High search engine rankings are important to most bloggers and website owners. To achieve those page one search placements, a combination of interesting and informative content along with many links to your blog are needed.
Let's talk about links today. To be more specific, let's discuss the often overlooked links to your blog or website's internal pages. When most bloggers and website owners think of links, they naturally consider links to their home page first. After all, the blog or wesbite home page is the most obvious and visible page to be on the receiving end of an inbound link. Too often, the very important links to internal pages are forgotten, and get lost in the shuffle.
Blogs in particular receive an abundance of incoming links to internal blog pages. Think of every time that someone linked directly to one of your blog posts. As that page moves into the blog archives, that internal inbound link remains alive, and providing link popularity to power to that page in particular; as well as the entire blog in general. Incoming link power is spread through the entire blog, as the pages are interlinked, helping all of the pages rank well, to some degree.
It's thought that the search engines, including Google, Yahoo, and MSN Search place importance on internal site links. It seems logical as links to internal pages are a strong indicator of valuable and important site or blog content. As a result, they help boost the blog or site's search engine rankings. Both the linked page and the overall site or blog benefit.
Not only is the link important, but so is what is referred to as link anchor text. While the jargon term is interesting, link anchor text is simply the wording that appears on the clickable link line. Those words that are set to be clicked will often contain keywords relevant to the content of the receiving page.
Bloggers often use very powerful link anchor text, often without concern for the resulting SEO benefits, to describe the receiving post. With that keyword rich link anchor text in place, the inbound link packs double the search engine punch. When linking to your own posts, be sure to use descriptive wording, relevant to the post receiving the link. Words like "read more" or "click here" should be studiously avoided, and not be used as link anchor text.
Links from other blogs or traditional websites, to your internal site pages, can work wonders in your search engine placements. With the addition of keyword rich link anchor text, that linked page can turn your blog or site into an SEO dream.
Isn't that resulting top spot in Google something to get excited about!
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Carnival of the Vanities at Part-Time Pundit
The 164th edition of the longest running internet blog carnival, the well known Carnival of the Vanities, moves to John C. Bambenek's political and economics blog known as Part-Time Pundit.
Carnival of the Vanities is the original collection of blog postings, assembling some of the best and wide ranging bloggers on the internet.
This week's Carnival of the Vanities entries include politics, literature, science, medicine, technology, business, culture, comedy, and space.
I have an entry in this week's edition of Carnival of the Vanities as well.
My post is titled "Off topic searches: Low return visitors" where I discuss how gratuitous celebrity name dropping might add a one time visitor to your visitor logs, but that person is highly unlikely to return again to your blog.
To participate in the Carnival of the Vanities, or any of the other blog carnivals, one of the easiest techniques is to use the all inclusive carnival entry form at The Conservative Cat.
Another participation option is to simply e-mail your entry to the host of the week.
That's what I usually do.
As I suggest elsewhere, hosting and contributing to the various internet blog carnivals is a great promotional idea for your blog.
Next week's edition of Carnival of the Vanities appears at the medical and health issues blog known as The Examining Room of Dr. Charles.
In the meantime, head on over to the Part-Time Pundit hosting of Carnival of the Vanities and enjoy the posts on offer.
You will almost certainly be introduced to some great new and interesting blogs.
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
Blog posts: Out of topic ideas?
Blog posts use up all of your best ideas. Right? You dream up the concept for your latest literary or technical masterpiece of a post, you write it into the blog posting interface, publish it, and voila.
Reality then sets in with a vengeance. You have just used your best topic idea for the post, and you're left with no clue what to post for the next day. I know. We've all been through it. While some of the leading bloggers, with their seemingly twenty posts per day, make it appear easy to find blog subjects, it still takes creativity and imagination.
Finding posting topics is always a challenge. It is difficult for every blogger, regardless of topic. Instead of worrying about what to write about, often ideas appear when least expected. During the day, as you blog hop through other blogs or RSS feeds, jot down the posts that deserve post length comment beyond those left on the blog itself. Even the comments on other blogs, or on your own blog, can generate some very powerful posting ideas.
Other bloggers often provide powerful posts that are virtual launching pads for posts on other blogs. Citing the other blog, and properly linking to it of course, will often lead to you providing another entirely different angle on the subject.
