The 150th edition of the longest running internet blog carnival, the well known Carnival of the Vanities, is up at the Japan based international politics and motorcycle blog known as Riding Sun.
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 sports.
I have an entry in this week's Carnival of the Vanities as well.
My entry is titled "Visitor logs: Goldmines for you" where I discuss the many ways that reading your visitor traffic reports can help you with posting ideas (among other things), and to gain more readers for 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 will be at the news, politics, music, and general interest blog known as Generic Confusion.
In the meantime, head on over to the Riding Sun hosting of Carnival of the Vanities and enjoy the posts on offer.
You will almost certainly be introduced to some great new blogs.
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
An SEO client adds blog component
A business blog component as part of every online business is one of my main SEO recommondations. Because of the search engine power of business blogs, it's a natural addition for every website.
One of my SEO clients, Green Mountain at Fox Run has now taken the business blogging plunge.
Their new healthy weight loss blog is called, appropriately enough A Weight Lifted, and it's already gaining some attention around the blogosphere. Their traffic is steadily increasing, and sending visitors over to the main women's weight loss spa website.
A Weight Lifted was developed on a TypePad blogging platform, and is a multiple contributor group blog. That multi-person approach to blogging is working well for them.
The three main authors are posting regularly, and they are contributing posts to a number of the internet Carnivals. As a result, the blog is gaining a wider reading audience. The blog has also been submitted to the various blog directories, and to some mainstream internet directories as well.
We have also made certain that the blog is available via the various RSS feed aggregators. Ease of feed subscription was a must, and RSS was addressed early in the blog development process.
The purpose of the blog, from a business blogging perspective, was to develop a conversation and informal relationship with the readership. Building a trusting relationship, through open and frank discussion of weight and health issues, was a very important consideration for the writers. They have maintained a firm committment to their principles and that is expected to continue.
The SEO consideration of the blog was a very distant secondary consideration behind the more important relationship building aspect of the blog. Conversation and interaction was the primary blogging goal.
Green Mountain at Fox Run already has strong search engine rankings, and rapidly exploding visitor traffic as a result. The blog was not required for that purpose.
Instead, the blog puts real people in the business.
No longer just a website, or a brochure, Green Mountain at Fox Run is now a women's weight loss spa staffed by friendly, knowledgeable, and professional people.
The blog is the key to personalization.
Drop by A Weight Lifted today, and let the writers know your thoughts on their blog.
One of my SEO clients, Green Mountain at Fox Run has now taken the business blogging plunge.
Their new healthy weight loss blog is called, appropriately enough A Weight Lifted, and it's already gaining some attention around the blogosphere. Their traffic is steadily increasing, and sending visitors over to the main women's weight loss spa website.
A Weight Lifted was developed on a TypePad blogging platform, and is a multiple contributor group blog. That multi-person approach to blogging is working well for them.
The three main authors are posting regularly, and they are contributing posts to a number of the internet Carnivals. As a result, the blog is gaining a wider reading audience. The blog has also been submitted to the various blog directories, and to some mainstream internet directories as well.
We have also made certain that the blog is available via the various RSS feed aggregators. Ease of feed subscription was a must, and RSS was addressed early in the blog development process.
The purpose of the blog, from a business blogging perspective, was to develop a conversation and informal relationship with the readership. Building a trusting relationship, through open and frank discussion of weight and health issues, was a very important consideration for the writers. They have maintained a firm committment to their principles and that is expected to continue.
The SEO consideration of the blog was a very distant secondary consideration behind the more important relationship building aspect of the blog. Conversation and interaction was the primary blogging goal.
Green Mountain at Fox Run already has strong search engine rankings, and rapidly exploding visitor traffic as a result. The blog was not required for that purpose.
Instead, the blog puts real people in the business.
No longer just a website, or a brochure, Green Mountain at Fox Run is now a women's weight loss spa staffed by friendly, knowledgeable, and professional people.
The blog is the key to personalization.
Drop by A Weight Lifted today, and let the writers know your thoughts on their blog.
