I just spent the past 20 minutes registering at a number of Blog search engines and directories. If you have a new blog this is always a good idea for it gain some traction and start gathering weight with the engines. It is one of the fundamental building blocks for making a blog that will receive traffic. I did it to aid Google in my test, which you can read about in my earlier posts.
There are a number of fundamental building blocks for creating a successful blog. Some of the are:
12 Basic Steps of Good Blogging!
1) Create a blog about something that has some interest on the web. A good tool for this would be the Google Trends tool (I'm feeling generous, and threw G a link!). I could make the use of this tool for a series of posts alone, but here I'm just going to go over slightly. It is a great comparison tool to determine which of two topics or two issues are search more within Google. If you want traffic and there are a number of ways to search for a detailed topic description using this tool will help. They do not list smaller searches, so if it is a smaller searched term then you'd be better off utilizing MSN Ad Labs Keyword Tool While not great (because they show you search information a year old! - Come on MSN!), this tool is still helpful in determining search levels of smaller search terms. Test different variations of potential blog names and go with the one that is more popular.
2) Post regularly. I repeat regularly. I didn't say I would explain all of the rules!
3) Make connections with other bloggers that post about the same or related topics. Give them a little attention by way of comment and maybe a link from your blog when you like one of their posts. Interact on their blog and leave relevant posts. Some of them will return the favor and its good for link juice, and direct traffic.
4) Register your blog with blog directories and blog search engines. It is a bigger pain today because most make you register before allowing submission. The benefits are not huge, but every little bit helps.
5) Use the Pinging services when you have placed a new post on your blog. This is how most blog info gets pushed out there for the new reader besides the viral traffic created from other blogs. Some of the Conglomerated Pinging services are pingomatic and pingoat. These services allow you to ping many, many, blog update sites at once.
6) Respond to comments quickly and in a responsible manner. Thank those who have contributed valuable content.
7) Give links out where it is deserved, but don;t over do it
8) Blog about other real popular blogs and then give a heads up to the original author about it. It can be very good to take on one of the authors and then post about it with one of the blog posts forums! This can get a lot of notice, especially if you have some valid points and make them look bad (sorry it is true).
9) Be different. Don't post like the others. take a unique angle or point of view and try to blow it out of the park.
10) Do not steal content or images. Be a responsible net citizen.
11) Market your blog all of the social sites / forums like Digg, Stumble Upon, etc. (there are hundreds of them now).
12) Keep the faith that if you work hard and do the right things you'll eventually have a successful Blog. Hey, nobody said it would be easy! Blogging is maturing somewhat and it is heavier competition. That's why I suggested being different - carve out a unique niche.
Go forth, post, and ping your blog!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Slightly Backlogged - 3 SEO Topical Posts Today
I got a little sidetracked with my real job and my posts have fallen behind. So, today I'm going to have 3, that's right - THREE posts in one day! They will all be SEO related, topical, and of interest to those in the buz, as we say.
Why am I doing all this? To test Google's statements that "Content is King". Well, if content is king, then these posts should be picked up and served as part of the SERPS. They are definitely of interest, and I can guarantee that they are unique, Google's two primary rules. But, I'm willin gto wager that this Blog is not seen during the 30 days that I post to it! Because I'm not going to do any SEO. Well, that's not really true. I decided to try to help my friends at Google to not look so ridiculous, and I have done a series of things to help them along.
I have placed the blog on Blogger. Now that is a huge boost for Google. I also posted a couple of links to it from my Twitter postings. Now that should be a boost as well. And, in the future, tonight actually, I'm going to list it in 10 of the more popular blog directories! Even with all of that, I predict that it still will not receive more than a handful of visitors. This will sdhow that the great people at G ar full of sh-t when it comes to content is king! Content never was king. Oh, don;t get me wrong, it helps. But, the King is Web marketing (I'm including SEO in this)! Pure and simple. Anyone that believes anything else is deluding themselves! This blog test will prove it.
