technorati http://www.artwoo.com Returned search results for technorati Copyright 2008 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:04:57 +0000 http://www.artwoo.com/rss/technorati Just How Important Are Technorati Tags And Wordpress Categories http://www.artwoo.com/article/just-how-important-are-technorati-tags-and-wordpress-categories http://www.artwoo.com/article/just-how-important-are-technorati-tags-and-wordpress-categories#comments Mon, 21 Aug 2006 00:27:19 +0000 blogtechnoratiblogospherekitchen gadgetssearch enginesactual timeblogs http://www.artwoo.com/article/just-how-important-are-technorati-tags-and-wordpress-categories search engines are currently the principal means for accessing s in the Internet, having one's blog listed among the top result of a search query is paramount in order to drive traffic to one's blog. To help boost your blog's ranking for search engine, here is a tip that any webmaster worth his salt can tell you: Think of the most probable keywords or tags that will be used to search for your blog and then make sure to include these words in your blog post. Make them part of your title. If you are a WordPress user, make them your tag or WordPress category. Doing so would give you a better chance of being crawled by the search engines.

About Technorati Tags

Technorati is a popular real-time search engine that monitors what is happening in the world of we -- the . Adhering to the idea that the relevance of a blog is determined by the number of other blogs that link to it, Technorati traces the number of links, the perceived importance of blogs, as well as the of blogging. Technorati automatically receives advice from blogs as soon as they are updated. Technorati tracks down all activities in the blogosphere and indexes them immediately after posting.

As bloggers have probably realized by now, Technorati is an authority in keeping up with the blogging community. Technorati is one of the best traffic sources. Blog posts organized by Technorati tags are its main feature. Technorati makes your blog much easier to find when Internet users search by utilizing Technorati tags.

A Technorati tag is a keyword or a category used to briefly describe the subject matter of a blog post. It can be one or more words. Bloggers categorize or classify their blog posts using tags. The process of assigning tags to blog posts is known as tagging.

For instance, you have a post about cooking, you can use tags like healthy cooking, culinary delights, , regional cuisine, food trips, etc. as your tags. You can tag your post with anything you wish. Technorati will still index it and display it on their tag pages.

Technorati tags are like the tags bloggers add to pictures or images on Flickr, the photo sharing site (e.g. using the tag "culinary delights" for a photo of a sumptuous parmesan chicken with quick salsa verde dish). Technorati tags are also like the tags used to bookmark blog posts in http://del.icio.us. Bloggers assign tags and share all the links with other users through the tags. In fact, Technorati works with these two sites. When you go to Technorati and view a particular post for a specific tag, you will also see images and links to blogs given the same tags by bloggers on http://del.icio.us and Flickr.

Technorati tags offer another way of finding information and interacting on the Internet. Technorati tags usher you to a collection of posts tagged with the same tag. Technorati tags can link to related tag categories not just on Technorati but the other tag sites as well showing a compilation of posts from around the web all related to the tag. Tags can also link to a generated blog post enumerating all the posts on your blog associated with that specific tag. Technorati tags can also be linked from within the text thru a list anywhere on your blog that will take you to the Technorati site for more posts related to the same tag.

Technorati uses WordPress categories as tags. Technorati will automatically recognize your WordPress category names as tags. You can add more tags by just adding a rel="tag" to any link on your blog. You can also avail of the numerous WordPress plug-ins for maximizing Technorati tags which can be found on the Plug-ins/Technorati list in the WordPress site.

About WordPress Categories

Bloggers using WordPress as their blogging platform can maximize the Categories feature. Categories come with WordPress. You have full rein to add as many categories or subcategories as you like to make it easy for users to find information they need. As mentioned earlier Technorati uses WordPress categories as tags.

Each post in WordPress is entered under one or more categories. This allows posts with related content to be compiled together. Each category may be assigned to a Category Parent. Categories are displayed in hierarchy and alphabetically. Subcategories are displayed after the Parent Category. There are some basic information associated with a category -- a unique name, category parent, description (optional) and the number of posts which are members of the category.

Links to categories are shown in different places on the blog. WordPress lists category links in the sidebar. WordPress also shows all the categories to which a given post belongs. When a user views a blog and clicks on one of the category links, a page with all the posts belonging to that category will be displayed.

Just like traditional website marketing, organizing content into categories, in this case WordPress categories, helps both visitors and search engines to easily understand what your blog posts are about and find other posts related to the same category.

Optimizing Technorati Tags and WordPress for Search Engines

Tags are categories that organize the blog system. Given that WordPress categories translate to Technorati tags, it follows that by tagging a blog post, you connect it with a unique category. Technorati provides a tag search that allows web surfers to browse for posts in a particular category. If your posts are properly tagged, this can bring significant traffic.

Google, Yahoo and MSN incorporate Technorati's tag pages into their search results. This is the reason why Technorati receives much traffic. The longer your post stays at the top of a Technorati tag, the more traffic you will receive. To stay on top, you can continue posting new content related posts to a specific tag.

How high the Technorati tag ranks in the search engine results depend on certain factors. It depends in part on how relevant and unique your Technorati tags are. The more relevant they are, the more likely your blog post will appear in search results. The better you match your Technorati tags (WordPress categories) with the actual content of your blog post, the higher your post will rank in search engines. It will also be effortless for web surfers to navigate within your site. To put it simply, the higher your search engine ranking, the more traffic you receive.

Another factor to consider in attaining a high page rank in search engine results is the number of bloggers that have tagged their posts by linking back to Technorati. In fact all blog posts that tag directly to Technorati have received a boost in link popularity. Based on the number of links to your blog from other sites, your blog is given a Google PageRank (a system for ranking web pages and blog posts). The higher the rank, the easier it will be for web users to find your blog when they search for related data. A high Google PageRank will definitely increase your search engine optimization as Google PageRank serves as the basis for the entire web search tools. http://www.theinternetone.net ]]> See Who's Linking To You In The Blogosphere http://www.artwoo.com/article/see-whos-linking-to-you-in-the-blogosphere http://www.artwoo.com/article/see-whos-linking-to-you-in-the-blogosphere#comments Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:15:02 +0000 blogtechnoratiblogsearchbacklinksicerocketgooglemarketleap http://www.artwoo.com/article/see-whos-linking-to-you-in-the-blogosphere backlinks is vital to your , as it helps increase its popularity. There are many means available to check your incoming links.

One method of checking for incoming links is to use link popularity services such as http://LinkPopularity.com and .com" >http://Marketleap.com.

Keep in mind that unlike Yahoo and MSN, does not always display all your backlinks.

-Another method for finding what blogs are linking to you is to check Technorati. To check your links on Technorati use the following method http://www.technorati.com/search/ http://yourblogtitle.com.

Technorati states that they attempt to index full content from blogs. If they cannot find a full content, they index the HTML on the front page. Any content that can't be found in either of these places does not get indexed currently. So if a blog's RSS feed is not set to "full", then it is possible that not all backlinks will show in Technorati.

Google - http://blogsearch.google.com is another place to check for new incoming links to your blog. Google blog search allows you to search via a specific timeframe, such as blogs linking in within the last hour, 12 hours, one week or months. Google Blogsearch allows you to subscribe to the results via RSS feed so you'll be updated whenever a new site links to your blog.

Ask.com Blog Search - http://Ask.com unique algorithm combines http://Ask.com search and Bloglines subscription data. Searches can be conducted by "posts", "feeds" or "news". Advanced search features are available. http://www.ask.com/?tool=bls

Blog Search- http://icerocket.com is a blog search engine like Google Blog Search. Icerocket Blog Search lets you track links from other blogs to your posts. To check your links at Icerocket type this query into the search field link: http://yourblogtitle.com.

Backlinkwatch- http://backlinkwatch.com provides an all-in-one service to check your backlinks. The service reports backlinks along with their PR, anchor text and if it's a nofollow or follow backlink.

PopUri - http://popuri.us is an online tool which checks the link popularity of any site based on its ranking.

Google offers Google Webmaster Tools, which also shows the number of incoming links for your website and Blog Pulse Search reports daily incoming links to your blog as well.

Check your incoming links through these various methods to get a wider scope of just who is linking to your blog Rose DesRochers is the founder of Blogger Talk Blog Forum http://www.bloggertalk.net, a friendly fast growing blogging portal, offering bloggers support, advice, tools, tips and information about blogs and blogging. Visit her blog at http://rosedesrochers.todays-woman.net. ]]> Rose Desrochers's 7 Tips: How Do You Generate Traffic To Your Website Or Blog? http://www.artwoo.com/article/rose-desrocherss-7-tips-how-do-you-generate-traffic-to-your-website-or-blog http://www.artwoo.com/article/rose-desrocherss-7-tips-how-do-you-generate-traffic-to-your-website-or-blog#comments Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:27:07 +0000 blogtechnoratitaggedsearch enginesbloggerstrafficweblogs http://www.artwoo.com/article/rose-desrocherss-7-tips-how-do-you-generate-traffic-to-your-website-or-blog traffic to your website or ?' Many first-time assume that you make a few posts, submit your blog to the and traffic will come naturally. It's not that simple and it takes a little more work than just that.