Monday, August 1, 2005
Carnival of the Capitalists at Local Small Business Marketing
This week sees an economics approach to the travelling business show, recognized by one and all as Carnival of the Capitalists makes a visit at Michael Cage's business blog called Local Small Business Marketing.
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 Local Small Business Marketing, there are many discussions of business, markets, 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.
As I am always privileged to do, I have an entry in this week's Carnival of the Capitalists as well.
My entry post this week is titled "Crawling webs with search engine spiders" where I discuss the importance of inviting and making welcome the search engine spiders. They are very important visitors to your blog or website. Give them lots of yummy spider food in the form of content, and provide them ease of navigation around your web pages.
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 can't 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 will be at Joshua Sharf's business, politics, and investment blog known as View From A Height.
In the meantime, click that mouse over to the Local Small Business Marketing 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 you some local small business marketing ideas. (groan)
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Free teleseminar: Conversations with experts - Kim Dushinski
Conversations with Experts: How to Build Your Business On and Off-line
Hosted by Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff of Build a Better Blog System.
Marketing Your Book the Easy Way
Wednesday, August 3, 2005, 8:30 p.m. ET
Guest Expert, Kim Dushinski, How To Market My Book
195,000 books were published last year. (That is 534 every day!) The fact is that your book faces some serious competition in the marketplace. The good news is that you have tons of choices in how to market your book.
Choosing the right path for promoting your book will not only help you sell more books it will make your whole marketing experience that much easier. In this conversation we go over book marketing strategies and techniques and how to know if they will work for your book.
Registration for this free teleseminar with Kim Dushinski:
http://www.ConversationsWithExperts.com
Conversations with Experts is sponsored by Build a Better Blog System.
Link think: Basic blog SEO
Links come naturally to blogs.
The constantly updated fresh content, that is a hallmark of blogs, is a magnet for natural links. In particular, other bloggers will freely link to content that interests them or their readership.
It’s not unusual to get multiple links from a blog, to more than one page of your own blog. The process is widespread among blog owners, but is rarely considered by those outside the blogging community.
A blog writer adds a fresh daily entry, commonly referred to as a post, to the blog. That post will appear on the blog’s home page. A few bloggers who read the writer’s posts, on a regular basis, will link to the unique URL of the post. That URL is called a permalink. That provides the blog with one incoming link; but wait there’s more.
The linking blog will often add a link a to the blog’s home page as well, as a form of blogging etiquette. When the fresh post scrolls off the blog’s home page, the linked post will be linked from the sending blog, as will the home page.
In effect, a post can but not always, provide a blog with two incoming links. While the sending blog post will scroll off of its blog home page too, it is sending links to two receiving pages.
The links to posts are not the only value either. If that were the case, the blog linking power would be less than what happens in the real world. The linking blog is highly likely to be themed for the same topics as the receiving blog. That common theme relationship alone provides the much sought after relevant incoming links. All of the major search engines place high value, and give high search rankings to pages that are theme relevant.
As if that weren’t enough, there is still more benefit as well. The linking blogger very often provides strong keyword rich link anchor text within the blog post too. That is a powerful and often unexpected bonus, for the receiving blog.
The clickable link, laden with some of the receiving blog’s most important keywords as anchor text, and surrounded by theme relevant content, has sent many a blog page to the top of the search rankings. As obviously natural linking and unmanipulated anchor text, the search engine algorithm gives links from within blog posts heavy weighting.
Along with receiving links from other blogs, incoming links frequently arrive at the blog’s doorstep from traditional static websites. Those website links are usually very strongly theme relevant links, as it’s rare for a website owner to link to a blog that has little theme and topic relevance.
In effect, almost all incoming links from traditional websites linking to blog content, will be theme related. As such, the receiving blog gets strong link popularity value and maximum Google PageRank transfer from the sending web page.
There is even some evidence that linking out to other theme relevant blogs and websites helps to boost your blog in the search engine rankings. Don't fall for the often spoken concern of "leaking" value from your blog. Indeed, the opposite is true. A net benefit is gained from linking out to other blogs and websites.