So for 30 days, I'm going to post to this blog 30 times. After the 30 days I'll reveal the number of visitors I've received. After the first 30 days, I'm going to post only once every 3 days, BUT I'm Going To SEO the Heck Out of the Blog! Do you want to bet which 30 day period wins?!
First post down, 2 more to go.
Why am I doing all this? To test Google's statements that "Content is King". Well, if content is king, then these posts should be picked up and served as part of the SERPS. They are definitely of interest, and I can guarantee that they are unique, Google's two primary rules. But, I'm willin gto wager that this Blog is not seen during the 30 days that I post to it! Because I'm not going to do any SEO. Well, that's not really true. I decided to try to help my friends at Google to not look so ridiculous, and I have done a series of things to help them along.
I have placed the blog on Blogger. Now that is a huge boost for Google. I also posted a couple of links to it from my Twitter postings. Now that should be a boost as well. And, in the future, tonight actually, I'm going to list it in 10 of the more popular blog directories! Even with all of that, I predict that it still will not receive more than a handful of visitors. This will sdhow that the great people at G ar full of sh-t when it comes to content is king! Content never was king. Oh, don;t get me wrong, it helps. But, the King is Web marketing (I'm including SEO in this)! Pure and simple. Anyone that believes anything else is deluding themselves! This blog test will prove it.
So for 30 days, I'm going to post to this blog 30 times. After the 30 days I'll reveal the number of visitors I've received. After the first 30 days, I'm going to post only once every 3 days, BUT I'm Going To SEO the Heck Out of the Blog! Do you want to bet which 30 day period wins?!
First post down, 2 more to go.
Monday, July 14, 2008
what do you post about when you have nothing to post about?
I made a pledge to post every day for 30 days, so I'm posting even though I don't have a lot to post about. This is the 3rd day of my "Is Content Really King" post trial. If content is king then I should be able to post some decent and unique content, and then Google and later on, the people should find it. I did Google one better by placing the blog on their blogging site, Blogger. This gives them a decided advantage and one I thought I could afford, because I think they are full of s--t! They won't find the content and I won't see a lot of traffic no matter how brilliant these posts are until I start doing some of my seo / digital marketing magic. At least this is my contention.
I gave Google another head start by posting two tweets on Twitter about my test. So, I gave them two bennies in the contest and I've even decided to give them a 3rd! I'm going to list the blog on up to 20 blog directories in the next couple of days! And I still say that won't be enough! I dare you Google to prove me wrong because content isn't king, it never was! SEO and web marketing are and always were King!
Now onto my other topics. I've got a project where a company has asked me to quote my services based on improving their online performance. Now I have no problem doing it for this year as their site is pathetic and their marketing of it truly abysmal. I could improve it by 500% without trying to hard as a matter of fact. The problem is not this year (I have the schedule worked out and believe that I will make a substantial amount of money off of it), but next year. How will I base my performance and pay for the following year. I've already told them that we will negotiate both years at the same time and that I will only work the 2nd year if they hire me under the proposal I'm presenting to them right now. We're agreeing on the work structure for the 2nd year without any guarantees that they'll hire me then.
They asked me if I wasn't worried that they would just walk away and I told them no, because I'm not going to show them how I did it. They believe that I can take it away as well as give it, and that is partially true, partially. So I'm working on a 2 year deal with only one guaranteed and then a re-sign at the end of the first year for the 2nd.
