Getting Traffic To Blog - Visit The Forums And Build Community

Continuing on the subject of driving traffic to your blog not only do you need to visit other blogs, but also forums. Not only are forums a great resource where you can learn almost anything about blogging, SEO, coding, and website design, but more important you can start to build a community of friends and contacts.
I love forums.digitalpoint.com this forum is great because it is full of bloggers that have a endless supply of information. A couple of other reasons I like digital point is because they let you put links to your sites and some ads in BBCode, and they let you share in the Google adsense program on their site. So, with digital point it is a win win to me.
Once you start to build your community of friends you can send them messages about changes to your blog, or recent post that they might be interested in, and this will increase your traffic tremendeously. Also, you will find that many members are looking for stuff to stumble and digg. I get a lot of traffic from forums that I visit, and as I always say TRAFFIC = MONEY in the blog game.
MyBlogLog is a great place to build a community. We have started our community, and are starting to see great results from it. Plus, with mybloglog once you have a community you can send a message to everyone in that community at the same time. This saves a lot of time, and I am really starting to like building a MyBlogLog community. We are currently trying to get our first 100 member's, so be sure to drop by and sign up.
When I look at my stats which I do daily I am seeing more and more visitors coming from the forums I use. So, my advice to you is to find a couple of good forum's that fit your niche, and start to build relationships in them, and you will see the traffic to your blog increase because of it.
By: Chad Wiley http://www.proinvestorsblog.com Our blog is all about making money!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chad_Wiley

3 Simple Steps to Increase Your Blog Readership

Blogs are an integral part of Web 2.0. Companies who were once skeptical about the effectiveness of web 2.0 are quickly acknowledging the value of blogging on the internet.
While setting up a blog is relatively easy, many companies struggle with ideas on how to make their blogs grow.
Here are three simple steps that will help you increase your blog readership:
Post regularly - Post unique
Giving your readers new and interesting content to read everyday is the best way to convert occasional visitors into regulars. Though simple in word, it's not so simple to make the commitment. You must get into a regular pattern of writing unique content and posting it regularly.
Ideally, your blog should have at least three posts a week, if not more. Don't make the mistake of posting three on one day and then none the next week. Most visitors will skim for new content and then move on. They don't have time to determine if you've posted new content. You either did or you didn't.
With the explosion of existing blogs and new ones being created everyday, readers have an endless selection of articles to choose from. If you don't stand out from the crowd, your viewers will go elsewhere. Keep your readership growing by giving them content they are unlikely to find anywhere else. Breaking news prior to a major release will lead to more readers, more comments, and more links to your blog.
Encourage comments - Discourage abuse
While comments are a core blog feature, it is important to carefully consider what your company policy is concerning comments. Allowing comments to be posted un-moderated can generate increased participation but it could also lead to increased chances of offensive remarks and spam comments.
The best way to balance the interaction with your readers with the need to have control over comments is to add a verification tool such as CAPTCHA.
If you choose to moderate comments, make sure you have the resources to regularly approve comments, or note, in a timely manner. Readers hate to be kept waiting and will lose interest and if it takes too long for them to be heard.
Acknowledge Comments - Reply to those who comment
If your reader has taken the time to leave a comment on your post, it is common courtesy to reply, especially to questions. If several comments drift around a single topic, address them all in a single reply.
Starting a blog is easy. Maintaining a blog is much harder. Take the time to develop a complete blog policy and structure before starting. Make sure you can dedicated the time to both posting regular content and for replying to comments.
If you would like to read other articles and watch videos on topics like this one, you can join us at http://www.relativitycorp.com. We have tons of resources on Social Network Marketing written by David C Skul CEO. You can also sign up to get information in you email in box weekly at the site as well.
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Blogging 101 - Optimize Your Blog Posts For Good Search Engine Rankings

Blogging is a good way to interact with people on the Internet, be it they are your friends, clients, prospects, or fans. This is because a blog allows readers to post comments and respond to what you write. It also adds a personal touch to your content which is important if you want to create a list of loyal readers.
Other than interactivity, blog also allows you to get more targeted traffic from the major search engines. You should write your blog posts strategically so that they are optimized for certain keywords that are related to what the blog posts are about. If a blog post is keyword-rich, it will stand a higher chance to get rank well on search engines organic listings for that keyword.
If your blog is about search engine marketing, one of your posts about search engine optimization may get to rank well organically in search engines, driving people who are interested to find out more about optimization to your blog post. In this case, you will be always able to drive new leads to your blog and stand a chance to convert them to your loyal readers.
Sometimes, you should blog about something more general, instead of things that are related to your industry. If your blog is a search engine marketing blog, you can also blog on things on general business, like "the richest man on earth" etc. If your blog post of this is well-written and optimized, you will be getting people from search engines that are looking for the richest man on earth, to stumble upon your blog.
As they are already interested in wealth, there will be chances that they may be interested to find out more about search engine marketing and master it, so as to drive targeted traffic and convert sales. Again, you stand a chance to indirectly convert acquaintances to loyal readers of your blog.
Lastly, no matter how well you can optimize your blog posts on search engines, your content still need to be useful and unique. Even if you manage to get a lot of traffic to your blog, your visitors will not visit your blog again if they find that your content is not useful to them at all. The Internet is always hungry for good content. If you write well and share generously, there will surely be tons of people eager to read what you are going to write.
Cheow Yu Yuan is the co-founder of HomeBizGears.com, an online marketing and branding agency.
Check out more about Online Marketing and Branding at http://www.homebizgears.com
Please feel free to republish this article on your website, or distribute it to your friends or clients, as long as you leave the resource box intact.
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49 Tips To Get Free Traffic To Your Blog