This linking out concept was strongly implied in the Google patent application, and is part of the development of a highly ranking hub site. A hub site features numerous incoming and outgoing links, based on a particular theme, making that blog or website a very key source of information.
As you can see, it's time to think about links.
Add some links to your blog today.
The constantly updated fresh content, that is a hallmark of blogs, is a magnet for natural links. In particular, other bloggers will freely link to content that interests them or their readership.
It’s not unusual to get multiple links from a blog, to more than one page of your own blog. The process is widespread among blog owners, but is rarely considered by those outside the blogging community.
A blog writer adds a fresh daily entry, commonly referred to as a post, to the blog. That post will appear on the blog’s home page. A few bloggers who read the writer’s posts, on a regular basis, will link to the unique URL of the post. That URL is called a permalink. That provides the blog with one incoming link; but wait there’s more.
The linking blog will often add a link a to the blog’s home page as well, as a form of blogging etiquette. When the fresh post scrolls off the blog’s home page, the linked post will be linked from the sending blog, as will the home page.
In effect, a post can but not always, provide a blog with two incoming links. While the sending blog post will scroll off of its blog home page too, it is sending links to two receiving pages.
The links to posts are not the only value either. If that were the case, the blog linking power would be less than what happens in the real world. The linking blog is highly likely to be themed for the same topics as the receiving blog. That common theme relationship alone provides the much sought after relevant incoming links. All of the major search engines place high value, and give high search rankings to pages that are theme relevant.
As if that weren’t enough, there is still more benefit as well. The linking blogger very often provides strong keyword rich link anchor text within the blog post too. That is a powerful and often unexpected bonus, for the receiving blog.
The clickable link, laden with some of the receiving blog’s most important keywords as anchor text, and surrounded by theme relevant content, has sent many a blog page to the top of the search rankings. As obviously natural linking and unmanipulated anchor text, the search engine algorithm gives links from within blog posts heavy weighting.
Along with receiving links from other blogs, incoming links frequently arrive at the blog’s doorstep from traditional static websites. Those website links are usually very strongly theme relevant links, as it’s rare for a website owner to link to a blog that has little theme and topic relevance.
In effect, almost all incoming links from traditional websites linking to blog content, will be theme related. As such, the receiving blog gets strong link popularity value and maximum Google PageRank transfer from the sending web page.
There is even some evidence that linking out to other theme relevant blogs and websites helps to boost your blog in the search engine rankings. Don't fall for the often spoken concern of "leaking" value from your blog. Indeed, the opposite is true. A net benefit is gained from linking out to other blogs and websites.
This linking out concept was strongly implied in the Google patent application, and is part of the development of a highly ranking hub site. A hub site features numerous incoming and outgoing links, based on a particular theme, making that blog or website a very key source of information.
As you can see, it's time to think about links.
Add some links to your blog today.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Bloggers: Speakers as well as writers
Bloggers should add speaking engagements to their already growing repetoire of skills.
The obvious first step is for bloggers to add voiced audio posts to their blogs. Podcasting provides an important second step for bloggers' voices to be heard around the world.
Once the voice medium has been established, interviews on radio, television, and other blogging media will follow. It's becoming almost difficult for a blogger to actually remain silent!
Speakers are always in demand for many events. Bloggers are natural choices to give live presentations on their topics of experise. Who better to talk about your specialty than you, the blogger. After all, you write about all aspects of your subject matter on an almost daily basis. You know your topics as well as anyone.
As for speaking to business and non-profit organizations about blogging, you are already among the few real authorities in your own community. Think about it. In your own metropolitan area, you are likely one of only a literal handful of full time practicing bloggers. Who better to speak on the subject than you?
As a speaker, you will enhance your professional and business reputation in the community. You will interact with new and interesting people, who you otherwise would not be able to meet. The blogging, or any other topic you choose, would be your ticket into the door.
