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Internal Blog Linking Experiment For SEO Part 2
By Todd | December 22, 2008
Spending 5 minutes, one time, to move from #44 to #12 for a keyword with 3,400,000 result pages is in my book 5 minutes worth spending. A couple weeks ago I blogged about a blog linking experiment I was doing to see if a simple, one time, 5 minute change to my blog would improve my rankings. In this post I’m going to go over the fairly impressive results I’ve been seeing with this technique that I picket up from Jeff Johnson.
The technique is simple and yet so few people do it so I felt it was wort blogging about. Most people are aware that internal linking on your website or blog is like crack and can’t get enough of it. Search engines love it and you’re ranking in the search engine results pages (serps) will reflect this. simply cross link your blog posts when there is relevance between then and it not only helps users find related content on your blog but the search engines will value your site more.
Here’s a tip I picked up from Jeff Johnson a few weeks ago that seems obvious in hind sight. At the bottom of each blog post place your top 2 or 3 keywords you want you blog to rank for and have them link back to your home page. This tells google that indeed the home page is the most important page on your site AND that these keywords are what that page is about.
This last point is important. Most people have a “home” link on their blog but it lacks the keywords so while you’re passing some link juice back to your home page you’re not passing it for the relevant keywords so it doesn’t help you in the serps for those keywords.
This blog had that same problem. I’ve always had the home link in my nav but it wasn’t until I added the keywords to the bottom of each post that my rankings really started to move. (btw, the code for these links was added to the post template so I don’t have to add it separately for every post)
So lets go over the SERP ranking for the past 2 1/2 weeks (btw, the keyword learn affiliate marketing had over 3,400,000 result pages which makes this technique even more impressive)
December 3, 2008
- Learn Affiliate Marketing - # 44
- Affiliate Marketing Course - #29
December 3, 2008 (later the same day!)
- learn affiliate marketing - #32 (moved up 12)
- affiliate marketing course - #23 (moved up 6)
December 9, 2008
- learn affiliate marketing - #22 (moved up 10)
- affiliate marketing course - #22 (moved up 1)
December 22, 2008
- learn affiliate marketing - #12 (moved up 10)
- affiliate marketing course - #11 (moved up 11)
So for a 5 minute effort it seems the pay off is clear and well worth it. Every time I do a new blog post I’m helping my blog home page as well. I suspect both of these keywords will land me on the front page of Google within a week form this post.
There are additional techniques that I can use that would have moved me up to front page in probably half the time but were not used here because I did not want to contaminate my experiment and only focus on this particular techique described above.
If you’re not linking back to your home page at the end of your posts with your primary keywords then what are you waiting for? I won’t happen all by itself!
Topics: SEO, link building | 18 Comments »
Squidoo Opt-In Forms are Back
By Todd | December 20, 2008
List building on squidoo.com is back! Based on a new method that does NOT require html frames, which were banned by squidoo some time back, it’s now possible to add opt-in forms directly to your squidoo lens again.
In the early days of squidoo it was possible to list build with opt-in forms by making use of html frames but squidoo dropped frames due to abuse and in effect left the list builders having to resort to ugly images that take you off to a separately hosted landing page..
Thanks to some clever work by a fellow named Lewis Smile over at Squidoo Tricks it seems opt-in forms are back for squidoo, provided you follow the right procedures.
The method requires you to build a custom squidoo module using Spring Widgets that you then import into your lens. Now if you’re not a developer then no worries because the procedure is dead simple and can be performed by anyone who can work a mouse. It takes about 25 minutes to work through the first time and then after that you’ll be able to add opt-in forms to your lenses in about 1 minute. Seriously, it’s that easy.
The guide, guide which you can pick up over at Squidoo Tricks is very simple to follow and will only run you $7.
One of the cool things about the guide is that it will open the door for you on how to create simply custom modules for squidoo, and many other social sites that use the spring modules. It’s a virtual idea generator.
Should you add an opt-in to your Squidoo lens?
