Mistakes that Can Bury a Blog

By Gregg Hall

Too often bloggers complain that after a great start, a year later their blog is as dead as can be. This is a common problem that almost always revolves around a small list of common mistakes made by the blogger. A blogger can sit back and expect the blog to do all of the work for him or her, which is a terrible way to approach blogging.

A successful blogger would tell you that great blogging takes a certain amount of dedication and hard effort to make it work. You have to put effort into a blog to sustain it, especially after the first month or so of completing the design. Many people work so hard during the initial design phase that they get lazy after it is complete. To avoid this happening to your blog, check out these five common mistakes that can bury a blog.

Infrequent Updates

One of the biggest mistakes a blogger can make is to "forget" about posting. The most successful blogs are updated with new posts at least once a day. Some larger blogs are constantly being updated. You should try to create new posts as often as possible. If you miss a day here and there, it will be no big deal. However, if you miss a week or more without posting, you might as well consider the blog dead already. You have to take a few moments, even as few as five, a day to create interesting posts or content. If you are writing short and concise posts like you should be, this should not be that challenging. It is easy to keep your blog updated, if you make it a priority.

Too Much Advertising

Most bloggers today do want to make a profit from their blog. This is a trend that can get out of control quickly however. If you are interested in adding ads to your blog, do so with caution. There is nothing wrong with a few appropriately places ads that offer viewers links to places that correlate with your blog's content. However, adding a massive amount of advertisements on your blog is a mistake. If you have a bunch of flashy ads on your blog, your content will get lost within the hoopla. Therefore, you should always limit your ads to three or less per page. Make sure you place them in appropriate places that let your content shine through. Don't allow enormous ads to fill up your pages either. They will simply annoy readers. Be smart about including advertising on your blog!

Unprofessional Look

Looks do matter when it comes to your blog. The more professional and crisp your blog looks, the more your readers will take you seriously. If you are interesting in boosting traffic, you should try a more serious layout or presentation for your blog. If you can afford to hire a professional, you should. If you choose to do it yourself however, you must make sure the end product is good. If you have a sloppy blog that looks "homemade" you will not likely have a great response. Try different layouts and approaches to see what gets you the most traffic.

Graphics Overload

Pictures can add a ton to your blog and draw in more readers. However, when done excessively, much like ads, pictures can drive people away. The main reason too many pictures can ruin a blog is because there are many web surfers who still use slow internet connections. When they try to load your page, it will take an excessively long time to do so. This in turn will likely drive them and anyone else with this problem away. Try limiting to a few pictures per page.

Inappropriate Content

Everyone knows that the web is a place where you can freely express yourself. However, if you want your blog to survive, you might want to think about that freedom of expression. Although you should always say what you feel, you can do so in appropriate manners on your blog. There are ways to say anything on your mind, without using profanity or any offensive lingo. If you want your blog to be successful, you cannot be inappropriate with your content.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com/

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. See more articles on blogging and internet marketing at http://www.theinternetmarketingsecrets.com/

What Are The Major Differences Between Web 1.0 And Web 2.0?

By Article Specialist

You witnessed, were a victim of, or have at least heard about the bursting of the dot com bubble in the fall of 2001. Fortunes that had been made overnight were lost overnight.

The sky was falling. It was a very scary time for a lot of people. Some said that the World Wide Web was just a flash-in-the-pan idea that had been over-hyped and that the crash was irrefutable proof of that fact.

There were, however, some survivors of the 2001 dot com bust. The survivors had a few important commonalities and there were those who insisted that the World Wide Web was more important than ever and had a very bright future indeed.

One of those who saw the results of the 2001 dot com bust as a ‘glass half full’ rather than a ‘glass half empty’ was a man by the name of Tim O’Reilly. O’Reilly (of O’Reilly Media) met with Dale Dougherty of Media Live International in 2004. Out of that meeting the term ‘Web 2.0’ was born.

The definition that Tim O’Reilly gives for Web 2.0 is: "Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.

Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them."

Web 2.0 can be viewed as an upgrade to the World Wide Web. It is still the web but it is a new and improved version of the web.

