Making Sense of Keywords

Making sense of keywords

I've been doing some searches on Google's search engine with certain keywords that appear in my articles on my two blogs CommonSense With Markk and The NextPost. I'm pleased to say it looks like things are looking up if you start to "play with keywords."

For starter, I searched for the keywords "beyond blogging experience" and found my post Blogging Experience and Beyond on this blog in the No. 1 position on the first page.

I tried "predictions: changing face" and my The NextPost article Predictions: The Changing Face of Internet Marketing appeared in the No. 2 position.

 

Next, I searched for "pagerank slapfest" and I got my CommonSense With Markk post on No. 1, and on No. 2 is my article from The NextPost, Mama, Don't Let Your Baby Grow Up To Be A Blogger... which also has the keywords "PageRank slapfest" in the post. On No 3 is a post at RT Cunningham's blog Untwisted Vortex and No. 4 is Andy Beard's post about Google PageRank: Joke of the Blogosphere. They both have the keywords "pagerank slapfest."

When I tried a search for "mama don't let your baby," The NextPost article came out on No. 1. There were other sites with the "mama don't let your baby..." title on the first page.

 

Then I tried "Internet trail of delusions" and I got this post on No. 1 position and No. 2 as well. This article appears on The NextPost. I would like to add that the two articles on The NextPost - Predictions: The Changing Face of Internet Marketing and On The Internet Trail of Delusions - have attracted the most number of comments ever experienced by this blog.

Since the two articles, I've taken a "break" from posting any more articles on The NextPost while attending to other matters - and yet I keep seeing visitors coming and leaving comments. My suspicion is that these are search engine traffic and not social traffic. That's what I learned from Grizz.

I must admit here I've not been mixing with the social crowd much lately and that I'm not your regular techie so I don't meddle in those analytical techniques to know the ins and outs of how this thing works. I leave that to the smarter guys out there to explain this quirk or phenom, whatever that is.

I have some ideas in my head but I wouldn't dare say it out loud until I understand it fully. Meanwhile, you don't have to buy me a beer, I'm capable of getting my own and enjoy a cool drink in my own time.

Will RealRank Turn Out To Be A White Knight?

Have no fear, RealRank is here. If your blog has been one of the "victims" that got cut down to size by the recent Google slapfest, maybe this new metric from Izea, the parent company of PayPerPost, will bring new hope.

So what is Izea RealRank?

Izea believe they have a solution (RealRank) to gather "Real" traffic information and rank sites based on their standing within the network.

Here's their "relatively simple" formula that will provide bloggers and advertisers a measuring yardstick:

• 70% weighted towards visitors per day
  
  
• 20% weighted towards amount of ACTIVE inbound links per day
  
  
• 10% weighted towards pageviews per day
  

It appears like RealRank is going to be a traffic-centric measuring system. Of course, we are always looking for a better mousetrap, but is there something missing from this idea to gauge the standing of a website or blog?

Traffic is an important factor - you bet, it is.

As an advertiser, you would be asking if a traffic of 5,000 daily visitors who glide in and out hardly noticing anything on a site, would it be worth placing an ad there?

Or is it better to advertise at a site with 500 unque readers per day who would notice your ad and read your content? Lars-Christian puts forth this thought regarding the traffic issue in his post RealRank -- A Stillborn Idea From Izea.

If "500 unique readers" is a better proposition, then obviously that particular site must have "quality content" to boot in order to attract these kind of visitors. They will have some kind of affinity with the site and are likely to be repeat visitors. That's where we come back to PageRank and understand that "authority" status is as much a consideration in the measurement of ranking.

Moreover, there is always the question of "traffic buying" that could turn this whole thing into a farce and puts us back to square one.

Following the Google pagerank slapfest that has antagonized a great number of webmasters, Izea RealRank may look like a white knight riding to the rescue to some people at least - but I'd rather have some reservation about it. It is expected to be released within two weeks, then we'll see how it works out. Don't bet too much on it.


Of related interests:
Are You One of 85,000 PayPerPost Bloggers?
The "Do No Evil" Empire Strikes Back

Are We Facing A Rumble Over BlogRush?

Some stats are trickling in if you log into your BlogRush account to check what are showing on the Dashboard. Over at Problogger, Darren Rowse had indicated that he had gotten some good and bad things about his initial BR results.

But if you checked the comments coming in response to his post, the early impression is that most of those who are using the BR widgets are expressing some disappointments with their results.

Early indications are not encouraging from the majority of comments although a few have expressed some satisfaction with their results so far. I wouldn't jump the gun right now until we get a clearer picture of this so-called web traffic generator from Income.com.

In my previous post, I did mention that compelling post titles are the key to attract clicks. Up till now, I have seen widgets with post headlines that are mostly a run-of-the-mill affair. How to get people to click on them when they don't have the "Wow" factor?

However, in response to the negative vibes, the BlogRush people have shot off an email to users to explain why many members are reporting low click-through rates on the impressions for their blog post titles. Redwall_hp over at Webmaster-Source had posted some of the excerpts from the BR email.

This is a small-time blog if you want to compare it with the likes of Problogger, Shoemoney, or John Chow, but I guess, at this point in time, I can feel satisfied with the BlogRush results. And not just because of the widget. I think it also comes down to the content you write that helps to keep the interest intact.

