1

Archive for August 30, 2009

SEO SIMPLIFIED: Web Rank Primer

Web Rank? I know not many people know about it, as not many people use Yahoo. Web Rank is Yahoo equivalent of Google’s Page Rank. It performs the same function as performed by Google’s Page Rank.

Web Rank is a number assigned to different web pages by Yahoo. The number assigned can be any natural number between 1 and 10. This number is assigned on the basis of relative importance of the web pages. Like Page Rank, Web Rank is also assigned to individual web pages and not to the website containing them.

If you want to get Yahoo search traffic then you should eye to get higher Web Rank for the intended page. In a layman’s term, Yahoo Web Rank is calculated based on the number and quality of in-bound links to the web page. Ten links from .edu will get you better Web Rank than 100 links from generic websites.

What makes a Blogger Successful?

In the last two articles, I told you how to avoid the traps set by some of the so-called professional bloggers. I also exposed some of the most common lies told to a person new to blogging. In this article, I will share some of the secrets of successful bloggers. I will also share what all they do differently and what areas you may need to work on.

Communication Skills

To be successful as a blogger, you need to have strong communication skills.

Why?

Because blogging is all about communication. Why else would you need to blog, if not for the purpose of  sharing information?

Work on communicating effectively if you feel you are not strong in this area.

Easy going attitude

Most successful people are very humble and friendly. No matter how vicious a ready may be, it is important to remain friendly at all times.  You need to remain calm and positive because many readers are reading what you write in the comment box and not only the one who attacked you.

Personality

To be successful, you need to have a distinct personality that helps you stand out in the crowd. I am not asking you to go and paint your back red to get noticed. I am asking you to develop a distinct voice. As Seth Godin says, become remarkable!  No one likes seeing or meeting a run-of-the-mill blogger.  No one likes “me-toos”.

Adaptable

If you are too tough to bend then you will break in the next storm. You need to be as flexible as the grass and not as stiff as a Banyan tree.  Have you ever seen grass become uprooted, even in the ugliest storm but a banyan tree is easily rooted out by the storm because it is too stiff to withstand the winds of change.

Agility

Do not be slow. On the Internet, one day is equivalent to one month if not one year. Be quick and nimble.

Active learner

Technology is changing every day, and with it the life of a blogger is also changing. You need to be a quick learner to become successful as a blogger. You need to upgrade yourself every day and make sure that you are moving forward every day.

Are these Blogging Lies costing your life? Part -2

Yesterday, we talked about some lies told by a small group of people who do not want you to be the part of blogging community, just because they are insecure. They do not want a person much smarter than they are should know their secret. Let us begin from where we left yesterday.

Lie 4: Successful bloggers cares much about his health lie

You will be told to believe that sleep at least 8-10 hours a day; jog for at least 1 hour a day; finish each meal in 20-30 minutes, and have 6 small meals. You will see, in total they want you to invest more than half of your day in these things. If you add to this our daily chore, this investment goes up to 70-80% of your day.

Can you see the picture now?

They do not want you to blog.  It’s part of their strategy to keep you away from blogging. For a moment, let’s put blogging aside to think more clearly on this issue. Let’s say, you are working in a big blue-chip corporation that is facing threat to its bottom line from competitors. What will your boss ask you to do? Work extra hours and get the company back on its feet or will he ask you to go to bed at 8 and stay there asleep for 8-10 hours?

It is simple logic that when you have pressing things at hand, you tend to devote more time to it then to sleeping. Have you seen any inventors, scientists, mathematicians, actors, singers, painters or any creative person following 8-10 hour daily sleeping routine?

I know sleeping is good for health, and 8-hours a day sleep keeps you fresh in the morning and you should do it, only if any serious work is not your priority.

Life is all about tradeoffs. If you want success as blogger, you will have to cut time you waste (yes, I feel we waste) on sleeping, eating, jogging etc. I am not preaching this. I myself follow this. It’s only once in a month that I sleep for more than 4 hours. I am not superstar or even star of blogging, but I like keeping my work this way. What do you want: 8-hour a day sleep for the rest of your life or successful and rewarding blogging career? Choice is yours!

In the two article series, I have just touched upon major lies told to bloggers. In the next article, I will talk about traits of successful blogger. Any suggestions?

Are these Blogging Lies costing your life?

By the end of the last post, if you thought that was the end of the journey then I am sorry to say my friend, the show is still on. There are still many myths that need to be busted, and there are many truths that need to be told. Let’s start busting some more blogging myths (lies).

The lies we are going to expose here are not related to blogging per se, but to the person who blogs. These lies are told to stop talented bloggers like you from becoming a lethal force.

Lie 1: A successful blogger knows what he wants lie

This is one of the most ridiculous lies told to the beginners. Man, there is no way of knowing what you want when you are starting out, for you are a newbie. How will you know what you should expect until and unless you know your terrain? And as a newbie, my friend, you have just started to explore the field. You will take time before you can gauge the possibilities offered by this medium and to know what you want from it.

