Free Websites
This is going to be a really quick post….just to let you know that if you take out an SEO package with Webtrafficseo then I will also build and host a website for you.
Obviously this is going to be more pertinent to those who do not currently have a website, or perhaps those who are not happy with their current site.
The great thing about my sites is that they are built in weordpress…this makes them versatile, easy to handle and, most importantly, the search engines love them!
They are built using CSS (cascading style sheets) which makes it easier for the search engines to read your site, as they are looking just at the content, which is what they are interested in.
Anyway, email me if you are interested from my contact page
Thanks and speak soon
Mark
What is RSS
What is RSS?
RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’. (Sometimes it is referred to as ‘Rich Site Summary’). Basically RSS delivers updated and changing content to anyone subscribed to that particular RSS feed. News feeds are very popular for instance as news is constantly updating throughout the day. If you were to have to continually monitor a news site for new information this would quickly become tedious and very time consuming.
The first thing you will need is an RSS reader. There are many of these and are either browser based or a downloadable application. Personally I use iGoogle and this is the most popular, although your could try My Yahoo, Feedster or Bloglines. They all perform the same function of notifying you if there is any new content in your subscribed RSS feeds. You only need one reader for all of your RSS feed subscriptions.
The obvious advantage of browser based RSS readers is that they are accessible from any computer, similar to an email hotmail account. Downloadable applications allow you to store the information on your computer, as you would your email in outlook.
Once you have chosen which reader to use you simply have to decide which content you would like to subscribe to. For instance a weather buff could subscribe to the BBC weather feed. Simply go to the BBC weather page and look for the familiar orange RSS feed button. Click on this to subscribe and all content will be delivered to your RSS reader. When there is an update you can just click on the headline to take you back to the new content on the subscribed website.
As the feed itself is more a means of notification than anything else, the information contained is very basic. Usually it is a clickable headline followed by a short description, and this is fine because that’s all we need. Some RSS feeds are set up to display the entire content of an updated post, but a brief headline is more common.
More and more sites are now taking advantage of RSS, and you can tell if a site has a feed as it will display the standard square, orange button on its page, or else this same button can be found in your url browser, usually on the right hand side.
From a search engine optimisation point of view, RSS feeds provide great backlinks to your site, and allow direct traffic from surfers interested in what you have to say. Blogging platforms are very popular with RSS as it is such an easy way to discover when your favourite blogger has added a new post. Social media also use RSS, so you could maybe subscribe to the feed of your favourites on Twitter, and be alerted as to when they post an update, rather than continually checking back to their page.
So why not subscribe to my updates now by clicking on the orange RSS icon above right, with the word ‘POSTS’ after it.
Thanks
Mark
Which Domain name?
Which Domain Extension?
Domain name is the address you type into your web browser ending in .com or .net or .co.uk ie google.com or google.co.uk or twitter.com Domain names can have a big influence on your SEO (search engine optimisation) and can influence the speed of indexing and how high your site is ranked, and can also have a very direct impact on how much money you can make.
It can be a difficult choice. You are looking for an SEO friendly domain. Keyword research is very important in any optimisation as ideally you are looking for a keyword that is searched for many times, but has low competition. This is an idealised view, and rarely seen so easily, but you get the general picture.
Once you have you a keyword or phrase it is important to use this phrase when choosing a domain name. Although the search engines haven’t come out and admitted it, all the evidence points to the fact that they see keywords and phrases as an important factor in ranking.
There are three categories of keyword matching options. Exact match, phrase match and broad match.
Exact Match matches your keyword or phrase in the domain exactly. For instance if your keyphrase is ‘bird seed’ then the exact match domain would be ‘birdseed.com ‘
Phrase match has the keywords in the right order in your domain but with an extra word also to create a new phrase. Using the bird seed example that could be ‘buybirdseed.com’
Broad match has the keywords in a different order, also with an extra word or two thrown in. For example ‘seedbirdonline.com’
There is also non keyword optimised domains, which don’t have any of your keywords included. Again taking the above example this could be ‘avianfood.com’
Generally non keyword phrases are most suited for companies with an established brand, or trying to build a brand. This doesn’t mean that these domains can not be used for your chosen keyphrase, it just makes it a little more difficult.
