Today is the last day of 2008 and like every year, Google posted an entry on their blog which summarizes their blogging activity. They have posted some stats on how their blog's popularity has increased. Google Blog is getting visitors from all over the world. Also, this year, the Google team has posted 23% more posts than the last year.
Also, I was astonished to see that Google has launched 44 new blogs this year!
Furthermore, their post also describes some major news and products that they have talked about in their blog. If I were you, I would definitely check out this post and see what Google had been doing in 2008.
Happy New Year!
Posted by Dan at SEO for Blogging.
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The main reason behind Google's success is probably that it cares about what others think. It likes to takes suggestions from its regular users and then use them to its advantage. Many other sites and companies say about take suggestions but they don't usually implement them. Google is a search engine that does and that's why it is so successful.
One way Google likes to hear from its users is through Google Help Forums. It is a place where users can ask questions. Senior users with good knowledge about Google's products can help new members solve problems.
To improve user experience better, Google announced on its blog that it has introduced some new features to its forum. Some of the new features include:
- Ranking system
- Extended user profiles which will reflect your forum activity
- Better search results
- Add ranking to other users for their contribution
If you liked this post, then please subscribe to my RSS Feed or subscribe via email. Thanks. Read the rest of this entry >>
Most web developers are concerned about good hosting services. If you opt for a web hosting service that is located far off, you may get good hosting but for eventual problems you may not be able to secure good service. This is the reason you should opt for web hosting services located in your area. For example, if you are from California, who go away from the ever-growing Californian market of web hosting? As we all know, it is one of the fastest growing web hosting market with a turnover worth millions. No doubt, you should go for the cheap hosting in California.
San Jose, San Francisco, and Los Angeles are three of the top web hosting markets of California, where you can find the best web hosting services available with great local support. Obviously if you are a novice, you do not want to spend extravagantly on your web hosting services initially. This is the reason many people opt for cheap hosting services which include a domain name, storage space and bandwidth in its features.
Cheap web hosting services have also become common among people who opt for wordpress one-button install. As we know wordpress is the most popular tool to deliver your different ideas to the readers worldwide. Wordpress hosting therefore enables the users to use their blogging tool more effectively and easily without many hassles. But wordpress web hosting cannot be done by every other hosting service available. Some expertise is required to host your blog through wordpress. So a thorough comparative study is essential before finalizing your wordpress hosting service. You want cheap yet the best services!
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Google recently had another PageRank update few days ago. The update turned out to be quite pleasing for many webmasters while disappointing for others. Those webmasters whose sites gained PageRank are dancing while the others are working hard to figure out what went wrong. I decided to write about how webmasters should handle Google's PageRank update. In two upcoming posts, I will tell you guys what you should do after a PageRank update. However, the actions that you take depend on whether your websites lost PageRank or gained PageRank. This post is for webmasters whose sites lost PageRank. There will be another part to this post for the webmasters whose sites gained PageRank.
What to do after a PageRank update?
First of all, don't blame yourself too much for losing PageRank. There are good chances that you have not done permanent damage so you can still get it back. It's just that you need to work harder this time and follow the tips mentioned below!- Bookmarking - If you haven't been bookmarking your articles and submitting them to social bookmarking websites such as Digg, Reddit and Stumble Upon, then I strongly suggest that you start doing so. Not only can you get a lot of traffic but also a lot of backlinks for your site from bookmarking.
- Link Development - Start working more on getting backlinks. Remember that PageRank is hilghly determined by the amount of (strong) backlinks you have. I am not going to talk too much about link exchanges here because Google doesn't like it but I will just say that it is an option.
- Leave Comments on Other Blogs - There are several DoFollow blogs on the internet that have inner pagerank. Go these blogs and leave a comment or two and get free backlink. Don't waste your time commenting on posts with no PageRank. Right now you need backlinks and leaving comments on high PR blog is a great way to do so.
- Write Better Articles - You need to look for ways to improve your articles. Write interesting articles with catchy titles. Try to get people to read your posts and get them to link to your blog. This is the ideal way of getting backlinks.
- Build Relations - Life is so much easier when you are working in a group. Join forums, social bookmarking sites and social networks and connect with people with same passion as yours and make friends. May be they will link to your blog and visit your blog regularly.
- Don't Worry - Don't stress yourself too much. Sometimes PageRank fluctuates a lot. One of my blogs lost its PageRank in the last update from 4 to 1 and now its back to 3. Just don't worry too much about PageRank and don't give up.
Posted by Dan at SEO for Blogging.
