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Ask Google’s Webmaster Help Group

09 2008 Monday

By Kalena Jordan in Featured

Google staff get a LOT of email, particularly from angry searchers and webmasters.

As the world’s most popular search engine, they are bombarded with questions and problems at a rate that is difficult to even imagine. If you’ve ever been frustrated with the results from a particular search query, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

But did you know that Google have an interactive Help Group moderated by Google staff and knowledgeable volunteers, designed specifically to help searchers, answer questions and address your frustrations? It’s true.

The Google Webmaster Help Group is promoted as:

“…a comfortable and useful meeting place for English-speaking site owners to ask questions and share information with each other and participating Google employees (”Googlers”)… We’re regularly reading posts, spotting trends, internally noting issues of concern, and then sharing this important information with key colleagues around the world to help make Google Search better for everyone.”

Awwww, ain’t that sweet? Maybe they should address world peace and global warming while they’re at it. But seriously, there is some rock solid information in the Help Group about everything from advanced search techniques to Google Maps, Webmaster Tools, Blogger, spam and the almighty algorithm. If you have a question remotely related to a Google product or service, chances are it’s been answered in this Group.

Webmaster Help comes in 15 languages apart from English, is open to anyone to join and you can begin posting immediately. BUT - if you want an answer to your questions, make sure you read their Charter and Tips before posting.

How to Create Money Making Blogs

09 2008 Monday

By Cory Threlfall in Featured

There are plenty of money making ventures around these days, especially when it comes to the Internet. One method of making good money online is via blogs. Some blogs are created simply to get information out to the general public with no strings attached whereas other blogs are created more as a money making venture. The following will highlight some ways to create money making blogs and be well on your way to garnering an income through this lucrative job opportunity.

Search for Popular Topics on Which to Base the Blog Around

One of the best ways to ensure that your blog is a money making blog is to choose a topic which people are interested in reading about. Since most money making blogs are made so by the number of individuals who visit the site, it is important to pick a subject which individuals are interested in and which will drive them towards your particular blog. Some ways to figure out what topics are popular at the moment include searching for the answers online through popular search results, inquiring with others as to what they like to read about on blogs and reviewing some of the more popular blogs online.

Use Affiliate Programs

There are quite a few different ways to make money via your blogs however affiliate programs provide one of the main ways to do so. Affiliate programs consist of an arrangement between the blog owner and outside companies. The outside company will post a link to their company on your blog and you will get a certain payment amount every time an individual buys something from the outside company from using the link to get there. The rate of return will vary depending on the company, percentage of sale amount and item purchased, however, this is a great way to create money making blogs which does not take a lot of work on your part.

Pay Per Click Programs

Pay per click programs provide another way for bloggers to turn their blogs into money making blogs. Pay per click programs consist of companies posting their advertisements on your blog and you will get paid a certain amount every time the blog visitor clicks on the ad. Pay per click programs as with affiliate programs provide a wonderful way for bloggers to do very little and get paid simply by having their blog up and running.

Constantly Update Your Blog Content

In order for the two aforementioned programs to work and turn your everyday blogs into money making blogs, you have to keep your blog content constantly updated. The beauty of blogs is that the blog owners post new information for the masses to read. If a regular reader of your blog visits it and finds that the news is stale, they will move on to other blogs and may never return. This may turn what was once a money making blog into a stagnant one.

Use Keywords in Your Blog Content

You should also be sure to use a requisite amount of keywords in your blog content. Doing so will ensure that you get regular website traffic by individuals who are interested in the information you have posted. This in turn may lead them to click on the ads and purchase items from affiliate program partners. The keyword density which you use on your blog will depend on which search engine programs you hope to draw your visitors from but this can easily be found out simply by visiting the websites of the search engine companies and reviewing their guidelines.

Subscribe for FREE to our blog The Web Development Central Blog and receive MORE expert articles and tips on How-To build and drive Traffic to your website. Go Now To ==> Money Making Blogs or watch these FREE videos on how to make money blogging. Go To ==> http://bloggingformoney.corythrelfall.com

Six Simple SEO Techniques to Improve your Search Engine Ranking

09 2008 Monday

By Peter Nisbet in Featured

There are some very simple SEO techniques available for you to improve your search engine ranking. In the course of my normal analysis of competitors’ websites, I find an amazing number that does not employ all of these techniques, yet every one can help you get closer to that coveted #1 position.