Here are seven tips to generate traffic to your website or blog.

1. The primary way of promoting any website is by creating valuable content. It is important to have something of value to offer to your readership. Adding quality content to your Web site or blog is the best way to keep visitors returning. Not only will it keep them coming back, but it will encourage them to create links to your website or blog. Make sure that you update your content regularly. Once people realize that you add fresh content regularly, then they will constantly check back to see what is new. The purpose of having a website or blog is to attract regular visitors.

2. You've worked really hard on your Blog, but no one is reading it. Read and comment on other blogs, but make sure that you comment on the topic at hand. Don't ask them to come and visit your blog. Write valuable comments and leave a link to your blog.

3. currently tracks 35.3 Million . It is one of the best traffic providers for bloggers. If you don't already have a Technorati account, you can create one at http://technorati.com. Once you sign up you'll be required to claim your blog. Technorati will give you two codes. You'll need to put one of these in your blog for Technorati to verify that your blog exists. Technorati also offers tagging. When you use the tagging system of Technorati, you're drawing attention to your keywords. Tags tell the search engines which category your posts are under. Many of Technorati pages rank high in search engines. Once you've added tags to your post be sure to ping it.

4. Use http://pingoat.com to ping more than 50 directories each time you republish to your blog. What does pinging do? Pinging lets the weblog tracking sites know that your site has just been updated with fresh new content.

5. Write articles and submit them to article directories. Writing and submitting articles is a free and easy way to drive traffic back to your website. Article directories are a huge hype with new ones sprouting up all over. When a webmaster or blogger uses one of your articles it increases your web exposure though backlinks to your blog or website.

6. If you want to drive traffic to your website or blog and keep visitors returning then why not consider giving something of valuable away. Giving items away for free is a great way to increase traffic. Some of the things that you can give away are free downloads, free e-books or a free audio. If you administrate a community, you might suggest that your members donate something to give away as a way of supporting their community. Also holding a contest is a great way to boost traffic.

7. Make a commit to yourself to blog regularly. All it takes is ten minutes everyday to increase your traffic. Ask any SEO expert and they will tell you that search engines love content. However don't blog for the sake of blogging. Make sure that what you're blogging about is of interest to your readership.

There you have it, Rose DesRochers seven important ways to increase traffic to your blog or website. I hope that these suggestions will help you. Rose DesRochers is a published poet and freelance writer. Rose has been writing poetry for more than 20 years. She is also the founder of http://www.todays-woman.net, a supportive online writing community for men and women over 18. She is also the Assistant Administrator of http://www.invision-graphics.com. Rose DesRochers's blog : http://rosedesrochers.todays-woman.net This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License. ]]> The Exploding Popularity Of Blogging http://www.artwoo.com/article/the-exploding-popularity-of-blogging http://www.artwoo.com/article/the-exploding-popularity-of-blogging#comments Mon, 17 Dec 2007 04:30:01 +0000 frequent internet usersmatt garrettguardian indicated thatnumber of internet usersbright futuresexpanding universepersonal risk http://www.artwoo.com/article/the-exploding-popularity-of-blogging personal risk regardless of whether it explodes or evaporates. And you are also not alone.

Although there are now, according to Technorati 70,000,000 blogs online and 120,000 being started every day, a 2005 study done by the UK newspaper The 30% of those questioned who claimed to be had never even heard of a blog, let alone the blogosphere.

But for the millions of Internet users who have blogs, read blogs, or both, the health of the blogosphere is of great interest.

With another US presidential campaign already underway, those who track such things will be interested to know that in the last half 2004, according to a study done by the American Life Project, the who reading blogs more than doubled from seventeen to thirty-seven percent, although the number of those writing them rose from five to only seven percent.

The Presidential race in 2008 will more than likely see another boost in the number of blog readers as those who were too young to vote four years ago have become the dedicated bloggers on MySpace and other social networking and will be perfectly comfortable with campaigning done in cyberspace.

The statistics from Technorati seem to be telling us one thing: blogs have been around for over a decade, yet their popularity is greater than ever, and as more and more of the 18-25 crowd so prized by advertisers turn to the blog as their preferred means of online communication, the blog seems to have very ahead.

The blogs of today are already taking full advantage of online video technology. All that remains is for the sites which currently index blogs like Technorati to find other ways to keep track of what is becoming, like our , the ever expanding blogosphere Author: =A9 2007 http://www.BlogTactics.com | Blog Tutorials and Videos Grab Your Free Step By Step Guide to Setting Up Your First Blog Now!! http://www.blogtactics.com/newsletter.html ]]> Socialize Your Wordpress, Blogware Or Blogger Blog With A Single Click Of Your Mouse http://www.artwoo.com/article/socialize-your-wordpress-blogware-or-blogger-blog-with-a-single-click-of-your-mouse http://www.artwoo.com/article/socialize-your-wordpress-blogware-or-blogger-blog-with-a-single-click-of-your-mouse#comments Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:27:05 +0000 pingtagtechnoratiblogsblogsearch enginesblogging http://www.artwoo.com/article/socialize-your-wordpress-blogware-or-blogger-blog-with-a-single-click-of-your-mouse blogs" rel="tag">Blogs(A.K.A. - Weblogs) are the BIGGEST thing going right now online because of there many uses for both the Web Surfer and the Internet Marketer.

But, you probably already know that so for the purpose of this article I'm not going to talk about 'Blogs' in general because I'm sure you've read enough about them by now and/or you already have a few kicking around the net.

What I'm going to share with you Right Now is something I discovered while surfing the net researching and tactics and Social Bookmarkleting because I run more then a few blogs online and wanted to find out how I could take advantage of this whole Tag and Ping and Social Bookmarkleting thing with as little effort as possible.

If your new to this whole Tag and Ping game then let me give you a quick summary of what a Tag is and what a Ping is so there's no confusion as you continue through this article.

*Tags* - Tags are simply *category names* and are selected by you using keywords around whatever niche your about and are included within each post you make, that is, if your blog is set up for Tags.

*Ping* - By Pinging your letting the weblog trackers(like for example) and the now that your blog has been updated with fresh content and is ready for their spiders to come and crawl your blog for indexing into their databases.

This is where the - Tags - come into play for your blogs posts because as soon as the social bookmarkleting service spiders your blog, it will list your post under that given Tag you chose. So it's very important you choose your Tags wisely.

Now that you know the basics of the Tag and Ping concept, lets now get into what I discovered so you too can incorporate it into your blogging mix, whether you use Wordpress, Blogware or Blogger as your blogging software.

But before I do, lets first talk about what Social Bookmarkleting is for a quick minute.

Social Bookmarkleting, just in case your not quite sure, is simply a collection of your favorite articles, blogs, music, restaurant reviews, photo's or whatever it is that you find interesting on the web and is saved into your public profile through whatever Social Bookmarkleting service you choose.

Technorati, Digg, del.icio.us, furl are just a few Social Bookmarkleting services available on the web which is why I'm writing this article because I discovered a COOL plugin that you can use on Wordpress, Blogware and Blogger blogs that will connect you to over 50+ social bookmarkleting services through one click of your mouse giving your blog audience multiple options to share your blog post or blog with the world which in turn will increase your traffic and popularity of your blog.

Lets face it, adding 50+ social bookmarkleting buttons to your blog would be a VERY tedious endevour so why not take the short cut for a change and install this plugin and let your reader make his or her choice.

To take advantage of this plugin right now go to Socialize-It.com ==andgt; http://www.socialize-it.com

This plugin is absolutely FREE and only takes minutes to install on your blog.

Make sure your choose your Tag wisely as well. I recommend you go to Technorati - http://www.technorati.com - and look at the TOP 100 tags since Technorati is the BIG Daddy in the blogosphere.

(TIP: The bigger and bolder the Tag the more popular the topic is.)

After you've done that, start Blogging.

The more posts you make, the more pages you'll generate with the andquot;Socialize-Itandquot; button helping spread the word about your blog and getting your blog added in whatever Social Bookmarkleting service database your blog reader is apart of.

I hope you found this article helpful and take action on what you have just learned.

