Are You Blogging To Me?

This is a visitant pillar by Igor Kheifets. If you want to visitant pillar on this blog, rebuff out the guidelines here.
One of the most belonging to all mistakes I see high-reaching bloggers make is never rational about who they are blogging to. Usually, a individual just creates a blog about something he is impetuous about and starts posting. But whether you’re blogging for fun or to make circulating medium (or both) – it is indispensable to think about who you are blogging to.
Your blog’s power is mostly regular by your subscriber numerate. The key to getting subscribers is to actually ATTEND to your hearing. Just like any marketing campaign – blogging is based on the needs and wants of the consumer. Unless you are going to accord confer your readers what they want – they won’t be back to peruse your blog tomorrow.
Beta software is a first rank or symmetry example of provider-consumer imparting. Beta sincerely way that the rendering of the software isn’t eventual and that you can resign a ticket/intimation on how to amend it. Beta testers are actually asking family to say what’s unfair with their returns so they can fix it.
Just take WordPress as an example. The latest update was the rendering 2.8.4 and there are more to come. WordPress is being updated each month and there is a robust marketing footing behind it. WordPress developer team carefully studies the feedback believed from bloggers and keeps improving in symmetry to keep WordPress the best blogging platform ever.
By now I believe you get the sharp end, so with no more bastinadoing around the shrub, I want to at hand you with a numerate of ways to get in hit with your hearing.
1. Single Selling Overture. The USP (also known as the Elevator Degree of elevation) is a brief expression that should bestow confer what your blog is about in one judgment. In symmetry to clinch this not special or abstract notion, imagine that you are in an elevator with a dependant and you’re supposed to draw what your calling is about before you he gets off.
Your USP shouldn’t take more than five seconds to peruse/say. It is supposed to be brief and to the sharp end.
Large USP examples are:
Wal-Emporium: Rescue Circulating medium. Have being Better
Lexus: The Race of Wholeness
On-Duration Plummery Repairs With a No-Wait Warrant – Or It’s Independent!
2. Polls/Surveys. Polls and surveys are a large way to fall in with out what your patron needs. It is probably the easiest way to fall in with out about any fears he might be facing and problems he needs solved.
WP-Polls is a large plugin to administration overlook on your blog. If you don’t want to introduce into office anything, try PollDaddy.
3. Comments. Comments are another large indicator you can use to admonisher your audience’s recoil to certain easy in mind. Although there are those annoying readers that make comments or remarks solely to get the backlink, more often than not family press out opinions about your easy in mind and it is very momentous to carefully observe those opinions to better know your hearing.
4. Of the same nature Posts Plugin. This plugin helps you to accord confer your readers more of what they want by placing of the same nature entries below every published pillar. I praise using Yet Another Of the same nature Posts Plugin.
5. Hit Cast. A hit cast will make capable your readers to resign questions, requests, suggestions and not special feedback regarding your blog. A Hit cast is a sure way to bestow confer an “open doors” posture which indicates that you are free to any instruction, intimation and grant or bestowment of a share.
You can bring into being a hit cast using the cforms II plugin.
Family entreat being understood. They want their problems solved and their needs met. Skilful who you’re blogging to will do just that. You will not only liberty them with no election but to subscribe to your blog in symmetry not to miss a one only pillar, but also erect a stronger dependence based on the circumstance that unlike most – you CONCERN.
Igor Kheifets is an author and the maker of IgorHelpsYouSucceed. You can also tread on the heels of him on Chirp.

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Notepad on Steroids

Although most of the publishing platforms today offer friendly user interfaces and simple graphic layouts sooner or later you will need to get your hands on some code.

Tweaking the Html or the CSS directly is the only way to have complete control over the look of your blog. It also enables you to add more functionalities such as social bookmarking buttons, advertising and the like.
The easiest (and perhaps the most efficient) way to change the code is through a simple text editor like the Windows Notepad. Instead of using Notepad, though, I recommend that you download an open source text editor called Notepad++.
Notepad++ is as simple as the traditional Notepad, but it comes packed with many useful features, including:

• syntax and html tags highlighting
• auto-completion
• drag ‘n’ drop
• macros

You can download Notepad++ here.

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SEO and PPC Work Together to Improve a Search Engine Presence

Search engine marketing novices may not understand all of the different components of an SEM strategy and may be confused by the terminology. SEO? PPC? Is there really much of a difference and is one strategy better than the other? Yes there is a big difference and no, one strategy is not better than the other. SEO and PPC are independent tactics that serve different purposes but they don’t need to be mutually exclusive. In fact, they shouldn’t be. The best SEM strategy is to implement both, especially in the beginning of a search engine marketing campaign.

