When you think about search engine optimization, you probably think about keywords, including density and placement, in your content. Of course, those keywords are an important part of your efforts but they are not the only element of search engine optimization you need to be concerned about.
Another way to increase your site’s rankings in search engines is to focus on links.
Adding Outbound Links
In the early days of web sites, it was common for people to add a separate Links page which suggested other sites visitors might want to visit. Often these links were added because of some type of payment exchange. The bad news for these people is that those links were useless for search engine optimization and really didn’t generate much traffic to those other sites.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t add links to your sites. In fact, you should have plenty of links on your site but these should be naturally incorporated into your content. For example, if you sell life insurance and you want your visitors to know the cost of funeral expenses today you could add a link to that information on a reputable site.
Some site owners get angry about the idea of adding links to their pages because they don’t understand the purpose. They fear the links will take visitors off their site and they’ll never return. That’s only the case if you don’t have anything to offer those visitors. That link to useful, up-to-date information, however, proves that you do have plenty to offer visitors and that you are committed to providing reliable data. Because the information supports your statements, it also boosts your credibility.
Adding Inbound Links
Outbound links are easy to add because you can pick and choose those links. However, if you really want solid search engine optimization rankings then you need to also have a number of inbound links, preferably from quality sites.
What you don’t want is to use so-called link farms. These are services where you can pay a price and links to your site will be placed on other sites. Generally, these links are completely worthless. They are just thrown onto sites that area already full of hundreds of links to other sites. Unfortunately, most search engines are concerned with the quality of the sites which contain links to your site.
If you’re wondering how to gain these inbound links, there are a few ways. For one, you can simply provide great information that people will want to link to because it’s useful and up-to-date. However, it can take awhile for that to produce results. Another way is to engage in link exchanges with other legitimate sites, particularly sites that may appeal to a similar audience but which are not in direct competition with you. For example, if you sell books on dog training then you might exchange links with a site that sells dog toys or dog food.
Another idea is to do nice things for organizations, such as non-profits and schools, and request only a link to your site on their web site in return. That way your good deed will pay off for your search engine optimization.
Inbound and outbound links do play a role in Search Engine Optimization or SEO. For more information on SEO, go to http://www.goodinternetmoney.com/SEOElite/ to get a free eBook to learn more.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tips on Increasing Traffic to Your Blog
Blog owners want to know how to increase traffic. Increasing traffic is actually easier than it seems—provided you know how. In this newsletter, we will go over 7 specific methods of increasing traffic. These are guaranteed methods to draw more visitors to your blog.
Tip #1: Sign up for pinging services
It seems pretty obvious, but most bloggers, even those who are more experienced, don’t sign up for pinging services. If you’re new to blogging and don’t know what pinging means, pinging basically means that when your blog is updated, a “ping” is sent out by the service to let pinging sites know that your blog has been updated. People who are visiting sites with pinging services will then see your blog flash across the side of the screen as “newly updated”. Pinging services include Yahoo’s blogs, weblogs.com, Google Blog search, and ZingFast.
Tip #2: Sign up for Technorati
If you go to technorati.com, you’ll see an option on the left side of the screen to “Claim Your Blog”. Doing so allows you to get updated link counts, add your photo or branding to Technorati, and see your Technorati link. Having your blog claimed on Technorati helps to increase traffic because the millions of people who go to that site will have a chance to see your blog on there.
Tip #3: Sign up for FeedBurner, a RSS service
What FeedBurner basically does for your blog is it helps you to promote your blog’s content, build your audience and measure your audience. In other words, it helps you increase your blog’s traffic.
Tip #4: Bookmark your blogs at places like del.icio.us
You can set up an account and profile at del.icio.us. Then, using that, you can add links to your blog along with excerpts from your blog. Anytime someone visits your profile on del.icio.us, they will see a link to your blog and excerpts. There are other social bookmarking sites that you can use in much the same way. The bottom line is, using these social bookmarking sites can help you increase traffic.
Tip #5: Post comments at other blogs
No, this doesn’t mean you should go and spam other blogs with comments that are only there to promote a site. It means that you should visit similar blogs to your own, post legitimate comments and then sign your name(along with a link to your blog). This way, people know you aren’t there just to promote your site—you’re there to post a good piece of feedback and also say where you’re from.
Tip #6: Ask owners of other blogs to post a link to yours
Find other blogs that are similar to yours. If they seem to be decently popular(that is, they have a good amount of comments for each post), you can try to contact the owner of the blog to add a link to your blog if they have a links section. To make them really want to do this, you can offer to link back to their blog on your blog. People do this reciprocal blog linking all the time and it does help to increase traffic.
Tip #7: Use keywords in your blog
Like regular web pages, having a good keyword density on a blog is a terrific way of getting search engine spiders to notice your page. (FYI: Search engine spiders are programs from search engines that browse sites and report back their findings to the search engine database, which then lists that site. The more keywords on your site, the more likely it is for a search engine spider to pay a visit)
If your average blog posting is around 200 words, try to use 2-6 keywords per blog post. 2-6 keywords in a blog posting of 200 words is a keyword density of between 1 and 3 percent, a respectable number. Remember that you don’t want to use too many keywords, as that will make your blog look bad. Also be sure that the keywords used are relevant to your blog. Before even making a blog posting, decide what the post will be about and then select a keyword or two to use in your post. Then do it. It’s a surefire way of getting more traffic to your site!
Signing up with a service like Technorati is a quick, painless way of increasing traffic to your blog.