New technologies such as blogs, social bookmarking, wikis, podcasts and RSS feeds are just a few of the technologies that are helping to shape and direct Web 2.0.

The Web before the dot com crash is often referred to as Web 1.0 now but only since the coining of the term Web 2.0.

Some of the more obvious differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are: DoubleClick replaced by Google AdSense, Britannica Online replaced by Wikipedia, Personal Web Pages replaced by Blogs, Content Management Systems replaced by Wikis and Directories replaced by Tagging.

These are only a very few of the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 but they are major ones.

You will notice, if you look carefully that the commonality of many of the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 is that Web 1.0 was driven and controlled by the ‘powers-that-be’ and Web 2.0 is driven by users.

That is a huge difference and the one that is making Web 2.0 more and more user friendly not to mention more and more profitable for just average people. You might even call it a power shift of seismic proportions.

Once the websites that could be accessed on the Internet were built and controlled by only a few and were certainly not ‘interactive’ but today anybody with an idea, a few dollars and just a little know-how can build a Web 2.0 website that is completely interactive and turn it into a money-making enterprise if they choose to.

The technology is there. It is easy to use. It is accessible and it is relatively cheap… some of it is even free.

Many websites that started out as static websites are now adding features like blogs and forums and propelling themselves into the future of Internet commerce. Those websites who continue be ‘old hat’ are falling further and further behind.

Just regular people now expect to be able to ask questions and get answers from websites and they expect websites to be at least somewhat interactive. The Internet has always been and still is a platform for information, but with Web 2.0 has also become a platform for participation.

Related Article:
What is Web 2.0?

The Importance of Blog Comments In Search Engine Optimization

By Scott White

Blog comments can help with the search engine optimization of your website by seriously improving your ranking within the major search engines. Where sometimes webmasters running traditional websites complain about being in the Google Sandbox for months, bloggers often report seeing their results in search engine results just a few days after they activate their blogs and start posting entries. Furthermore, blog software programs such as WordPress and Blogger have the reputation as being search engine magnets that cause quick indexing by search engines.

Many webmasters have also become bloggers to make the most out of this windfall of rapid indexing by search engines. They say that starting a blog, optimizing posts for keywords, and linking it heavily to their website can get things moving much more quickly in having their website indexed, and getting it out of Google's sandbox.

It is not only blog posts which rank quickly in search engine results, you will also notice that when you do a search, and you click on the results, often the results are not articles or posts as you would expect, but comments. Blog comments and forum comments are often featured highly in search results.

To understand blog comments and the part they play in search engine optimization, we will first look briefly at SEO for blogs and what makes blogs search engine friendly.

You can set up your blog, so that whenever you write a new post or update an old one the search engines and associated services are automatically pinged. This lets them know you have new content. Hopefully, these notifications will result in more traffic and more blog comments. Search engines favor and look for fresh content. Especially well optimized content, including niche specific and relevant anchor text. The very nature of blogs, with their chronological posting structure, promotes regular, fresh content. Some bloggers even post a number of times each day. Even plug-ins and widgets like Twitter add fresh content.

The good news about blog comments is that the search engines see them as content, and most of it, you did not even have to write yourself. Other people are writing your content for you. Visitors add a blog comment, the blog owner replies, someone else chimes in and soon you have a conversation developing. It is not unusual to see some blogs with twenty or more comments, if the discussion is really sparking.

Even a new blogger will soon attract comments, especially if they are proactive in commenting on other blogs. They also need to link out to related websites and blogs, and start to network. If they let other bloggers know they exist, and begin to attract traffic, it will not be long before they attract blog comments.

Now here is the SEO bonus of the whole blog comment deal: because your readers are commenting on your post, it is quite likely that a lot of the content of the comments are going to reflect your keywords or at least your topic. Your comments in reply can be search engine optimized and keyword rich, where appropriate.

Like your posts, make sure it is still natural language, because your main aim is to keep the conversation going. You want to keep your readers engaged and interested. They are more likely to come back if your website offers value and a sense of community. Remember that your fellow bloggers are SEO savvy too, and can spot people who are gaming the system from a mile away. Do not compromise authenticity for search engine optimization. It is not worth it.

