Frederick Townes in the owner of W3-EDGE. W3-EDGE is a Boston-based web design company specializing in W3C compliant and search engine friendly web design. Whether your needs fall into the Web 2.0 category or if you just need an attractive design that will convert your visitors into buyer, we have the solution for you. If you haven't
read Get Your Blog
Google-Ranked in 30 Days Or Less, Part 1, you aren't going to want to miss
it. But, here are even more useful suggestions to put your blog on steroids
without any blog-roid rage. Please read on.
25. Focus on ranking for
three key words or phrases to start. The keywords you select should appear
in your HTML title tags and within the site's content when appropriate. However,
watch keyword density levels. Anything above 5% starts to sound like gibberish.
2% to 3% keyword density provides more creative latitude for the content
developer, and still lets bots know what the site is about.
24.
Only purchase ad links on relevant niche sites. This, by default, limits
competitive links and delivers more qualified (knowledgeable and
ready-to-purchase) visitors to your site.
23. Participate in your
link community. Forum and blog links are ephemeral, lasting a day or two as
web fodder, so there's always the need for more green. Interact by posting to
not only drive traffic with the link, but to also pick up another link from a
credible site. All good.
22. Publish new content on weekdays.
Even search engines need a break. Actually, more people are online Monday
through Friday so your latest blog post is still the latest when posted on
Monday rather than Sunday. A little thing, for sure, but little things mean a
lot online.
21. Write content for various experience levels. For
many spaces DIYs are the largest sector. Some readers are just starting out.
Others have been at it for years and probably know more than you do, so post
blogs to appeal to a broad range of skill sets – from green rookie to wizened
old vet.
20. Cite the sources of your content. This adds
credibility to your posts. It also provides a trail for a reader interested in
learning more about the topic at hand.
19. Focus on contextual
relevancy before quantity of links. Connectivity within a market or topic
segment has more value than SEO anchor text, at least in the short
term.
18. Poll your readers. Everybody's got an opinion. Provide a
platform to let posters and readers vote on a topic related to your site. It
doesn't do any good if you run a retail outlet and poll visitors on who they'd
like to see in the White House. Stay on topic.
17. Create
surveys. Surveys are more in depth than a poll. One survey you might want to
try is one in which buyers rate the services and products you sell. Great
marketing information. Consider placing a satisfaction survey somewhere on your
site.
16. Write about popular brands or celebrities where
possible. It doesn't matter if you're blogging short sales in the market or
clothing for the over-sized human, celebrity and name brands get picked up by
spiders.
15. Find free stuff to give away. Free still works on the
web. There's lots of open source software (OSS), mortgäge calculators, real-time
stock feeds and other digital goodies that visitors can download free. Free is
nice.
14. Answer questions on Google groups and Yahoo Answers.
People write in with all sorts of questions, some sure to fall within your area
of expertise. By signing on as an authority in a field (your arena) you build
credibility. Plus, it's fun helping others from the comfort of your own work
station.
13. Add imagery and video content to your posts. A
picture is worth a thousand web words. Charts and graphs simplify complex
information and don't take up a lot of room. If you aren't an artist, create a
relationship with a freelancer. Don't use clip art.
12. Use QA
sessions in your blog. You're the expert. Also, invite guest bloggers to
handle questions beyond your skill set. Helpful, simple advice keeps visitors
coming back and makes you a guru.
11. Syndicate content outside of
your blog. Every site owner needs content. Fortunately, there's plenty of it
free for the taking. Sites like www.helium.com, www.ezine.com and www.goarticles.com are content
supermarkets. Post your piece and pick up non-reciprocal, in-bound links for
your effort. Content syndication increases link popularity.
10. Direct
(future) page rank efforts to well-optimized content on your home site.
Don't direct visitors and bots to the garbage bin of out-dated content stored in
the site's archives. Point them to the new news.
9. Update or create a
Wikipedia page and link to your site. Another means of establishing yourself
as an authority. Just make sure the Wiki piece is accurate, well written and
typo-free.
8. Submit industry or topical news to general news
sites. Not just industry related sites. If a small oil and gas company
brings in a gusher, it's of broader interest than to just industry insiders.
Also adds credibility and another link.
7. Deep links or links to
sub-pages are vital. There's a tendency to link from a remote site to your
home page. Not necessarily the best strategy. Consider linking to pages deeper
in the site – pages related directly to your blog post. This way, visitors are
in your site and less likely to bounce.
6. Respond to comments in your
blog. This accomplishes three important objectives: (1) it shows that
there's a human behind the blog; (2) it gives you a chance to show your
expertise; and (3) you can lead the thread in a new direction or keep the
discussion going. Oh, it's also the polite thing to do, as well.
5.
Cross link your posts. Link amongst your related blog posts using the
keywords you're optimizing your blog for as the anchor text.
4. Get
linked alongside related blogs on other sites. You can contact the blog
administrator to swap links, you can become a regular guest blogger if your
writing is good enough or your knowledge extensive. Niche sites are great for
building blog links networks.
3. Bait your blog. Post
unconventional and controversial articles to create lengthy threads that, in
turn, create site stickiness.
2. Be consistent into month two.
Keep the tone, style and topicality of your blog consistent for the first two
months until spiders get it. Then, you can branch out to peripheral topics to
expand reader interest.
1. Network offline. Helpful networking
tools include www.linkedin.com, www.meetup.com and www.mybloglog.com. These sites provide real
world contacts to simplify and streamline the process of networking. They're
also useful in building beneficial online relationships - not to be overlooked.
Also reach out using conferences that are available in your area and
abroad.
The keys to building a successful, well-tended blog run the gamut
from good content to good contacts, and from credibility to controversy. There
are lots of ways to expand your blog community and develop quality rankings at
the same time.
Once you've got all of this down your next steps are to
begin monetizing your site.
So, blog.