Some bloggers develop an idea file. When topic ideas become hard to find, they simply dig into the topic box. Posts appear like magic. In fact, a tour of a topic file will often keep a blogger filled with ideas, and their spinoffs, for weeks.
Re-examine older postings. In your blog archives dwell a goldmine of potential post ideas. You could think of them as once and future posts. Many older topics are begging for followup, and some may require an entirely new focus. The angle you took on one issue will most definitely not be the only one. Turn an older post around, and look at the subject from the opposite direction. You will most likely find a week's worth of ideas in that single post.
Start a blogging series. Write about the same topic each day for a week. When you do a series, be sure to offer teasers about the next intallment. Of course, you let your readers know about the upcoming blog post series, didn't you? I know you did that, gentle reader, as you are a diligent blogger.
If all else fails, you can always blog about nothing. Hey, maybe I'm onto something there. A post about nothing.
Yeah, that's the ticket.
In the meantime, happy posting.
Reality then sets in with a vengeance. You have just used your best topic idea for the post, and you're left with no clue what to post for the next day. I know. We've all been through it. While some of the leading bloggers, with their seemingly twenty posts per day, make it appear easy to find blog subjects, it still takes creativity and imagination.
Finding posting topics is always a challenge. It is difficult for every blogger, regardless of topic. Instead of worrying about what to write about, often ideas appear when least expected. During the day, as you blog hop through other blogs or RSS feeds, jot down the posts that deserve post length comment beyond those left on the blog itself. Even the comments on other blogs, or on your own blog, can generate some very powerful posting ideas.
Other bloggers often provide powerful posts that are virtual launching pads for posts on other blogs. Citing the other blog, and properly linking to it of course, will often lead to you providing another entirely different angle on the subject.
Some bloggers develop an idea file. When topic ideas become hard to find, they simply dig into the topic box. Posts appear like magic. In fact, a tour of a topic file will often keep a blogger filled with ideas, and their spinoffs, for weeks.
Re-examine older postings. In your blog archives dwell a goldmine of potential post ideas. You could think of them as once and future posts. Many older topics are begging for followup, and some may require an entirely new focus. The angle you took on one issue will most definitely not be the only one. Turn an older post around, and look at the subject from the opposite direction. You will most likely find a week's worth of ideas in that single post.
Start a blogging series. Write about the same topic each day for a week. When you do a series, be sure to offer teasers about the next intallment. Of course, you let your readers know about the upcoming blog post series, didn't you? I know you did that, gentle reader, as you are a diligent blogger.
If all else fails, you can always blog about nothing. Hey, maybe I'm onto something there. A post about nothing.
Yeah, that's the ticket.
In the meantime, happy posting.
Monday, November 7, 2005
Carnival of the Capitalists at Part-Time Pundit
This week sees a unsponsored approach to the travelling business show, recognized by one and all as Carnival of the Capitalists makes a visit to John C. Bambenek's political and economics blog known as Part-Time Pundit.
This week's edition of Carnival of the Capitalists highlights some of the best bloggers writing on the internet today.
Blogging topics presented include entrepreneurship, management, market trading, internet commerce, marketing, the national and global economies, and technology.
As you would expect from Part-Time Pundit there are many discussions of business, marketing, and economics.
It's always great to read and discover the many high quality blogs out there in the blogosphere.
We don't always get to them all, and this edition of Carnival of the Capitalists has introduced many of us to some brand new ones.
I have an entry in this week's Carnival of the Capitalists as well.
My post is titled "Articles: Trading your way to the top" where I discuss how swapping posts and articles with other bloggers and website owners can increase your traffic, your business reputation, and provide SEO benefits for improving your search engine rankings.
If you wish to submit an entry to next week's, or any Carnival of the Capitalists edition, e-mail your entries to the new address:
cotcmail -at- gmail -dot- com
You can always use the handy entry form at Gongol.com where all you have to do is fill in the blanks. Talk about making it easy to be included!
Another brand new form for sending entries to all of the internet carnvivals is provided by The Conservative Cat. This is a great one stop entry drop, for all your blog post entries, for every blog carnival.
If you are searching for new and exciting ways to expand your blog's readership, you should seriously consider sending an entry to Carnival of the Capitalists.
Merely being included in the company, of the first rate regular Carnival of the Capitalists contributors, will enhance the reputation of your blog.