1. Write and submit articles to the article directories.
2. Leave comments on other people's blogs with a backlink to your site.
3. Answer people's questions on www dot answers dot yahoo.com.
4. Post in forums and have a link to your site in your signature.
5. Write a press release and submit it to www dot PRWeb dot com.
6. Advertise your website in the appropriate category on www dot CraigsList dot com.
7. Give an unbiased testimonial on a product/service that you have used in exchange for a backlink to your site.
8. Start a blog and submit it to the 100's of free blog directories.
9. Manually submit your website to the major search engines.
10. Optimize each page of your website for a particular keyword or search phrase.
11. Add a link in your email signature to your website. It's a free and easy way to get a little more traffic.
12. Make a custom 404 error page for your website redirecting people to your home page.
13. Use PPC search engine advertising.
14. Add a "bookmark this site" link to your webpages.
15. Have a tell-a-friend form on your site.
16. Send articles to ezine publishers that includes a link to your website.
17. Hold a crazy content and make it go viral.
18. Give away a freebie (ebook, report, e-course) to keep people coming back to your site.
19. Add an RSS feed to your blog.
20. Submit your site to any related niche directories on the net.
21. Participate in a banner or link exchange program.
22. Create a software program and give it away for free.
23. Purchase the misspellings or variations of your domain name, or those of your competitors.
24. Buy a domain name related to your niche that is already receiving traffic and forward it to your site.
25. Pass out business cards with your domain on them everywhere you go.
26. Start and affiliate program and let your affiliates send you visitors.
27. Start a page on social bookmarking sites such as www dot MySpace dot com.
28. Submit a viral video to www dot YouTube dot com
29. Conduct and publish surveys to your website.
30. Find joint venture partners that will send you traffic.
31. Start your own newsletter or ezine.
32. Use a autoresponder or email campaign to keep people coming back to your site.
33. Purchase ads on other sites.
34. Send a free copy of your product to other site owners in exchange for a product review.
35. Sell or place classified ads on www dot eBay dot com with a link to your site.
36. Post free classified ads on any of the sites that allow them with a link to your site.
37. Exchange reciprocal links with other related websites.
38. Network with other people at seminars or other live events.
39. Purchase advertising in popular newsletters or ezines.
40. Advertise on other product's "thank you" pages.
41. Create a free ebook and list in on the "free ebook" sites.
42. Buy and use a memorable domain name.
43. Do something controversial.
44. Create an Amazon profile and submit reviews for books and other products that you have read.
45. Start a lens on www dot Squidoo dot com.
46. Use a traffic exchange (low quality traffic, but can sometimes be worthwhile).
47. Get referrals form similar but non-competing sites.
48. Create and sell a product with resell or giveaway rights and include a link to your site in it o others pass it around for you.
49. Email your list. If you don't have one, get one.
A lot of more information at http://money-junk.blogspot.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandis_Vasilevskis

6 Tips for Increasing Blog Traffic

If you've built a blog, your primary focus should be in developing a solid readership. Now that you have your blog running, you've been adding quality content, and you've been engaging your readers, what do you do now?
You need to spend more time promoting your blog. When you market your blog, you're marketing yourself. You can't hide behind a faceless company which makes marketing so much more collaborative and difficult at the same time.
Think of these six methods as a way of reaching out to your audiences and saying, "This is who I am. Come on over and let's chat."
Tip #1 - Technorati Your Blog
Having your blog "claimed" at Technorati offers you several advantages. This includes the opportunity to add your branding or photograph to Technorati, where it becomes visible to millions of viewers who visit this popular site daily. You can also see your Technorati link and get updated link counts.
Tip #2 - Ping Your Blog
A few sites, including Weblogs, ZingFast, and Yahoo's blo.gs offer pinging services. When you sign up for a pinging service, these sites send out a "ping" to inform other pinging sites every time your blog is updated. Viewers who happen to be visiting any other site with pinging services will see your "newly updated blog" flash across their screens.
Tip #3 - Bookmark your Blog
Create profiles at one or several social bookmarking sites such as del.icio.us. Adding links to your blog as well as excerpts from your blog to your del.icio.us profile increases your visibility among the site's readership. Interested traffic will click on your link and, hopefully, visit your site.
Tip #4 - FeedBurner your Blog
FeedBurner, which is an RSS service, helps you promote your blog's content along with building and measuring your audience. Both of these metrics are essential to your blog marketing strategy.
Tip #5 - Keyword your Blog
Think of your blog as a regular web page and include keywords into your blog postings. The best way to make sure you're including the right keywords is to focus on a topic you're interested in to begin with. If you're trying to promote a topic which doesn't interest you, you're more than likely to end up sounding stiff. Make sure the keywords are relevant to your blog - you want quality traffic that sticks not just traffic that comes through.
Tip #6 - Link your Blog
You should link to relevant blogs and sites that are similar to your blog. But, don't expect others to link back to you. The only way to get links is to be "linkable". You have to become a valuable resource on your topic. Once you become a resource, you won't have to worry about getting backlinks-they'll come naturally.
If you would like to read other articles and watch videos on topics like this one, you can join us at http://www.relativitycorp.com. We have tons of resources on Social Network Marketing written by David C Skul CEO. You can also sign up to get information in you email in box weekly at the site as well.
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Is Blogging for Traffic Even Worth It?