Contact local business and non-profit groups in your own community. You might become a noted speaker in your area of expertise. Offer to give a free presentation to the membership on your blogging topic; or even on blogging itself. Whatever you do, don't use the platform to give a blatant sales presentation. Provide information freely and generously to everyone in attendance.
This is no place for hucksterism, if you want to develop a solid reputation as a knowledgeable professional.
Let the business arrive later, as a result of your newfound reputation, as an expert in your field and industry.
I am always available to speak to groups on various business and blogging topics. So are many other noted bloggers. You should be available to speak on your favourite subjects as well.
Make yourself available as a speaker.
Start talking today.
The obvious first step is for bloggers to add voiced audio posts to their blogs. Podcasting provides an important second step for bloggers' voices to be heard around the world.
Once the voice medium has been established, interviews on radio, television, and other blogging media will follow. It's becoming almost difficult for a blogger to actually remain silent!
Speakers are always in demand for many events. Bloggers are natural choices to give live presentations on their topics of experise. Who better to talk about your specialty than you, the blogger. After all, you write about all aspects of your subject matter on an almost daily basis. You know your topics as well as anyone.
As for speaking to business and non-profit organizations about blogging, you are already among the few real authorities in your own community. Think about it. In your own metropolitan area, you are likely one of only a literal handful of full time practicing bloggers. Who better to speak on the subject than you?
As a speaker, you will enhance your professional and business reputation in the community. You will interact with new and interesting people, who you otherwise would not be able to meet. The blogging, or any other topic you choose, would be your ticket into the door.
Contact local business and non-profit groups in your own community. You might become a noted speaker in your area of expertise. Offer to give a free presentation to the membership on your blogging topic; or even on blogging itself. Whatever you do, don't use the platform to give a blatant sales presentation. Provide information freely and generously to everyone in attendance.
This is no place for hucksterism, if you want to develop a solid reputation as a knowledgeable professional.
Let the business arrive later, as a result of your newfound reputation, as an expert in your field and industry.
I am always available to speak to groups on various business and blogging topics. So are many other noted bloggers. You should be available to speak on your favourite subjects as well.
Make yourself available as a speaker.
Start talking today.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
BlogHer Conference 2005 begins Saturday
The BlogHer Conference 2005 begins this Saturday, July 30 in Santa Clara, California, USA.
The headquarters for this groundbreaking conference, featuring some of the very best of women bloggers, is TechMart in Santa, Clara, CA.
The mission of the Conference is as follows:
This flagship event is open to all bloggers-including men and beginners-interested in enhancing their online exposure, learning the latest best practices in blogging, networking with other bloggers, and specifically cultivating the female blogging community.
The 2005 BlogHer Conference team:
Along with that high energy, high powered team of women bloggers, is an entire lineup of some powerful women bloggers as speakers and discussion leaders.
It's not all about women blogging either. Men are welcome and everyone, regardless of gender, can learn from the some of the best bloggers on the internet.
A quick glance at the Conference Schedule will give you some idea of the great bloggers and their topics.
With the talented lineup of speakers and panelists, BlogHer Conference 2005 is certain to be a huge success.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Carnival of the Vanities at Pratie Place
The 149th edition of the longest running internet blog carnival, the well known Carnival of the Vanities, is up at the eclectic and very musical Pratie Place.
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 sports.
I have an entry in this week's Carnival of the Vanities as well.
My entry is called "Trading spaces: Bartering for business" where I discuss how the age old sytem of barter can help conserve your company cash flow, while adding potential paying customers to your business.
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 will be at the Japan based international politics and motorcycle blog known as Riding Sun.
In the meantime, head on over to the Pratie Place hosting of Carnival of the Vanities and enjoy the posts on offer.
You will almost certainly be introduced to some great new blogs.
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 sports.
I have an entry in this week's Carnival of the Vanities as well.
My entry is called "Trading spaces: Bartering for business" where I discuss how the age old sytem of barter can help conserve your company cash flow, while adding potential paying customers to your business.