Good luck! Cory Threlfall is a PROVEN Internet Marketer and is the Editor and Publisher of a Online Business and Marketing publication called The Internet Wonders eZine. Go subscribe today and receive 'Daily' via the Web, RSS or eMail quality Articles, Product Reviews, Resources, Tips, and More on how to Promote and Build your business online. Go NOW To ==andgt; http://www.internetwondersezine.com ]]> Major Search Engine Submission: How To Get Listed In Google, Yahoo And MSN http://www.artwoo.com/article/major-search-engine-submission-how-to-get-listed-in-google-yahoo-and-msn http://www.artwoo.com/article/major-search-engine-submission-how-to-get-listed-in-google-yahoo-and-msn#comments Wed, 25 Oct 2006 08:27:03 +0000 yahoo rsssearch yahooyahoo searchyahoo sitewww googleall the webgoogles http://www.artwoo.com/article/major-search-engine-submission-how-to-get-listed-in-google-yahoo-and-msn
Here's how:

1. Submit Directly: Submit your blog via Google's free submitting form. http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl

2. Submit your sitemap to Google. http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/

3. Submit your site to DMOZ, the Open Directory Project. Keep in mind that http://DMOZ.com is run by volunteers; therefore it may take some time before you are listed and a submission does not guarantee listing.

4. Get a Qualified Backlink: Get linked from a website that search engines crawl regularly and add your link to forum signatures. Google states, "Google's robots jump from page to page on the web via hyperlinks, so the more sites that link to your pages, the more likely it is that we'll find them quickly."

5. If your blog isn't already listed in Google's Blog search engine, you can submit it manually. Add your blog to Google's Blog Search. http://blogsearch.google.com/ping

It usually takes a new website about a month before it's fully indexed by Google. Google Blog Search indexes blogs by their site feeds, so be sure that you publish a site feed.

Keep in mind that, while Google dominates the web, it isn't the only search engine on the web.

is one of the major search engines and directories online as well, so you are going to want to submit your blog to Yahoo's Directory. http://add.yahoo.com/fast/add?17051064

It could take eight to ten weeks before you are listed in Yahoo.

Explorer allows you to explore pages indexed by Yahoo Search. http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com

Submit your blog to Yahoo Site Explorer. http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit

Submit Your Feed to the Yahoo! RSS Browse-by-Topic Directory. http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/my/cgi_rss_submission

Submit your Media RSS Feed to Yahoo! Search -http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/submit?

You can submit your blog to Msn at http://search.msn.com.sg/docs/submit.aspx?FORM=WSDD

SubmitExpress.com will submit your blog free to the top 20 + Search engines.

If you don't already have a Technorati account, sign up for one at http://Technorati.com and claim your blog at Technorati. Technorati is a popular weblog search engine.

Bloggertalk.net offers a list of blog directories where you can also submit your blog to increase your exposure online. http://www.bloggertalk.net/blog_resources-cat-369.html

When submitting to directories, be sure to take the time to read the submission guidelines provided by each blog directory.

Getting listed in the major search engines alone doesn't guarantee traffic. Your blog content guarantees that. Update regularly, provide interesting content and the visitors will come, as will the spider bots. Rose DesRochers is the founder of Blogger Talk Blog Community http://www.bloggertalk.net, a friendly fast growing blogging portal, offering bloggers support, advice, tools, tips and information about blogs and blogging. She is also the administrator of Today's Woman Writing Community http://www.todays-woman.net, a supportive online writing community for men and women over 18. ]]> Technorati And Associated Press Merger - How This Affects The Blogsphere http://www.artwoo.com/article/technorati-and-associated-press-merger-how-this-affects-the-blogsphere http://www.artwoo.com/article/technorati-and-associated-press-merger-how-this-affects-the-blogsphere#comments Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:27:23 +0000 ap articlesap articletechnoratiblogsblogosphereblogblogger http://www.artwoo.com/article/technorati-and-associated-press-merger-how-this-affects-the-blogsphere
In the morning of May 23, 2006, and Associated Press (AP) initiated a new service that was guaranteed to make news in the osphere" rel="tag">blogosphere and give more PR for . The service includes having Technorati search for blogs that link to s. Those blogs will then appear on websites that use the AP Hosted Custom News and who opt for the new feature. The new feature includes having a Blog Roundup section that consists of the links to blogs containing the most relevant information on the "Top Five Most Blogged About" AP articles in the past 48 hours. Under each most relevant blog there is also a link to a list of the next 24 relevant blogs for people who want to read more on what the blogosphere have to say about the article. In addition to the Blog Roundup section clicking on a particular AP article will prompt Technorati to produce a list of "Who's Blogging About" that article.

The Effect to the Blogosphere

This new service is undoubtedly beneficial to the blogosphere. As a Digital Grit article mentioned, the new partnership would be of much interest for those who want better visibility for their blogs or for those s who are SEO-minded. For those in the know being linked back by the press is a bonus for your page rank. However, it has always been a challenge for bloggers, even for the popular bloggers, to be noticed by the press much less get link back by them. The Technorati-AP partnership changes all that. Instead of having to think of ways and gimmicks to get noticed by the press and still just end up with nothing all a blogger has to do now is to write posts in connection to current AP articles and link back to those articles. Technorati then submits that post along with other relevant posts to AP for affiliate websites to display on the blog roundup. Note, however, that the number of blogs that will be linked back to is limited. This means that for your blog to be linked back by AP your post has to be perceived by Technorati as among the most relevant posts in blogosphere. So for blogger that think that simply linking to AP articles will do the job for them is seriously deluded. As always good content is still the key to rising in popularity in the blogosphere.

Aside from making it easier for some bloggers to get a higher page rank, the Technorati-AP merger has a more universal effect on bloggers. Even if only selected bloggers will appear on AP stories, the arrangement will still result in more awareness of the blogosphere as a whole. People who previously had no knowledge at all about the existence of the blogosphere or at least do not read blogs as part of their regular ritual will not only be exposed to the idea of the blogosphere as an additional or supplementary source of information regarding current events. The links, which are updated regularly and are always relevant to current issues, will also encourage news readers to regularly read the blogs as well. This will undoubtedly suck in some of the news readers to be regulars in the world of blog and thus create more audience for bloggers.

The Technorati-AP partnership also does much for the blogosphere's credibility as a news source. Not only will it create awareness of blogs' ability to supplement the news it will also show that blogs have something more to contribute to the story. As Peter Hirshberg wrote in the Technorati weblog, "Increasingly, what the blogosphere says about a news story becomes part of a more complete story, lending diverse perspectives and often expert commentary. The AP believed it was increasingly important to deliver the living blogosphere as a compliment to their core professional news product." The new service that AP offers to its readers is a nod to the blogosphere's ever increasing contribution to the news network. In fact the motivation behind the partnership is actually AP's belief that "citizen-generated media could enhance the AP in their mission to be the essential global news network." The service has caused much excitement in the blogosphere and as Hirshberg put it, "is a deep validation of the power of citizen media and how each person is gaining more power - power to have their opinions and thoughts heard, in a truly democratic process."

As the deal legitimizes blogging even more it also blurs further the line between press and bloggers. Some journalists are offended that some bloggers feel that what they do amounts to journalism. According to the journalists what bloggers do isn't journalism but simply collecting stories that are reported by the real journalists who do the hard work of actually going out there to catch stories. They resent the idea that bloggers, who do their story telling in just one place should be given recognition as journalists for delivering commentaries on new stories. However, according to Jane Seagrave, AP's vice president of new media "The truth is there are not that many of us who are breaking news anymore, that have people on the ground ... the whole notion here is to spotlight those who are real content creators and not make news such a generic commodity on the Web." This means that they are focusing on worthy bloggers out there who produce quality content and have something of real value to offer and add to the telling of news stories.

What it Does for AP

As for AP, the move itself is also strategic since more and more bloggers are sure to link more to their articles instead of their competitors'. There are currently many news sources out there that bloggers individually follow and comment on. AP's new service will surely encourage bloggers to make AP articles their primary source of new stories and link to them, which would lead to greater traffic to AP affiliated sites from the blog world.

In terms of monetary returns, however, the project isn't expected to generate revenue for either AP or Technorati. The two companies will be sharing the profit made from the ads on the web pages but this profit is expected to cover only the cost of the project. This says something about both companies in terms of their desire to give better service to their users and in furthering the sharing of information in the Internet. http://www.theinternetone.net ]]> Three Blogging Tips http://www.artwoo.com/article/three-blogging-tips http://www.artwoo.com/article/three-blogging-tips#comments Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:24:59 +0000 personal thoughtspersonal commentspersonal blogbad habitsregisterswordpressniche http://www.artwoo.com/article/three-blogging-tips bad habits.

Bad blogging habits are easy to get into, and one of the worst is to leave your `About' page unchanged. You know the page: it is provided by as standard and a whole host of bloggers leave it unchanged. Why they do this is known only to them, because this is the first page that a large number of first-time visitors to a blog check out, and the reason why many of them leave without looking further.

All you have to do is to say a little about yourself, who you are, and what your blog is about, why you feel qualified to write a blog about this topic and how you can be contacted. If your blog covers a particular , rather than being simply a log of , then your potential readers will want to know why they should believe what you say by reading your credentials on the subject.