Lie 2: A successful blogger knows what he is doing lie

No! Not by a long shot. This is a big lie. Man, you can’t know what you were doing until you are done. When starting out, no blogger knows what he or she is doing. Go and ask Seths and Darrens of the world and you will know the reality. Even they were not sure what they were doing until they tasted at least a drop of the sweet blood of success. Yes, at best, you can hope to know what you are doing, and you can be ready to evolve with the process. Read it loud:

It’s not just the blog that grows. It’s the blogger that shapes up with the blog!

And, if anyone tells you this lie again, hand the dictum over to him.

Lie 3: A blogger knows how to do it lie

How can you possibly believe it? And have you thought why someone else is painting the know-all picture for bloggers?

Man, if I were you, I would have kicked ass.

Just think like this: blogging involves at least coding, hosting, writing, promoting, networking, sharing, etc. Now tell me, which blogger, until and unless he is some blogging-god or something, can know all these stuffs (as pros of each of the fields will now) when they are just starting out? And, why would a successful professional blogger even bother to know all these stuffs, if they can outsource these works?

Tell these sweet friends of yours, there is something called focus, which if you lose can bring death upon your blogging career. The first and the foremost goal should be to know how you can add value, and then to focus 80 percent of your resources on doing that. You can devote the rest 20 percent on other related stuffs.

SEO SIMPLIFIED: SEO Tips from the Horse’s Mouth (Read Google)

If you have optimized your website for Google then you have already gained access to at least every second individual on Earth.  That is why optimizing for Google is important, right? And as a SEO newbie, you will jump from your seat with excitement, if I say, “On November 13, 2008, Google published its own SEO guide for beginners: Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide; which when used along with this guide can be very helpful in teaching you SEO.” Below I am going to share some key points that Google talked in its SEO guide.

  • Google asks you to focus on bettering the user experience, for the search engine is focusing now on reducing the bounce rate as well.
  • Are you in the habit of using page1.html, page2.html, or 1.html, 2.html, etc., for naming the web pages you upload on your website? Google asks you to avoid this.
  • Google says, for the search engine a title tag and a Meta description tag matter, so be super careful when writing these tags. A unique title tag each for every web page in your website will also assist you in tracking these pages using Google Webmaster tool.
  • Google recommends using dashes in place of underscores in URL, moreover, insist on using shorter URL using descriptive words. I would suggest using descriptive keywords.
  • Google beseeches the webmaster to reduce the tier and flatten the navigation of its website. Minimize number of clicks and remove unnecessary layers from directories as well.
  • Google is frustrated with inconsistent interlinking. Either use the prefix www with all the pages that you are interlinking or do not use them at all. You should not sometime use it and at others leave it. The same hold true with CAPS and no-CAPS.
  • Google asks you to give extra care to Sitemap, and requests the webmaster to have XML as well as HTML sitemaps.
  • Use a proper keyword in Anchor text. It helps Google a lot.
  • Make a proper use of breadcrumbs navigational structure to create content silos.
  • Did you hear Google shout, “NO DUPLICACY PLEASE!” Duplicity and cheating are looked down on by Google. Do not point two URLS in your website to the same article or content.

Who Else Subscribe to These Blogging Myths Part -2

In the last article, I assisted you in exposing some of the common myths associated with blogging, and in this article, we shall debunk some more myths. (If you have not read the first part then click on Who Else Subscribe to These Blogging Myths).

Myth 5: Good Content is Enough Myth

You will be surprised to know that many people still believe that just writing jaw-dropping, out-of-the-world articles is enough to succeed in blogging. They think: just write the best of the best articles and people will flock around them with a pen and paper asking for their autograph. Well, this doesn’t happen, at least not over nigh. Initially, one has to work hard to bring people to one’s website.

Myth 6: Self Promotion Myth

My mom asked me not to go over the roof and shout, “I am the best.” She said if you are the best, people will notice you, eventually.

Well, not on the Internet, and this one time I ask you to overlook your mom’s advice, I am asking as if you never did that, and go over the top (of not your roof) but on the top of Digg, StumbleUpoon, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, etc., and shout, “I am the most attractive fellow around. Come see me.” This will work. Self promotion, after all, is not that bad a thing.

Myth 7: Freebie Myth

Freebies work, and no one can challenge this fact, but freebies only work in helping you retain your visitors, and if the content of your website is worth waiting for. If not then, visitors will come, collect the freebie, and will leave silently, without making a fuss.

Myth 8: Blogging Platform Myth

You will find lots of people who will say that a blogging platform doesn’t matter. You can use blogger, typepad, b2evolution, Drupal, Mambo, Joomla, WordPress, or whatever; it doesn’t matter. Well, ask these fellows, “If this is the case then why so many people are using WordPress, and why many people are abandoning their existing blog platform for WordPress?”

A blogging platform doesn’t matter if you know how to create a theme, design all the required plug-ins, build support for it, have thousands of dollars to cover the development cost, and have at least 100 years to get everything you need to keep your blog functional and safe.

For rest of us WordPress is the best.

