Archive for February, 2010

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What do search engines see on your blog?

Remove the style sheet from your blog’s layout and design and you will see what search engines see when they visit.

What do they see first? What is left when you remove all the pretty? That’s what search engines see.

Things you need to know about search engines when they visit your blog:

  • Search engines don’t “see” your design, only the words
  • Search engines hunt for keywords
  • Keyword usage and placement influences their importance
  • Layout matters. Push content to the top of the physical page, not the bottom
  • Frames, iframes and tables can block search engines from finding your content
  • HTML/XHTML errors can stop a search engine from visitiing
  • 404 page not found errors, dead, or moved links lead nowhere
  • Flash, DHTML, or JavaScript which replaces text and have no descriptions are ignored

It is critical to ensure all such errors and road blocks are fixed. Search engines are now sophisticated enough to verify if your design and structure meets web standards. A poorly coded blog can lower your page rank score. And a poorly designed, error-filled blog can lead the robot or spider in a wrong direction, confuse it, or stop it in its tracks. If it has difficulty moving through your pages, it will stop.

Well-designed and web standard code allows the crawler to move easily through your site, which tells the search engine the site is designed with care and attention to detail and web standards.

Posted on February 27th 2010 in Tips | No Comments »

Reasons why people comment

A comment requires some forethought by most people. They want to get it right, have it well thought out, and appear like they know what they are talking about. While some can comment without much thought, others ponder the answer.

A good blogger appreciates the effort the goes into leaving a comment. But the urge to compel someone to comment by begging, demanding, or whinning about the lack of comments can turn a commenter away quickly. They want that appreciation and the natural flow of the conversation.

Most blog readers admit that a post is most likely to get comments if:

  • They know the blog author personally.
  • They feel a personal connection to the issue.
  • They have something to say about the issue.
  • They are asked a direct question they feel qualified to answer.
  • They feel the comment will be useful to the blogger or other readers.
  • The post makes them angry.
  • The post offers wrong or inadequate advice.
  • There’s a misspelling or gramatical error in the content.
  • If others have left at least two comments, they feel it is safe to comment.
  • There is a chance that their comment will get a response.
  • They want recognition and links to their blog.

Posted on February 25th 2010 in Tips | No Comments »

What is a ping?

Ping, in the simplest terms, is an Internet tool that knocks on the doors of search engines and directories to invite them to crawl your website or blog.

When you publish a post on your blog, modern blogging programs send a signal to a pinging service such as Pingomatic which relays a digital invitation to seach engines, tagging services, and other web crawling services to visit your blog.

If you wish to manually ping, do it more than once within a reasonable length of time can result in penalization. Pinging is like submission to a search engine and carries penalization for abuse.

Manual pinging is a great way to reach search engines and directories outside of the most popular indexing services.

Posted on February 19th 2010 in Tips | No Comments »

Tips on Blog Administration and Management

Administrating your blog goes beyond just writing posts and tracking your page ranking. It includes the regularly scheduled maintenance a blog need over time.

Managing your blog is a challenge at first as it is all new and there is so much to learn. As your blog becomes more sophisticated, possibly expanding into advertising, you will spend more time, do more research, and work harder at trying new things to make your blog better, and your readers happier.

Here are some quick tips to help your manage your blog better and more efficiently.

  • Create a blog maintenance calendar
  • Keep a collection of ready-to-publish posts handy
  • Don’t expect to reply to every comment
  • Create a home page for your product or service
  • Backup your blog
  • Upgrade your blogging program
  • Update plugins, widgets, gadgets and add-ons
  • Update blog content
  • Check for dead links and 404s
  • Validate and optimize your blog’s code

Posted on February 11th 2010 in Tips | No Comments »

Tips for Building Blog Content

Writing with keyword-rich content helps your blog be found and readers to fully understand what you are writing about. Write consistent and purposeful content.

The more inline your content is with your blog’s purpose, the more concentrated your use of keywords will be throughout the entire blog, not just on a per-post basis. The more diverse your blog’s content, the more diffused your keyword usage will be across all of your blog.

Make a plan for your content. Make lists of the topics you will write about in keeping with your blog’s purpose. Stick to those subjects as much as possible to build your blog’s reputation as the place to come for answers on those subjects.

  • Your blog’s content lables your blog
  • Readers thrive on consistency and continuity
  • Write timeless content
  • Blog passionately
  • Give readers a reason to return
  • Give readers a reason to blog about your blog
  • Don’t regurgitate content
  • Comments speak for your blog
  • Blog on a schedule
  • Publish just before your readers are ready
  • Keep it interesting

Posted on February 6th 2010 in Tips | No Comments »