With all other ranking factors being equal then the search engines will rank in the following order: Exact, then phrase and finally broad.
In my next post I will discuss choosing the best domain if your keyword has been taken.
Google Wave
Google Wave – What is it?
Google Wave is coming later this year. Google Wave is an online ‘communication and collaboration’ tool developed for the web.
I have included the Google Wave Developer preview below. It is long, but may be worth a browse as it gives a lot of information about google wave.
With a google wave you will be able to communicate and work with richly formatted text, videos, documents etc. Because the google wave is shared anyone participating can add participants, edit the text and content and reply anywhere in the message so the wave really is shared. And because the google wave is live you can see any updates or edits in real time.
For more information check out the google wave developer preview below.
5 Great Sources of Linkbait
What is Linkbait?
Linkbait is used to attract traffic to your website or blog. It is content on your site written to entertain anger or educate your readers. If these articles are well written and create a reaction then you will create a buzz that spreads through the internet virally from one site to another producing links and comments about what you have written. The search engine spiders then follow these links back to your site and hey presto! Your ranking improves.
Here are 5 different types of linkbait which will bring links and visitors pouring back to your site:
- Argument and Debate. Have a rant about something (or someone) in a really negative fashion and you will invite a whole load of attention to your site. People will argue with you, call you names, agree with you, support you…everything! It doesn’t matter because the attention is there, the comments will flow and you will be attracting plenty of links. Great Linkbait!
- News. Write about what is happening now in the world. Both with the internet and the world in general. If you keep up with breaking news, even a short blog post will produce links to your sites.
- Knowledge. This is always a good one. If you pen information and articles that educate people then you will always get a good response. People are hungry for knowledge.
- Make them laugh. A bit of humour goes a long way. Keep it brief, remember ‘Brevity is the soul of Wit’. But funny stories, anecdotes, videos and cartoons will keep people coming back to your site.
- Resource. Build a good resource list and viewers will link to it. A resource list can be incredibly useful for someone involved in your specific niche and will become a reference for them. This is probably one of the best forms of linkbait that you can have. A niche specific list of resources is invaluable and will generate far more links and traffic than your other pages of content, no matter how good that may be.
So keep these 5 points in mind, or better still link to this page, and you can start building your own linkbait straight away!
Thanks
Mark
301 Permanent Redirects
301 redirects, or ‘permanent’ redirects tell search engines that url’s have permanently changed their location and therefore to take the previous information about this url, such as rankings and incoming links, and permanently move it to a new location.
When a search engine or user looks for a previous url they are redirected to the new site.
This is useful for two main reasons:
Firstly if you have built a new website or have a new domain you want the site to be held on, you can use a 301 redirect to keep all the good SEO work that you have already done (especially the incoming links)
Secondly you can alter the way search engines look at your own url variations. As an example search engines may think www.blogyourworld and blogyourworld.com (no ‘www’) are two different sites. Once a permanent 301 redirect has been put in place search engines will know that any links pointing at www.blogyourworld.com are also pointing at http://blogyourworld.com .
By correctly configuring a permanent 301 redirect, you rankings will most probably improve as all inbound links are correctly counted for the website.
I have implemented a 301 for my blog. So if you type either www.blogyourworld.com the web browser will always show http://blogyourworld.com
If you are not sure how to implement a 301 then contact your web host, generally it is a very simple exercise and they should be able to do it with a mimimum of fuss.
Incidentally, ‘URL’ stands for Universal Resource Locator’, but I’m sure you knew that already.
Thanks!
Mark
Affordable Blog Hosting
Posted by Markcb on April 15, 2010 · 2 Comments
Affordable Blog Hosting
Well, there is only one choice for me. (OK…maybe two) Most of my blogs are hosted here and you can host an unlimited amount for less than $10 per month. A no brainer as they say. That company is Hostgator.
Best Blog Host
I would recommend them whole heartedly for affordable blog hosting. After all, we want our blogs to be hosted cheaply and reliably, and with a guaranteed 99% up-time. My personal experience with Hostgator is a 100% up-time!
An alternative that you may wish to explore is Bluehost. Again similar pricing and guaranteed uptime.
So click the links above or the banner below for the most affordable blog hosting in the business.
CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP FOR BLUEHOST.COM
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