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How to Have a Focused Business Blog

September 1st, 2009

Your business blog is probably the single most important tool you can use to gain added traffic to your business and/or your business website. Whether your business blog is part of your website or a separate entity, it is important to know how to focus your blog to help drive customers to it which, in turn, ultimately drives customers to your business.

A focused blog is one that has a specific purpose. Your business blog’s specific purpose it to get others to want to buy your products and/or services. Therefore your business blog should include lots of details about your business including: stories about how your company began, how you came to be the owner of it, where it’s located (if it’s brick and mortar), etc.

In order to have a focused business blog, you want to avoid getting into too much personal stuff. Some is good and valuable, as it connects your customers to you, but you want to avoid venting about your personal life, your family members and so on. If your business is family owned, obviously you want your customers to know this, and it is valuable to include in your business details.

Your business blog should naturally talk about what sales or specials you have going on currently and should link directly to the sales page on your website. If you don’t have a website, then your blog is the place to post all the details about the sale or special and directing them to your place of business.

Details of the services you offer are another great way to focus your blog. If you’re adding a service to your business, your business blog is the place to get the word out to the public. Also if you’re discontinuing a service your blog can let your customers know this as well.

You can write a single blog post about a specific product by talking about how your product can help them, whether it’s for personal use or business. You can also create posts about an entire line of products that you carry, as a series of posts. The more your readers know about a product or line of products the more apt they are to purchase.

Another very important aspect of a focused business blog is to let your readers and customers know you are there for them. The whole point of your business, of any business for that matter, should be to help others in their personal or business lives. Talk about what you have to offer as being a way to help them succeed in whatever they’re doing. Show your customers how your products and services can help them. By doing this you’re creating clients that will continue to return to not only your blog, but your business as well because they know they can count on you and that you’re there to help them and not just for your personal gain.

As you continue to build your blog, you will be building your business as well. By having a focused business blog and using specific key words in your titles and posts, you will soon be driving the traffic you want to your business blog, which in turn will drive them directly to your business!

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Get even more tips to get your blog going properly in the “How To Increase Your Business Income With A Blog” Report.

Popularity: 31% [?]

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9 Sure-Fire Ways to Build Links

May 19th, 2009

If you spend any amount of time building web sites and getting backlinks for them, you’ll undoubtedly come across several people that will gladly share their link building strategies. The catch is that these strategies rarely work for everybody. It may take a little longer, but there are some strategies that are like black shoes. They always work and never go out of style. Here are some of them so you know what to do when the latest fad strategy isn’t working for you:

1. Press Releases:

Send out press releases related to your niche along with inline anchor text links. That will help with your search engine rankings.

2. Related Niche Directory Submissions:

Get your links from related directories first, and you’ll boost the relevancy of your backlinks.

3. Bookmarking Sites:

These are a great way to get permanent links, but be careful about spamming them. Get your account deleted, and you’ll lose everything you’ve built.  Social networking sites are becoming an increasingly useful tool for link building.

4. Forums:

Find forums related to your niche and start making posts. You might even find some forums full of people that will be more than willing to help you start out your business. Make posts, participate in a variety of threads, and get yourself known (or at least recognized), and people are bound to see your links. Pretty simple, but again, try not to spam them. Some forums are very strict about spam and other unwanted
content- some even go so far as to change the content of your posts and leave your name up- read: spam a forum, shoot yourself in the foot.

5. Directory Listings:

Find good directories- ones that have lots of bad links won’t help you much.

6. Blog Reviews:

Find blogs related to your site and post comments on them- get your name out there.

7. Yahoo Answer:

Write related articles; search engines crawl here all the time.

8. Submit Articles:

You can get a lot of traffic by submitting your articles either to article directorys or ezine publishers.  You need to make sure that you have an effective resource box at the end of your article with a link to your site.

9. Blog on Your Site:

Regular blog updates using anchor text keywords helps your site rank higher on search engines as well as driving traffic to your site.

