Quality Webmaster Blog

I am beginning to get an eerie feeling when I visit social bookmarking sites. The feeling is part nostalgia, part de ja vu, and part dread. It’s actually more than just a feeling. When SMO Bookmarking in Delicious, Magnolia or Mister Wong, I hear a voice that whispers: remember me… It’s sort of the same sense you get when you hear a new tune on the radio and recognize the guitar chord progression–”Hey that’s “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynard Skynard, but the band doesn’t even realize that they have subconsciously plagiarized those chords. They think they wrote the melody themselves!

Once upon a time, there only a few web directories. Moment of silence for Yahoo, DMOZ, Zeal (I miss Zeal), et. al. Then, over the years, we all know what happened. Directory scripts proliferated. Submission software blossomed.  These and the other original directories that remain have all been spammed into commercialization (paid directories), dormancy or death. I shut down submissions to my own directories quite a while back. Then Google deprecated web directories in search results.

Social bookmarking sites have cool features that traditional web directories never really incorporated. There are many differences. These are two very high level differences I see:

• Community  - I like seeing what my friends are bookmarking. I like adding friends to my profile.
• Organization - I am all but done with browser bookmarking. It’s unwieldy. Delicious will probably be around longer than my current PC hard-drive that I didn’t back up. I like tagging. I like checking out the highest rated sites.

Now, here we are in the Web 2.0 era with AJAXy social bookmarking sites showing off their frontends: clean rounded corners, gradient reflective logos, speech bubbles, rss icons like freshly waxed aerodynamic sports cars. And, unlike in the directory days, they are offering you more than a link. They offer a network of friends. They offer friends’ links to scour, bookmark and improve your Internet life. They give users a reason to come back (other than to submit another link, haha). But, look underneath the surface. Do you see what I see?

• Submit/Add Link = Save/Post
• Categories = Tags
• Comments = Notes
• Recent = Newest Links
• Auto Submit = Import XML File

Do you get the same eerie feeling?

It’s more important that you are ranking high with certain keywords than what your PR is. There are many websites that have lower PR and still are listing number one for certain keywords.

But if you are really worried and want high Page Rank, try the following:

1) fresh content like no other page out there on the internet. More you have, the better.
2) link other sites to that page(s), the more the better, they can be inbound or external links from other sites.
3) use a blog for faster indexing of those pages when a link is placed on your blog to your new content.
4) submit to article directories and place the link of the pages you want a higher PR on.
5) once your other pages have higher PR, strategically place other PR pages that link up to the new PR pages and force the PR ranking by using the term of revelance given from Page A to page B.

Website templates are very affordable and they save you a lot of effort and time when you want to create a new layout for your website. However, a lot of people make mistakes in the process of choosing and using a web template and end up with something that was unlike the image they had in mind. Here are some guidelines to help you avoid those mistakes.

The first obvious mistake you should be aware of is using a template that is very popular. If many people use the same template, your website will not appear unique at all and your credibility as a solid, different website will be tarnished. In other words, you will appear generic just like your next-door neighbours.

To whole point of using a web template is to save time and effort. You just change the title and appropriate details and you’re done. The biggest mistake one makes is to customize the template beyond recognisation. While that may be good in the sense that you’re creating a unique graphic, you’re defying the very purpose of using a web template — saving time and effort.

However, on the opposite side, if a template you purchase is suitable but some changes must be made to suit your site’s theme, then you will have to take some time to make the changes. For example, you can find a very nice template that suits your hobby site except the original designer has put an image of stamps in the header. You can find images of garden plants and spades to replace the stamps for your gardening hobby site. However, do only make the necessary changes and don’t redesign the whole template.

In some circumstances, some people simply make the wrong choice of templates. This is a very subjective issue but you have to be careful in selecting templates to suit your audience. Do not choose templates just because they are pretty, choose them because they serve your purpose.

