Archive for December, 2009
5 Mistakes That Can Make Your Blog Useless
5 Mistakes That Can Make Your Blog Useless
Too often bloggers complain that after a great start, a year later their blog is as dead as can be. This is a common problem that almost always revolves around a small list of common mistakes made by the blogger. A blogger can sit back and expect the blog to do all of the work for him or her, which is a terrible way to approach blogging. A successful blogger would tell you that great blogging takes a certain amount of dedication and hard effort to make it work. You have to put effort into a blog to sustain it, especially after the first month or so of completing the design. Many people work so hard during the initial design phase that they get lazy after it is complete. To avoid this happening to your blog, check out these five common mistakes that can bury a blog.(Learn more about a great way to make money from home by flipping websites.)
Infrequent Updates
One of the biggest mistakes a blogger can make is to forget about posting. The most successful blogs are updated with new posts at least once a day. Some larger blogs are constantly being updated. You should try to create new posts as often as possible. If you miss a day here and there, it will be no big deal. However, if you miss a week or more without posting, you might as well consider the blog dead already. You have to take a few moments, even as few as five, a day to create interesting posts or content. If you are writing short and concise posts like you should be, this should not be that challenging. It is easy to keep your blog updated, if you make it a priority.
Too Much Advertising
Most bloggers today do want to make a profit from their blog. This is a trend that can get out of control quickly however. If you are interested in adding ads to your blog, do so with caution. There is nothing wrong with a few appropriately places ads that offer viewers links to places that correlate with your blog’s content. However, adding a massive amount of advertisements on your blog is a mistake. If you have a bunch of flashy ads on your blog, your content will get lost within the hoopla. Therefore, you should always limit your ads to three or less per page. Make sure you place them in appropriate places that let your content shine through. Don’t allow enormous ads to fill up your pages either. They will simply annoy readers. Be smart about including advertising on your blog! (For great information on flipping websites for making money on the internet.)
Unprofessional Look
Looks do matter when it comes to your blog. The more professional and crisp your blog looks, the more your readers will take you seriously. If you are interesting in boosting traffic, you should try a more serious layout or presentation for your blog. If you can afford to hire a professional, you should. If you choose to do it yourself however, you must make sure the end product is good. If you have a sloppy blog that looks homemade you will not likely have a great response. Try different layouts and approaches to see what gets you the most traffic.
Graphics Overload
Pictures can add a ton to your blog and draw in more readers. However, when done excessively, much like ads, pictures can drive people away. The main reason too many pictures can ruin a blog is because there are many web surfers who still use slow internet connections. When they try to load your page, it will take an excessively long time to do so. This in turn will likely drive them and anyone else with this problem away. Try limiting to a few pictures per page.
Inappropriate Content
Everyone knows that the web is a place where you can freely express yourself. However, if you want your blog to survive, you might want to think about that freedom of expression. Although you should always say what you feel, you can do so in appropriate manners on your blog. There are ways to say anything on your mind, without using profanity or any offensive lingo. If you want your blog to be successful, you cannot be inappropriate with your content.
On-page Search Engine Optimization - Meta-Tags
On-page Search Engine Optimization - Meta-Tags
Apart from having a domain name that accurately reflects what your site is about, the other main on-page SEO requirement is to have accurate meta-tags, which are elements of the underlying page code that the search engine robots will look for when they visit.
At one time, meta-tags were the #1 most important aspect of SEO, but because many SEO specialists and experts were able to manipulate meta-tags in a way that the search engine people did not like, their value has now been significantly demoted. Indeed, it is generally believed that Google (who are, after all, the number one search engine, commanding just short of 70% of the global search market) pay absolutely no attention to meta-tags. (Learn how you can sell website to earn money from internet.)
However, that leaves 30% of the search engines that do use meta-tags, and it is therefore to your advantage to make sure that they are properly formulated.
The way you would do so will to a certain extent depend on the kind of site that you have built.
If you have coded the site in HTML, then you need to create tags that should look like this:
This is just a sample of the kind of information that you would include in the meta-tags. Fortunately, even if you need to create meta-tags for an HTML page, there are a couple of free meta-tag generators at SEOTools and Free-Webmaster-Tools that you can use to generate perfectly acceptable meta-tags quickly and easily. (Check out this site on how to sell a website at flipmastery.com.)
If on the other hand you are like many other web masters who have a WordPress based site under their SEO-friendly domain name, you should download and install the All-in-One-SEO-Pack plug-in as this will automatically create all of the meta-tags you need.