So sign up today!
Guest Post by Terry Detty, 42, enjoys all aspects of internet marketing and getting out for a breath of fresh air occasionally. Online internet marketing, time and attendance
Tip #1: Sign up for pinging services
It seems pretty obvious, but most bloggers, even those who are more experienced, don’t sign up for pinging services. If you’re new to blogging and don’t know what pinging means, pinging basically means that when your blog is updated, a “ping” is sent out by the service to let pinging sites know that your blog has been updated. People who are visiting sites with pinging services will then see your blog flash across the side of the screen as “newly updated”. Pinging services include Yahoo’s blogs, weblogs.com, Google Blog search, and ZingFast.
Tip #2: Sign up for Technorati
If you go to technorati.com, you’ll see an option on the left side of the screen to “Claim Your Blog”. Doing so allows you to get updated link counts, add your photo or branding to Technorati, and see your Technorati link. Having your blog claimed on Technorati helps to increase traffic because the millions of people who go to that site will have a chance to see your blog on there.
Tip #3: Sign up for FeedBurner, a RSS service
What FeedBurner basically does for your blog is it helps you to promote your blog’s content, build your audience and measure your audience. In other words, it helps you increase your blog’s traffic.
Tip #4: Bookmark your blogs at places like del.icio.us
You can set up an account and profile at del.icio.us. Then, using that, you can add links to your blog along with excerpts from your blog. Anytime someone visits your profile on del.icio.us, they will see a link to your blog and excerpts. There are other social bookmarking sites that you can use in much the same way. The bottom line is, using these social bookmarking sites can help you increase traffic.
Tip #5: Post comments at other blogs
No, this doesn’t mean you should go and spam other blogs with comments that are only there to promote a site. It means that you should visit similar blogs to your own, post legitimate comments and then sign your name(along with a link to your blog). This way, people know you aren’t there just to promote your site—you’re there to post a good piece of feedback and also say where you’re from.
Tip #6: Ask owners of other blogs to post a link to yours
Find other blogs that are similar to yours. If they seem to be decently popular(that is, they have a good amount of comments for each post), you can try to contact the owner of the blog to add a link to your blog if they have a links section. To make them really want to do this, you can offer to link back to their blog on your blog. People do this reciprocal blog linking all the time and it does help to increase traffic.
Tip #7: Use keywords in your blog
Like regular web pages, having a good keyword density on a blog is a terrific way of getting search engine spiders to notice your page. (FYI: Search engine spiders are programs from search engines that browse sites and report back their findings to the search engine database, which then lists that site. The more keywords on your site, the more likely it is for a search engine spider to pay a visit)
If your average blog posting is around 200 words, try to use 2-6 keywords per blog post. 2-6 keywords in a blog posting of 200 words is a keyword density of between 1 and 3 percent, a respectable number. Remember that you don’t want to use too many keywords, as that will make your blog look bad. Also be sure that the keywords used are relevant to your blog. Before even making a blog posting, decide what the post will be about and then select a keyword or two to use in your post. Then do it. It’s a surefire way of getting more traffic to your site!
Signing up with a service like Technorati is a quick, painless way of increasing traffic to your blog.
So sign up today!
Guest Post by Terry Detty, 42, enjoys all aspects of internet marketing and getting out for a breath of fresh air occasionally. Online internet marketing, time and attendance
Labels:
blog traffic,
blogging,
building traffic,
web traffic
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Easy Introduction on Increasing Traffic to Your Blog
Increasing traffic to your blog is fundamental to your blog's success on the Internet. As you'll soon find, it isn't all that hard to increase traffic to your blog, but it does take time.
The first and most important rule for increasing traffic to your blog is to post, post and then post some more. Posting new and unique content on a regular basis to your blog is crucial to success.
Another critical method for getting traffic to your blog in through by establishing links to your site on other people's webpages. This servers two purposes for your blog. First, a link on someone else's site can be clicked on thus bringing a visitor to your site. Secondly, links on other sites pointing to your site factor into the equations that Google, Yahoo and MSN use to determine the order in which sites are listed in searches conducted on their site. These types of links are referred to as "inbound" links.
When you try to develop inbound links it is important to make sure that the links are relevant. For example, if your blog is about cars then it doesn't do a lot of good to have an inbound link from a website about vacation spots. Your goal is to get inbound links on sites similar to your blog or, at a minimum, sites that target the same type of people (age, gender, interest, etc.) as your blog.
To begin developing inbound links, do a search for other blogs that are relevant to your blog. If your blog is about cars then search "cars" in Blogger Search or Technorati (two of the bigger blog search engines). Browse through the results that you get and make a list of those that you think are well designed and interesting. In order to get a link on those blogs you will most likely have to give something in return and usually the easiest thing to give is a link to them. So from that list add a link on your blog for each of the blogs that you liked. Then, after doing so, email the owner of each of those site and write something along the lines of:
"Hello, my name is John and I write for Crazy Cars, a blog about cars. I've recently added a link to your site on my homepage because I feel that my readers are in a very similar demographic to that of your site. If you get a chance check my site out and if you like what you see please link back.
Thank you,
John"
Remember that these blog owners don't owe you anything for you linking to them, but often if you ask nice you'll get a link back.
Another way to build inbound links to your blog is by submitting your blog to blog and web directories. These directories contain literally thousands of websites and very rarely will someone come to your site by clicking on a link in one of the directories. However, including you blog in these directories can in many case help your ranking in search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc). Don't spend too much time doing this but if you have a little free time they are worth looking into.
