Tag: Blogging

Posted on

Tips for Setting Up Your Blog

I found  a blog post that I thought was just brilliant.  Number one because the topic was interesting, and number two, because the post itself encouraged you to read further into the blog.

The post is Blog Setup: 40 Practical Tips.  The title itself is great, it is interesting and Google is going to love it.  Notice how the keywords come first, very important for SEO.  The post caught my eye because I am always looking for tips on how to set up a blog.  I am always starting new blogs, and anything that makes blogging easier or more profitable is of interest to me.

Opening the post I was surprised to find 40 links dealing with all sorts of blog topics.  Now I was just a bit annoyed that I would have to do more clicking to get the information I was after, but I had to admire the technique.   For the most part the links were to other posts in the same blog, but some were to outside posts.  All look interesting and I am going to be spending some time checking out the links.

The links were organized by topic. I found that very helpful, it is easy to get put off by a long list of random links.  With the links organized into sections it was easy to jump from topic to topic. For instance, I skipped right over the basics and went straight to the section on SEO and analytics.  Someone just starting out would probably start with the links on how to choose a hosting account.

All in all a great post from many different stand points. I think it is a format that I will be using in the future!

Posted on

Create a Free Blog

Visit the forums and you will find that the debate rages on. Is it better to use a free blog service, or pay for your own domain and hosting? In my opinion the answer is both!

The biggest advantage to having a self hosted blog is that you have the most control over your blog. You can post the ads you want and the content you want.And when you you use a provider such as Hostgator or GoDaddy you can rest assured you will have reliable hosting without too much downtime.

But there are advantages to using a free host. The number one advantage is that it is free! Free blogs are a great way to test the water of blogging. Try it out and get some experience before you actually pay money to blog. Free hosts are also a useful source of backlinks to your regular blogs.

There are some downsides to free hosts. Some will place ads on your sites. Some will not allow you to place your own ads on your site. Read the terms of service carefully and make sure that the host you choose will meet your needs.

Following is a list of free host sites. My favorite, just because it is small and I know the owner is Blogging4Life. My blog there is Katalina Online. Have fun creating your free blogs!

Blogging4life.com
Freeblogs.org
FreeBlogIt.com
Blog.com
MyBlogSite.com
informationjunkie.net
blogsome.com
weebly.com
wordpress.com
blogger.com
livejournal.com
theblogs.net
thoughts.com
webnode.com
blog.co.uk
freeblog.org.uk
bravenet.com
yola.com
webs.com
bloguni.com
sosblog.com
wix.com
doodlekit.com
vox.com
tumblr.com
blogskinny.com
blogeasy.com
blogr.com

 

Posted on

Finding Content for Your Blog

Knowing that I really needed to get a post up that had nothing to do with my December giveaway, and actually had something to do with blogging, I went searching eZine Articles for something to put up here fast. When you are rushed for time it is an appealing idea, and I have to admit I have done it more than once. It is not hard to tell on my blogs, I follow the rules and leave all the links. Usually it is a simple task. Select an article, cut, paste, done.

It didn’t work that way today. First off, most of the articles on blogging were “How To Get Rich Blogging” articles. I don’t believe many of the authors have actually gotten rich from blogging, so I am not all that interested in whatever affiliate program they are pushing. The rest of the articles were just rehashes of the same old stuff. Anyone who has been blogging for more than a week probably knows to find a niche, write great content, and write often. If they have been blogging for a month they probably have guessed that SEO is important, (even if they don’t know what that is, or if like me, they would rather write for readers than search engines!), pictures make your posts pop (apparently pictures of scantily clad women are best, even if your post is about SEO). Then there is always the self hosted vs free hosting discussion. Go ahead and bash whatever you are not doing.

So, because I have no time, the best thing to do is waste time, I go blog hopping. Entrecard is good for this. I’ll just do a little widget surfing and maybe some blog out there will give me inspiration and help me to write the post that Diggers will Digg, Stumblers will Stumble, and the almighty Google will put in the #1 position of every search. In addition the readers of this remarkable post will click every sponsored link and buy every affiliate product, making me an overnight millionaire.

I know my standards were high and I was asking the impossible. But it is hard to be inspired by a post on “I’m sorry I haven’t been posting”. Or the, “I need original content so I will scrap this post and run it through Google translator a couple times and the resulting gibberish is sure to bring tons of readers and instant wealth” posts. And the inevitable “make money online” posts.

Of course, my favorite posts are the ones on mesotheliomia. Because when someone clicks on an ad for mesotheliomia it pays really well so even if my blog has nothing to do with mesotheliomia I will make sure that I use the word mesotheliomia lots, because using high paying keywords, like mesotheliomia, are the best way to instant riches. (Of course it might help if I knew how to spell mesotheliomia.)