The extra visitors sent to your blog won't hurt either!
The growth and staying power, of Carnival of the Capitalists, is beginning to catch the attention of people outside the blogging community. Each hosting, brings a fresh assortment of new readers, to the various blogs involved.
The visitors aren't only bloggers anymore.
Readership is expanding to include the mainstream media, various government and private organizations, many businesses, and other interested people from beyond the blogging community.
Many people are introduced to some tremendous blogs that they might otherwise have missed.
Next week's Carnival of the Capitalists be at Jeff Cornwall's highly regarded business and venture capital blog known as The Entrepreneurial Mind.
In the meantime, click that mouse over to the Part-Time Pundit hosting of Carnival of the Capitalists.
If the great posted entries don't convince you to click, or the possibility of finding some brand new blogs to read doesn't do it, then Carnival of the Capitalists certainly will offer some ways to look for ways to be a part time pundit. (groan)
Sunday, November 6, 2005
Blogs to books: From posts to e-books
Books are potentially a very powerful promotional and marketing tool, an enhancer of reputation, and an important online and offline revenue source for bloggers.
Becoming an author strengthens a blogger's reputation as an industry authority by establishing credentials. Publishing provides a marketing and promotional vehicle opening doors to media interviews and articles, public lectures and speeches, and opportunities to network with some very high powered people.
Books will provide that vehicle. Today, we'll discuss one aspect of book publishing, namely the electronic or online downloadable book, more commonly called the e-book.
E-books are internet based books that are usually only available electronically, although some are available with traditional covers and pages as well. It's not uncommon for authors to offer a downloadable e-book version, followed later by the tradional hard copy version.
Bloggers make natural book authors, and e-books are especially appropriate for bloggers, accustomed as they are to online publishing. After all, a blog could be considered an online book all by itself. Many bloggers have certainly written enough material to fill at least one book; and maybe three or more.
Many bloggers have produced some tremendous ideas and information over the course of one, two, three, and even more years. The written work of some leading bloggers has already hit the mainstream. There are many great bloggers in the blogoshere, whose potential and writing quality has not been fully appreciated.
Innumerable bloggers have written some powerful essays as blog posts. Those collected posts could be readily turned into a an e-book product with the many e-book creating products available. Several good ones can be found online, and some of them are free, or are reasonably priced within the new author's budget.
A blogger would simply collect, and perhaps edit, their best and most interesting posts. Those collected columns could then be turned into an e-book. The traditional publishing industry has been selling collected essay books for generations.
It's time bloggers considered joining that charmed circle of authors. An e-book could contain some brand new columns and articles written specifically for the downloadable copy. They would provide some freshness to the collected greatest hits posts forming the bulk of the book's content.
An introduction, either by the blogger or perhaps someone else of note, could add an additional chapter to the book. An introduction could be provided by another blogger, a highly regarded industry authority, or even a regular reader of the author's blog. The purpose would be to tie the entire work together, into an overall edition, of interest to those familiar with the blogger, and for new readers as well.
After creating the e-book, the entire work could be offered for sale as a revenue source for the blogger. Other bloggers could offer the e-book for sale from their blogs as well. Those bloggers would be paid through an affiliate agreement. Such contracts are widespread on the internet. Many bloggers are already affiliates of a number of companies, and books are one of the most popular affiliate products. Many of those books are e-books too.
Setting up an e-commerce for the e-book is relatively easy these days. Conducting business online has joined the mainstream, and online commerce is readily accepted by most internet product purchasers. Many easy to use ordering, fulfilment, drop shipping, and shopping cart systems are now available.
The time is becoming ripe for more blog inspired e-book publications. The world of published authors can certainly include bloggers in their ranks.
In fact, they already have.
Becoming an author strengthens a blogger's reputation as an industry authority by establishing credentials. Publishing provides a marketing and promotional vehicle opening doors to media interviews and articles, public lectures and speeches, and opportunities to network with some very high powered people.
Books will provide that vehicle. Today, we'll discuss one aspect of book publishing, namely the electronic or online downloadable book, more commonly called the e-book.
E-books are internet based books that are usually only available electronically, although some are available with traditional covers and pages as well. It's not uncommon for authors to offer a downloadable e-book version, followed later by the tradional hard copy version.