Finally, and maybe the biggest key to increasing blog traffic is to write interesting and excellent content. The most powerful way to get people to your blog is to write content that your readers want to read. This will not only make people want to come back but it will also make them want to tell others about your blog. Anyone can get someone to come to their blog once but getting someone to come back again and again, that is the key to increasing your blog traffic.
So post often, build links so people can find you and then make sure to keep it interesting. They'll come...for now, work hard and be patient.
Guest Post by Todd E, Ann Arbor, MI, USA (mailto:todd@smarterpurchase.com) More information on increasing your blog traffic and other blogging tips can be found at http://blog-traffic.blogspot.com/
The first and most important rule for increasing traffic to your blog is to post, post and then post some more. Posting new and unique content on a regular basis to your blog is crucial to success.
Another critical method for getting traffic to your blog in through by establishing links to your site on other people's webpages. This servers two purposes for your blog. First, a link on someone else's site can be clicked on thus bringing a visitor to your site. Secondly, links on other sites pointing to your site factor into the equations that Google, Yahoo and MSN use to determine the order in which sites are listed in searches conducted on their site. These types of links are referred to as "inbound" links.
When you try to develop inbound links it is important to make sure that the links are relevant. For example, if your blog is about cars then it doesn't do a lot of good to have an inbound link from a website about vacation spots. Your goal is to get inbound links on sites similar to your blog or, at a minimum, sites that target the same type of people (age, gender, interest, etc.) as your blog.
To begin developing inbound links, do a search for other blogs that are relevant to your blog. If your blog is about cars then search "cars" in Blogger Search or Technorati (two of the bigger blog search engines). Browse through the results that you get and make a list of those that you think are well designed and interesting. In order to get a link on those blogs you will most likely have to give something in return and usually the easiest thing to give is a link to them. So from that list add a link on your blog for each of the blogs that you liked. Then, after doing so, email the owner of each of those site and write something along the lines of:
"Hello, my name is John and I write for Crazy Cars, a blog about cars. I've recently added a link to your site on my homepage because I feel that my readers are in a very similar demographic to that of your site. If you get a chance check my site out and if you like what you see please link back.
Thank you,
John"
Remember that these blog owners don't owe you anything for you linking to them, but often if you ask nice you'll get a link back.
Another way to build inbound links to your blog is by submitting your blog to blog and web directories. These directories contain literally thousands of websites and very rarely will someone come to your site by clicking on a link in one of the directories. However, including you blog in these directories can in many case help your ranking in search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc). Don't spend too much time doing this but if you have a little free time they are worth looking into.
Finally, and maybe the biggest key to increasing blog traffic is to write interesting and excellent content. The most powerful way to get people to your blog is to write content that your readers want to read. This will not only make people want to come back but it will also make them want to tell others about your blog. Anyone can get someone to come to their blog once but getting someone to come back again and again, that is the key to increasing your blog traffic.
So post often, build links so people can find you and then make sure to keep it interesting. They'll come...for now, work hard and be patient.
Guest Post by Todd E, Ann Arbor, MI, USA (mailto:todd@smarterpurchase.com) More information on increasing your blog traffic and other blogging tips can be found at http://blog-traffic.blogspot.com/
Labels:
blogging,
building traffic,
link building,
web traffic
Monday, July 28, 2008
The Top Ten Most Effective Tips To Drive Converting Traffic To Your Website
The Top Ten Most Effective Tips To Drive Converting Traffic To Your Website.
There is one thing I would like to clear up first before sharing those tips with you. Many webmasters and internet marketers alike often complain about been unable to drive traffic to their site.
This is understandable because without traffic, your site will not make money. What I want to make clear is this. Getting traffic to your site is not the problem; the problem is getting that traffic to convert to sales.
We can all go out and buy lots of traffic which none of us minds doing if we get a return on our investment. On the other hand, if we do not then we find ourselves in a difficult predicament. That is why in the title I wanted to discuss the difference between quality traffic and traffic that does not convert.
Pay Per Click.
This is one of the fastest ways to get traffic to your site. The down side is that is costs money. If your site does nothing to build a relationship with your visitors then I am afraid you will have a hard time making this profitable. You need to be building a list from this traffic and you need to communicate with that list by providing valuable information that they can apply to their needs immediately. Then once they start to see results, they will buy products from you. This is a fact and it has been proven time and again to work.
Article Marketing.
Article marketing is not just about writing articles with links pointed back to your site. When it comes to article marketing you need to have good titles with relevant information that addresses the reader's needs. Then you need to have a link back to a webpage that once again provides relevant information and genuinely helps your visitor to overcome their problem. Once again always be building a list as this enables you to build a relationship with your visitors and from this your traffic will convert to more sales.
Ezine Advertising.
This can prove to be very effective depending upon the ezine you advertise in. Research is critical so as to ensure that the ezine has targeted traffic relevant to your offer and additionally has a large number of readers who trust and respect the ezine that they read. Relevancy is critical here in order to convert traffic to sales.
Search Engine Optimization.
This strategy is a more a long term approach however is it effective. You may see a common pattern evolve relative to all these tips and that is relevancy. Relevancy improves conversion. We don't care about traffic we care about conversions. The good thing with Search Engine Optimization is that you web pages have to be relevant in order to get on the first page of the search results. Search engine traffic is proven to convert at a higher rate than advertised traffic. Being on the first page of Google builds credibility in your visitors mind and credibility converts to sales.