Some bloggers have taken blog comments a step further with regular open microphone or cafe style nights. Everyone comes and has something of a virtual party or discussion in the comments section. Be innovative. Work out ways to leverage the potential of your blog comments so that your website is the ultimate beneficiary of the search engine optimizing power of blog comments.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Scott White has the top SEO Program and Arizona Home Loan, Healthy Cooking Videos

Exclusive: ProBlogging 101

By Jo Han Mok

A weblog (or simply blog) is a website that 'publishes' or features articles (which are called 'blog posts', 'posts', or 'entries'), written by an individual or a group that make use of any or a combination of the following:

- Straight texts
- Photographs or images (photoblog)
- Video (videoblog)
- Audio files (audioblog)
- Hyperlinks

Usually presented and arranged in reverse chronological order, blogs are essentially used for the following purposes:

- Online journal or a web diary
- Content managament system
- Online publishing platform

A typical blog has the following components:

- Post date - the date and time of the blog entry

- Category - the category that the blog belongs to

- Title - the title of the blog

- Main body - the main content of the blog

- RSS and trackback - links the blog back from other sites

- Comments - commentaries that are added by readers

- Permalinks - the URL of the full article

- Other optional items - calendar, archives, blogrolls, and add-ons or plug-ins

A blog can also have a footer, usually found at the bottom of the blog, that shows the post date, the author, the category, and the 'stats' (the number of comments or trackbacks).

There are numerous types of blogs. Some of them are the following:

1. Political blog - on news, politics, activism, and other issue based blogs (such as campaigning).

2. Personal blog - also known as online diary that may include an individual's day-to-day experience, complaints, poems, and illicit thoughts, and communications between friends.

3. Topical blog - with focus either on a particular niche (function or position) that is usually technical in nature or a local information.

4. Health blog - on specific health issues. Medical blog is a major category of health blog that features medical news from health care professionals and/or actual patient cases.

5. Literary blog - also known as litblog.

6. Travel blog - with focus on a traveler's stories on a particular journey.

7. Research blog - on academic issues such as research notes.

8. Legal blog - on law (technical areas) and legal affairs; also known as 'blawgs'.

9. Media blog - focus on falsehoods or inconsistencies in mass media; usually exclusive for a newspaper or a television network.

10. Religious blog - on religious topics.

11. Educational blog - on educational applications, usually written by students and teachers.

12. Collaborative or collective blog - a specific topic written by a group of people.

13. Directory blog - contains a collection of numerous web sites.

14. Business blog - used by entrepreneurs and corporate employees to promote their businesses or talk about their work.

15. Personification blog - focus on non-human being or objects (such as dogs).

16. Spam blogs - used for promoting affiliated websites; also known as 'splogs'.

Blogging is typically done on a regular (almost daily) basis. The term "blogging" refers to the act of authoring, maintaining, or adding an article to an existing blog, while the term "blogger" refers to a person or a group who keeps a blog.

Today, more than 3 million blogs can be found in the Internet. This figure is continuously growing, as the availability of various blog software, tools, and other applications make it easier for just about anyone to update or maintain the blog (even those with little or no technical background). Because of this trend, bloggers can now be categorized into 4 main types:

- Personal bloggers - people who focus on a diary or on any topic that an individual feels strongly about.

- Business bloggers - people who focus on promoting products and services.

- Organizational bloggers - people who focus on internal or external communication in an organization or a community.

- Professional bloggers - people who are hired or paid to do blogging.

Problogging (professional blogging) refers to blogging for a profit. Probloggers (professional bloggers) are people who make money from blogging (as an individual blog publisher or a hired blogger).

Below are just some of the many money-making opportunities for probloggers:

- Advertising programs
- RSS advertising
- Sponsorship
- Affiliate Programs
- Digital assets
- Blog network writing gigs
- Business blog writing gigs
- Non blogging writing gigs
- Donations
- Flipping blogs
- Merchandising
- Consulting and speaking

The following are a few things that you need to consider if you want to be successful in problogging:

1. Be patient. Problogging requires a lot of time and effort, not to mention a long-term vision.

2. Know your audience. Targeting a specific audience or group is a key to building a readership.

3. Be an 'expert'. Focus on a specific niche topic and strive to be the "go-to" blogger on that topic.

4. Diversify. Experiment with various add and affiliate programs that enable you to make money online (aside from blogging).

