Indifference to Success; The Key to Successful Blogging

When it comes to blogging, successes both big and small are bound to be realized. Whether it is topping the Search Engine Results Pages(Serps) for a keyword you have been working on  or making your first dollar online, you are bound to see some success in your blogging soon or later.

How you handle the small successes determines whether you are ready for the big. Just becaues you got your first adsense payment doesn't mean you need to stop working on your blog. Unless you are sort of average (of which most of us are) you need to think about scaling higher height in your desire to be a better blogger.

If you are thinking of blogging as a career, earning a full time income working from home, then you need to think about working on the security of your income. Having to depend on Google as I wrote in another post can be a catastrophe-in-waiting. Think of what could happen if Google removed you from their search results.

If you have succeeded in your Search Engine Optimization, it would be a good idea to look at other marketing strategies that can work for you. Of late there has been intense debate on whether social media is taking over. Although this is still debatable, you can't ignore the social networking sites. They provide a steady source of traffic as well as a media for communicating to your readers. They also help in building a community for your blog.

Your blog might also have succeeded in gaining lots of visitors everyday and even some loyal readers.  While this is a big success in itself, you can do better for yourself if you think of ways of getting this people join your mailing list. Like you already know 'the money is in the list'.

Most bloggers get satisfied with the little pennies they get from their blogs. If you get enough to pay your hosting charges, then you think it is enough. For some yes, for others it may be not. If you are blogging as a hobby, a few dollars a month is OK, if to you you are in it to make money blogging, you just have to work harder.

Some wise guy once put it 'the world is filled with so many average people that you only need to add one percent more effort than the next guy to standout.' Just a little effort everyday. That is what you need to do, keep on working your way up the ladder till you reach the top.

Why You Should Never Rely on Google for All Your Traffic

Google is a great search engine. In fact it is the market leader. It has been doing a lot to give its customers better results each and every day. The other search engines have been making inroads of late, like the partnership of Yahoo and Bing. However, such is yet to bear fruit. We can therefore say that there are only two search engines that really matter; Google and Google.

In their trying to keep their customers satisfied, sites especially new ones get affected. You have to know that Google are not thinking of your site, they are thinking about what is good for business.

Take the sandbox for example. New sites that are overzealous about getting better rankings are send to the sandbox almost immediately. Though not a punishment or penalty, it is kind of a probation. Your site will get very poor rankings for keywords you have been trying to target. It may take up to a year to get out of the sandbox.

Google also has a myriad of 'things a webmaster shouldn't do' and which you are supposed to follow to the letter.

It would therefore seem foolish to have to depend on Google for all your traffic. You could wake up one morning to a big disappointment. There are other many ways you can use to to get guaranteed long term constant traffic sources.

Article Marketing for one delivers very good results. I have been using it to promote my sites and the results are nothing short of marvelous. In a short time you can have thousands of links pointing to your site. This means guaranteed traffic.

Video marketing also works just as fine. 'How to' videos or tutorials work best. People just love things that make their lives easier or for that matter blogging. So upload those videos on Youtube and you will see the results.

E books can also generate massive traffic without much effort. Just write good e books and give them free from your blog. They have the ability to go viral just like videos. Since they have links pointing back to your site, they will keep readers coming and coming.

Search engine optimization is surely something every serious blogger takes into account. But you shouldn't focus entirely on it. Think of other ways you can get traffic to your site. Building a blog that depends on Google may not be the best idea ever.

10 Things That Will Make Your Blog Successful and Popular

Making your blog successful, popular and authoritative can be hard work. Blogging was never easy. Just like your day job it requires effort to see results. With so many blogs out there all competing for recognition, you need to work extra hard to make your blog grow to an authority in its field.

Here are things you could do to achieve this within the least time possible.

1. Write Quality Content

Content, content, content. It will forever remain the most important thing in your blogging. You need to write 'killer articles' that keep your readers coming for more. You need to have link baits that will ensure you get lots of backlinks for better search engine rankings. Building authority for your site comes from offering content that your readers can believe in. Content that adds value to their life, or blogging for that matter

2. Market Your Blog

You can write great content but if nobody knows of the existence of your blog all this will be a waste of time. I have been using article marketing to promote this blog as it is very simple and delivers results. Other forms of marketing include social media marketing, search engine marketing and offline promotion of your blog. Make sure you have real visitors coming to your blog, they can easily market the blog for you.

3. Comment on Other Blogs, Reply to Comments on Your Blog

Every blog needs comments. Unless you are starting out and you have closed commenting because you are not getting visitors, you need something to show your visitors that your blog is popular. Humans always want to be associated with success. If your blog looks successful, you are more likely to get loyal readers.

Commenting on other blogs can help you get comments on your blog. I have discovered that whenever I comment on other blogs, the blog owner most of the time comes and leaves a comment on my blog. This only happens if you have left useful comments.

Replying to comments shows that you value your readers and their contribution to your blog. Always make it a habit of replying to all useful comments. 

4. Interact With Other Bloggers

Interact with other bloggers in your niche and share your blog and expertise with them. You can do this by actively commenting on their blogs. You can also connect with them via social networking sites like twitter and facebook. Fellow bloggers are more likely to link to your blog. They could even list you in their blogroll. Think of what this means to your blog.

5. Focus on Your Readers, Love Them to Death

It doesn't matter if you have ten loyal readers or a thousand; appreciate the value they add to your blog. They are more valuable than a million out there that don't know of the existence of your blog. Always answer their questions and reply to their comments. These are the people who are more likely to tweet your posts or share them on Facebook. They can be very instrumental in promoting your blog.

6. Give Away Freebies. 

People always love them. I am working on a e book that will be available for free very soon. E books can be a great way to promote your blog. Imagine if you give away a free e book to your readers and they share it all over. Just like videos e books can very easily go viral. Since they have links pointing to your blog they can generate lots of free visitors.

7. Subscribers

Make it very easy for people to subscribe to your blog. Either through rss feed or through e mail you need them if your blog is to succeed. Feedburner offer a great service that can help you build a great subscriber base.