Forums
Forums are a wonderful place to research a market and find keywords to advertise with. Beyond that on the forums people discuss various challenges they have relative to any given subject. Your job is to help by providing information that will address their needs. Contribute to the forums in a helpful manner then provide a link on your signature that shows them the details on how best to achieve the result they are looking for. Once again this kind of traffic converts.
Link Sharing.
Sharing your links with other webmasters who have similar content to yours. I know I sound like a parrot but it will benefit all parties concerned if your links are placed on relevant websites with relevant information. You do not see vegetarian foods been advertised in a butchers shop.
Online Video.
This is fast becoming popular. It is said these days that video is being searched online over sixty percent of the time. All you need to do is make a quick video that can either have dramatic or humorous content then display a link to your website where they can learn more.
Web 2.0
Sounds like something out of Star Trek but basically these are sites that provide a social and interactive environment. Set up a page about your self and your interests then have a link back to your site where you go into detail relevant to your described interests. Once again aim to build a list form this traffic that way you will generate more sales.
Classified Advertising.
Once again, this can be tricky but I have a little tip for you that will make all the difference. Set up a US Free Ads account then create a classified add that has 200 hundred characters or more that targets your desired keyword. Look for keywords relevant to your offer that have low competition.
Then put the keyword in the title and sprinkle it throughout the copy. The beauty of this is that not only will you get page views from your add but you will also find your page will get picked up by Google providing you with free search engine traffic.
Press Release.
If you have just build a new site that offers a product or service, get a press release written about it then distribute the press release. Make sure it has your desired keyword in the title and once again spread throughout the copy. This will then get picked up by the search engines but not only that it will also provide relevant links back to your site from various different news outlets online.
To conclude work smart not hard.
Guest Post by Sem Gorilla, a search engine marketing and search engine optimization book explaining how to generate top positions in the major search engines.
There is one thing I would like to clear up first before sharing those tips with you. Many webmasters and internet marketers alike often complain about been unable to drive traffic to their site.
This is understandable because without traffic, your site will not make money. What I want to make clear is this. Getting traffic to your site is not the problem; the problem is getting that traffic to convert to sales.
We can all go out and buy lots of traffic which none of us minds doing if we get a return on our investment. On the other hand, if we do not then we find ourselves in a difficult predicament. That is why in the title I wanted to discuss the difference between quality traffic and traffic that does not convert.
Pay Per Click.
This is one of the fastest ways to get traffic to your site. The down side is that is costs money. If your site does nothing to build a relationship with your visitors then I am afraid you will have a hard time making this profitable. You need to be building a list from this traffic and you need to communicate with that list by providing valuable information that they can apply to their needs immediately. Then once they start to see results, they will buy products from you. This is a fact and it has been proven time and again to work.
Article Marketing.
Article marketing is not just about writing articles with links pointed back to your site. When it comes to article marketing you need to have good titles with relevant information that addresses the reader's needs. Then you need to have a link back to a webpage that once again provides relevant information and genuinely helps your visitor to overcome their problem. Once again always be building a list as this enables you to build a relationship with your visitors and from this your traffic will convert to more sales.
Ezine Advertising.
This can prove to be very effective depending upon the ezine you advertise in. Research is critical so as to ensure that the ezine has targeted traffic relevant to your offer and additionally has a large number of readers who trust and respect the ezine that they read. Relevancy is critical here in order to convert traffic to sales.
Search Engine Optimization.
This strategy is a more a long term approach however is it effective. You may see a common pattern evolve relative to all these tips and that is relevancy. Relevancy improves conversion. We don't care about traffic we care about conversions. The good thing with Search Engine Optimization is that you web pages have to be relevant in order to get on the first page of the search results. Search engine traffic is proven to convert at a higher rate than advertised traffic. Being on the first page of Google builds credibility in your visitors mind and credibility converts to sales.
Forums
Forums are a wonderful place to research a market and find keywords to advertise with. Beyond that on the forums people discuss various challenges they have relative to any given subject. Your job is to help by providing information that will address their needs. Contribute to the forums in a helpful manner then provide a link on your signature that shows them the details on how best to achieve the result they are looking for. Once again this kind of traffic converts.
Link Sharing.
Sharing your links with other webmasters who have similar content to yours. I know I sound like a parrot but it will benefit all parties concerned if your links are placed on relevant websites with relevant information. You do not see vegetarian foods been advertised in a butchers shop.
Online Video.
This is fast becoming popular. It is said these days that video is being searched online over sixty percent of the time. All you need to do is make a quick video that can either have dramatic or humorous content then display a link to your website where they can learn more.
Web 2.0
Sounds like something out of Star Trek but basically these are sites that provide a social and interactive environment. Set up a page about your self and your interests then have a link back to your site where you go into detail relevant to your described interests. Once again aim to build a list form this traffic that way you will generate more sales.
Classified Advertising.
Once again, this can be tricky but I have a little tip for you that will make all the difference. Set up a US Free Ads account then create a classified add that has 200 hundred characters or more that targets your desired keyword. Look for keywords relevant to your offer that have low competition.
Then put the keyword in the title and sprinkle it throughout the copy. The beauty of this is that not only will you get page views from your add but you will also find your page will get picked up by Google providing you with free search engine traffic.
Press Release.
If you have just build a new site that offers a product or service, get a press release written about it then distribute the press release. Make sure it has your desired keyword in the title and once again spread throughout the copy. This will then get picked up by the search engines but not only that it will also provide relevant links back to your site from various different news outlets online.