Bloggers make natural book authors, and e-books are especially appropriate for bloggers, accustomed as they are to online publishing. After all, a blog could be considered an online book all by itself. Many bloggers have certainly written enough material to fill at least one book; and maybe three or more.
Many bloggers have produced some tremendous ideas and information over the course of one, two, three, and even more years. The written work of some leading bloggers has already hit the mainstream. There are many great bloggers in the blogoshere, whose potential and writing quality has not been fully appreciated.
Innumerable bloggers have written some powerful essays as blog posts. Those collected posts could be readily turned into a an e-book product with the many e-book creating products available. Several good ones can be found online, and some of them are free, or are reasonably priced within the new author's budget.
A blogger would simply collect, and perhaps edit, their best and most interesting posts. Those collected columns could then be turned into an e-book. The traditional publishing industry has been selling collected essay books for generations.
It's time bloggers considered joining that charmed circle of authors. An e-book could contain some brand new columns and articles written specifically for the downloadable copy. They would provide some freshness to the collected greatest hits posts forming the bulk of the book's content.
An introduction, either by the blogger or perhaps someone else of note, could add an additional chapter to the book. An introduction could be provided by another blogger, a highly regarded industry authority, or even a regular reader of the author's blog. The purpose would be to tie the entire work together, into an overall edition, of interest to those familiar with the blogger, and for new readers as well.
After creating the e-book, the entire work could be offered for sale as a revenue source for the blogger. Other bloggers could offer the e-book for sale from their blogs as well. Those bloggers would be paid through an affiliate agreement. Such contracts are widespread on the internet. Many bloggers are already affiliates of a number of companies, and books are one of the most popular affiliate products. Many of those books are e-books too.
Setting up an e-commerce for the e-book is relatively easy these days. Conducting business online has joined the mainstream, and online commerce is readily accepted by most internet product purchasers. Many easy to use ordering, fulfilment, drop shipping, and shopping cart systems are now available.
The time is becoming ripe for more blog inspired e-book publications. The world of published authors can certainly include bloggers in their ranks.
In fact, they already have.
Saturday, November 5, 2005
Helping people returns help
Helping people works for everyone's benefit. Sharing everything from food to money to knowledge not only helps the recipient of the gift, but the giver as well. Showing respect for others returns respect like a mirror reflection as well.
I have always believed that people want to be helpful to one another. While we all know of a few individuals, who would never offer even the most miniscule assistance to anyone, they are the exception rather than the rule. People want to help. They also want to be treated with respect, as they do their jobs. That respect is another gift that will be returned ten fold from other people.
Travel columnist Robert Cowan, the Internet Travel Guru of the travel website Internet Travel Tips had just scuh an experience. In his most recent Internet Travel Tips Newsletter, Robert recounts how showing courtesy and respect for airline employees resulted in their offering him a gift of kindness.
As Robert says in his newsletter:
In a world where rudeness is becoming more commonplace, and common courtesty appears to be disappearing from daily discourse, showing kindness and respect is a welcomed event. Brightening a person's day with courtesy and the offer of a friendly, helpful hand, will be repaid many times over.
Even if that payment is only a smile, it's well worth being generous and helpful to others. Brightening someone else's day will definitely brighten your day, making everyone's passage through life a much more pleasant journey.
Show someone some kindness and generosity today. Help someone do their job better, achieve their goal, or simply bring a smile to their face.
It will be great for everyone; including yourself.
I have always believed that people want to be helpful to one another. While we all know of a few individuals, who would never offer even the most miniscule assistance to anyone, they are the exception rather than the rule. People want to help. They also want to be treated with respect, as they do their jobs. That respect is another gift that will be returned ten fold from other people.
Travel columnist Robert Cowan, the Internet Travel Guru of the travel website Internet Travel Tips had just scuh an experience. In his most recent Internet Travel Tips Newsletter, Robert recounts how showing courtesy and respect for airline employees resulted in their offering him a gift of kindness.
As Robert says in his newsletter:
Be nice to people: On United Airlines, my status is somewhere between cardboard and plastic, however I spoke with a gate agent about finding a better seat. A little light banter about how they were doing (still in bankruptcy) and a smile can go a long way. Fortunately, the mid-day flight was only 60% full (unusual) and the agent gave me an entire row near the front of the plane in their economy+ section (more leg room). In most cases, airline employees rarely hear good news. Being nice and pleasant (especially during a challenging day) can have rewards.
