10/09/2009

25 Great Blogger Widgets - Use them to make more money

Many people think that Blogger lacks in all of the extra goodies you can add to other platforms like WordPress, but it simply isn’t true. By using widgets you can customize your blog as much as you like by just adding little snippets of code to the sidebars.



Allow users to talk to you via IM, see what your most popular posts are, or even read news from sites such as Mashable. With these 25 widgets, you can create an even more powerful way of communicating with your visitors, just make sure you don’t overload them with too many!

Communications Widgets

meebo me
Google Talk – Give visitors the ability to talk to you via Google Talk directly from your blog sidebar.
Jaxtr – Create a widget that allows people to call you on the phone without revealing the phone number to them.
Meebo Me – Meebo Me will allow you to create a chat box that you can install on your Blogger page, giving you the chance to converse with visitors to your site.
Skype (Skype) – The official Skype widget allows you to create various buttons that can show your current status and also allows people to just click it and give you a call.
Tag-Board – Allows you to add a real-time chat board to your blog that your visitors and you can use to converse.

Social Widgets

socialfeed
Delicious Linkrolls – Share your Delicious (Delicious) bookmarks with the world with this easy to install linkroll widget.
FriendFeed Widget – Share all of your FriendFeed (FriendFeed) activity with the readers of your site.
Google Friend Connect (google friend connect) – A makeshift social network that runs across any site that has installed Google Friend Connect.  You can join a site, see the other members, play games and more.
LinkedInABox – LinkedInABox retrieves your LinkedIn (LinkedIn) profile to display on your blog, allowing people to look through things such as your specialties and experience.
MyBlogLog – If someone visits your blog that is also a member of MyBlogLog, their avatar and username will appear in the box.  You can then click on any person to check out their profile on the service.
Twitter (Twitter) – Add your Twitter stream to your blog and display anywhere from your last tweet to the last twenty. Also gives a link for people to be able to follow you.
Share on Facebook – A simple widget that allows your readers to share items from your blog on Facebook (Facebook).
SocialFeed – A miniature lifestreaming widget that broadcasts your activities on sites such as Twitter, StumbleUpon (StumbleUpon), Last.fm and so on.  Has several different skins you can choose from.

Utility Widgets

easy comments
Add This – The popular social bookmarking button is available for Blogger accounts.
Easy Comments – This widget allows you to add commenting to any page of your site by placing the widget at the bottom of a page.  Allows people to say if they liked the comment, includes comment threading and more.
Google Search (Google search) – Add an AJAX powered Google (Google) search box to your blog that you can allow to search the web and your blog, or even just restrict it to the contents of your site.
Popular Posts – This widget will take a look at your comments, up to the last 5,000, and generate a list of which posts had the most conversation around them.
Recent Comments – Display the most recent comments on your blog in this widget so that readers can join in the conversation.
Related Posts – Not so much a widget as a hack, this will give you the related post functionality that so many WordPress (WordPress) powered blogs use.
ShareThis – The highly customizable green button that ShareThis is known for can be added to your blog.  Choose if you want it for social bookmarking, users emailing your posts and more.
Shout List Icons – Be the king (or queen) of social sharing with this widget that generates icons for over 30 social sites your blog can be added to.
Tag/Label Cloud – Gives you the ability to install a traditional tag cloud in your sidebar so people can see what you write about the most.

Miscellaneous Widgets

twitter
Flickr (Flickr) – You can generate an HTML or Flash based badge of your photo stream to share your images with your visitors.
Mashable (Mashable) – Yes, now you too can share the best web-related news on your blog with the Mashable widget.
Picasa Albums – Display your public Picasa albums in your blog sidebar with this handy widget.

Posted at 01:22 PM in Books, Current Affairs, Film, Food and Drink, Games, Music, Religion, Science, Sports, Television, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs | | Comments (0)

All you need to know to start your own Blog or make it better. Earn Money doing your blogs.

  • Introduction: What is a Blog?

    • A blog (weblog) is a special type of website that displays entries or posts in reverse chronological order. The most recently written post appears at the top. The posts themselves consist of text, images, links to other websites and, typically, a means for readers to leave comments about the post.
    • Blogs can function as online diaries, soap boxes, journalistic ventures or internet scrapbooks. They can cover any number of subjects from pop culture to politics to what you had for lunch yesterday.
    • All you need to start blogging is an email address and something to say. There's more than one free blogging service that can have you up and running in under five minutes. No technical expertise needed.

  • Step 1: Define Your Niche


  • Defining Your Audience

    • Are you creating a blog primarily to keep in touch with family and friends? Do you want to create a blog for people in your profession or who share your interests? Is your blog an extension of your business?
    • Who your audience is will determine which type of blog host you use, the content of your blog, whether or not you publicize your blog and what success means for you in respect to your blogging endeavors.

      Choosing Your Subject

      • If, however, you would like to target your blog to a particular niche or audience, here are some questions you might consider:
      1. What are you interested in?
      2. What are you an expert in?
      3. Would your occupation be an interesting subject?
      4. What do you think is currently missing online?
      5. Do you have a goal that you're trying to achieve that could be documented online?
      • NOTE: Take heed if you choose to blog about your workplace. Unless you password protect your blog, it is a public document. Most employers are web savvy, and even the most well-intended comments could run afoul of your workplace's rules and regulations. Don't end up like this guy or this guy or this gal.

    • Step 2: Name Your Blog

      • There's no limit to what you can name your blog. Some blogs have names that relate to their subject matter - Cute Overload, Treehugger, PassiveAggressiveNotes.com. Some blogs have completely nonsensical names that are just plain catchy - Boing Boing, Small Dead Animals, The Coming. The easiest way out may just be naming your blog after yourself.
      • Whatever you decide, keep in mind that a blog's name should ideally be memorable, short, easy to spell and free of hyphens.