There is nothing wrong with having a about your on things, but if you are presenting yourself as a form of expert on a specific topic, then you will have to persuade readers that you have a right to do so. You should use your `About' page to do that.

Another tip you should take is to claim your blog with Technorati. This it as yours with Technorati, and you can get a whole load more visitors. Since joining Technorati most of my blogs' traffic rocketed. It takes a while for new blogs to get going, but it's a lot easier if you make use of sites such as Technorati. The same is true of most of the social bookmarking sites if traffic is important to you. If you are using a blog to promote a product, then this is essential.

If you have a website then don't get lazy and be content to run your blog from a hosting site such as wordpress.com. It is better to download the software from wordpress.org, and host your own blog. You have much more control over the look and feel of it, and can use any of the thousands of plugins that are available online. You can also use any template you want, or even design your own. That way you get total customization of your blog pages, and can make it more distinctive than the majority hosted on Wordpress or Blogger's site. If you have tried and had problems downloading and installing it then send me an email. If needed I can take you through it online, or by telephone.

These are the two main tips that any blogger should take if they intend to blog seriously. However, was I to provide the third most important tip for anybody interested in blogging, then it would be to monetize your blog. Don't blog for nothing. If your blog concerns a specific niche subject you can likely throw up one or two affiliate programs on your sidebar so that they appear with your new posts. A three column blog is useful for this, since your regular sidebar will generally be full of permanent links.

If you monetize using Adsense, a three column layout is even more essential, since you will want a vertical block down one of the columns, in addition to some at the bottom and the middle. A good Adsense layout would be a column to the left or right of the main text column containing a vertical ad unit, a horizontal link unit at the bottom of the blog, and also a horizontal ad unit at the bottom of the latest post. You could also include a search box at the top or bottom of your main sidebar that allows a search either on Google, from which you get income, or on your blog.

You could also include one of your websites as a second search option, providing three altogether. The income might not be a lot, but most blogs with a few hundred visitors a day should be able to make from $10 to $20 daily minimum, depending on the niche. All you need are a few blogs like that.

These are my three main blogging tips. Yours would likely be different, since blogging is a very personal thing, but if you take these three on board you will likely find that you will get more visitors, have more fun and also be able to put a bit put aside for the holidays or that unexpected bill that always comes at the wrong time. For more tips, information and help on blogging, visits Pete's blog http://www.seoscopy.com/BlogonBlog where you can see these tips in action, although those with their own websites can get some good SEO information on http://www.howdoiwin.com/myblog (very imaginative title!) which is Pete's main SEO blog. Both are on his own websites. ]]> Sending Traffic To Your List Building Page. Part Two: Getting Blog Traffic http://www.artwoo.com/article/sending-traffic-to-your-list-building-page-part-two-getting-blog-traffic http://www.artwoo.com/article/sending-traffic-to-your-list-building-page-part-two-getting-blog-traffic#comments Fri, 09 May 2008 21:14:01 +0000 other search enginessearch trafficnatural searchstumbleupondiggyoutubespicypage http://www.artwoo.com/article/sending-traffic-to-your-list-building-page-part-two-getting-blog-traffic
or what they term "organic" is great, but it takes a while to build up. But there are you may not be aware of. They're specifically geared toward searching for blogs. One of the oldest is Technorati at http://technorati.com. If you have a blog and haven't "claimed" it at Technorati, it's probably a good thing to do. Your site will be indexed and ranked, and you could pick up an audience, too. The more people who like your blog the higher it will rise in the rankings.

There are other less "interactive" blog searches, too, like Blogsearch.Google.com or IceRocket, but there are many more. List your blog with as many as possible.

But the interactive sites are very popular right now. I'm sure you've heard of MySpace and , or you've been hiding in a closet somewhere. These sites bring traffic, but there are hundreds of sites that will have the same effect, if you get involved in what's called "Web 2.0."

: When you write a post, you can "StumbleUpon" it. Give each of your pages a StumbleUpon vote and watch your traffic soar. To get to that page, rather than just the first page of your blog, you'll need to click on the post's title (if you're using WordPress) or click on a link that says "permalink." That will take you to a page with the precise post number included. StumbleUpon those each time you post.

: This is somewhat like MySpace in that you'll have people asking to be your "friend," or you can find friends of your own. SpicyPage is different than or StumbleUpon in that you can include not just your blog postings in your profile, but your web sites as well. Make a lot of friends, get lots of votes for your site, and your traffic will climb.

Digg: Digg was created mainly to mark news stories for its members--news stories of interest. Well, when you post to your blog, that's news right? Unless you've posted nothing but a picture or silly nonsense or random musings, Digg will accept your vote for other people to see what you've voted on. Be sure that your post is an article, though, or your page might be "buried." You don't want that.

Most of these sites work the same way or similarly to the sites above. Others include Furl, Reddit, and RawSugar, but there are hundreds. Sign up for as many as you can, and each day enter your posts into as many sites as you can. The more you enter, the more your traffic you'll get to your blog.

One more way to get traffic to your blog would be:

Wikipedia: This online, user-generated encyclopedia is an incredible source of incoming traffic, if you can meet the editors' requirements. At the bottom of every post is a section called "Other sources," and this is where you'd enter the link to your blog. Just be sure that you're providing quality information in that category and that your site isn't commercial.

If you have a non-commercial blog, as with my own at ADHDWebsites.com, where I do nothing but talk about ways to control ADD and ADHD, then you might consider adding your link to Wikipedia. Just be sure to follow the guidelines or your link will be edited out, almost before it takes hold.

All of these sources will bring tons of traffic to your site. They take some time to set up, but many of them have toolbars or buttons you can put right on your browser to make submitting easy for you. The whole thing is to be consistent. Add good information to your blog, and then be sure to favor your posts every time you make them in as many places as you can, and you'll be amazed at the traffic you get. For even more places to submit, go to http://www.go2web20.net/ .

Next time, let's discuss another way to get traffic to your list building pages... writing articles. Tellman Knudson is CEO of http://OvercomeEverything.com. Learn how to build incredible traffic for any site at MyFirstTraffic (http://traffic.overcomeeverything.com/). ]]> 10 Ways You Can Market Your Mlm Blog Posts With Social Power Linking http://www.artwoo.com/article/10-ways-you-can-market-your-mlm-blog-posts-with-social-power-linking http://www.artwoo.com/article/10-ways-you-can-market-your-mlm-blog-posts-with-social-power-linking#comments Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:20:01 +0000 google searchblogmlmtechnoratiblogsmybloglogwidget http://www.artwoo.com/article/10-ways-you-can-market-your-mlm-blog-posts-with-social-power-linking MLM with an attractive theme and original keyword optimized content is now an important aspect of the internet marketing plans of many network marketers. Having strong pillar articles and an attractive design are not enough these days to get the MLM blog traffic required to build a large subscriber base.

For example, lists over 2,000 "MLM ", in their directory. A for MLM blogs yields over 2,510,000 pages! In order to get significant MLM blog traffic for your MLM blog, consistently following ten Web 2.0 social power linking steps can help increase the page rank and performance of your MLM blog.

Following these steps in this order should be part of a routine schedule for each post to your blog.

1. Claim your blog at Technorati. This is an essential first step, even before you begin your post. Technorati is the "Google of blogs", with over 4,500,000 blogs in their directory. Make sure to develop and upload a strong profile that includes your picture. Then choose the appropriate tags for your niche. You can enter up to fifteen tags, so do some keyword research to find some good long tail keywords. Go to http://www.technorati.com and get started.

2. Join My Blog Log and register your blog. My Blog Log is a very large community of bloggers who network with each other and buzz each others' blogs. Again, a strong profile with a picture is important. My Blog Log is an important resource to significantly increase your MLM blog traffic. This is because you can join communities, go to other blogs and post comments and leave individual comments for members. You can install a simple on your blog to show all of the My Blog Log members who have visited your blog. You can also view some important statistics for your blog by going into your back office. Go to .com" >http://www.mybloglog.com and set up your account.

3. Make your first linkbait piece. Linkbait is a post that will create a large buzz either because it has a significant resource list or is controversial in some respect. Check out Jack Humphrey's Friday Traffic Report for some excellent information and resources on linkbait.

4. Start the buzz. Make sure you have permalinks turned on. Then start making comments and trackbacks to other relevant blogs in your niche. When you leave the url for your linkbait piece permalink in your comments and trackback posts, other bloggers will come and check out your post and blog. This will increase your MLM blog traffic because you are creating links for other bloggers without asking them first. Do it well and respectfully and other bloggers will reciprocate.

5. Sign up for the major Web 2.0 news sites and Onlywire. These include but are not limited to: Digg, Propeller, Plime, and Newsvine. Onlywire is a free service that pings sixteen social bookmarking sites

6. Submit your linkbait piece to these sites. If you want to make this process as short as possible, you can use Web2Submitter, which pretty much automates the submissions.