In a world where rudeness is becoming more commonplace, and common courtesty appears to be disappearing from daily discourse, showing kindness and respect is a welcomed event. Brightening a person's day with courtesy and the offer of a friendly, helpful hand, will be repaid many times over.
Even if that payment is only a smile, it's well worth being generous and helpful to others. Brightening someone else's day will definitely brighten your day, making everyone's passage through life a much more pleasant journey.
Show someone some kindness and generosity today. Help someone do their job better, achieve their goal, or simply bring a smile to their face.
It will be great for everyone; including yourself.
Friday, November 4, 2005
Blog post followup: Continuing the story
Followup blog posts are a solid way to develop an idea further, provide more information on an older post, and to develop a posting series. Writing a blog post that continues a previous, but often unfinished idea, provides a number of real and very tangible benefits.
Returning to a previous ongoing controversy, topic, or concept, provides a useful and interesting source, of blog post ideas. Often your longer term readership will appreciate finding out more information on an idea previously presented in your blog. New information and ideas often arise after a post has been published. Don't waste those thoughts. Print them on your blog as update posts.
Followup posts are ideal for political, legal, and sports blogs, to name just a few. Each of those blog categories is ideally suited to continuing column ideas over time. Most readers will be very intrigued as to how the initial case, policy, or game under discussion was resolved. Instead of only getting the introduction to a concept, your readers can get the entire story.
For personal bloggers, ongoing postings are part of the reason for the blog in the first place. The ongoing daily life of the blogger is a continuing saga in and of itself. Following up on some previous event in the blogger's life flows naturally in personal blogs.
Business bloggers can create an ongoing series of posts, revolving around one business oriented topic. Later, as new ideas are formulated or the quarterly reports are published, the blogger can return to the previous series and the accompanying reader comments, and renew the discussion. By picking up an older post concept, the idea can often be developed further, to the benefit of all.
Often, the results of the business idea are played out in the real world. Whether those results were forecast on your business blog or not, they are important to your readership. In fact, they can potentially be some of the most powerful posts to appear on your blog.
When referring to a previous post, be sure to link to that column, and any subsequent related postings, directly. Place a live link, using the older post permalink, directly within the new post. Make certain the link appears early in the discussion, so readers unfamiliar with the previous posting can get up to speed on the ideas presented. The blog visitors can read the background information for context and previous history.
While it's not considered by some bloggers to be a proper policy, linking to your previous post is a courtesy in this instance. It's not quite the same thing as linking to your own post in support of your own argument. In this case, it's simply providing background information for new visitors to your blog.
Having everyone familiar with the previous post or posts on the subject, helps to further the discussion. In fact, linking to your previous posts is not a bad blogging idea as it's a good one, as it provides full disclosure of your previous writings and thoughts on the issue at hand.
Following up previous posts also provides a sense of completion for previous ideas. A concept isn't simply thrown out on the blog, and left hanging, and unresolved. Returning to an as yet uncompleted thought process, can lead to new and exciting discoveries about the idea.
Sometimes, the readers simply want to know how the story turned out in the end. Looking back to some previous posts, occasionally left unresolved, provides a wealth of blog posting ideas. They are not only helpful to you as a blogger, but they are often of tremendous interest to your readers as well.
Some search engine optimization benefits can also result from followup posts. The internal linking, between two or more pages within the blog itself, helps to develop the blog's overall themes and topics. With theme relevance becoming ever more important to the search engine rankings, the SEO value of internal blog linking shouldn't be overlooked. Having two or more strongly related inter-linked pages will provide some very tangible SEO benefits for your blog.
Follow up those old posts, and see where they lead.
Often, they lead to a better blog for both the blog writer and the blog readership.
Returning to a previous ongoing controversy, topic, or concept, provides a useful and interesting source, of blog post ideas. Often your longer term readership will appreciate finding out more information on an idea previously presented in your blog. New information and ideas often arise after a post has been published. Don't waste those thoughts. Print them on your blog as update posts.
Followup posts are ideal for political, legal, and sports blogs, to name just a few. Each of those blog categories is ideally suited to continuing column ideas over time. Most readers will be very intrigued as to how the initial case, policy, or game under discussion was resolved. Instead of only getting the introduction to a concept, your readers can get the entire story.