You know they say actions speak louder than words and I don't have a blog. They also say do what I do and not what I say, and of course I don't have a blog, so that's my disclaimer.
However, I am actually talking with someone right now - in fact, I've got somebody who's working on kind of a private blog for a membership product. If things go well with that she'll probably be creating a regular blog for me.
We're talking about actions and probably in the short-term future I will have a blog.
However, answering the second part of your question, how much value is it - I think a blog doesn't have much more value than a website if it just sits there. If you update content to it every day, which is nice and easy to do on a blog just because of the way it's set up - you can literally add a paragraph every day and have some dynamic content pretty easily, then it makes it easy.
The blog is nice and easy because you don't really need to have any special skills to be able to make a blog happen. You can collect opt-in subscribers from a blog. You can direct people to buy from a blog.
In some way you could almost use a blog to replace a website, although I don't recommend it at all, but for somebody that's technically challenged.
In terms of creating traffic with blogs, I think that you have to get in there and work it and learn it. I think you've got to learn how to develop relationships with other people that are blogging and do some linking strategies, similar to what you do with a website, and that involves some work.
I think that you can get a lot out of working the blog, but just recognize that that's one traffic source. Maybe you decide to spend half your time on article marketing and half your time on blogging. Make sure that you're tracking how many of your subscribers are coming from your blog versus how many are coming from your articles, and how much time or money you're spending on each one so you know what works.
To learn more, download my free guide, "How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online" here: How to Generate $15,000 Per Month Online
Sean Mize is an internet marketing mentor who teaches people to generate over $15,000 per month online via automated systems and product funnels.
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7 Sizzling Tips To Get Traffic To Your Blog

You might have the most thought-provoking, cutting-edge blog on the entire internet, but nobody's going to read those compelling posts if you don't aggressively market your blog. Getting traffic to your blog actually isn't that difficult if you're proactive. Following are seven sizzling tips that are guaranteed to help drive traffic to your blog.
Write about current events/interests. If you want to get traffic to your blog, write about current events and things people are actually interested in. For example, if you're in the pet niche and you hear about another pet food recall, you'll want to blog about that pet food recall. Topical posts are far more appealing to blog readers than vague, general posts.
Make comments on other blogs. A great way to get traffic to your blog is to post comments on other blogs in your niche. Be sure that, when you make posts, you also add a link to your Web site, which will help you get traffic to your blog.
Offer RSS feeds to your blog readers. RSS feeds are an extremely effective way of getting traffic to your blog because they immediately inform your readers the moment you post a new blog entry.
Allow readers to post comments. By allowing readers to post comments on your blog, you're going to get a dialogue going, which will naturally get traffic to your blog.
Avoid posting AdSense or other ads. A popular way of monetizing blogs is to post ads, like AdSense. However, many internet marketing experts recommend against posting ads on blogs.
Start a Squidoo lens and add your top blog posts to it. Squidoo is still a hot commodity, an easy way to get traffic to your blog, and search engines - especially Google - are quick to index Squidoo lenses. When you create a Squidoo lens, make sure you add your favorite blog posts to it with a link back to your blog. That way, when a reader likes what he or she reads, all he or she has to do is click on your link to read all of your blog posts.
Add blog entries every day of the week. Publish a post every day of the week if you want to get traffic to your blog. Why? It's simple: During the week, more people spend time online, especially reading, than they do during the weekend. Then why add blog entries on the weekend? Because there simply aren't as many blog postings on the weekend, which means you'll be catering to those clients and potential clients who do like to read online on the weekends.
About the Author:Tim Godfrey is the founder of the exclusive internet marketing tips resource, RocketTheProfit.com. To learn how to generate automated cash from your blog, check out our free 3-part blogging profits course.
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Use Blogging Tools To Get Traffic To Your Articles

If you want to earn money from your writing online, there are a few ways you can do this; one of the easiest ways to write for money online is writing articles for a Paid to Write website such as Associated Content; another one is writing on a blog.
Good Get Paid to Write websites that allow you to write good quality articles, reviews, publish pictures, audio or even video for a performance fee, which means that the more people visit your content, the more money you will earn.
A blog (or weblog) is a mix between a website and an online diary, where you pick a subject and regularly write short articles about your chosen topic. There are lots of ways you can make money from a blog, but the general idea is that the more people will visit your blog, the more money you will make if you use the right tools.
If you write articles on a Paid to Write website and you also have a blog, you have probably discovered that there are some similarities between writing articles and blogging. The similarities lie in the methods used in order to increase your readership. Here are a few ways you can use to increase traffic to your articles that are also being used to render a blog popular:
Getting traffic online means having people visiting your content; if you want to be a successful article writer or blogger, you must get as much traffic as you can, otherwise, it doesn't matter if you are the best writer in the world (although it can help a little bit), you will not earn any money online.
Social Bookmarking in order to get traffic:
Websites such as Digg or StumbleUpon allow their members to bookmark articles or blog posts in an attempt to bring other members of such social bookmarking websites to see your submitted articles and blog posts.
Forums:
Most article websites now have their own forums, where members can ask and answer questions; bloggers can find different forums all over the internet, where they can interact with other people. Using forums in order to increase traffic is a bit tricky, as most forums' administrators hate spam and will not allow you to put links in your posts; however, if you participate often in forums and have interesting things to say, other forum members will get to recognize you and may want to contact you: most forums allow you to display your blog's address or the address of the profile page's address from the article submission website of which you are a member when you set up your forum profile, there is usually also a facility that allows members to send each other personal messages without exchanging email addresses, for privacy and security reasons.
Commenting:
Bloggers use commenting on other blogs as a method of getting traffic to their own blogs; some article submission websites such as Associated Content have a facility that allows their members to write comments at the bottom of other members' articles; using this facility will help you get a few visitors to your own articles too.
The main similarity between writing articles online and blogging is that you must get readers if you want to earn money from them. Of course, there are also differences: if yo have a passion and can come up with something different to say about it every day, blogging is the way to go but if you'd rather write about a lot of various topics, then writing articles on an article submission website that pays you is an excellent way to earn money online.
Internet Junkie is a blog about blogging and all the different ways to make money online. You can join Associated Content for free if you would like to get paid for writing articles; alternatively, if you just feel like browsing, read my other articles on Associated Content.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sophie_Le_Cuiche