I currently work for a very large company with a sizable IT department and what I want to know is why on earth do these IT guys think they know WEB marketing and SEO? They are utterly clueless and yet they'll sit there and argue with me over what I want them to do. Is it any wonder proxy serving SEO is gaining in popularity? That will be the discussion topic for tomorrow - The Hypocrisy of Google Allowing Proxy Serving SEO
Anyway the IT guys are constantly battling over things which they are ignorant about such as - the structure of the urls, the number of parameters, the descriptors, the linking structure, the sitemap structure, and the file structure. The battle are endless in spite of me sharing with them a boat load of information justifying my positions! And yet these j-ck-ss-s continue to battle with me. They just don't want to do it. Any IT idiots (I'm not saying all ITs are idiots, just the ones that want to battle with seasoned web marketers about things they know nothing about) out there that want to jump in on this one? I had heard about this before when I was on the outside, but I just didn't believe that it could be this bad. Well, I know now that I was mistaken. As a matter of fact, I think there is a book deal in there somewhere. A titled piece like "How to Get Your IT Department to Do What Is Right"
I gave Google another head start by posting two tweets on Twitter about my test. So, I gave them two bennies in the contest and I've even decided to give them a 3rd! I'm going to list the blog on up to 20 blog directories in the next couple of days! And I still say that won't be enough! I dare you Google to prove me wrong because content isn't king, it never was! SEO and web marketing are and always were King!
Now onto my other topics. I've got a project where a company has asked me to quote my services based on improving their online performance. Now I have no problem doing it for this year as their site is pathetic and their marketing of it truly abysmal. I could improve it by 500% without trying to hard as a matter of fact. The problem is not this year (I have the schedule worked out and believe that I will make a substantial amount of money off of it), but next year. How will I base my performance and pay for the following year. I've already told them that we will negotiate both years at the same time and that I will only work the 2nd year if they hire me under the proposal I'm presenting to them right now. We're agreeing on the work structure for the 2nd year without any guarantees that they'll hire me then.
They asked me if I wasn't worried that they would just walk away and I told them no, because I'm not going to show them how I did it. They believe that I can take it away as well as give it, and that is partially true, partially. So I'm working on a 2 year deal with only one guaranteed and then a re-sign at the end of the first year for the 2nd.
I currently work for a very large company with a sizable IT department and what I want to know is why on earth do these IT guys think they know WEB marketing and SEO? They are utterly clueless and yet they'll sit there and argue with me over what I want them to do. Is it any wonder proxy serving SEO is gaining in popularity? That will be the discussion topic for tomorrow - The Hypocrisy of Google Allowing Proxy Serving SEO
Anyway the IT guys are constantly battling over things which they are ignorant about such as - the structure of the urls, the number of parameters, the descriptors, the linking structure, the sitemap structure, and the file structure. The battle are endless in spite of me sharing with them a boat load of information justifying my positions! And yet these j-ck-ss-s continue to battle with me. They just don't want to do it. Any IT idiots (I'm not saying all ITs are idiots, just the ones that want to battle with seasoned web marketers about things they know nothing about) out there that want to jump in on this one? I had heard about this before when I was on the outside, but I just didn't believe that it could be this bad. Well, I know now that I was mistaken. As a matter of fact, I think there is a book deal in there somewhere. A titled piece like "How to Get Your IT Department to Do What Is Right"
Sunday, July 13, 2008
2nd post of SEO trail -= re: is content really king?
No surprises so far - no traffic but its only my second post. The only placed I've mentioned this test is on Twitter, which has seemingly become an seo posting ground. Everyone that is very active in Digital Marketing seems to be at the very least reading on Twitter (if you haven't been, you should check it out), while most are posting quite often.
I find the Twitter phenomenon quite interesting and think it is foretelling the future with mobile web and such type applications - you will be posting in bullets and need to convey a message in a limited number of characters. I believe those that can master Twitter will have the upper hand in mastering the mobile web. Am I wrong? Time will only tell, but I feel I'm dead on.
Let's look at texting with kids who have mastered a 2nd language - popular phrases are acronymed to allow for faster input and ease, popular words are as well. It has created a text shorthand and it will pass onto the Mobile web I believe. You'll need all of this to convey a message on the shorter and tighter screens that will place a higher value on brevity. You'll need to be able to utilize every possible angle to get your message across as quickly and tightly as possible. This is where Twitter practice comes in - Twitter forces you to be concise, short and to the point because of its 140 character limit. It is teaching shorthand promo messages - the very thing that will be needed for mobile web.
I'd like to see something different due to the inaccuracies and misleading titles it will cause, but that's life in the fast lane, on Twitter, and on the mobile web. Think about all of the ramifications of this - one word and acronym keywords for mobile web which will in turn cause a much more costly and competitive landscape (Google must be salivating over this! They will definitely do everything they can to be a major player on mobile web.).