    • Checking Your Name's Availability

    • Step 3: Choose a Blog Host


    • Hosted Blogging Platforms (The Easy Route)

      • If you are creating your first blog or don't have a great deal of technical expertise, than a hosted blog service is the way to go.
      • A hosted blog service essentially "hosts" your blog at their domain. They make creating a blog easy by providing well-designed templates, a web address and rich text editors that allow you to create posts without any special technical knowledge.
      • Some of the most popular hosted blogging platforms include WordPress.com, Blogger, Typepad and Vox. In Step 4, you'll learn how to create an account with each of these services.
      • Pros to Using a Hosted Blogging Platform:
      1. Many services are free or inexpensive to use.
      2. They make your blog easy to set-up and require to little to no technical expertise to maintain.
      • Cons to Using a Hosted Blogging Platform:
      1. Blogging hosts are not as flexible design-wise as their server-side counterparts. While many provide beautifully-designed templates, they are not fully configurable. If you have a great deal of technical expertise and would like total control of your blog's look, you may feel limited by a hosted blog.
      2. Blogging services incorporate their host name into your URL address. (Ex. www.yourblogname.typepad.com) If you purchase your own registered domain name, some services (but not all) will let you "point" it toward your blog. Purchasing a registered domain name for a year will cost you about $10, and some technical proficiency is required to use it in lieu of the URL address your blogging host provides.

    • Server-Side or Stand Alone Blogging Platforms (The Professional's Route)

      • Because this instructional is intended for beginners, we'll be concentrating on how to use the hosted blog services, but it's good to know what a "server-side" or "stand alone" blogging platform is.
      • This type of blogging platform is hosted by you on your own domain. This type of platform allows you to have full control over the design of your site and will use whatever domain name you've purchased.
      • To use this kind of blogging platform, you will need to subscribe to a hosting service like Blue Host, Dream Host or Laughing Squid and download a content management system or blogging platform like WordPress.org or Movable Type.
      • This route is more costly and demands a certain amount of technical literacy. In exchange, you get a fully customizable site in your own name, which makes it the choice of many (but not all) professional bloggers.

    • Online Diary Services and Tumblelogs

      • If you're not especially interested in capturing a large audience or view a blog as a means to connect with family and friends, you might consider an online diary service or tumblelog as an alternative to a conventional blogging host.
      • Online Diaries
      • Online diaries are exactly that - a journal of your thoughts and experiences aimed at a small, targeted audience. Technically, this is a blog as well, but one that is primarily used to network with friends in an online community. The two most popular online diary services are LiveJournal and Diaryland.
      • LiveJournal can be used as a blogging service, a private online diary or as a means of social networking through LiveJournal's many online communities. It is free to set up and relatively easy to use.
      • Diaryland has an even simpler interface than LiveJournal and functions purely as an online diary. You can browse current members' diaries here.
      • Tumblelogs
      • Whereas blogs are thought of as online journals or publications, a tumblelog is simply a scrapbook. Tumblelogs provide a place to post the random photos, videos, quotes and links you come across online. You can also post a traditional text blog post, but tumblelogs favor the mixed-media approach.
      • Tumblelogs require less forethought, maintenance and care than traditional blogs.
      • The most popular tumblelog service is Tumblr.
      • Tumblr is free, easy to use and can be set up in less than five minutes.

    • Step 4: Create Your Blog

      • This section will cover how to set up a blog using four different hosting services - Blogger, WordPress.com, Vox and Typepad.
      • We'll be looking at these four services because they're four of the easiest, most popular and least expensive options for first-time bloggers with little or no technical expertise. A more complete list of both hosted blogging platforms and server-side blogging platforms is included in the Resources section of this page.
      • All you need to get started with all four services is an email address. If you don't have an email address, you can sign up for a free email account with Google Mail (Gmail), Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail or AIM Mail.

    • The Components of a Blog

      • Most blogs are made up of three components - the header, the sidebar and the posts or body of the blog.
      • The Header
      • A blog's header is the equivalent of a newspaper's masthead. It contains the blog's name rendered as text or as text combined with a banner image.
      • The Sidebar
      • A sidebar runs along one or both sides of your posts. A sidebar might contain any number of items including a short bio, a blog roll (a list of blogs that you enjoy reading), a search box, ads and an RSS button. RSS stands for "really simple syndication." Adding an RSS link to your site allows people to "subscribe" to your site - updating them whenever you've posted something new.
      • The Posts
      • Posts make up the body of your blog. Posts can include text, images, video and even streaming audio. Most blog posts also include a way for readers to comment on the post.

    • Which Service is Right for You?

      • Blogger
      • Pros: Free; No tech expertise required; Can use registered domain name
      • Cons: HTML knowledge required to modify templates and use many sidebar add-ons
      • Ideal User: First-Time Bloggers
      • WordPress.com
      • Pros: Free with some advanced design pay options; No tech expertise required; Blog traffic statistics built-in; Easy-to-use sidebar add-ons; Can use registered domain name
      • Cons: While WordPress.com's interface is simple, it's not as simple as Blogger's. Some knowledge of tech- or blog-related jargon is helpful. Templates are not fully modifiable unless you purchase CSS editing options. Knowledge of CSS required.
      • Ideal User: Savvy beginners. Because WordPress also produces a server-side blogging software (WordPress.org), WordPress.com is good for users that may eventually want to switch to a stand alone host.
      • Vox
      • Pros: Free; No tech expertise required; Built-in social networking functionality; Integrated with popular online media services like Flickr and Photobucket
      • Cons: Not an ideal platform for a public or general subject blog; Templates cannot be fully modified; Ads embedded at bottom of page; Cannot use registered domain name
      • Ideal User: Beginners looking for a social networking option and who have accounts with online services like Flickr and Twitter
      • Typepad
      • Pros: No tech expertise required; Broad menu of sidebar add-ons; Blog traffic statistics built-in; Full Photoblog capabilities and photo album interface; Can use registered domain name
      • Cons: Cost (Four Pricing Levels from $4.95/mo - $29.95/mo); Basic HTML required to use all of the available sidebar add-ons; Some knowledge of tech- or blog-related jargon useful; Limited design flexibility at Basic Pricing Level; CSS knowledge required to modify templates at Pro and Premium Levels
      • Ideal User: Savvy beginners who would like their blog service to grow with them as their technical skills evolve

    • Important Blogger Links

    • Signing Up and Choosing Your Template

      1. Go to the Blogger site.
      2. If you have a Google Account, sign in to Blogger by entering your email address and password in the upper right hand corner.
      3. If you do not have a Google Account, get started by clicking on the Create Your Blog Now button.
      4. You'll be taken to a screen that asks you to create an account. Here you will need to enter in your pre-existing email address, choose a password, choose the name that will be displayed when you publish a blog post and accept Blogger's terms of use.
      5. You will next be asked to name your blog and choose your blog's URL address. (If you've purchased a domain name that you would like to use in lieu of the Blogger address, you can click on the Advanced Blog Setup link for assistance.)
      6. Next you will be taken to a screen that lets you select a template for your blog's design. Pick one, and remember that you can always change it later.
      7. Once you've chosen your template, you can start posting.