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 will be at the Japan based international politics and motorcycle blog known as Riding Sun.
In the meantime, head on over to the Pratie Place hosting of Carnival of the Vanities and enjoy the posts on offer.
You will almost certainly be introduced to some great new blogs.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Blog FAQs: When non-bloggers ask why
What are blogs anyway?
A blog is a regularly updated website consisting of regular article postings. Links to and from other blogs and traditional websites are a prominent feature of most blogs. A blog tends to be focussed on a single topic or issue, and usually invites comments from readers on the posted articles, starting a conversation between writer (called a blogger) and the readers. A blog usually reflects the personality of the writer, and is most often written in a personal and informal style.
Isn’t a blog just an online diary?
An online diary, or personal blog is only one type of blog. Along with personal blogs, there are many types of business, technology, and professional blogs. The personal blog was once the predominate form of blog, but that is definitely no longer the case.
Are there different types of blogs?
Blogs can be in the form of written blogs, hosted on a blog server or on the webmaster’s own site. Blogs can also be found that use audio postings rather than written posts. There are blogs for every type of business, profession, and technological concept. Writers, lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, search engine optimization experts, marketers, and public relations professionals are just a few of the professions making use of blogs in their businesses.
What value does a blog have for a business?
A blog opens up the lines of communication between the blog writer and the reader. By becoming accessible to the public, a business can be seen as more than simply a faceless company, but a group of real people. The blog provides a powerful element of personal contact with the reader, building trust and confidence in the business and its personnel.
What type of businesses could benefit from a blog?
Any type of business that requires communication with potential readers in the general public can benefit from maintaining a blog. The public can be current and potential customers and clients, the news media, other business or professionals in the industry, or simply casual readers interested in the topic.
What business uses does a blog have?
A blog is ideal for opening the lines of communication between the business and the current and future customers. Communications builds trust that goes far in the areas of marketing and public relations. The blog puts a human face on the company and builds the level of trust. People are far more likely to purchase products and services from other people who they know and trust. A blog is also a very powerful tool for improving search engine rankings because of the keyword rich fresh content and the abundant incoming links.
Are blogs a useful networking tool?
Because of the intensive personalization involved with writing blog posts, the blog is a natural networking vehicle. Readers interact with the writer through the blog comments and by e-mail. The contacts often lead eventually to many shared business opportunities. Successful business arrangements formed between two blog owners, and between a blogger and a reader, occur very frequently.
How could I start a blog?
A blog can be started readily by opening an account with the many free and fee based blogging platforms. Most are very user friendly and a blog can be underway in a matter of minutes. Most blog hosts allow the business to FTP the posts to the company’s own website, providing additional onsite keyword laden content.
Can I start a blog for free?
There are a number of free blog hosting companies. The best known free blogging platform is Google owned Blogger. There are many other free hosts as well, including tblog and blog-city, to name just a few of many currently available free blog hosts. As with all free hosts, there are limitations on services and features, so careful examination of how the blog hosting service suits your needs is recommended.
Can I host a blog on my own website instead of the blog host?
It is very popular for businesses to host the blog on their own business website. Most blog tools feature an FTP that enables the file transfer of the blog posts directly to the main business website. The post is entered at the blog host, and then printed on the business website. The additional content and inbound links provided by the blog, along with the additional traffic generated to the business site, are the main reasons for the file transfer to the main site.
What do I write on the blog?
A business blog can include articles about industry and company news, new products and services, research and development efforts, business tips, and product reviews. Ideas for selecting and using the industry’s products and services are also good topic idea generators.
What value are blog comments?
The comments section of the blog post is very important. By providing feedback from the blog’s readers, the blogger can build a conversation with the customer base. The readers’ comments are also an excellent source of product and marketing ideas and mini surveys. The comments section of many business blogs is often the most widely read part of the blog. The opinions of the readers can help steer a company away from some bad marketing ideas, and often toward some very good ones. The comments section starts that business and customer interaction in a very positive way.
What is an RSS feed?