Here's a couple of stats from my account dashboard that just came in:





















Of related interest:
BR rushed and slam- dunked within one week

How About 'Going Natural'?

Recently, I've been asked to check out an SEO video entitled "Going Natural". Oh well, it's got nothing to do with one's birthday suit.

Anyway, this one comes to you free with "solid information."

The presenters of this video are the StomperNet duo Andy Jenkins and Brad Fallen ( their blog: http://www.stomperblog.com/?whitehatseo )

They are two guys who believe that if you're struggling with SEO, it's not your fault. It's just that you haven't got the right info (yet).

One of the highlights is the explanation of how "related terms" can be used to win the love of Google. It's one of the most practical explanation I've come across.

You can check out this powerful SEO video at http://www.convertlinks.com/whitehatseo

You might also be interested in their free report here http://www.convertlinks.com/getyourreport.php?whitehatseo.

If you're a webmaster or optimizer who needs tons of relevant traffic to your site, this video should be of great benefit.

Looking For Heavy Traffic?

Think this article will be of help to those who want to see greater flow of traffic to their blogs. As you all know generating traffic to a new blog or website can be a real pain if you're in the dark.

How To Build Traffic To Your Blog

By Priya Shah

With the growing interest in blogging as a means of online promotion and branding, a lot of marketers are starting blogs to promote their opinions, products, books and services. But a blog is like a website. "Write and they will come" isn't exactly a magic formula to bring in traffic by the boatload.

If you need to promote your website in order to build traffic to it, you need to promote your blog as well.

Here are some ways you can become a well-read and influential blogger.

1. Write Posts That People Will Want To Read
This should be common sense, but many marketers tend to forget that their readers are real people and that you need to use the principles of online copywriting to make your headlines and copy interesting to your readers. If you write posts that people enjoy reading, they will reward you by returning to your blog regularly.

Make your posts conversational, pithy and topical. Keep them short and stick to one topic per post.
Write often and regularly so that both readers and search engines visit your blog more often.

2. Optimize Your Posts for Search Engines
I cover this topic in detail in my article on "Search Engine Optimization For Blogs" http://www.blog-maniac.com/blog-seo.htm

But here are the most important rules to follow to get your posts listed for keywords of your choice.

* Make sure your blog URL contains the primary keyword you want to optimize for
* Use your primary keywords in the title of your post
* Use your secondary keywords in the body of your post
* Use your keywords in the anchor text of links in the body of your posts

3. Submit Your Blog and RSS Feed To Directories
If you publish a blog you should submit your blog and RSS feed to big directories like Yahoo and Dmoz, as well as the numerous blog directories and search engines.

Here is the best list I've found of places to submit your feed or blog, compiled by Luigi Canali De Rossi, who writes under the pseudonym Robin Good.

Best Blog Directory And RSS Submission Sites http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/
Another list of sites to submit your Blog. http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-submission.htm

4. Ping The Blog Services
There are a number of services designed specifically for tracking and connecting blogs. By sending a small ping to each service you let them know you've updated your blog so they can come check you out.

Bookmark the Ping-O-Matic ping results page so you can visit it and quickly ping a number of services with a single click.
http://pingomatic.com

5. Build Links To Your Blog
I recommend the methods here as the best ways to get links pointing to your blog

* Link to your blog from each page on your main website
* Trackback to other blogs in your posts
* Post legitimate comments on other blogs with related topics
* Offer to exchange links with other similarly themed blogs and websites

6. Edit Your Blog Posts Into Articles
One of the best methods for promoting your website is to write articles and submit them to article directories.

The suggestion for extending this to edit your blog posts into articles and submit them to directories came from the coach at "Explode Blog Traffic" who also has other noteworthy suggestions at his blog here. http://bloghit.blogspot.com/2004/11/how-to-explode-blog-traffic.html

You'll find an extensive list of article directories here http://ebizwhiz-publishing.com/write-articles/submit-articles.htm

7. Create Buzz About Your Blog
Creating a buzz about your blog posts and topic in the local and online media will give your marketing a viral component.

* Create a controversy around your blog or it's topic.
* Distribute bumper stickers or other merchandise with your blog's URL and tagline.
* Write a press release about something newsworthy and tie it in with your blog topic.

8. Capture Subscribers By Email
It may seem strange for a blogger to send out updates by email, but email is still the #1 choice of most people who want to receive news and information.

Using a free service like Bloglet to manage your subscriptions is easy and it allows your subscribers to manage all their subscriptions from one interface. http://www.bloglet.com

However, if you want more control over your list and don't mind mailing out the updates yourself, you can use an autoresponder system to capture and follow-up with subscribers.

RSS responder is a new script that allows you to keep in touch and follow-up with your subscribers without the hassle of email. http://ebizwhiz-publishing.com/rssresponder.htm

These tips should give you a good start to building your blog traffic.

About the Author: Priya Shah is a partner in the search engine marketing firm, SEO & More http://www.seoandmore.com Request the whitepaper Boost Your Search Engine Visibility With Blogs And RSS http://www.seoandmore.com/blogs-rss/