With mobile I believe that images will take a back seat and I think we just may see voice overs and sound overs take a driving role because they do not take up screen space. Video will have issues but I think it will live due to the general public's demand for it. I think we'll have to see a different form of ads on videos since the screen size is such an issue.
Mobile web will really open the potential of behavioral marketing which I'm really starting to experiment with - think of how much data we'll be able to use - type of phone (which I feel will be very revealing), mobile browser, search vehicle, mobile service, and home area. Not to mention if the phone companies are able to convey some personal data about the client such as age, sex, occupation, etc. This potential will open the possibilities of behavioral targeting! I'm excited and scared by the possibilities but am going to play in the arena because it is coming whether you like it or not and I won't to be on the front edge of it!
There is todays seo post with some topical stuff about Twitter, mobiel web, and my content is king SEO trial test. Today I entered ina text link to Twitter. While this is some seo, it is done more to aid the reader and it is important. I'm not doing it for seo purposes and therefore, I do nto feel it jeopardizes the validity of the trial. Stay tuned for more.
I find the Twitter phenomenon quite interesting and think it is foretelling the future with mobile web and such type applications - you will be posting in bullets and need to convey a message in a limited number of characters. I believe those that can master Twitter will have the upper hand in mastering the mobile web. Am I wrong? Time will only tell, but I feel I'm dead on.
Let's look at texting with kids who have mastered a 2nd language - popular phrases are acronymed to allow for faster input and ease, popular words are as well. It has created a text shorthand and it will pass onto the Mobile web I believe. You'll need all of this to convey a message on the shorter and tighter screens that will place a higher value on brevity. You'll need to be able to utilize every possible angle to get your message across as quickly and tightly as possible. This is where Twitter practice comes in - Twitter forces you to be concise, short and to the point because of its 140 character limit. It is teaching shorthand promo messages - the very thing that will be needed for mobile web.
I'd like to see something different due to the inaccuracies and misleading titles it will cause, but that's life in the fast lane, on Twitter, and on the mobile web. Think about all of the ramifications of this - one word and acronym keywords for mobile web which will in turn cause a much more costly and competitive landscape (Google must be salivating over this! They will definitely do everything they can to be a major player on mobile web.).
With mobile I believe that images will take a back seat and I think we just may see voice overs and sound overs take a driving role because they do not take up screen space. Video will have issues but I think it will live due to the general public's demand for it. I think we'll have to see a different form of ads on videos since the screen size is such an issue.
Mobile web will really open the potential of behavioral marketing which I'm really starting to experiment with - think of how much data we'll be able to use - type of phone (which I feel will be very revealing), mobile browser, search vehicle, mobile service, and home area. Not to mention if the phone companies are able to convey some personal data about the client such as age, sex, occupation, etc. This potential will open the possibilities of behavioral targeting! I'm excited and scared by the possibilities but am going to play in the arena because it is coming whether you like it or not and I won't to be on the front edge of it!
There is todays seo post with some topical stuff about Twitter, mobiel web, and my content is king SEO trial test. Today I entered ina text link to Twitter. While this is some seo, it is done more to aid the reader and it is important. I'm not doing it for seo purposes and therefore, I do nto feel it jeopardizes the validity of the trial. Stay tuned for more.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
SEO Test Trail Begins
What is this blog about? It is a lot like the show Seinfeld - "IT IS ABOUT NOTHING!"
I was sitting around thinking about how content is king on the web according to Google, coupling that with Google's statement that 25% of their searches every month are new, never seen before search terms, and it got me to thinking. What of you just kept posting to a blog just whatever popped into your head, would you still start realizing a significant amount of traffic? If you did develop traffic, could you monetize it?
Well, if content is king, then all you should need to do is build up a good amount of unique and interesting content and let it do its work (I'm willing to bet right now that this won't happen). I believe that content isn't King, despite what the great Google would like us all to think, but rather web marketing is. Its like the old question "If a tree crashes in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" If you put up great content and no one is there to read it, does it mater? I'm going to test this with my test.
