SEO and Odd Searches

I like to take a few minutes at the end of the month and see exactly what is leading people to my site.  It is a bit of confirmation that my Search Engine Optimization is working (more on that later), but it also gives me a little chuckle.

Just for what it is worth, my best search term so far in june was “Bloggers”  That’s sort of a surprise, but a welcome one I suppose.  No doubt the domain name plays a role in that.

Just a side note, this is why you use some sort of keyword in your domain name instead of “ABC-Company.com” or some similar name.  

Success, Business tools, and Online Business were present as intended.

But most fun, is that someone actually came to my site by googling “santa.”  Now, on Christmas eve 2007 I did indeed write about Santa.  This was a little experiment more than anything to play around with Google Trends and the Search Engines.

But It still drives traffic in.  My only real question is why is someone looking for santa in June?

IPhone and Google could be changing the future

Iphone users account for half the mobile googler population even though the iphone only accounts for 0.4 percent of all mobile handsets.  why is that?  Primarily because of the iphone’s beautiful internet access features.  The article here suggests that over the next several years mobile searches could actually outnumber regular computer searches.

That is something to think about for those of us who are working to earn money online.  We need to utilize social networks and different platforms such as blog tools that easily convert to smaller screens.    Both of these strategies will help us to reach the growing numbers of people who are searching the internet from their mobile devices.  Let’s just hope they aren’t doing it behind the wheel.

Get Indexed in Search Engines in Under 24 Hours

I just discovered San Francisco Marketing expert Jacob Morgan through digg.  He has a new and yet impressive blog I just checked out.  If you have been awake while you were reading some of my posts, you will remember that I have repeatedly recommended Social networking sites and Squidoo.

(Watch for a full post on Squidoo soon) 

Jacob gives some concrete ways he got his site listed in the search engines fast!   Among others, he is using Digg and Squidoo.

Be sure to read the rest of his entry here - Jacob Morgan

Microsoft Buying Yahoo?

This can’t be a good thing.  From my experience when Microsoft touches something good they tend to mess it up.  But the Yahoo stockholders might be glad to hear about the 44 billion they have been offered.  Frankly, if it were up to me, I would take the money and walk.

What will the implications of this be for search traffic?  My guess is it will eventually lead to a larger market share for Google.  Google has always been the leader with yahoo running second and MSN third.  If Microsoft keeps their own algorithm, applying it to yahoo searches, it will be devastating, but if they adopt yahoo’s search techniques it could be good for both MSN and Yahoo.

What will it be?  My thoughts are because of the corporate attitude of arrogance at MSN, they will shoot themselves in the foot.  Any thoughts on what this could mean for the future?  Anyone think they will actually go through with the deal?

santa tracker

Google trends shows that people are searching for Santa tracker. So why not let you find it here -

here is the link to the Norad Santa tracker.

Personally I don’t really care where the fat man is, but I do care about getting to the top of Google. If you want to find out how - keep an eye on this blog, I do it all the time!
Read more »

Social Networking 101 Can you Digg It?

Absolutely you can! And if you digg it well, lots of other people can too!

Digg, is the social networking site we are inspecting today. This is a place similar to stumble upon. Which we covered a couple of days ago. Older than stumble, and perhaps waning a little bit in popularity, it is no less important. With Digg, you submit content you like with just a couple of clicks and immediately it gets put on the list of sites people start to see.

If the content is really good, and you write a compelling review, folks will visit your website, talk about it and “digg it.” This means they will vote that they like it. The number of “diggs” an item has is the number of people who liked it and this also determines the kind of repeat traffic you can expect.

When I digg items, I always get some traffic right away; usually 10 to 20 visitors in the first hour or so after putting them in the network. No blog can tell you exactly how to do this, so figure it out! take a few minutes, sign up now and start digging!

If you want to get started fast click this digg button right here

DIGG IT!

How about RSS for me

If you blog already emit a feed. So all you need to do is find it and promote it! Feel free to grab either of these buttons. If you aren’t sure what your feed url is, then look at the instructions below.