    • Your First Post

      2. Blogger uses a rich text editor that operates exactly like a word processor. What you see is what you get.
      3. Enter a title for your post in the Title field and begin writing.
      4. You can insert images or video into your post by clicking on the Add Image or Add Video icons on the upper right side of your text editor. (If you know HTML, you can view your post's source code by clicking on the Edit HTML tab.)
      5. When you're done writing your post, click on the publish button or save your post as a draft for later publication.
      6. You will then be given the option to view your blog, edit your post or create a new one.
      7. Whenever you're ready to write a new post or manage your old ones, simply click on the Posting tab of your Blogger interface.

    • Exploring Your Settings and Template Tabs

      • You'll notice that in addition to the Posts tab, you also have a Settings and Template tab at the top of your Blogger interface. (On your Blogger Dashboard, these appear as the Settings and Layout links.)
      • Under the Settings Tab, you'll find all kinds of options to help customize your blog. You can control how many posts appear on the front page, how frequently your posts are archived and whether or not your blog is added to the Blogger directory.
      • You'll also be able to add an RSS link to your blog through Blogger or FeedBurner and control the terms under which viewers can comment on your posts.
      • Under the Template Tab, you'll have the option of switching templates, choosing the colors that fit your blog, adding or deleting information from your sidebar and, if you know HTML, actually editing your template's source code.

    • Your Profile Page

      1. To create a profile page to go along with your blog, go to your Dashboard. You will find a link to Blogger's Dashboard in the upper right hand corner of your screen.
      2. On your Dashboard, you'll see the option to edit your profile in the right hand corner.
      3. Click Edit Profile. Add as much or as little information as you'd like your readers to know about you on your Profile page.
      4. This profile is what readers will see when they click the About Me link in your blog's sidebar. This is a default setting in your Blogger template. The About Me link can always be removed by clicking on your Templates tab and editing your Page Elements.

    • Deleting Your Blog

      • You can delete your blog at any time by clicking on the Delete This Blog button at the bottom of the Basics page under the Settings tab

    • Important WordPress.com Links


    • Signing Up and Choosing Your Template

      1. Go the WordPress.com website. Click on the Sign Up Now button.
      2. On the next page, you will be asked to create a user name and password, give your email address and agree to WordPress.com's Terms of Agreement.
      3. On the next page, you will be asked to choose your blog's domain name and title as well as set your privacy settings. Once you've filled in these fields, simply press the Sign Up button.
      4. On the next page, you'll be asked whether you want to write a post, choose a template or visit your blog's main administration page.
      5. Clicking on the Change Your Template link will bring you to a page that allows you to choose from any number of WordPress.com's pre-designed templates. (Keep in mind that your template selection will be relatively limited and not especially flexible without the purchase of a Custom CSS Upgrade.) Choose the one you like best. You can always change it later by clicking on the WordPress.com interface's Presentation Tab.

    • Your First Post

      1. WordPress.com uses a rich text editor that operates exactly like a word processor. What you see is what you get.
      2. Enter a title for your post in the Title field and begin writing.
      3. You can insert images into your post by clicking on the Add Image button. If you know HTML, you can click on the Code tab to edit your post's source code.
      4. When you're done writing your post, you can either save it as a draft or publish it to your blog by clicking on the appropriate buttons immediately beneath the text field.
      5. You will then be given the option to view your post.
      6. Whenever you're ready to write a new post or manage your old ones, simply click on the Write tab of your WordPress.com Dashboard.

    • Exploring the WordPress.com Dashboard

      • The other tabs that run along your WordPress.com Dashboard allow you to switch templates, upload a picture to use as your blog's banner, manage comments, control your settings and update your profile page.
      • You also have the ability to set-up your registered domain name, if you've purchased one, by clicking on the Domains link in the Options section of your Dashboard.

    • Your Profile Page

      2. In WordPress.com, you have a behind-the-scenes profile and an About page. A link to your About page automatically appears in your blog's sidebar.
      3. To edit the information that appears on your About page, view your blog by clicking on the View Site link at the very top of your Dashboard.
      4. On your blog, you'll see an About link in the sidebar. Click on this link. It will bring you to your About page and give you the option to edit this entry.
      5. Click on the edit this entry link. It will bring you to a text editor that will allow you to create your About page.
      6. Whenever you need to access your About page again, you will it find under the Write tab of your Dashboard at the Write Page link.
      7. To edit your behind-the-scenes profile, which is not linked to from your blog's homepage, click on the Users tab and then the Your Profile button. Don't forget to click the Update Profile button to save your changes.

    • Deleting Your Blog

      • You can always delete your blog by clicking on the Delete Blog button under the Options tab of your Dashboard. Your blog will not be deleted, however, until you click on the confirmation link sent to you via email. 

    • Important Vox Links



    • Signing Up and Choosing Your Template



      2. Vox Tutorial with Chris Abraham
      3. Go to the Vox site.
      4. Click on the Start a Vox Blog link to sign up for an account.
      5. The Vox sign-up page will ask you to create a user name, submit your email address and accept their terms of service. You will also be asked for your gender and birthday.
      6. Once you've inputted this information, you will be sent an email with a verification code and link to confirm that you're email address is legitimate. Check your email. Click on the verification link in your email. It will take you to a page that gives you three options - creating your Vox profile, setting up your Blog's look or writing your first post.
      7. Click on the Set Up Your Vox link to choose a template for your blog. The templates page will let you create the look and feel of your blog's layout and design. You won't be able to alter the templates in any substantial way, but you can control the contents of your sidebar and customize a banner if you choose.

    • Your First Post

      2. To post your first entry, click on the Compose a Post link at the top of the page.
      3. The Vox text editor is a simple, word processor type interface with special buttons along the top to help you add different types of media to your post.
      4. Enter a title in the Title field and write your post.
      5. Insert any images, video, audio or Vox Collection you'd like. You can also add "tags" to your post to make it searchable by other Vox users.
      6. Click the Save button when you're done to publish your post.
      7. You'll be given the option of viewing or editing your post, bookmarking it online or sending it to friends.
      8. Whenever you'd like to write a new post, click on the Compose a Post link at the top of your Vox Dashboard.