Six Easy Methods For Increasing Blog Traffic

Every time I read a story about how a person put up a blog and became immediately rich it makes me a little mad. If it were really that easy, everyone would be doing it! Some people think that the easy part if getting blog traffic is the actually blogging. And they are correct! As you know, without traffic you are just writing words. No traffic equals no money. If you think about it though, there are a few easy things you can do to make sure that your site is visited, and gets you the blog traffic you need to make a living.
First, blog often - at least twice a week. This will increase the chances that the blog will be indexed by the search engines. Continually adding content will increase the likelihood that people will return often to read the blog.
Read other people's blogs, make comments, and more: While you're reading your blogs and forums for the day, remember to make comments and give helpful advice. Notice I said "helpful" advice. Only spammers post remarks like "good post," or "I'll give that a try." If you want the blog owner to actually accept your post, add something of value to your comment.
The savvy blogger will not only post these helpful comments and suggestions; there is another key to increasing blog traffic. The individual will also post a link to his or her blog when making these posts. Each time that you do this it adds value. The blog owner will receive a Trackback notice of your good faith link, and eventually, the author of the blog will respond by linking back to your blog site as well.
A helpful tip when doing this is to link to sites that are complementary to, rather than in direct competition with, your blog. For example, if your blog is about romance, linking to another person writing about the same theme offers competition. In contrast, blogs dedicated to romantic getaways and travel are complementary to your topic. This is much more useful than trying to link to competing blogs.
Another important consideration is to ensure that visitors are able to subscribe to the blog through either a newsletter or Feedburner subscription option. If visitors are required to search the Internet to relocate the blog, or are only able to bookmark it, chances are much less likely that they will return to read it, and your attempt to increase blog traffic will fail. If it is delivered via email, they are much more likely to continue reading the blog.
And, always have your RSS button displaying on your site. Many people will put your RSS link into their Yahoo! Membership area and read from there. You want to make sure it's easy for them to find this important link. As you increase blog traffic, you also want to increase your subscriber base for future sales.
It is important to keep the primary goal in mind when designing the blog site. Although the desire is to make money, simply loading the site with banners and affiliate links is going to cause many people to tire of reading quickly, and may actually decrease traffic. Banners are useful, but only if they don't overpower the reader or detract from the blog's quality. It is okay to use banners and affiliate links, as long as they don't have the effect of overpowering the blog.
You want to be noted as an expert in your field; and your main goal should not only be to increase blog traffic, but also to get visitors to sign up for your newsletter; making them want to come back and learn from you.
Evelyn Grazini has been in Internet Marketing for more than 5 years, and in Affiliate Marketing for over two years. Her specialty is finding Niche Markets for Affiliate Marketing, and helping others become successful through her blogs and Articles. Find more information at http://www.bestaffiliateniche.com and Get Your Free Copy of The Niche Code.
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Blogging - Want Traffic? 4 Ways to Go Using Blogs

If you are operating an internet business I bet you know the importance of blogging. Blogging helps in website promotion and drives killer traffic to your website if done right. You are losing the traffic potential of your website if you are not using blogs to promote your site. This is the only reason you can see blogs all around the net.
Here are 4 killer steps that will help you to boost up your website traffic using blogs...
1. Choose a Traffic Pulling Domain Name.
While selecting your domain name you must be aware of SEO and keyword optimization. This will help you to boost your website traffic and get proper placement for your site in search engines.
Pick a domain name that is easy to remember and relevant to your products. Also make sure to include your important keywords in the domain name so that search engines can give your site high ranking for relevant keywords.
2. Choose Best Blog Platform.
At this time, there are hundreds of platforms, both free and paid, that you can choose from. Choose the blog platform that offers features that your site is looking for. Post comments on blogs and forums and ask other website owners as to which blog platform will be best for your internet business.
Their recommendation will be extremely helpful to your internet business. However one of the best blog platforms available as of now is wordpress which is available for free.
3. Blog Design.
Design your blog in relation to your website niche. Make your blog graphics and design look professional, relevant to your internet business. Basic colors like black, white, blue, red and brown are your best bet for your blog colors.
4. Content is the King.
Your blog must include unique relevant content relating to your niche. This is what will ultimately bring traffic to your site. Your content must be quality content, unique and easy to understand.
Make sure you include your keywords in your blog post, this will help search engines determine the niche your blog post is targeting and probably get you to the top 10.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Murtuza_Abbas

