There is no doubting the success of Google's Adsense program. Even Yahoo! and Kanoodle have joined in on the game, offering to join publishers with advertisers. Given the right circumstances, its a win / win situation for both.
There have been many sites that promote Top Paying Keywords and how if you add these keywords you can instantly improve your Adsense revenue. Click Here to improve your keywords. However, if you really want to see a dramatic increase in pay per clicks, you need to ensure 2 very important areas are addressed. They seem very obvious, but many site owners miss the opportunity to attract higher paying ads simply because they ignore these two areas.
Optimization
Many "would be" web designers decide to build a site around the highest paying keywords, yet, forget to optimize their site around a specific keyword. Instead, they forget the basics of how to properly create a title tag, page description, keyword density and having clean search engine spider friendly code.
Remember, its the source code that the Adsense and Kanoodle programs are using to decide what ads will appear. If your top 2 keywords are "insurance" and "downloads", you may find that you end up with ads regarding "insurance downloads" which of course will not pay much.
Also, having a high keyword density score for the keyword can get you into trouble with the search engines (specifically Google). Keywords spamming is never a good idea.
Optimize your page and you will search more hits to that page and not confuse the bots that create the ads for you.
Content
This is by far the most important and most missed tips. If you are going to include top paying keywords on your site, remember, if you want to attract high paying ads, you need to be selling your visitor on what your advertiser wants. Your content should sell to the visitors needs. Why should your visitor consider car insurance? What are the benefits of car insurance? Where can they get the best quotes? If you pique the interest of your visitor, they are more likely to click on your ads than if they feel that they are not getting the information they came to your site for in the first place.
Your content should have a specific flow to it. If you start jamming keywords into your content, your visitor will automatically suspect that you are trying to deceive them. Once you do that, they are gone! Why waste your visitors time after working so hard to get them to your site in the first place?
Well optimized, focused content will always produce better, higher paying ads. That is why you are a publisher: you want those high paying ads on your site. What use though are those high paying keywords if your content doesn't pique your visitors curiosity? Be passionate about your content, and the click through rates will skyrocket!
Its also important to make sure that you are using the right number of ads per page, but that is for another article!
How to Make Money From Your Blog
Planning
To start with, before you do anything elso do the following.
1. Sign up with a free blog host such as Blogger or Wordpress or Livejournal to name just three. ( Note that for a blogger account you will need to have a Google or Gmail account to sign up for a free blog.)
2. During the sign up process you will be asked to choose a theme design for your blog. You will have a dozen or so themes to choose from at this stage. Choose a basic theme as you will probably be changing it later when you realize how easy it is to do that.
3. Once the sign up process is complete start adding content to your blog in the content areas of your blogs template.
4. Start adding links to other places to your blog.
5. Ad Google Adsense to your blog page using the gadget wizard provided. Do not over due the amount of ads you put on the page.
6. Include text links in your text where possible.
7. Edit and refine the formatting and heading structure of the page.
8. Start preparing fresh content for your blog. You will need to continually add fresh, original content.
Creating a blog or a website doesn't have to be complex. It isn't in fact. With a planned approach you can be up and on the Internet a lot quicker than you would think. This page is a chapter by chapter overview of an entire guide which is accessed on the right side of this page. If you have never set up a blog or a website before I recommend starting on this page. Go through each overview one by one.Take notes. Use Google. A lot. Use any of the resources on this page as you need them. If you are strictly looking to monetize your blog Click Here. This guide offers more than just the the knowledge to set up your own blog or site. It also offers the possibility of making money from your blog or website. If you already have a blog or website up and running and are looking for ideas on how to monetize your site or blog then I suggest targeting the specific information you need by complete chapter.
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This site deals with getting started. Planning is the most important step whether you are putting up a one-page blog or an entire website. That's why it's the first step. If you are putting up a blog, what is your subject matter? Will it be informative? Will it be a personal blog? If it's a website how many pages will the site have and for what purpose? The list is long and the considerations are many. Do research first. Do this while the excitement level of the whole process is still high. Every hour of research you do at this stage counts towards a great end result as well as direct earnings later on. That cannot be stressed enough at this early stage. Put on a pot of whatever it is you like to drink and settle in for the long haul. A lot of us start projects and do not finish them. It's simply human nature. However, if you use some common sense, put in the required effort....you will make money.
How much money any given person earns in any venture is proportional to the work put in. Read. Write down a list of things you need to learn. Research and read some more. Look at other examples of blogs and websites. Make notes of what works and what doesn't on a typical page. After great consideration then and only then start to think about your own page or site. Decide on content if you haven't already. You more than likely have a good idea what you want to write about or sell or offer.Think about what you are going to write to attract people to your page. Does that content fit well with the theme or page design you have chosen? Keep the contents of your blog or site fresh and up to date.