7. Submit your piece to the vertical news sites relevant for your niche. For Internet marketing, the top two sites are PlugIM and Marktd.

8. Submit your post to Onlywire.

9. Go back and comment on other bloggers' posts in the communities, such as Digg, Propeller, Plime and My Blog Log. They will notice that you commented and voted on their posts and reciprocate. You will build your MLM blog traffic and network by consistently doing this simple activity .. 10. Join a buzz group or start one and tell your group about your linkbait piece. Ask them to buzz your piece.

Increasing your MLM blog traffic and consistently writing authoritative articles will establish you as an expert in your niche. You will attract many subscribers and then be well on your way toward building a large and profitable MLM business. Jon Roussel is a successful internet marketer in Beverly, MA He helps people succeed with a home based business that will generate a long term reliable leveraged residual income. Learn more at http://www.networkmarketing6cs.com ]]> Get Traffic For Your Blog , Using Social Bookmarking Sites http://www.artwoo.com/article/get-traffic-for-your-blog-using-social-bookmarking-sites http://www.artwoo.com/article/get-traffic-for-your-blog-using-social-bookmarking-sites#comments Tue, 03 Jul 2007 01:20:01 +0000 social bookmarking sitespay per click advertisinggoogletechnoratiblogsearch engine optimizationgenerate traffic http://www.artwoo.com/article/get-traffic-for-your-blog-using-social-bookmarking-sites blog is a space for political discussion or a gathering place for people who raise beta fish, you've already realized that the more traffic you can generate, the better! Not only will your blog have an active community, but if you have on your blog, every visitor is a bit of extra cash in your pocket. There are many ways to to your site, and it is just a matter of finding one that suits your site and your personal style.

One innovative way to get the clicks where you want them is take part in a social bookmarking site. If you have not yet heard of the phenomenon, there are sites where you can store your list of bookmarks online. This is convenient for the person who's always hopping from computer to computer; you'll always have all the information you need at your very fingertips. Even better, you can make your bookmarks public; you can share things like your favorite news sites, or your top ten favorite webcomics. The big advantage to this sort of service comes when you realize that you are an expert. Make a list of bookmarks that feature other sites that are like yours and make it public.



work because of the selection involved. As more people become wise to the concept of , they are a lot more wary of the first ten hits that come up when they check or Yahoo. Social bookmarking works because it has the endorsement of another real person. A real community can spring up around the idea of social bookmarking and it becomes a network of people who are trading information. With the right list of bookmarks made public, it will take a very small amount of time before your blog will be getting more hits than ever before.

To get started with social bookmarking, there are a number of sites that you can go to. .com/" >http://www.technorati.com/ is one of the first sites to take advantage of this phenomenon and the interface is quite usable. You'll find more technical bookmarked lists here, which is ideal if you have a blog on computers, televisions, or general gadgetry. At http://www.stumbleupon.com/ you will find a more social atmosphere, and there is more of a focus on entertainment. If you have a blog on the latest celebrity doings or even of your photography, this might be the place for you. Though it might look less polished than the other two, http://del.icio.us/ packs a lot punch with a history that goes back almost five years. Del.icio.us is a wonderful place for almost anything you might want to find and more and more people are using it to find the information they need.

This is also a good way to find out how people are coming to your blog. What searches are they using to get there? Once you can pinpoint that, you can can tailor your blog to meet the demand and receive more traffic as well. Many blogs also offer subscriptions, which will tell readers when you have updated, and in this way, with a list of readers at your disposal, you can play your content to an audience that you know better.

Social bookmarking is a trend that any blogger who wants more traffic to his site should take advantage of and with sites like Technorati, Stumbleupon and Del.icio.us, you have many avenues waiting for your personal touch. Lisa M writes on a variety of topics in the field of Internet http://www.lisam.name/lisam2 or http://www.lisam.name/go/interviews ]]> The Internet is Not Complicated http://www.artwoo.com/article/the-internet-is-not-complicated http://www.artwoo.com/article/the-internet-is-not-complicated#comments Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:57:20 +0000 brand marketersmedia expolefeverspr practitionersvideos imagespopular artpodcasters http://www.artwoo.com/article/the-internet-is-not-complicated
On September 20 and 21, the Convention Center in Las Vegas will play host to the 2008 BlogWorld and New , the first and only industry-wide event on blogging with the largest blogging conference and trade show filled with seminars and talks from prominent figures in the industry. For bloggers, vloggers, and new media and social media people, this is the place to meet suppliers and developers, learn how to monetize, promote your blog and build your brand. Marketers, and Media and should also take advantage of the blogging phenomenon and find out how bloggers can bring in business.

There are still many people who do not have Internet at home or in the office. But whether or not you have online access anytime, much of the Internet remains unexplored. What newbies do not understand is that there is more to the Net than webmail and surfing. But how do you get started? Watch The Common Craft Show. "Explanations in Plain English", creators the call it. Using "paperworks" and simple language, the videos familiarize the viewer with different things you can access and do online, such as social media, podcasting, twitter, wikis and blogs.

Viral videos or form? You've seen them before--mashups of videos, images and sounds in new and totally unexpected ways, giving life to content that's fresh and innovative. Nobody can stop you from making them yourself and sharing your creations to the world. http://Totalrecut.com provides you with the tools and know-how you need to get into remix culture. Forget the restrictions, scare tactics and issues meant to harass creative individuals. Show the world what you can do, learn about copyright issues and join contests. Let's make the world a safe place for remixing and spread remix culture. The future depends on it.

Get more from Google through two of their services. First, lend a hand and test-drive Google Experimental, which could just change how the world searches for information. Sign up for one experiment and say what you think of them. There are three running at the moment: Keyboard shortcuts, Keyword suggestions, and Alternate views for search results. The last one has three cool components--view additional info, on a timeline, or on a map. Students will love these.

Google Hot Trends lists the top searches daily; Google Trends lets you search for trends. The latter shows the cities, regions, languages, and trend histories of the trend keywords. It also retrieves news items and graphs searches according to period and region.Jon Caldwell is a professional content manager. Much of his articles can be found at http://guidetoeasyinternet.com]]> 7 Ways To Generate Free Website Traffic http://www.artwoo.com/article/7-ways-to-generate-free-website-traffic http://www.artwoo.com/article/7-ways-to-generate-free-website-traffic#comments Sun, 19 Nov 2006 20:27:04 +0000 search engine trafficgenerate trafficfree trafficyou tubetechnoratipreferablyinbound links http://www.artwoo.com/article/7-ways-to-generate-free-website-traffic free traffic is not always the impossible feat that it is made out to be. In fact, there are many different ways in which you can generate free traffic. Some are better than others; and some are especially effective in some niches, but not in others. Below, I've listed seven such methods:

1. Write articles and submit them to directories. Include a link in your resource box that points to your site. This will and click throughs long after you publish it.

2. Add "keyword" pages to your site. You can do this by writing articles that are focused around a certain keyword and then simply uploading them to your site. When your site is indexed by the search engines, traffic will pick up for those keywords.

3. Begin finding link partners and exchanging links. This will not only get you direct click through traffic from other sites, but it will also get you once those sites are indexed and your site is given credit for the .

4. Create a high-quality flash video or real life video; add it to a page on your site. Post that video on , http://Break.com, and on all social bookmarking sites, such as http://del.icio.us>, and .com" >http://www.technorati.com. If your video is exceptionally funny or interesting, people will begin to circulate your video around the Internet. Remember to include the URL of your site in the video, so viewers can figure out how to find your products.

5. Create a free report on a specific subject related to your business. In that report, include a link to your site ( a newsletter opt-in form) every few pages. Take that report and give it away for free to every site owner in your niche. If you have a link to one of your products in that report, allow the site owner to rebrand it. That will make him much more likely to redistribute it.

6. Post regularly on forums related to your site. This is perhaps the easiest and quickest way to generate traffic. All it entails is creating an account on several good forums, making useful and interesting posts, and then including a signature file that allows readers to click through to your site.

7. Post free ads in places that actually get traffic. Using "free ad forums" may be a waste of time in many instances; however, bulletin boards that get traffic, but allow free advertisement, may be a good place to look.

If your current advertising budget is higher than you'd like, you should consider using free advertising. The seven tips I outlined above are just a few of the avenues you can take. Aurelius Tjin is The Publisher of The 'Unstoppable Internet Marketing' Newsletter. Discover His Secret Strategies To Skyrocket Your Internet Marketing Business. To Find Out More Go To http://www.UnstoppableInternetMarketing.com ]]> Using Blog PR To Promote Your Site http://www.artwoo.com/article/using-blog-pr-to-promote-your-site http://www.artwoo.com/article/using-blog-pr-to-promote-your-site#comments Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:27:17 +0000 http://www.artwoo.com/article/using-blog-pr-to-promote-your-site The recent trend of using the press release to promote an online business has emerged with good reason -- good press costs very little and can do more for a business than thousands of dollars of marketing. Most businesses use press distribution services like PR Web or PRFree to get the word out about their news. While distribution services certainly can be effective, they tend to miss out on arguably the most influential group of the press -- bloggers.

