The Best Seo Blogs

Archive for the ‘Daily Blog Tips’ Category

Gone are the days when I used to obsess with Google PageRank. Especially with the nomimal PageRank, which is the 0 to 10 scale we see on the various toolbars around the web. Why is that? Because as the name implies, the nomimal PageRank is just an indicator of how much trust Google has on a certain website. It doesn’t have a direct impact on your organic traffic, and certainly it doesn’t have a direct impact on your profits, which is the most important metric for any online entrepreneur. Even the real PageRank, which influences your search rankings, is only one out of hundreds of factors that Google’s algorithm takes into consideration.

That being said, I still find myself curious to check the nominal PageRank updates rolling out. I like to track the frequency of the updates, as well as the PR fluctuations on my and other people’s websites. Out of vanity, perhaps.

The last PageRank update happened early in April, and the next one was expected late in July/September, but so far nothing has happened.

Thinking about this issue, one questions came to my mind: What if Google completely removed the nominal PageRank? That is, what if all the toolbars stopped working, and no one would be able to see the indicator of how much trust (or how many backlinks) any website has?

What impacts would such a change have upon the webmaster/blogging/SEO industry?

Some people argued in the past that removing the nominal PageRank would kill the market for paid links. I don’t think so. As long as backlinks play a role in the search ranking algorithm, there will still be people buying them.

But without the PageRank the link buying process would change a bit. I believe that paid backlink analysis services would gain many more clients, as this would be the best way to evaluate the link authority of any website.

I think that more important than that, however, is the effect that such a change would have on the mind of most website owners. Probably most of them would realize (as most experienced webmasters do sooner or later) that it is better to worry about more tangible metrics like traffic and profits. As a result they would focus more on producing quality content.

Another interesting aspect the consider is the linking one. I believe that if the nominal PageRank was gone bloggers and website owners would become less paranoid about linking to external websites, feating to leak PageRank.

But what do you think? Would this change be positive or negative? What other aspects would be influenced?

Go to Source

People either love or hate him, but we can’t deny Michael Arrington is one of the most successful and influential bloggers around. He founded TechCrunch back in 2005, and now the Web 2.0 and startups blog is one of the most popular tech sites on the planet, with almost 5 million subscribers and 30 million monthly page views.

Yesyerday I came across an interesting interview with him, titled The Way I Work: Michael Arrington of TechCrunch. If I am not wrong the “The Way I Work” is a recurring interview theme on Inc.com, where they feature important entrepreneurs and businessmen.

On Arrington’s interview you’ll get to know more about his work habits, about the evolution of TechCrunch over the years, about why he is obsessed with breaking news stories, and how he actually manages to do that. Here is a quotation:

I usually spend about half my day talking to sources, either on the phone or on IM. There are very few people in Silicon Valley—or in tech, in general—whom I don’t know pretty well. Chasing down stories is my favorite part of my job. My style is to bust the door down and clean the mess up later. That works pretty well for me. I’ve known a lot of my sources for five years now. When I call them, there’s no salutation—it’s just right to the point. I expect them to tell me what I want to know very quickly.

Worth a read, so check it out.

Go to Source

This is a guest post by Febap Liew. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

If you are hoping for some kind of ‘secret’ or ‘magic pill’, I am sorry but you will not find it within this post. In fact, I can assure you that you will not find it anywhere else on the Internet either.

However, that doesn’t spell doom and surely doesn’t mean that you will never be able to achieve your goal of making money online. While there are no secrets or magic pills, there are tips and points that can help you in your journey. Below you’ll find 16 of them.

1. Have a concise goal and plan

You need to have a goal and a plan. Don’t even think of running aimlessly and blindly. It won’t work. Be realistic in whatever you set out to achieve. Do not expect to make millions within a month or so. Have the courage to take actions and constantly remind yourself to why you ought to set out doing so.

2. Don’t even think of doing it alone. You are no genius

You may be good at a certain field, but you’ll inevitably need others to achieve success. Find a great mentor and learn to trust that person. It doesn’t have to be someone you personally know, as long as you can learn from him/her and build a relationship that is mutually beneficial.

3. Don’t ever think of quitting. Failure is just part of succeeding

Do you want to know the real truth behind most millionaires? There were willing to do what it takes, and they persisted even when things were falling apart. Nothing will ever come easy or cheap. Success comes to those who work hard and don’t quit.

4. You are who you are. Don’t even for a second think of faking it

Be genuine about who you are. Don’t try the “fake it till you make it” strategy or you might get burned. People can see right through to what you are, and they will move away if they perceive you are posing.

