How to Get Blog Traffic That Sticks

TweetOne major priority of bloggers is getting traffic to their blogs but a lot of people make a great mistake nowadays, not because they don’t know how to get traffic but because they don’t know how to make their traffic stick. It doesn’t matter how many visitors you’re able to get to your blog there is no point in it if you’re unable to make them return. While it is important to know that you can’t make 100% of the visitors to your blog stick you should also know that there are some things...

The Jersey Shore Guide to Irresistible Personal Branding

The Jersey Shore is back and up to its old antics again. My guess — you being a respectable content marketer who finds that sort of display crude, irresponsible and embarrassing — is that you’re not tuning in. Hey, I hear you. But do you know who isn’t offended by it? The 8.4 million people who tuned in to the season premiere last month, making it the network’s most-watched series episode ever. Whether you’re a true fan of Snooki, or you credit...

The Ethics of Pay Per Post

Suppose you ask me to write something nice about your company. I do it and you give me a $10 bill. If I work for you, then it’s a paycheck. If I don’t work for you, then it’s Pay Per Post and that’s a whole different bowl of noodles. . . or is it? If I disclose the fact that you paid me the money to write the post as required by the FTC, then I’m in good shape, right? But if I disclose the fact that you paid me, maybe the value of the post decreases...

Are You Too Busy to Write? Seven Ways to Blog More Productively

Is finding time to blog something you struggle with? A number of people have asked me how they can find time to blog on top of everything else that I have going on. Writing content is vitally important for your blog. It is your source of direct visitors, plus the meat of what you share in social media, the combination of which is essentially all the marketing many of us do. Your content attracts and maintains a relationship with your subscribers,...

The New York Times’ Pathetic Case for the Decline of Blogging

If you feel that the New York Times has the pulse of the Internet then the answer to our headline would be yes. In fact, the Times article which ran on Sunday is titled “Blogs Wane As Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter”. That’s a pretty heavy statement especially when you are saying even the shortest blog post idea can be just as effectively conveyed in 140 characters or less. Maybe TweetDeck will end up being the “Anti-Twitter” by allowing over...

7 Mistakes that Lead to Guest Post Failure

Guest posting! The highway to unbridled blogging success! Nab yourself a spot on an A-List blog and suddenly it’s your name in lights. Traffic, engagement, the undying adulation of the unwashed masses! Sounds great, right? Well, it is, actually. But what about those of us who really crave a bit of failure? The ones who like to start every anecdote with “One time I almost” or “I was this close …”? What does guest posting offer for us? Well,...

Several Reasons To Avoid Writing Free Samples

TweetI don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like a crow that’s obsessed with picking up anything shiny when it comes to the free samples that people ask us content writers to provide to get the work that pays our bills. It’s hard to discern between the people who will rip you off and take the sample and never return any of your subsequent emails, but I’ve found there are certain criteria that can be helpful when trying to separate the honest...

Protect Yourself from Unwanted Blogging & Web Site Viruses

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sunbelt Software. All opinions are 100% mine. How many times has this happened to you? You find yourself browsing through a ton of web sites and then close out your browser to find a ton of popups and various other garbage that has spawned up while you were hitting various different sites. To make things even worse, some web sites will spawn windows that won’t allow you to close your browser...

Come with Me to Tanzania

Blogging has been very good to me. Over almost nine years, it’s been a daily blessing in more ways that I can count: new friends new skills new knowledge the opportunity to travel the ability to pay off a mortgage business partnerships the chance to do what I love (communicate and build communities) all day, every day—and get paid for it! Blogging has been very good to me. Can blogging be used to help others? However I’ve always wanted blogging...

How Often Should You Update Your Blog

TweetOne question that is being asked often in the blogosphere is the question of how often a blog should be updated. We all want working formulas and at the same time we also want to please our audience. Even though there is no set formula for updating a blog there are some factors you can consider that will help you get the best from your blog in terms of updating it. This post will be giving you some tips on how often you should be updating your blog. Know Your Audience There is no fixed formula...

Free Top Ranking Keywords Report from SEO Link Wheelers

Over the past few months I’ve been getting back into the game I love, and that’s focusing on building web sites and killer content. As much as I love building web sites, it’s never fun to work on the backlinks and social bookmarks it takes to truly get a web site indexed and getting the search engines to love you. With that said, I’ve been looking at a lot of different solutions for link building and bookmarking management. I remember when I first...

Twitter Backgrounds are Branding Machines

I don’t use Twitter as much as I probably should, and I actually use it for more of a blog feed than anything else. No matter how you use Twitter, it’s important to get your name and brand across. With that being said, think about your Twitter account and how many people are visiting your profile page ever day, weekly or even yearly. Even if YOU aren’t actively posting on Twitter, it doesn’t mean that people aren’t visiting your page, so it’s important...

Introducing the Social Eyes Theme for WordPress

The importance of owning your own online real estate is becoming more obvious every day. Why make others rich off the sweat of your labor and your passions? So if you’re in love with all the traffic and reach that social networking sites provide, you’ll want to take a long look at one of the latest creations from Copyblogger Media’s StudioPress division — the Social Eyes Theme. By all means, stay engaged with your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn...

The Financial Cost Of The Egyptian Revolution

TweetWhile everyone around the world was concerning themselves with the quest for freedom by the Egyptian revolutionaries, there were other matters that needed to be taken into account. There was some quiet talk about the financial fallout from the uprising by those reporters who wondered what happens to any economy when the web goes down, but the real consequences weren’t known until recently. Now at least some of these numbers are coming in and...

Writing Content Rich Articles with Powerful Anchor Text

Every business has a customer base. And the job of writing web content for this customer base is often a daunting task, particularly if the business is a specialty or niche business. Who are the customers and what are they looking for? What do they want to spend? How do they want to acquire the product or service? Do they want to buy online or simply just do research? These are just a few of the questions web marketers need to ask before diving...

Web Analytic Tools – Which is Right for You?

TweetAnalytics are a web-site owner’s best friend. They can help you optimize your strategies and tactics. They help you get a better understanding of what your customer wants, needs and is searching for. Website analytics can be the most valuable asset you have. However, choosing the right analytic tools can be overwhelming. There are many to choose from. Here’s a brief list of some of the more popular analytic tools, and advice on how to...

The Blog Mindset: What It Takes To Be A Successful Blogger

Some of my students approached me recently to discuss about their blogging journey. It is always interesting to talk to them and find out the difficulties they face. After some exchanges, I realized the difficulties all relate to one single reason: the fear of failure. There are two broad types of blogs we see in this industry - the casual blogs and the impactful ones. The former consists of you writing a post occasionally and these are read by...