Bloggers mold and shape the opinions of their readers, who are normally the most important in their particular industry, many of whom are also bloggers. Not long after a post from an influential blogger, your news has been picked up by several other bloggers and within days you are all over the blogsphere. Before you know it your site is getting more attention than it would if a story ran in the local newspaper! So how do you get the influential bloggers in your industry to run a story about your business?

Why Would Anyone Do a Story About Your Business?

Are you a new company? Did you just launch a new product that they could review? Did your business win an award? Are you a group of college kids who started a company on savings from your summer jobs? You get the idea. There needs to be a reason that someone would want to read about you. Bloggers take pride in the content they feed their readers. You don't stand a chance of getting a blogger to write about you if you don't have a story that their readers will be interested in.

Research Bloggers in Your Industry

More is less when it comes to contacting bloggers. Buy a list of 1,000 bloggers and send out a generic email to all of them and you'll likely get no response. But send a small amount of personalized emails to the appropriate bloggers and you'll be shocked at how many positive responses you get.

The first step is to make a list of the bloggers that would be interested in your story. You can generally get a feel for whether or not a blogger would be interested in your story by reading a couple of posts and checking out their bio. If they've done a few similar stories in the past or they are heavily involved in your industry, there is a good chance they'll want to hear your story. If not, leave them off your list and move on.

The single best method that I have found to research blogs is the Technorati Blog Directory http://www.technorati.com/blogs/. You can peruse blogs in your industry in order of "authority" - how important Technorati thinks a blog is. This is extremely useful. For example, if you are in the travel industry, you can view a list of the most influential blogs in the world of travel.

Another great way to find the right bloggers is to search through your competitors press sections on their websites to see what blogs have mentioned them. You can also find out who has mentioned your competitors by looking at the sites that have linked to them (type in "links:www.theirsite.com" on Yahoo!). There's a good chance that if they found your competitors story interesting, they'll find your story interesting as well.

Compose Your Email

The best way to contact bloggers is by email. The good news is that most bloggers make themselves easy to access and provide their email addresses on their blogs. The bad news is that most people don't know what to do with said email address once they get it. Use the following outline for your email and you'll see amazing results:

- Have a simple subject. You probably won't get many responses by treating your email like a press release and writing RELEASE in the subject line. Try something simple like "fan of your blog" or "comment about your blog." You want to make sure they actually read your email and don't mentally mark it as SPAM when they see the subject.

- Start by complementing them. Since you've read their blog and learned about them from their bio, you know quite a bit about them. Use it to your advantage. Complement them on your favorite post, or how cool it is that they worked for XYZ company.

- Request them to post about you (be direct). In three sentences or less, tell them your story, why you think it would be of interest to them and their readers, and respectfully ask that they write a post about it. Be direct and to the point. They will respect that.

- Offer something in return. You have something that could help them. Maybe it's a link back to their blog from your personal blog, or maybe you could provide them with a free product or service that could help them or their business. One way or another, there's something you have to offer them in return for the time spent on a post about you.

- Close with something nice. Thank them for their time and wish them luck with their blog and/or business ventures.

Notice that of the five components of the email, only one is about your story. The rest of the email is spent complimenting them and offering them something. Your chances of getting a positive response have just gone through the roof. Every blogger, no matter how large, likes to hear that people are enjoying their posts.

Respond Promptly and Respectfully

Not everyone is going to agree to run your story. Some will say that they don't do that type of thing or that they don't have time. Since you have been so nice as to compliment them, they will still usually reply either way. Regardless of the response, be sure to thank them for their time and wish them luck with their ventures. You never know when they will encounter someone who needs your product or service in the future (remember, they are in your industry) and if they have a positive image of you and your company they will undoubtedly give you a good recommendation.

Sit Back and Watch the Traffic Roll In

Over the course of the next few weeks you will see post after post appear about your business. Be sure to send another thank you email to the blogger after the post and also be sure to promptly provide whatever you offered them in return. At this point you have developed a mutually beneficial relationship with someone important in your industry that can become invaluable over time.

That wasn't that hard was it? With a little research and a carefully crafted email, any business can effectively use blog PR to drive traffic to their site. Adam McFarland owns iPrioritize (http://www.iPrioritize.com) - simple to-do lists that can be edited at any time from any place in the world. Email, print, check from your mobile phone, subscribe via RSS, and share with others. ]]> What's A Blog And Why Should I Have One? - Using Blogs To Generate Business http://www.artwoo.com/article/whats-a-blog-and-why-should-i-have-one-using-blogs-to-generate-business http://www.artwoo.com/article/whats-a-blog-and-why-should-i-have-one-using-blogs-to-generate-business#comments Mon, 07 Aug 2006 00:27:13 +0000 blogsblogtechnoratiblogadssixapartbloggerblogging http://www.artwoo.com/article/whats-a-blog-and-why-should-i-have-one-using-blogs-to-generate-business blogs" rel="tag">blogs. Blogs are simply internet journals recording whatever happens to be on a writer's mind at a given moment. Typically written in an informal tone, blogs read as though the writer is having a friendly conversation with their readers. Though blogs have exploded in popularity, few online retailers understand that having a blog can be a very effective way to drive sales for their e-businesses.

Getting Started

The easiest way to start a blog is with a free commercial service, like .com" >http://Blogger.com or http://BlogSpot.com. All you have to do is just set up an account and start . To create a blog that sits on your website, you can go to .com" >http://SixApart.com and choose from several software options.

It takes time to build a loyal base of readers, but you can start guiding traffic to your site by linking with relevant blogs. Go to .com" >http://Technorati.com and find blogs whose content ties in with yours. Link only to blogs with content that's useful and entertaining to your customers. Request they look at your blog and consider linking back to you.

For your product sales site, you don't have to blog about your product itself. Blog about things related to your product. If you sell camping gear, blog about the country's top camp sites, your hiking trip in the Appalachians, or the best time of year to visit Yellowstone. According to Anthony Perry, of .com" >http://BlogAds.com, "You can make your customers feel empowered if you inform them to make their own decisions, as opposed to just beating them over the head, saying, 'This is a great product! You should buy it!'"

3 Benefits of Blogging

In addition to educating your viewers, your blog provides you with several advantages:

1. The familiar tone of blogging creates a window for buyers to see there's a real person behind your site. The internet's an impersonal selling medium, but the personal nature of blogs creates an element of customer trust and loyalty to your brand.

2. By sharing your valuable knowledge, you're giving your customers a reason both to stay and to return. It's a proven fact that the more time a user spends on a site, the more likely they are to purchase something. The more your readers return for your expertise, the more you increase your sales.

3. Get feedback on your products, your site, and your customer service. Let your users leave comments, and find out what changes they'd like to see or what products they'd like you to carry. Says Perry, "Blogging's a tool that lets you communicate with your customer base in a way that's far more intimate than a monthly e-newsletter." Chris Malta and Robin Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com are the Writers and Hosts of The Entrepreneur Magazine EBiz and Product Sourcing Radio Shows. http://www.worldwidebrands.com/EMRinfo for more FREE eBiz info from Entrepreneur Magazine Radio! ]]> How To Increase Traffic To Your Web Blog http://www.artwoo.com/article/how-to-increase-traffic-to-your-web-blog http://www.artwoo.com/article/how-to-increase-traffic-to-your-web-blog#comments Mon, 28 May 2007 20:24:56 +0000 blogtargettechnoratisearch engineswordtrackerbloggertitle tags http://www.artwoo.com/article/how-to-increase-traffic-to-your-web-blog Blog Software (or Custom Build)

The right blog makes a big difference. If you want to set yourself apart, I recommend creating a custom blog solution - one that can be completely customized to your users. In most cases, WordPress, , MovableType or Typepad will suffice, but building from scratch allows you to be very creative with functionality and formatting. Think about how you want comments, archiving, sub-pages, categorization, multiple feeds and user accounts to operate in order to narrow down your choices.

Host Your Blog Directly on Your Domain

Hosting your blog on a different domain from your primary site is one of the worst mistakes you can make. A blog on your domain can attract links, attention, publicity, trust and search rankings - by keeping the blog on a separate domain, you shoot yourself in the foot.

Write with Two Audiences in Mind

First and foremost, you're writing a title tag for the people who will visit your site or have a subscription to your feed. Title tags which are short, snappy, on-topic and catchy are imperative. You also want to think about when you title your posts, since the engines can help to drive traffic to your blog. A great way to do this is to write the post and the title first, then run a few searches at Overture, and KeywordDiscovery to see if there is a phrasing or ordering that can better help you to "searched for" terms. - Participate at Related Forums and Blogs

Irrespective of the industry or niche you're in, there are bloggers, forums and an online community that's already active. Depending on the specificity of your focus, you may need to think one or two levels broader than your own content to find a large community, but with the size of the participatory web today, even the highly specialized content areas receive attention. A great way to find out who these people are is to use to conduct searches, and then sort by number of links (authority). Del.icio.us tags are also very useful in this process, as are straight searches at the engines (Ask.com's blog search in particular is of very good quality).