These link building strategies have shown their usefulness time and time again, with varying degrees of success. Play with them and see which one works best for you and your niche.

Popularity: 63% [?]

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Don’t Try To Rank For Everything You Write!

March 30th, 2009

This is a great article that could save you a lot of time and hearache with your blogging.

Read it and take notes!

Article By Jack Humphrey

One of the biggest reasons people tend to think blogging is more work than it actually is, is because they think you have to “knock it out of the park” with every post.

That puts a lot of pressure on you to do all sorts of things with each post which are unnecessary and definitely makes for less regular posting after awhile.

For example: I am writing this post to you, my reader.  I am writing it to tip you off on an important idea that will help you.  I don’t need to rank for some specific keyword on this post.  The purpose is to provide something of value for the readers I already have.  And, for new readers who find this post because they came here from another post I did put some SEO into to get them here.

Regular readers get a bit of help and new readers see how I take care of my regular readers and bookmark me for later (hopefully).

The key is to chill out about blogging in general.  Most of the time you just need to write.  Damn the search engines and all that SEO!  You are only ever going to rank high for a small percentage of your post and pages even if you DO work your butt off on each and every one to hit the right keywords and get links.

So take care of your readers.  Do not let a great idea for a post go to waste simply because you think it’s going to take you all day to get the thing perfect for the engines.  Write it.  If it starts to rank on page 3 or 4 in Google, come back and re-optimize it to get it to the top 10.

Posts You Want To Spend More Time On

Linkbait: research, super quality writing and layout of the post

Affiliate: When you review a product and want to rank right up with or above the product owner for keywords.  I always try to land a top 10 position with “ review” when I want to get a ton of traffic from people looking for product reviews of certain internet marketing products.

Posts You Need to Just Write and Get Done!

This should be the majority of your posting.  Make a good title.  Throw a keyword in the first paragraph.  But WRITE!

Utility Posts: Also known as Speedlinking.  Where you link to a bunch of other bloggers or resources to get posting done for the day and let your peers do the hard work that day.  While you look like a hero for pointing out good stuff to your readers.

Notes to your readers: Like this one.  Although it’s turned into a longer post, you can just use your blog like Twitter and post very short, helpful ideas, links, videos, or other snippets.  Just make your readers aware that you care.  New people who discover your blog from the posts you DO rank in the engines for will see that you are attentive and not always trying to just get more readers without caring about supporting your regular readers.

You’re Going to Love Blogging More…

…if you chill out about trying to rank for everything you write!

—About Jack Humphrey—

Jack Humphrey is the editor of the Friday Traffic Report.  He teaches blog marketing, social marketing, and link building strategies.  Stop by and subscribe to his blog at http://www.jackhumphrey.com.

Popularity: 67% [?]

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Five Tips to Managing Time with Your Blog

September 22nd, 2008

By Liz Tomey

So you want to start a blog but you are afraid you do not have the time to devote to it? If
you want to have your own space on the internet and have the opportunity to show your
inner self to the world, blogging may be the answer. Consider these five tips to making
your blog as time efficient as it is exciting.

1. First of all, you may want to consider setting up a community blog. A community
blog is one that is run by many people who are like minded, instead of simply by one
individual. This helps to eliminate the needs for constant posting by one person. With
several people comprising a team of bloggers, each person can post a couple of times a
week and result in a blog that is relatively active.

2. If you do not want to create a blog with a community of bloggers working together,
you can also choose to hire a team of bloggers. This is similar to the way newspapers use
contributing authors for articles. In fact, many successful blogs are successful because
they do just that. This helps to insure active posting and timely posting, thus making
your blog more appealing to visitors. This also helps to increase your audience because
each blogger will bring with it his or her own group of influence. Like this idea but not
sure about the expense? You can offset the cost by allowing the display of Adsense
advertisements. This can, in fact, even turn out to be a profit making venture as well.