For personal bloggers, ongoing postings are part of the reason for the blog in the first place. The ongoing daily life of the blogger is a continuing saga in and of itself. Following up on some previous event in the blogger's life flows naturally in personal blogs.
Business bloggers can create an ongoing series of posts, revolving around one business oriented topic. Later, as new ideas are formulated or the quarterly reports are published, the blogger can return to the previous series and the accompanying reader comments, and renew the discussion. By picking up an older post concept, the idea can often be developed further, to the benefit of all.
Often, the results of the business idea are played out in the real world. Whether those results were forecast on your business blog or not, they are important to your readership. In fact, they can potentially be some of the most powerful posts to appear on your blog.
When referring to a previous post, be sure to link to that column, and any subsequent related postings, directly. Place a live link, using the older post permalink, directly within the new post. Make certain the link appears early in the discussion, so readers unfamiliar with the previous posting can get up to speed on the ideas presented. The blog visitors can read the background information for context and previous history.
While it's not considered by some bloggers to be a proper policy, linking to your previous post is a courtesy in this instance. It's not quite the same thing as linking to your own post in support of your own argument. In this case, it's simply providing background information for new visitors to your blog.
Having everyone familiar with the previous post or posts on the subject, helps to further the discussion. In fact, linking to your previous posts is not a bad blogging idea as it's a good one, as it provides full disclosure of your previous writings and thoughts on the issue at hand.
Following up previous posts also provides a sense of completion for previous ideas. A concept isn't simply thrown out on the blog, and left hanging, and unresolved. Returning to an as yet uncompleted thought process, can lead to new and exciting discoveries about the idea.
Sometimes, the readers simply want to know how the story turned out in the end. Looking back to some previous posts, occasionally left unresolved, provides a wealth of blog posting ideas. They are not only helpful to you as a blogger, but they are often of tremendous interest to your readers as well.
Some search engine optimization benefits can also result from followup posts. The internal linking, between two or more pages within the blog itself, helps to develop the blog's overall themes and topics. With theme relevance becoming ever more important to the search engine rankings, the SEO value of internal blog linking shouldn't be overlooked. Having two or more strongly related inter-linked pages will provide some very tangible SEO benefits for your blog.
Follow up those old posts, and see where they lead.
Often, they lead to a better blog for both the blog writer and the blog readership.
Thursday, November 3, 2005
Blogs n Dogs blogging conference
Blogs and dog sled teams aren't two things that appear related at first glace. Okay, not even at the second glance, but they are now.
The first ever Blogs n Dogs blogging conference held in the beautiful mountain resort Banff Centre, in Banff, Alberta, Canada from Sunday, December 4 to Thursday, December 8, 2005.
Held in partnership with the Banff New Media Institute Accelerator Program, the elite panel of blogging experts will guide the novice through the philosophies and intricacies of the blogoshere.
Oh yeah, and they offer dog sled rides too.
Topics under discussion include:
* Managing your public life online
* Blogging and the arts: Web 2.0 independent music publishing, photographers and artists
* Personal blogs and portals
* Blog writing style
* How to make money with your blog
* Building your community and traffic, connecting with your tribe in the blogosphere
* Traditional PR, marketing and the "blogosphere"
* Social networking tools, blogging tools, aggregation and technology: RSS, XML, podcasting and video blogging
A scholarship to attend the conference free of charge (not including airfare) is being offered to one deserving attendee:
Registration is now available and spaces are limited, so be certain to register for Blogs n Dogs as soon as possible.
There is also a participant's form to help the facilitators better meet the needs of all particpants.
Oh, and be sure to sign up for the optional dog sled ride too.
The first ever Blogs n Dogs blogging conference held in the beautiful mountain resort Banff Centre, in Banff, Alberta, Canada from Sunday, December 4 to Thursday, December 8, 2005.
Held in partnership with the Banff New Media Institute Accelerator Program, the elite panel of blogging experts will guide the novice through the philosophies and intricacies of the blogoshere.
Oh yeah, and they offer dog sled rides too.