5. Do not bore your readers. Focus on the layout. White spaces, line spacings, and bigger fonts make a blog welcoming to read.

Certainly, it is possible to earn money from blogs. One just needs to take risks, the passion, and the right attitude in order to be a successful problogger.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Jo Han Mok is the author of the #1 international business bestseller, The E-Code. He shares his amazing blueprint for creating million dollar internet businesses at: http://www.internetmillionaireblueprints.com

Blogging 101: 6 Reasons Why a Blog Can Benefit Your Online Business

By Mark Williams

Blogs have taken over the internet!

Everyone is blogging from politicos to teeny-boppers. Many teenagers have resorted to blogging as an outlet for their emotions, a little online nook where they can blurt out their feelings and blow off some steam. However, savvy marketers have discovered that blogging is one of the best Internet marketing strategies available. The best part is that blogging is just a cent or two more expensive than free.

So what exactly is blogging? Blog is just a fancy name for web log and really it is nothing more than an online journal. A blog can be set up for very little cost and it makes a very viable internet marketing tool.

Blogging for your online business is a proven way to enhance the visibility of your business products and services. Below are 6 proven methods for using a blog to jumpstart your online business and start cranking out the cash.

1. Building trust with your customers is key to any successful business. A blog is a great way to get information about your business out to your clientele. Keep your customers abreast on your business and any changes to your web site. Announce your new product line and affiliate programs with the use of your new blog.

2. Your blog is a great way to keep all of your articles and business information. Quality information makes for the best web sites, so put up all of those old articles and anything else you have lying around that makes good content. The content on your blog can be easily stored through archives.

3. As a business owner in your chosen niche you would probably be considered an expert, right? Well since you're an expert don't be afraid to give your advice and opinion. Blogging provides you a great opportunity to give product reviews on items that might help your customers. You could make some extra cash by endorsing quality products unique to your niche. Whatever your niche is I'm sure that there are products you can sell to earn affiliate commissions.

4. By posting your articles on your blog you can allow people to republish them as long as they include your resource box. We all know what is included in your resource box, that's right it is a link to your web site! Before you know it we will start acquiring back links like crazy. As stated in the previous section you can use articles with affiliate links to start cashing in with your blog.

5. Use your blog as a way to gather information from your customers. Have them fill out surveys on how you can improve your product(s). It makes them feel involved and builds trust. Getting the input of others, especially people that have purchased from you is always a good thing. Even if you don't like the answers! A blog is a great way to get instant feedback from your customers and that is a very valuable tool.

6. Submit your blog to blogging lists and syndicate it so that it becomes a viral marketing machine. When you have a blog that stands out in your niche people will be walking over each other for every new post you make. By syndicating your blog you give notice to all interested parties every time you make a post!

Setting up a blog is easy, you can either purchase blogging software or use a blogging hosting service to do it for you. LiveJournal and Blogger.com are the most popular hosting companies in the blogging arena right now. They are easy to set up and the hosting companies provide you with easy to follow instructions on how to start your new blog.

Take these 6 tips and put them to use in your evolving online marketing arsenal, you will be glad you did.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Blogging is a great way to enhance your internet marketing efforts. Mark Williams has other terrific tips and Internet Marketing Strategies to help your marketing efforts.

The Power Of Blogging

By: Daniel Trainor

Blogging has become extremely popular in today's virtual world. Blog is short for weblog, a word which was thought up by John Barger in 1997. Peter Merholz used the word weblog in his website later popularizing it further. Weblog is a combination of the words web and log which basically means noting or writing down entries in a sequential order. Now, the word blog has become a common word worldwide and is used in casual conversation all the time.