10 Steps to New Blog Success

1) Start a blog on your favorite topic, else you will always run out of content. 2) First write down 10 blog posts off-line and see how you are doing. If you find difficulty to write enough content on that topic, then try to write on some other topic. The best think to do is, first read some blogs on that particular topic. Do some research, search for blogs on that topic and see what others are doing. Then don't just copy other blogs, but understand that topic properly. After that you will find it easy to write more on that particular topic.
3) Choose a blogging platform. For blogs I always prefer wordpress, a self-hosted wordpress is the best option for blogging. This is a blog running on wordpress.
4) Don't start a blog with one or two entries. At-least make 10 posts on the blog's launch day. A blog with some decent content always makes a good impression. If you do this, then you will have nice readers from the first day of the launch.
5) Content is king, so make nice content. Check for grammatical and spellings errors off line, before publishing the blog. Good content brings natural links, so it is always advised to write properly. If you are not good at writing, then hire a writer. Pay someone who writes well.
6) The next step is to add the feeds. Check out feed burner and get your feeds running. You can see on the left sidebars, I have the feed subscription buttons placed there.
7) Try the blog top sites. This is a good way to show the world how popular your blog is. This also brings some traffic. Check out my blogs ranks on the top sites, the ranks are visible on the sidebar.
8) Promote your blog with the power of social bookmarking. To start with, join technorati, it's a blog search engine, and it is huge. Then try del.icio.us it is another social bookmarking website which gives a lot of traffic. There are a few more like this, digg, stumbleupon, reddit etc, I will make another post for this topic, let's not get too deep into this here.
9) Frequently visit blogs of your niche, even subscribe to it. When ever you see a new post, read it properly and give a good comment on it. Don't post spam comments; make a nice comment that gets accepted. Some blogs are no-follow and some are not. But remember the no-follow is only for Google and there is msn and yahoo also for the search. This step can help you get a lot of targeted readers apart from the link popularity. You can even give blogroll links to a few of the good blogs that you regularly visit.
10) Try to post regularly, if you don't post for sometime long, then you will lose a lot of subscription and regular readers. Blogging is a passion, don't just blog for the shake of it.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Uttoran_Sen

7 Reasons Why Your Traffic Generation Efforts Aren't Working

It might be that the traffic method you've chosen doesn't actually work. However, if you researched the method before you bought into it, that may not be true. Make sure it's not one of the following reasons before you abandon it.1. Actually, it IS working -- but you have unrealistic expectations.Maybe you aren't going to get a million visitors a month. And that's okay, because it may not even take a million *page views* to get your traffic to yield a better income for you. It's more about increasing the percentage of visitors that make you money than it is about numbers of visitors.2. You've been inconsistent in executing it.Meaning, some days you're gung ho, but most of the time you're not executing your plan. It ain't magic, hon. Someone has to do some work at some point. Either you do it or pay someone else to do it for you.3. You don't have a plan.You know what they say about a failure to plan. If you don't, trust me, it ain't good. Have a goal. If you don't know what to set it on, base it on an increase in revenue. Think backwards from the increase in buyers you would need to make the kind of money you'd like.4. You're using the wrong plan.Not every traffic generation method is good for every site or business. Some sites need to use RSS exclusively and extensively, rather than blog - this might include forum-heavy resource sites. Others are very well suited for blogs - any business that needs better PR, search engine coverage, or conversation with their consumer base would fit this scenario.Of course, if you're leveraging your traffic method to also help you get ranked well in the search engines, then that's a good way to measure the success rate of his plan. One of my clients told me yesterday afternoon that 73% of his traffic was coming from the blog we built for him together. Delightful. And we weren't using anything fancy, just a modified version of a free blogging system.Who says blogging doesn't work?5- It relies on the search engines a primary method - yet you have no real search engine strategy.First thing is - search engine positioning for the sake of search engine positioning is just foolish. You want to rank where your site can tie into the natural meaning of the phrase you rank for - so it's not that Pay Per Click doesn't work, it's that you might be bidding on terms that no value to your business, or poor conversions.The same goes for natural search engine results. If you get ranked for something that doesn't connect well with your end user, you may as well not have been ranked at all.6. You aren't measuring your results so you can't track where you went wrong. This mistake dooms you to backtracking to each change you can remember making and possibly making the same mistake, only worse this time.7. You're flying blind.Not everyone needs consulting. Not everyone needs to buy a book or ebook on the topic they want to study. Some folks have time to go out into forums or newsgroups, read everything they can find, and learn through trial and error. Other folks read blogs to get their learning on.But whatever you're using as a method to learn more about the traffic method you've chosen, do it consistently, test and implement. If you want to hit the fast track instead, learn from people who have done, or are doing, what it is you've set out to learn. Why learn podcasting from a person who doesn't run a podcasting resource, or have a podcast at their site? Why learn about blogging from someone who has a blog no one likes?On the other hand, you also don't want to become a traffic butterfly, floating to each new method you hear about before the first one has had the chance to prove itself.There are other reasons why traffic plans fail in general. But those are the top seven. I find that if I can get my clients to steer away from these, and follow a few simple steps, they almost can't help but see steady traffic increases.
Go to http://www.freetraffictip.com to learn more about all aspects of traffic generation, including blogging, article marketing and search engine optimization. Find out what Does work.