Now I know I'm getting a little arrogant with the assumption that I'll be able to create great content, but I o believe I'll be able to keep it interesting at the very least.
To my mind, the only way to really test Google's golden rule of "content is king" is to test it and what better platform to test it on than Blogger, a Google platform? I'm making it easy for Google to find the content! So here we are, you and I, probably just I since this is my first post, with my SEO Trial blog. I pledge to do the following during this 60 day trial:
1- I will blog at least once every day - you have to have the content and new postings every day to put Google's postulation to the test
2- The posts will vary in topic discussion, but the majority will reside around digital and web marketing. We have to have a blog with a general theme but some variety to test the theory.
3- I will post some links to this blog in directories and will try to build a little interest outside of the search sphere, but I will be relying upon my content and the search engines to drive the traffic. After all, if content is king then it should be enough!
4- I will do on-blog seo for my posts (I'm going out of my way to be fair here)
5- I will not attempt to monetize this blog until the 60 days are over - have to build the traffic first and then make money off of it. I will begine trackign the traffic shortly and listng the figures here for your reading pleasure.
So there you have it - an SEO text trial test to see just how much traffic you can build be content alone. What I expect to find: I'm willing to bet that without seoing the heck out of the blog, and going out and connecting with other bloggers, we won't see much traffic at all. And, if that is the case, then we'll all see that content isn't really king like Google says, web marketing is!
You've read my test, my theory, and what I expect to find. If you're at all curious, please watch my blog and participate. If you think I'm crazy, thats fine and you can let me know.
The next thing I'll do is to register my blog 25 blog directories, that is beside posting on it.
I was sitting around thinking about how content is king on the web according to Google, coupling that with Google's statement that 25% of their searches every month are new, never seen before search terms, and it got me to thinking. What of you just kept posting to a blog just whatever popped into your head, would you still start realizing a significant amount of traffic? If you did develop traffic, could you monetize it?
Well, if content is king, then all you should need to do is build up a good amount of unique and interesting content and let it do its work (I'm willing to bet right now that this won't happen). I believe that content isn't King, despite what the great Google would like us all to think, but rather web marketing is. Its like the old question "If a tree crashes in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" If you put up great content and no one is there to read it, does it mater? I'm going to test this with my test.
Now I know I'm getting a little arrogant with the assumption that I'll be able to create great content, but I o believe I'll be able to keep it interesting at the very least.
To my mind, the only way to really test Google's golden rule of "content is king" is to test it and what better platform to test it on than Blogger, a Google platform? I'm making it easy for Google to find the content! So here we are, you and I, probably just I since this is my first post, with my SEO Trial blog. I pledge to do the following during this 60 day trial:
1- I will blog at least once every day - you have to have the content and new postings every day to put Google's postulation to the test
2- The posts will vary in topic discussion, but the majority will reside around digital and web marketing. We have to have a blog with a general theme but some variety to test the theory.
3- I will post some links to this blog in directories and will try to build a little interest outside of the search sphere, but I will be relying upon my content and the search engines to drive the traffic. After all, if content is king then it should be enough!
4- I will do on-blog seo for my posts (I'm going out of my way to be fair here)
5- I will not attempt to monetize this blog until the 60 days are over - have to build the traffic first and then make money off of it. I will begine trackign the traffic shortly and listng the figures here for your reading pleasure.
So there you have it - an SEO text trial test to see just how much traffic you can build be content alone. What I expect to find: I'm willing to bet that without seoing the heck out of the blog, and going out and connecting with other bloggers, we won't see much traffic at all. And, if that is the case, then we'll all see that content isn't really king like Google says, web marketing is!
You've read my test, my theory, and what I expect to find. If you're at all curious, please watch my blog and participate. If you think I'm crazy, thats fine and you can let me know.
The next thing I'll do is to register my blog 25 blog directories, that is beside posting on it.
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