To conclude work smart not hard.
Guest Post by Sem Gorilla, a search engine marketing and search engine optimization book explaining how to generate top positions in the major search engines.
Why Trackbacks are Useful For Blogs
If not, that’s alright, as most people don’t quite understand how trackbacks work and why they are useful for a blog. In this newsletter, we’re going to go over trackbacks—what they are, how they work, why they are important to blog traffic, and how to get more trackbacks. After you’ve read this, you’ll know practically everything there is to know about trackbacks.
What are trackbacks?
The concept of trackbacks is a bit hard to explain. So we’ll use an example to explain it in the best way possible.
OK, say you see a great blog post on another person’s blog and want to link to it on your blog. You could do this the old-fashioned way by manually putting a link on your site to that blog. However, if you do it this way, the person whose blog post you are linking to won’t know that you are linking to them unless you tell them.
This is where trackbacks come in. A trackback is a program which will notify the owner of a blog when one of their posts has been linked to at another blog.
How do they work?
A blog that has a trackback system set up will have a link at the bottom of every blog post. This link will say something like “Blog This!” Anyone who clicks the link can then put a link to that blog post on their site. The person who posted the original blog will then be notified via email that their blog posting has been linked to. Additionally, the link that was clicked(“Blog This!”) will change to “Trackbacks”. From that point forward, the “Trackbacks” link will keep track of how many people have chosen to blog about that particular post. So after the first trackback, it will say “Trackbacks: 1”. The number of trackbacks recorded will be updated as they occur.
Why are trackbacks important to blog traffic?
The easy answer is that trackbacks are important because they increase awareness of your blog. Trackbacks also make a blog seem more credible. After all, people have to think your posts are good enough to be trackbacked.
Anytime a person makes a trackback on your blog, they make a post on their own blog about your blog. This, in turn, lets their readers know about your blog. Chances are, their readers will want to visit your blog to see what the big deal is. If they see something on your blog that they like, they’ll keep coming back for more, which means you’ll have a whole new fanbase of readers. That means more traffic for your blog.
Can you imagine what would happen if 5 different bloggers trackbacked a post on your blog? Depending on how popular their blog is, that’s potentially as much as hundreds of new readers for your blog! Pretty incredible, right?
Also, every trackback made, assuming it is a legitimate one (and some trackbacks are spam, especially if they are there only to link to another site) adds credibility to your blog. Blogs with high amounts of trackbacks look credible because lots of people like the posts enough to trackback them.
How can I increase the number of trackbacks I get?
The easiest and best way to increase trackbacks is to frequently post. If you post frequently (2-3 times a week), people will have quite a few posts that they can trackback. However, it is important to make sure that your posts are of a good quality. Quality blog posts are those that people can relate to and are easy to read. If you post a long boring rant, people probably won’t want to trackback that. But if you post a decent sized rant that is entertaining (and that people are likely to agree with), you’ll get trackbacked.
The number of trackbacks you get is totally dependent on the number of visitors your blog receives and how frequently you are able to make quality posts. If you’ve got a good amount of visitors and write good blog posts, you’ll get trackbacks.
Trackbacks are a wonderful thing for every blog. You are able to know when your blog posting has been posted about at another blog, plus you potentially gain more visitors. It’s a win-win situation for you!
Guest Post by Terry Detty, 42 and genuinely happy individual, enjoys all aspects of internet marketing and occasionally enjoys going out for a brisk walk. fix my credit.
What are trackbacks?
The concept of trackbacks is a bit hard to explain. So we’ll use an example to explain it in the best way possible.
OK, say you see a great blog post on another person’s blog and want to link to it on your blog. You could do this the old-fashioned way by manually putting a link on your site to that blog. However, if you do it this way, the person whose blog post you are linking to won’t know that you are linking to them unless you tell them.
This is where trackbacks come in. A trackback is a program which will notify the owner of a blog when one of their posts has been linked to at another blog.
How do they work?
A blog that has a trackback system set up will have a link at the bottom of every blog post. This link will say something like “Blog This!” Anyone who clicks the link can then put a link to that blog post on their site. The person who posted the original blog will then be notified via email that their blog posting has been linked to. Additionally, the link that was clicked(“Blog This!”) will change to “Trackbacks”. From that point forward, the “Trackbacks” link will keep track of how many people have chosen to blog about that particular post. So after the first trackback, it will say “Trackbacks: 1”. The number of trackbacks recorded will be updated as they occur.
Why are trackbacks important to blog traffic?
The easy answer is that trackbacks are important because they increase awareness of your blog. Trackbacks also make a blog seem more credible. After all, people have to think your posts are good enough to be trackbacked.
Anytime a person makes a trackback on your blog, they make a post on their own blog about your blog. This, in turn, lets their readers know about your blog. Chances are, their readers will want to visit your blog to see what the big deal is. If they see something on your blog that they like, they’ll keep coming back for more, which means you’ll have a whole new fanbase of readers. That means more traffic for your blog.
Can you imagine what would happen if 5 different bloggers trackbacked a post on your blog? Depending on how popular their blog is, that’s potentially as much as hundreds of new readers for your blog! Pretty incredible, right?
Also, every trackback made, assuming it is a legitimate one (and some trackbacks are spam, especially if they are there only to link to another site) adds credibility to your blog. Blogs with high amounts of trackbacks look credible because lots of people like the posts enough to trackback them.
How can I increase the number of trackbacks I get?