It is very important at this stage to plan for ads as well as text links. Will your blog have ads? If so does the layout allow for them? There are more ways than simply using flashing ads on a page to advertise. Text links and referral sites and programs like the LinkShare UK Referral Program
are another addition or option to consider adding to your blog or site. Use all of the resources that have been included in the guide and on this page to help you accomplish this. Remember that the entire process takes time and patience. Do not rush things here. Be very critical of what and how you decide to write. The reader is also very critical after all. If you are designing your own page layout or blog sketch it out with good old pen and paper first. Play with it for a while. After making a decision on a design explore two more additional designs. This reduces the chances of you needing to make wholesale changes to the basic design of your page after you have published it. Like all pages that are not static you ideally want the basic layout of your page to stay the same always, but allow for formatting and element changes that you will need to make on a regular basis. In order to see any potential earnings you must realize that you will be putting in a lot of hours of work and a lot of research in order to see revenue from your page or blog. If you follow these instructions and are patient and stick with it, you will make money from your page. Are you in for the long haul?
Blog Content
The focus of this chapter is Content. The single biggest consideration in this whole process so do not just "throw anything up for now" and fix it as you go. Nobody likes ending up at a site that is "under construction" when they are looking for something on the Internet. Nobody goes back to that site either by the way.
Have all of your text editing and formatting completed before you start adding it to your page. Proof read everything too many times. Do not skimp or simply 'flesh out' your page or site either. Most people who come to your page will be looking for very specific information. If they cannot find or see this information right away they will leave your page.
Think about what you have written or are writing. Is the topic easily up datable? Will you need to update the content to keep it fresh or will you have to replace it completely on a regular basis? Will you be allowing people to comment on your writing or article? If this is a blog we are talking about then you should consider allowing comments as this is another way to bring traffic and subscribers to your page or site. Consider putting your content in chapter form so you can easily submit chapters as articles to ezine websites and other blog directories. Naturally your article would contain a link to your site or blog which would increase the exposure and traffic to it. This is one way of making your blog or websites content work for you. Like all good stories or articles, use a declarative opening statement at the beginning of your content. This text is usually the text you see directly underneath the name of a listed website in search results. If the blog or website has no added description in its page code this "opening text" is used as a description for your blog or website when someone does a search for it.
About the content of your blog or website. By content I mean the main body or bodies of text on the page or throughout the website. You either have awesome material that you've written or awesome material that you are going to write. Be topical. Do some basic research. For instance, what are some of the most popular search terms used on search engines? Can or does your material relate well to those searched out terms? The more it is the more people will search out and find your page. Here's the problem. There are a lot of great subjects to write about and a ton of talented people out there writing about them right now and they ALL have blogs as well. So how do you make your blog stand out? How do you attract people to what you are saying or what you have to offer?
Well,you start with a great topic and write about it. Be very critical of what you are writing. Make it shine. Use chapter form where ever possible. Spellcheck a dozen or so times, (you'll still find the odd this or that after a dozen or so checks). Once you are absolutely sure it looksgood then and only then add it to your page.
The next thing to consider is,will you be refreshing your material and if so, how often and by how much? If you are planning on refreshing your content then don't skimp. Go all the way. Write a ton of material if you can, being as critical as ever. If you do yourself a favor and write now while you have the opportunity to, you'll be able to completely refresh your material with just a few mouse clicks when ever you want or need to. Fresh content is another reason for people to come back to your website or blog. It is essential to keep people coming back.
If you are stuck for a topic or subject to write about I suggest first that you attempt to write about something you know.If that is not possible then try visiting a few ezine websites and peruse different subjects for possible ideas. Once again, do not forget to try and match your content to the most popular search terms used. Write about what otherpeople want to know if you do not want to write about what you know.
Formatting
How you present your subject matter to potential customers or readers is as important as the topic itself. Something as simple as a missed spelling
error on a simple word in the body of your text can and usually does keep people from ever reading any further. You need to constantly go over your
published material for any spelling, placement or grammatical errors that can find their way into your text. Your choice of font is also very important. Stay away from fancy or distracting fonts at all times. Arial,Georgia,Times New Roman,Verdana, don't stray too far from these common fonts. As for font color, the choices will be governed by your website or blogs background color. If you are using a background color other than white, be sure to choose an suitably contrasting color for the font that is easy on the readers eyes. Do not forget to break up larger bodies of text into more managable paragraphs. Keep your sentences short.
If you can use 5 words instead of 7 to say something, and nothing is lost in the translation by using only 5, then use only five. You will find that your text is clearer, easier to understand and more to the point.
At all times make sure you have used margins and indents where needed to keep the body of each paragraph centered and to give the reader a sense of
continuity and flow. Avoid the use of "flowery" speech where ever possible, remember to be lean in your style. Another mistake to make with your subject matter especially if it is an descriptive article is the over-use of exclamation points! I would avoid at all cost using such things as this and others examples like: "Did you know??" Keep your writing succinct and
sincere. Good writing is another indicator to the reader that you know what you are talking about. It can allow you to build up trust with your readers
or potential customers. Another thing that needs mentioning here and is covered more in a later chapter is word usage. Particularly the over use of
keywords and phrases in order to boost your sites rank. Don't do it. It is not productive and here is why. The over use of keywords in your text forces you to stray from the original subject matter. You end up writing to fit the keywords in and you end up with a poorly wriiten blog or text body that no one wants to read. If no one wants to read it then no one will come
to your blog or website and you will have gained nothing.
