I like to consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to blogs and the internet. By no stretch am I some uber genius, but, I do like to think I have a pretty vast knowledge of the blog-o-sphere. However, recently I was informed by a good friend of mine that I might have been doing something very wrong when it came to creating and maintaining blogs. Something so simple that could have a catastrophic effect on my blog. Something that most of us don’t even pay attention to.
You’ll notice that when you visit a website and/or blog, sometimes the blog URL will read “http://www.sitename.com and at other times it will read “http://sitename.com”. I never really thought this was much of an issue. I actually never even gave it a second thought. But apparently, I should have. The problem with this situation is that most search engines treat those addresses as two different domains, splitting your backlink count. That in turn effects a variety of things, especially your PageRank and where you place on search engine index’s. Now, be aware, not all websites and/or blogs have this issue but a fair amount do.
So the question begs - how do you fix it? Well, there are two ways to go about this. The more difficult way is to create a 301 Permanent Redirect using PHP which the average blogger simply lacks the knowledge to do. So, for those of us who need the easy road, there is Enforce www. Preference plugin. This plugin is extremely easy to use. Simply install it, activate it, and it will automatically create a 301 Permanent Redirect page for you and you’ll no longer need to worry about search engines confusing your website/blog as if it were two totally different webpages.
To find out more about Enforce www. Preference and/or to download it, click here.
I highly recommend this tool.
Is there anything more ironic than using a newspaper to promote your blog? I mean, blogs (and the whole social media revolution) are really pitted as the reason for the decline of newspapers. But with that said, that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of your local newspaper or online publications. Newspapers are always looking for stories, content, and money and will always have open ears and pockets if you’re looking to promote your blog.
First off, let’s look at this from a financial situation. Newspapers need money - always have and always will. If you have the extra money, one thing you want to look into is taking out an add in your local paper. Now, depending on where you’re located (big city, small city) you’ll find a variety of different options and prices. If you’re a sports blogger, you’ll want to take an advertisement out on the sports page. If you’re a entertainment blog, you’ll want to put it near their gossip column. If you’re a business blog, you’ll want to put it in the business section. It’s very important that you match your blog niche to the correct section of the newspaper to make this an effective marketing strategy.
If paying for a full out blog advertisement isn’t something you’re interested in, you’re still not out of luck. As I mentioned before newspapers and online publications are always looking for content - especially free content. What you’ll want to do is contact somebody from the newspaper or online publication and let them know you’re interested in writing a small piece on a relevant topic that matches that papers needs, but, that also compliments your blog. Simply asking what they need in terms of content might not be a bad approach. Making “friends” with your contact is the most important part here. Once they’ve given you a topic to write about, hopefully they’ll publish it in your local paper or on an online publication and you’ll get free promotion using that method.
It’s actually something I’ve seen done before and I can’t understand why it’s not used on a more consistent basis. It’s a very cheap and easy way to promote your blog to thousands of people, if not more.
Give it a try!
When you start a new blog one of the first things you’ll do in the process is get a domain name, or at least, “find” a domain name if you don’t make one up yourself. As you go along, you’ll start to notice that many two, three, four, or five letter/word domains are gone. Why? Because they’re simple to remember. Simplicity is one of the biggest advantages you need to look for when you’re trying to find a new domain. Below, I’ll run down a few important issues you’ll need to keep in mind when selecting a domain name.
1) Simplicity - As I stated above, there is a reason most simple domain names are gone. You need something easy that everybody can spell. In this situation, the shorter, the better. My best suggestion would be to keep your domain name below 10 characters. It’s also best to keep your domain at one or two words. For example, “BloggerInstitute” would be a “two word” domain. However, “BloggerInstituteOfTechnology” would be a “four word” domain and pretty much be totally worthless.
2) Easy To Remember - This is similar to the above need to keep it simple, but you need to find a name that not only you can remember but one that everybody else can as well. Just because “Auatua.com” might be a short name, it doesn’t mean people will remember it. How many websites and blogs do you visit off the top of your head? Many. So make sure you keep it simple and easy to remember.
3) Spelling Issues - This again could be thrown into the first idea of keeping it simple, but, we’re not just saying to avoid incorrect spelling of words. We’re also saying to avoid hard to spell words. For example, a word like “cappuccino” is difficult to spell for most people, so, you’d want to avoid a commonly misspelled word in your domain name.
4) .Com domain - This one is a little tricky in my book. Do I think it’s necessary? Not right off the bat, no. This is something you’d want to look into further down the road if your blog becomes a success. The reason for this however is because people will always think “.com” in their brain when they’re looking for a website/blog. Hosting companies charge a lot of money for available domain’s that end in a .com address, and with good reason. Stick with a .net or .org domain for now, but keep an eye out on an eventual move to a .com domain.
When you first start a blog one of the first things you’ll do is find yourself promoting it. You’ll sign up for all of the blog directories, you’ll start posting on forums, you’ll start visiting other blogs and eventually, you’ll most likely start e-mailing people/other blogs informing them about your blog. And you should, as it’s a great method of bringing in new visitors to your blog but you need to make sure you do it the right way.
The most important idea you’ll need to keep in mind is that honesty is the key. We all get tons of spam mail and we all know what it looks like, so, make sure YOU don’t sound like spam when you send out e-mails to potential viewers.
Many times I see e-mails from bloggers that look like:
“Hello - There is a great new website which I think you’ll enjoy! Check out www.SITENAME.com here!”
That’s really the equivalent of walking up to somebody on the street you don’t know and trying to force some product on them. More times than not they’re going to ignore you and move on, and the same thing is going to happen in the cyber-world. A more effective approach would be:
“Hello Blogger - Today I wrote a posting that really meshes with the article you wrote on *insert topic*, which you can find here (put link in). I’d love to know what you think about it, and if possible, maybe you could share it with your readers as well.”
The blogging community is one of open arms, generally (although you’ll have your bad apples as usual) so, use that to your advantage. Contact bloggers - introduce yourself - say hello - make friends…it’s not difficult at all. It does take some time and effort, but the reward is worth it in the end. Just make sure to respect boundaries and always be honest and upfront. You do this and you’ll go quite far.