Google Sitemaps Explained - How to Get Your Site Indexed

Google has recently implemented a program where any webmaster can create a Sitemap of their Site and submit it for indexing by Google. It is a quick and easy way for you to keep your site constantly indexed and updated in Google.
The program is appropriately called Google Sitemaps.
In order for you to best use Sitemaps, you must have an XML generated file on your site that will transmit or send any updates, changes, and data to Google. XML (Extensible Markup Language)is everywhere these days, you have probably seen the orange XML logo on many web sites and it's often associated with Blogging because Blogs use XML/RSS feeds to syndicate their content.
Today RSS is known mostly as 'Really Simple Syndication' but its original acronym stood for 'Rich Site Summary'. XML is only simple code like HTML and it is used to syndicate your content to all interested parties.
And the interested party in this case is Google. By creating Sitemaps, Google is really asking webmasters to take charge of the indexing and updating of their sites. Basically, doing the Googlebot's job!
This is a 'Good' thing! With the steady influx of new web sites growing rapidly, indexing all this material will become a challenge, even with the resources of Google. With Sitemaps, websmasters can take charge and make sure their site is crawled and indexed.
Please note, indexing your site with Sitemaps won't improve your rankings in Google. You will still be competing with the other sites in Google for top positions. But with Sitemaps you can make sure all your pages are crawled and indexed quickly by Google.
There are some other big advantages of using Google's Sitemaps - mainly you have control over a few key variables, attributes or tags. To explain this as simply as possible, your XML powered sitemap file will have this simple code for each page of your site:
http://www.yoursite.com/1.02005-07-03T16:18:09+00:00daily
Along with 'urlset' tags at the beginning and end of your code, and an XML version indication - that's basically your XML file! File size will depend on the number of webpages you have.
Taking a closer look at this XML file:
location - http://www.yoursite.com - name of your webpage
priority - you set the priority you want Google to place on that page in your site. You can prioritize your pages: 0.0 being the least, 1.0 being the highest, 0.5 is in the middle. This is only relative to your site. It will not affect your rankings. Why is this important? You have certain pages on your site that are more important than others, (home page, high profït page, opt-ïn page, etc.) by placing high priority on these pages, you will increase their importance in Google.
last modified - when you last modified that page, this timestamp allows crawlers to avoid recrawling pages that haven't changed.
change frequency - you can tell Google how often you change that particular page. Nevër, weekly, daily, hourly, and so on - if you frequently update your page this could be extremely important.
Why do I need a XML Generator?
In order for this XML sitemap file on your site to be constantly updated, you need a Generator that will spider your site, list all the urls and automatically feed them to Google. Thus constantly updating your site in Google's massive index or database. Keep in mind, Google also gives you the option of submitting a simple text file with all your URLs.
There is already a flood of these generators popping up! Different ways of generating your XML powered sitemap file. More are probably appearing as you read this. But lets look at Three ways to generate your XML file.
Difficult - Google's Python Generator
That's a relative term, if you know your server like the back of your hand and installing scripts doesn't scare the bejesus out of you, you're probably smiling at the word difficult. Google supplies a link to a generator (Google XML Generator) which you can download and set up on your server. It will cough up your sitemap XML file and automatically feed it to Google.
In order for this Generator to work, Python version 2.2 must be installed on your web server - many servers don't have this. If you know what you're doing, this will probably be a good choice.
You don't need a Google Account to use Sitemaps, but it's encouraged because you can track your sitemap's progress and view diagnostic information. If you already have another Google Account, gmail, Google Alerts, etc. just use that one to sign in and follow directions from there.
To submit your Sitemap using an HTTP request, issue your request to the following URL:
www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/ping?sitemap=sitemap_url
Hard - A PHP Code Generator
This is a PHP Generator that you can place on your server. This generator will spider your site, and produce a XML sitemap file. Download the phpSitemapNG and upload it your server. Run the generator to get your XML sitemap file and send it to Google.
Again, this is only hard to do if you don't know your way around PHP files or scripts.
Easy - Frëe Online Generator
These Generators are popping up everywhere, and Google keeps a list of these 'third party suppliers' of generators on their site. Find them at: Google's List of Third Party Generators
One of the easiest to use is www.xm-sitemaps.com, and you can index up to 500 pages with this online Generator very quickly and it will give you the sitemap XML file Google needs to index your site. It will go into your site, spider it and index all your pages into an XML sitemap of your site. You can download this file, Compressed or Non- compressed and make minor changes such as setting the priority, changing frequency, etc.
Then upload this file to your site as sitemap.xml to the root directory of your server i.e. where you have your homepage. Then notify Google Sitemaps of your XML file and you're in business.
Of course, the only drawback, if you constantly add pages to your site, you will need to also add these pages to your XML sitemap file. This won't be much of a problem unless you're daily adding pages to your site - then you will need something like the PHP or Python generator to do all this for you automatically.
Google is still the major search engine on the web so getting your pages indexed and updated quickly is the major reason to use Google Sitemaps. If you want your site to remain competitive it's probably the wisest route to take.
About the Author:To learn more about the different Services and Programs offered by Google click-here: Google Adsense & Google Adwords Copyright (c) 2005 Titus Hoskins of bizwaremagic.com . This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

4 Tricks For Lightning Fast Indexing

Copyright © 2005 Kurma Group
The biggest problem that most are running into seems to do with getting INTO the search engines. Rankings aside, you need to first get them to index you. Here are the four main ways to assure yourself fast indexing: Indexing Tip #1: Never launch a new site with a lot of back links. Build natural links over weeks and months. Let’s face it, there is no guaranteed method of getting indexed by Google fast, and buying links from high-ranking sites does not guarantees anything either. The most immediate red flag you should watch out for is your number of incoming links. According to Google, it takes time to get link popularity and sites should not have more than 100 incoming links. It’s okay to launch with a quality link or two. But beyond that, you are pushing it! Here is the scoop! It takes 30-45 days for Google to deep index new sites. Instead of sitting around during “sandbox” time, use that period to build a strong set of natural back-links with a variety of sites. Indexing Tip #2: Register your domain name at least four months before you plan to launch the site. No I am not kidding! Whether you agree with it or not, history shows that Google takes older URLs far more seriously than newer ones. So register your domain name as soon as you plan on developing a site. Indexing Tip #3: Blog and ping carefully. Blogging & pinging is one of the fastest ways to get into the Yahoo index - it can literally get you into Yahoo overnight – helps with MSN as well. Will blogging and pinging help get you into Google? Maybe. But over-pinging can set off red flags on the ping servers, and if you’re using automated blogging software, overdoing it can cause Blogger.com and other services to shut down your blog. Blogging and pinging intelligently can get your blog indexed in Yahoo quickly, but ping carefully. Does Yahoo de-index junk blogs? Absolutely. Especially since the creation of all this software, the search engines are watching closely for red flags (use software wisely). So what can you do about Yahoo Search? Not much… You can be smart about blogging and pinging or even better, you can create real (not by software) blogs. You still have to be careful with pinging though. In the end, blogging and pinging should be part of every beginner’s indexing strategy. Indexing Tip #4: If you build bulk directory/portal sites - keep them in the 200-300 page range. We know it’s such a blast to build those monster 1000-5000 page sites, even with growing evidence of Google bots’ tendencies to stall after indexing the first 200 pages or so… So if you’re into blasting out those gigantic directories and sick of waiting months for them to get indexed, experiment with building smaller sites around more targeted niches. In a nutshell: Divide those mega-keyword lists, spend a little time grouping your sub-lists, and build smaller sites. All in all, the best way to get indexed, stay indexed and eventually get ranked is to recruit incoming link partners. See, blogging and pinging could be gone tomorrow. But, linking is an integral part of how the internet works – it will never go away. Concentrate on building sites and recruiting links – the links get you indexed, ranked and even bring you free traffic from those who click the links!
About the Author:Anik Singal is a 21 year old successful internet marketer who has developed his own affiliate marketing system which helped him earn over $10,466 in just 60 days. Join his FREE Course at: http://www.AffiliateClassroom.com