The easiest and best way to increase trackbacks is to frequently post. If you post frequently (2-3 times a week), people will have quite a few posts that they can trackback. However, it is important to make sure that your posts are of a good quality. Quality blog posts are those that people can relate to and are easy to read. If you post a long boring rant, people probably won’t want to trackback that. But if you post a decent sized rant that is entertaining (and that people are likely to agree with), you’ll get trackbacked.
The number of trackbacks you get is totally dependent on the number of visitors your blog receives and how frequently you are able to make quality posts. If you’ve got a good amount of visitors and write good blog posts, you’ll get trackbacks.
Trackbacks are a wonderful thing for every blog. You are able to know when your blog posting has been posted about at another blog, plus you potentially gain more visitors. It’s a win-win situation for you!
Guest Post by Terry Detty, 42 and genuinely happy individual, enjoys all aspects of internet marketing and occasionally enjoys going out for a brisk walk. fix my credit.
Labels:
blog traffic,
blogging,
building traffic,
link building,
trackbacks,
web traffic
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Value of your Link Partners
Good link partners are vital to the growth of your website. Without good link partners you won’t be ranked highly in the search engines, and you won’t receive the traffic you need to gain new customers and make new sales. Building high-quality links to your website helps it to succeed.
Websites that maintain good incoming links will get many targeted visitors from their link partners. These link partners are also a good source of information and can offer value for the visitors that come to your website more often. The idea behind link partners is to find web sites with complementary content so that you enhance your web site. For example, if you sell computers, it wouldn't be a bad idea to link to a site that sells printers.
Linking to your competitors is much more dangerous. The fact of the matter is that when you link to your competitors you are handing them your business. They may be handing some of theirs back to you, but the trade off simply isn't worth it. If you are in a situation where it is your product or theirs, do not link to them. Aside from the obvious issue of losing business to their site, you may even lose the returning link if you don't keep an eye on it.
When dealing with link partners, there’s virtually no point unless you get reciprocal links. These links make your website look good, as well as getting you targeted traffic from users clicking on the links. When you are optimizing your site for key words, however, it is important to link to sites that provide more information regarding the content that you have provided. In cases like this, the link is already helping you. If you get a returning link in addition it's like killing two birds with one stone.
With good-quality incoming links, you will benefit greatly from the increased traffic to your site. Most major search engines’ rankings are at least partly based on the number of quality links pointing to your website. Google, HotBot, AltaVista, MSN, Inktomi and more all use link popularity in their formula for calculating rankings.
The value of your link partner's sites will be very important, as many of the search engines use this in determining how relevant your site is to the terms that are being searched on. A site with a page rank below three generally isn’t worth exchanging links with. Then again, if the site is on its way up, it might be a good idea to get in on the ground floor. If you are curious as to whether a site is going to be accumulating a higher page rank in a short period of time try going to http://www.iwebtool.com/rank and punching the site’s URL into the “backlink” tool or the “page rank predictor.” These will show you how many links the site has going to them and will let you know what the page rank could be within the next three months.
You must always keep an eye on the value, and use value-for-value exchanges only. Make sure that your link doesn’t get removed from any sites you link to, and remove your own link to them if it does. Many people will agree to link with you and then remove your link after a week or two. If you leave your site linked to them, then they’re the only one benefiting.
Good link partners are hard to find, and it will take some time for them to respond. You may have to contact them more than once, and probably won’t take you seriously if you just ask them to trade you links. It is important to provide them with information relating to your company and let them know why your link will be worth while to them. If you are serious about SEO, you will be able to let them know that you expect your page rank to explode within the next few months and you may be able to accumulate links this way.
It’s important for to make sure that you links are checked on a regular basis. Of course you don’t have much control over the incoming links, but you can still do whatever you want with the outgoing ones. You should immediately remove any links that don’t work, as they can and will bring your search engine rankings down.
By understanding how link partnering works and maintaining good quality links on your website, you can increase your targeted traffic and improve your sales. After all, isn’t that the whole point of having an online business? Just remember that your website, like any other business, takes time and effort to make it succeed, and any little way you can speed up the process is good – as long as it’s not against the rules, of course.
Websites that maintain good incoming links will get many targeted visitors from their link partners. These link partners are also a good source of information and can offer value for the visitors that come to your website more often. The idea behind link partners is to find web sites with complementary content so that you enhance your web site. For example, if you sell computers, it wouldn't be a bad idea to link to a site that sells printers.
Linking to your competitors is much more dangerous. The fact of the matter is that when you link to your competitors you are handing them your business. They may be handing some of theirs back to you, but the trade off simply isn't worth it. If you are in a situation where it is your product or theirs, do not link to them. Aside from the obvious issue of losing business to their site, you may even lose the returning link if you don't keep an eye on it.
When dealing with link partners, there’s virtually no point unless you get reciprocal links. These links make your website look good, as well as getting you targeted traffic from users clicking on the links. When you are optimizing your site for key words, however, it is important to link to sites that provide more information regarding the content that you have provided. In cases like this, the link is already helping you. If you get a returning link in addition it's like killing two birds with one stone.
With good-quality incoming links, you will benefit greatly from the increased traffic to your site. Most major search engines’ rankings are at least partly based on the number of quality links pointing to your website. Google, HotBot, AltaVista, MSN, Inktomi and more all use link popularity in their formula for calculating rankings.