PPC is also known as paid search. PPC ads appear in the sponsored section of a search result. The websites that appear in this section are there because the advertiser was the highest bidder for the keyword or keyword phrase that was used. Each time the ad is clicked on, the advertiser pays the search engine. Hence the label, “pay per click”. The key to a successful PPC campaign is to target the right keywords that will result in not only traffic, but conversions. Since the website owner is essentially paying for this traffic, it might as well be worth something to them. The costs associated with PPC can be extremely high, especially in a competitive industry.
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the practice of making changes to the website and other content across the web that will attract the search engine spiders and improve organic, or natural, web page ranking. SEO isn’t considered to be paid search because no money is exchanged between the website owner and the search engine, but there are certainly costs associated with SEO. SEO is a lengthy process that is never really “over”. It starts with industry, competitor, and keyword research. Next is on-site optimization which is followed by ongoing link building. Good link building requires time and resources to create quality content and share it on the web on a regular basis. Many website and business owners simply don’t have the time or resources. Therefore, they need to hire an in house SEO staff member or outsource the work to a trusted agency or consultant. Good SEO is paid for, just in a less direct manner than PPC.
Since web users have become more savvy over the years and understand the difference between an ad and an organic result, there are arguments that SEO is better than PPC. The truth is that both strategies have their place. While SEO is extremely important, it takes a long time to get onto that first page of a search result for targeted keywords. Some websites never even make it to that first page. PPC, while expensive, can ensure that your brand is seen on page 1. Even if the ad isn’t clicked on, it’s still improving brand visibility. As time goes on and an organic presence improves, it’s possible to scale back on PPC but it doesn’t need to be eliminated entirely. Having both a paid and organic presence on the same page really establishes relevancy for particular keyword searches.
Nick Stamoulis is the President of Brick Marketing, and he writes a weekly SEO column for Daily Blog Tips. Visit the company website to find more about its services, or call 781-999-1222 to get more information.

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8 Key Tips for Building Successful Website

1. Content (Useful, informative, free, and easy to understand)

If you offer well written, original, easy to understand information, spiced up with good imagery, the chances of getting quality links, social media exposure and high spots in SERPs are bigger. The whole point of the Internet is finding useful, relevant, free information. Everything is about information. If you’re able to convey it in a manner that stands out from the crowd you’re automatically step ahead from the others in the pool.

2. Basic SEO

I vouch for the fact that you don’t have to be a SEO expert to rank your site high on Google search. Just several things to remember here:

• include meta title tags,
• optimal and natural usage of keywords,
• provide good link bait article titles,
• simple navigation through out the site,
• proper usage of H1, H2 and H3 tags,
• include sitemap,
• use Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics to gain insight on what works and what’s not,
• use robots.txt file,
• proper permalink structure,
• avoid duplicate content (CMS issue),
• use canonical tags.
• read the Google SEO Starter Guide (PDF).

3. Design

You want more eyeballs on your website, and you want them to stick with it more often. Except offering quality content you’ll need some good graphics for your site. Number one tip: If you’re serious about your site don’t use free, generic template. I would go even further. Don’t use paid template that is available online for others to buy. Pay someone to design a unique website for you. It doesn’t need to be jaw dropping and very expensive. A simple, pretty enough, and unique look would be good for starters.

4. Competitors

Whatever you do, you have to be more innovative, original, have a better design, better content than your competitors. Simply try to beat the competition. Use them to learn what works for them, and what doesn’t. Don’t be antagonistic towards them. Instead try to befriend them and let them become your mentors. They rule your niche at this moment. Learn what they did in order to achieve what they are now. That doesn’t mean just to read their blogs daily, but to investigate what they are doing. Where is their presence, who is linking to them, what CMS are they using, their SEO etc.

5. Promotion

Promote your site whenever you have a chance to do it, but do not exaggerate (don’t be a spammer). Also several things to remember here:

• use Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or any other social platform popular at the moment,
• comment on other blogs related to your niche,
• be active on forums,
• guest post frequently on well established blogs,
• pay for ads if you really have to (Adwords).

This will certainly lead to significant exposure of your site. If you have the previous 4 points in place it’s just a matter of time when the ball starts rolling.

6. Speed

Make your site load fast as much as possible. This is important from two aspects: user experience and a SEO factor. Several things to remember:

• Use good server
• Optimize your code,
• Optimize the images,
• Use sprites,
• Use tools such as Google Speed, YSlow, Web Page Test, Pingdom,
• Gzip and minify your pages and static components where possible,
• Make your pages cacheable (both server and browser side),
• Use CDN for static content,
• If you’re using scripts, prefer asynchronous loading or place them at the bottom,
• Avoid redirects,
• Read in details what Google and Yahoo have to say about it.