Tag Your Content

Technorati is the first place that you should be tagging posts. I actually recommend having the tags right on your page, pointing to the Technorati searches that you're targeting. There are other good places to ping - del.icio.us and Flickr being the two most obvious (the only other one is Blogmarks, which is much smaller). Tagging content can also be valuable to help give you a "bump" towards getting traffic from big sites like Reddit, Digg and StumbleUpon (which requires that you download the toolbar, but trust me - it's worth it).

Launch Without Comments (and Add Them Later)

There's something sad about a blog with 0 comments on every post. It feels dead, empty and unpopular. Luckily, there's an easy solution - don't offer the ability to post comments on the blog and no one will know that you only get 20 uniques a day. Once you're upwards of 100 RSS subscribers and/or 750 unique visitors per day, you can open up the comments and see light activity. Comments are often how tech-savvy new visitors judge the popularity of a site (and thus, its worth), so play to your strengths and keep your obscurity private.

Don't Jump on the Bandwagon

Some memes are worthy of being talked about by every blogger in the space, but most aren't. Just because there's huge news in your industry or niche DOES NOT mean you need to be covering it, or even mentioning it (though it can be valuable to link to it as an aside, just to integrate a shared experience into your unique content). Many of the best blogs online DO talk about the big trends - this is because they're already popular, established and is counted on to be a source of news for the community. If you're launching a new blog, you need to show people in your space that you can offer something unique, different and valuable - not just the same story from your point of view.

Link Intelligently

When you link out in your blog posts, use convention where applicable and creativity when warranted, but be aware of how the links you serve are part of the content you provide. Not every issue you discuss or site you mention needs a link, but there's a fine line between overlinking and underlinking. The best advice I can give is to think of the post from the standpoint of a relatively uninformed reader. If you mention Wikipedia, everyone is familiar and no link is required. If you mention a specific page at Wikipedia, a link is necessary and important. Also, be aware that quoting other bloggers or online sources (or even discussing their ideas) without linking to them is considered bad etiquettes and can earn you scorn that could cost you links from those sources in the future. It's almost always better to be over-generous with links than under-generous. And link condoms? Only use them when you're linking to something you find truly distasteful or have serious apprehension about. Get even more blog traffic with help of Jeff Colman's new SEO software - TargetedVisitor. Learn more here: http://www.thetargetedvisitor.net ]]> How To Get Massive Traffic To Your Blog: Tag! You're It! http://www.artwoo.com/article/how-to-get-massive-traffic-to-your-blog-tag-youre-it http://www.artwoo.com/article/how-to-get-massive-traffic-to-your-blog-tag-youre-it#comments Fri, 14 Dec 2007 03:25:00 +0000 social networking sitessocial bookmarking sitesnetworking eventdiggname tagbookmarkedinternet community http://www.artwoo.com/article/how-to-get-massive-traffic-to-your-blog-tag-youre-it
If you've spent any kind of time online you've probably heard the terms: tag or social bookmarking. But what *exactly* do these terms mean?

Well if you think of the term "tagging" like you would a at a party or it will start to make much more sense. Generally when you post a blog, it's recommended that you "tag" it with various terms appropriate to the message of the blog. The Wikipedia definition of "tag" is: A tag is a keyword which acts like a subject or category. This keyword is used to organize webpages, subjects, and objects on the Internet.

When you think of it this way, what you're really doing is organizing each of your blog posts so that folks can find and search them. By tagging each of them with specific keywords you'll come up faster when someone searches those keywords than if you left your blog blank. Make sense? Ok, then let's get started learning how to tag. (I promise, it's very easy)

When creating tags, there are two types that you can create. You can imbed your blog with tags using services like Technorati (more on that in a minute) or you can go to and tag your blog as well. Honestly, I recommend a combination of both.

Social bookmarking is a way of "bookmarking" favorite sites (i.e. yours) so you can easily share them (via tags) with the and especially folks who are searching on your search term. I'll explain how to get your site but for now take a look at sites like and delicious =96 these are the top two you'll want to use. There are others but we'll discuss these in a minute.

Ok, here we go!

Simple steps to tagging:

1) Create a blog post: just write your blog, don't worry about doing anything different.

2) Identify some keywords you'll want to use: just pick some keywords, as many as you want. Don't worry about getting too scientific with this, just be thorough.

3) Create your tags: head on over to http://www.egmstrategy.com/ice/tag-generator.cfm and generate tags (this will be choice #1). Once you input the keywords make sure the default button is checked at Technorati. Then go to the bottom and click "generate code" =96 this code will get posted right into your blog. It's that easy! (tip: always post this code at the end of your blog) When you're done you'll see code in your blog.

4) Social bookmarking: simply put, you want to tag each of your blog posts in one or all of the following social networking sites. The one slightly time consuming piece is that you'll need to set up accounts for each of these but once you do, it will take you a minute or so per post to add a social bookmarking tag to each of them. Here are some of the most popular social bookmarking sites you'll want to use: Digg, delicious, yahoo(this is still in beta but I recommend using it anyway), blinklist, spurl, reddit, furl, and stumbleupon.

5) Nuts and bolts: each of these sites has a different set of criteria for bookmarking your blog post. If you're blogging everyday this might seem pretty tedious. If it's too much work to tag and bookmark each of your posts, handpick a few each week and focus on those. The idea is that you want to get these keywords out in cyberspace so folks can find you.

Ready for a final tip? If you want to impress customers with your endless list of resources why not share your delicious page with your readers/customers? Delicious gives each registered member their own page with all of their bookmarks. Ideally you'll want to include other resources besides your own blog but a link to this page could be a fantastic way to gain additional exposure not just for your blog, but to your wealth of resources as well. (here's my page: http://del.icio.us/bookmkr). Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a book marketing and media relations expert whose company has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. Visit http://www.amarketingexpert.com ]]> How Blogs Can Break Or Make Your SEO Strategy http://www.artwoo.com/article/how-blogs-can-break-or-make-your-seo-strategy http://www.artwoo.com/article/how-blogs-can-break-or-make-your-seo-strategy#comments Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:27:04 +0000 blogstechnoratigoogleemailsearch engine optimizationbloggerblogging http://www.artwoo.com/article/how-blogs-can-break-or-make-your-seo-strategy Blogs are a great way to get started authoring content and sharing your knowledge and insights with other people. Plus, mix work and play - and you can get rich doing this.

You don't have to be an MBA-accredited author by any means. However, there are some rules to play by, and I'll break those out below. We will talk about the top blogs, practicalities around blogs and creative ways to get started, including how you could possibly ruin your good-standing ranking and having to change your strategy.

Blogs - Structure and Layout

I work in the field of Search Engine Optimization. It has a wide range of options, from the technical to the more strategic. Tons of discussions are found on off-page and on-page factors, latent semantic analysis, content scope, quality, HTML/CSS development, site navigational structure, spamdexing, 301 redirects, plagiarism, link strategies, directories, blogs, search engine news, marketing tips andamp; online (internet) marketing. Most all of the top 10 SEO firms out there agree that blogs are a andquot;mustandquot; for driving traffic and get established in the Internet community.

There is a right way, and a wrong way. We'll discuss these below.

Be warned - too many folks out there are thinking about andquot;how to outbeat the search enginesandquot; and use the latest-and-greatest (blogs) to elevate their rankings, essentially via content and blog spam. Blogs are a powerful way to get seen by the search bots. ('s own) is an important key to the puzzle, but there are many.

THE UN-OFFICIAL TOP 7 BEST PRACTICES FOR SEO

Start here, begin a quick review of the world's top blogs: .com/pop/blogs" >http://www.technorati.com/pop/blogs - updated daily http://www.technorati.com/pop/blogs - he makes #16,000/month http://microsaw.stikipad.com/ - web 2.0 blogs

Get an account - it's free. log in - and - don't start! What? No, you must first continue by scanning the list above and get a sense for what people are writing about. This could be more generic at first, but start looking to yourself. What do you know? What do people come to you for? Anything that you specialize in? (Hint: don't think andquot;how can I sell thisandquot; - but andquot;how can I share this?andquot;) You'll also learn how to use trackback functions to allow other people to be notified. Permalinks are great for SEO and should be used where appropriate. So, now you learned something big: be yourself!