Heading Usage
If you have written a substantial amount of text then consider using headings throughout. Use keyword phrases where possible in your headings. For example; the heading 'Polarizing Lenses' sits atop the text covering that specific subject. Somewhere in this text is the two word phrase "polarizing lenses". The reason for doing this is that when your site or blog is 'crawled' by a search engine, headings are examined as well. Headings that contain keywords pertaining to your site improve your blogs over all search results. Once more breaking your subject up like this allows you to easily put together articles from your material. The part of your text that talks about polarizing lenses was given its own heading. The heading easily becomes the title of your article. The paragraph regarding the lenses becomes the article itself.This method allows you to continually post different 'articles' from your blog or websites text. Formatting your text like this ahead of time allows you to take advantage of one of the best forms of advertising for your blog or site. Online Ezine article submissions. Add and refresh your text often with this in mind. Whatever the subject of your blog, whatever the content of your website, clearly written, properly formatted text and a subject that interests
people will be the best tool in your arsenal. There are a lot of ways of monetizing and improving the exposure and popularity of a blog or web page.
Your writing is the most important way of all. If you're putting up a blog remind yourself that the subject is the reason your here. If you are putting up a web page or website then remind yourself that the text on your site is your voice to your customer. It is your 'first impression'. In order to be successful you need to be aware of this at all times.
Summing up this topic is difficult due to the fact that there is so much you can do to improve the quality of your writing. If you are new to writing or simply have a difficult time trying to put it down on paper here are a few tricks. For most of us we know what we want to say, we just don't know how to say it. So, use an online thesuarus and dictionary for
starters. Look for free creative writing courses on the internet. Ezine websites are filled with tips and suggestions on how to improve your writing and writing style. Remember that again for almost all of us writing takes time and patience. Write and rewrite. Edit and be critical of yourself. Don't 'yell' out to your readers, ( unless of course your aim is to sell an enhancement product of some sort) with exclamation marks and crazy fonts and gimmicks. Be sincere. I am writing this article becuase I believe in what I am saying. I have taken an honest approach to this. I
have become successful at this because of this approach. At the end of the day it is ALWAYS the quality of your approach that seals the deal. Your
written words are your 'first impression' to the online world. So believe in what you are trying to say or what you are writing or trying to sell.
Choosing A Blog or Web Host
Today there are dozens of different web or blog hosting sites to choose from with the most popular
being Blogger and Wordpress and Livejournal to name just three of many. Use Google to search for the most popular blog hosting websites and take some time to look and see what each has to offer. Blogger and Wordpress offer free templates for you to use and edit on your own and there are also hundreds of websites that offer templates such as Infinity Remix WP Theme and others. Here too a basic search of the best website templates will yield hundreds of results. Finding a host that suits your needs can take some time. If you are building a website I suggest looking at Yahoo! Web Hosting or FatCow Web Hosting. Be sure to really look around. Be careful in choosing a host for your website or blog.For complete control of your blog you may want to have it hosted on a web server as you would a website. Remember too that website design more often than not requires more work due to multiple pages, CSS considerations and overall site structure. Things that you need to consider are, Will I be using a theme or template that comes with the blog or web host's services? Will I need to "upload" my custom theme to the blog host or web server?
Whois to check the availability of the domain name that you have chosen. Avoid checking for domain name availability at hosting sites. Some less reputable sites will "park" the name you are looking for and then try and charge you a fee for using it. At this point be prepared to be creative. The domain name you want may already be in use or may be "parked" by somebody else.
A question most people are left with after reading this chapter is "Should I pay for hosting or use a free service? Here is the answer to that question: if you are starting out new with a one page blog, then for the time being use a free host. If you are putting up a website there are a few different things to consider even if this is your very first site. For instance if your site is a common interest website a free hosting service is a great way to go. If however you are serious about retail, then you must have your own domain name as well as complete access to your site and the server it resides on. For that you will have to pay a fee. Again if you do your research you'll see that there are many inexpensive web hosting plans out there to choose from. It should also be noted that a lot of web hosting companies have what's called a "basic" package you can try for free, or a paid package usually called "premium" which entitles you to things such as support from the web host, email addresses,extra storage and privileges and so on.
Choosing a Design or Theme
There are several options when it comes to choosing a design or theme. You can choose from hundreds of pre-designed templates from sites like DreamTemplate and Arcsin Web Templates . You can design your own page and then upload it to the blog host or web host via FTP. Almost all blog hosting websites have ready to go templates that you can use for free. Do not rush into making a design choice. Research the different sites and templates that are out there. Make sure the template allows for easy"search engine optimization", a subject we will be covering in great detail further on in this article. Also it pays dividends to have a feed somewhere on the page as well. We'll be discussing feed aggregaters in more detail below. Choosing the right one can and should take time. Look for designs that are customizable; some blog hosting websites as well as web hosts have customizable templates but you do need a working knowledge of CSS in order to edit them. This is also true if you are designing a website using an external editor. Other's have drag and drop style editors that allow you to do basic editing only. Remember to consider things like ad placement,links,banners and your own header for the page.