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Useful Links
Browse what the world is saying on Blog Search - Google Blog
Tip: Read your mail without touching your mouse - Gmail Blog
Maximizing avenue by exposing your channels to the right advertisers - Adsense Blog Read the rest of this entry >>
Few days ago, I came across a really nice post that explained to me how I could add a related posts hack to my blog. The related posts hack is a really nice and useful hack that lists a bunch of links to your other posts after each post. As you can see, there is a list of links to my other posts below this post that are related to blogging. In this post, I will show you how to modify you blog HTML code to enable the hack!
Different types of related posts hacks
Wordpress some really nice extra features and plugins and one of them is the related posts plugin. However, there is nothing like it at Blogger. But bloggers have found different ways to fix the problem. There are several different types of related posts hack that you can add to your blog. One of the most commone ones is the hack that lists the related posts by categorizing thema according to the labels. However, it looks really mess. The second way is the one that I am currently using on this blog. The hack considers your labels for the post and then list related posts links without categorizing them.How to add related posts hacks
Before we begin to play around with the related posts hack, I would suggest that you save your template.- Go to your blog's HTML code and paste the code listed below just above <"/html> (delete the space after <) and then save your template.
- Then Expand Widget Template and paste the code listed below just below <"p><"data:post.body/><"/p>. (Delete the space after <)
That's it! Save your template and you are done!
Benefits of using related posts hack
This great hack has several benefits.- Drive traffic to your inner pages - your visitors will now be able to find more content on your blog easily after reading your posts. This will also help you drive traffic to your old posts.
- Internal linking - It is very important to add links to your old posts in your news posts to improve your ranking (PageRank). However, it can be a painful task to add links every time you write a new post. With this hack, you won't have to worry about that!
- Professional look - This hack gives your blog a professional and clean look by making navigation easier for your readers.
Posted by Dan at SEO for Blogging.
If you liked this post, then please subscribe to my RSS Feed or subscribe via email. Thanks.
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Some useful links:
Our position on California's No on 8 campaign - Google Blog
Google Toolbar 5 now available for Firefox 5 - Google Blog
Is it right to search your own site? - Inside Adsense
New in lab: right-side Labels and Chat - Gmail Blog
Read the rest of this entry >>
Many bloggers do not know that there are other blogging platforms such as TypePad and Live Journal besides Blogger and WordPress. However, it is true that Blogger and WordPress are the two most commonly used blogging platforms currently. Most bloggers start with either Blogger or WordPress after hearing about them from someone else and then stick with that blogging platform.
However, Blogger and WordPress are two very different types of blogging platform. Different people find different platform suitable for their needs. For example, I personally find Blogger easier to use while others do not. Some find it extremely difficult to choose which one they should stick with. Should they go with WordPress or Blogger? Below I have highlighted some essential features and advantages that I think will help newbies decide which blogging platform they should start their blog with.
Blogger
Blogger is an old company that was acquired by Google few years ago. The fact that it is owned by the most popular search engine definitely assures professionalism and quality service.
Features/Advantages
WordPress
I am no expert when it comes to WordPress. I have tried to use it several times but every time, I have found it too difficult for daily use. Nonetheless, this blogging platform is used by several webmasters to create professional blogs. Several famous blogs use WordPress.
Features/Advantages
These are some essential features and advantages that I think every blogger should know before deciding which platform to use. Of course, both platforms have disadvantages as well. For example, WordPress doesn't allow bloggers to sell links and paid reviews and Blogger comes with very few built-in plug-ins.
My Opinion
I have been using Blogger for more than seven months and I have been told several times to shift to WordPress but I find Blogger so much simpler and easier to use than WordPress. While WordPress may be more flexible, I prefer to stick with simplicity for the time being. If you are a new blogger who doesn't know much about blogging then you should go with Blogger. Once you gain some experience, you can choose which platform to go with.
Remember, there are other blogging platforms as well which might be more useful to you than Blogger and WordPress. So do check them out if you don't like Blogger and WordPress.
Your Opinion
Now that you have heard my opinion, it is time to share your opinion with me and my readers. Which do you prefer - Blogger or WordPress? Why?
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Some Useful Links
Ad perfect - Google Blog
Follow your favorite blogs - Google Blog
Quality, not quantity - Inside AdSense
New in labs: Reply add-ons
New in labs: 3 experiments with labels
Read the rest of this entry >>
People come up with new ways to generate traffic all the time. Some of them are really creative while others may be considered a little grey. However, few weeks ago, I learned about a nice way to get some extra traffic to your blog or websites and through this post, I am trying out that method. I know you are all very eager to learn what the hell I am talking about. But please have some patience. I want to try this trick myself first before sharing it with you guys. I will discuss the results of this experiment with you soon.