7. E-mail addresses and RSS subscribers

Usually young webmasters and bloggers are overwhelmed with information and it might happen to forget to implement thing or two or they may think that some of the tips are irrelevant and not worth. So remember, capture e-mail addresses and get people to subscribe to your feed early. Two-three years from now (if you’re good) you might have 50k email list and 50k RSS Subcribers. And that is a big valuable asset. Trust me.

8. Monetization

This is the cherry on top of the cake. It’s time to gather the fruits of your labor. I’ll suggest don’t do it early. Wait some time until your blog gets traction. The possibilities are virtually endless and experimentation is the key. There are basically three main methods to get money out of your blog/site:

• Placing ads (CPC, CPM, CPA, CPV). Basically you need click, page view, action or video view in order to get paid.
• Promoting affiliate products.
• Selling you own products (ebooks, membership websites, services – design, coding, coaching, etc).

Wrap up
Of course these 8 tips are not everything you should have in mind but I would say they’re essential. Anyhow, the most important tip would be that you do your experiments with everything I said above and come to your own conclusions about what works for you, your blog and your niche.
Vlatko is the owner of Keen Talks. Check it out to find Featured Talks, Lectures, Interviews, and Debates.

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In My Book Motivation and Hard Work Trump Talent Any Day

Around six months ago I purchased a Brazilian blog about the Android operating system (called Blog do Android). I wasn’t too happy with the write that was taking care of the content there, so last week I decided to hire a new one.
First of all I published a post on the blog itself saying we were looking to add a new staff writer to the team, asking interested readers to get in touch. Within a couple of days I received 50 or so emails showing interest.

After that I replied to all the candidates explaining the hiring process: basically they would send me a first article. If I liked it I would publish it on the blog and they would work and send me a second and possibly a third article. After that I would have enough data on my hands to make my decision.
And here’s the interesting thing: the “data” I am referring to above is not only the writing quality of the articles, as one could wrongly assume. In fact the writing quality is not even the most important aspect. What I want to test with the above process is the motivation and the willingness to work hard of the candidates.
For instance, a couple of the candidates sent me really nice articles. The grammar was impeccable, the style was humorous and easy to follow, and the topics they decided to write about were pretty interesting.
However, after I replied saying I liked their first articles and that they could start working on a second piece, one of the candidates took three days to tell me he would start working on his second piece, and the other sent me a second piece after six days.
By that time I had already hired my writer. It was a guy who sent me his first article a couple of hours after I explained to him the writing process. Once I told him I liked his first piece within six hours he had a second one ready to go, and was already asking for some feedback so that he could improve on this third, fourth and subsequent pieces.
Bottom line: if you want to hire someone, look for motivation and ability to work hard. If you want to get hired, show it.

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How To Increase Your PageRank Fast