    • Exploring Your Vox Dashboard

      • Your My Vox drop menu allows you to access to all of your posts, uploaded files and profile. You can play with the layout and design of your page by clicking on the Design button.
      • Next to your My Vox menu are buttons for Neighborhoods and Groups. Neighbors appear on your homepage and consist of family, friends and other Vox users that you add to your page. Groups are Vox users organized around common interests.
      • You can also send messages to family, friends and other Vox users through the Vox interface by clicking on the Messages button in the left hand corner of your page.

    • Your Profile Page

      • To edit your Vox profile, click on the Edit Profile button located in the My Vox drop down menu. You'll be able to enter in as much or as little information as you'd like, but remember that because Vox emphasizes social networking, your profile is an integral part of your blog's homepage.

    • Domain Mapping

      • Vox does not offer a domain mapping option at this time.

    • Deleting Your Blog

      • You can delete your Vox account at any time, by clicking on the Account link in the upper right hand corner of your Dashboard. On the Account page, you'll find a Your Account link at the bottom of a list of links on the left hand side of the page. Click on Your Account, and a Cancel Your Account option will appear directly beneath it.

    • Important Typepad Links

    • Signing Up and Choosing Your Template

      1. Go the Typepad site.
      2. Click on the Free Trial or Sign Up buttons to sign up for an account. (Typepad is a pay service with four different pricing levels ranging from $4.95 - $29.95 per month. There is a free 14-day trial period. Your account can be canceled at any time.)
      3. On the sign up page, you will be asked to submit your email address, create a blog address and agree to Typepad's terms of service.
      4. On the next page, you will be asked to choose a pricing plan and submit a valid credit card number. You will not be charged until after your free trial ends. (Canceling a Typepad account is not a hassle and can be done with the click of a button.) Review the pricing plans carefully as some plans offer features that others do not. For instance, only the Pro, Premium and Plus plans allow you to assign a registered domain name to your site.
      5. After entering in your credit card information, you will be asked to design your blog and assign its privacy settings. You will choose from a number of design and layout options as well as decide whether or not you want your blog to be public, public but unlisted or password protected. Don't worry about which template you choose. You can always change it later. Whether you choose to make your blog public or private is entirely up to you and depends largely on your blog's content and target audience. You can change your blog's privacy settings at any time.
      6. You will then be asked to confirm your registration. Once you've reviewed your information, click continue. You will be brought to your Typepad Account's quick start page.
      7. Keep in mind that you won't be able to see your blog online until you've written your first post.

    • Exploring the Typepad Dashboard

      1. You can start a post by clicking on the Begin a Post button, or you can explore the full menu of text and design options by clicking on the My Weblog link in the Quick Start box. (This link will change to reflect your blog's name once you've assigned it one by clicking on the Configure tab and filling in the Weblog Name field.)
      3. Clicking on My Weblog (or your blog's name) will bring you to your blog's administrative dashboard.
      4. You'll see that you have two sets of tabs. The top level includes your Photo Albums, Typelists and account Control Panel. The second level includes your blog's design and post-related options - Compose, Design and Configure.
      5. Starting with the top level, the Control Panel button lets you control your blog's settings, account information, statistics and personal profile.
      6. Typelists are lists you can create and add to your blog's sidebar. Typepad has several built in options that let you add your favorite books and records from Amazon.com. A Typelist can, however, contain anything you want - a blogroll, text, a picture, a search bar, etc.
      7. Under the Configure Tab, you'll find options related to the way your blog archives posts, what it is named and how it is publicized. You'll also find an option to add a feed or RSS button to your site so that readers can subscribe to your blog's posts. If you choose a Pro, Plus or Premium plan, you will find an option to "point" a purchased domain name to your Typepad site.
      8. To play with your site's design, click on the second level Design tab. You will be taken to a menu that allows you to manipulate your blog's design by adding new text to the header, choosing a new template or rearranging your sidebar's contents.

    • Your First Post

      2. On the second level of tabs, click on the Compose link. This will bring you to Typepad's text editor.
      3. Enter a title in the Title field and choose any categories you want to use to archive your post form the drop down menu.
      4. Type text in just as you would on a word processor.
      5. You can add images, and if you know HTML, you can edit your post's source code by clicking on the Edit HTML tab.
      6. Once you've finished writing, click the Save button. This will publish the post to your blog. If you'd like to save the post as a draft, you can choose that option in the drop down box on the lower left hand side of the text editor.
      7. You can view your blog at any time by clicking on the View Weblog link in the upper right hand corner of your page.

    • Your Profile Page

      • You will find a link to your Typepad Profile page under the Control Panel tab of your Typepad interface. If you'd like to include a link to your finished Profile page in your blog's sidebar, you can add it by clicking on the Select Content link under the Design tab.

    • Deleting Your Blog

      • You can cancel your Typepad account at any time by clicking on the Control Panel tab. There you will an Account Info sub-tab. Under Account Info, you will find the Cancel Account link.

    • Step 5: Write Great Blog Posts


      • In the world of blogging, content is king. If you want to generate an audience for your blog beyond your immediate friends and family, it is essential that your posts be well-written and provide value to readers. It's also essential that you update your blog with new posts on a regular basis. Creating a blog is easy. Maintaining a blog is hard.

    • General Tips on Writing a Blog Post

      1. Be Passionate. You're writing a blog because you have something to say so say it with style, enthusiasm and grace. Your voice is the only thing that will make your blog stand out for the millions of others out there.
      2. Be Funny. Never underestimate the power of humor in blogging. Humor makes your posts enjoyable to read and more likely to be linked to by other bloggers.
      3. Be Consistent. It's important to post on a regular basis so that your readers keep coming back. Don't post if you don't have something to say. No content is better than bad content, but maintaining your blog should be a priority if you wish to reach an audience beyond your peers.
      4. Be Useful. Provide value to your readers. It might be entertainment value or educational value, but reaching out to readers means giving them something they need but didn't have before - an insight, a joke, a tool or a new way of looking at something.
      5. Be Readable. Remember that you're writing text for people reading from computer screens. Your posts should be short and easy on the eyes. If they get lengthy, consider breaking up the text visually with bullet points, images or selectively bolded text.
      6. Be Responsible. Blog posts almost always contain links to other websites. It's important to give credit where credit is due and link back to a site if you've used it as a reference.