Hint: Notice that the title of this post is www.dtv2009.gov
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Nowadays, I have been seeing a lot of posts on different forums about DoFollow forums, blogs, directories and social bookmarking sites. You will see a lot of SEO blogs with some sort of collection of links of Dofollow websites where you can leave comments with your website's URL and thus get a backlink to improve your PageRank.
I am sure a lot of bloggers, use these types of lists to leave some comments there. As you already know, leaving useless and spammy comments will not get you anywhere and will only hurt your reputation. Keeping this in mind, you probably go out there and try your best to leave comments that the admins will like but when it is at midnight and you are extremely tired, you will definitely leave comments like "nice post". And this also happens when you are trying to leave comments on a number of blogs at the same time. You simply don't have the time and will to leave so many comments.
Leave Comments On Blogs You Like
Don't worry about DoFollow and NoFollow. If you like a blog post, then just leave a comment to appreciate the blogger's work. Let him know that you liked the post and also include some suggestions. A lot of popular blogs are not DoFollow but still there are some great posts on blogs like ProBlogger and if you like them then leave a comment. Remember, leaving comments should not be something that you HAVE to do. Leave comments only when you want to.
Are DoFollow Backlinks From Blogs, Directories and Forums Worth Much?
So you have heard from several SEO experts that getting DoFollow backlinks from blogs, directories, social bookmarking sites and forums is a good idea to boost your PageRank. I am sure I have said this before as well. But sometimes I think whether it is actually worth all the trouble (in terms of PageRank, not traffic). I mean forums and directories have thousands of outgoing links and thus backlinks hardly have any value there. However, doesn't every little thing matter? Yes it does but sometimes you have to be manage your time carefully. Posting all day on a DoFollow forum to get some backlinks is probably not a good idea when you can do other stuff to get backlinks and obtain better results.
Finally, I would just like to say that don't comment on blogs and other sites just to get backlinks. Stay up to date with some of your favorite blogs and subscribe to their RSS feeds. Read them regularly and comment on any posts that you like. Talk to the blogger through your comments and build a strong relationship.
Of course, don't forget about DoFollow blogs, forums etc. They are useful too but don't spend a lot of time leaving comments there.
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Useful Links:
Little things that matter - Gmail Blog
Search experiments, large and small - Google Blog
Make money on YouTube with Content ID - Google Blog
Empowering users to map their worlds - Google Blog
Read the rest of this entry >>
One of the best things about Blogger is that you can easily use Adsense with it. This is certainly not the case with WordPress. With easy set up, you can enable some Adsense ads on your blog and earn some money from them. However, with the old blogger you could only display text ads. There was no option to enable image ads from Adsense in Blogger.
A lot of webmasters did not like this because sometimes image ads are preferred more than the regular text ads. According to many, image ads are more attractive and get more clicks and thus are more profitable for webmasters.
Few days ago, Blogger had a little makeover and I am sure all of you probably noticed it. All the buttons look different, you can now hide your inactive blogs and only display the ones that you presently use. But a very important change is the ability to add image Adsense ads to your blog directly through blogger.
Before when I wanted to use image ads on my blog, I had to go to my Adsense account and get a unique code for an image ad but now I can directly do it through Blogger. Go to your Blogger dashboard, click on layout and then click on Add A Gadget. After that choose Adsense and then you can see on top that you can choose either Text and Image ads or Text Only ads.
I think this is a great update by Blogger since Image ads can be really beneficially sometimes. They can grab readers' attention within seconds. Blogger's new update will let you enable and update your image ads directly without logging into your Adsense account.
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Useful Links:
At a loss of words? - Google Blog
Election seasons in high gear - Google Blog
Bring the political process to life in your classroom - Google Blog
I feel the need...the need for feeds - Inside Adsense
See what Obama, McCain and leading political pundits are reading - Gmail Blog
Read the rest of this entry >>
Few days ago, I wrote a post called “Buying A Domain Name – Must For Bloggers?” to emphasize that in order to be considered as a reputed blogger, you do not need to have your own domain name and web hosting. However, there are several bloggers and webmasters who feel more comfortable having their own domain name and independent hosting.
Finding a web hosting service can be quite difficult if you are new to this. Searching online will not help you much since there are lots and lots of web hosting companies and most of them are ridiculous and unreliable. You have to choose a reliable and honest company to host your website.
ImHosted is such an ecommerce hosting company that provides web hosting services along with several other services to its customers. You can get great web hosting deals at very low prices. For example, you can have the benefits of Reseller Web Hosting for only $30/month. You will get 25 GB of hosting space, 4 TB bandwidth, unlimited domain hosting and several other features. You may also be interested in ImHosted’s mega web hosting deal that provides 2,500 GB web hosting space, 10,000 GB bandwidth and unlimited domain hosting for only $6.95 per month.
