SEO, Twitter, Google Adwords…. here’s the list of 11 essential tips & tools that every blogger should know & utilize to get more traffic, to make his blog more popular.
Loads of content :- Most important part of blogging is generating lot of good content.Without good content you just cannot popularize your blog how so ever good you are at marketing. When i say “loads of content” i mean at least 50-100 posts. Quality of your content decides the rank but quantity determines whether you should get a rank or not. I ‘m in no way saying you don’t need quality content but to kick start your blog you need a base of at least 50 unique articles. Having a lot of content automatically helps in SEO.
Join a forum :- Join a bloggers forum. This helps in acquiring tricks of the trade much faster. Plus you get some free visitors & good friends, this boosts your morale. You get motivation to blog. Also, there are experts to guide you through the process.
Submit to search engines :-This should be done as soon as you have generated the content because it takes at least 2-4 weeks for search engines to index your site. All major search engines should be your first priority. Ideally you should add to every search engine but practically its not possible at this stage. Add to at least top 10 search engines. Also claim your blog at Technorati, ping it regularly with your blogging software like Windows Live Writer or use external services like Pingo-matic.
Write about hot topics :- Subscribe to top blogs in your niche & observe what they write. You will understand that they stay ahead of the curve & generate content on topics that will be buzzing in near future. This should also be your strategy. Remember early writers get advantage as search engines get time to index their content & hence they make it to top of the list. Hence foresight is important. Alternatively use Google Trends & Google Insight.
SEO (Search Engine optimization) :- You have done all - written good content, done it early enough, submitted to search engines etc but still aren’t ranked in top 5 pages. The reason for it is you have not used proper words called keywords. When people search for a topic they use specific words & these are the words you should have in your title, description tag etc. These are all SEO tricks.SEO makes a lot of difference. Know more about it at Search Engine Journal. Submit Express has few very handy tools.
Social Media Networking :- This is one area where anyone can rule. If you have good social relations & have large network you will have tremendous advantage. But make sure you put it to good use. Join twitter & ask your friends to do so, they will re-tweet about your posts. It increases your reach exponentially. Leave a link to your website at all your profiles at Facebook, Orkut, Myspace, Digg, YouTube… etc.
Commenting :- Reciprocity is like a rule in blogosphere. If you are reading a blog & like the article leave a comment. Its likely that the blogger will visit your page & may leave a comment as well. In the same way do not forget to respond to the comments you get. You can do it either at your own blog or through a email thanking the blogger. Make it a habit to leave a comment on at least 10 different blogs daily. There is also a top commenter widget at some sites, you can get a free link by commenting regularly at such places. Develop good relations with the bloggers of your niche & form a network.
Free Article Submission :- There are many free article submission websites. Some of them are very highly ranked. Submit your best articles periodically to these websites. It helps in developing your reputation as a writer & off course in getting some visitors. List of free article submission sites.
Blog Directories :- There are 100’s of blog directories. Add your blog to as many as possible. But don’t waste too much of time because there are many more important things you could do. For this, what you should do is find 3-4 directories daily & add your blog to them. Remember this is a low priority & results vary according to the popularity of a directory. If you 're in search of instant traffic, submit your blog to Condron.us & AlphaInventions, no.of pageviews increase significantly after addition.
Google Adwords :- This requires you to shell out some money. But its worth doing if you want to move to the next level. Purchase a few Google Adwords this will give your blog lot of exposure.
Blog template :- Increase the visual appeal of your blog ( Make your blog more presentable ).Get a good template, may be if you have enough money think about purchasing a premium one, it gives a good professional look to your blog & you get a great layout to adjust all your widgets & more importantly helps in proper ad-placement. People like such blogs more.
Now its your turn, if you have more share them in responses. For more on blogging click here.
Mar 31, 2009
11 essential tips to get more traffic to your blog
Mar 22, 2009
IPL going abroad
In the most shocking development, today BCCI in its meeting on IPL has decided to conduct the famous tournament out of India due to denial of security during General Elections by the state governments. Since last few days IPL authorities have been in consultation with the state & central government regarding the schedule so that the dates could be adjusted taking into account the general elections. Central government had already expressed its inability to provide additional paramilitary forces to the states during election period.
Though what comes as a big surprise is that just a couple of days back states had agreed to the timetable & the venues were fixed after taking their permissions. According to the press release by BCCI President Shashank Manohar, states that have denied permissions are Maharashtra & Andhra Pradesh. A couple of days back Home Minister of Maharashtra had himself agreed to provide the security & so also the Andhra Pradesh authority so why they a did a volte face is baffling. According to the news reports, Chief Minister of Maharashtra has denied the permissions.
There also seems to be another angle, the states that have denied security are ruled by the Congress Party which is also the ruling party at the centre. News doing the inside circles is that party high command may have asked the state units to avoid matches as any untoward event could seriously hamper the party’s credibility & therefore the elections outcome. Opposition BJP ruled states like Gujarat, Karnataka & Himachal Pradesh had agreed to conduct the IPL matches as per the new schedule.