What are blogs? Blogs are often more personal in nature than most websites. A blog can be a personal journal which recounts events in a person's life on a daily basis. It can focus on specific topics that interest the blogger such as movies, food, music, sports, politics, news or business. Blogs can be composed of text entries, music, videos, photos and images as well as hyperlinks that lead to other blogs and web pages. The person who writes these entries is called a blogger.

Blogs usually include a way of interacting with the blogger, which generally means leaving comments about what you think of his/her blog. You can agree or disagree with the blog entries and you are free to express yourself in the comment box provided. Blogs are symbols of freedom of expression, and the blogger is open to both positive and negative criticism. If there is a particular blog you come across and like reading, you can bookmark it and come back to it regularly to see what else is posted on it.

Blogs are platforms through which people can champion a pet cause, share information, be part of a group which supports similar issues, and businesses can even use blogs to attract consumers and make money. Companies pay bloggers to write flattering reviews of their products, or pay them by posting banners or text ads on the blogs which connect to the company's website.

There are many websites which have ready-made templates for would be bloggers to design their blogs, such as Blogger, DreamHost, Xanga, Wordpress, and LiveJournal to name a few. These sites enable bloggers to post entries and upload media files more easily. These blog communities contain links which connect blogs to each other, so that people can find blogs of similar topics easily.

Blogs are becoming a very powerful tool for online businesses and it can give your business the opportunity to be found by millions of people all around the world. Since blogs are very search engine friendly, you have a better chance of getting ranked high on the major search engines compared to a regular website. Search engines love frequently updated quality content and a blog is the easiest way to do this as they are very user friendly. No knowledge of web design or HTML code is needed.

So go start a blog today and watch your online business grow.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Dr. Daniel Trainor is an established internet marketer and mentor. To find out how Dr. Trainor can help you make money online go to Wealth Magnet

How to Create a Viral Blog

By: Glen Hopkins

If you're ready to enter the world of blogging, you have lots of options available to you. One is Blogger. Blogger is a simple and easy way to get started for free. It's a service provided by Google and geared toward beginners. This is a good option if you are new to the world of blogging.

Wordpress is also free and extremely flexible. It builds your entire site for you, allows you to use or modify existing designs and lets you create as many categories as you choose. It also integrates RSS (more on this in a moment) into your site automatically.

Another option is Movable Type. This publishing system is the most popular business publishing platform and has many features a system such as Blogger lacks. This is a more professional program and is a paid service.

Typepad is an alternative paid blogging service. They host many of the world's most popular blogs and are easy to use.

It doesn't matter which service you choose. The important thing is to pick one and get a blog started as soon as possible. But unless your blog posts contain a combination of certain components, you can not and should not expect it to become a viral blog.

People simply won't talk about blogs that bore them, so you must give people something to talk about. You do that by keeping these five things in mind when writing your blog posts:

--Candor: be blunt, bold and truthful. Say exactly what you mean without trying to "beat around the bush." When you're honest and straightforward, people know exactly what to expect from you. They may not always agree, but they will respect you for your frankness.

--Urgency: be in demand NOW. Create a sense of urgency within your posts by being the first to break a news story within your niche, introduce a new product or interview an expert. Give people a reason to visit your blog immediately.

--Timeliness: be relevant. Keep up with the news of the day in the world, in your area and especially in your niche. Know the current trends and use your posts to enter the conversations people are already having. No one wants to read an outdated blog.

--Concise: be brief and to the point. Your readers don't have time to scroll through pages and pages of content. They're in a hurry AND have lots of other sites to choose from. But if you can save them time by getting straight to your point within a few paragraphs, they'll keep coming to you for information.

--Controversy: be different. Challenge the status quo. Talk about issues others in your niche are afraid to discuss. The best way to generate traffic is to stir people's emotions, especially when those emotions are anger and fear.

If your blog posts contain at least four of these five components, you are creating the right kind of content that has the power to attract massive traffic to your website.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Glen Hopkins specializes in teaching struggling entrepreneurs how to turn their small Online businesses into thriving money machines all while working less and earning more. To get more information, including Free Reports, Videos and CDs, visit: www.GlenHopkins.name

4 Great Blogging Tips For The Freelancer

By: Jo Han Mok

Blogging is one of the best ways to start a Freelancer business because it is so easy to get going. However, that does not mean that it is easy to make money from your blog. Don't start a blog and expect to see money rolling in immediately.