That’s a good question. It sounds like a great idea, and in many situations it might make sense, but I think from a marketing perspective squidoo lenses are a double edged sword. They’re great for generating traffic, but here are a few drawbacks that need serious consideration before you drop an opt-in box on the lens
- Their is way too much going on on a lens to really focus the readers attention to the same level as an optimized squeeze page. All the advertising, the many links in the sidebar and all the other interactive stuff you need to rank well with your lens creates way too many links the reader can click that do not get you paid in the end
- More importantly, in my mind, is the lack of ability to split test the page. It doesn’t matter how much you think you know, the only true way to optimize a page is through A/B split testing and this isn’t possible with a squidoo lens. The ability to use free tools like Google Website Optimizer is one of the best way to increase conversions and sacrificing this ability to test in order to use a squidoo lens for your landing page is in my mind a mistake
These two huge disadvantages are not meant to imply that an opt-in box on a squidoo lens is a bad thing, just that it’s not optimal to use a lens as a opt-in landing page if you have the option of using a regular web hosted squeeze page.
If the traffic is already on your lens then by all means add an opt-in box using the Squidoo Tricks method, but if the traffic is elsewhere and you have the choice of sending them to a lens or a squeeze page to gather opt-ins then the better choice is still your own hosted squeeze page.
So what do you do after you get them on your list? Find out how I convert my list using product specific bonuses in my free affiliate marketing course.
Topics: Social Marketing, Squidoo, list building | 6 Comments »
Is Your Bookmarking Campaign Helping You or Hurting You?
By Todd | December 15, 2008
If social bookmarking is so great for traffic and seo why do so many people fail to see results from their efforts? Perhaps it’s because they’re simply not spreading enough love around.
Remember, social bookmarking is about sharing and if all you’re doing is sharing your own content pages then you might just be doing more harm than good. With social bookmarking there are two things that can happen when you only bookmark your own content
- Social Community Rejection
- Google Filtering
Social Community Rejection
With Digg style social sharing sites it’s crucial that you Digg and submit other peoples content too or you’re likely to feel the wrath of the community. Digg style sites are sites where the content being submitted is subjected to community voting or ranking systems and there’s nothing members of these communities hate more than people trying to manipulate the system or spam them.
If all you’re doing is submitting your own content then you will appear as a spammer. If all of the content for your website has only the same 3 accounts voting for every page you’ll likely be discovered as a submission spammer. If your submissions and voting patters do not look natural then you’re going to eventually get busted.
When this happens it’s very likely you will find not only your account being suspended, but worse, the url for your website being banned from their submission process. When your url is banned there’s no way around it, you can’t simply create a new Digg account because NO accounts will be allowed to submit or vote for your content and the ban can be permanent. Having your url banned from the social sharing sites can be pretty detrimental to your future link building efforts to say the least.
Google Filtering (black listing)
The second issue applies to both Digg style sites as well as traditional bookmarking sites like del.icio.us and furl. Will these traditional bookmarking sites don’t really care about what you bookmark, because they’re not voting based sites, it’s still important to bookmark other content as well because Google does care.
We often bookmark is for seo purposes. It’s great for helping the search engines find and index you content quickly as well as for back links (especially from bookmark sites that don;t use the ‘nofollow’). The problem is that google has become very sophisticated in determining when something looks funny. They’re constantly creating algorithms to find places where there’s unnatural looking back link structures because they attribute this to a form of search engine manipulation or spam.
If you submit nothing but links to your own blog at a dozen different social bookmarking sites Google is going to pick up on this and treat it like a search engine spam campaign because it’s clearly not a natural pattern for legitimate bookmarking. In the beginning with newer sites you may not notice a problem and your bookmarking may actually be helping you. But if you all of a sudden you find your efforts are no longer working then there’s a good chance you’ve finally built enough suspicious links back to your site with bookmarking to trigger the Google filters. When this happens Google may black list your social bookmarking url and basically ignore it from that point forward. You an continue to submit to this url, but google is no longer paying any attention.
The Solution
The solution to both of these problems is very simple. Bookmark OTHER peoples stuff! Your bookmarking has to look at least somewhat natural or you’re going to get busted and a lot of effort will go down the drain.
It’s not hard. You surf all day long to sites you like and it only takes a minute to bookmark a site and move on. Most blogs have the submission buttons at the bottom the post, and with tools like www.onlywire.com and www.socialmarker.com it’s very fast and easy to submit to many bookmarking sites in just a couple clicks. