By Titus Hoskins (c) 2008
Building backlinks is an essential, yet tedious job for most webmasters. Here are a few tools and tips to make that job just a little bit easier...
I am a member of many online forums. Most of these forums have to do with online marketing and site promotion. Recently, I came across a post on Ken Evoy's SBI forum that truly caught my attention.
It basically described how to use Google Alerts to build your backlinks. Now for those not familiar with Google Alerts a little explanation is probably needed.
Google Alerts
Google Alerts is a free program run by Google that allows you to keep track of any topic on the web. You select your "keywords" or "urls" and Google will alert you via email whenever links/ content containing your selected topics appear anywhere on the web.
It is an excellent way to keep informed about your domain or name. It is also perfect for keeping up-to-date on the latest information in your market niche or niches. It's also a great way to find out what other people are saying about you or your site.
For example: if you have a site on "antique cars" then you would create a Google Alert for those keywords. Google will alert you by email whenever a new link/content related to those keywords appears on the web.
This is a great way to stay informed in your niche, but it is also a valuable source of potential linking partners. Many of those links are blogs that will allow comments with a link back to your site.
Google Alerts will probably send you 10-20 links each day, depending on the popularity of your chosen keywords. Just go to these blogs/links and see if you can leave a comment with some valuable additional information on what's been discussed.
Don't Spam
Please Note: Don't spam; there are intelligent people behind most of these blogs, and they will recognize keyword spam when they see it. Your main goal should be getting targeted traffíc back to your site and any link PR should be secondary. Always put the reader or viewer first, especially if it's on someone else's site. Don't talk about your site or your marketing - just join the conversation and add your comments/opinions/suggestions...
Enhance their site and they will reward you with traffic and a link. But you still have to keep your interests in the equation! You have to make sure you get your targeted keywords in the anchor text.
Keyword Market
First, if you've done your homework, your main keywords should already be in your domain name or url. Another way is to add your "keywords" + "guide" to your sig or signature. Such as: Name, Your Antique Cars Guide. If you're an expert in your particular niche, many webmasters will kindly welcome your comments and links.
Since your main goal is the traffic, many webmasters don't worry if there is a "no follow" attribute attached to the link. But if you are concerned about this - one way is to look at the source code to see if it has the "no follow" tag. I usually copy the whole source code of the page to my text editor and then do a simple "no follow" search.
No Follow
There is also a great little free comment tool called "Comment Kahuna" co-created by Jason Potash which will search blogs and tell you if they have the "no-follow" attribute or not, it will also give you the PageRank of each blog post. If you're going to use blogs as a source of your backlinks, I suggest you try Comment Kahuna - it will make the task much easier and it's free.
Actually, while the "no-follow" issue may be a concern for some webmasters, the savvy ones will realize these are links/sites Google is actively indexing and spidering, otherwise you wouldn't get the alert in the first place. You must get your links into this whole mix of related, relevant sites to help raise your rankings. Also remember the other search engines may not even consider the "no-follow" tag.
Trackbacks
Likewise, creating trackbacks are another way of linking relevant content. Keep in mind, a trackback is simply an acknowledgement via a ping signal that is sent from Site A (originator) to Site B (receptor). Then the receptor often places a link back to Site A showing its worthiness.
Again, I am mainly concerned with the quality of the blog or link, rather than the linking structure. I want the targeted traffíc, and it doesn't really matter whether the link has "no follow" because interested visitors only see a link they can click for other helpful information.
Other Linking Options
Since we are on the topic of link building, another useful way to build backlinks is to use Google Search or Google Blog search. Now if you're looking for niche-related blogs just type in:
"(Keywords)" "powered by (blog scripts)"
For example, if you're looking for some "antique cars" related links on WordPress blogs, you would search for:
"antique cars" "powered by wordpress"
And Google would give you a whole líst of sites on antique cars.
Now if you want to find the links that will allow comments, just repeat the Google search with:
"antique cars" "powered by wordpress" "leave a comment" -"no comments"
Remember the "-" means posts that have no comments will not be displayed.
If you're concerned with PageRank, Number of Backlinks, Alexa Ranking... of particular posts you can download and install the SEOQuake plugin. This handy SEO plugin can be attached to your browser and will give you helpful SEO information on the link or links you're viewing.
Used in conjunction with Google, it can sort thru all these blog posts and give you the ones with the highest PR? Highest traffic? Highest number of backlinks? The more knowledge you have, the easier and more effective your link building will become.
Just remember, finding quality backlinks is probably the most tedious job for most webmasters. It takes time and it takes patience. By using Google Alerts you can have relevant keyword related links emailed to you each day. Use this information to help build your backlinks in relevant related niches. Do this consistently over a period of time and your site will get noticed and ranked higher.