Blogging is an activity that will take time to build up to a profit level. It's a good thing to start while you are working on other Freelancer opportunities to let it build to a profitability level. With time and attention, your blog (or blogs) will grow into a business.

When you are blogging for profit, you'll want to pay close attention to how you present yourself in your blog. There are literally hundreds of thousands of blogs out there, and there may be several hundred blogs that are related to your topic. If your readers can't understand your blog and have trouble reading it, they'll just move on to the next one. The following tips can make your blog more user-friendly and help you gain consistent readers.

1. First, pay close attention to the format of your blog. Readers want to understand how your blog works right from the start. Most blogging platforms have similar formats, with links and tags on the left or right margin, and the most recent post on top. Make sure to use the links wisely. Only put links up for blogs or content that is truly related to your blog's topic. The point is to give your readers additional information on your topic. Keep the list short and sweet. There is no reason to overwhelm them with links to other sites.

2. Also, take careful consideration when choosing your blog's background and font color. Although there are a lot of color choices that blogging programs offer, its best to stick with a light background and dark text. Studies have shown that the human brain can process this type of format better than light text on a dark background. Think about this before you commit to a black background and white text. It might look striking, but readers might not want to stay there for long. Also, use a solid background color instead of trying to use a pattern or design.

3. Proofread your entries before you post them to your blog. There is nothing that reduces your authority in the eyes of your readers more than bad spelling and grammar. The online world is a world of text, so take some time to learn commonly misspelled words and grammatical errors.

4. Keep your blog fresh and interesting by posting at least once per day. With so much information available on the Internet, your readers may go elsewhere if you aren't supplying daily content. If you aren't sure what to write about, try posting a poll, a link to another blog, comment on a news story or post a list of helpful tips. Not every post has to be long and complicated, but you do need to post something everyday.

These tips will help keep your blog readable and interesting to your visitors. The more visitors you get, the more your blog will grow in profitability and importance. Just make sure to present yourself in a professional way and keep your readers coming back for more new content each day. In no time, you'll have a profitable blog and then you can move on to create two or three.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Jo Han Mok is the author of the #1 international business bestseller, The E-Code. He shares his amazing blueprint for creating million dollar internet businesses at: www.InternetMillionaireBlueprints.com

Six Easy Steps to Making Money with Your Blog

By: Don James

I'm going to give you 6 quick pointers on how to optimize your blog to drive traffic and hopefully earn some extra Adsense and affiliate income.

One huge benefit of using blogging as a means to create your site vs. trying to build your own is the ability to monetize your content immediately and not have to worry about page layout, graphics, hosting, domain names, and content management. This is a massive time saver when using the free bloggers such as Blogger or Wordpress hosting. The downside is that you cannot fully control the fine tuning of your site for specific optimizations. Nevertheless, you must let go of this desire and focus on your content - which is a very good thing.

So, let's start with the key topics you need to consider when optimizing a blog:

1. The Blogging Service
2. Layout
3. Links
4. Keywords
5. Traffic
6. Site Tricks

1. The Blogging Service - this is a very important choice because some of the free blogging services do not allow you to place context ad such as AdSense on the free blogging service (they allow it if you host your own blog). Because of this I strongly recommend using Blogger as your free service since it is easy to use and is ad friendly.

2. Layout - since you are using a free service you must get over the desire to control your site. Let go! Most free blogging sites allow you to tweak the layout somewhat. There are some tricks you can use to easily keep your site a blog but at the same time add sections as if you were on your own site. For example, keep one blog entry for all of your favorite external links and descriptions. This is where you can continue your link sharing with other sites and continually add new ones. Now, add a specific link to this article on the sidebar so that there is a direct reference when the article gets archived. That way any readers will always find the article links and not have to search or stumble upon it. (Note, you can use this same technique for additional pages that refer to specific topics so that you have a directory of topics on your sidebars).