Think about an interesting headline. You don't need to be copywriter, but you should think about your headline and the topic at hand. More importantly, is it something that you are passionate about, or can contribute something to? It's ok to spend some time here, writer's block can come up. Think about other sites, can you re-write their UVP (unique value proposition)? How would you write yours (thinking theme here). What I've found to work is simply sit back and start talking as if you were discussing a (hot) topic with a friend, and then breaking it out into sub-groups from there. Writing tips: casual, friendly and interesting (meaning you have something to write and you don't copy others) works well in blogs. Make sure you stay on topic and that you are truthful. Would you lie to your mother? Of course not - then think about this when you are writing online (and she will not come after you). Yahoo's blogging policy is a good one: andquot;Be respectful of your colleagues, get your facts straight, provide context to your argument, and engage in private feedback.andquot; Also, make sure to include images (flickr) and video (youtube, google video) where you can. Make the images rich and colorful, don't worry about sizing too much.

Committment, persistence and disciplin. Sound like an extract from Jim Rohn or Anthony Robbins? Well, they probably are - but it applies to most of the things you do in life. So be it with blogging. Carve out 1/2-1 hour every day to nurture to your blog business. Think of it as your morning ritual - right after you have attended to your family and other duties. Plus, often you are not going to be in writing mode - but rather, maintenance mode - reviewing and responding to other blogger's input.

Search engines start picking up your blog, and traffic increases. Be prepared and if it gets out of hand, be able to manage that too. I'm not simply talking about traffic, but as others join and comment, you may need to defend your stance, including admitting mistakes if / when you make them. Folks appreciate other folks who are big enough to admit mistakes if it gets there. For example, you may have folks who don't like you - even if you're Bill Gates. This guy created a Corporate Weblog Manifesto that I found interesting.

Run and host your own blog service. More expensive, but this could have a large impact on your ability to control not only the content, but custom HTML layouts, code and information architecture that are important to search engines. You can offer this as a service to others in your niche market. http://businesslogs.com/ is a great resource to use for starting this process, and more hands-on development companies like http://www.leveltendesign.com/ can be an option for you. Keep in mind that the market has developed niche-companies, from real-estate to healthcare, and you should research those specifically.

Content is important for Search Engine Optimization - be on top of it, keep a schedule.

Voila - that's it, there you have it. Watch how the search engines will start picking up your content. You can run tools to see how you are ranking, how often you are showing up in the search engines. We like http://www.UrlTrends.com as a simple beginner starting point. However, it's not 100% accurate, other SEO tools can provide more detail.

Keep your content fresh, updates daily is preferred - and definitely once a week and your search engine marketing (which includes search engine optimization) will become more visible than it was just last week. Then, use http://pingomatic.com/ to alert search engines that you have made updates. It's a free service, and will help your visibility. Jon Rognerud is a recognized authority on the subject of SEO, and has spent over 10 years developing websites and marketing solutions at companies like Overture and Yahoo. His website, http://www.microsaw.com/, provides a wealth of informative articles, free email courses and more ]]> Blogging - Developing A Readership http://www.artwoo.com/article/blogging-developing-a-readership http://www.artwoo.com/article/blogging-developing-a-readership#comments Tue, 18 Apr 2006 03:50:02 +0000 blogtechnoratiemail signaturedaypopgoogleblogdexsearch engines http://www.artwoo.com/article/blogging-developing-a-readership blog and you've made your first post. Now how do you get people to actually read what you're blogging about?

Here are some tips on promoting your blog.

1) Quality Content - Interesting content will keep your readership returning. Update your blog regularly.

bot, which is Google's web-crawling robot loves content. The more you update your blog, the more frequent the search engine spiders will return to it.

2) Take part in forums that are related to blogging. Ask other bloggers for their opinion on your blog and take their suggestions to heart.

Ask other bloggers for their opinion on your blog and take their suggestions to heart.

3) Publish an RSS/Atom/XML feed. If you're using Blogger, you can turn on RSS feed by clicking on settings in your dashboard and then clicking on site feed and make sure that your settings are set to yes.

4) Carefully choose your subject titles, taking into consideration what other internet users may be searching for.

Use keywords in your title. I suggest subscribing to Word Tracker. Their report of the most popular searches is published each Tuesday and distributed to over 30,000 subscribers.

.com , is a blog search engine that also lists the top search words. The more targeted your keywords are, the greater your return in will be.

5) Involve yourself in commenting on other blogs. You can gain a loyal readership just by offering feedback to your fellow bloggers. The comment feature allows you to add a link back to your blog as well.

6) Be sure to include your blog address in forum signatures and in your .

7) Submit your blog to directories.

Submit your blog's url to Technorati, , and Popdex.

8) Write articles. Include a resource box in your article and submit it to article directories such as http://iSnare.com

9) If you're using blogging software such as Blogger, there is an option to notify the central blog update services (such as http://weblogs.com) whenever you've made a new entry to your blog. Make sure that this option is turned on! In blogger, click on publish in your dashboard and make sure that your settings are set to yes under notify weblogs. Alternatively, you can go to http://ping-o-matic.com and send out a ping each time you update your blog. This lets everyone know that you've just updated your blog.

10) Link to other blogs. Use services like blogrolling, which is similar to linking. Blogrolling allows you to maintain an updated list of your favorite blogs. But, don't build a long blog roll of sites that you have no intention of returning to. There is nothing more annoying then visiting a blog that has a humongous blogroll.

Be patient, traffic doesn't happen overnight. The best way that I've found to increase traffic is by getting to know people. Spend what free time that you have, reading blogs, leaving feedback and building friendships. Try to leave comments on the blogs that you visit as often as you can. While you are waiting for the traffic to come, just enjoy blogging. You'll be improving your writing in the process.

Eventually you'll build a network of not just readers, but friends and loyal supporters. Blogging is not just about marketing; it's about creating lasting relationships. Rose DesRochers is a published poet and freelance writer. Rose has been writing poetry for more than 20 years. She is also the founder of http://www.todays-woman.net, a supportive online writing community for men and women over 18. She is also the Assistant Administrator of http://www.invision-graphics.com.. ]]> Blogging - Developing A Readership http://www.artwoo.com/article/blogging-developing-a-readership http://www.artwoo.com/article/blogging-developing-a-readership#comments Sat, 11 Nov 2006 14:27:19 +0000 most popular searchespromoting your blogblogdexgoogletechnoratiemail signaturesearch engines http://www.artwoo.com/article/blogging-developing-a-readership
Here are some tips on .

1) Quality Content - Interesting content will keep your readership returning. Update your blog regularly.

bot, which is Google's web-crawling robot loves content. The more you update your blog, the more frequent the search engine spiders will return to it.

2) Take part in forums that are related to blogging. Ask other bloggers for their opinion on your blog and take their suggestions to heart.

3) Publish an RSS/Atom/XML feed. If you're using Blogger, you can turn on RSS feed by clicking on settings in your dashboard and then clicking on site feed and make sure that your settings are set to yes.

4) Carefully choose your subject titles, taking into consideration what other internet users may be searching for.

Use keywords in your title. I suggest subscribing to Word Tracker. Their report of the is published each Tuesday and distributed to over 30,000 subscribers.

.com , is a blog search engine that also lists the top search words. The more targeted your keywords are, the greater your return in will be.

5) Involve yourself in commenting on other blogs. You can gain a loyal readership just by offering feedback to your fellow bloggers. The comment feature allows you to add a link back to your blog as well.

6) Be sure to include your blog address in forum signatures and in your .

7) Submit your blog to directories.

Submit your blog's url to Technorati, Daypop, and Popdex.

8) Write articles. Include a resource box in your article and submit it to article directories such as http://iSnare.com

9) If you're using blogging software such as Blogger, there is an option to notify the central blog update services (such as http://weblogs.com) whenever you've made a new entry to your blog. Make sure that this option is turned on! In blogger, click on publish in your dashboard and make sure that your settings are set to yes under notify weblogs. Alternatively, you can go to http://pingoat.com and send out a ping each time you update your blog. This lets everyone know that you've just updated your blog.

10) Link to other blogs. Use services like blogrolling, which is similar to linking. Blogrolling allows you to maintain an updated list of your favorite blogs. But, don't build a long blog roll of sites that you have no intention of returning to. There is nothing more annoying then visiting a blog that has a humongous blogroll.

Be patient, traffic doesn't happen overnight. The best way that I've found to increase traffic is by getting to know people. Spend what free time that you have, reading blogs, leaving feedback and building friendships. Try to leave comments on the blogs that you visit as often as you can. While you are waiting for the traffic to come, just enjoy blogging. You'll be improving your writing in the process.

Eventually you'll build a network of not just readers, but friends and loyal supporters. Blogging is not just about marketing; it's about creating lasting relationships. Rose DesRochers is the founder of Blogger Talk Blog Community http://www.bloggertalk.net, a friendly fast growing blogging portal, offering bloggers support, advice, tools, tips and information about blogs and blogging. She is also the administrator of Today's Woman Writing Community http://www.todays-woman.net, a supportive online writing community for men and women over 18. ]]>