Archive for October, 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.
Off-page Search Engine Optimization-Video Marketing
Off-page Search Engine Optimization-Video Marketing
Without any doubt, the traffic story of the last couple of years has been the boom in video marketing. In the same way that you market using articles, you create a video, submit it to one of the major networking sites like YouTube, and send traffic from that video to your site.
Another similarity with using articles to market your site is that making videos is far easier than you might imagine. Creating videos to publicize your business can be as easy or as complex as you want it to be, because effective video marketing does not depend on the quality of the video materials that youre using. What really matters is the message that your video purveys. (Learn how you can sell website to earn money from internet.)
Perhaps the most important thing about using videos to market your business is to make sure that people can find your video in the first place.
To do this is simple. All you need to do is to ensure that the title and description of the video that you upload to the networking site is targeted for your market. It doesnt really matter what is in your video as long as the accompanying information (written things like the title, description and so on) are targeted.
There are many ways that you can make videos to promote your business, and all of them will be equally effective as long as the accompanying information is carefully crafted.
For marketing purposes, you only need a video of two to three minutes duration, because beyond this, viewers will lose focus and concentration.
The simplest way of making, publishing and marketing video is to find half a dozen or so still images that can be pulled together as a video presentation, almost like a PowerPoint presentation (which is another option).
If you have a series of digital images that you can use for this purpose, you can edit them together using a program like Windows Movie Maker, Wax or ZS4 and then publish this video to the network sites. If you dont have a supply of suitable images, see what you can find here.
Alternatively, you can upload your digital images to animoto to create a 30 second video short that can be uploaded to YouTube automatically from within the site. (For great information on flipping websites for making money on the internet.)
You may be able to create a screenshot video if you can demonstrate what it is that you want your visitor to see on your computer. In this case, there is free screen shot video software available at CamStudio that will do a perfectly acceptable job for you.
However, there is no doubt that most of the people who use video networking sites like YouTube do so because they want to be entertained.
Videos that show real people doing stuff are more popular than video montages of still images or screenshot videos. For this reason, if you can create a video of this nature, it is likely to be far more popular.
However, the key to video marketing success lies in making sure that people can find your video, and this comes down to the title, description and keywords tags that you add when you upload your video.
Here is the best way of adding this information when you upload your video, using dog training as our target market, and YouTube:
The first thing to note is that the title is a keyword that we are targeting, and the description is also used to target as many keyword phrases as possible.
In addition, the first line of the description is the URL of the exact page on your site to which you want the video viewer to go after they have finished watching the video. By including the URL in this way, you create an active hyperlink that will be displayed right next to your video every time it is shown. Not only does this make it considerably easier for your video viewer to visit your site, but it also creates a one-way incoming link every time you publish a video, and video networking sites like YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video and Revver are sites that have already acquired very high Google Page Rank.
8 Steps to Higher Search Engine Rankings
8 Steps to Higher Search Engine Rankings
Interested in getting your website in the top 10? You are not alone! (Learn more about a great way to make money from home by flipping websites.)
The world wide web is a great way to gain exposure in whatever you do. Having a website gives you the ability to have publicity and to be seen by people from all over the world.
Just having a website does not get you instant recognition. It is earned by strategically marketing your business and website. Remember, by putting up a website you are immediately entering yourself into a competition. The World Wide Web has become so saturated with websites, it’s nearly impossible to be noticed unless you have a plan.
The easiest way to be found on the web is to be listed in the search engines, such as Google or Yahoo. You can easily do this by paying to be seen by using Google Adwords or Yahoo Marketing. This can be effective, but expensive.
Ultimately, you want to have your website to show up naturally on the front page of the search engines. Follow these 8 simple steps towards optimizing your website and you will see a positive difference in your website ranking. (Learn more about a great way to make money from home by increase traffic website.)
1. Comprise a list of search terms you want people to find your site with. For starters, this should be 3-5 word search strings. i.e. McDowell Mountain Ranch Real Estate or Toledo Organic Dry Cleaners. Something that is specific to your business or hobby.
2. Load your website with original content. Take the time to write the information in your own words. Search engines will not give you credit for someone else’s work.
3. Add the key words from item 1 to your content on several different pages of your website. For example, it is better to have 500 pages with your key words listed once than to have 1 page with your keywords 500 times.
4. Know your target market. Write content that will interest them and bring them back for more.
5. Add fresh content daily or as often as possible. Ideas to keep your site fresh include blogging, writing articles, interviewing people, and adding polls or RSS feeds.
6. Keep your site for an extended period of time. There are many sites that come and go on the world wide web. The longer your site is around, the higher the search engines will rank you.
7. Drive people to your website by sending out flyers, sending out mailers, emails, writing articles, blogging, linking to other sites and gaining as much exposure as possible.
8. Submit your site to the search engines on a monthly basis. There are many search engine submission websites. Some are free and others charge a fee. Google “search engine submissions” to find one you like. Either way, you must submit to the search engines or your site will not be seen.
As your site ages and gets more information, you will see a higher ranking for your website. This does not happen overnight, but by consistently adding information, you will create a website that provides value to the end user. And ultimately, that is what the search engines are looking for Providing good information that the end user wants.
To see an example of a relatively young site, 9 months old, that is getting great recognition - visit www.MMRTrailTalk.com. It is loaded with information that the end users love. The owner has added information on a regular basis and before long, it was loaded with useful information that the consumer loves.
Website are fun to own, work on and benefit from. However, they can take a substantial amount of time. Have a strategy and work your strategy. You will see the best results and have the most satisfaction with your website. Enjoy!