The value of your link partner's sites will be very important, as many of the search engines use this in determining how relevant your site is to the terms that are being searched on. A site with a page rank below three generally isn’t worth exchanging links with. Then again, if the site is on its way up, it might be a good idea to get in on the ground floor. If you are curious as to whether a site is going to be accumulating a higher page rank in a short period of time try going to http://www.iwebtool.com/rank and punching the site’s URL into the “backlink” tool or the “page rank predictor.” These will show you how many links the site has going to them and will let you know what the page rank could be within the next three months.
You must always keep an eye on the value, and use value-for-value exchanges only. Make sure that your link doesn’t get removed from any sites you link to, and remove your own link to them if it does. Many people will agree to link with you and then remove your link after a week or two. If you leave your site linked to them, then they’re the only one benefiting.
Good link partners are hard to find, and it will take some time for them to respond. You may have to contact them more than once, and probably won’t take you seriously if you just ask them to trade you links. It is important to provide them with information relating to your company and let them know why your link will be worth while to them. If you are serious about SEO, you will be able to let them know that you expect your page rank to explode within the next few months and you may be able to accumulate links this way.
It’s important for to make sure that you links are checked on a regular basis. Of course you don’t have much control over the incoming links, but you can still do whatever you want with the outgoing ones. You should immediately remove any links that don’t work, as they can and will bring your search engine rankings down.
By understanding how link partnering works and maintaining good quality links on your website, you can increase your targeted traffic and improve your sales. After all, isn’t that the whole point of having an online business? Just remember that your website, like any other business, takes time and effort to make it succeed, and any little way you can speed up the process is good – as long as it’s not against the rules, of course.
Guest Post by the owner of the free service http://www.Linkserp.com where you can exchange for one way links with other website owners automatically without pouring over the web looking for valuable link partners
The Top Ten Most Effective Tips To Drive Converting Traffic To Your Website
There is one thing I would like to clear up first before sharing those tips with you. Many webmasters and internet marketers alike often complain about been unable to drive traffic to their site.
This is understandable because without traffic, your site will not make money. What I want to make clear is this. Getting traffic to your site is not the problem; the problem is getting that traffic to convert to sales.
We can all go out and buy lots of traffic which none of us minds doing if we get a return on our investment. On the other hand, if we do not then we find ourselves in a difficult predicament. That is why in the title I wanted to discuss the difference between quality traffic and traffic that does not convert.
Pay Per Click.
This is one of the fastest ways to get traffic to your site. The down side is that is costs money. If your site does nothing to build a relationship with your visitors then I am afraid you will have a hard time making this profitable. You need to be building a list from this traffic and you need to communicate with that list by providing valuable information that they can apply to their needs immediately. Then once they start to see results, they will buy products from you. This is a fact and it has been proven time and again to work.
Article Marketing.
Article marketing is not just about writing articles with links pointed back to your site. When it comes to article marketing you need to have good titles with relevant information that addresses the reader's needs. Then you need to have a link back to a webpage that once again provides relevant information and genuinely helps your visitor to overcome their problem. Once again always be building a list as this enables you to build a relationship with your visitors and from this your traffic will convert to more sales.
Ezine Advertising.
This can prove to be very effective depending upon the ezine you advertise in. Research is critical so as to ensure that the ezine has targeted traffic relevant to your offer and additionally has a large number of readers who trust and respect the ezine that they read. Relevancy is critical here in order to convert traffic to sales.
Search Engine Optimization.
This strategy is a more a long term approach however is it effective. You may see a common pattern evolve relative to all these tips and that is relevancy. Relevancy improves conversion. We don't care about traffic we care about conversions. The good thing with Search Engine Optimization is that you web pages have to be relevant in order to get on the first page of the search results. Search engine traffic is proven to convert at a higher rate than advertised traffic. Being on the first page of Google builds credibility in your visitors mind and credibility converts to sales.
Forums
Forums are a wonderful place to research a market and find keywords to advertise with. Beyond that on the forums people discuss various challenges they have relative to any given subject. Your job is to help by providing information that will address their needs. Contribute to the forums in a helpful manner then provide a link on your signature that shows them the details on how best to achieve the result they are looking for. Once again this kind of traffic converts.
Link Sharing.
Sharing your links with other webmasters who have similar content to yours. I know I sound like a parrot but it will benefit all parties concerned if your links are placed on relevant websites with relevant information. You do not see vegetarian foods been advertised in a butchers shop.
Online Video.
This is fast becoming popular. It is said these days that video is being searched online over sixty percent of the time. All you need to do is make a quick video that can either have dramatic or humorous content then display a link to your website where they can learn more.
Web 2.0
Sounds like something out of Star Trek but basically these are sites that provide a social and interactive environment. Set up a page about your self and your interests then have a link back to your site where you go into detail relevant to your described interests. Once again aim to build a list form this traffic that way you will generate more sales.
Classified Advertising.
Once again, this can be tricky but I have a little tip for you that will make all the difference. Set up a US Free Ads account then create a classified add that has 200 hundred characters or more that targets your desired keyword. Look for keywords relevant to your offer that have low competition.
Then put the keyword in the title and sprinkle it throughout the copy. The beauty of this is that not only will you get page views from your add but you will also find your page will get picked up by Google providing you with free search engine traffic.
Press Release.
If you have just build a new site that offers a product or service, get a press release written about it then distribute the press release. Make sure it has your desired keyword in the title and once again spread throughout the copy. This will then get picked up by the search engines but not only that it will also provide relevant links back to your site from various different news outlets online.
To conclude work smart not hard.