It is at this stage where again we go back to your master list/plan that you created when we started. Are you going to monetize your blog or website? Have you decided to place ads on your page? If so, look closely at the templates. Where are the ads going to be placed relative to your text? On the right side? Left? You need to have either a very clear design plan now, or the template you are choosing has to have sections or columns for ad placement. Once you have done this the next thing you need to do is make sure that your blog or web page template is laid out in such a way that it makes it easier for major search engines to find relevant information from the body of your text. The best way to do this is to go with a two or three columned layout. This is not the only approach you can take, but it is the easiest to start with. As your blog matures and grows, or as your product offering grows and pages are added to your website your Internet savvy will have grown as well and you can consider making improvements to your theme or layout.
Consider optimizing your blog or website. Search engines use a small program called a "spider" to search through a page looking for keywords, links and for any changes that have been made to the page. This 'spider' doesn't look for things like graphics or banner ads or flash ads. It goes through your text. It goes through the main content of your page. It 'crawls' over your content. Good web site optimization begins here. Its all about text so if you have a lot to say, say it. A great main body of text on a page with good headings, text-links and good keyword usage is still the best way of improving your website or blogs search relevance. Avoid at every temptation the use of unethical methods to weigh your page for relevance. A ton of sites out there do it but are removed quickly from the search listings. Some SEO companies employ tactics that are considered unethical. Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo will detect these pages and remove them from their listings. I will not list the types of methods used by some people to falsely weigh their website or blog page. It pays to do this the right way. Your rank will improve because of it.
That being said, almost all blog hosts and web hosts have automated and optimized templates for things such as ad placement, links, banner etc. The process is set up in such a way that it is very easy to get your blog or website up and running. However, it is only when we know enough to take control of the blog or website ourselves that we truly start to realize any earnings from it. So, read. Research. Read some more. You will be glad you did.
Choosing A Topic or Focus
Choosing your topic or main focus. It's why you're reading this article in the first place. So let's make sure we go over all the relevant points of what does and what doesn't attract people to your page. Right off, as usual do more research on the topic you've chosen to write about. Even if you are passionate and are an expert on the subject you are writing about - do more research. Ask yourself; is there a niche for this topic? Is your topic topical? Are there many other blogs and websites devoted to the same topic that you are writing about? Can your subject matter be easily linked to affiliates? For example, if your blog is about photography, lenses in particular let's say, you would look for an affiliation with a lens reseller or manufacturer and post an ad or a linkback on your page. Some websites have an entire page devoted to listing links to their prospective partners.
The focus of this chapter is Content. The single biggest consideration in this whole process so do not just "throw anything up for now" and fix it as you go. Nobody likes ending up at a site that is "under construction" when they are looking for something on the Internet. Nobody goes back to that site either by the way. Have all of your text editing and formatting completed before you start adding it to your page. Proof read everything too many times. Do not skimp or simply 'flesh out' your page or site either. Most people who come to your page will be looking for very specific information. If they cannot find or see this information right away they will leave your page.
Think about what you have written or are writing. Is the topic easily up datable? Will you need to update the content to keep it fresh or will you have to replace it completely on a regular basis? Will you be allowing people to comment on your writing or article? If this is a blog we are talking about then you should consider allowing comments as this is another way to bring traffic and subscribers to your page or site. Consider putting your content in chapter form so you can easily submit chapters as articles to ezine websites and other blog directories. Naturally your article would contain a link to your site or blog which would increase the exposure and traffic to it. This is one way of making your blog or websites content work for you. Like all good stories or articles, use a declarative opening statement at the beginning of your content. This text is usually the text you see directly underneath the name of a listed website in search results. If the blog or website has no added description in its page code this "opening text" is used as a description for your blog or website when someone does a search for it.
How to Generate Revenue with Advertising
For a lot of bloggers and most website owners, bringing in a few extra dollars from their page or site is reason enough for doing it in the first place. We are going to go over the different ways and methods of generating income from things such as Google AdSense, Affiliates, Click-thrus, referrals and linkbacks to name just a few here. There is a section further down this page that details and summarizes monetizing your blog or website. Blog hosts such as Blogger, and Wordpress have templates that are generally set up to accept ads very easily on to the page. In the case of Blogger,Google AdSense integrates itself automatically into many of the templates that you can choose from when setting up your account. If you would like to use AdSense on your website or any other page you need to set up a google account. Do this if you don't already have a Gmail email address. Once you have a google account you can start using AdSense.