A major difference between good and poor web hosting companies is that good web hosting companies provide great customer service. ImHosted provides its customers with 24/7 Live Chat Support as well as Phone Support. If you have any problems with web hosting then just let them know and they will try their best to solve it.
ImHosted is a great website hosting service and you should definitely take a look at it if you are looking for a good web hosting company.
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Useful Links:
Bring the political process to life in your classroom - Google Blog
I feel the need...the need for feeds - Inside Adsense
See what Obama, McCain and leading political pundits are reading - Gmail Blog
Read the rest of this entry >>
Learning SEO and blogging is not something you can learn overnight or in few days. You have to keep learning it because the information keeps updating. And the best way to stay up to date is to read some blogs regularly on the topic. I read several other blogs such as Problogger and learn stuff from them all the time. Reading only one blog will do you no good. You need to read articles with different points of views.
One of the blogs that I regularly used to read was JackBook. I will be completely honest with you. I was a great fan of JackBook blog until recently. I used to visit it every other day and read all the posts by Jack because all the posts were of top quality and also interesting. I have learned so much about blogging from Jack and have discovered some really great blogger templates.
But lately, I have been noticing that Jack has been posting some irrelevant posts. A few of such posts is not a big concern but when the entire homepage is filled with such posts, things seem to be going in the wrong direction. Today (Aug 20) when I visited the blog, I saw links to 15 latest posts and not a single one of them was on topic and related to blogging in any way. There were posts on Warcraft, Olympics 2008, Playboy, television series etc.
JackBook was doing great till July but in August, the value of the posts has decreased incredibly. The funny thing is that Jack has published the most posts (61 posts) in August (and there are still 11 more days to go!). I think the downfall started when Jack came up with the subdomain idea for blogs. As most of you know, Jack has his own blog service now like blogger and wordpress. You can have your blog as XXXX.jackbook.com. However, I don't think many readers like the idea and simply ignored it.
JackBook's old look was not too attractive but it was still good enough. However, the latest brown layout is simply horrible and has Google Adsense ads all over the place. The banners are not placed in the right place and the blog looks like a disaster.
Finally, Jackbook has lost both comments and PageRank. Most of the recent posts have not gotten more than one comment while the old posts used to be flodded with comments. Looks like the readers don't like the new posts very much. Furthermore, as far as I can remember, JackBook used to have PageRank 6 but now it has PageRank 0. I wonder why that is. Could it be because Jack sells (dofollow) links and writes paid reviews?
Overall, I would just like to say that Jack is a great blogger and I am sure he has taught some great blogging tips to several bloggers. But suddenly, everything seems to be disappearing. He is losing his quality. I wish he would just be like the old Jack so that we could read some great new quality posts by him.
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Useful Links:
Bring the political process to life in your classroom - Google Blog
I feel the need...the need for feeds - Inside Adsense
See what Obama, McCain and leading political pundits are reading - Gmail Blog
Read the rest of this entry >>
One of the most common mistakes that webmasters and bloggers make is linking to link farms is due to lack of knowledge about what a link farm is and how to detect one. Adding a link to link farm on your website or blog can cost you a lot and thus you always have to be careful about which websites you link to. But what exactly is a link farm and how in the world can you detect one?
What is a link farm?
Link farms are websites that have tons of inbound links to increase their search rankings and PageRank. Such sites contain lots of links to unrelated websites. Sometimes there are also networks of link farm sites that link to each other.
Search engines are very strict to link farms. Most of them ban such sites completely from being indexed and displayed in search results. Furthermore, they will also lose their pagerank if they get banned by Google.
But that's not the worse part! Who cares if link farms get banned? The problem is that if your site links to link farms then it can get banned too or at least lose its PageRank! Yup that's right and that is why it is extremely important that you know what a link farm is and know how to properly identify one so that you do not link your website to it.
How to identify a link farm?
If you have not been serious about the sites that you link to then you really need to start doing so because they can have a great impact on your site's ranking. You must always review the site closely before adding a link to it. Here are some tips to help you identify a link farm:
Also remember that if a site seems like a link farm but has a good PageRank, then you should probably not link to it. Maybe the site just turned into a link farm and might lose its PageRank completely in the next update and also hurt your website's PageRank.
Remember, you never want your website to be linked to a bad neighborhood just like you don't want your kid to be playing in a bad neighborhood!