Who Else Subscribes to These Blogging Myths Part -1

Myths are good thing. It tells you about your place in the cosmos, and helps you understand the reason for your existence. This, more or less, is what the great mythology expert Joseph Campbell has to say about myth, but the kind of myths we are going to talk about here is not the type Campbell will approve of. We are talking here about myths (to be more precise let’s call it lies) related to blogging that most of us have subscribed to.

Myth 1: Too Many Blogs Myth

I must say at the onset, this is not exactly a lie we tell ourselves, but it is a lie, nevertheless. Yes, technically speaking, there are millions of blogs out there, but most of them are nonfunctional. They are not updated. They are there just to increase the head count.

If you have decided to go for blogging, you will not be competing with those millions of just-there-doing-nothing blogs, but with some of the active blogs that add value to the readers’ life.

Myth 2: Blog Setup Myth

It is commonly believed that blogs can be set up in a minute. Well, technically even in less than a minute, but the blog thus started will not have any value, neither for the creator nor for the readers. It takes time to set up a good quality blog where readers will like staying.

Myth 3: One Blog-Post a Day Myth

This is the most common myth subscribed by most of us. We believe updating our blogs every couple of hours is the only way to keep the blog interesting and people flocking around. Well, as said, this is just a myth. Now every blog needs to be updated daily. Blogs operating in the hyper-active niches like news, current affair, product launches, etc., only need daily or hourly posting.

Do not post crap just to increase the number.

Myth 4: The 10-Minute Myth

People believe writing a piece for blog does not need much time. Just devote 10 to 15 minutes every day, and you are a blogger, professional blogger more so. Well, technically you can be a blogger this way, but professional? Not in the wildest dream; rather, you will be a blogger whose blog will be read only by your mommy. Even your partner will not read it.

Writing a serious post for a serious blog is hard work. You need to do research, collect information then give it a shape of a blog-post then proofread. Phew!

A Parting Word

Do you have any personal favorites or the myths you want to debunk? Share it with me and let us find explanation for that as well.

SEO SIMPLIFIED: Top SEO Strategies

We have come a long way on our SEO journey, and learned many useful things along the way. I have made a list of the top 10 SEO activities that will get you the most results.  If you made a list of your own SEO efforts, what would it include? Let’s compare notes!

  1. A tightly-focused Keyword (niche keyword) is the foundation of any SEO activity.
  2. A Creative Headline is also very important for SEO and to make people stop by to read the article.
  3. A Powerful Meta Description tag has a positive impact on the click-through rate [from SERP].
  4. Keyword-rich (keyword density: 2-7 %), user-friendly content/article will ascertain that the reader keeps coming back.
  5. Anchor Text. It is the building block of any linking (interlinking, inbound links or outbound links) activity.
  6. Inbound Link (backlink) building.
  7. Interlinking of pages.
  8. Website submission to DMOZ open directory project as well as to Yahoo and Google directories.
  9. Article writing and publishing in article directories like ezinearticles.com, articlebase.com, etc.
  10. Forum posting with a link in signature line, and blog commenting with a keyword-rich anchor text.

I have left many things off of this SEO top 10 list which I feel are less important than the ones inluded. What do you think? Does your list look like this, or is it completely different?  Use the comment box and share what you think is most important when it comes to SEO, I’m looking forward to seeing what you post!

SEO SIMPLIFIED: How to get backlinks – II

This is the concluding part of the article How to get backlinks. In this part, we will talk about nine more ways to get backlinks for your website.

Provide useful link-worthy services

Provide link-worthy services like, news feed, stock market quotes, monetary exchange rates, etc. Webmasters working on your niche will pick your content and use it on their websites giving links back to your website.

Directory submission

Submitting your website’s URL to DMOZ open directory project, Yahoo Directory and Google Directory. Once you are done submitting your website to these directories, search for directories relevant to your niches, and submit your site there.

Reciprocal links

Trading links is one of the sources to get inbound links. The process starts with finding websites that function in your or related niches. It is followed by adding link to the website from which you need a backlink. Wait for couple of days and then send a mail to the webmaster of the website asking for a backlink. If you do not get the link back, you can consider removing the outbound link to that website.

To avoid the spam tag, write two or three relevant things about the website in question in the mail you send to its webmaster. Mention the URL and Page Rank of the webpage where you have placed its link in the mail.

Reciprocal links partner

There are numerous services on the internet that help you find a reciprocal link partner for your website.

Reciprocal links program

There are quite a few reciprocal links program that help the webmaster getting backlinks from relevant websites.

You can also start your own reciprocal link program as well.

Reciprocal link forum

Reciprocal link forums help you share and trade links. The way these forums work is similar to the way the forums you visit works.

Link network

Link networks also help webmasters in sharing links with other webmasters.

Use Webring

Joining or starting a webring will also get you backlinks.

A webringas defined by wikipedia is:

“A webring in general is a collection of websites from around the Internet joined together in a circular structure.”

Buy Links

Well, buying links is not exactly an SEO activity, and I will not recommend buying links until every other effort fails.