So, my poor readers, still believing that any post is better than no post, I have subjected you to over 500 words of pretty useless ranting. But I know that I read somewhere that between 525 and 550 word posts are the best for SEO, keywords and instant riches, so I’ll just leave it at that!

Posted on

What All Entrecard Users Have in Common?

In a previous article I mentioned some of the most popular niches among Entrecard users. However, this time I’d like to bring to your attention another aspect of the Entrecard community: something that all users have in common.

I know that trying to analyse thousands of people as a whole may be complicated. Anyone slightly familiar with Internet marketing concepts knows that we should preferably target niches. Still, I insist: despite the several divisions, niches and subniches that you can identify on the Entrecard directory, there is one way to address the entire community’s need at once.

All Entrecard users want traffic

Regardless of niche and personal preferences, what all Entrecarders want is traffic, above all else. It doesn’t matter what they want this traffic for. It may be for money making purposes, or for fame, or just to find more people to exchange views… Whatever they want, doesn’t change the fact that traffic is the way to achieve it.

Entrecard is such a successful site exactly because it meets its users’ expectations. Moreover, it’s reliable, unlike many other suspicious traffic generating offers that you may find all over the Internet.

What can you do about this simple lesson?

1. Use this as a model when you need to analyze large groups of consumers. See what needs they have in common. While smaller groups are easier to understand, it’s always possible to look at the big picture.

2. Leverage Entrecard’s userbase. One site that has been successfully doing it is BlogEngage. It would have taken me much longer to find this site if it wasn’t for all the Entrecard spots that it buys on several blogs. And note that BlogEngage is also another traffic generating site. It’s a perfect match for Entrecarders.

3. Create your own traffic generating service. There are thousands of webmasters and bloggers out there waiting for good promotional tools. Entrecard does have some competitors, but none of them has managed to become as popular. Can you take this challenge and create a better solution?

I have more Entrecard-related tips to share with you. Subscribe to The WebMaster Blog so you don’t miss any future post. And remember that by subscribing you’ll have the chance to win several prizes in our contest. Click here to learn more about it.

Posted on

A Little More Cash

The world economy is at a downfall, and while the prices of goods and services continue to rise, many people receive the same salary; or at the worst case lose their jobs. Many of us are desperate for more money, and as a result, turn to the Internet for revenue. Unfortunately, it is easy to fall victim to numerous online scams.

Enter the blog. Admittedly, making money online is getting more difficult because of the sheer volume of people who already do it. But it CAN be done. The blog is a great money-making tool. You can choose to start a blog for free, or, you may choose to spend a modest amount on hosting, design, etc. ( See our previous series on Free Hosting) Either way your are opening doors of opportunities that were not previously available to you. Blog monetization comes in several forms, from advertisements to sponsored posts to affiliate marketing. Problogger is a perfect example of a monetized blog.

One small thing for the upstart to avoid scams: you do not have to pay anything to make money! Find a suitable niche, start a blog, create great content, and optimize; pretty soon you’ll be earning money to augment your resources.

Posted on

Need Comments On Your Blog? Get Entrecard Now!

entrecard and sezwho logos

What is it that most new bloggers want the most? Traffic. What comes second? Comments. Now, with the partnership between Entrecard and SezWho, bloggers can have both.

The WebMaster Blog has been using Entrecard since our beginning. It is a great way to bring traffic to a new blog, and to get yourself noticed. But traffic alone is not enough. Many Entrecard visitors stay at your site only as long as it takes to drop a card, and then they move on. Now this is perfectly fine with the WebMaster Blog. Maybe we haven’t posted something new, maybe you are trying to make your 300 drop day, it’s all good! But for a blog to really thrive you need visitors who will stop a moment to read your blog (and your ads!) and maybe even leave a comment. This is where SezWho comes in.

SezWho is a comment platform that will encourage readers to leave comments on your blog. By leaving comments, readers can earn Entrecard credits. How many credits depends on how well the comment is rated. This discourages spam comments, and commenting just for the sake of commenting! Comments are rated by both readers and blog owners. Comments with higher ratings earn more credits than comments with lower rating.

I have been pleased with the traffic that Entrecard has brought to the WebMaster Blog, and I am looking forward to the quality comments that SezWho will bring.

For more on the Partnership between Entrecard and SezWho read this post on the Entrecard Blog.

Posted on

How Not To Lose (Too Many) Visitors When You Move Your Site – Part 3

In this final installment, let’s see a few more things that you can do in order to redirect your current audience to a new site address. All of them are related to your site strategy — you have one, right? If you don’t, it’s time to think about it.