8. Be an Expert

Make sure you look big until you are big enough. Show confidence in your writing and never be shy of offering your opinion on controversial topics. Your readers will love you for it. Most people just want to follow and if you give them a reason to, they will follow you.

9. Avoid Showing Your Readers Your Weaknesses. 

If you have failed to post in your blog for sometime you don't have to remind your readers. Chances are that they didn't notice. Telling them will only make you look lazy and not focused on your blogging. Instead show your strengths and maximize on them to build a better blog.

10. Don't Give Up That Easily

Blogging takes time to produce results. Patience and persistence is what is responsible for the success of the many bloggers you admire and envy. Work hard on your blog and you will love the results.

Using Your Blog to Make Money

Most of us think that the only way to make money out of a blog is to monetize it. Well that is the easiest way to make money blogging but it doesn't mean it is the only way to make money out of a blog. In fact there are lots of their blogger who just use their blog as a bridge to their real income generating activities.

Many people freelance at freelancer.com or elsewhere. The most common job is obviously writing. If you get a writing job you will have to prove that you can write. For the times I have done freelancing I have always hated having to submit a sample copy. Now if you have a really nice blog you don't have to do that. You can have your prospective employer check out sample copies of your work from your blog.

If you have an online store you need to have some means of referring people to it. What else could be better than a blog? It is easy to update, ranks well easily with the search engines and your customers can give their views through the comment section. Using your blog to push up sales can be very effective. There is however one very important rule when it comes to using this method, do not monetize your site. It makes you look cheap and this can work against your credibility.

Most experts today are offering consultation through their blogs. Readers are free to ask questions which can be answered through blog posts. Now this will build your profile and give you an opportunity to showcase your expertise. You will be able to gain more customers this way.

Several A-class bloggers today are offering coaching on how to become better bloggers. From Problogger to Yaro Staraks . You can create programs where you teach other people about something you are good at (doesn't have to be necessarily blogging). You then use your blog for enrollment.

So you see, you don't have to make money out of your blog to make money blogging. You can use your site just as a tool that makes generating an income easier.

Selling Your Products on Your Blog

Many people tend to think that the only way to monetize your blog is to add some adverts. True, it is the most popular way, but not all people do that. Some have discovered that you can make more income out of your site without Ad sense.

Selling your own products is a welcome alternative if you don't want ads in your site. Take e books for example. If you have knowledge about some topic why not write good e books and sell them. Actually you are more likely to make money selling products than ads if you are low on targeted traffic.

If you are a software developer, you can still find your blog a very important tool in pushing your product sales through the roof. You are focusing on marketing your products instead of getting bad reviews out there. You also get the chance to correct your critics. Many people are developing software that make things like Search Engine Optimization(SEO), content writing, social media promotion etc. a walk in the park.

Blogger templates and  Wordpress themes, plug-ins etc are also very profitable. The best strategy for selling these is giving some free and then selling the premium ones for a fee.

If you have some digital products you can also sell them on your blog. Make sure you provide enough information so that people can easily choose products that suit them. Offer discounts and coupons to encourage people to buy more.

Setting up your online shopping cart is very easy these day and if you have signed up with payment processors like PayPal you can have one in minutes. Avoid having to ask for lots of information when collecting payments. People generally hate filling forms and may give up mid way.

Lastly if you want to make some good money from your product sales you need to optimize your site for the search engines. Most people looking to buy something will use the search engines to find it.

How to Get Content for Your Blog

Blogging is fun and exciting. Looking at your blog grow can be one of the most satisfying things in your life. Posting every other day is also great especially with the knowledge that you are helping somebody somewhere. A point comes however, when you run out of ideas and you can't find something to write.

An inexperienced blogger would reduce the posting frequency, but you shouldn't let that be you. In fact that will be one of the mistakes you could make as a blogger. New blog content is very important. You can't just reduce your blog content and expect you are going very far.

For one having fresh content for you is great if you have been optimizing your site for the search engines. The likes of Google like blogs that are constantly updated with quality content. In fact if the Google bot constantly finds fresh content in your blog, it will increase the frequency of indexing your site.

Subscribers are also very important for the growth of a blog. It is not all the time you will have to depend on the search engines for traffic. You can get traffic from you feed subscribers. If you keep on posting, you will have something new to send them lets say every week. 

So we agree that content is very important for your blog. One question still remains, if I have run out of steam and can't get ideas for my blog posts what do I do?

For one you will have to find things that inspire you to come up with new content. It could be either reading other blogs, interacting with other bloggers, observing things in life or even research. Find things you do that give you a clue on what to write.

You can also join social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon so you know what is trending. You can find excellent articles that can give you an idea on what is in.

If you however you feel like you can't write maybe you could get assistance from outside. Take guest posting for example. You could allow people to post articles in your blog in exchange of exposure. This also gives your readers something different from a different writer.

You can hire people to write content for you. Get a really good writer who will charge you around $5 for a really good article. If you visit Freelancer.com you are bound to get enough people ready to sell their writing expertise.

If you don't have money to spend, then you don't have to worry. You can still get free content for your blog. The reason why most of us do Article Marketing, is the fact that such articles can be given free for republishing. So long as you are going to keep the content and links in the post or resource box intact, you can get articles from article submission sites. The publisher is happy since he gets backlinks and traffic to his site when his articles are published elsewhere and you are also happy that you got free content for your blog. It is a win-win situation.

I don't think you have a reason not to update your blog. Getting blog content is very easy and there is no reason your site should remain stale with old content.

When to monetize your site

I have heard this debate for a very long time. Exactly when is the right time to monetize your site. Some people say that you should have ads on your blog right from the start while others will advise you to wait at least for some time until you are getting some targeted traffic.

If that is so then why do I see new sites littered with ads all over? If it has no monetary benefits why do it? Doesn't it look like a waste of time and even a poor way of marketing your blog (considering people just hate ads)? Not really, everybody has their reasons.