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Some Useful Links:
Video units more widely available - Inside Adsense
Get your Google Calendar in 38 languages - Gmail Blog
Model your campus in Mexico using SketchUp - Google Blog
Where is Georgia on Google Maps? - Google Blog
Translations on your iPhone - Google Blog
Spice Up Your Blog with Google Gadgets! - Blogger Buzz
Keeping tabs on spam and viruses - Google Blog
Read the rest of this entry >>
Hmmm...so you have seen people boast about getting tons of traffic from forums but have never understood how that was possible. You have even tried using forums but that didn't really help much. So how come others manage to get so much traffic to their blogs while you get nothing? The secret lies in your activities at forums and I am here to explain you what you need to do to get the most traffic from forums! Keep reading!
What are Forums?
For those who do not know, forums are places where you can have organized discussions about a variety of topics. However, most forums have a certain niche and thus, you can't talk about anything and everything. Furthermore, forums have categories to keep all the topics organized. Thus, you have to be careful where you start new threads (topics) or else you will get punished by the moderators.
Alright, now that we have the background info out of the way, lets get to some serious stuff. In order to get traffic from forums, you need to learn how to properly utilize forums. Here are some tips to do that.
1. Add a Signature
First of all, you need to place a link to your blog before anything else. If you don't place a link in your signature then no one is going to know where to find your blog. Signatures are the best place to out your links. Forums usually have a limit on how many links you can put but most allow around 4 links per user.
2. Keep Your Signature Attractive
Forums have lots and lots of posts by thousands of members and each post has a signature. Members are not going to click on links on each signature. You have to make your signature attractive so that it quickly grabs everyone's attention and stands out from the rest. However, don't use too many bright colors or smiles or else you will seem too desperate.
3. Stay Active
Once you have your signature set up, you need to make sure that others see it and that will only happen if you stay active. Go out there and post replies to threads. If someone replies to your previous comment then don't just ignore it, keep the discussion going. The more your signature appears in front of other members, the greater the chances that they will visit your blog.
4. Build Good Reputation
Most members will visit those links that you placed in your signature if you have a good reputation in the community/forum. Don't get in trouble with others for no reason. Respect everyone's views and try to post useful comments. This will help you make some friends and get traffic at the same time.
5. Start Useful Threads
It is highly important that you START some great useful threads that will attract members. You can also post the articles that you have written on your blog to show others the type of stuff you write on your blog. If the members like your articles, then they will visit your blog as well. Also, forums have a built-in reputation system. If someone likes your post then they will increase your reputation. And other members love to checkout blogs of members with good reputation.
6. Give Other Reputation
If you like someone else's thread/post, then don't just sit back and give them some reputation. This is a great way to say thank you for the work that they have put in. They will be notified of your act and they might even visit your profile and check out your links.
These were some of my tips to get the best traffic out of forums. Remember that in order to get regular traffic, it is important that you do not spam and send other members private messages asking them to visit your blog. These types of actions will only get you banned. Stay clean and active!
I am mostly on webmaster forums. Here are some of them:
Let me know if you liked this post and have benefited from it.
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Hot News from Google:
Tip: Customize your web clips - Gmail Blog
Reinventing the wheel - Google Blog
New enhancements on the Google content network - Google Blog
Defining invalid clicks and click fraud - Adsense Blog
Keeping up with the Summer Games - Google Blog
Read the rest of this entry >>
I have seen several debates on forums about buying a domain name. Several people seem to think that for bloggers to be successful, they need to have their own domain name first. Having a blog on free web hosting service or blogging service like Blogger and Wordpress is looked down upon by many and thus makes it intricate for quality bloggers to succeed. But is it really that important to have your own domain name? Does it really matter if my blog has its own domain name?
The idea for this post came from a thread started at WebCosmo Forums. As you can see from the replies, a lot of people seem to think that having your own blog domain is a good idea if you are a serious blogger.
Here are some of the advantages of having a domain name:
- Helps brand your blog
- Shows that you are a serious blogger
- Easier to remember
Branding
Sure, branding is very important these days but does having a free domain name is show poor branding? I agree that just having a proper domain name without any sub-domain is really great but I have seen several blogs with sub-domain names that get lots of great traffic because of good branding. Maybe I am sounding a bit crazy but I really don't think that branding heavily depends on having an own domain name.
Serious Blogger
A lot of people believe that having your own domain name shows that you are a serious blogger and you are passionate about what you do. That's completely ridiculous. There are thousands of blogs on the internet with trashy content. Just because a blogger decides to stay with a sub-domain name does not mean that he (let just say he is a guy) is not serious and does not write good articles. Don't judge a book by its cover and don't judge a blog by its domain name. The only thing that you should worry about is the content. Of course, other things like layout matter but content is the king!
Easy to remember
I don't really think that remember a domain name is a big problem nowadays when we have so many bookmarking services available. But still having a nice domain name that is easy to remember is very important. But www.seoforblogging.blogspot.com is just as easy to remember, in my opinion, than www.seoforblogging.com. Blogger's providews the subdomain "blogspot" which is extremely popular and thus is easy to remember for others.