    • Popular Types of Blog Posts

      • Lists
      • People love lists. They are easy to read and fun to write. Lists are often linked to by other sites and can help your blog gain attention online. The best lists are original, comprehensive, provide value to readers or are just plain funny.
      • Reviews
      • You have an opinion, or else you wouldn't have started a blog. Review films, books, gadgets or whatever else might be pertinent to your blog's subject matter. If your reviews are thoughtful enough and your blog gains a following, you may even be able to solicit companies for products or materials to review.
      • How To
      • "How To" posts provide value to readers, and if done well, have a longer lifespan than your average blog post. They are frequently linked to by other sites and allow readers to benefit from your expertise.
      • Attack Posts
      • While they should be managed carefully, there's no denying that posts which attack a story, product or person can generate attention for your site. Combine this with the list strategy, and you've got your first "10 Things I Hate About..."post.

    • Step 6: Build an Audience


      • It's estimated that there are over 71 million blogs in the world with another 100,000 being created daily. Standing apart from the crowd isn't easy, but if you do decide that you'd like to cultivate an audience outside of your mom, here are some tactics you might consider:
      1. Add your URL to Google. This tells Google's army of robot spiders to check your blog's content - adding it to Google's search results. To maximize your rank in Google's search results, be sure that your posts' headlines are clear and on topic. Keywords are more important than cleverness.
      2. Claim your blog at sites like Technorati and Blog Top Sites. These are blog directories that allow people to seek out blogs on subject matters of interest to them. You can also apply to be added to the moderated directory Blogarama or try a relatively new service like BlogRush, which will advertise your blog's content across a network of related blogs.
      3. Remind your readers that if they like a post, they should add it to sites like Digg, Delicious, Netscape, StumbleUpon, Ma.gnolia or Reddit. These services can help attract new readers to your site.
      4. Link to other sites. The owners of the sites you link to are likely to check out your blog particularly if the link from your blog drives traffic to their site.
      5. Become a regular commenter on blogs that cover similar topics to your own. You're part of the blogosphere now and therefore a potential player in a community. Provide useful and thoughtful comments on other people's blogs, and it's all the more likely that they will check out yours.
      6. The old-fashioned way. Tell everyone about your blog. Add its URL to your email signature. Put it on your business cards. Network at blogging conferences. Kiss some hands and shake some babies, or is that the other way around?

    • Step 7: Measure Your Traffic

      • Blog hosts like WordPress.com and Typepad keep track of your stats for you. They will tell you how many people have visited your site and when.
      • If you'd like a more in-depth set of statistics including where people are visiting your site from, what pages received the most views and detailed graphs of your site's popularity, there are a handful of free services you can use to track that information.
      • The most popular include Google Analytics and Site Meter. Both services give you step-by-step instructions in how to set-up their services on your blog although some familiarity with basic HTML coding is helpful.

    • Step 8: Monetize Your Blog

      • While you shouldn't quit your day job, there are a handful of quick and easy ways to monetize your blog. A basic knowledge of HTML coding is helpful when using these services, but most blog hosts will walk you through how to add these services.
      • Google AdSense
      • Google Adsense will search your blog and add ads relevant to its content. These ads can appear in a number of different text and image configurations. You make money when people click on the ads.
      • Yahoo! Publisher Network
      • Yahoo!'s version of AdSense.
      • Amazon Associates
      • An Amazon.com program that places ads relevant to your blog's content on your blog. You make money when readers click on the ads and make a purchase through Amazon.
      • Adbrite
      • A network that lets blog owners sell text ad space directly to advertisers.

    • Legal Resources for Bloggers

      • There are some legal issues that all bloggers, but particularly those aspiring to capture a large audience, should be aware of. Most deal with the use of images, video and audio files. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a complete legal guide for bloggers online.
      • You may also want to copyright your own original work through Creative Commons. Creative Commons offers several different kinds of licenses. Some let people use your material freely but with attribution. Some let people use your material for anything but commercial purposes. You can check out the full list of Creative Commons licenses at their website.http://www.myblogusa.com

Posted at 12:17 PM in Books, Current Affairs, Film, Food and Drink, Games, Music, Religion, Science, Sports, Television, Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs | | Comments (0)

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Important Blogging Statistics

  • Over 12 million American adults currently maintain a blog.
  • More than 147 million Americans use the Internet.
  • Over 57 million Americans read blogs. 
  • 1.7 million American adults list making money as one of the reasons they blog.
  • 89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years. 
  • 9% of internet users say they have created blogs . 
  • 6% of the entire US adult population has created a blog .
    Technorati is currently tracking over 70 million blogs . 
  • Over 120 thousand blogs are created every day . 
  • There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day .
  • 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs .
  • 37% of blog readers began reading blogs in 2005 or 2006 . 
  • 51% of blog readers shop online .
  • Blog readers average 23 hours online each week . 

In my efforts to convince my clients that having a professional blog is a good thing, I’ve been trying to find some compelling stats that indicate the state of play out there. At last I’ve found them!

 

Here are some worldwide and US figures to chew on (if you have any Australian ones I’d love to see them!).

  • Blogging grew 68% in 2008
  • 346 million people worldwide read blogs
  • 77% of active web users read blogs
  • 184 million people say they’ve started a blog

The average blogger in the US:

  • 51% male (which means there are a lot of female bloggers too - yay)
  • Aged 35+ (58%)
  • Aged 18-34 (42%)
  • College educated, 74%
17 Statistics to Monitor on Your Blog

Today your task in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge is to spend some time looking at your blog’s statistics/metrics package to see what you can learn from it. 

 

I encouraged participants in 31DBBB to make sure they had a metrics package installed on their blog before they started so I hope you have at least a month’s worth of stats to look at. If you’ve not got a stats package installed yet you should get one on your blog ASAP as it’ll help you track how it is performing.

 

Take some time out today to do a little analysis of your blog’s statistics. There is a wealth of information in them that can be incredibly useful.

 

Important Note: this exercise tends to become more useful over time. If this is the first time you do it then hopefully it’ll be illuminating - but the longer you have been collecting metrics on your blog the more useful it can become as you track trends and see patterns over time. As a result - this type of exercise should be something you build into your regular blogging routine (I try to do an in depth review each month).