A smart guy once figured out that you can get your site indexed very fast if you run some Google Adsense. Just that coupled with a few high quality links to your site and the Google bot will be after you. It doesn't seem a hard thing to do and since it works, it's worth a try.

If it is your desire to make money blogging then it might be a good idea to let people know that right from the start. I didn't say you go put Adsense everywhere, no just a lonely ad somewhere, not for making money but for passing a message. There are readers who get disappointed when their ad free blog soon starts showing some adverts. You don't want that to happen to your blog right? Just let them know what you are up to right from the start.

So now I have told you the pros of having adverts in your blog from the very beginning, here are the cons. For one you won't make anything, not a single penny. It can be very disappointing. I have this friend of mine who thought he can write a few posts and then start making money from Adsense. I let him try it. When it never worked he assumed the promise of making money online was the proverbial pie in the sky. I tried to convince him otherwise but he was adamant and gave up. With this attitude you simply can't make money online.

When you have set up a new blog you want to get lots of subscribers, loyal readers and the like even before you think of making money. Now when you put ads all over your blog even before your site is indexed you look very inexperienced. Like I said above you can have a little ad at some lonely corner for purposes I have mentioned, but if you cover every little space with them you will be doing yourself a lot of disservice. Around this time you should be thinking about marketing your blog and optimizing it for the search engines before you think about the checks.  They don't come easy so work for them.

So when is the right time to monetize your blog? I would say there is no such thing as a right time. It will all depend on what you have in mind. However take into consideration that you want to have a successful blog. Make sure what you do what works for you and not against you. After all we'd like to see you blogging happily to the bank.

How to monetize your blog

After you have been blogging for some time you get to feel that you should be paid for your efforts. Or maybe it was your idea from the start to make money blogging. Whichever the case blog monetization is something that has to be approached with caution.

If you started your blog without ads introducing them might scare some visitors away. The only way to avoid this is to have ads on your blog when starting out. This way nobody will be surprised as your goal will be very clear straight from the start. If you are just begining to have thoughts about monetizing your blog, don't be shy about it. Try this methods I am suggesting below.

• Google Adsense- The granddaddy of all blog advertising solutions. You can make lots of money from Google Ad sense if you have a content rich website that receives a considerable amount of traffic. Ads range from text ads to image ads or even text links. Highly customizable to fit your blog or website.
• Infolinks- Great pay per click advertising solution. After Adsense i would say this is the next best option. All websites great and small are welcome to try this In-text advertising solution. The best thing about it? No minimum qualifications. You can have ads running on your site in minutes.
• Chitika- Display ads relevant to your search engine traffic. Get paid monthly via Paypal($10 payout) or Checks ($50 payout). Great advertising solution if that can generate lots of revenue if you get lots of traffic from the search engines.
• Ads Fundi- The good thing about Ads Fundi is that they pay you per click and per sale. You get 75% of the cost of the click and 50% commission for every sale made. It is very easy to set up and you can have ads running in your site in minutes. If you have problems having your Ad sense account approved then this is a great alternative.
• Adbrite- This another great way to monetize your site. You bid for ads and then display them on your site. Works for most people. Worth a try.
• Bidvertiser- Get paid monthly via check or PayPal. Minimum payout is only $10. Only highest ads are displayed on your site for maximum revenue. Another great advertising option.
• Speedyads- Another advertising solution for you. You can set it up and have ads running on your site in minutes. Get paid monthly via check or PayPal. Minimum payout is only $10.

This advertising solutions should definitely help you make some money out of your blog. Remember making money blogging is not about how many ads you display but the amount of targeted traffic you get. Instead of pasting ads allover your blog find ways to increase your visitors if you really want to make money.

Why you are not making money online

O.K somebody told you making money online was easy. If you ask me that is very true. You can make money online and big amounts as at that in fact snoring while your online shop continues to bring in more and more. So why do we keep on insisting that making your money online is hard?

The reason why I claim that making money online might not be a walk in the park is because I talk to newbies most of the time. People who come online with starry hopes and inflated expectations. You might want to blame those wise guys who never seem to run out of things to sell. After you have read their PDF file  that was supposed to give you the magic trick to make you millions within no time, you realize that you need to see their video which will outline how to bla bla bla. Before you realize it your losing more money than you are making, if ever you are.

So why would it be so difficult to make money online? I have tried to outline some of the reasons that dollar has proved elusive.

You are doing the wrong thing. Seriously If blogging isn't your thing do something else. If you can't do affiliate marketing why try it? Why not do something easier like freelancing? It is much easier and you don't have to wait to make money. However if you feel whatever you are doing is where your heart is, stick to it.The greatest successes are born out of big dreams.

You are not willing to learn to learn. The biggest advice you are ever going to get around here? Learn to learn. It doesn't matter whatever job you had as your day job, doesn't matter if you could pick the bad boys out of a rabbit hole. In the dog eat dog society of the internet it is a good idea to seek advice before you begin to regret. Don't learn from experience, there are those of us who have done it for you, why do it?

Always remember things are not easy. Working online is not much easier than working offline. You have to put effort to see results. If you think the make money snoring slogan was meant for newbies please don't quit your day job, at least not yet. The only advantages you will find here are like, you won't have a boss to bark at you, you don't have keep up with the latest fashion(you can blog with your t shirt and jeans), you work when you feel like and so on.

Work comes first rewards later. If you have chosen blogging, you won't make anything for the first two months. This are meant for marketing your blog, optimizing it for the search engines, writing great content etc.
Don't let anybody mislead you. You will realize how easy it becomes to make money blogging after you have put in the hard work.

This are the most reasons newbies find when they try to make money online. It very saddening to see somebody full of hope go away because they came with the wrong information or attitude. Making money online comes easy, if only you invested in hard work before.

The importance of internal linking

To many people when it comes to Search Engine Optimization, internal links never cross their minds. Their link building efforts are driven towards getting as many external links as possible. If they ever do internal linking it is for the sake of increasing users ease of site navigation or just trying to reduce bounce rate by giving their readers more to choose from.

