Blogging Hints

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Home Page: What Your Blog's Front Page Should Look Like

When creating a blog, it is very important that you create a home page that is visually appealing and easy to navigate. With a well organized home page, your readers will easily be able to see everything that you have to offer with less stress. To help keep things simple, here are 3 elements to add to your blog's front page:

1. Signup form.

If you want to build an email list, you need to clearly provide a signup form on your front page. Some people choose to show the signup form itself directly on the front page while others choose to provide a link instead. Depending on your blog theme and personal preferences, you will need to discover what method will work best for you.

When creating a signup form, it may help to offer a freebie to give away to those that sign up. Many people do not like giving away their email addresses because of spam or excessive sales pitches. Yet, with the right freebie, you may be able to tempt them. However, always ensure that you have an “unsubscribe” option and avoid being too aggressive with your email marketing campaign.

2. Links to archives.

To ensure that all of your content is easy to access, you should organize them and use links to attract readers. Many blogs have columns on either side of the home page that displays content based on category or date. Having such an element for your home page as well will help people better view all of the available content that is relevant to them.

However, if you really want to make your content the center of attention on your front page, you can be more bold and display it in the following formats:

Full posts. Full posts are handy to have on your front page because readers do not have to leave your page to read more. The full posts format typically work best only when used for short blog posts. However, it should be noted that full posts used on your front page and featured elsewhere on your blog may also be seen as duplicate content by search engines.

Post excerpts. Post excerpts make great teasers for your readers. When using post excerpts, you just have to include a link to the main article. They help create a shorter front page and make scanning much easier, and are excellent for avoiding duplicate content trouble.

Magazine style. Magazine style content makes your front page look like a typical news website that may work in your favor. The content also tends to be much more organized.

3. Images.

Images are excellent for capturing readers' attention and giving your brand a unique look. However, it is important that your images are relevant to your blog and that they are not too plentiful. If you use too many images and graphics, you can potentially overwhelm your followers and drive them away.

With these 3 elements to add to your blog's front page, you will make your blog more user friendly.

Edward Olson makes his living blogging. To help others do the same, he shares his best tips for how to build a great blog on work-at-home-mom websites, and solopreneur blogs. Visit the Purchased my Internet in Fort Mill link to learn about fast internet services.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Ensure Your Success on the Internet

It really does look like a new day is upon us. It's the Internet Age, and anyone who isn't thinking about jumping into this exciting new medium is losing out on a golden opportunity. Already thousands of companies, both large and small, have found that they can have a productive presence on the Web without the exorbitant costs of having a regular retail presence on the High Street. It doesn’t require a large investment to set up an effective presence on the Internet, and you usually don't have to worry about being open certain hours of the day and on weekends or having multiple employees on the payroll. Not only that, but you could attract clients from all over the country, if not all over the world. It truly is the wave of the future.

Having said that, having a successful Web presence is not as easy as flipping on a light switch. Not only does the webpage have to be well designed, so that it is attractive and easy to navigate, but one has to devise a marketing campaign to attract people to the website itself. Don't forget that there already potentially hundreds of competitors out there, selling the same goods or services, and you need to be able to distinguish yourself from the crowd. One of the best ways to do this is to spend money on advertising, just as you would a regular store. Except that on the Internet, there are several options available. One that provides the best returns on investment is known as PPC, or pay per click advertising. It is not easy to do effectively, and one should always hire an expert consultant to help devise and implement the strategy. Many are finding that PPC management provides one of the best and most reliable services around.

The King Kong of Search Engines

As most people know, Google is the search engine of choice for most people. In fact, recent statistics show that they command over 70% of all search engine queries. While some people consider Microsoft's Bing search engine as well as Yahoo's search engine viable alternatives, most people today almost reflexively go straight to Google. As a result, it makes sense to spend the bulk of one's Internet advertising budget on placing ads in Google. This revenue represents the vast majority of Google's income, and they have wisely promoted their brand by offering not only free e-mail service, known as Gmail, as well as their own browser, known as Chrome.