Using these will not in itself allow you reach the top position for your keyword, but they definitely help, and there is no single factor that will enable you to hit the top. A #1 position on Google is attained by a combination of many factors, such as internal and external linking strategies, relevance of your content to the keyword and the overall look and feel of your site. Plus those detailed below.

So let’s get started on these: these are the nuts and bolts of SEO, and if they are not right then you are starting off on the back foot. These are the essential SEO techniques that you must have as a minimum if you want to improve your search engine ranking, and although intended mainly for beginners, many established web pages do not contain every one of these.

I write ‘pages’ deliberately, because Google and the other main search engines list web pages, and not entire domains. That means that every single page in your website should be optimized in the same way: each should contain every single one of the SEO techniques listed below.

TITLE TAG

The title tag is contained within the ‘HEAD’ tags of your HTML, before the ‘BODY’ tags. This states the title of the page, and must contain the major keywords of the page. The contents of your title tag do not appear in the text of the page: its purpose is to inform the search engine spiders what the topic of your page is, and what words are important (i.e. your main page keyword). For example, the TITLE tag of a page based on this article would be “SEO Techniques - Improve your Search Engine Ranking”.

DESCRIPTION TAG

The description Meta tag is used by Google, and other search engines, in the search engine listings. I have tested this with them all and Google uses it as is, while Yahoo uses part of it. You should provide a description of what the web page is about, and a simple check of the descriptions in other sites using your keyword on Google will show you how many words you can use to have the whole description included. About 20 words are fine.

KEYWORD TAG

Search engines rarely use the keyword Meta tag: Google ignores it completely. However, it doesn’t hurt, and can help in a small way. Include your brand name and your own name. That way some engines might show your pages if somebody is looking for your name. The other Meta tags have no SEO value, and do not help to improve your search engine ranking whatsoever.

HEADING H TAGS

Heading tags (H1, H2, . . .) are used by Google to determine the importance of the text contained in your headings. Use H1 tags for the main title of your page (you also use it in the TITLE tag, but that isn’t seen by readers, only by the spiders). Put subtitles in H2 tags. You can change the font size of the text within these tags.

TEXT FORMATTING

Text in bold, italics and underscored are seen by the search engines as having greater weight, and so will be used in determining the relevance of your site. Always bolden your titles, and it also helps to underline it if it doesn’t make it look out of place.

WRITING STYLE and CONTENT

Do not write for algorithms (spiders): write for your readers. Always write for humans and you won’t go wrong. If your page content reads well, and has good vocabulary relating to the topic, then it will have a better chance of a higher listing than if you stuffed it full of keywords. I rarely use more than 1.5% - the keyword densities of the terms ‘SEO’, SEO techniques’ and ’search engine ranking’ (the main keywords) of this article are 1.5, 0.87 and 0.87 respectively. Too many keywords is bad SEO, and could result in a poor listing for your page - if it is listed at all.

So there you are: six simple SEO techniques to improve your search engine ranking. It is surprising how many experienced webmasters fail to apply all of these: there is no excuse, and they are failing to get the nuts and bolts properly fitted and tightened on their web pages.

Apply these to every page and not only will you improve your SEO, but also your chances of a good search engine ranking. It is amazing how many web pages lack these basic SEO techniques.

Peter Nisbet - If you would like more advanced SEO techniques to help improve your search engine ranking considerably, check out SEOcious where Pete show you screenshots of how got two of his sites listed at #1 in the main search engines against strong competition.

Pay Per Play

09 2008 Monday

By Anna Williams in Featured

There is a new form of Internet Advertising called Pay Per Play. What is Pay Per Play?When someone visits a website with Pay Per Play code embedded in it, a 5-second audio ad is played. When the ad is played you get a commission. It’s as simple as that.

You are probably familiar with “Pay Per Click,” or “PPC,” where a webmaster is paid every time a visitor clicks on an ad on his site. Pay Per Play is similar, but the webmaster is paid for the times an audio ad is played for the website visitor, regardless of whether the visitor clicks on an ad or not.