CPC:
Cost per click - the cost or cost-equivalent paid per click-through.
Google Adsense
Yahoo Publisher Network (Beta)
Chitika
BidClix
BannerBoxes
Adbrite
AdSonar
Clicksor
Searchfeed
Revenue Pilot
Kontera
Adengage.com
CPM:
Cost per thousand impressions
Tribal Fusion
Casale Media
BurstMedia
RealTechNetwork
ValueClick Media/FastClick
Buds Ad Network
MaxOnline
24/7 Real Media
Bannerconnect
Mamma Media Solutions
Adtegrity
Ad pepper Media
Rightmedia.com
Advertising.com
Accelerator Media
AdSmart
AdAgency1
Interclick
Realcastmedia.com
CPA/CPL
Cost per Action - model in which payment is based solely on qualifying actions such as sales or registrations.
Linkshare
Commission Junction
ShareASale
WebSponsors
Advertising.com
Azoogle Ads
Maxbounty
Affiliateer

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WidgetBucks is shortening the list of countries that pay on a CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions)

List of countries whose traffic continues to pay on a CPM

Australia (AU)
     Austria (AT)
     Belgium (BE)
     Denmark (DK)
     France (FR)
     Germany (DE)
     India (IN)
     Ireland (IE)
     Italy (IT)
     Netherlands (NL)
     New Zealand (NZ)
     Portugal (PT)
     Puerto Rico (PR)
     Singapore (SG)
     South Africa (ZA)
     Spain (ES)
     Switzerland (CH)
     United Arab Emirates (AE)
     United Kingdom (GB)

 only traffic from the list of countries above will earn CPM revenue. Site visitors originating from countries not on the list will result in zero payout

Not so long ago, blogs are maintained and used by computer aficionados as a tool to publish personal experiences, pictures, videos and events that will be of interest to internet readers and surfers. Aspiring writers would use blogs as a venue to publish their writing. Computer geeks would use blogs to be in touch with peers.

Nowadays, blogging is the in thing if you want to make money online. A blog is a source of passive income available to people who can only spare 2 to 3 hours daily in front of a computer. Stay at home moms can find ways to augment the family income thru blogs. Many people make a comfortable living with blogging as the main source of income.

Making money from a blog is pretty simple and uncomplicated. The most important aspect of blogging is that it doesn’t really need large capital outlay in order to realize income. What a blogger needs is a steady and regular readership and a more than fair amount of search engine traffic. Google would ensure a steady amount of search engine traffic if you set up your blog account with Blogger or with WordPress.

One way of making money with your blog is by signing up to promote affiliate programs. A certain percent of the sale is paid to the blogger for the service rendered-that of providing a link to the affiliate companies. Reviewing and promoting affiliate programs need more than being merely advertised in your blog. To maximize conversion, you need to carefully review the programs in order to be credible and to gain the trust of the readers. Visitors would need assurance that you have tried and benefited from the programs before they buy.

A blog is an ideal advertising space to be sold to merchants, affiliates and to other bloggers who wish to promote their products. The value of the blog advertising space is dictated by the blog’s popularity. A more popular blog would naturally command higher price for the advertising space. Adsense is another blog income earner. This advertising network would provide you with ads relevant to the context of your blog and you earn money every time visitors click on the ads.

Writing reviews that promote merchants and/or sites is another way to make money with your blog. Advertising products and services in your blog is a sure income earner. A word of advice – you need to try the product or the service before you make the review. This is to ensure that the review is truthful and that you have a considerable knowledge of the subject. Gaining the trust of the readers will ensure that readers will come back to your blog every time they need points to be clarified. Increase blog traffic means increase blog income.

All the above mentioned ways of making money with blog is not possible if the content of the blog is boring and does not appeal to the readers. A fresh and attention catching content is vital to the achievement of blog traffic. Take advantage of the rush to write. This happens to all of us. Ideas seem to flow effortlessly. By writing several blog posts at one sitting, posting one blog and keeping the others to be posted later will ensure fresh blog content for the days to come.

Applying and practicing these simple tips would ensure a steady income from your blog.

Only buy links from sites that are highly relevant to your web site content

If the site you are buying links from already has more than 15 paid links on the page, walk away

If the site labels the links as “sponsored” or “paid links” or anything like that, walk away

Don’t buy footer or sidebar links

Check that the page ranks well for its targeted keywords

Try to make your anchor text look natural

Point the links at different pages within your site. Don’t buy lots of links for your homepage

and do not buy

 links on irrelevant sites

 all your links from .edu sites

 all your links from .gov sites

 links from large networks all sitting on the same C Block IP

Purchase links around stop words such as advertisement, paid, partners

 all your links from forum signatures

I hope you like These Tips.