About The Author
The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites. For the latest web marketing tools try: Marketing Tools. Everyone is profiting from Google, find out how you can too! Google Cash File
Copyright (c) 2008 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
To your success,
Steve(Web site CEO),
www.homeeasybusiness.com
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Hackers/Scammers are trying again
WARNING......
Again the scammers/hackers are trying.
Don't!! click on any link from an email from PayPal or any other online banking
company saying there is a problem with your account.
If you get one of these emails and are worried about your account, use your web browser and login to your account and check the details yourself....bet you there is nothing wrong.
Again..never click on a link in an email if it involves a password.
To our safety,
Steve(Web site CEO),
http://www.homeeasybusiness.com
Again the scammers/hackers are trying.
Don't!! click on any link from an email from PayPal or any other online banking
company saying there is a problem with your account.
If you get one of these emails and are worried about your account, use your web browser and login to your account and check the details yourself....bet you there is nothing wrong.
Again..never click on a link in an email if it involves a password.
To our safety,
Steve(Web site CEO),
http://www.homeeasybusiness.com
Monday, July 21, 2008
Web Hosting that Pays You Back.
No hype....just facts:
-800MB business hosting package for $24.95/month.
-Get $10 per signup then $10/month/referral.
-Refer 3 and hosting is free, forever.
-Plug in cash machine sites ready to take orders.
-Can be setup to take credit card payments within minutes.
-Access to the Warriors Forum.
-Win free bahama's vacations
If you have to have a host anyway, why not choose one that pays
you back? That's the basis of our offer. If we help you make
your site profitable, there is a good chance you will stay
with us forever.
Host4Profit
To your success,
Steve(Web site CEO),
HomeEasyBusiness.com
-800MB business hosting package for $24.95/month.
-Get $10 per signup then $10/month/referral.
-Refer 3 and hosting is free, forever.
-Plug in cash machine sites ready to take orders.
-Can be setup to take credit card payments within minutes.
-Access to the Warriors Forum.
-Win free bahama's vacations
If you have to have a host anyway, why not choose one that pays
you back? That's the basis of our offer. If we help you make
your site profitable, there is a good chance you will stay
with us forever.
Host4Profit
To your success,
Steve(Web site CEO),
HomeEasyBusiness.com
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Does Your Web Site/Blog Need a Workout?
By Kalena Jordan (c) 2008
Here's an analogy for you. Yesterday, I was working my butt off in the gym on the cardio machines, panting wildly with sweat dripping off me and my face as red as a beet. Not the most attractive sight, but I figure, you're at the gym to work out right? I might as well "go hard" or "go home", as they say.
As I looked around me, I could see all these people simply going through the motions. There they were, minus perspiration in their shiny new lycra and expensive gym shoes, casually walking on the treadmill or lazily turning the wheels on a bike while reading a book or glued to the TV screens in front of them. Only a few seemed to be there for the actual purpose of working out. The rest seemed to be there to check out the talent or to simply keep up the appearance of fitness, while doing the bare minimum.
Huh? I don't get it. Why have these gym bimbos paid so much money for a gym membership and all the related gear if they aren't going to take full advantage of their investment?
Then it struck me - these gymbos were just like those companies who spend thousands of dollars on a shiny new website with all the bells and whistles like graphic design, blogs, shopping carts, web analytics, the lot and then fail to take advantage of it. I see it so often, regardless of company size. Web sites that could easily be bringing in loads of traffic and revenue simply wasting away because nobody can be bothered tracking visitor activity, analyzing trends or checking for search engine compatibility and usability.
These companies are simply keeping up appearances, investing heavily in Internet technology because their competitors are doing the same. But no thought has gone into the search engine compatibility of the site, how usable it is for visitors or whether it meets accessibility guidelines. They don't look at their site statistics, they don't check for broken links and they sure as heck don't investigate why their sites aren't converting traffic into customers. What a waste!
Is your web site working hard enough for you? Run it through the following 20 point fitness assessment to find out:
-Is your site fully search engine compatible? Are all your pages being indexed by the major search engines?
-Do you track your visitor statistics on a regular basis? Do you use the information provided by your visitor statistics to improve your site?
-Is your web site accessible to visually-impaired visitors? Does it meet the international standards set down by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)?
-Do you know which sites and search engines provide you with the most traffic? Do you use this information to improve your traffic further?
-Do you track the source of all reported errors in your site statistics and fix them promptly?
-Do you know which keywords your site was found for in the search engines? Have you conducted keyword research to determine what search terms your target markets are looking for so you can optimize for them?
-Does your web site HTML code validate to W3 standards? Do you check for validation regularly?
-Does your site contain zero broken links? Do you check for and fix broken links regularly?