Another type of revenue stream from your blog to look into is an Affiliate program. This is where you agree to put an ad on your website or blog advertising some one else's product or website. Payments are usually made on a per-click basis and monies are paid out at set minimum amounts. Affiliate programs such as the Google Affiliate Network and GetLinks are a good place to start. Affiliate Bot also offers a wealth of information regarding tons of affiliates.
Next on the list: Text Link Ads. These are another good addition to any page. They are user-friendly and unobtrusive. They are easily placed and there are a number of websites offering text link services. I recommend checking out sites like TextLinkAds and Chitika to get a feel for what is out there. Remember Ad relevance. Are the ads you are placing on your blog or site relative to the content it contains?
Next: Companies such as WorldBE and Buzzerhut have banner exchange programs allowing you to earn money through referrals and click-throughs. In this category there are literally hundreds of choices so it shouldn't be that hard finding a company and product that is a good match for your blog or page. Again, relevant ad content is just as important as ad placement and should remain a first consideration. Use a program that you have on your computer like Paint, or photoshop or something similar to create banner ads about your blog or website. Create a few of them to submit to your banner exchange. If you don't have any of those mentioned programs on your computer there are quite a few online banner creation websites where you can create a banner for free. The banner you make for your blog or site is placed on different websites in exchange for an ad of theirs being place on yours. The horizontal banner ads you see on this page are part of a few banner exchange agreements. Once your blog or website is up and running keeping the revenue generating portion of your page relevant and refreshed becomes doubly important. Continually research more profitable and more effective ways to get more value for the space you are giving up to ads in order to prevent your profits from reaching a plateau.
Exposure Exposure Exposure
The three most important things to consider once your page is up and running. What do you do now? You have a great topic on a great layout that contains well placed and thought out ads as well as text links and an RSS feed. You have ways of garnering feedback from site visitors if only you had some. You must put the word out that your blog exists. Do some research on blog directory websites such as Bestblogs Blog Directory and The Bloghub Blog Directory or the Dmegs Web Directory. List your blog with these directories and others. Check out listings for other directories such as The Blog Catalogue. This next section covers the area where more than likely you will do most of your work and spend most of your time. That is of course if you truly want to be successful. The more effort you put into exposing and advertising your site the more you'll make. It really is that simple. You need to put a lot into this now and you also need to be patient. It takes time. There are a lot of ways to get exposure and to attract visitors to your site and we'll discuss most of them here and list almost all of them at the end of the article. For instance, comment on other peoples blogs or sites. Make sure to leave a link back to your blog or website. Answer yahoo questions on any topic that has anything to do with your content. Again as a source for this valuable information, leave a link back to your page. Write to other blog owners and enquire about mutual link exchanges that can benefit both.
Vote buttons like this one can allow visitors to your blog or website to vote your site higher in the search engine rankings.
Just four suggestions but all are very effective at bringing exposure. There is a complete checklist on this site for site submitting in the chapter area
At this stage of the game after all the work you have already put into this project of yours, this will be the easiest time to feel like you are bogging down with repetitive tasks. Hours and hours spent in front of the monitor filling out registration forms for blog directories...ezines for submitting your articles...requests for link exchanges and affiliate requests and on and on and on. Don't feel discouraged. Yes. It is a lot of work. It's worth it. After all this is where we "monetize" our site or blog. Your inbox will fill up. You'll need to organize new folders for things like affiliates. This is par for the course. This is when I personally do most of my serious coffeee drinking. When you think you have finally signed up for or subscribed to enough zines and directories; realize that you are only half way there. A very good indicator that you are at the half-way point in your quest for exposure will be your utter frustration at having to keep doing it! So keep at it.
Consider doing some or all of the following to get exposure for your blog or website.
- Write a tie-in article for an Ezine.
- Put together a Podcast.
- Submit an article to a Blog Carnival.
- Use Yahoo Answers to answer relevant questions and link back to your site.
- Submit your site to a social networking site such as Digg.
- Add a RSS Feed Subscribe button to your page.
- Use Search Engine Optimization to increse traffic.
- Leave comments on other sites and include the URL to yours.
- Use Twitter as a marketing tool.
- Tell your friends. Don't overlook this. Market to them as well.
- Become a Keyword and Tag expert.
Search Engine Optimization-SEO
This section deals with optimizing search results for your site. What is search engine optimization? It simply means that yo do everthing possible to improve your sites ranking in the major search engimes. Search Engine Optimization or SEO can help bring traffic to your site and their are a few different ways to go about the process. If you have'nt yet published your site or blog great.If your blog or site is already up you will have to do some editing and some possible element changes. It is highly recommended that you start your sites template with optimization in mind right from the very beggining. Do a lot of research here. Learn the terms and become familiar with how search engines work. This is another important step in the process and can also be labour intensive. THere are free online articles for you to read to get a handle on things and become familiar with the concept. You also need to become familiar with keywords. They are also another tool. You need to optimize for keywords that people actually use when they perform a search.Another good idea is to use key words in your title or URL when you can.