Now the BCCI is discussing with ECB & Cricket South Africa to host the event in England or South Africa. It is most likely that England will host the event taking into account several factors like huge Indian Community in England, recently developed good relations with ECB after the Mumbai Blasts, no security concerns thereby improving the players participation & easy travel due to close locations. But plenty of obstacles lie ahead including the county season, match timings & financial implications. South Africa is also in consideration but considering their international schedule, upcoming ODI’s against Australia, its unlikely to host the event.
There are concerns about the financial implications arising out of this development. Indian sponsors will demand the huge money they had invested in the event. BCCI is already at loggerheads with the broadcaster Sony. There may be more legal hassles. Though it is said that most big sponsors are the international companies like Nokia, Vodafone & Coca- Cola etc. Few renegotiations will definitely take place. But it is for sure that BCCI will lose tremendous amount of money due to this development.
What this all drama means to India? Its utter shame that government is unable to provide the security to such glorious social & sporting events. This embarrassment raises several questions including how safe India is for travelers? No doubt it will project India in a negative fashion & this may result in some financial loses to the country & decreased confidence in the international community. Though the brighter side is that IPL will take place. People will be able to enjoy the matches at the foresaid schedule & at the same timings (4PM & 8PM IST).
Keep watching this space for further developments regarding IPL & please don’t forget to express your first reactions in comments.
Update (24/03/09 9:20 PM IST) :- According to the reports, various reasons like weather concerns, local cricket & football seasons & refusal of London Police Authority to provide the security, has forced IPL authorities to conduct it in South Africa. Venues -Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg & Port Elizabeth.
Mar 10, 2009
DLF IPL Season 2
DLF IPL Season 2 is all set to create a big boom in the world of sports & entertainment, here’s the rundown on the latest news on IPL Season 2. The extravaganza is about to begin. IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi made the following announcements at his press conference :-
- IPL season 2 will kick off with an awe-inspiring opening ceremony in Mumbai on 10th April 09. It will incorporate multiple events including the performances of Olympic gold medalists. Fire dancers are all set to make their first appearance in India.
- There will be changes in schedule & dates will be announced soon. First match will take place at D Y Patil Stadium, Mumbai instead of Jaipur. Duration of IPL 2 remains the same.
- No match will be held on 16th May that is the general elections vote counting day. No match will be scheduled within 3 days (before & after) of polling at any location.
- Tickets will be available for booking next week onwards. Mumbai Indians will play 7 matches at Cricket Club of India.
- Security arrangements will see the sea change. It will be central security (instead of team based earlier) & the IPL governing body will bear the entire responsibility (instead of team franchises) of all the players right from the start till the end.
- New venues have been added in the revised schedule, which include Vadodara, Cuttack, Ahmedabad and Indore. Nine venues that had earlier been announced were Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam, Chennai, and Mohali. Nagpur & Dharamshala may also host matches, but confirmation is still awaited.
What do you think, will DLF IPL be able to live up to the hype after the Lahore attack?
Image Credit :- Sportzpower
Technorati Tags: DLF IPL,IPL,IPL 2,Indian Premier League,Mumbai Indians,Lalit Modi,DLF IPL Season 2,IPL2
Mar 4, 2009
Be an Editor-in-Chief
Blogs are a great way of communicating ideas. Just like newspapers, magazines educate the reader, blogs too make them wiser. So why does a newspaper or a magazine has an editor in chief & blog doesn’t. Answer is simple. Newspapers and magazines are commercial initiatives while blog is a personal venture.
Why do you need an Editor-in-chief? Since blogs are most often personal ventures, bloggers think like a common journalist & not like an editor in chief. They focus on writing an article/post at hand & ways to improve it but tend to forget the bigger picture. They forget that they themselves are the journalist & also an editor in chief.
Who is an Editor-in-chief? He/She is basically a person who controls & is responsible for an entire publication. He/She takes care of all things right from market research, design & layout, editing articles to the long term strategy for advancement of his/her publication.
What’s the job of an Editor-in-chief? His job is to define the role of publication, its goals and the ways to achieve them in a step-wise manner. He thinks about the commercial value of his publication & searches means or ways to increase/optimize it. Managing the legal aspects of a publication are one of his most part of his job.
Advantages of being an Editor-in-chief? It helps in giving your blog a professional identity & the much needed direction. In other words it helps in building an image. Advertisers look upon your blog as well oriented unit rather than fragmented piece of information. Even the not for profit blogs benefit due to increased readership on account of the consistency & increased personal satisfaction.
How to become an editor-in-chief? Its a learning curve. No blogger is capable of functioning like an editor in chief from day one unless he is one. But what one can do is start thinking like an editor in chief. Observing them closely by keeping an eye on some good publications for a period of time gives you an idea. How a popular publication positions itself, carves its own niche, manages to attract readers & maintains its own position is worth pondering.
More on Blogging
Creative Commons 2.5 License