Have you ever wondered why some sites like the Wikipedia or Amazon seem to top the Search results all the time? I am sure you are thinking it is because they get lots of links everyday. That is partly true. However so do many other sites. The major factor that gives this sites dominance is  internal linking. Though they don't do it for SEO, it still works for them. You might try doing it too, look for other posts and pages you can link to in ever post you write. I always do that and I have seen a very major improvement in my search engine rankings.

The other day I talked about how anchor text is very important in Search Engine Optimization. The choice of words other sites use when linking to you will matter very much in SEO. You may not influence the words somebody will use when linking to you but you can do that with inbound links. If you want a certain page to rank highly for a certain keyword, use it when linking to them.

Sometimes most traffic comes to your homepage. You might want to distribute it among your other pages. You don't want users to bounce away to some other site after reading the single post in your blog home page. You can drive traffic to deeper pages in your blog with inbound links. This not only makes your site user friendly, it keeps your readers on your site for longer.

Any serious webmaster out there will definitely consider internal linking. It greatly improves your site and also goes a long way in improving your sites ranking in the search engine organic results.

How to reduce your blog bounce rate

Have you installed Google Analytics? It is a great tool designed to give you statistics about visitors to your blog or website. One of this statistics is Bounce Rate. Now if you are new at this you might be asking yourself, what is this?

Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors heading to another site instead of visiting other pages in the same blog or website. A high bounce rate could mean you really have to work on your site or in other circumstances, it could mean nothing. It just depends on what your site is about. Take the Wikipedia for example, they have a very high bounce rate largely because they provide information. Once you get what you need you dont need to linger on, do you? You got what you needed after all.

However, if you have a blog like mine and you are having a high bounce rate (say 60% and above), there could be something you are not doing right and you might need to reevaluate your site. Some of the reasons include:

• Poor design-If your site is designed so poorly it looks like patchwork, you will be scaring your visitors away. You should also ensure your background is white as readers are used to that. Black or other colours strain the eyes and will have your visitors running away. Limit the number of widgets you put on your site. I see blogs with widgets for every other site they have joined. Forget about other sites and focus on yours.
• Too many ads- You might have heard of less is more. It is really true. Actually having too many ads on your site doesn't make you more money. The few visitors who can tolerate them are likely to become ad blind. I see so many sites littered with ads everywhere, especially in between blog posts. If you are trying to build a great blog you might want to limit ads to the sidebar, while you get readers first. Putting your readers first is what makes a successful blog.
• Poor site navigation- Make it easy for you visitors to navigate in your site. Show your pages at the top, give a list of your older posts. You can also use inbound links to drive visitors to other posts in your blog. Make it easy for them to remain in your blog by giving them every reason to do so.
• Blinking banners- Some animations are O.K. I understand you are trying to make money from your affiliate programs, all the best. However, choose your advertisement banners carefully. A banner that blinks faster than my eyelids is no good for your site. So many people are irritated by them.
• Too many pop ups- You might be promoting your e books or other products but if you love your blog limit your pop ups. Also make it as easy as possible for readers to close them if they are not interested. 

Look into the above if you have a high bounce rate. You might be chasing you visitors away without your knowledge. However, it is never too late to make things right.

Where to get free blogger templates

The other day I wrote a post on ways you can make your blog stand out. I didn't mention getting a custom template or Wordpress theme on purpose. I wanted to cover it in more detail. Today I will focus on blogger templates and save Wordpress for later.

There is nothing wrong with having the default blogger templates. They look good enough. However making your blog unique from the millions of blogs out there is really important if you are serious about blogging. You definitely want to be taken seriously and not be seen as a newbie who is just getting their feet wet.

So where can you get really good free blogger templates? You will actually be surprised by what you can get if you Google 'free blogger templates'. I have however listed some five really good sites that will give excellent templates that will help you 'pimp' your blog.

• Premium blogger templates- Gives you a great variety of templates adopted from Wordpress themes. You will be spoilt for choice as the templates here are really good. If you can edit some HTML you can make your blog look really nice with one of them.
• 20 Premium blogger templates- Just as the name suggests you will find twenty templates you can choose for your blog. From simple to stylish templates, here you will get what you need for your blog.
• Free blogger templates- Whether you blog about music, entertainment, the outdoors, environment, just anything, you will find a template here to suit your taste. They have one column, two column and three column templates. I recommend you choose the three column templates as you can add more gadgets. You can also get Adsense optimized templates here.
• Btemplates- You can get templates adapted from Wordpress, Premium, Magazine, Photoblog etc.The choices here are many. You can also choose from one to four column templates depending on your choice. Just download it and use for your blog.
• Final sense- This one got on this list because of they are very easy to install. Unlike the above mentioned where you have to download then upload, this ones you simply need to copy and paste the code when editing your HTML. Anybody who uses a computer can install templates from final sense.

With all these sites offering great looking free blogger templates, why not make your blog look better.  You don't want your blog to look like every other blog without a direction out there. At least show us you are serious about blogging. We will all follow you. After all you are making a difference.

5 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR BLOG STAND OUT

Every blogger wants their blog to have a lasting impression on every new visitor. You want to make your blog unique and recognizable from the millions of blogs scattered out there in the world wide web. I have listed tips that can set you apart from the rest of the blogosphere.