3. Next, you can recycle content to save time. Search for relevant articles on your
topic(s) and break them down into segments appropriate for a blog. You can also use
partial interviews and other things. Consider selecting a longer piece and breaking it
down into smaller blogs that could last a week. You can set this up and post parts daily
as a series.

4. Another way to save time is to use audio in your blog. Some people simply find it
easier to speak into a microphone than to write something. It is perfectly acceptable to
mix things up and use a variety of both in your blog. Use an MP3 recorder or phone to
record your blogs. This is convenient for those who stay on the go or those who are held
up in traffic or an unexpected meeting. You can record thoughts as soon as they come to
you instead of having to wait and try to remember it all later.

5. Finally, you can automate your blog. Many blog programs allow you to create blogs
ahead of time to be published at a future date and time. So, if you have some free time,
you can create blogs for the rest of your week. Automate them to post each day, and your
blog remains updated with no extra work on your part. This can be a huge timesaver if
you do not have to sit at the computer to type every single day. There are days when we
do not have enough time or space to say everything we want to say. There are other days
when we would prefer not to talk at all. Instead of having several entries on one day and
then nothing for the next two or three days, you can write it all at once and have it post
each day.

Liz Tomey runs http://www.BigWebBlogs.com where you can submit your blog for incredible exposure at no cost! Check out our latest blogs on make money blog today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Tomey

Popularity: 15% [?]

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Increasing Website Traffic Through Blogs

September 2nd, 2008

By Liz Tomey

It is no secret that blogs can do amazing things for a business. Now we are beginning to realize just how powerful they are and how they can work to increase traffic to your website in no time. By implementing some of the strategies below, you can do this quickly and easily.

What is a blog? It is a place for you to share your thoughts, ideas, and vision to the world. Reading blogs has become a hobby for many, and they use it to glean information on various topics. If you can hook in these readers, you could potentially have up to one million website visitors a day!

First of all, you need to be aware of the template used to create the look of your blog. Create a large banner to be placed in the center of the top of the page. This shows people quickly what the blog is about and who is running it. This can be a great hook to catch people from the first time they view your site.

Choose carefully the look of your site because a person’s initial impression will come solely from how aesthetically pleasing your blog is. If you do not want to take the time to create your own template, you can find many templates available online that are free or cost a very small amount. Use your favorite search engine to find these templates and look around until you find the one that is perfect for you.

Next, you need to work on content for your site. What is content? Content refers to the articles or postings that you write and publish on your blog. You can use some sort of blogging software that will help you in easily creating content and publishing it. You can also scour the internet for article sites that will provide content at little or no cost and will allow you to post these on your site. Having relevant content will help your site maintain a strong readership by always offering them something new and interesting.

Finally, you can use pinging services to help draw people to your website. Pinging notifies the most popular search engines each time you make a change to your blog. This helps to move your blog up in the ranks of popular websites, making it higher on the list of ones which viewers find first. You can find a number of websites that offer pinging services for free, so look around before selecting one.

There is no way to create a successful blog overnight. It is a combination of hard work and interesting content. If you will take the time to create a unique template, write strong content, and use available pinging services, you will have no trouble increasing website traffic over time. It is important to stay focused and not allow yourself to get discouraged too quickly. Once you build a readership, you will be able to keep them as long as you are regular with postings and make sure that the information you provide is relevant.

Liz Tomey runs http://www.BigWebBlogs.com where you can submit your blog for incredible exposure at no cost! Check out our latest blogs on blog web hosting today!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Tomey

Popularity: 17% [?]

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Duplicate Content Isn’t The End Of The World!

August 27th, 2008

By Liz Tomey

So many people are running out buying this software and that software to make private label content unique. Well, it’s time to put your credit card away and listen up. You don’t have to buy any software or membership. There are just a few things you need to do to protect pages that you place articles or private label content on.

The first thing you should do is always design your own site layouts. Don’t use templates that have been used by 100’s of other people. This way it ensures that your layout is original, and the search engines wont see it as duplicate content. You’ll also need to make sure that the meta tags for each page are different. Have a different title for each page is very important.