Three things to keep in mind here and they all fall under the category of optimization. Your blogs compelling content. Your proper use of keywords and their placement. Reciprocal links from other pages to yours. If you pay special atention to these three things your sites popularity will rise as well as your rankings in search engines. Use a column - styled page theme if you can. Use headings that contain keywords. Do all these things but do not over use keywords. Do not allow text links and keywords to write your story. Pages like this are un-interesting and attract few if any visitors.
Using a Sitemap
A sitemap of a website is like a directory listing of your website and all of its pages.Sitemaps are important because it guides people to the particular part of the website they that they are interested in. Sitemaps are also where search engines look at if somebody is looking for a particular keyword or phrase. If you have a sitemap, you can most likely be searched. Creating a sitemap is relatively easy.
With pen and paper map out your website. That is to say make a list starting with your home page and ending with the last, or 'deepest'
page on your site or blog. Include on this draft, all the links that are on your site and where they point to. Once you have this done and are happy with your editing you can start to create your site map with an html editor or even notepad if you are so inclined. There are also a lot of automated online sitemap generators that you can use for free. You can also download any number of software program also for free, that automatically generate sitemap.
Use a basic HTML editor, assuming you are going to do this yourself, and after creating the site map you can upload the sitemap to your web host. You should incorporate a link to your sitemap somewhere on your home page at the very least. The Footer of each page is another good area to place a link to a site map if you choose not to add a link to your navigation menu.
The link will alllow visitors to your site to home in on any specific area of interest to them.
How a Sitemap can Help Your Ranking
A sitemap is a list of pages of a web site accessible to crawlers as well as visitors to your blog or website. It also helps search engine bots find pages on the site. A blog or website that does not have a sitemap submitted is at a disadvantage to those that have, as far as search engine results and rankings are concerned. Site maps can improve search engine optimization of a site by making sure that all the pages can be found. This is especially important if a site uses a dynamic access to content such as Adobe Flash or JavaScript menus that do not include HTML links.They also act as a navigation aid by giving an overview of a site's content.
XML Sitemaps
Google introduced Google Sitemaps so web developers can publish lists of
links from across their sites. The basic premise is that some sites have a
large number of dynamic pages that are only available through the use of
forms and user entries. The Sitemap files can then be used to indicate to a
web crawler how such pages can be found. All major search engines now
jointly support the sitemaps method of site listing.
Since most of the search engines use the same methods, having a
sitemap lets the biggest search engines have the updated page
information. sitemaps do not guarantee all links will be crawled, and being
crawled does not guarantee indexing. However, a Sitemap is still the best
insurance for getting a search engine to learn about your entire site.
XML Sitemaps have replaced the older method of "submitting to search
engines" by filling out a form on the search engine's submission page. Now
web developers submit a Sitemap directly, or wait for search engines to
find it.
Adding a Sitemap for Your Blog
You can now add Google sitemap to your blogger.com account and increase
your chances of being indexed in Google search engine result. You can add a
sitemap to your account to give Google more information about the pages in
your site to help Google crawl them more effectively. There are a few steps to follow but this is by no means a difficult process.
1) Login to sitemap account:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home?hl=en
At the top of screen you will see option to add site. Just paste URL of
your blog (for example http://yourblog.blogspot.com/)
Click on Ok button. Next you will get confirmation message. Your site has
been added to your account.
2) Now you need to verify your ownership of blog to view detailed
statistics. Click on verify link. Google offers two methods of
verification. You can either upload an HTML file with a name we specify
(which is not possible with Google Blogger account), or you can add a META
tag to your site's index file. Adding META tag via template code is possible so just select Add a META tag from drop down menu. It will generate code for you. Copy the meta tag code and paste it into your blog template's [HEAD] section in your dashboard. Here is how to do that.
3) Go to your blogger.com and login to your account. Go to your blog
and in the dashboard area click on template or look for the 'HTML' button and click that. You will then see the 'code' for your page or template. Paste the META tag code after [HEAD] tag but BEFORE the closing [/HEAD] tag. Then click the save template changes button.
4) Now go to back to the Google sitemap account page and click the verify button. Google will scan your blog or page for the meta code that you pasted into the [head] section of your blogs code and return a verified response to you. You should note that at times it may take a while for your blog or site to be verified. Generally if it still has not been verified within 24 hours then do the process again and double check the placement of the verification code on your template.
You can add a sitemap to your account to provide Google additional information about about your blog. Google will p;krocess your sitemap and provide information on any errors in the sitemaps tab in the web masters tools area.
Keywords
Keywords are used for MANY things online... Pay-per-Click, SEO,Content Writing, webpage titles, meta descriptions... Those are a few of the more common examples.
In your keyword research, try to balance the volume of traffic,the level of competition, the value of each click, and relevancy. Effective keyword research starts with a small handful of very short phrases or a few single keywords, then the list grows. After
you refine your list and remove 'less useful' terms, it is a process of casting a wide net with as many possibilities as you think of, then refining that huge list down to some very useful keywords all over again.