Strategic decisions to prevent loss of visitors

1. Use a paid domain. Unlike webhosting, that would be a yearly expense. So, the impact on your budget would be minimal. Besides, many free webhosts allow the use of paid domains. Therefore, register one right from the start if you’re still going to build your website and you prefer to initially have it hosted for free. If your site is already up and running, buy a domain for it as soon as possible and then just announce the new official address. If you’re about to move your site but still haven’t bought a domain, see if you can delay the move for one or two months. Purchase the domain, announce it and give your visitors some time to bookmark it and get used to it while they gradually forget the old free address. Then you’ll be able to move safely.

In any case, keep in mind that you’ll never go wrong when you register your own domain. This is the very best thing you can do to make sure that you won’t lose any visitors, no matter how many times you move your site or blog.

2. Contact your most faithful visitors. If you’re the type who mostly ignores visitors’ emails and comments, I urge you to change your behaviour — unless you don’t want to succeed as a webmaster. Remember that word of muth still works. So, when you move your blog or site, take the time to contact your most loyal visitors, tell them about the new URL and politely ask them to help you spread the word about it. Don’t forget to offer to return the favour when they need; it’s only fair.

3. Don’t close the old site. I entered the meta-blogging universe via WordPress.com. So, yes, my blog was hosted for free — and still is. Although nowadays I use paid webhosting and domains, I’ve never closed that old blog. I rarely update it, but it’s still there, with all its content, subscribers and backlinks. I knew I could move its content to any of my privately hosted blogs, but I chose to continue from where I were at, instead of starting everything again. When I released my new blogging projects, I used that blog to promote them. And whenever I start a new web project, I do the same. Due to this positive experience, it’s obvious that I recommend you do it too.

Of course it won’t always be possible. If your free webhost closes its doors, or if it changes its rules and you can’t comply to the new policies, you won’t be able to follow my suggestion. But if that’s not the case, I advise you to leverage your current site instead of simply killing it in favour of a newer one.

A final piece of advice: don’t feel miserable if you lose part of your audience after switching to another host. Everyone is subject to it. Moreover, the time wasted in whining would be much better spent in promotion and rebuilding.

Now it’s your turn: tell us if you ever had to move a blog or site to a new webhost and what you’ve done to redirect your visitors to the new URL. The comment form is there for you.

You can also subscribe to our blog to make sure that you’ll never miss our future tip series.

Karen Zara has been involved in Internet-based projects since 2002. One of them is Abaminds, a blog for content producers that you can visit by clicking here.

Posted on

Monetizing the Site to Flip It

Alright, alright, so now you have the site and now you’re promoting the site and getting traffic to it, whether it is organic or not organic really not mattering. But, the important thing that I am sure you want to know about is how to monetize the site. I am going to be honest and say that monetization is not just throwing up an Adsense ad and calling it a day. It can be very difficult to monetize a site; however, if you experiment, you can definitely start making money from the site.

Since we are playing around with the idea of a website about the Solar System, I am going to tell you how I would monetize this. If you can think of other ways, that’s fantastic. It is those that can be creative that will make the most money. So, for a Solar System website, you’re probably asking me what to use.

First and foremost, please go ahead and slap up an Adsense ad. However, play around with the colors. If you are getting moderate traffic, play around with the colors and the placement to see which is going to bring the best clicks. Try and place the ads near the content since that’s where the reader’s eyes will probably be. This will give you a CPC means of earning.

Sign up for Clickbank or Commission Junction or any of those and try to find a product that has to do with space. Perhaps promoting a DVD collection about space or something might get you some good affiliate sales. Sure, you may not make much from it, but if you can start getting more and more traffic, this could really help.

Another alternative to this is to use Amazon.com and their affiliate program. Although with the Solar System idea, it won’t make much, the nice thing about it is that they leave a cookie so that if I were to click on an ad on your site and then I buy something else on their site after you directed me to Amazon, you still profit. So, if you’re promoting a book and I buy a 50” TV, all the better for you.

Finally, sign up for John Chow’s TTZ program. I suggest doing this because even if you don’t make a sale, you make money because that’s another CPC. However, since it is products, that can bring in some money for you. Once again, it’ll probably be books and movies about space. It may not bring in much; however, we’re not looking for much.

In the end, what you are looking to do is try and make the site earning about $50 a month. If you can get the site to earn $50 a month, you’re going to definitely bring in a lot when you sell it. However, that’s the final step…How do you sell it? How do you really make the site bring in the most when you sell?

You won’t miss any of this four part series on Flipping a Site if you subscribe to The WebMaster Blog now.

Jacob is an avid guitar player as well as a biology major in college with hopes of becoming a professor. When not blogging on The Webmaster Blog, he is over at his political opinion blog.