This is understandable because without traffic, your site will not make money. What I want to make clear is this. Getting traffic to your site is not the problem; the problem is getting that traffic to convert to sales.
We can all go out and buy lots of traffic which none of us minds doing if we get a return on our investment. On the other hand, if we do not then we find ourselves in a difficult predicament. That is why in the title I wanted to discuss the difference between quality traffic and traffic that does not convert.
Pay Per Click.
This is one of the fastest ways to get traffic to your site. The down side is that is costs money. If your site does nothing to build a relationship with your visitors then I am afraid you will have a hard time making this profitable. You need to be building a list from this traffic and you need to communicate with that list by providing valuable information that they can apply to their needs immediately. Then once they start to see results, they will buy products from you. This is a fact and it has been proven time and again to work.
Article Marketing.
Article marketing is not just about writing articles with links pointed back to your site. When it comes to article marketing you need to have good titles with relevant information that addresses the reader's needs. Then you need to have a link back to a webpage that once again provides relevant information and genuinely helps your visitor to overcome their problem. Once again always be building a list as this enables you to build a relationship with your visitors and from this your traffic will convert to more sales.
Ezine Advertising.
This can prove to be very effective depending upon the ezine you advertise in. Research is critical so as to ensure that the ezine has targeted traffic relevant to your offer and additionally has a large number of readers who trust and respect the ezine that they read. Relevancy is critical here in order to convert traffic to sales.
Search Engine Optimization.
This strategy is a more a long term approach however is it effective. You may see a common pattern evolve relative to all these tips and that is relevancy. Relevancy improves conversion. We don't care about traffic we care about conversions. The good thing with Search Engine Optimization is that you web pages have to be relevant in order to get on the first page of the search results. Search engine traffic is proven to convert at a higher rate than advertised traffic. Being on the first page of Google builds credibility in your visitors mind and credibility converts to sales.
Forums
Forums are a wonderful place to research a market and find keywords to advertise with. Beyond that on the forums people discuss various challenges they have relative to any given subject. Your job is to help by providing information that will address their needs. Contribute to the forums in a helpful manner then provide a link on your signature that shows them the details on how best to achieve the result they are looking for. Once again this kind of traffic converts.
Link Sharing.
Sharing your links with other webmasters who have similar content to yours. I know I sound like a parrot but it will benefit all parties concerned if your links are placed on relevant websites with relevant information. You do not see vegetarian foods been advertised in a butchers shop.
Online Video.
This is fast becoming popular. It is said these days that video is being searched online over sixty percent of the time. All you need to do is make a quick video that can either have dramatic or humorous content then display a link to your website where they can learn more.
Web 2.0
Sounds like something out of Star Trek but basically these are sites that provide a social and interactive environment. Set up a page about your self and your interests then have a link back to your site where you go into detail relevant to your described interests. Once again aim to build a list form this traffic that way you will generate more sales.
Classified Advertising.
Once again, this can be tricky but I have a little tip for you that will make all the difference. Set up a US Free Ads account then create a classified add that has 200 hundred characters or more that targets your desired keyword. Look for keywords relevant to your offer that have low competition.
Then put the keyword in the title and sprinkle it throughout the copy. The beauty of this is that not only will you get page views from your add but you will also find your page will get picked up by Google providing you with free search engine traffic.
Press Release.
If you have just build a new site that offers a product or service, get a press release written about it then distribute the press release. Make sure it has your desired keyword in the title and once again spread throughout the copy. This will then get picked up by the search engines but not only that it will also provide relevant links back to your site from various different news outlets online.
To conclude work smart not hard.
Guest Post by the author of Sem Gorilla, a search engine marketing and search engine optimization book explaining how to generate top positions in the major search engines.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Domain Names with No Traffic
The question about what to do with domain names in our company portfolio that were not seeing any traffic started with a simple experiment with two example domain names. Both had seen almost no traffic, direct navigation or otherwise, they were not indexed in any search engine and there was no development or promotional plans for either one.
The simple act of creating a single index page and posting about the work on one or more employee blog’s during lunch immediately caused them to get indexed and created around 10 inbound links to each domain name without any further effort.
But still no traffic.
So I’m going to take it upon myself to expand the scope of the traffic experiment and add 10 other non performing domain names from the company portfolio into the mix. 7 of which have seen less than 5 page views in the last four months, and all of which have seen less than 10 page views in the same time frame.
I have to admit that 7 are already indexed from being included in our companies website on the portfolio page despite being parked.
I’ll start by building a single index page for each and submitting them to the search engines to be spidered. The earlier this process begins the better and the earlier a domain name is included in .
I’ll prepare a development and promotional plan for each domain name as well as a set goal on a limited timeline.
Then it's just a matter of Develop and Promote.
The simple act of creating a single index page and posting about the work on one or more employee blog’s during lunch immediately caused them to get indexed and created around 10 inbound links to each domain name without any further effort.
But still no traffic.
So I’m going to take it upon myself to expand the scope of the traffic experiment and add 10 other non performing domain names from the company portfolio into the mix. 7 of which have seen less than 5 page views in the last four months, and all of which have seen less than 10 page views in the same time frame.
I have to admit that 7 are already indexed from being included in our companies website on the portfolio page despite being parked.
I’ll start by building a single index page for each and submitting them to the search engines to be spidered. The earlier this process begins the better and the earlier a domain name is included in .
I’ll prepare a development and promotional plan for each domain name as well as a set goal on a limited timeline.
Then it's just a matter of Develop and Promote.
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