Volume of traffic
It's simple to say that the keywords with the most traffic are the best ones to use and this is true up to a point. Words with a very high volume of searches may be targeted by many others who have done keyword research and this typically means higher levels of
competition... but not always! Sometimes you find a gem with a lot of searches and relatively few people trying to get that traffic.
Another issue with the mega-traffic keywords is they are usually very generic in nature and a lot of your traffic may not be interested in what you have.
Level of competition
The easy way to define competition is to look at the number of pages Google shows for a particular keyword... Results 1-10 of about [this many] There are other methods of determining 'competition' besides this that are more accurate, but they become more complex and involve a lot of extra data gathering.
META Data
Meta data consists of your title tag and several of the 'meta' tags including keywords and description. There has been a lot of debate about the effectiveness of meta data on your SEO campaign and my own experience has taught me a few things.
Title Tag
This shows up in the blue bar at the top of your browser (unless you changed the color of it). It also shows up in the search engines as the text that you click on when searching for a keyword. I don't think any SEO Pro would ever say that this tag doesn't matter. Aside from the instantly obvious relationship between your title and what people see when using a search engine... Google actually places a high value on the contents of this tag as they try to figure out what your site is all about.
Search Engine Clickable Link Text
In order to get the most keyword value from your title tag, try to keep your keywords as far to the left as you can. Instead of saying "how I wanted to eventually get around to picking my KEYWORD", try something like "KEYWORDS were something I really wanted". Notice how 'KEYWORD' went from the far right of the title (last word) to the far left (first word)? This instantly added value to this page for the leading keyword in the title. More value than when it was the last word in the sentence... and it didn't take much effort at all to reword the title and get more value from it. Try this with a few pages on your website... especially your homepage, which traditionally has more SEO value than your other pages.
In order to create a great title for your site, keep in mind that this is what people see when they view your links on Google results pages! If you want them to click on your title when they see it in Google... speak to your visitors. Just change the order of your words a little to make Google happy as well.
Your title should be more than about 60 and less than about 120 characters. These limits tend to change a little from time to time, but somewhere in the middle should be pretty reliable for you over time.
Don't use keyword lists (unless necessary). They are almost never neccessary and can easily be considered spammy if you aren't careful. Spam is bad.
Meta Description
This shows up in Google under your title when your page is returned in the search results. Sometimes, Google will use the description from the Yahoo directory or DMOZ.org (also called ODP or Open Directory Project) if you have a listing in those directories. These are not always the most flattering descriptions and you certainly have limited control over what they say, so you can turn off these descriptions in Google by using another meta tag...
This will give control of the description used in Google back to your own website.
If you have no meta description tag setup on your page, Google will use some of the content from your webpage. This is usually a section of visible text on your webpage that occurs just after your opening body tag (in the HTML source code), or the first text that closely matches the keyword somebody is searching for.
The meta description should contain concise, grammatically correct text barely longer than your title. At least 90 characters, up to 160. Agan, the 'sweet spot' moves from time to time as Google constantly updates their ways of calulating search results.
Again, whether this is used for ranking is debated, but there is no doubt that real human visitors to Google will see this text (or part of it) when your domain shows up in Google's results. Write this for humans, with a mind for what the search engines want to see.
Notice the main keywords to the left. Notice I also built 'descriptions' into the start of that meta description tag? This gives me the possibility of a three-word combo for "search engine descriptions" which may be much easier to rank for than the two-word "search engine" phrase. This is called "longtail" keywords which I will explain in more detail in the next issue covering Keyword Research.
Meta Keywords
This is the tag that most SEO Pros agree is very limited in value, if they think it has any value at all. Google is the biggest search engines going... by far. They do not consider the meta keywords when evaluating (also called indexing) your page. However, Google is not the only search engine out there and nobody has ever said that using meta keywords will hurt your site. So why not use them? Just don't spend a lot of time on this.
If you are going to setup meta keywords, I have a short and simple suggestion on how to do this quickly... "don't lie". Meta keywords, when they were very useful in SEO 10+ years ago, started being used by SEO folks as a wish-list of terms they "wanted to be ranked well for". The search engines got wise to this as keywords started becoming less and less related to the content on the page. The keywords that I choose are based on the content from that page. They are relevant and easy to find since they exist on the page. If you are going to add meta keywords and they aren't used by Google for ranking, you might as well just add some keywords used on your page.
Brief Summary Checklist
So here is what we have so far....
- Set out a detailed plan that includes goals for your blog or site as well as the
site's main focus. Now is the time to consider SEO and how you are going to intergrate and implement it on your page or site. Research everything twice at this stage. Doing things right the first time is always easier than doing things right the second time. - Find or design the right layout to suit the content. Decide on things such as ad
placement, the inclusion of widgets or a RSS feed at this point as well. Consider using a column style template if possible. - Find a Host for your website or blog that best suits your needs as well as your
level of expertise. - Decide and purchase your own domain name. Very inexpensive and a must if you are
serious about revenue. - Before going online with your host, add SEO and keyword weight.
