are you having trouble trying to get things going again? Maybe your blog has never really got started because you are not sure how to get things moving. If any of the above applies to you, then read on to find out how to blast off your business blog. read more
The Best Free Blog Hosts On The Net
by Don Alexander
For first time bloggers, a free blogging web site is a great way to get started in the blogosphere. Popular blogging web sites like Blogger and Eponym allow users to set up and host a blog without paying any fees at all.
This encourages people to start blogging, because the fact that one of these sites can provide you with all of the tools that you need to get your blog up and running without spending any money means that you have nothing to lose by starting a blog.
The fact that it is so easy to find a way to blog for free is one of the reasons why so many people who have never had any other kind of web presence before find themselves drawn to blogging.
By signing up with a free blogging web site, you may find it easier to get listed in search engines that you would if you were starting your own blog from scratch. For example, Google runs the free blog hosting site Blogspot and crawls its pages very often looking for updates, so if you have your site hosted by Blogspot you are almost guaranteed to be listed on Google's blog search engine.
This easy access to search engines can take some of the work out of promoting your blog, and can help you gain a following with a minimum of marketing effort.
If your blog attracts a large readership, you may want to consider moving your site. Many people feel that being hosted by a free blogging web site gives a blog a kind of amateur flavor that is fine for a new member of the blogosphere, but is not appropriate for a high-profile blog. Having your own domain can help you make your blog feel professional, and finding a company that will host your domain is not difficult or expensive.
Once your blog takes off, you will probably be able to sell enough advertising space to be able to afford to buy a domain and pay for a hosting package, and still have money left over. However, it does not make sense in most cases to invest in these glossy luxuries before you have a sizable readership.
Starting your blog on a free blogging web site is a great way to build a following before you spend any money on your blog. If and when your blog becomes popular and you are ready to take the next step and purchase your own domain, your readers will follow you to your new home. The fact that it is possible to use a free blog host like Blogspot, Blogger, or Eponym as a kind of incubator for your blog is great news for bloggers everywhere.
Don Alexander is owner of leading-online-business.com
and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more
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