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

As of the recent PageRank update on August 2, my blog has been around for 79 days. Previously, I had been a PR0, but due to this update, my blog has become a PR2. I would like to tell you what I did right, and what you can copy from my success. As we all know, the key to building a decent PR quickly in a short amount of time lies in top notch content and lots of backlinks. Here are some tips I would like to share with you.
Top quality content that ranks very, very well in the SERPs, and also appeals to readers.
When writing content, bloggers are worried about mostly two things. 1)Does my content appeal to my loyal readers? 2) Will my content receive a lot of search engine traffic? I’ve devised a really decent formula to write tons of content that readers love, yet receive thousands of referrals from search engines a month.
What’s the most visited site on earth for content? Wikipedia of course! Encyclopedia entries are the most searched for things in the world. So I decided to write some encyclopedic entries of my own. My blog is about investing, so I wrote some posts like ‘Buy and Hold’ and ‘Support and Resistance: Technical Analysis’. These are encyclopedic terms for the world of investing. If I do some serious backlinking on these articles, they’ll rank very high for keywords that get tens of thousands of searches a month!
But writing encyclopedic entries on things related to your blog’s niche isn’t very appealing to your loyal readers. After all, they can just search for keywords like ‘buy and hold’ on Wikipedia. So I devised a way to counter this problem. At the end of every encyclopedic article, I add my own opinion. For example, for my post ‘Buy and Hold’, I added a section titled ‘Why buy and hold doesn’t work’. Now this is an opinion that my readers couldn’t get elsewhere, so they absolutely loved the post for giving such an insightful explanation plus an honest opinion on buy and hold.
What you should do: Don’t write too many encyclopedic-like posts. Write too many, and your readers will get bored. Considering the fact that encyclopedic-like keywords need a lot of backlinking to rank high in the SERPs, you won’t rank very high if you have too many keywords to rank for and not enough time to build enough backlinks. I suggest you write maybe 1 or 2 encyclopedic-like posts every month, add your own opinion into those 1-2 posts, and spend the rest of the month building backlinks towards those 1-2 posts.
Now comes the really good part. A backlink building strategy.
A problem that I once had with building backlinks is that I would soon forget how many backlinks I had built towards certain posts! So I devised a table to solve this problem.
This is a list of all the encyclopedic keywords and high traffic keywords I want to rank for. As you can see, this table allows me to keep track of my backlink building campaign. The ‘# of Top Quality Backlinks’ column refers to the number of PR3 or above backlinks I have towards my post. As you can see, this table is detailed enough to tell me a lot of things such as how many searches a month there are for my desired keyword, but not too detailed so that it will take forever to update. Feel free to copy this table for your own purposes.
I can’t stress this enough, but guest blogging is the only true way to get high quality backlinks and significantly improve your SERPs and PR. Simple as that.
So how do you get write guest posts that really improve your search engine rankings? I once wrote a post titled ‘Problems in America’. Then I went onto a really big, PR8 finance site and wrote a post titled ‘Finance Problems in America’. Then I created a backlink from that guest post to my ‘Problems in America’ post. A key part of how much Google values your backlink is how relevant your guest post is to your website’s post. Notice that my post and the guest post I wrote are very similar in nature. That is what consists of a good backlink. That one backlink made my ‘Problems in America’ post rank 12th for the keyword ‘problems in america’.
To summarize, write guest posts about things that are highly relevant to the post that you are backlinking to. And we all should know this, but a link from a high PR site is more valuable than a link from a low PR site.
Bonus!
Since I’m a huge fan of the DBT community, I’ve decided to include a little extra into this post. There’s one simple way that has netted me an extra 200 dainew daily unique visitors. It’s called…… commenting.
A lot of people have heard that commenting on other blogs is the way to generate lots of traffic for his or her own blog. So they go out and try that, fail, and start thinking that commenting doesn’t work. The truth is, it doesn’t work because they’re doing it wrong.
Instead of commenting on a ton of blogs and sites, you should focus commenting on one high traffic website. For example, I only comment on a really, really popular business news site, and those comments usually net me an extra 200 – 300 unique visitors each day. For obvious reasons, I prefer not to disclose the name of that news site. Anyways, I scour around for articles on that news site that seem to be interesting. Then, I go to the bottom of an article, and I get REALLY engaged with the other commentors. I write decent comments on that posts, and at the bottom of every comment, I include a highly relevant link to one of my blog’s post. For example, there was this post titled ‘America’s Politicians Need to Get Their Heads on Straight.’ I got really involved in the discussions on that post, and at the bottom of everyone of my comments, I included a link to my ‘Problems in America’ post. Some of you might think that I was link spamming, but in fact, I was not. The other commentors all liked my link, and the news site has never blocked me or rejected me from including a link to my highly relevant post.
You can do the same.
This blog post was written by Tony Chou from Investorz’ Blog. On his blog, Tony dispenses investment and financial advice that everyone, from novice investor to pro investor, can use.

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Google Penguin Update Is Live

After Google Panda now it’s time for Google Penguin to changing changing the search rankings around the web. This update to Google’s algorithm was rolled out a couple of days ago, and it’s main purpose is to make Google be able to recognize and punishes web spam more effectively.

More specifically this algorithm update will target:

• link schemes designed to increase rankings of certain pages or websites
• keyword stuffing used to increase the rankings of a certain page
• duplicate content used with the purpose of increasing the size of a website and thus its rankings
• redirects and cloaks used to show one things for users and another for search engines

Here’s a quote from an article on Search Engine Land:

The web spam techniques above aren’t new. Some of them are more than 10 years old and date back to before Google even operated as a search engine. So why is Google only now going after such methods?
It’s not, even though the blog post might give some newcomers that impression. Google’s warned about and fought against such techniques for ages. Rather, what’s really happening is that Google is rolling out better ways that it hopes to detect such abuses.
Despite warning against such spam techniques, it’s easy to find cases where they still work. It’s enough to make some long-time “white hat” SEOs feel foolish arguing that people should avoid spamming Google when it seems to pay-off, as I wrote about recently.
“We’ve heard a lot of solid feedback from SEOs who are trying to do the right thing and who don’t want to see webspam techniques rewarded, and we feel the same way,” said Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s webspam team.

Google said this update will affect only 3% of queries. While not much, it certainly is a signal that Google wants to tighten the grip on web spam, so make sure your SEO strategies are aligned with that.

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