The main goal for any website that intends to sell a product or service is to get as much traffic to it as possible. This may be a difficult feat to many, but in all reality, there are a few secret methods for success being implemented by many across the globe for just this purpose. Although the methods being implemented change quite regularly, if you are resourceful, you should be able to stay on top of the changes without a hitch. Knowing how to diversify is of the utmost importance when performing an online marketing strategy of any kind.

All Starts With Scheduling

The first thing that you need to work into your weekly schedule is the ability to provide useful content to your readers. Once a page has been optimized based off of the content, and press releases made regularly, it will need to continue a couple times throughout the week. This means knowing your specific niche and being able to implement ideas in writing that will draw readers to your site. This may sound difficult, but adapting your content to somehow match that of current news stories is a great idea. It may work even better if you choose to produce the content yourself, instead of having an out of office writer create it for you. This is merely for the possibility of gaining an even further understanding of what is needed to draw in more traffic on a regular basis.

Google Places

Generate a Google Places location for your customers to find your business. Many companies and websites have neglected to do this, and it has resulted in a considerable amount of potential customers being drawn into other competitor sites. By giving the option to visit your website, you provide the customer with a slew of other informative tidbits in exchange for their visitation and business.

Newsletters & Mailing List

Give your customers the option to sign up for newsletter mailing lists directly from your website. Even if you have already secured the sale, it is highly suggested that you focus a considerable amount of your energy on the return of your customers as well. Return customers cost far less to generate than new ones, according to studies. Keeping your existing customers up to date as far as promotions and special deals is an excellent way to bring them back to your page again and again. Some websites make use of free newsletter mailing services, such as Mail chimp, whereas others prefer the professional look that Constant Contact offers them. No matter which route you choose, make sure that the newsletters are created in an attractive manner that will make them begging to see more of what you have to offer them. It may be the deciding factor in their minds that brings them to you again, or to somebody else’s product or service.

Social Media Is Awesome

Make proper use of social media sites to build an audience. Many established websites and companies do not yet fully understand the impact that social media has made on the consumer world. It isn’t enough to simply create an account with your company’s brand and wait for results, for it takes a bit of strategy in order to get any real worth out of the ordeal. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have become the industry standard for keeping your customers in tune with all internal changes that affect them positively. Creating a buzz about a specific product or service, along with a link to your website, draws in more traffic than what you might think. On top of that. as these updates from your page are seen by others that share online friendship with your customers, they are quite inclined to see what all the commotion is about, drawing them in as new visitors to your website as well.

Real Reviews Help

Lastly, always encourage your existing customers to make usage of their review options, such as Yelp or Google. Stress to them the importance of knowing exactly what they are content with and what may be done to bring about even more satisfaction in the future. This will eventually bury negative remarks made by the rarely happy customer while increasing your ranking in the process as well.

This article was written by Brock Hamilton who runs a website at simplewebsitetutorials.com.  His site is geared towards teaching people how to customize, startup, and maintain their website from square one.

Image Credit

The post 5 Top Ways To Get More Traffic To Your Site was written by Tom Jamieson and appeared first on Tom Jamieson.

With so many myths online about do’s and don’ts, it’s difficult to discern between what is good practice for proper blogging about SEO and someone’s opinion. We’ve put together a list of four best practices to help you review what you should be doing, and things you should be avoiding.

Avoid Duplicate Content

Plenty of bloggers attempt to use very similar topics and content that use almost identical keywords. This may be two different posts for example. One might be ‘A DWI charge in Texas’ while another is ‘Dealing with a Texas DWI charge’ written as a separate page of content.  Writing about similar content depends heavily on your writing ability, and much of the time it results in duplicate content due to lack of creativity, laziness, or simply poor change in writing. This increases your chances of facing a penalty of a search engine, and can end up hurting you more than helping. Instead, focus on writing one quality piece of content. That way there’s little chance of facing any penalties, and you end up with a stronger more original post.

Tags

Your titles for posts are essential for when it comes to ranking your post in a search engine results page. The tags or titles should be as short and concise as possible. Too many words are a beginner’s mistake. Instead, think about what you or anyone else would Google to get the answer from your post.  Of course you want to check out the competition as well for particular keywords you might use in order to see what your title is up against. Utilize keyword tools like Google AdWords, which provides an indicator that lets you know if it is favorable to change your title in order to improve your ranking.  Google AdWords simply lets you know what words are already being used, narrowing your keyword selection.

Guest Blog

Utilizing guest blogs is a quick and efficient way to link build through blogging. There are people out there who are looking for original content all the time. You can either contact a webmaster of a site or take advantage of sites like MyBlogGuest which brings together guest bloggers and interested parties seeking content. In both cases you provide content that someone posts on their site in exchange for a link, giving you access to their audience and aiding in boosting traffic. Using online services that bring together content seekers and developers can cost some money, but it can be worth it with the time you’ll save contacting sites’ webmasters to see if they are interested in your content.