Simply right click either of these, and save them to your desktop, then upload them to your own site. Wordpress has a wonderfully easy way to do that and insert images. Go ahead and try it!

thanks to Aweber communications for these helpful instructions.

Where Do I Find the RSS Feed URL?

In order to have your blog articles sent by email using our Blog Broadcast feature, you need to get a hold of the URL address of the RSS feed of your blog.

This can prove to be a bit difficult without a little guidance. To help you to find this address, we’ve put together the instructions below. If you still have issues finding it, feel free to contact our customer solutions team for assistance.

How to Find Your RSS Address

The easiest way to get the address, no matter what web browser you’re using, is to look at the HTML source of your page.

How you view it in your web browser will differ, but in most browsers, you’ll choose the Page Source or Source option under the View menu near the top of the window.

Once the window appears with the HTML for your page, use the “Find” feature (typically Ctrl-F on a PC, Command-F on a Mac) and search for “RSS” (without the quotes).

You should be taken to a line that reads something like:

<link rel=“alternate” type=“application/rss+xml” 

title=“Example” href=“http://www.aweber.com/blog/feed/” />

The RSS feed’s URL address is found between the quotes after href= . In this case, it would be:

http://www.aweber.com/blog/feed/

Where to Find the Address in Firefox

Alternatively, if you’re using the Firefox browser or have it installed on your computer, you can click on the RSS icon in the toolbar.

You’ll now find the URL address in the toolbar.

What about RSS?

Would you go to a doctor if he told you he hadn’t read a medical journal in several years? Why not? Probably because when you are looking for expert help you expect them to keep current in their area of knowledge.

Well, I find that some of my readers don’t exactly understand what RSS is and how to use it. That just won’t do. Perhaps this is a shameless plug for subscribers, but in all honesty my desire is to help you build your business and be successful online. Many people I hear from think they can break something on the internet. Well its harder than it looks. You must be a regular reader of content in your niche and in any niche that interests you.

So here is what you need to do. You need to have an RSS reader that you use to follow all your news and regular content. When you see a button like this -

or

On a page you like, CLICK IT. It will allow you to add it to the content reader of your choice. Personally I recommend Google, I know that will get me in trouble with some geek snobs that prefer to use technorati or another fancy reader. But I like to add a bunch of content to my google homepage and see everything with one look. But don’t take my word for it! Test out your options!

Go ahead,

Try it now!

Note: If this was helpful, you will definitely want to read What About RSS for Me? 

Social Networking 101 looks at Stumble Upon

So as far as places to promote yourself online, let’s first talk about Stumble upon. They can be found at - you guessed it - stumbleupon.com

To be completely honest, it is pretty much pointless to attempt to market anything online without these guys these days. Yes I just said these way to much, but that makes me cool.

The first thing you need to do is create an account, and then grab the coolest toolbar in the world for firefox. This tool bar will let you submit stuff to SU, and also see things in categories you are interested in.

How do I use it? You ask a fascinating Question, let me tell you. I submit my own posts when they seem “submit worthy.” Please Note - they are not all in this category. Not everything you write is worth blasting the world with. there is such a thing as wearing out a welcome. Other than that, I also use it to peruse interesting items online and often find topics worth posting on one of my blogs.

How can you use it? Well primarily the same way! Submit your junk! Post something new? Tell the world.

Please Please Please Remember this - It makes a nice movie, but in the real world, if you build it, you will starve to death, because they will not come unless you promote it.

Questions? thoughts? additions?

Social net what is it called?

I am discovering that a lot of folks are confused by Social Networking Sites.  I plan to release a series of posts soon on how to use them and what they do for you.

As a teaser to you let me stress that if you ask a question now, I will make sure to answer it later…  look for a series of at least seven posts on the beauty and tranquility of Social Bookmarking sites like Delicious and the many like it….

have a question?  Going once, going twice …