1. Be unique in your own way- Whether it is through your writing style or your blog design make sure your blog looks different from the others. Don't copy writing styles from other people. If you have no sense of humor you can still write great content especially if you focus on giving information. You can write for people who have no sense of humor(that field is surely lacking in great bloggers, you could be the first). Don't copy great looking logos or designs. People can tell the real thing from a copycat.
2. Choose your own topic- Many bloggers have chosen to focus on telling other people how to make money online. I think most have the mentality that it is the only way a blogger can make money.If you have never made a nickel online read this article by John Chow before you start blogging about this. It could make you change your mind. In fact if you choose an unexplored niche you have a better chance of succeeding. Just remember not to write about your cat, unless you can make him a superhero with enough action to keep us hooked. When choosing your topic you might also want to estimate the amount of traffic you could get. There is no need to blog about a topic nobody cares to read about.
3. Blog often- The difference between that blogger you admire and the one who you are never going to find out about is sometimes determined by how regularly they post. A newbie starts a blog, writes for several weeks then discovers writing isn't their cup of tea. So? They stop blogging or reduce the number of posts in a week. They never realize that regular posting keeps your readers hooked. The top blogs are updated everyday or even every few hours. If you have dreams of a great blog, content will take you there.
4. Love what you do to death- If you have no passion for what you are doing, readers can smell that 100 miles away. There is one thing about blogs written with a loving touch. They leave a lasting impression. You can feel how the writer carefully chooses the words and how he articulates his ideas. On the other hand blogggers without a passion tend to write hurriedly with little to worry about the impression they leave. Trust me, you don't want to be one of them.
5. Give useful information- You realize you don't have to be an A- class blogger to give information don't you? They say that in a land of the blind, the one-eyed-man is king. Very true. Choose people who need your help most. Especially newbie bloggers. You don't have to start big, just focus on becoming great. Get your feet wet first. You do that by helping people below you in terms of information.

Work on the five ways and they will help you brand your blog and stand out from the crowd. It is too huge and you need some fresh air!

GETTING IDEAS FOR YOUR BLOG POSTS

After you have been blogging for sometime, there comes a time when you simply run out of ideas. You mostly feel you have covered every single topic in your niche. Most of the ideas you could have come up with have been written and rewritten to death. So what do you do?

You can't simply stop blogging, you have built a community around your blog and they are always looking forward to the next blog post. You love your blog, most of all you love blogging. You can do it for free, you can do it everyday. Well at least if somebody gave you some idea about a blog post. If nobody is coming up with the  ideas, here are some that will help you come up with a new blog post.

Get Google Alerts and keep abreast on what is happening in your niche. You will be getting updates on what other people are writing about a particular topic all over the net. You will be getting ideas on what to write about, like everyday.

You can also get ideas for blog posts from your comments feedback. Commenters may raise issues they want covered. In a way of replying you can come up with a good post that will cover a readers question. This shows your readers that you appreciate their feedback and it's one way of building a faithful blog community

Archived posts can also be moved to the top and make a new post. You can change it to meet the changes that have taken place over time. If you have many posts nobody will notice this. You shouldn't however do this often.

Break up large ideas in one post to smaller one idea post. For example I wrote a post on five ways you can use to promote your blog. I have written more posts on two of the methods; blog commenting and article marketing so that readers can understand them in a more detailed manner. Your readers will surely appreciate this especially if the subsequent posts follow the main one.

Lastly, you can review a post on another blog. From time to time when reading other blogs you will come across a killer post. Write about it on your blog and link to the original post. Remember one way of blog promotion is linking out to other bloggers. You give so as to receive.

3 MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Many people claim Search Engine Optimization is difficult. They would rather spend lots of money paying some specialist to do it rather than learn the basics and do it themselves. Call it sophophobia (the fear of learning)or whatever you may but the term SEO will scare the hell out of many people.

Better search engine placement is paramount for any successful blog, so the importance of search engine optimization is not debatable.

Search engines present free and targeted traffic that we can tap into and get enormous profits out of our blogging efforts. So if Search engine optimization is not hard, how easy is it?
To me, and to many people out there, only three things are of ultimate importance when it comes to optimizing your site for the search engines. The others are either part of the three or may not affect the end result to a large extent. In fact, instead of complicating SEO, you should focus on this three.

• Keywords- You have to ensure the keywords you are optimizing your site for are relevant to site content. If your site is about making money blogging focus on keywords related to that.  Remember also to optimize your site for keywords that are used in searches. Ranking no.1 in Google for a keyword nobody uses is never going to help you in anyway. On the other hand a keyword that gets 100 000 monthly searches could bring you lots of traffic. Ensure the keywords you are optimizing your site for are placed in titles and beginning of posts. You can even consider having your keyword in your URL. Search engines are considering that in determining placement.
• Backlinks-  The second Important aspect of SEO is backlinks. A dofollow link from another site constitutes a backlink. The more backlinks you have the higher your chances of appearing top in the Search Engine Results Pages. Make sure you get backlinks from sites with similar content as link relevance is an aspect of SEO too. The higher page rank a site has, the better the link. If you can get backlinks from .gov or .edu domains, then the better for you as they have more link juice. Inbound links are also very important. Sites like Wikipedia and Amazon rank very well due to their large numbers of inbound links. Though they don't do it for SEO, it still helps them get better placement.
• Anchor text-  This is the click able part of a link.  It is the choice of words people use when linking to your site. Anchor text is considered by most Search engines when determining search engine placement. Use your keywords in your link building efforts.

So does that sound like something you can't do? Not to me. In fact if you ask me, anybody can learn SEO and get their sites ranked well. It only needs some bit of hard work here and there.                        

IS BLOG COMMENTING EFFECTIVE IN BLOG PROMOTION?

The other day I wrote an article about five ways to promote your blog. Top among this was blog commenting. We all seem to love it. Come on it is easy and if it can bring traffic to my blog, why not do it?

It is our nature as humans to choose the easiest way to get from point A to B. So if commenting is going to take me to the heights of my blogging career, why can't I do it? After all Alvin says it's one easy way to get your blog noticed. And truly if you ask me I am going to say yes! It definitely is. However the question is not about its feasibility, it's about effectiveness. Is commenting that effective?

For a long time people have used commenting to attract people to their blogs. It is an easy way to get traffic to your blog. For every comment you leave you get a link back to your blog. As many people as started doing it, it's effectiveness has come under question. Does it really help? I am going to say no then yes.