Topics under discussion include:
* Managing your public life online
* Blogging and the arts: Web 2.0 independent music publishing, photographers and artists
* Personal blogs and portals
* Blog writing style
* How to make money with your blog
* Building your community and traffic, connecting with your tribe in the blogosphere
* Traditional PR, marketing and the "blogosphere"
* Social networking tools, blogging tools, aggregation and technology: RSS, XML, podcasting and video blogging
A scholarship to attend the conference free of charge (not including airfare) is being offered to one deserving attendee:
So how does the contest work?
We are looking for one (1) individual who has been blogging. If you are already blogging, send us the URL with a brief description of your blog; what do you write about, what are your goals with this blog and if you were selected to attend the event, what would be your learning goals.
Prize description
The judges will select one (1) person to attend the event. The prize is a scholarship which includes the workshop fee, activity fee (we will go dog sledding, YES, dog sledding!), accommodation and meals. (In short all expenses are paid for the exception of your transportation.)
Application Deadline is November 7th 2005
Winner will be announced on the Blogs'n'Dogs website November 14th 2005
Registration is now available and spaces are limited, so be certain to register for Blogs n Dogs as soon as possible.
There is also a participant's form to help the facilitators better meet the needs of all particpants.
Oh, and be sure to sign up for the optional dog sled ride too.
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Carnival of the Vanities at Free Money Finance
The 163rd edition of the longest running internet blog carnival, the well known Carnival of the Vanities, moves to the business and personal finance blog known as Free Money Finance.
Carnival of the Vanities is the original collection of blog postings, assembling some of the best and wide ranging bloggers on the internet.
This week's Carnival of the Vanities entries include politics, literature, science, medicine, technology, business, culture, comedy, and space.
To participate in the Carnival of the Vanities, or any of the other blog carnivals, one of the easiest techniques is to use the all inclusive carnival entry form at The Conservative Cat.
Another participation option is to simply e-mail your entry to the host of the week.
That's what I usually do.
As I suggest elsewhere, hosting and contributing to the various internet blog carnivals is a great promotional idea for your blog.
Next week's edition of Carnival of the Vanities appears at John C. Bambenek's political and economics blog known as Part-Time Pundit.
In the meantime, head on over to the Free Money Finance hosting of Carnival of the Vanities and enjoy the posts on offer.
You will almost certainly be introduced to some great new and interesting blogs.
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Off topic searches: Low return visitors
I know you've had some cheap visits to your blog. You know what I mean. You happen to mention some celebrity in passing, as sort of an analogy to your day's blog post. You've likely heard of some other bloggers who've received thousands of visits to their blog as a result.
I know you have thought about getting some of that action to your own blog. You've dreamed of some added free vistor traffic, all from an off topic celebrity mention. All those of you who are guilty, please raise your hands.
Aha! I thought so!
Okay, now we have that naughty little secret out in the open, we can discuss it freely. Everyone wants extra readers for their blog. It's often thought that mentioning famous people is the royal road to riches in the blog visitor traffic game.
I had an e-mail question on the subject on the weekend, as a matter of fact. The writer wanted to know how to get some quick and easy visits to his blog. He was hoping there were some magic words he could use to streak to the top of the search engines, and pick off some stray internet searchers. He even asked which celebrity searches were the hot topic on Google.
Well, let's consider the idea of fast visitor traffic.
Is there any value to cheaply acquired visits from the search engines like Google, MSN Search, Yahoo, AOL Search, Ask Jeeves, and others?
I don't think so.
First of all, visitors to your blog who are searching for Britney Spears photos, Paris Hilton video movies, or the latest news about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, are not likely to read your blog about knitting, health, or business.
Simply placing keywords in a blog post, suggesting naughty photos and stories, won't develop a blog's readership base. The search engines may list your blog post as a fresh article, and so might the blog searches, but the result is fleeting. At the same time, the visit might even work against you.
The visitor counter will register a new reader alright, but the click away in frustration, by a dissatisfied fan of Angelina Jolie, will be much faster. They will even be likely to remember your blog as not being informative at all. While unfair, that impression could be the unwanted result of such a visit.
There is no magic bullet to gaining blog traffic. No one said building a blog, and a regular readership was ever going to be easy. It takes hard work, and many, many interesting and informative web posts.
While it would be great to gain visitor traffic as a result of popular celebrity searches for Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp, or Jessica Simpson, it's not going to benefit your blog in the long run. Unless you are writing an entertainment or celebrity news blog, or those topics are components of your current blog, your cheap hits won't pay off very well.