5. Think outside of the box

Get creative. Create the opportunities instead of waiting for one to come falling onto your lap. Keep your options open. Build networks and drive in ideas. It could be crazy, it would be silly, it can be wacky, but such ideas have eventually make many millions online.

6. The art of multitasking – expand your horizons

I understand the importance of focusing, but to an extent, you must deliberately learn to expand your horizons. Do not constantly put yourself onto a fix, rigid position. Don’t tie yourself down. Learn to diverse and see opportunities in a many different things as possible.

7. Trust your gut and your instinct

Your head speaks of what you think is logical, where else your gut and instinct takes you to what may seem impossible. Are you willing to strive into the unknown?

8. Have a vision

You need to be able to visualize how your life will look like when you achieve your goals and consider yourself successful. What kind of business will you have? What kind of customers? How will your day looks like?

9. Turn obstacles into opportunities

We all face obstacles, be it in our personal or professional life. The ones who succeed are those who know how to turn obstacles into opportunities. For example, even if you fail at something, make sure to learn something out of that experience.

10. Take action

So far we talked about goals, vision, not giving up and so on. It is all cool and dandy, but at the end of the day you need to take action if you want to succeed. Roll up your sleeves and start working! And repeat this day after day.

11. Be willing to take risks

Life in itself is a all about taking risks. If you want to succeed and make money online you must be willing to risk. You need to step out of your comfort zone. That is when real things get done.

12. Develop the ability to listen

We have one mouth and two ears, but few of us behave proportionally. Learn to listen. You will see there are many benefits when you talk less and listen more. You get to collect more new ideas and inspiration, earn trust and respect and ultimately, know more. Utilize what you have congregate wisely and see that you benefit from it.

13. Have the power to believe when others don’t

Don’t let others be the reason and support you need to achieve your goals. Believe in what you can do and decide to stick with it. You don’t need others telling you what you can do or can’t. Convinced yourself that you will be able to do it in any way possible. If you fail, that is just part of the process of succeeding. Be strong! Stay Strong! It is ultimately your own responsibility to see to where you are going, not others.

About the author: Febap Liew is the author and owner of Blogxic where she shares her ever igniting passion on everything she ought to know about the best ways to make money online today. You can also grab her RSS feed here.

Go to Source

If you want to make money online by publishing content and selling advertising on top of it, sooner or later you’ll need to start selling your own ads. Ad networks like Google AdSense or Value Click are fine when you are getting started, and down the road they can also be used to complement your monetization strategy, but direct ad sales will probably be your most profitable income source.

In the past I already explained how you can find advertisers for your website, but there was one element missing in that article: how to craft the “Advertise” page.

In this article I’ll explain why you shouldn’t neglect that page, what elements you should include there, and also give you some examples of good “Advertise” pages from around the web.

Why You Need to Work on The “Advertise” Page

If you think about it, selling ad space is like selling any other product or service. You’ll need to convince your prospects that spending money to advertise on your site will be a wise business decision, that it will have a positive return on investment and so on.

That is why it is important to put some work into your “Advertise” page, because it will do great part of the selling for you. Having a great “Advertise” page can be the different between landing many ad deals and not landing any at all.

Essential Elements

There are three basic elements that you need to include in your “Advertise” page:

1. Statistics About Your Site. At the very minimum you should provide the number of unique visitors and page views that your site gets per month. Other metrics you might include are the pages per visitor ratio, the average time spent on the website, the percentage of organic traffic, geographical breakdown of your traffic and so on. You’ll gain some points if you can back up your data with screenshots from a web analytics program (even better if you use Google Analytics).

2. Information About Your Audience. Advertisers want to know what kind of people visit your see, to determine whether or not your audience is a good match for their products and services. Examples of data to include here age, sex, income, shopping habits, interests and so on. An easy way to gather this type of information is to conduct a survey with your readers, or to run polls once in a while with related questions. If you have a blog about cars, for example, you could run a poll asking your readers how many cars they own, how much they spend on their cars annually and so on.

3. Description Of The Advertising Options. The third essential element is a description of the advertising options you have on your website. Make sure to list the banner sizes and placements, the max number of sponsors for each placement, and other specific requirements you might have (e.g., file size, whether animated GIFs are allowed and so on). If the advertiser might have trouble understanding where each banner will be displayed it could be a good idea to provide a screenshot with the banner spots highlighted. Finally, you could also include an estimated CTR (click-through rate) for each placement if you have that data.

Should I Include The Price?