Come to think of it, commenting is very easy, the average Joe can do it. Just a few lines and you have a link back to your site. You can now siphon visitors to your site. Really?  Sorry to disappoint you, things are not that easy. Before any internet user click on a link, they must have a reason to do it. Come on, we don't click on links just because they appear blue, or they are underlined. We go online to look for information. If your comment is not adding value to the conversation nobody is going to click on your link.

Trying to steal visitors from a site is another tactic that is never going to take you far. If I am selling a product at $10 please don't tell my readers they can get it from your site at half price. I am sure even themselves can smell such desperation 100 miles away. Observe netiquette when commenting. If your comment is good enough we will try to visit your site and say hi!

Commenting can help you get traffic to your site. But it can also get you a few internet enemies or a title everyone tries to avoid, spammer. You surely want to protect your name especially if you are a newbie and are trying to build you reputation.

Their is an inseparable relationship between quality and effort. They go together. Next time you want to comment, read the post first. Digest the information, then put your sincere thought down there. You will be making the difference and trust me you will notice that.

ARTICLE MARKETING: BEST BLOG PROMOTION STRATEGY.

As of today, over 200 000 blogs are reportedly created every day. This figure sounds terrifying in the ears of every newbie blogger. You just created your blog, which was easy, a walk in the park only to realize blogging requires more effort than just putting up a blog and writing good content.

I know every person who claims to have a clue to blogging success claims good content is the only way your blog will soar high. I believe that too. You need to keep writing killer content that will keep readers coming to your blog. However that is not all you need to do. Good content only gives your blogs wings, if you want to touch the sky you will have to flap them. That’s where blog promotion comes in.

BLOGGING: WHAT KEEPS YOU GOING?

We all have a reason why we have joined the blogosphere. There are some of us who blog for the money it brings, some are using their blogs to land a job or sell a product. Most will be those who see blogging as a hobby. Then there is the group that would fit in most of these categories, if not all of them.

Now what makes me a happy blogger is  just watching my blog community grow. It is like bringing up your own baby and watching them grow,helping them learn, while you learn too.

FEEDBURNER: ONE GREAT TOOL FOR YOUR BLOG

I am sure many of us are already familiar with this great tool from Google. Providing custom RSS feeds and many other useful tools for web publishers since 2004, today it has become a must have. If you are not using it you just don't know what you are missing or what your site is lacking. Every serious blogger out there and their grandmother have it and know its importance. But just how great is this FeedBurner?

YAHOO POWERED BY BING

The fight for domination of the search engine market is still on. Bing has been looking to have a slice of the big chunk Google boasts of. Lately they have been making inroads although slowly. Of late Yahoo search is powered by Bing. So what does this mean for my site and what do I need to do?

WHY YOU SHOULD MAKE MONEY BLOGGING

Many bloggers out there don't have the patience needed to make money from a blog, and that is probably the reason you will find so many articles on why you can't make money blogging. Funny thing is that the same person telling you that is reaping more money than they should just because you wasted your time reading their posts and clicking on their ads eventually. I am sure if there are people who cant make money from blogs, it isn't you. That is why you are reading this post, the reason you are interested in turning your blog onto a money minting machine.

Well it is true that many bloggers out there make just enough to feed their coffee habit,

5 MISTAKES YOU COULD MAKE AS A NEW BLOGGER

Many people have joined the blogosphere with the wrong information. Some expect to make money within the first month, others believe they should gain popularity within no time. Most of the bloggers with this attitude tend to make lots of mistakes, but anyway it is nothing to be ashamed of so long as you can learn from them.

I have listed some of the most common blogging mistakes. Read them and find out whether you are guilty of any, and what you should do about the situation.

How to Promote your new blog Post

So you have finally written that killer blog post and you are jumping up and down your seat? You are possibly thinking of the traffic it is going to bring to your site. You are looking for ways to promote your post and make it go viral. After all this could finally pitch your blog up there with the giants. Where do you start then?
I would start with social media. So should you. Nowadays it is so easy to get thousands of free visitors just by sharing content on Facebook, twitter and the rest.  Humans are social. Social media helps you get recommended by friends to other friends and it is so easy to build mutual trust. You are going to need that if you are serios about internet money. You should however be careful on how you share your posts. Most people follow you because you are interesting. If you keep tweeting or updating uninteresting things, you are giving them a reason to unfollow you or unlike your page. Be on the look out for things that go viral to 'get it' when it comes to social media marketing.

Ping your post. This is a great way to update the search engines and many other services about new content on your blog. You can use Pingomatic.com, they provide great services. Some people may argue that it does add no value but I would say there is no harm in informing the slow search engines that you are churning out great content.

Let other bloggers know about your blog post. This may prove a bit difficult if you have not done your networking very well, but it is worth the effort. If a blogger likes your post and recommends it to their readers you could get lots of traffic. A fellow blogger is also more likely to link to your post.

Deliver it to the inbox. A mailing list is one great way to promote your posts. Recommending a post to your subscribers tells them that you feel it is important they read it. You should however go slow on the number of times you email your readers. If you blast my in box with emails every day, the best thing I could ever do for myself would be to unsubscribe from your list.

Forum commenting. If you have joined forums where you can include your recent post in your signature, other people will easily know about what you are posting. There are also forums that show your recent post automatically. You will have to provide them with your feed URL though.

So there are five ways you can use to promote your blog post. Used effectively, they will not only promote your posts, but your blog too.

PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE: THE KEY TO BLOG SUCCESS

Many people come online hoping to make insane amounts of cash in zero time. One of the best ways to earn money online is definitely blogging. The potential here is seemingly endless. But people come and go, mostly disappointed. Why?
It is always good to have dreams. But it is good to remember that without effort a dream is just that, a dream. Somebody thinking that a blog with only two posts should be making him money is simply lost. Rewards from blogging come last, the work first. You must learn to persist and keeping writing killer posts even if your blog gets 50 hits a day.
If you are in this business strictly for the cash, then you shouldn't consider leaving your day job. The most successful bloggers like John Chow and Problogger will tell you that blogging to them is first an hobby, then a way to make a living. If you love what you are doing you will do it regardless of how many people appreciate your efforts. Have patience. Good things come to those who wait.
One should also realize that getting readership for your blog takes time. Gaining authority in your niche is even harder. One should consider blogging just for the love of it, before worrying about rewards.
I know that sometimes we have high expectations and we want things to happen overnight. But remember we are not living in utopia. Blogging just like your run-of-the-mill day job requires effort, patience and persistence. A blogger should possess enough energy to keep going even when the going is getting tougher and tougher. The difference between success and failure is acceptance. If you give up, you accept failure. The opposite is definitely true.
Persistence is definitely better than talent. Combine it with patience and you will realize success beyond your wildest dreams.