 

Some of you will be used to doing this type of analysis so you won’t need a lot of help in doing it - but if you’re new to this here are a few metrics to pay particular attention to:



  1. Overall Visitors - this is the metric most of us probably look at the most so I’ll start with it. Are visitor numbers on the increase or decrease? What might be the reasons for these changes (ie could it be tied to frequency of posting, topics, other sites links etc).
  2. Most Popular Posts - what posts are being read more than other posts? Knowing this is important for a couple of reasons. For starters it gives you a hint of what topics you could write more on - but secondly it gives you some key pages on your site to optimize (ie think about how you can drive people from these posts deeper into your blog).
  3. Referral Stats - what sites are sending you the most traffic? If it’s another blog or site, perhaps you could develop a relationship with them to see this increase. If it’s Search Engines, how can you adapt the posts to see it rise even more using.
  4. What Questions are being asked? - what questions are readers typing into search engines to find your blog? These could make great future posts.
  5. What Keywords are sending traffic? - knowing the keywords that people search for to find your site is very useful. It helps you to know how to optimize your blog for SEO even better and can give hints on what content to write more of.
  6. What seasonal traffic is there? - are there any seasonal trends that you should be aware of and could use to capture more traffic? What caused the bumps in traffic and how can you prepare yourself better for next time those conditions might happen again.
  7. Daily/Weekly Trends - another trend to watch is what traffic does over different periods of time. What are the most popular times of day? What days of the week are most popular? Knowing this gives you ammunition in planning when to release new posts.
  8. What’s Your Bounce Rate? - metrics packages like Google Analytics provide you with a ‘bounce rate’ stat which measures how many people arrive at your site and then leave again without viewing any extra pages. I find this a key metric to watch and attempt to change. Set yourself some goals to get this rate down and the page views viewed per visitor up by making your blog sticky.
  9. Page Views Per Visit - Similarly to ‘Bounce Rate’ - This is a good one to watch over time as it shows you whether those coming to your blog are going deep into your blog’s content or simply looking at the page they arrive on. My goal on my blogs is to see this number increase over time. For tips on how to increase page views also check out 4 Quick and Simple Ways to Increase Page Views on Your Blog
  10. Time on Site - Another stat that can give you a sense on whether readers are engaging with your content is to look at how long they stay on your blog. The longer they are staying the more likely it is that they’re reading, commenting and interacting (or that they forgot to close their browser).
  11. New vs Returning Visitors - This one gives you a sense of whether you’re succeeding in converting people to loyal visitors.

  1. RSS Stats - If you’re using a tool like Feedburner to manage your RSS feeds you’ll have access to more useful information. Feedburner provides you with the number of subscribers but also what posts people are reading most of (again showing you what content people are engaging with most which gives you some good information on what type of content is working best).
  2. Outbound Clicks - Not every metrics package will give you this type of information but if you have access to it knowing what links on your blog people are clicking to leave it can be very useful. It’s not that you want to stop people clicking links - but knowing what links they click on can give you some useful information on what motivates your readers to click a link and what type of information they want more of.
  3. Where are People Clicking on Your Page - not all stats packages track this but some like Google Analytics or packages specifically for it like CrazyEgg will create heatmaps or visual pictures of what people click on when they visit your blog. I find CrazyEgg’s heatmaps better than Google Analytics but you do need to set it up on specific pages of your blog to be able to see them. This is very useful information when thinking about the design and layout of your blog but also can help you test how to layout posts to see where people click.
  4. Exit Pages - A similar metric is knowing what page on your blog people are leaving from. A couple of years ago I checked my stats and noticed that the % of people leaving a particular page on my blog was triple other pages. When I investigated I found that the page had some very bad formatting issues on it that made the page almost unreadable - I was able to fix the problem and keep more readers engaged as a result.
  5. Monetization Stats - many of you are looking to make money from your blogs so it’s also important to pay attention to any stats you have at your disposal on how your blog is performing in this way. The metrics you have at your disposal will vary from income stream to income stream but if possible try to work out where on your blog the income is coming from specifically. For example if you use Google Analytics and AdSense you’ll be able to see what specific pages are earning more than others. Otherwise - use what ever channel or tracking options your ad network or affiliate program gives you to help you work out which posts are performing.
  6. Other Stats - There are plenty of other stats that can be revealing when you dig into them. Knowing the Geographic regions of your readers can be helpful as you think about content but also is useful if you’re dealing with advertisers, knowing the screen resolution and browsers people are using to view your site is good from a design perspective etc. Also worth doing from time to time is looking at other stats like how many posts you’ve done over time (post frequency can help you monitor how you’re performing personally) and how many comments you’ve had on your blog over a period of time and on which posts (which can be a great indicator of what kind of posts are working best on your blog and how reader engagement is going).

What Would You Add?

There are many other types of metrics that most statistics packages will provide you with. Feel free to share the metrics that you check most often and how you use them to improve your blog in comments below. Also let us know what tools you are using to check your blog’s metrics. 

Warning: Don’t become a stats addict. Most new bloggers go through a period where they are checking their stats every hour. This is pretty normal but over time can add up to a lot of wasted time.

I personally try to do a quick check of stats throughout the day 2-3 times (just looking at traffic numbers mainly to see if there’s any spike in traffic that I need to know about) and then month put aside an hour or two to go deeper and look at some of the above statistics.

Posted at 11:14 AM in Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs | | Comments (0)

10/08/2009

What a Blog Can Do For Your Small Business

The blogging movement is picking up speed as businesses begin to realize the benefits of blogging. Discover what a business blog can do for you.

What is a Blog?

According to Pyra Labs Blogger, "A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically—like a what's new page or a journal." The term is actually weblogs coined by Jorn Barger in 1997. 

The boom of weblogs happened in 1999 when several companies & developers made easy blogging software and tools. Since 1999, the number of blogs on the Internet has exploded from a few thousand to over 100 million.

Blogs can fall into two general categories.

Personal Blogs: a mixture of a personal diary, opinion posts and research links.

Business Blogs: a corporate tool for communicating with customers or employees to share knowledge and expertise.

Business blogs are sweeping the business community. Blogs are an excellent method to share a company's expertise, build additional web traffic, and connect with potential customers..

What does Blogging Provide to Small Business?

  • Blog software is easy to use. Simply write your thoughts, link to resources, and publish to your blog, all at the push of a few buttons. Blog software companies such as: Movable Type, Blogger.com and Typepad all offer easy blogging tools to get started.
  • Blogging is a low-cost alternative to having a web presence. For small business owners without the time to learn web html or the money to hire a designer/developer, blogging offers an inexpensive method to get your company's name out on the Internet.
  • Updating the weblog is a much quicker process than contacting a web designer with changes or doing the coding and uploading yourself.
  • Business blogs provide your small business with a chance to share your expertise and knowledge with a larger audience. A powerful benefit for consultants and knowledge workers.