Including the price of each banner placement on the “Advertise” page has both pros and cons, so you’ll need to decide what is right for your case. The pros are that it will help advertisers make a decision, and if your prices are competitive, it might also convince some of them. The drawback is that the price tag might scare potential advertisers even before you have a chance to talk to them.

I prefer to not show the prices, because once a potential advertiser contacts me via email I’ll be in a better position to negotiate, address his concerns, make counter-offers and so on. I will also keep his contact, which can be used in the future to foster new deals.

Optional Elements

If you want to give more information to your potential advertisers, these are some elements you can include in your “Advertise” page:

1. A list of current and past sponsors. Social proof plays a role in most aspects of our society, and advertising is no exception. Displaying a list of current and past sponsors, especially if you have some good names there, might convince new advertisers to give your site a shot.

2. Testimonials from current and past sponsors. Another way to convince potential sponsors is to give them a testimonial from companies that already advertised on your site and had a positive return on their investments. Even better if you can include numbers (e.g., how long the advertiser stayed, how many clicks he got, how many money he made as a consequence and so on).

3. Awards you won. If you or your website won any awards, you could list them in the “Advertise” page. This will help potential advertisers understand the quality of your content and brand.

4. Mentions from mainstream media. Whether you like it or not, most companies still consider mainstream media as the most credible source of information around. If you have been mentioned on or linked from a mainstream media publication you could leverage that gain credibility with potential advertisers.

Linking to Your “Advertise” Page

Your “Advertise” page will only be effective if potential advertisers actually visit it. That is why you need to link to it from different places on your website.

At the very minimum you want to place a link to that page on the footer of your website. That is where most large websites put the link, and as a consequence most marketers will look there first.

If you want more visibility to your page, however, you should also link to it from the main navigation menu. This will ensure that even people who hadn’t considered to advertise on your site will do so after seeing your link.

Third, you can also use placeholder banners saying “Advertise Here” and then link then to your “Advertise” page.

Examples from Around The Web

If you want to get some inspiration regarding how to create your own “Advertise” page, check these examples from around the web:

• DailyBlogTips “Advertise” Page
• TechCrunch “Advertise” Page
• Shoemoney “Advertise” Page
• Mashable “Advertise” Page
• JohnChow “Advertise” Page
• Search Engine Land “Advertise” Page

Go to Source

It’s Monday, so time to review another useful Firefox add-on. Today I’ll talk about FastestFox, which intends to make surfing the web with Firefox faster and more efficient.

A come across this extension a while ago when I was using my brother’s computer. I browsed down to the bottom of a Google search results page, and Firefox automatically loaded the second page of results below it (i.e., without the need to click onto a second page). I found the trick really neat, and then I discovered it was FastestFox doing it (not to be confused with FasterFox, an add-on used tweak network and rendering setting in Firefox).

There are other useful features too, including:

• The ability to add related search results from other search engines inside Google.
• The ability to see definitions of specific words and terms just by highlighting them (you can either use a pop-up or open the respective Wikipedia page)
• Improved searches through the URL bar (now you can see results in real time, ala Google Instant).
• An efficient bookmark interface called qLauncher which allows you to quickly open your favorite sites.

Go to Source

This is probably the best free eBook I have downloaded in a while. It doesn’t require email subscribption or anything either, you just need to go there and download it. It’s titled Design With Intent.

What is it about? The sub-title describes it quite well: 101 Patterns for Influencing Behaviour Through Design. The authors collected 101 examples of ways you can influence people to do what you want by adapting or changing the way you design things. These “things” range from car dashboards to web pages and product packages. Here is one of the pages to give you an idea:

The eBook is a must have for designers, but it should be valuable to anyone else really. Check it out.

Go to Source

There are many Online Profits students who have crossed the $1,000 per month mark already, so I figured it would be interesting to interview some of them, trying to understand how they did it.

Andreas Kam joined training program in January of 2010, and he made an impressive progress over the past months. His case is particularly interesting because he managed to grow a profitable blog inside a very narrow niche, as you’ll find below.

1. When did you started building your first blog or website, and why?
My blog, London Cyclist, came to life 3 years ago. When I moved to London I realised cycling would be the best to move around, but I knew little about it so I decided to look for good information online. When I found out it didn’t exist, I started a blog about it. I taught myself everything while I shared the knowledge with others.

2. How did it work out initially?
Initially I didn’t have any business interest in the blog. I would just post something online when I discover something that interested me or that I thought other people would find interesting. That was for the first two years. Once leaving university I put my full time into the blog but for the first 6 months profits were very slow so I used up a lot of my savings and my parents started to worry.