Keywords in the Content

Titles, alt text and meta descriptions aren’t the only places where you can take advantage of the keywords. Weave keywords into the content you write. Take advantage of free online tools to make this happen. A quick example would be something like SEO Blogger, which aids in finding keywords for what you’re writing on right alongside your blog screen as you write and edit posts. Tools like this help in terms of efficiency, as you’re developing content and optimizing it as you go.

Ricardo Casas is the CEO of Fahrenheit Marketing in Austin, Texas. Fahrenheit Marketing offers a wide range of online marketing services ranging from web design and content development to search engine optimization and CMS integration.

The post 4 Quick Tips For SEO Blogging was written by Tom Jamieson and appeared first on Tom Jamieson.

Bookmarking websites that interest you is nothing new. You often do that in your web browser so that you can easily visit that site again. Social bookmarking is almost the same thing only that you save your bookmarks online, making it easier to share to your friends and let other people know of your interests. There are several social bookmarking sites that you can use nowadays, but those who significantly benefit from these sites are bloggers or online entrepreneurs who want to optimize their search engine presence and ranking. In effect, their business can grow and sales will improve. These are how social bookmarking sites support search engine optimization.

1. Get indexed by search engines.
Search engines have spiders that go through social bookmarking sites regularly and index websites that submit contents to them. Being indexed strengthens your presence in the internet and puts your site in search engine results.

2. Quality and legitimate method towards SEO.
There are many ways to bring traffic to your site and some can be in the form of spam, which brings huge traffic but puts your reputation at risk on search engines. Social bookmarking is a legitimate method of drawing traffic to your site.

3. Quality backlinks.
By submitting your website to various social bookmarking sites, you are in effect creating links that will direct readers to your web pages, which is another way to increase traffic.

4. Develops your social presence.
The content you submit to social bookmarking sites will attract readers who are interested on the same subject. Eventually, you can form a community that includes readership from all over the world.

5. Creative blogging.
Doing blogs on your own will limit your scope and narrow your ideas. By joining a social community and reading through social bookmarking sites, you will notice which topics are more in demand and which type of content earns more likes. This will give you ideas on what to write and it can also improve your writing style.

6. Increase your popularity.
People who like your content will likely recommend it to their friends and those friends will further recommend it to their friends. What happens now is a domino effect that heightens your popularity at no cost at all.

7. Strengthen your brand.
Joining a social bookmarking site allows you to have a profile page where you can write down your expertise and the list of your sites. If you win the interest of a reader, he will likely want to know more about you and visit your other sites through information provided here.

8. Keeps you updated.
Social bookmarking sites let you in on the latest buzz in town, especially on the subjects that are related to your niche. This can prompt you to deliver the latest news too so that your social circle will continue to patronize your content.

9. Reach a huge market.
Social bookmarking sites can be viewed by anyone from around the world. It is a hub for readers from everywhere because of the wide array of topics and subjects covered by the contents. Your content can stand out and receive its own followers if you continue to write and submit quality articles.

10. Authenticates your site.
To rank high in search engines, you need to have an authentic website. To achieve this, you need to build your reputation and presence on the web. High traffic, huge followers, and a strong social presence are just some of the many ways a social bookmarking site can propel your search engine ranking.

Lisa Holland loves to write about Web Designing. She is evangelist at a well known Web Design Company.

The post 10 Top SEO Benefits of Social Bookmarking was written by Tom Jamieson and appeared first on Tom Jamieson.

I recently came across an aggregation and curation plugin called MyCurator.  I had always wanted to start a blog that was a content curation and news aggregation site but didn’t really know where to start.  I already had purchased WPBig.com because, since I use WordPress to power all of my blogs and websites, I wanted a WordPress-centered blog and I liked the fact that is was only 5 letters, pronounceable, and easy to remember.  So once I found MyCurator, I was pleased to give it a try.  Please feel free to visit WPBig.com for all the latest WordPress news, reviews, and resources.

The post WPBig: A New Content Curation Site for all Things WordPress was written by Tom Jamieson and appeared first on Tom Jamieson.

As many of you know, I write a monthly contribution blog post over at We Blog Better, a site that focuses on blogging tips for a better blog.  I have been blessed to be part of a great team, led by Kiesha Easley, the owner and editor.

Recently, Kiesha has started publishing many of the blog posts at We Blog Better in a series of ebooks called the Better Blog Series.  The Traffic Generation Guide is part of that series.  According to the website, “Traffic Generation is part of a series that is designed to help you quickly improve your blog.”  As part of my association with We Blog Better, I have had the good fortune to have one of my traffic generation posts included in the book.