BLOG WRITING: WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL BLOG.

I have been dreaming big of lately. I honestly want to move this blog to higher heights. They say that a man without a dream is poor, a man whose dream never becomes a reality becomes frustrated. I know that I am not poor- I have a dream. I want to transform this dream into reality and that is why for a long time now i have been doing research on what makes a blog successful. Why do the Probloggers of this world rake in more money than they have a right to, while some guy somewhere doesn't make enough to buy tea at a local restaurant?
If you want to make your blog a success, then engage me reader and find out what makes a blog go.
Be passionate about your topic. Blogging is like sharing experiences and giving on time news about what is happening in your niche. You have to like what you write about. This means you read articles about what you write like everyday. You have to keep posting something that tells your readers you are in touch with what you are writing about. Regular posting is also very important. Writing at least two articles every week would be a good idea to keep your readers hooked to your blog.
You should be a good writer. Though it is very obvious that blogging is not about the next Shakespeare, you still have to be good at getting your ideas accross in a way that your readers understand. Most bloggers read for information,If you want them to stick to your blog, improving your writing skills is of paramount importance.
Keep in touch with successful blogs in your niche. I regularly read top blogs like Copyblogger, Problogger and the rest. There are so many things to learn from the top bloggers in any field. It is always a good idea to follow the leader.
Branding your blog. You want your visitors to turn into subscribers. This only happens if they can understand what you are talking about. They know what to expect from your blog in the future. If you confuse your readers by writing about a thousand and one things in one blog trust me you are helping your blog die. Branding also helps readers recommend your blog to others as they can trust you.
Lastly, interacting with your blog readers is always a good idea. Answer reader emails and comments. If they ask for help feel free to do so. This will mostly make them feel like they are talking to somebody, not some demigod who has no time for mere mortals. Remember readers out there want a human voice. Somebody they can talk to.

GOOGLE ALERTS: HOW CAN THEY HELP ME BUILD A BETTER BLOG

Google offers you a great way to monitor what is happening in the world wide web by offering a content monitoring service; Google Alerts. You are automatically notified about content from news, videos, blogs, groups or just about anything. Once an new item meets a certain set of search terms you are notified via email, feed or in your Igoogle page.
You get to choose the frequency of the alerts. It could be from once a day, once a week or as-it-happens. Choosing as-it-happens may mean you get lots of emails delivered to your inbox everyday. I would reccomend one to choose at least once a day. You also get to choose the Email lengths of the alerts. You can choose from up to 20 rtesults per email or even up to 50 results per email.
Google alerts will help you remain posted on what is happening in your niche. You definitely want your blog to always deliver on time content. You want to be on top of things. This is definitely one way to make your blog popular. Being the one that delivers the news first.
You might also want to know what people are saying about you. You definitely don't  want people creating a negative image of you out there. You will want to know when content about you is posted somewhere on the net so you can correct it. Reputation in this business is very important and protecting your blog and its content is of paramount importance.
Google Alerts can also help you generate content for your blog. You can set a search term in your niche so you get content about such. When you get to read what others are writing you will get an idea of what you can post.
Google Alerts is free and you can set it up in a minute and be getting notifications on the next. For any serious blogger out there who wants to retain his popularity and make his blog authoritative, it is definitely a must. So go on to your Google account and set up Google Alerts. You will definitely love it.

6 STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL BLOG

Blogging is slowly turning into a movement. The numbers are increasing everyday. It is not only fun, its an interesting way to make money online. With so many blogs out there, everyone is competing for attention. Every serious blogger out there wants his blog to be noticed, not some useless one that nobody cares to visit. Or if they do, they never come back.
With thousands of blogs out there, you must be asking yourself how you are going to make yours stand out, gain some popularity and readership.
It is a world filled with average people. Blogging is not in any way an exception. With a bit of hard work and great content you can move your blog to higher heights and gain popularity by the day. I have listed some ways that I think will go a long way in making your blog a success story.
Step 1. Choose a topic you have authority in. There is no good reason you should talk about cars when you only own a bicycle. There are so many experts out there and competing with them when you know nothing won't make you look bright. Stick to what you know, the entire blogosphere and beyond will thank you for that.
Step 2. It would be a good idea if you choose a good blogging platform. It is even better for you if you are self hosted. You can have your blog on Tumblr, Blogger, Typepad, Wordpress and the rest. However blogger has a higher popularity, as it is easier to use.
Step 3. Launch your blog with at least ten articles. You don't want people to think you are just starting out. You want them thinking that you have established some authority in your niche. A blog that looks like you are still building it is not attractive at all. Everyone looks for experience, and with one post  you don't exactly look like you know much.
Step 4. Blog Promotion is a must. You have to get people coming to your blog. You can do both online and offline promotion. Join communities at Mybloglog , Blogged and the rest. Make sure all outgoing emails have your blog URL in the signature. Use word of mouth. Include your URL in your business cards. All in all make sure somebody is reading your blog.
Step 5. Search engine optimization is very  Important. The best free and targeted traffic will always come from the search engines, full stop. No matter what anybody says, SEO will never die. Build back links, they are the most important part of SEO. Just make sure your blog is performing very well in Google, Yahoo and Bing.
Step 6. The last important thing is building a mailing list. The good thing is that it keeps your readers coming back. Also note that regular readers are more likely to comment. Comments are one way a blog shows its authority.
The above methods will prove very useful as you build your blog. Just keep writing great content and you will get your readers addicted. And that is a good thing!

