Link Building-Old Doesn’t Mean Obsolete
Link building is not difficult if you have some guidance. Best of all, link building is something you can do on your own without paying someone else costly fees. I absolutely love scouting out and researching information on the net. So when I came across some hot tips on link building I had to let you know.
66 ways to build links in 2007 may be considered somewhat old, but most of these tips still apply today in 2009. That’s why quality content, along with link building, should be key factors in your blog marketing strategy. If you didn’t have a clue before reading this article on how to effectively build links, after you read it you will have learned 66 ways. Select the tips that apply to your business model and start the process.
Okay?
Happy Link Building!
Wordpress Maintenance Mode Plugin
There are so many plugins out there it is hard to choose which one is for you and your business model. You have so many choices that it can become confusing and overwhelming. Well I recently became acquainted with a plugin called maintenance mode that I haven’t heard much about, but I think is an awesome one.
When activated, this plugin displays a splash page to your visitors that you are currently performing maintenance on your blog and to check back in some hours. You can customize the message very easily within the program. What I like about it is that I can make as many changes to my blog as I want without the public seeing it until I’m ready.
Sometimes I try new widgets or try to modify my blog with unexpected results. So now with this plugin I can do it “behind closed doors” without someone coming to my blog at the most inopportune moment and scratching their head wondering what’s going here.
Maintenance mode is a cool plugin and I highly suggest you get it and install it.
Why Should I Blog?
Blogs have become more and more popular with each passing day. Virtually everyone has a blog on some topic, whether it is on business, politics, education, sports, Internet marketing, etc.It’s easier than ever to start your own blog. However, you may be asking yourself: “WHY should I start my own blog?”
There are many reasons for starting your own blog. One reason is because you can provide additional information to your customers, subscribers, and website visitors about your products and services, information you might not include in a typical sales letter or may not have thought of putting in your sales letter.
In fact, you could create a thread on your blog for questions and answers regarding your product or service, and when someone asks a new question, you can provide an up-to-date answer, something you’d never be able to do in a sales letter.
Plus, up-to-date answers may not be that practical to do on your website, so doing it on your blog may be the best approach.
This leads to another benefit of blogging – you can show your subscribers and website visitors that you are a real person, not just some faceless unknown online!
While purchasing on the Internet is becoming more of the norm than it was just a few years ago, many are still leery of giving out their personal information online and many are still leery of making a bad purchase.
By conversing with them, sharing some of your own thoughts, feelings, and happenings in your life, caring about their well-being, and addressing their concerns and questions, you can ease their concerns and make it that much more likely that they will purchase from you.
In addition, they’ll know that you’ll be there to help them if they have a problem or if they want to return your product, making it all the more likely they’ll purchase from you.
Often, the difference between those who gain the sales and those who don’t are the ones that show genuine interest in their potential customers and subscribers – by blogging regularly, you can keep in constant contact with your subscribers so that they keep you in mind and feel closer to you so that they’ll purchase products from you and not from someone else.
Another benefit of blogging is that you can show your expertise in your field, which will also increase your chances of people coming to you for advice, for purchasing products, and for JV proposals.
By blogging about topics related to your field, you will indirectly promote yourself as someone who is interested and knows what is going in your field, which will likely convince your target market that you are “the” expert they should turn to for advice and for purchasing the products they want.
Another benefit you can gain from blogging is by linking that blog to your website – this way, all the extra links to your website will help to boost your site’s search engine rankings. Plus, those who just happen to stumble onto your blog can find your website if you link your blog to it.
Another benefit of blogging is RSS (Rich Site Summary or Real Simple Syndication.) This is a type of code embedded in blogs (along with podcasts and news headlines) that allow people to subscribe to your blog so that they are alerted of any updates you make to your blog.
That way, they’ll never miss an update and will always be kept informed of any new information and services you provide.
In addition, by blogging regularly, it’s likely that your subscribers will subscribe to your RSS feed and/or check your blog frequently for updates; unlike email that can get lost due to the SPAM filters, people will never miss your updates if you post them on your blog.
In addition, RSS feeds do not get infected with viruses like emails can, making it safer for people to stay updated with the latest information from you. Plus, you will likely get more regular traffic to your blog and your website if you encourage your subscribers and website visitors to visit your blog frequently by updating it regularly.
Blogging itself is easier to keep up-to-date than a typical website, especially if you are not well-versed in HTML.
Blogging software makes it very easy for even the least technical person to get out his/her thoughts. Plus, for those not interested in spending a lot to have a web presence, blogging can provide a cheaper alternative. As you can see, blogging can provide you with many benefits:
- Gives you a cheaper option to having a website presence.