3. Links - besides the links I noted in #2 you should always use plenty of linking from within every article you publish. The internet values links and the more you use from your blog entries the better. Other sites pay attention to who's linking to them and when they see a referral in their logs your appreciation level increases. Also, add your favorite affiliate and topic links to your sidebars.

4. Keywords - I cannot stress the importance of this but I'm not going to go into detail on keyword identification other than to say that each blog entry should focus on a SEO keyword phrase or name - especially the title. Be sure to use your titles carefully and use the same keywords in your entry. This will mark the blog entry to the keyword topic (remember, each blog entry is a separate web page that can be indexed). Also, be sure to include the keyword near the end of the blog entry as well.

5. Traffic - don't forget to promote your blog to drive traffic! Use all the means possible to do this - forums, articles, reprint rights, etc. Be sure to post well written comments on other highly ranked blog sites. However, don't make the mistake and write only a quick comment. Always write your responses in a way that is interesting and direct to the point. There's enough free material out there to do this!

6. Site Tricks - another simple technique is to place hard coded links to your favorite blog entries and articles in the bottom of the Blog template. That way it will show up on every page. Eventually you can make this your site map which is very important to the search engines. The last thing you want is your blog links to be archived!!

And, of course, don't forget to add your AdSense sections.

Just by completing these 6 simple tasks you can get your blog monetized in no time at all!

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Don James is an internet developer and online marketer. Discover a easy way to make your sites or blogs profitable with Honest Riches at Holly Mann - Smart Woman vs. Rich Jerk

Article Marketing To Promote Your Blog

By: Marilyn Roberts

Writing articles to promote your blog is a free and most effective way to advertise your site. With quality content in your articles you will not only receive traffic to your site but also a lot of back links. The back links will cause the search engines to notice you and send even more traffic as they consider this as the popularity of your site.

Placing your articles in article directories gives you the opportunity to have your articles republished on other websites which can create another flow of traffic to your blog. Between 400 and 600 words is a good length for a marketable article. Most people don't have the time to read a really long article, but if your content is compelling enough a longer article could be beneficial.

When writing your articles to be put in article directories you can use your author's bio to place your URL to direct people to your site. You need to make sure that your articles relate to the theme of your blog or these people will be disappointed and will not come back. The search engines would also not be happy if your article was about back pain and your blog's theme is internet marketing. You don't want to disappoint the search engines! They are your key to building a successful blog.

If you can't write, you can outsource your article writing to people who can write. You can just consider this as part of your advertising expenses. Articles written for you can be as low as $5.00 each but usually you will get a better quality article by paying more for it. Doing a search on Google will bring you your pick of article writers in many different price ranges.

The content that you already have on your blog can be utilized to generate traffic by turning it into articles. Group together two or more of your posts to make a good article and submit it to the article directories. If you are worried about duplicate content, then you can do some minor rewriting and have some fresh articles to submit.

You can place Google Adsense on your blog for your article marketing traffic to click on and bring you some income. Your Adsense ads will be relevant to your theme and therefore your targeted traffic will be more likely to click on the ads. Google pays a certain percentage to the owner of the blog every time an ad is clicked by a visitor.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Join the growing blogging trend and visit www.bloggingabcs.blogspot.com for more articles and tips to help in your article marketing to promote your blog and make your site successful.

The Three Keys to Blogging Success

By: Glen Hopkins

While you don't need to understand the software that creates your blog, you do need a basic understanding of how the blogging system works. Then you can make the system work for you and generate lots of traffic. The three main things you need to know about are RSS feeds, pinging and trackbacks.

One of the best features of blogs are RSS feeds. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is critical in the "blogosphere." Why? Because it allows you to alert the world every time you update your blog.

As a blogger, you don't have to know html code to create an RSS feed. Blogging tools automatically create these files for you. By having your content available in RSS, readers have the option to subscribe to your RSS feed.

Then every time you update your site, the feed alerts them that your blog has new content for them to read. When you have new content, they want to visit your blog to find out what you have to say. It's like having a syndicated column online!

Pinging is another way to attract traffic to your blog. Many services such as Ping-o-Matic scan and publish recently updated blogs. And they know your blog has been updated when they receive a PING from you.