RSS stands for either Rich Site Syndication or Really Simple Syndication (no one agrees on the definition). RSS provides an instant update of the latest blog posts. To send an RSS feed, blog must use and be coded for broadcasting an RSS feed. It is very easy to set up an RSS feed and so coding is not really a major concern for most website owners. The RSS feed is read from an RSS aggregator which collects the feeds in the subscription. They are read by the subscriber in a manner similar to reading e-mail.
Should a blog have an RSS feed?
A blog should definitely include an RSS feed. The feed increases the blog’s readership to include many subscribers who would not otherwise visit the blog. The ease of reading an RSS feed increases the likelihood of the blog enhancing the site’s sales, marketing, and public relations efforts. The RSS gets the message out in a timely way to the general public, including the media, and prospective customers.
Do blogs have value in the search engines?
A blog component to a website is a powerful search engine optimization technique. The combination of fresh theme relevant content and incoming links is just what the search engine algorithms ordered. The strong Google PageRanks displayed by blogs, combined with frequent blog updates, ensure that a blog is crawled and reindexed often by the search engine spiders.
Why do blogs perform so well in the search engines?
Blogs perform well in the search engines for several reasons. First of all, blogs are updated regularly with fresh keyword rich posts. The posts tend to be centered around just a few major themes, making the entire blog strongly themed for those keyword phrases. Incoming links from the vast majority of other blogs and websites share that same theme, providing the blog with the full power of their link popularity boost and Google PageRank transfer. Links from within the posts on other blogs are not only powerfully theme related, but often contain some desirable keyword laden link anchor text.
Are blogs posts classified as theme relevant content?
A blog post is usually very theme relevant as most blogs are written around very few topics. A blog tends to be very focussed in its subject matter. For that reason, blogs have high keyword density for their most important keyword phrases. Not only are the blog posts theme relevant but most incoming and outgoing links and link anchor text are theme relevant as well. Even though blog posts scroll off the blog’s home page very quickly, they are replaced by other theme relevant posts, maintaining the blog’s overall themes and topics.
Can a blog be optimized for the search engines beyond links and content?
Blog title tags can be optimized to contain the most important keywords. The h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, and h6 tags are part of most blog templates offered by the many blog hosting companies. Search engine sensitive code can also be used to ensure ease of spider crawling in the same way as with traditional websites.
Are there different types of blog links?
There are main types of links found on blogs. There are the links to other blogs on the link list, referred to as a blogroll. Secondly, there are links to other blogs from within the blog posts themselves. Thirdly, there are internal links from one referenced blog post to another, either from within a blog post or as categorized and archived links. Fourthly, there are links from blog comments.
Are blog links downgraded by search engines like guest book links?
Because there are many types of blog links, there is often confusion about their treatment by the various search engines; most notably by Google. The links from the blogroll and from within the posts are treated like any other inbound, outbound, and internal website links. They are awarded Google PageRank transfer and link popularity value in accordance with the search engine algorithm. The links that are being downgraded are links sent out from blog comments, as a result of spamming activity by other webmasters. Normal blog links are not affected.
Can a blog be listed in any free internet directories?
There are many free internet directories that are open only to blogs. Not only do the blog directories provide link popularity value, and Google PageRank transfer, but they are known to also supply some regular fresh visitor traffic. Blogs are also eligible for inclusion in the many free internet directories designed for traditional websites. Because a blog is simply another type of website, blogs are deemed acceptable for submission and inclusion in the mainstream internet directories.
Do the DMOZ and Yahoo! Directories accept blogs?
As with any other type of website, blogs are eligible for inclusion in both the Open Directory Project (DMOZ) and the Yahoo! Directory. The DMOZ Directory has recently created a blog specific category to accommodate the many blogs submitted, while also including many blogs in the standard website categories should their subject matter be suitable.
A blog is a regularly updated website consisting of regular article postings. Links to and from other blogs and traditional websites are a prominent feature of most blogs. A blog tends to be focussed on a single topic or issue, and usually invites comments from readers on the posted articles, starting a conversation between writer (called a blogger) and the readers. A blog usually reflects the personality of the writer, and is most often written in a personal and informal style.