The pay per click model is interesting because as the name implies, you only pay any time that a potential customer clicks on your advertisement and proceeds to your webpage. It is almost as if you paid someone to stand outside of your regular retail store and pay them every time they enticed someone to enter. Once they enter your virtual store, just as a regular store, it's up to you to convert curious browsers into actual buyers.

Be Effective

A PPC campaign can be your ticket to making your website a smashing success. But to be able to do this, you need guidance and expert advice. For this you should turn to PPC management where you can get a bespoke campaign organized that will provide you with the best results.

Chris Harlepp is a US-based lifestyle writer covering the latest trends in modern society, and all of its implications, including PPC management. He writes on a freelance basis for many of the major lifestyle blogs.

Keyword: PPC management

URL: http://www.keel-over.co.uk/ppc-management.html

Friday, January 18, 2013

SEO Is There To Boost Your Online Visibility

Introduction: In today’s scenario the need of marketing has become all the more important ever since competition began in the markets. People are taking all sorts of steps so as to bring their products and services into limelight, thereby gaining business better than their competitors. It is for this reason that the advertising market has managed to boom in the last decade.

You should understand that with time everything changes and improves. The world has seen a drastic change of SEO replacing advertising. In the present scenario the internet has invaded the lives of the people all over the world. It is because of this the trend that online businesses are booming.

Every person is the first person nowadays who is catering to websites for global visibility. However, for these websites sustaining in the cutthroat market competition is not easy. You may be offered amazing products or even excellent service, the success only depends upon proper marketing.

In order to make your business boom or doom depends upon marketing and if you are in Orange County than you can benefit from the SEO service for online visibility.

Importance of the SEO service

In today’s scenario the need for an online presence is more important than that of local presence. Growth of any business is all the more dependent on the customer's reactions and support.SEO services are all the more necessary if your business is aimed at attracting more customers,. It is a service which you cannot ignore.
Business advantage can be gained with the help of SEO and SEM companies which can be put so that you can put all your attention on your core business. With the services of the SEO, you are able to ensure the visibility of your website extensively online. A large chunk of the population makes use of the internet and this is undoubtedly the best place to start and expand a business. It really becomes the best place to reach more people and a source to create additional income through online business.
As an online business owner you should know all the marketing techniques related to web business.SEO helps in creating exposure as well as popularity for the business website amongst those people who are desirous of earning more income. It makes use of tools like blogs, article contents, press releases and newsletters in connecting with web browsers that may become web visitors. Since the world is moving on internet for global trade today, it has become a necessity for you to achieve the top rankings for your website on popular search engines which will undoubtedly help generate high traffic for your website and bring income.

Kristen is a freelance writer who writes on different topics such as technology, SEO and social media. She holds bachelor’s degree in electronics. Her famous articles includes article on Orange County SEO. She loves to travel and make new friends.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Defining Your Reputation on the Internet

The internet has created a growing need for individuals and businesses alike to monitor what is posted about them. With family, friends and competitors able to create postings anywhere across the World Wide Web, it is only natural to assume that at some point we will need to do a bit of damage control.

You may be asking yourself “What is internet reputation?” An internet reputation is the reputation created by our online activities and postings as well as the content posted by others about us or our business. This reputation can be either helpful or harmful depending on the basis of the content posted.

Breaking Down Different Types of Content

There are many types of content that can be posted on the internet that can affect our reputation. Here we will discuss the main types and exactly what effect they have upon our reputation as well as the reputation of a business.

1. Inappropriate Images – Inappropriate images consist of everything including, but not limited to, college fraternity parties where we are shown in a bad light, pictures of bar nights or fights and any images that could be listed as vulgar.

These images affect our reputation in a harmful manner. Although the picture may be decades old, it can still affect our present day reputation and create a mess for us in both personal and business matters.

2. Competitor Propaganda – Competitor propaganda is a very common thing on the internet, with each company vying for the top spot in their field. Competitors may post negative comments on forums, malicious content on blog sites, or negative imagery in advertising boxes in order to harm our business reputation or even personal reputation in some cases.

This type of content is harmful in an obvious way. The competitor seeks to destroy our reputation through their postings and steps must be taken to have these advertisements and postings removed in an orderly fashion to protect our own reputation.