3. Do you remember some of the numbers (e.g., visitors, subscribers, revenues)
Yes. Early in 2010 the blog was getting around 22,000 visits per month, with around 300 RSS/email subscribers. As for revenues, it was not making any significant money.

4. How did you come across Online Profits, and why did you decide to join?
I was following Darren Rowses blog and if I remember correctly I saw an interview with you there. It arrived at exactly the right time when I was thinking about going professional with my blog.

5. What do you think of the training material and resources you found there?
It was fantastic to finally have all these materials together in one place in an easy to follow format. In the first few lessons I learned abou a huge number of errors I was making. I was pleased everything was in text and audio format so I could follow it in a way suitable to me. I personally find I digest text far more quickly. It was also good to have a forum for support questions. It really answered a ton of questions immediately that I had for ages and also helped me discover so much more about blogging. It was really the kick start I needed.

6. In what ways did you implement what you learned on your own blog?
I quickly realised that Adsense was not a strategy for me moving forward. There were far better ways to monetize my blog. That is why I started working on my own product: an eBook with 30 London Cycling Routes).

At the same time I launched a design competition to create a blog logo – something that would make me look far more professional and also create a brand identity. I felt so happy to say goodbye to ugly Google Adsense, and in the same month I got my first cheque from Google for £60 (92 USD) I also signed an advertiser for £140 (251 USD) for one month.

The eBook has been a huge success and I wouldn’t have thought to create it without the course. I’ve had interest from people wanting to publish it and it continues to bring in a steady income that pays my rent.

I also started an Aweber newsletter. This helped me connect with my audience and have their permission to keep in contact regularly. As of today I have over 2,000 subscribers on my list.

7. What kind of results did you get?
My traffic grew a lot (I am receiving over 70,000 visits per month now) and I practically went from $0 to $1000 monthly in revenues.

The money I made with the blog paid for two weeks in Brazil enjoying Rio De Janeiro. Since then things have continued to grow and so many opportunities have arisen, such as collaborating on an iPhone application and interviewing the Mayor of London. I’m sure without this strong start to my blogging career I would be in a 9-5 job now.

8. What tips would you give to someone who is getting started online and wants to make some money eventually?
First of all I would recommend the person to create his own product. If you just use advertising on your blog or website, you’ll never know how much money you could actually be making.

Second, start building an email list as soon as possible. I used Daniel’s advice and created a freebie to entice people to subscribe, and in the end the list contributed a lot to my eBook’s success.

Third, make sure to be active in your niche and to build a relationship with fellow bloggers. One way I did that was to create a list with the Top 50 Cycling Blogs. Over 80% of them linked back to me, and it enabled me to get in touch with all these bloggers.

Come join us: If you want to join or learn more about the training program, simply visit OnlineProfits.com. It’s virtually free now (you’ll just need to sign-up for a hosting account with my partner), and you’ll get access to the same material Andreas used to build his site.

Go to Source

This is a guest post by Bamboo Forest. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

The feeling of finishing a great post is without compare. Just before clicking the publish button you’re filled with the ecstasy of newlyweds, anticipating comments will roll in and your trackback list will circle the globe many times.

Your ecstasy vanishes, however, when you notice the low number of click-throughs and tweets your post has received because you didn’t fulfill one of the three requirements that skilled and successful bloggers implement every time.

Let’s take a look at them…

1. Is my headline great?

Those few words at the beginning of your blog post can be the difference between the post being read and spread like a virus through the web like a wild fire and it languishing in your archives, barely noticed. ~Darren Rowse

Never publish before you’re convinced your headline is effective. If you say to yourself, “I think it will do,” then delay publishing your hard work until you come up with one you’re certain is effective.

Here are my three Jedi tricks to help you craft great headlines:

A. Every time you read a post from a blog known for writing great headlines, read the headline aloud. Ask yourself why it’s magnetic and compels you to click it. If you ask this question with enough headlines, the answers will start to pour into your mind and your headlines will soon begin to reflect the tactics that those headlines use.

B. Open your reader and visualize your headline being immersed in all the others. Does it compel you to click it?

Another thing you can do is make a list of effective headlines from blogs and paste them into a word document. Now, sandwich your headline among the proven headlines. If you were scanning these headlines, would yours stand out or at least compete? If not, devise a better one.

C. When I’m having difficulty coming up with a good headline for an important guest post, I sometimes ask a skilled writer for advice on the ones I’ve crafted. He or she will give me an honest critique and then offer some suggestions as well. This strategy is worlds better than relying solely on yourself if that means settling on a mediocre headline.