WHERE TO GET FREE BACKLINKS FOR YOUR SITE

Back links today are the backbone of search engine optimization.Coupled with proper use of anchor text, link building will see you move to the top of the Search engine results pages(SERPs). We all know what that means. Lots of free targeted traffic from the search engines. Traffic on the other hand means more sells or clicks and as a result we end up smiling all the way to the bank.
So if back links are going to guarantee me a top spot with the search engines, where can i get them?
I have listed below various sources where one can get free back links.

1.  Do follow social bookmarking sites-You only need to open an account with this sites and bookmark your sites and voila! there is a free back link. I stumbled on a list of do follow social bookmarking sites.  Do check it out, it will go a long way in optimizing your site for the search engines.
2. Website Evaluation sites- There are some sites that help you know the value of your website or blog. They then create a page for your site that links back. If you can evaluate your site in several such sites you could build several back links for your blog or website.
3. Directories- You can submit your site to directories. There are several sites that offer auto and semi automatic submissions. You may check out their services and submit your blog.
4. Commenting- This is another way one can build back links. Learn to comment on popular blogs (make sure they are do follow). You can leave your link where it seems appropriate to do so. Avoid spam comments as they will most likely be deleted. Always observe netiquette. 
5. Articles submission sites- The likes of Ezine articles, Go articles, Isnare and the rest give you an opportunity to submit your articles free to them. In exchange they will provide you with a resource box where you can leave your link. This not only build links but also generates traffic for your site.

The bottom line with link building is to do it slowly. Build  at most 20 back links in a week. Getting too many back links in a short time may attract penalties from the search engines.

How to get traffic to your website

Traffic is very important for the success of any blog or website. Whether you are selling a product, run a corporate blog or blogging to you is just a hobby, many real visitors coming to your site makes you feel like you are really talking to the world. Of course you can keep a small community however if you want to be rich and famous, you’ve got to get your name out there. Get everybody taking about you. That only happens if your content gets read by many people who will share with friends and friends of friends.

 There are many ways to make people visit your website or blog. The first thing you have to do is ensure that you have quality content. People don’t share crap. People don’t subscribe to substandard blogs. If you have no mastery of the subject, people will find a better alternative. That is what search engines are for. To get your visitors spoilt for choice. Make sure that you have something that grabs and keeps their attention.

The first place to find lots of free traffic is social media. Say Facebook. You can even go viral in a week and have thousands of free visitors coming to your site. If you are selling a product, friend recommendations work best. A person is more likely to buy a product if a friend of theirs can vouches for it. Social media is the best place to encourage and drive friend recommendations.

Another way to get highly targeted traffic comes from the search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. You need to optimize your site for the search engines so that you can reap this free traffic. If your site appears at the top of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) you could be getting lots of relevant visitors every day. Most of Search Engine Optimization is about building links. While most people will tell you to build as many links as possible, I would advise you to take your time to build links on pages that rank. Links should be a way of helping people navigate around the web and not a way of manipulating a search engine. If you build a links towards your money site by writing blog posts on web 2.0 sites like wordpress.com ensure they are quality enough to rank. You will get more traffic towards the money site this way.

You can also get traffic by guest blogging. If you know a friend or someone with a blog that gets decent traffic, you can offer to write them a quality post.  They will of course leave a link to their readers explaining who wrote the posts. That way the readers of the blog you guest post to will become interested and visit your blog.

When everything fails, advertising will never go wrong. By choosing good targeted advertising, you can drive people to your site or blog. A good advertising program is Google Ad words. You are however free to choose one that suits you or is best suited to fit your situation.

Commenting on related blogs is also another way of getting traffic for your site. If somebody likes your comment they might like to visit your site. The bottom line here is that you should never spam. If you do your comments might be deleted or worse, nobody will take you seriously. Nobody likes spammers you know.

Last, you can try forums. Join a fairly busy forum and be a good productive member. People will always follow people they think have something of use. Always present yourself as a useful person and you will go far.

5 WAYS TO PROMOTE A BLOG

Blogging is fun. Some of us write because it is an hobby. We share our ideas with our friends and relatives. This type of blogging does not require you to make your blog very popular. We only need to ensure the right people are reading our posts and we are happy.

However there are those of us that blog so that we can earn money online. This is commercial blogging. If you fall into this category you might want to promote your blog so that it is very popular. Search engine optimization (SEO) might also come in handy. Getting to the top of a search engine like Google can give you lots of free targeted traffic. That however is a story for another day.

Today lets talk about how you can promote your blog. There are several ways to do this and make your blog popular or even make it go viral.

1. Social Networking sites – Everyone is definitely on Facebook and Twitter. If you are not, you must be living under a rock. You can turn your followers on Twitter or Friends on Facebook into active readers of your blog. The bottom line here is do not spam. If you keep posting links nobody cares about they are bound to stop following you or unfriend you.
2. Commenting – When reading other blogs in your niche you might want to leave your thoughtful comments at the end of the post. Make sure your comment is relevant to the post. You can leave your link if it feels appropriate. This will bring readers to your blog.
3. Article Marketing – Article submission sites like Ezine articles, Articlebase, GoArticles and the rest give you a chance to submit articles to them for free. For this you get to link back to your site. This not only brings you highly targeted traffic, it also helps you in building backlinks.
4. Email signatures – Include you URL in your outgoing emails. Nearly every site owner out there does it. You can also include your URL in your business cards. This is a very effective way of offline blog promotion.
5. Contacting other bloggers – Talk to other bloggers and ask them to consider linking to your post. There are more likely to, than the reader who just stumbled on your blog.

These five ways are very effective in increasing your blogs visibility out there. There are many other ways you can use to promote your blog. You can even use word of mouth. Just make sure somebody is reading what you are writing.

Do you have a blog? What ways have you been using to promote it? Do leave me a comment.