Getting paid  revenue share on ads
http://www.chacha.com/
http://www.flixya.com/
http://www.thevideosense.com/
http://www.metacafe.com/
http://revver.com/
Get paid for blogging
http://bloggerwave.com/
http://payu2blog.com/
http://www.reviewme.com/
http://www.blogsvertise.com/
http://payperpost.com/
http://www.sponsoredreview.com/
http://www.linkworth.com/
Get paid for content
http://www.helium.com/
http://www.shvoong.com/
http://www.newsvine.com/
Get paid for photo
http://www.istockphoto.com/
http://www.shutterstock.com/
http://www.celljournalist.com/
http://www.fotolia.com/
good luck

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It has been 6 months since you started your blog and the statistics are not moving. Well actually they are but in a very uninspiring trend. To avoid this kind of disappointment and other headaches, get to know first the various things and tools that can help boost traffic on your blog. Prepare yourself to assume the role of a Webmaster since you will be doing a lot of work.

Below are ten easy-to-follow tips on how to improve your traffic, not necessarily in order. Its usefulness will still depend on your commitment and dedication. 

 * Be the best
If you have a specific niche then I suggest be an expert on it. Some bloggers look for common interests where they can acquire useful information and tips. You can offer books reviews, do’s and don’ts in blogging, online money making, vacation havens and any other topics you have good experiences and knowledge that you want to share.

 * Be connected
Include RSS, Bookmark, and tag contents such as Technorati, del.icio.us, Flickr, Reddit, Digg, StumbleUpon, etc.

 * Be thoughtful
If somebody took the time and effort to write you and asks a question, spend time to answer them even if not instantly, especially if it was a suggestion or a good idea for your blog. This would mean a lot to your reader and builds a connection between you and your readers.

 * Be imaginative
Make the most out of your space by incorporating comments, graphs, polls, meters and other interactive tools. This creates a lively environment and active participation from your members.

 * Be interesting
Do not bore your readers. Be the kind of person that would exude excitement, information, and fun with his personality and posts. Know your visitors and what they enjoy getting to keep them coming back.

 * Be alert
Proofread, proofread, and proofread. If you can have somebody to do it for you better. A perfect topic can wind up a disaster if simple typo errors and grammars are not checked.

 * Be generous
It is sometimes appropriate and always fun to give out freebies such as eBooks, software, and other downloadable to your ever loyal readers.

 * Be active
This is very effective during the early stage of your blog when you don’t have many regular readers yet. The photosphere is a huge network and can serve as a useful avenue to promote you site. Participate in other people’s blogs, forums, and other online networking.

 * Be smart
Use simple and effective software in monitoring and maintaining your blog. Tools such as Blogger, WordPress.com, TypePad, and LiveJournal can automate some of your chores. It can also provide key indicators and stats on how well your site is doing and what you can do to turn the table.

 * Be organized
Archive and categorize your posts. Some readers may not exactly remember the title of the article but the month or category type could be easier for them to note.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in blogging (or on any website for that matter) is to not fully utilize your title tags. The title tag has been and will continue to be one of the most important elements in search engine rankings. Title tags are the over-arching descriptor for the page; they communicate with the search engines telling them what each page is about.

So then why is it that so many websites fail to optimize their title tags?

Without question the biggest mistake made by websites is to simply use their blog or company’s name as the title. Take Zales as an example. They are one of the biggest diamond stores around and yet what do we find in the title of their homepage? Nothing that mentions diamonds! Compare this to Luxurien’s website and notice the title of their page.

Luxurien’s title tag is fully optimized with their most important keywords: “Fine Jewelry”, “Titanium Rings”, “Bracelets”, “Tungsten Rings”, and “Gemstone birthstones”. These are keywords for which they would like to place highly in the search engines. So it comes as no surprise that they rank second in Google for the keyword titanium rings.

You might be thinking, “Yes, but what if someone types the name of the company in the search engine? Don’t we want to rank first for that too?” Of course you do, but that is pretty easy to achieve. The competition for the keyword “Luxurien” or “Zales” is pretty low, right? The competition for “diamond jewelry” or “titanium rings” is fierce.

Besides, if someone is searching for Luxurien in the search engines it’s reasonable to believe that they already know who you are as they are already seeking you out. In other words, that fish is already on the hook.

Often times people think they are being smart by putting their keywords first in the title tag and then at the end including the company or blog name. I still don’t recommend this! The reason is because by including the name along with your keywords you have lowered your keyword density.

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