Overall, yes it is true that having own domain name is important because it adds to your image. But I would just like to say that it is not a must for bloggers and domain name is definitely not more important than the content. So do not judge bloggers and their blogs by domain names. In my opinion, it's OK to start a blog with a sub-domain name and develop it. When you are satisfied and think that you would like to work more on the blog then you should go ahead and get a domain name.
Please remember that this is just my opinion and I would love to hear what you guys think about this issue. Is it a must to have own domain name for bloggers?
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Hot News from Google:
Defining invalid clicks and click fraud - Adsense Blog
Keeping up with the Summer Games - Google Blog Read the rest of this entry >>
Some of you might not know this but Google also give a PageRank value to inner pages besides the home page. For example, a popular site like Digg may have PageRank of 8 for its homepage but PageRank of its inner pages can vary a lot. Usually smaller sites and less popular blogs do not get PageRank values for their innerpages, but sometimes it can happen.
Having PageRank for inner pages is very important as it means that your website is doing very well. There is also a very high demand for links on inner pages and thus you can even sell links on such pages. However, how do you find those pages with PageRank if you have a lot of inner pages? You can't just check the PageRank value of each page individually because that can take hours.
Recently, I discovered a great SEO tool called Google PageRank Inspector which lets you see the PageRank of all your inner pages. All you have to do is enter the URL of your site/blog and wait for the tool to display the results. You can also choose to see the PR of the sites that have their link on your site.
Once all the pages have been analyzed and the results have been displayed, you can choose to download the entire report for later use.
I hope you liked this tool. If you still have not tried it then I strongly suggest that you do. Let me know what you think of it.
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Some Useful Links:
New enhancements on the Google content network - Google Blog
Tackling information overload, 10 million documents at a time - Google Blog
Seeing New Orleans through street view - Google Blog
Tip: Customize your web clips - Gmail blog
Search quality, continued - Google Blog
Read the rest of this entry >>
As you already know, Digg is one of the most popular social bookmarking site with millions of members and even more submissions. Members love Digg for all the interesting articles that get submitted and the discussions. But I think there is something else that keeps Digg users glued to the site. Is it the friendly community, web design, traffic benefits or something else?
It's the HOT ads that you see on Digg every time you log in and surf the site for popular items. Don't believe me? These are some of the ads that you see most on Digg. I have been seeing the regularly for quite some time and they do manage to get my attention every single time.
Snorg Tees
I love ads for this t-shirt companies with wierd labels and text written. But most importantly, the main attraction are the girls. I mean do you ever see any guy in those ads displayed on Digg? Here are some samples:
Stop.Stare.Flirt
Can you really ignore those big letters saying "Stop.Stare.Flirt"? For the most part, people just stop at STARE and keep staring. Here are some pictures:
Busted Tees
I don't see ads from Busteed Tees a lot but they seem very much like ads from Snorg Tees. Just look at this one.
Please note that this post is simply for fun and is not intended to be offensive in any sort of way. I love Digg and I think it is a great place to discover useful content.
I hope you like it. :)
Image Source: Images have been taken from Digg.
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Some Useful Links:
Seeing New Orleans through street view - Google Blog
Google in your language - Google Blog
You are not spam - Blogger Buzz
Tip: Customize your web clips - Gmail blog
Search quality, continued - Google Blog
More Transparency in Customized Search Results - Google Blog
A picture isn't always worth a thousand words - Inside Adsense
Read the rest of this entry >>
Most famous bloggers seems to have some sort of RSS feed and email subscription service available for their readers these days. Even the less famous blogs have it. But having RSS feed is really that important? Should you have it even if your blog just started and barely has any traffic currently? What are some main benefits of having RSS Feed and email subscription service? All these questions will be answered but lets first start with some background information.
What is RSS Feed?
RSS actually stands for Really Simple Syndication and RSS feed is simply a file that contains all the latest updated information that is formatted in such a specific way so that it can be read by feed readers and agregators. RSS is the most popular feed format followed by Atom.
What is email subscription service?
A lot of sites such as FeedBurner provide email subscription service to webmasters so that they can deliver their posts directly to readers' inbox. Basically, you are taking the latest feed and emailing it to your readers.
What are the benefits?
RSS Feed allows readers to display your content on self customized pages such as iGoogle, My Yahoo! and even on Vista's sidebar. Enabling this increases the chances of getting more traffic. Imagine having your latest posts displayed on other sites and pages. It may not guarentee your great results but it is definitely worth it because it takes only seconds to set up.