    • Examples of Business Blogs

    Gizmodo is a weblog about everything about gadgets and gizmos for those who want to remain on the cutting edge of consumer electronics. As a web magazine, Gizmodo is quickly building a specialized audience in consumer electronics with an advertising business model.

    Research Buzz is an excellent resource tool for Internet research. An information provider, Research Buzz provides advertising and a special paid edition of their newsletter.

    Joel on Software is a blog that displays Joel Spolsky's knowledge and views on software development. The blog acts as a method for Joel to highlight his expertise and promote his small business, Fog Creek Software.

    Jupiter Research, a top business market research company has a blog for each company analyst. The weblog provides analysts with the means to connect with their audience on a regular basis.

    Loosetooth.com Shop Blog, by Brandy Agerbeck, is an online art shop blog that provide customers with a way to get to know the store owner. This blog is an e-commerce site with buy and shop options.

    MacroMedia the software company provides a customer service blog for users and staff to share solutions in an organized fashion.

    Blogs do have a downside. Blogging does not provide the functionality of web pages, has limits for e-commerce solutions and can be time-consuming with regular posts. But with minimal costs, it maybe advantageous to start blogging. Is your small business blog ready?

    Posted at 01:31 PM in Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs | | Comments (0)

    Benefits of Blogging for Your Home Business


    Blogging means that home business owners looking for a quick and easy way to drive traffic to their websites can put away their checkbooks. There is a very cost-effective method for generating traffic that only requires a bit of time, a bit of dedication and doesn’t have to cost anything unless you need a professional design, want to pay a writer to post professional content, or you need special functionality. This sensational home business marketing tool is nothing more than a blog (Web log).
    Blogging is opening up doors and generating interest for home-based businesses far more than most other free or nearly free tools. Beyond driving traffic toward a business website by helping gain search engine attention, blog marketing has a number of other benefits for entrepreneurs, as well.

    Benefits of Blogging for Home Business

    Blogging provides several benefits for home businesses or online businesses on restricted budgets because:

    • Blogging can provide a great forum for a small or home business owner to discuss their products, services or industry in a straightforward, easy-to-understand manner.
    • Blogging offers small business owners a very accessible promotional tool for upcoming events or other noteworthy goings-on.
    • Blogging provides a platform for a home business owner to become viewed as an expert on the topics at hand. Who better for people to turn to for advice on selecting a perfect MP3 player, for example, than a small, home-based business owner that deals with these machines day in and day out? Business owners are experts on their products or services and there is nothing wrong with them playing this fact to their advantage. If the knowledge is there, leveraging it is simply smart.
    • Blogging opens the door for small business owners to directly engage clients, customers or readers. The simple beauty of blogs is that most of these tools are interactive. This means readers or clients can leave comments or even ask questions directly (unless the administrator turns off the ability of visitors to post comments), which the writer or writers of the blog can then answer. This is a fantastic way to develop rapport and most especially credibility. If a commenting area is not attached to a particular blog set up, it is relatively simple to add in to ensure maximum interaction.
    • Blogging provides a means for a home business operator to connect with its customers and prospects. Getting acquainted with your clients and prospects is beneficial because it allows them to view you as accessible and can build credibility and because it allows you to hear first-hand what your customers and prospects really want.
    • Blogging can offer an outlet for a little bit of fun. The typical set up for a blog – even those used by some of the world's most noted newspaper journalists – is very friendly and conversational. This means small business owners are free to have a little bit of fun with these tools along the way. This type of endeavor is often considered one of the most enjoyable for home business operators. Since it can actually pay off with more business, it's a smart step, too.

    Getting started with blog marketing does not necessarily require a big investment of time or money. Even the most simplistic of free programs can work wonders to help drive interest and traffic toward a website.

    The key in really making a blog work for a home-based business is to work at it earnestly and add to it on a consistent basis. Regularly updated blogs with lots of activity tend to attract far more search engine than those that aren't updated - a level of attention that's achieved faster than websites, which is a very good thing for a home-based business. And, if you are willing to commit your own time and you’re even a half-decent writer, bogging doesn’t have to cost anything. As a means of promoting your home business, it doesn't get much better than that.

    Posted at 01:27 PM in Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs | | Comments (0)

    Getting More Traffic to your Blog

    Getting More Traffic

    With the right research and strategy, you can take your web presence to another level regardless of your marketing budget.

    Online Marketing Tips

    • How to buy ads on Google Maps
    • Online Advertising Terms
    • 95 Search Engine Optimization Tips

    Yahoo! Store Profile

    Yahoo! Stores opened in 1998, making it one of the oldest, fully hosted ecommerce platforms available. The biggest strength of Yahoo! Stores is its immense, stable and reliable infrastructure. That means you don't have to worry about find your own Web hosting or worrying about site outages. Additionally, because of its long history, a large and experienced community of freelance designers and developers are available to help you customize your store. The biggest weakness of Yahoo! Stores is also its long history. There is a lot of legacy code and features added on top of other features. That means all the various options and features are confusing for new Yahoo! Store owners, and its admin interface is not optimized for ease of use. Yahoo! Stores also uses a proprietary language called RTML that is only useful for customizing Yahoo! Stores (good thing there's a large network of developers you can hire). Read more: Profile, Pricing, and Quick Review of Yahoo! Stores

    Twitter 101: Twitter Basics for Small Business Owners

    Oprah joined Twitter this past week. I think we can safely say Twitter is no longer a fad, and that it is here to stay.
    Twitter is a medium for posting very short messages (140 characters or less). Even with that limit, businesses are using Twitter to:
    • market products,
    • run promotions,
    • engage customers,
    • talk industry associates,
    • monitor their brand,
    • ...and more!

    Posted at 11:56 AM in Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs | | Comments (0)

    Submit to Search Engines to Boost Blog Traffic Help Search Engines Find Your Blog by Letting Them Know Where It Is

    Submit to Search Engines to Boost Blog Traffic Help Search Engines Find Your Blog by Letting Them Know Where It Is

    An easy way to give your blog a traffic boost is by letting the popular search engines know your blog exists. Of course, many of them will find your blog eventually, but why not help them along by taking the time to submit your blog's URL to some of the most popular search engines?

    Follow the links below to submit your blog's URL to some of the web's most popular search engines:

    Google
    Yahoo!
    Technorati (requires you to sign up to claim your blog)
    The Open Directory
    MSN's Live Search

    Remember, submitting your URL to search engines won't suddenly bring an overwhelming amount of traffic. However, it does mean your blog is on the search engines' radar screens and has a chance of being picked up by keyword searches.