3. Stories And Articles Showcasing Inappropriate Activities – This is the type of content often posted by family and friends in an unintentionally harmful manner. There is no true malicious intent; however the content should be removed in order to avoid a later problem.

While it may sound ok for Aunt Ida to blog about what a reckless youth we may have been, this can harm our reputation in spite of the years that have gone by. Potential employers do often search the internet to check out their candidates, and although it may be very humorous to friends and family to hear about how you streaked naked through the college campus twenty years ago, that employer most likely does not need to know about it.

The above examples are just a few in the growing list of content that should be avoided in order to preserve our internet reputation. There are many ways to have this content removed and it is best to speak to a professional management service in order to be sure we’ve caught every possible piece of content.

Sachin is a freelance writer who spends time blogging about a variety of subjects. His current interest lies within the field of reputation management and his famous articles includes article on What is internet reputation. He loves to travel and make new friends.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

7 Little Known, But Cool Webmaster Tools

Managing a your site and creating a new blog becomes easier these days with lots of online tools than can help you all throughout the process. Here are some little known but cool webmaster tools that you may want to explore:

1. Copyscape.com Copyscape is an online tool that allows you to search for copies of your page on the web. It can also protect you from cases of plagiarism. You can defend your sites with a free plagiarism warning banner from Copyscape. While this is a free service, there is also the so-called Copyscape Premium that provides more powerful plagiarism detection. There are also additional features such as copy-paste originality checks, batch search, private index, case tracking and an API.

2. PickyDomains.com When you are thinking of setting up a new website, there are lots of tools you can use to get started. First of all, you have to think of an effective and unique domain name. As what most people say, you must keep it short and simple (KISS). But if you are out of ideas, you can use PickyDomains to come up with great domain names. It's a risk free naming service that when you need a domain and you can't think of one, so you just have to place your order and you pay only if you receive suggestions you like.

3. iSpionage.com iSpionage is a reliable tool in managing client campaigns, analyzing SEO results, monitoring affiliates and more. It can be used for free and you can enter any site to learn which keywords generate traffic for them and if they spend money on PPC.

It is a search marketing tool that can also guide you in starting up your online business. It is popular tool used in keyword monitoring, keyword research and building campaigns.

4. BannerFans.com BannerFans is a free online banner-maker that webmasters can tage advantage of. Banners have many uses and most websites use it to promote the webpages, products or services. Webmasters also incorporate the site identity on it. There are different sizes of banners and if you want to make use of predefined sizes as well as experience hassle-free banner making, then BannerFans is good for you. It is very easy to use. You can use it to generate blog headers, text banners, large buttons and many others. You don't need to be an expert with Photoshop and other editing software to come up with cool banners. With BannerFans, everything will be easier!

5. FreeLogoServices.com Aside from banners, website logos are also important. People can easily identify you with your logo so it is essential to come up with unique and relevant design. Creating a logo with FreeLogoServices easy and fast. You just enter the logo text, choose a design, customize your logo, then save and download. FreeLogoServices is a trusted online tools because of the quality output and large selection of designs. You can try it for free and make a logo design in few minutes!

6. Alexa.com Alexa.com is an online tool use to analyze site's performance and other statistics. It shows if the site is popular or not and lists all similar sites, which is very handy, and very useful if you are planning to launch a new site in the existing niche.

If your site is 3 months or older, you can also view its online analytics through Alexa. There are site tools and site info that you can check to know more about your website. You can even compare it to your competitors. What more, you can download and install Alexa toolbar for Google Chrome to easily monitor traffic rank, see related links, view search analytics and read website reviews.

7. Broken Links Tool Backlinks are important to webmasters. This is why a particular broken link can cost much trouble and adverse impact on site traffic. To avoid this issue, it would be better to use Broken Links Tool which is an easy and quick-to-use online tool in checking broken or dead links. You can choose what type of links you would like to check - inbound links, outbound links or both (all links).

This post was written by Liezl, author of Make More Money Online and owner of several other blogs related to shopping, trading card game, random reviews and more. As a blogger armed with creative ideas and weirdest imagination, she grabs every online opportunity that comes her way. Visit her site to have unlimited access to blogging tips, online earnings and SEO techniques.

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