Isn’t a blog just an online diary?
An online diary, or personal blog is only one type of blog. Along with personal blogs, there are many types of business, technology, and professional blogs. The personal blog was once the predominate form of blog, but that is definitely no longer the case.
Are there different types of blogs?
Blogs can be in the form of written blogs, hosted on a blog server or on the webmaster’s own site. Blogs can also be found that use audio postings rather than written posts. There are blogs for every type of business, profession, and technological concept. Writers, lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, search engine optimization experts, marketers, and public relations professionals are just a few of the professions making use of blogs in their businesses.
What value does a blog have for a business?
A blog opens up the lines of communication between the blog writer and the reader. By becoming accessible to the public, a business can be seen as more than simply a faceless company, but a group of real people. The blog provides a powerful element of personal contact with the reader, building trust and confidence in the business and its personnel.
What type of businesses could benefit from a blog?
Any type of business that requires communication with potential readers in the general public can benefit from maintaining a blog. The public can be current and potential customers and clients, the news media, other business or professionals in the industry, or simply casual readers interested in the topic.
What business uses does a blog have?
A blog is ideal for opening the lines of communication between the business and the current and future customers. Communications builds trust that goes far in the areas of marketing and public relations. The blog puts a human face on the company and builds the level of trust. People are far more likely to purchase products and services from other people who they know and trust. A blog is also a very powerful tool for improving search engine rankings because of the keyword rich fresh content and the abundant incoming links.
Are blogs a useful networking tool?
Because of the intensive personalization involved with writing blog posts, the blog is a natural networking vehicle. Readers interact with the writer through the blog comments and by e-mail. The contacts often lead eventually to many shared business opportunities. Successful business arrangements formed between two blog owners, and between a blogger and a reader, occur very frequently.
How could I start a blog?
A blog can be started readily by opening an account with the many free and fee based blogging platforms. Most are very user friendly and a blog can be underway in a matter of minutes. Most blog hosts allow the business to FTP the posts to the company’s own website, providing additional onsite keyword laden content.
Can I start a blog for free?
There are a number of free blog hosting companies. The best known free blogging platform is Google owned Blogger. There are many other free hosts as well, including tblog and blog-city, to name just a few of many currently available free blog hosts. As with all free hosts, there are limitations on services and features, so careful examination of how the blog hosting service suits your needs is recommended.
Can I host a blog on my own website instead of the blog host?
It is very popular for businesses to host the blog on their own business website. Most blog tools feature an FTP that enables the file transfer of the blog posts directly to the main business website. The post is entered at the blog host, and then printed on the business website. The additional content and inbound links provided by the blog, along with the additional traffic generated to the business site, are the main reasons for the file transfer to the main site.
What do I write on the blog?
A business blog can include articles about industry and company news, new products and services, research and development efforts, business tips, and product reviews. Ideas for selecting and using the industry’s products and services are also good topic idea generators.
What value are blog comments?
The comments section of the blog post is very important. By providing feedback from the blog’s readers, the blogger can build a conversation with the customer base. The readers’ comments are also an excellent source of product and marketing ideas and mini surveys. The comments section of many business blogs is often the most widely read part of the blog. The opinions of the readers can help steer a company away from some bad marketing ideas, and often toward some very good ones. The comments section starts that business and customer interaction in a very positive way.
What is an RSS feed?
RSS stands for either Rich Site Syndication or Really Simple Syndication (no one agrees on the definition). RSS provides an instant update of the latest blog posts. To send an RSS feed, blog must use and be coded for broadcasting an RSS feed. It is very easy to set up an RSS feed and so coding is not really a major concern for most website owners. The RSS feed is read from an RSS aggregator which collects the feeds in the subscription. They are read by the subscriber in a manner similar to reading e-mail.
Should a blog have an RSS feed?