Promote Your Blog

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Blogging 101 - Eight Mistakes That Are Killing Your Blog

The first year of keeping a blog is always the hardest. You're just getting into the game and you haven't quite learned all the ins and outs of playing just yet. While that's understandable, if you're making too many mistakes with your blog, you'll never have a chance to get it off the ground. Here are eight common blogging mistakes, and steps you can take to avoid them.
1) Ignoring reader comments
You don't have to respond to every single comment (especially if there are several), but if somebody makes an interesting point or asks a question, answer it. Commenting back encourages readers to start a dialogue and lets them know that you're listening to what they have to say. Ignoring them sends off the statement that you don't care about your readers' thoughts on what you've written, and they'll stop reading.
2) Straying off topic
It's easier than you'd think to start a blog post with one idea in mind, only to drift away from that to a completely different idea by the end. However, while that rambling might work under some conditions, it's not good for a blog. People aren't going to want to read a blog post that wanders around eight different topics like a lazy river. Keep your posts simple and to the point, and you'll keep more readers.
3) No countermeasure for spam
Spam has infested emails, MySpace, Facebook, forums and blog comments, and nothing will bring your blog down faster than looking in the comments to see that they're all from somebody in Nigeria who needs to move $1.5 million to the U.S. A spam countermeasure is as simple as a verification box, where people enter a series of letters before they post. Or, you could ask a simple question, like "Is fire hot or cold?" Just do something to ensure that the person posting is actually a person.
4) Looking just like everybody else
You've got your blog on your site, right? So why does it look exactly like every single blog found on Blogger, Blogspot or Livejournal?
Using the exact same templates that come with every blog is boring. You don't look special; you look like everybody else. A unique blog design that matches your website will keep brand consistency for your users. Plus, it will showcase your personality and taste, not the taste of the template designers. For a good example, take a look at this blog: http://www.sleepingtiger.org/blog/.
For more ideas on how to spice up your blog, check out this article at David Meerman Scott's blog: Pimp Out Your Blog.
5) Poor grammar and punctuation
You probably don't worry too much about grammar, spelling and punctuation when you're chatting online, but those mistakes in a blog can be a death sentence. Blogs with lousy grammar and punctuation and frequent misspellings come across as unprofessional, and that's not the image that you want for your business. Edit your blogs and check them for grammtical errors before you ever post.
6) Stale or grandiose writing
Blogs are supposed to provide personal, human insight into your company. They shouldn't read like bland corporate gibberish, nor should you use so many five-dollar words that your readers would have to hit a dictionary just to understand your post. The former makes your stuff boring; the latter makes it condescending, and either way, people won't want to read it. Keep your writing simple and lively.
7) Personal attacks
Controversial ideas or topics are good for blogs, as they can spark discussion and attract a lot of attention. However, while controversy is good, stooping to personal attacks is not. You're writing a professional blog, not picking a grade school fight. Personal attacks will reflect badly on both you and your company, so refrain from it.
8) Long absences
It's all right if you can't post every day. However, letting 10 days, two weeks, or even a month pass without updating is a big blogging no-no. A lack of updates indicates that your blog is on its way out, and readers will quit checking back. Even if you just link to an article or a video that you thought was worth sharing, make an effort to post frequently.
For more blogging tips, see this article: Why Your Business Should Be Blogging.
By avoiding these common blogging mistakes, you can keep your blog helpful, interesting, insightful and professional. Take steps to correct your mistakes now and you can make sure that your blog and readers will be around for a long time to come.
President and founder of Xeal Inc., Tony D. Baker is Oklahoma's leading Internet marketing expert with more than 10 years of Internet marketing experience. You can catch Tony on the Xeal Radio Show on Sunday nights on 1170 KFAQ Tulsa. Sign up for a free 20-point website evaluation and pick up crucial tips at Xeal's free Thursday webinar.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tony_Baker

Is Your Blog Stuck in the Smog?