Email Subscription Service is even better since your are delivering your posts directly to your readers' inbox. Every time you will publish a post, they will be notified and thus you will get some permanent traffic. You can also add a small widget to show off the number of people that have subscribed to your mailing service. If you have a lot of people, then it will definitely add to your reputation.
So should you have it if your blog/website just started? The answer is yes! The earlier you get started with it, the better it is for you and your readers. Remember, you do not want to lose a single visitor that wants to subscribe to your service. So the earlier you set up everything, the better it is for you.
Furthermore, you can also use RSS feed on forums to display your latest posts to other members. Most forums display RSS feed nowadays. Using RSS feed on forums can get you some relevant traffic that you may have not gotten otherwise.
How do you get started?
Probably the most famous feed service online is Feedburner. It provides you with so many different options and really makes it easy for you to setup your own feed even if you have no experience. I use this service on all of my blogs and really recommend it to all of you.
I hope this post helped you understand the importance of having RSS feed and an email subscription service. If you would like to read more posts like this then please subscribe to my feed. Thanks.
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Some Useful Links:
Google in your language - Google Blog
You are not spam - Blogger Buzz
Search quality, continued - Google Blog
More Transparency in Customized Search Results - Google Blog
A picture isn't always worth a thousand words - Inside Adsense
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Today, I found a great post on Digital Point (DP) Forums about some great link building techniques. The title quickly grabbed my attention and I decided to read the content. I was really delighted to read the entire post as it not just outlined but also explained in detail some great link building techniques. I quickly decided to share some of the most important points explained in the post with you.
First of all, as most of you know backlinks are very important if you want to get a good PageRank. Backlinks is probably the most important factor in determining PageRank. The more the amount of backlinks your website has, the greater your PageRank will be. But how do you get those backlinks? Those who have tried to get them know that is is certainly not an easy task.
Today, I will point out 10 most important link building techniques that will definitely help you get more backlinks if followed correctly.
1. Link Exchange
Exchanging liks is a common practice where webmasters exchange links to gain backlinks to their sites. Search Engines do not like this method but it is one of the most common ones. Remember that reciprocal link exchange (two way) may not be worth a lot sometimes but three way link exchange is a great idea to boost PageRank.
2. Paying for Links
There is always the option of buying links on high PageRank websites to get backlinks but you have to be careful about it. Google is always ready to penalize webmasters who buy links but still a lot of webmasters do it because it is an easy way to get high PageRank. The links are one way and thus hold a lot of value.
3. Social Bookmarking sites
Using social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Delicious, Stumble Upon and others is a great idea to not only get backlinks but also huge amount of traffic. You are basically sharing your website and content with others and thus it increases your chances of others linking their site to your site.
4. Submitting to Directories
This is a common way to get backlinks. Just submit your blog and sites to reputed directories and wait to get approved. However, just like forums, directories also have a lot of outgoing links and thus the backlinks are not worth much. Furthermore, most directories may have their hompage with high PageRank but the inner pages (where you link will be displayed) do not have any PR.
5. Commenting on Blogs
It is always a good idea to comment on relevant blogs and leave some useful and detailed comments. However, remember that most of the blogs have NoFollow attribute and thus will not boost your PageRank. However, there are a lot of lists on the Internet that can help you find some DoFollow blogs to leave a comment on. Make sure that your comments are relevant, helpful and not spammy.
6. Marketing your Articles
If you have written an interesting article then you should definitely submit it to article sites with a link to your own site. That way you will gain a lot of backlinks. Furthermore, if your article is really nice then other people will link to it as well and thus provide you with more backlinks and traffic!
7. Posting on Forums and Signatures
Posts and signatures on forums are a great way to backlinks but the problem is that due to a lot of outgoing links, value of backlinks is not significant. However, it is still a great way to get some valuable traffic and some backlinks.
8. Press Release
There are a lot of websites online where you can post press releases with a link to your own blog/website and gain backlinks. This is considered a great way to get backlinks by Google. However, the problem is that it is very hard to write posts about press releases and it is impossible to do for some niches.
9. Using Link Bait and Widgets
You may have seen several popular websites offer their own customized widgets that link to their own site. This a nice way to get a lot of backlinks but most of the times, your website has to be popular enough to convince other webmasters to place your widget on their blog/site. Link Bait is also another trick. Basically, it involves writing a "controverisal" or maybe offending article that may provoke response from others. But you have to be careful when writing such articles because it might damge your reputation.
10. Talking to Others
The simplest and least used way to get backlinks and gain popularity is to talk to others about your website. Just try to mention is every now and then to people who you think might be interested in visiting your website. However, be careful about it! You don't want to be talking to everyone about your website all the time. It may offend some people and other may find it annoying. :)
This is it guys. I hope you liked the post. I would also like to share with you the original post where you can find more detailed information about each of these link building techniques.