A blog should definitely include an RSS feed. The feed increases the blog’s readership to include many subscribers who would not otherwise visit the blog. The ease of reading an RSS feed increases the likelihood of the blog enhancing the site’s sales, marketing, and public relations efforts. The RSS gets the message out in a timely way to the general public, including the media, and prospective customers.
Do blogs have value in the search engines?
A blog component to a website is a powerful search engine optimization technique. The combination of fresh theme relevant content and incoming links is just what the search engine algorithms ordered. The strong Google PageRanks displayed by blogs, combined with frequent blog updates, ensure that a blog is crawled and reindexed often by the search engine spiders.
Why do blogs perform so well in the search engines?
Blogs perform well in the search engines for several reasons. First of all, blogs are updated regularly with fresh keyword rich posts. The posts tend to be centered around just a few major themes, making the entire blog strongly themed for those keyword phrases. Incoming links from the vast majority of other blogs and websites share that same theme, providing the blog with the full power of their link popularity boost and Google PageRank transfer. Links from within the posts on other blogs are not only powerfully theme related, but often contain some desirable keyword laden link anchor text.
Are blogs posts classified as theme relevant content?
A blog post is usually very theme relevant as most blogs are written around very few topics. A blog tends to be very focussed in its subject matter. For that reason, blogs have high keyword density for their most important keyword phrases. Not only are the blog posts theme relevant but most incoming and outgoing links and link anchor text are theme relevant as well. Even though blog posts scroll off the blog’s home page very quickly, they are replaced by other theme relevant posts, maintaining the blog’s overall themes and topics.
Can a blog be optimized for the search engines beyond links and content?
Blog title tags can be optimized to contain the most important keywords. The h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, and h6 tags are part of most blog templates offered by the many blog hosting companies. Search engine sensitive code can also be used to ensure ease of spider crawling in the same way as with traditional websites.
Are there different types of blog links?
There are main types of links found on blogs. There are the links to other blogs on the link list, referred to as a blogroll. Secondly, there are links to other blogs from within the blog posts themselves. Thirdly, there are internal links from one referenced blog post to another, either from within a blog post or as categorized and archived links. Fourthly, there are links from blog comments.
Are blog links downgraded by search engines like guest book links?
Because there are many types of blog links, there is often confusion about their treatment by the various search engines; most notably by Google. The links from the blogroll and from within the posts are treated like any other inbound, outbound, and internal website links. They are awarded Google PageRank transfer and link popularity value in accordance with the search engine algorithm. The links that are being downgraded are links sent out from blog comments, as a result of spamming activity by other webmasters. Normal blog links are not affected.
Can a blog be listed in any free internet directories?
There are many free internet directories that are open only to blogs. Not only do the blog directories provide link popularity value, and Google PageRank transfer, but they are known to also supply some regular fresh visitor traffic. Blogs are also eligible for inclusion in the many free internet directories designed for traditional websites. Because a blog is simply another type of website, blogs are deemed acceptable for submission and inclusion in the mainstream internet directories.
Do the DMOZ and Yahoo! Directories accept blogs?
As with any other type of website, blogs are eligible for inclusion in both the Open Directory Project (DMOZ) and the Yahoo! Directory. The DMOZ Directory has recently created a blog specific category to accommodate the many blogs submitted, while also including many blogs in the standard website categories should their subject matter be suitable.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Carnival of the Capitalists at Political Calculations
This week sees an economics approach to the travelling business show, recognized by one and all as Carnival of the Capitalists makes a visit to Ironman's business, economics, and financial blog called Political Calculations.
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 Political Calculations, there are many discussions of business, markets, 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.
As I am always privileged to do, I have an entry in this week's Carnival of the Capitalists as well.
My entry post this week is titled "Money saving: Office furniture and equipment" where I discuss keeping your business overhead to a minimum by purchasing used office furniture and equipment.
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 can't 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 will be at Michael Cage's business blog called Local Small Business Marketing.
In the meantime, click that mouse over to the Political Calculations 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 you some calculations. (groan)
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