Well here in Malibu, CA, we are North of Los Angeles, a city that is attached to some 470 square miles of concrete and 16.5 million people. Some say we are above it all, well, not sure about that, but these real estate prices seem to think so. Even with the fires, flooding and ever present threat of the Big One (Earthquake) these prices defy gravity. Currently, out of the smog and today the skies are clear, thanks to a little rain activity.
But, I see many bloggers are still stuck in a rut, lost in the fog, some with weak content brushed over by smog. If you want to break free and get a little breathing room then you need to listen up and get your blog to zoom. If you want more traffic and more of the community to care you have to be brazen and take up the dare. It doesn't matter who you are they aren't going to care and no one here worries about what you wear. You can blog in the nude it doesn't matter much, I blog often in the buff.
Title your blog posts special attention, this way people laugh, click on them, read them and listen. Make the words of your titles rhyme and sing, try it a bit, you'll see what I mean. Think out key words that the Google spider might see, this is advertising you cannot pass up and best of all it is free. If your blog is off to a slow start, contact me soon, let's make a plan that is smart. No, I am not the guru of the blog, but I can see clearly now, my internet page has removed the smog.
My name is Lance Winslow and I am a semi-retired entrepreneur, retired Franchisor and now I am a consultant brain-4-hire, internet writer and author. I got bored in retirement so I founded the Online Think Tank - http://www.worldthinktank.net
If you would like to send me an email just to say hi, discuss an article, send me hate mail or need some advice you can find me at; http://www.carwashguys.com/history/founder.html - Have a great day and thanks for reading - tell me about you?
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_W.

Discover 5 High-Impact Ways to Excel With Blogging

Do you exactly know how to blog? There are a number of people who resort to blogging to promote their products and services-to no avail. How do you add spice or color to your blogs?
1. Participate in blog promotions. Normally, well-established blogs have different freebies and gimmicks that you can participate in. Prizes may range from a free backlink to a post dedicated to you or to your website. This is a very good way to get advertised and even gain friends in the process. So make sure you can have time to participate in them. You have nothing to lose, anyway.
2. Get your own design. If you're thinking of coming up of a marketing or corporate blog, it may pay to have someone design the overall look of your blog. Remember, branding doesn't only happen when you produce great articles but also when you present your information and your business in an appealing manner.
3. Keep everything simple. Though add-ons can make your blog look sophisticated, your readers may never truly care about them. Rather than wasting your time in them, focus in providing excellent blog posts. Make sure that everything look spic and span. Avoid clutter.
4. Write contents, not links. There are times when you want to share to your readers' good quality links you've found. However, don't overdo this, as you're basically sending your readers away from your blog. Instead, add links to other pages of your blogs.
5. Promote your blog. Most new bloggers think that their tasks end after they have designed and posted articles on their blogs. They think that traffic will just pour in even if they don't have to do some promotion. This is just but plain wrong. So you can attract your target readers to your blog, you must learn how to promote it. Get free traffic from article marketing, forum posting, link building, and SEO.
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, 'Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide'
Download it free here: Secrets of Article Promotion
Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 1574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_R_Mize

16 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

You've got your blog set up and you've started posting pithy, useful information that your niche market would benefit from and enjoy. Days go by, you keep publishing, but no one comments and your traffic stats are barely registering. What do you do?
Like any website you own, you must do some blog promotion to start driving traffic to your site. Here are 16 steps, in no particular order of importance, that you can start doing now to get traffic moving to your blog.
1. Set up a Bloglet subscription form on your blog and invite everyone in your network to subscribe: family, friends, colleagues, clients, associates.
Http://www.bloglet.com
2. Set up a feed on MyYahoo.com so your site gets regularly spidered by the Yahoo search engine (see tutorial on http://www.biztipsblog.com)
http://www.my.yahoo.com
3. Read and comment on other blogs that are in your target niche. Don't write things like "nice blog" or "great post." Write intelligent, useful comments with a link to your blog.
4. Use Ping-0-matic to ping blog directories. Do this every time you publish.
http://www.pingomatic.com
5. Submit your blog to traditional search engines: http://www.submitfire.com
6. Submit your blog to blog directories. The most comprehensive list of directories is on this site:
http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/
Tip: Create a form to track your submissions; this can take several hours when you first start so schedule an hour a day for submitting or hire a VA to do it for you.
7. Add a link to your blog in your email signature file.
8. Put a link to your blog on every page of your website.
9. If you publish a newsletter, make sure you have a link to your blog in every issue.
10. Include a link to your blog as a standard part of all outgoing correspondence such as autoresponder sequences, sales letters, reports, white papers, etc.
11. Print your blog URL on your business cards, brochures and flyers.
12. Make sure you have an RSS feed URL that people can subscribe to. The acronym RSS means Rich Site Summary, or some may consider its meaning as Really Simple Syndication. It is a document type that lists updates of websites or blogs available for syndication. These RSS documents (also known as 'feeds') may be read using aggregators (news readers). RSS feeds may show headlines only or both headlines and summaries.
To learn how news aggregators/RSS readers work, see this site: http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-readers.htm
13. Post often to keep attracting your subscribers to come back and refer you to others in their networks; include links to other blogs, articles and websites in your posts
14. Use Trackback links when you quote or refer to other blog posts. What is TrackBack? Essentially what this does is send a message from one server to another server letting it know you have posted a reference to their post. The beauty is that a link to your blog is now included on their site.
15. Write articles to post around the web in article directories. Include a link to your blog in the author info box (See example in our signature below).
16. Make a commitment to blog everyday. 10 minutes a day can help increase your traffic as new content attracts search engine spiders. Put it on your calendar as a task every day at the same time.
Tip: Use a hit counter to track your visitor stats: how many unique visitors, how many page views, average length of visit. You can get a free hit counter at http://www.sitemeter.com
Denise Wakeman of Next Level Partnership, and Patsi Krakoff of Customized Newsletter Services, have teamed up to create blogging classes and marketing services for independent professionals. You can read and subscribe to their blogs at http://www.biztipsblog.com, http://www.coachezines.com and http://www.bizbooknuggets.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Denise_Wakeman