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Some useful links:
Google in your language - Google Blog
More Transparency in Customized Search Results - Google Blog
Back to school with more than 1 million users worldwide - Google Blog
Hello from A2 - Google Blog
We Knew The Web Was Big - Google Blog
Knol Is Open to Everyone - Google Blog
Updates and Fixes for July 18th - Blogger Buzz
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There are tons of blogs online but in my opinion, 80% of those blogs have incredibly hideous looks. Most newbie bloggers have no idea about what template to select for their special blog. They only select the template that they think looks the best for their blog. But it is important to remember that what you like is not necessarily what others like and you ALWAYS have to consider your readers' choices to at least some extent.
You may think that a blog's layout has nothing to do with its success. You may have even noticed some popular blogs with terrible designs. But the truth is that layout is extremely important since it determines whether a visitor will even being to read your post in first place. If you still do not understand then think from a visitor's point of view. Imagine coming to a blog with a very unappealing design. Everything is cluttered and it is difficult to navigate the page. This is your first impression of the blog. Will you continue and read the posts? The answer is NO!
I present you with some major steps to follow before selecting a template for your blog:
- Go with simplicity
- Make sure it suits your blog's content
- Is there enough space?
- Do you like it?
Simplicity
Attractive designs do not have to be highly complicated. They can be very simple and still be visually appealing. Take a look at Google's Official Blog. It is one of the simplest blog ever and yet it is one of the most popular blog. The page is all white space and black text. Nothing is cluttered and everything is neatly organized for easy navigation. I am not saying that all blogs have to be as simple as Google's blog but it is always safe to stick with simplicity.
Matching Blog Content
Recently I have been seeing some blogs with weird templates that do not even suit the blog's content. A lot of bloggers have been using the iPhone Template for their blogs. There is nothing wrong with using this template but at least do not use it if your blog has nothing to with iPhone or technology. Choosing such a template will only misguide your readers.
The Space Issue
No one likes cluttered blogs. Before choosing a template, you always want to be sure that you have enough space available to put all the widgets and ads. Spending some little time thinking whether your widgets will be able to fit or not beforehand can save you a lot of precious time. later on. Will you need a two column template or a three column template? Is there space to put your adsense ads so that they look visually appealing and not out of place? These are some main points to consider regarding how much space a template provides you with.
You Must Like It
I know that before I mentioned that just because you like it does not mean that your readers will like it as well. I am still going to stick with what I said but I also want to mention that there is nothing worse than writing on a blog that you do not find interesting. If you don't like the design, then you won't give your blog your 100% and that will cause your blog to fall. Definitely go with what you like but at the same time do not foget to consider whether your readers will find it interesting or not. At the end, it is YOUR blog that we are talking about.
These were some of my tips for choosing the most suitable template for your blog. There are some other factors as well that you must keep in mind such as the color combination, overall look etc but we will skip those for now and save them for later.
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Some useful links:
We Knew The Web Was Big - Google Blog
Knol Is Open to Everyone - Google Blog
Updates and Fixes for July 18th - Blogger Buzz
Easy as 1-2-3 - Adsense Blog
Powerset joins Live Search - Live Search
The Latest Cool SearchMonkey Apps - Yahoo Search Blog
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This is my first post on this blog that I have just created. The blog is called SEO for Blogging. It is going to be a great source for you all to learn more about SEO, Blogging and other webmaster related stuff. There will be useful posts about Blogger hacks, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Adsense and similar stuff.
SEO
If you are a blogger then this is the blog for you to learn all the SEO you need. Search Engine Optimization is incredibly important if you want your blog or site to be famous and to get traffic. If you have a ecommerce site or some other service site then that traffic can easily translate into some useful customers and money!
Blogging
Not all of us are experts at blogging here.I am here to teach you some basic steps about blogging and at the same time I will show you some nice advanced but simple tricks to help you become a great blogger.
Monetization/Adsense
So you have a blog? How would you like to monetize it? In other words, how can you possibly make money from it? Well the first thing that pops into the minds of many is Adsense. But Adsense is not easy to earn from. You need to have a lot of traffic so that you can get a significant amount of clicks on a regularly basis. But if your blog is not that famous then you can simply use some of my simple ad placement and other techniques to get better results.
I will also teach you some other great ways to earn money from. Remember, Adsense is not the only way!
Well this it! Hopefully, you have an idea about what this blog will be about. I hope to teach you guys what I have learned from others in the past few months and at the same time learn from you as well. Please note that I might make some changes in future to the overview of this blog.
Thanks,
Admin
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