4 Things ALL Articles Must Have - Don’t Forget!
4 Things ALL Articles Must Have - Don’t Forget!
The importance of articles in today’s websites and internet based companies are immeasurable. They dictate a lot in the success and the drive of traffic into one’s site. It has become a key element in making a site work and earns a profit. A website operator and owner must have the good sense to include articles in his or her site that will work for them and earn them the many benefits articles can give to their site. (For more detailed information on flipping websites as a way to make money on the internet.)
Articles have been known to be the driving force in driving traffic to a website. Articles are a factor in giving site high rankings in search result pages. The higher a site ranks the bigger slice of the traffic flow pie he gets. With a huge number in traffic flow, there are more profits and more potential for other income generating schemes as well.
But, it is not just about stuffing your site with articles; they have certain requirements as well. These requirements must be met to obtain the maximum benefits an article will provide for your site. A well written article will catch the eyes and interest of your customers and keep them coming back for more. They would also be able to recommend your site to others.
Here are some tips to help you and assist you in making your articles. Below you will read about four things all articles must have to make it successful and helpful in making your site a profit earning and traffic overflowing site.
Keywords and Keyword Phrases.
An article must always be centered on the keywords and keyword phrases. As each website visitor goes to a site, there are those who are just merely browsing but actually looking for a specific something. When this happens, a searcher usually goes to a search engine and types in the keywords they are looking for (e.g. Toyota Camry, Meningitis, Tax Lawyer and Etcetera). It could be anything they want. (Learn more about a great way to make money from home by increase traffic website.)
The Important thing is that you have an article that has the keywords that are related to your site. For example, if you maintain an auto parts site, you must be able t have articles about cars and their parts. There are many tools in the internet that provides service in helping a webmaster out in determining what keywords and keyword phrases are mostly sought out. You can use this tool to determine what keywords to use and write about.
Keyword Density
Know that you have your keywords and keyword phrases, you must use them fully. An article must have good keyword density for a search engine to feel its presence. Articles should at least have ten to fifteen percent of keyword density in their content for search engines to rank a site high in their search results. Getting a high rank is what articles do best for a site.
Keyword density is the number of times a keyword or keyword phrase is used on an article. The number varies depending on the number of words used in an article. An effective article must have a keyword density that is not too high or too low. With a very high density, the essence of the article is lost and may turn off a reader as well as the search engines. It comes off as overeager. A low number may be ignored by the search engines.
Good Article Content
Like what is stated above, you cannot just riddle an article with keywords. They must also be regarded as good reading materials. Articles must be able to entertain people as well as provide good information and help for their needs. Articles should be written well with correct spelling and good grammar. If you want people to trust you, make your work good and well thought out.
People respond well to figures, facts and statistics. Try to get great information and as many facts as you can. A good and well written article will boost your reputation as an expert in your chosen field or topic. As more people believe in you. They will be able to trust you and your products.
Linking Articles
And another important thing to remember. If you are going to submit articles to ezines and/or contribute your articles to newsletters and other sites, DON’T ever forget to include a link to your site. A little resource box with a brief description of your site and you should always be placed right after your articles that you have submitted. If people like your articles, they will most likely click on the link directing them to your site.
Off-page Search Engine Optimization-Using RSS
Off-page Search Engine Optimization-Using RSS
One thing that you should not underestimate is the value of turning one-time visitors into regulars. In order to do this, you must be updating the content of your site on a regular basis, but assuming that you do so, you should try to encourage people to come back regularly. (Learn how you can sell website to earn money from internet.)
Perhaps the easiest way of doing this is by using RSS.
RSS stands for really simple syndication which is a way of feeding information to people who subscribe to your site automatically. If you have a Blogger or WordPress blog, or you create podcasts or videos, you can set up an RSS feed that automatically tells your subscribers every time you update your site, and assuming that your content is valuable enough, this should keep your visitors coming back on a regular basis.
Most people use RSS feeds to send a small snippet of information to subscribers as a way of inviting them to visit their site to get the full story. Moreover, because an RSS feed sends out information directly to your subscribers RSS reader, it is a very effective way of getting your message out to people without having to resort to e-mail.
The first thing to do if you want to start using RSS is to burn a feed using a site like Feedburner. Once you have done this, you can install this feed on your Blogger blog using the Subscription Links link that you will find in the drop-down menu that is generated when you click on the add Gadget link from the Blogger Layout screen.
If on the other hand you are using WordPress, you should install the WWSGD plug-in because it will make it incredibly easy for your readers to become subscribers. (Learn more about a great way to make money from home by flipping websites.)
Another thing that you can do with your RSS feed is submit it to the directories.
Once again, the directory listings are going to generate one way incoming links to your site, and we have already established how important these can be.