- Enables you to have more of a personal presence with your subscribers and website visitors.
- Gives your subscribers and visitors an easier, quicker, and safer way of staying updated with the latest news and information from you.
- Boosts your website in the search engine rankings.
Having a blog gives you many benefits and is easy to start and maintain, so if you haven’t already started your own blog, consider doing so today and reap the benefits!
Many people share similar views about why you should blog:
- Many consultants ask if they should jump into blogging to add power to their market presence. Blogs certainly are pervasive. In fact, if you listen to the experts, you get the impression that everyone should be blogging. … - At this point, the question is more “Why aren’t you Blogging?” There are blogs on every topic. Really. In every conceivable style and opinion. As a business, your blog says something about your company. It creates a voice and tone about … - Because,. 1. Blogging is a way of self-expression. 2. Blogging can stimulate creativity. 3. Blogging is a good means for reporting and documenting interesting news. 4. Blogging brings in different perspectives … |
The History of Blogging
A blog is defined by Wikipedia to be “a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.” In fact, the word “blog” is a shortened form of the phrase “web log,” or a log that is posted on the web.
Early weblogs were just manually updated components of common websites; however, due to the evolution of tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of web articles in reverse chronological order for these weblogs, the publishing process became simple enough for the less technically-inclined population. This led to the type of online publishing that blogs are known for today.
At first, around 1998-1999, blogs were used as online diaries, where one could discuss whatever news he/she wanted to discuss on whatever topic(s) he/she chose to talk about. Often, this would be about the daily happenings in one’s lives, so blogs were updated quite often. However, over the next few years, the technology continued to advance, making blogs that much easier to publish.
Browser-based software was created that enabled virtually anyone to create his/her own blog and post it online easily. Different blog hosting services, web hosting services, and blog software (such as WordPress, Movable Type, blogger.com, and LiveJournal, among others) utilized this advancement to further give people more options to create their blogs.
In addition, blogging combined the personal web page with tools to make linking to other pages easier.
Permalinks, blogrolls, TrackBacks, and weblog search engines enabled people to connect to other people who shared similar interests. They would often link to each other’s blogs as a way to make online friendships and stay in touch with each other. However, by 2001, blogs started to be used for more than just online diaries or journals. Instead, many American blogs started talking about American politics.
Andrew Sullivan’s blog The Daily Dish, and Taegan Goddard’s blog Political Wire, were two political blogs that first appeared in 2001. Many blogs started providing information on how to accomplish different tasks. They also became known as “how-to manuals.”
Changes like these led to the increased importance of blogs in our society, as well as an increased connection to the “outside world.” In fact, many credit bloggers as the main reason why U.S. Senator Trent Lott had to step down as U.S. Senate Majority Leader, due to his controversial comments that suggested America would have been better off if fellow Senator Strom Thurmond had become the President of the United States back in 1948.
This was controversial due to the fact that Thurmond supported racial segregation during his presidential campaign. Despite media members being at the public event where Lott had made those comments, none of them reported the story.
It wasn’t until bloggers got wind of it and reported it did the mass media start to report it, hence showing the increased importance of bloggers and their ability to present information quickly to the rest of the world.
Further evidence and acceptance by the mass media was when bloggers declared the documents presented by CBS News’ Dan Rather on President George W. Bush’s military service record to be forgeries, eventually leading to Rather’s dismissal as head anchor of the CBS EVening News.
Bloggers providing information on the news via their blogs wasn’t the only way bloggers were providing information. Internet marketers and online websites determined that they could spread their marketing messages via their own blogs.
In addition, it would also allow them to communicate more personally with their customers and website visitors, both in an attempt to learn what they want from those businesses and websites, as well as show that Internet marketers and online companies had a human element to them and weren’t just faceless businesses, which would also help convince people to do business with them.
Today, there are blogs on virtually every type of subject, from politics and sports to gardening and business.
Knowledgeable people on these topics have found a medium where they can express themselves and educate others without having to be employed by a news agency or without leaving the comfort of their homes. Businesses and politicians can write about what defines them and why people should buy from or support them.
Blogs have come a long way over the last few decades, going from personal diary web logs that weren’t easy to post online and update to personal web spaces that talk about anything from sports to politics to breaking news. The advancement in technology has allowed virtually anyone to be able to post a blog online about anything he/she chooses.
Blogging has also become a very important part of our world, helping to shape it via the opinions of those writers who report breaking news, provide political analysis, or offer sports commentary.
For more history on blogging, check out the following:
| 7 Milestones in the History of Blogging - A history of how blogging got to the point it is now. History of Blogging What is a blog? |