Now that you know what to do with the actual pages of your sites, let’s talk about making the content unique to your site.

If you’re using an article you only have reprint rights to, you can’t change the article, but you can: 1. Add your own introduction to the article. If you need more keyword density than the article has put those keywords into the introduction you write for that article.

2. Put text advertising in the middle of your article. Design it so that there is a box around the advertising. By doing this it makes the advertising stick out from the article so there is no doubt it’s NOT part of the article to your visitors.

3. Add a comments box under the article where visitors can comment on the article. This allows your visitors to build your unique content for you. Their comments will become part of the pages content.

4. Add your own conclusion to the article. Again, this is another great place to add your targeted keywords to.

If you are using content that you have private label rights to on your sites, you still need to do the same changes that we just talked about to it also. It’s easier to change private label content because you can edit it however you would like.

Using already created content is great, but to really succeed with it, you need to take the time to make it unique to your site. Yes, it does take time, but it will pay off for years to come. It will give your sites staying power and those that don’t follow the advice here will continue to struggle as their sites get dropped from the search engines.

Liz Tomey is the owner of http://www.AdsenseGirl.com where she reveals several adsense secrets that hundreds of people are using every day to make their sites profitable with Google Adsense ads. Visit her site for the free report!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Tomey

Popularity: 14% [?]

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Setting Your Blog Apart From the Rest

August 25th, 2008

By Liz Tomey

Spend just a few minutes searching the web, and you will find an overwhelming number of blogs on just about any topic imaginable. With so many blogs available, it can be difficult to make yours stand out above the rest. Whether you are starting out with a new website or you want to make your current blogging website more noticeable, there is a foundation for the creation and upkeep of both. Capturing the interest and attention of readers is your ultimate goal, and this goal can be reached by finding your area of expertise or your niche. Providing information on a topic of interest that will fill a void left by other blogs can help you to build a group of readers who will stay interested. Don’t get me wrong – you will still have to work to make your blog appealing, but if you find the special place where your voice can be heard, you will find success.

Obviously, every outstanding blog must begin with an outstanding idea. It is impossible to create a site that will last if you do not have one. Take a look an some good existing blogs and you can easily see why competition in this area is so fierce. To make your blog stand out in this very visible crowd, you have to be able to offer readers something that no one else can at the moment. This may mean you offer up a totally new idea, or it can mean that you may use a topic that is already available but you offer it up in a unique or more impressive sort of way.

Throughout the process of setup, it is very important that you take the time to research existing blogs and know what is out there. Understanding your competition is the key to being successful. One way to find a perfect model for your own blog website is to spend time looking at sites that have already built up an audience for themselves. You can often incorporate many of their strategies and ideas into your own blog. However, keep in mind that you will still need to add your own personality and beat to make your blog stand out. Most blog readers agree that it a unique flair that draws them to blog sites. They tend to become repeat readers of a blog that shows the creators personality and interests and is written in that blogger’s own voice. This applies both to the design and layout of the site and to the content featured there.

After you have decided on the perfect idea, spend time deciding what special niche you are going to be able to fill. Remember that it needs to be something you care about, something you are genuinely interested in, to keep the blog going. If you write about something that you are not fully engrossed in, you will not be able to maintain the attention and excitement in that project. Readers can sense a blogger’s enthusiasm and knowledge immediately through the blog.

In the end, though, a good idea alone will not send you to the top of the blogging success list. You also have to create for yourself a marketing scheme that is realistic and will attract readers to your site. Once you get them there, enthusiastic and knowledgeable content will keep them there. Remember, though, that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Take time out to get started in the beginning with an attractive site, follow up with great content, and enjoy blogging success!

Liz Tomey runs http://www.BigWebBlogs.com where you can submit your blog for incredible exposure at no cost! Check out our latest blogs on blogging free site today!

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Popularity: 9% [?]

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