    Posted at 11:55 AM in Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs | | Comments (0)

    A Reality Check about Blogging for Money

    A Reality Check about Blogging for Money

    Last week’s article in the Wall Street Journal revealed that someones blog earnings are in excess of $250,000 per year (a very ballpark figure).

    The problem with these type of articles is that they report in a few words just one element of a story - in this case earnings.

    The impact of the missing ‘back story’ is that much of the reality of blogging for money goes unseen by those looking at blogging as a potential income stream - leading some to naively enter into blogging with false expectations.

    Of course when these expectations are not met things can get ugly with disappointment and anger being a common reaction. What disappoints me as a blogger writing on this topic is that I regularly see other bloggers feeding their readers with hype and false hopes about how easy it is to make big money from blogging. This only adds to the distance between their reader’s expectations and the reality of blogging for money.

    The Reality of Blogging for Money

    So what is the reality of building up one’s blogging to a point where they can make a full time living blogging?
    Here are five facts that I’d like to share about my own story to give a more realistic picture to those considering getting into blogging as a way to make a living.

    1. It takes a concerted long term effort


    I’m often asked things like - ‘I need to make $xxxx in the next few months - how would you do it with a new blog?’

    The average age of blogs in the Technorati Top 100 was over 3 years when I last surveyed it - while the occasional blogger has a fast rise to frame they are the exception. Building a successful blog takes a long time (it takes time to build readership, to work out how to monetize it etc) so take a long term approach and pace yourself.

    2. It takes luck


    • I stumbled on making money from blogs quite accidentally
    • I started my first money making blog on the spur of the moment and picked a topic (without knowing what I was doing - but for the time it was right)
    • I met the right people at the right time
    • Bigger bloggers discovered me at opportune times
    The lucky list could go on - but I was very lucky. Of course some people ‘make their own luck’ and to some extent I agree with this - there are ways to increase your chances of being lucky - but some of it is outside your hands. Sometimes the luck comes and sometimes it doesn’t.

    3. It takes a lot of work

    There’s been a lot of talk lately about how blogging less can mean more from your blog. While I agree with this - that doesn’t mean you can just come up with a few posts on a whim every few days and expect the traffic (and money) to come rolling in. Over the last 3 years I’ve consistently worked 40-60+ hour weeks on my blogging. At one point I was posting 20-30 posts per day (mainly news related posts back then). Most bloggers that make a full time living from blogging work corresponding hours on it.

    4. Many don’t make much money blogging


    I’ve often used the analogy of Professional sports people to highlight that in any ‘game’ there are many who play it - less who make a little money from the game, even less who are able to earn a living from it (just) and just a small group who make big money from it. The same is true for bloggers. While it is possible to make amazing money from blogging the sad reality is that most don’t make more than pocket money. Even some blogs who ‘deserve’ to make money blogging don’t.

    5. It’s hard

    One thing that I’ve found to be common with when I had small/new blogs and now having blogs that are doing reasonably well is that in both instances it can be really hard to keep them going. The pressure to keep coming up with fresh ideas, to respond to critique of others, to deal with jealousy when others do well and more can be difficult to deal with. On some levels it gets easier to deal with as your blog grows - but on other levels the demands that you face from a larger readership can at times be overwhelming. Most bloggers that I know (big and small) have at one point or another been close to giving up - I know I have.

    Feeling Depressed?

    I don’t want to put a downer on those of you wanting to take your blogs to a level where you could make good money from blogging - the fact is that it is possible and and increasing number of people are making a part time or full time living from the medium - but I do think it’s important to have a realistic picture before getting into blogging for money.

    While some bloggers do talk about blogging as a way to make quick money I’ve not had that experience myself. Perhaps others do get rich quick from blogging - but I’ve not met any successful bloggers who’ve told me that yet.

    Posted at 11:54 AM in Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs | | Comments (0)

    10 Ways to make your Blog more Attractive to Advertisers

    10 Ways to make your Blog more Attractive to Advertisers

    1. Have an “Advertise with Us” Banner on your site

    This is the single most important issue. It should click to an Advertising information page and have an easy way to contact you for more information and rates. Key points: Make it a graphical image or a tab. Keep it above the fold.

    2. Keep the ads on your site specific to your site

    Don’t have smiley ads and wallpaper ads if your site is site is about mobile phones.

    3. Show them the banners

    If you currently have no paid placements on your site, put up house ads or partner ads in the same spot you would run a paid spot. (A house ad refers to banners for other products or sites that you or your company own)

    4. Throw up a free bonus ad.

    By putting a free advertisement on your site, you may not only encourage similar ads or competitors to that product, but the company you added for free may decide to advertise with you. Ask for full disclosure of the performance of the campaign in return. (Total clicks, total purchases etc. ) Key points. Put the free bonus up with a direct URL without tracking tags or affiliate tags.

    5. Show your site stats.

    You need to show at least the basics for site statical information: Monthly unique visitors and total number of impressions are the 2 key ones. Other less important can be Google PR & Alexa rank.

    6. User demographic information. Know your audience.

    The bare minimum is Male/Female % and average age of your readers. Other potentially useful information includes geographic, HHI, single/married, number of kids. etc. How do you get this info? You can do site polls, survey’s, or get more detailed stats from ComScore or Quantcast.com

    7. Have an ‘About Us’ section.

    Clearly explain who you are and what your site is about. And also why you are an ‘authority’ on what you are writing about, and why anyone should care about what you have to say.


    8. Don’t use Google AdSense on your site.

    OK, this could be the most painful one for most people especially if you are generating a few hundred bucks a month from it already. But Google ad sense devalues your site and makes it look unprofessional. You have to ask yourself, “Do I want some real revenue from my site or Google’s table scraps.”

    9. Keep your blog on topic.

    If you are all over the map in regards to topics about which you talk about, advertisers won’t know if they are a good fit for your site.


    10. Keep your blog professional.

    If you are talking about your cat, (Matt Cutts), ranting about your drive to work, swearing or bashing every product you can think about, it will scare away advertisers.

    Posted at 11:53 AM in Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs | | Comments (0)

    10/07/2009

    A Video on How to create a blog with Blogger

    A Video on How to create a blog with Blogger

    Need help getting started with Blogger? Check out this quick tutorial!

    Posted at 10:10 PM in Travel, Web/Tech, Weblogs | | Comments (0)

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