-Has your site been fully search engine optimized to integrate your target search terms into your Page Titles, META Tags and visible page text?
-Have you created and submitted an XML sitemap to Google Sitemaps?
-Have you created and submitted a sitemap to Yahoo Site Explorer?
-Have you checked to see if your site meets Google's Webmaster Guidelines?
-Do you measure your visitor sign-ups and conversions on a regular basis? Do you tweak your landing page copy to improve the conversion rates?
-Is your site navigation intuitive and are your visitors following the navigation paths you intended?
-Do you encourage feedback from your site visitors and provide an obvious way for them to provide such feedback?
-Are there at least 250 words of text on your home page to satisfy search engines?
-Does your site contain a visible, text-based site map to aid user navigation?
-Do you have an ongoing link building campaign running to secure more incoming links to your site and improve your site's link popularity score?
-Does your site have a high percentage of repeat visitors? Are the majority of your visitors staying on your site for more than a minute?
-Do your search engine referrals and site traffic figures grow each month?
Unless you can answer yes to all the questions in the above checklist, your web site is not working hard enough for you and needs a workout. Get to it!
About The Author
Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.
To your success,
Steve(Web site CEO),
http://www.homeeasybusiness.com
Here's an analogy for you. Yesterday, I was working my butt off in the gym on the cardio machines, panting wildly with sweat dripping off me and my face as red as a beet. Not the most attractive sight, but I figure, you're at the gym to work out right? I might as well "go hard" or "go home", as they say.
As I looked around me, I could see all these people simply going through the motions. There they were, minus perspiration in their shiny new lycra and expensive gym shoes, casually walking on the treadmill or lazily turning the wheels on a bike while reading a book or glued to the TV screens in front of them. Only a few seemed to be there for the actual purpose of working out. The rest seemed to be there to check out the talent or to simply keep up the appearance of fitness, while doing the bare minimum.
Huh? I don't get it. Why have these gym bimbos paid so much money for a gym membership and all the related gear if they aren't going to take full advantage of their investment?
Then it struck me - these gymbos were just like those companies who spend thousands of dollars on a shiny new website with all the bells and whistles like graphic design, blogs, shopping carts, web analytics, the lot and then fail to take advantage of it. I see it so often, regardless of company size. Web sites that could easily be bringing in loads of traffic and revenue simply wasting away because nobody can be bothered tracking visitor activity, analyzing trends or checking for search engine compatibility and usability.
These companies are simply keeping up appearances, investing heavily in Internet technology because their competitors are doing the same. But no thought has gone into the search engine compatibility of the site, how usable it is for visitors or whether it meets accessibility guidelines. They don't look at their site statistics, they don't check for broken links and they sure as heck don't investigate why their sites aren't converting traffic into customers. What a waste!
Is your web site working hard enough for you? Run it through the following 20 point fitness assessment to find out:
-Is your site fully search engine compatible? Are all your pages being indexed by the major search engines?
-Do you track your visitor statistics on a regular basis? Do you use the information provided by your visitor statistics to improve your site?
-Is your web site accessible to visually-impaired visitors? Does it meet the international standards set down by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)?
-Do you know which sites and search engines provide you with the most traffic? Do you use this information to improve your traffic further?
-Do you track the source of all reported errors in your site statistics and fix them promptly?
-Do you know which keywords your site was found for in the search engines? Have you conducted keyword research to determine what search terms your target markets are looking for so you can optimize for them?
-Does your web site HTML code validate to W3 standards? Do you check for validation regularly?
-Does your site contain zero broken links? Do you check for and fix broken links regularly?
-Has your site been fully search engine optimized to integrate your target search terms into your Page Titles, META Tags and visible page text?
-Have you created and submitted an XML sitemap to Google Sitemaps?
-Have you created and submitted a sitemap to Yahoo Site Explorer?
-Have you checked to see if your site meets Google's Webmaster Guidelines?
-Do you measure your visitor sign-ups and conversions on a regular basis? Do you tweak your landing page copy to improve the conversion rates?
-Is your site navigation intuitive and are your visitors following the navigation paths you intended?
-Do you encourage feedback from your site visitors and provide an obvious way for them to provide such feedback?
-Are there at least 250 words of text on your home page to satisfy search engines?
-Does your site contain a visible, text-based site map to aid user navigation?
-Do you have an ongoing link building campaign running to secure more incoming links to your site and improve your site's link popularity score?
-Does your site have a high percentage of repeat visitors? Are the majority of your visitors staying on your site for more than a minute?
-Do your search engine referrals and site traffic figures grow each month?
Unless you can answer yes to all the questions in the above checklist, your web site is not working hard enough for you and needs a workout. Get to it!
About The Author
Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.
To your success,
Steve(Web site CEO),
http://www.homeeasybusiness.com
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