Now that you’ve checked off having a great headline, let’s move onto…

2. Does my opening draw the reader deeper into my post?

Where the headline is the most important part of your post, the opening is the second most important.

You can have the most awe-inspiring copy in the middle of your post while having an opening that makes the idea of studying the dictionary more appealing. If you want people to continue reading after they’ve finished the first few lines, don’t mess this part up.

A great headline mixed with a lame opening is like inviting someone into your house, only to slam the door in their face as they approach ~Brian Clark

I’ve recently learned that it’s not imperative to write the introduction prior to beginning your post. In fact, being adamant about doing so can compromise your productivity. If you’re having trouble coming up with a killer opening, skip it! First write the rest of your post and then as Carl Natale says, “go back and write the introduction that fits into the whole writing.”

It’s never worth having an amazing post that’s tainted by a lackluster opening. Make your entire post exude greatness.

Now you’ve got the reader by the throat, awesome! But what about the ending…?

3. Does my ending leave pleasant residue?

While the headline and the opening are vital to your post’s success, don’t underestimate the importance of the close. If your whole piece is a work of art and ends with a lame final sentence, you’ve just tarnished what could’ve really wowed your readers.

The positive reason for ending well is that a good last sentence–or last paragraph–is a joy in itself. It gives the reader a lift, and it lingers when the article is over. ~William Zinsser

A good ending leaves residue. Whether that’s writing something unexpected, posing a question, or leaving with a compelling last thought, you know when it’s done right.

About the Author: Bamboo Forest co-founded Wealthy Walrus, a site that begs the question–what would you do for a million dollars? He also created Tick Tock Timer, an online timer that helps make bloggers ridiculously productive.

Go to Source

Today I was going to write about why new websites can display very misleading bounce rates, but I realized I had never covered the bounce rate concept before, so I’ll stick to the basics today, and expand on the topic over the coming weeks.

If you already know the term, consider this post a refresher.

What Is Bounce Rate?

Bounce rate is a very important metric for website owners. It basically tells you what percentage of your visitors are “bouncing” away after landing on your site (e.g., they just visit one page and leave before clicking on to a second page inside your site). A bounce can occur for several reasons, including:

• The visitor hit the “Back” button on his browser.
• The visitor closed his browser.
• The visitor clicked on one of your ads.
• The visitor clicked on one of your external links.
• The visitor used the search box on his browser.
• The visitor typed a new URL on his browser.

All the actions above would cause the visitor to leave your site. Provided he did any of these actions right after arriving at your site (and before clicking on to a second page), it would be counted as a bounce. In fact the formula for finding the bounce rate on your website is:

Bounce rate = Visits that left after one page / Total number of visits

For example, if during a certain month your site received 120,000 visits, out of which 80,000 bounced after visiting just one page, your bounce rate for that month would be 80,000 divided by 120,000, which equals to 0.66 (or 66%). Notice that you can calculate the bounce rate of your whole website or of single pages inside it.

Obviously the lower the bounce rate on your website, the better, because it means that visitors are getting engaged by your content and design, and that they are clicking to visit a second (third and so on) page on your site.

How do you know the exact bounce rate on your site? A web analytics program like Google Analytics will automatically track the numbers for you.

Next week I’ll talk about what is considered to be low and high bounce rates, as well as about the misleading numbers you can get from new websites. Stay tuned.

Go to Source

Ever heard the saying “never change a winning team”? What about “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? The concept is pretty much the same, and it applies to many fields and endeavors. A couple of months ago I found it also applies to SEO….

I had a mini website that was receiving a lot of traffic from search engines. When I dug into analytics to analyze the numbers I found that one single page was attracting the bulk of the traffic, as it was ranking in the third position of Google for a popular search term.

I figured that people visiting other pages of that site would be interested in that page too, so I created a section below each page with related links. The goal was to improve the navigation and increase the page views per visitor ratio within the site, and not to increase my search rankings. In fact I didn’t use optimized anchor texts or anything to artificially inflate my rankings.

Yet a couple of weeks later that page moved from the third position to the third page in the search results for the same search term…. and it stayed there ever since.

Could it have been a coincidence? Sure. But there is a chance that the changes I applied to the internal linking structure of the site triggered some red flag with Google, despite being legitimate changes.

I also heard many stories from website owners who re-designed their websites, moving links and sections around, and then found that their rankings had vanished overnight.

Obviously this is not a rule carved in stone. Many times similar tweaks could have a positive effect on search rankings and traffic. The point I wanted to make is that you should perform structural changes on your websites with care, especially if there is a big risk involved (e.g., if you already get a lot of organic traffic).

Go to Source