Posted on

Bloggeries: A Directory for Blogs

In our continuous efforts to try and increase the ‘findability’ of our blog, sometimes, we do things that don’t make a lot of sense. We submit to random, back-alley directories. We waste so much time buying advertising on blogs that just won’t help us. And, we try out very best to comment on blogs, only to find out that the blogs we’re commenting on really don’t get much traffic. What, oh what, is a blogger to do?

Find Bloggeries. Bloggeries is a directory that specializes in blogs. While other directories have sections for all different kinds of sites, Bloggeries took that extra step and focused in on one thing: a blogger’s desire to be found. And, with a page rank of six and an Alexa of 87K, it’s definitely a site that could be beneficial in your growth to be found.

First and foremost, allow me to comment on the structure and design of the site. Although I don’t really like green for websites (just my own preference), this site does have a calming feel to it and keeps my eyes from growing cataracts. Right on the home page, in the center of the site, we can see a list of each of the sections. For example, there’s a section for science blogs, political blogs, humor blogs, just to name a few. That is exactly the place to have the sections; it makes their customer’s blogs easier to find.

On both sidebars, there are a series of different places you can visit on the Bloggeries’ website. The left sidebar includes the submission button, an affiliate button (which I will touch on later), as well as links to the many different resources Bloggeries offer. They have definitely created a directory that offers everything. Your one stop to being found.

Now comes the question everyone is probably asking. How much do they charge? It all depends on what you want. If you want a featured listing, which is found at the top of the category that you pick, it costs $49.99 annually. Is it worth it? Arguably. It depends if the niche is very populated and you want to get right to the top. However, if you don’t need to be on the top, the other form of getting listed is the regular link, which costs $29.99 once. For that cost, you get your link there for life. Not too bad a deal, if I do say so myself.

To suck you in, they argue that by getting a link from here, you’re increasing your chances of getting indexed because they consider themselves an authority directory. Back when Google went to war against link sellers, they said that authority directories that sold links would still carry weight IF there was a definite screening process. If you didn’t just approve any old blog, you’d still have the ability to carry link weight. Obviously, Bloggeries passed this. Furthermore, they offer much more in your submission. You can get a link right to your RSS feed which is definitely beneficial. Moreso, you get 3-5 deep links. The deeper you go, the longer the reader will stay.

There are numerous other resources found on this site. They have their forum, their recommended blog hosts, and their free WordPress themes. Overall, Bloggeries really is the one stop spot for all your blogging needs. However, one final question must enter your mind before forking over $30 to get a listing.

Is it worth it? Are you blogging to make money in the future? If so, I recommend signing up. Now that I’ve found it, I intend on submitting all of my blogs to the site as well. They’re authority links and we need those to become found. Should it be your only means of promotion, though? It shouldn’t be your first. However, put it on your list of ways to increase your ‘findability.’ It can’t hurt. Try Bloggeries.

Posted on

How Not to Lose (Too Many) Visitors When You Move Your Site – Part 2

In the first part of this new series I wrote about three ways to redirect visitors to a new site. Today I’ll show you that there are also off-site ways to guide your audience towards another destination.

Using various tools to keep in touch with your visitors

1. Update newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with your visitors. If you usually send email alerts to let them know about fresh site content, it’s obvious that you may as well send out a special alert informing everyone about your site’s new address. In case you still haven’t set up an update newsletter, I strongly recommend that you start working on it right now.

2. Forums are great for community-building purposes and also to make a site stickier. Depending on how successful a forum is, it may become more popular than the site it originated from. If you currently use a free webhost for your site or blog, make sure to host your forum on a third party (even if it’s a free one too). Never have both your site and forum hosted by the same free webhosting company. This way, if you need to move your site for reasons that are beyond your control (e. g., your site’s webhost suddenly goes out of business), you’ll still be able to use your forum to communicate with your visitors and let them know about the changes.

3. The same principle can be applied if you keep a site and a blog simultaneously. Do not host both of them on the same free webhosting provider, even if this recommendation appears to be less practical. Use your blog to inform your visitors about your site’s new address and vice-versa.

4. Don’t forget about the sites, forums and blogs that you know your visitors usually read. Update your signatures, leave comments linking to your new URL, sign guestbooks when available… But please, don’t go overboard with those. You don’t want to become a spammer, do you? If you do, all you will manage is to lose your visitors for good.

Can you think of other ways to leverage online tools and communities to direct a site’s visitors to its new address? Feel free to share your tips by leaving your comments on this post.

Did you think I was done with this series? Think again! I want to help you retain and/or recover as many visitors as possible. So I’m going to offer some additional suggestions in my next article. Get it as soon as it’s published by subscribing to our blog.

Karen Zara has been involved in Internet-based projects since 2002. One of them is Abaminds, a blog for content producers that you can visit by clicking here.