- Use Keywords in your headings where possible.
- Rework and or fully edit and format the main content of your page. Making sure that your content is relevant and compelling to read or informative.
- Add Google AdSense or affiliate ads as well as text links.Do not over use text links in your content.
- Set up a banner exchange program or two.
- Start exposing your website or blog to blog directories as well as leaving comments and your link on other blogs.
- You have started submitting relevent articles to online ezines and publishing websites.
- You are answering questions on sites such as Yahoo! Answers on subjects that are relevent to your sites content and are leaving a link back to your page.
Resources You Will Need
The following is a collection of resources to help you at any stage of your site or blog's development. This is just a small sampling of what is available to you in your research. I suggest using as many resources as you possibly can. It will lead to better, more well informed decisions on your part. Bookmark worthy search results as you need them.
- Google Analytics
- Google SEO Starter Guide
- Search Term "Free Blog Templates"
- Search Term "Free Website Templates"
- Search Term "Free Website Templates"
- How to Write an Article
- Set up an affiliate such as: Homestead an Intuit Co.
- Text Links and Banners from Doteasy
- To submit an article try EzineArticles a very popular site.
- Need a host and domain name try Free Domain, Free Setup, Host Unlimited Domains $6.95
- Affiliate Tools to try out at AffiliateReporting.com
- For Free Hosting for your site or blog try Free Domain, Unlimited Disk Space, Unlimited Data Transfer and 25% off with Yahoo! Web Hosting
As consumers, the majority of us use Google to search for information, products, and services, because Google finds exactly what we are looking for. If you are a business owner and want people in need of your products or services to find your website, paying Google for one its advertising services, such as Google AdWords, is a surefire way to increase web traffic. The issue is not whether Google can help, because they have garnered proven results. The question is only how much they can help and at what cost.
The Google AdWords program has more than doubled some of its customers' monthly traffic by placing relevant ads along the right-hand side of its organic search listings. If you have ever used Google's search engine, you have seen AdWords advertisements listed under "Sponsored Links." If you sign up for Google AdWords, your ads will only appear to people who enter keyphrases that are relevant to your company's offerings.
To further increase traffic, Google pays companies for displaying AdWords advertisements on their websites. If, for example, your company specializes in discounted furniture, you would pay Google for advertising space on all searches for "discounted furniture." Google would not only display the AdWords ad on its own site, but also display the ad on informational sites dedicated to discounted furniture of all kinds.
Google AdWords should not, of course, be the entirety of a marketing campaign, but it is often an excellent addition to an overall strategy. Google AdWords is a pay-per-click service, meaning you only pay when the advertising results in traffic. Before you start using Google AdWords, I highly recommend watching the Getting Started With Google Adwords video at which is available after you log into your account. Read all of the Google support guides before you start bidding. You can spend a lot of money if you don't know what you're doing.
The absolute best Google Adwords resource is Perry Marshall at www.perrymarshall.com . Perry's been using and studying Adwords since it was released in 2002. His website is full of great information and I highly recommend all of his products.
Another essential tool is Wordtracker which helps you select the very best and most popular keywords for your campaign. You can get a free trial of Wordtracker at www.wordtracker.com.This is the most powerful keyword analyzing tool on the market.
If you are overwhelmed and need some guidance, we can perform a thorough analysis to determine whether Google AdWords will be lucrative for your particular business, and map out the best AdWords strategy to follow.
The Google AdWords program has more than doubled some of its customers' monthly traffic by placing relevant ads along the right-hand side of its organic search listings. If you have ever used Google's search engine, you have seen AdWords advertisements listed under "Sponsored Links." If you sign up for Google AdWords, your ads will only appear to people who enter keyphrases that are relevant to your company's offerings.
To further increase traffic, Google pays companies for displaying AdWords advertisements on their websites. If, for example, your company specializes in discounted furniture, you would pay Google for advertising space on all searches for "discounted furniture." Google would not only display the AdWords ad on its own site, but also display the ad on informational sites dedicated to discounted furniture of all kinds.
Google AdWords should not, of course, be the entirety of a marketing campaign, but it is often an excellent addition to an overall strategy. Google AdWords is a pay-per-click service, meaning you only pay when the advertising results in traffic. Before you start using Google AdWords, I highly recommend watching the Getting Started With Google Adwords video at which is available after you log into your account. Read all of the Google support guides before you start bidding. You can spend a lot of money if you don't know what you're doing.
The absolute best Google Adwords resource is Perry Marshall at www.perrymarshall.com . Perry's been using and studying Adwords since it was released in 2002. His website is full of great information and I highly recommend all of his products.
Another essential tool is Wordtracker which helps you select the very best and most popular keywords for your campaign. You can get a free trial of Wordtracker at www.wordtracker.com.This is the most powerful keyword analyzing tool on the market.
If you are overwhelmed and need some guidance, we can perform a thorough analysis to determine whether Google AdWords will be lucrative for your particular business, and map out the best AdWords strategy to follow.
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