That's if the search engines consider your blog relevant to the celebrity search topics at all.
The search engines might just register your blog high in the search rankings as a result of the famous names. Don't get too excited, however. The resulting visits to your blog don't usually translate into loyal readers.
Instead of looking for cheap search engine hits, on highly popular searches for famous names, concentrate on writing good quality posts instead. Link out to other related blogs that provide even more helpful information on your blog's subject matter. Theme relevance is very important to the search engines. If your blog is not relevant to Hollywood or the music industry, for example, it will gain little benefit there anyway.
Write great posts about your areas of real interest; and that includes your hobbies. With enough posts about your hobbies, your blog could become slightly themed in those areas too. It's especially powerful if you can relate the themes to one another. A gardening blog can become themed for weddings, by mentioning flowers and bouquets, for example.
Don't go chasing cheap celebrity hits from the search engines, however. The resulting visitors won't stay for more than a few seconds, before they click away to a more relevant site. Searchers want to find what they are looking for in the search engines. That won't include a stray mention of a famous person on your blog.
Now, since I have mentioned some celebrities in this post...
Maybe I can get some cheap clicks to this blog...
Nah!
Elvis has left the building on that entire idea.
I know you have thought about getting some of that action to your own blog. You've dreamed of some added free vistor traffic, all from an off topic celebrity mention. All those of you who are guilty, please raise your hands.
Aha! I thought so!
Okay, now we have that naughty little secret out in the open, we can discuss it freely. Everyone wants extra readers for their blog. It's often thought that mentioning famous people is the royal road to riches in the blog visitor traffic game.
I had an e-mail question on the subject on the weekend, as a matter of fact. The writer wanted to know how to get some quick and easy visits to his blog. He was hoping there were some magic words he could use to streak to the top of the search engines, and pick off some stray internet searchers. He even asked which celebrity searches were the hot topic on Google.
Well, let's consider the idea of fast visitor traffic.
Is there any value to cheaply acquired visits from the search engines like Google, MSN Search, Yahoo, AOL Search, Ask Jeeves, and others?
I don't think so.
First of all, visitors to your blog who are searching for Britney Spears photos, Paris Hilton video movies, or the latest news about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, are not likely to read your blog about knitting, health, or business.
Simply placing keywords in a blog post, suggesting naughty photos and stories, won't develop a blog's readership base. The search engines may list your blog post as a fresh article, and so might the blog searches, but the result is fleeting. At the same time, the visit might even work against you.
The visitor counter will register a new reader alright, but the click away in frustration, by a dissatisfied fan of Angelina Jolie, will be much faster. They will even be likely to remember your blog as not being informative at all. While unfair, that impression could be the unwanted result of such a visit.
There is no magic bullet to gaining blog traffic. No one said building a blog, and a regular readership was ever going to be easy. It takes hard work, and many, many interesting and informative web posts.
While it would be great to gain visitor traffic as a result of popular celebrity searches for Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp, or Jessica Simpson, it's not going to benefit your blog in the long run. Unless you are writing an entertainment or celebrity news blog, or those topics are components of your current blog, your cheap hits won't pay off very well.
That's if the search engines consider your blog relevant to the celebrity search topics at all.
The search engines might just register your blog high in the search rankings as a result of the famous names. Don't get too excited, however. The resulting visits to your blog don't usually translate into loyal readers.
Instead of looking for cheap search engine hits, on highly popular searches for famous names, concentrate on writing good quality posts instead. Link out to other related blogs that provide even more helpful information on your blog's subject matter. Theme relevance is very important to the search engines. If your blog is not relevant to Hollywood or the music industry, for example, it will gain little benefit there anyway.
Write great posts about your areas of real interest; and that includes your hobbies. With enough posts about your hobbies, your blog could become slightly themed in those areas too. It's especially powerful if you can relate the themes to one another. A gardening blog can become themed for weddings, by mentioning flowers and bouquets, for example.
Don't go chasing cheap celebrity hits from the search engines, however. The resulting visitors won't stay for more than a few seconds, before they click away to a more relevant site. Searchers want to find what they are looking for in the search engines. That won't include a stray mention of a famous person on your blog.
Now, since I have mentioned some celebrities in this post...
Maybe I can get some cheap clicks to this blog...
Nah!
Elvis has left the building on that entire idea.
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