Therefore I wanted to give you an opportunity to get your very own copy of The Traffic Generation Guide for yourself.  It is highly insightful and chock full of advice, tips, and tricks, to help even the most seasoned veteran blogger achieve higher traffic results.

To obtain your copy of The Traffic Generation Guide, simply click the image below and you will taken to the order page.  And, yes, in the spirit of full disclosure, I will receive a small amount of affiliate compensation if you purchase the book using the link below, but how can you pass up such as great deal — it’s only 5 bucks!

5 Bucks!  So get your copy today!

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Ever since the thief on the cross received paradise with his dying breath, Christianity is seen as a religion that accepts converts from any background. Ten modern-day converts range from political to the music industry to former porn stars.

David Berkowitz, an infamous convicted murder of at least six people, converted from Satanism to Christianity in 1979. Norma McCorvey, the “Roe” of “Roe v. Wade” fame, was baptized in 1995 and subsequently switched her stance on abortion.

Charlie Sheen, the actor known for his public marital and legal difficulties, claimed he found God in 1996. Gary Busey, another actor, converted in 1995. Alice Cooper also confesses Christianity as his religion, along with Larry Flynt, the former pornography entrepreneur, and Brian “Head” Welch, formerly of the rock band “Korn.”

Three additional converts include Bettie Page, a former pin-up star, Harry Reems, a former porn star, and Insane Clown Posse, a radical rap group.

The post 10 Most Bizarre Christian Converts was written by Tom Jamieson and appeared first on Tom Jamieson.

Decisive, a new book by Chip Heath and Dan Heath about making better decisions, arrives on bookshelves across America today.  It’s not normally a book I would have bought, or even picked up, but since I’m a member of a program that sends be books to read and review on my blog, this was the latest title sent to me.

I must admit, it’s a very good read.  The style is easy to follow, and the authors did a good job weaving relevant anecdotes into the thread of their points.  The book is organized into four main parts using the acronym WRAP: Widening one’s options, Reality-testing assumptions, Attaining distance before deciding, and Preparing to be wrong. According to the authors, these are the four most needed attributes of good decision-making skills.

You can read the first chapter by clicking here.

You can purchase Decisive as well as their other books, Switch and Made to Stick below (affiliate links):

To comply with regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission:
Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from the publishers as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The post Decisive by Chip Heath and Dan Heath [Review] was written by Tom Jamieson and appeared first on Tom Jamieson.

Yesterday, I wrote my monthly contribution over at We Blog Better.  It’s titled 7 Great Places to Find Fresh Content and focuses on the various places you can search when you are in need of new ideas for writing blog posts.

The previous day, another guest blogger had written a complimentary post on 7 Ways to Find Blog Ideas.  It’s amazing how similar the two topics and titles are, but the content is completely different.

However, as I thought about this more and more, I realized there are even more great ways to find fresh blogging ideas, so I wanted to share them here with you.  Therefore, here are a few more places to find fresh blogging ideas.

Quora

Quora is a Q and A site that is edited and organized by the users.  Therefore, by reading the most recent questions and answers, you can get an idea of what is on the minds of many readers at that moment.  By choosing a topic from Quora that is in your niche, you have to opportunity to address an up and coming topic or issue that is of current interest to your readers.

Yahoo Answers

Yahoo Answers is another high traffic Q and A site that can be a tremendous source of ideas and content.  As with Quora, you can find current topics of interest using a keyword search that fits your niche.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts allows you to set alerts, by email or RSS feed, based on keywords or phrases of your choice.  It checks five distinct areas for the most current changes or trends — news, web, blogs, video, and groups — or, you can use the default setting of “everything.”  Therefore, you can get the most up-to-date information concerning ideas, topics, and information within your niche.

Twitter

Click here for my previous post on finding fresh content on Twitter.

Leave a comment below and tell me where you find fresh blogging ideas.

The post Finding Fresh Blogging Ideas was written by Tom Jamieson and appeared first on Tom Jamieson.

Google announced yesterday via the official Google Reader Blog as well as the Official Google Blog that they are shutting down the Google Reader service effective July 1, 2013.

This comes as sad news for those of us who use the service to keep track of the myriad blogs and websites we follow.

Also, finding an alternative may not be as easy as one might think.  The folks over at Mashable wrote this piece covering some of the choices and the options don’t seem to be that great.  I guess only time will tell.

However, RSS isn’t going away and many of us still do read.  So now I will embark on my own journey to find a new aggregator and reader.

Leave a comment and tell me what you think about Google’s decision to power down Reader.

The post Google Shutting Down Reader was written by Tom Jamieson and appeared first on Tom Jamieson.

I can’t believe I didn’t come across this sooner.

The post Google Now was written by Tom Jamieson and appeared first on Tom Jamieson.