A ping is like knocking on the door of another website. This site answers your knock by visiting your site, grabbing the content and posting it on their site. So the more sites you ping, the more references you get. And the more references you get, the more traffic comes your way.

To make use of the blog-and-ping method of generating traffic, set up the sites you want to ping before you make any posts. Your blogging provider should allow you to select all the update services you want to ping every time you post. Once this is done, pinging occurs automatically each time you add a new blog post.

Finally, trackbacks. This is an automatic link to a blog that has commented on your blog. When you activate this feature, you (and your readers) can track who has been talking about you and what they are saying.

Trackbacks are the links that hold blogs together. Through these links, readers can navigate their way through the blogosphere and track everything that's being said in their area of interest.

Keep in mind, though, that RSS feeds, pinging and trackbacks only help you generate traffic if you update your blog often. So start making a habit of posting to your blog on a regular basis.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Glen Hopkins specializes in teaching struggling entrepreneurs how to turn their small online businesses into thriving money machines all while working less and earning more. To get more information, including Free Reports, Videos and CDs, visit: www.GlenHopkins.name

Discover Ways To Earn Money Online Using A Blog

By: Loretta Miller

There are several ways you can earn money using a blog. One way is with Affiliate Sales which is promoting another person's product where you get paid a commission.

Another way is with Adsense which is where you have advertisements for other people's products put on your blog and you are paid when a visitor clicks on this ad.

Yet another way is with direct sales where you are selling your own product or a product that you have the resell rights to.

If your plan of action is to use Affiliate Sales, you need to find two or three related affiliate programs to join. A few of the places to check for affiliates is Clickbank, Commission Junction or PayDotCom. There are several others that are also available. You can find these by use one of the search engines such as Google.

To get traffic to your site, you can write articles pertaining to the niche that you are designing your blog around or you could write reviews pertaining to the affiliate program that you are promoting. If you are going to write a review, give an honest review. Point out the main features or benefits of the product, but also list any drawbacks of the product. You will earn the respect of your visitor if your review is honest.

If you are using direct sales of your own product, you can either sell directly from your blog or direct your visitor to your website or online store. Either way, you would proceed using the same method, i.e. write articles regarding the product or products that you are promoting or have resale rights to, or write a review. Again, be sure the review is honest. You want your visitors to become regular, repeat visitors.

If you plan on using your blog for Adsense, the easiest way is to use Google's Adsense program. You need to set up your blog targeting one niche or topic.

Let's say you start a blog regarding pets. Google would then place ads on your site that pertain to all types of pets. For example, they could put an ad on your blog pertaining to dogs, cats, horses, fish, snakes, pet supplies or even veterinary services. The amount you earn depends a lot on the amount of traffic you receive.

One of the best ways to get traffic is to write articles and publish them on your blog and by submitting them to the article directories. Another way would be to post comments on one of the various forums pertaining to pets. By adding your blog URL in your signature block, you will be creating back links to your blog. This method of obtaining advertisers requires very little work on your part. You just have to keep the blog updated with current information to keep visitors coming for more.

Another way to obtain advertisers for your Adsense blog is to obtain them yourself. You sell the advertising directly to companies who want to place a sponsored ad or link on your blog. They may also want to place a banner ad. While this method is more time consuming, it can also earn you more money because you keep all of the revenue. There is no dividing or splitting the revenue with Google or anyone else.

The main problem with this method is that you need to have a large amount of traffic coming to your blog before you will find many companies that would be interested in advertising with you. To obtain the traffic, you use the same method of writing articles and submitting them to the article directories, and by posting comments on various forums related to your niche.

It doesn't matter what type of blog you want to have. In order to maintain a continuous flow of traffic, you need to keep the search engines happy by continually updating the information on it. Always make sure that the content is of high quality, is unique, is pertinent, and most of all informative. The search engines will love your blog if you keep them well fed with great information. The more you feed them, the more they will visit. The more they visit, the higher your blog placement will be on the result pages.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Loretta Miller has a site where the goal is to help people increase the traffic to their website. http://www.increasesalesinfo.com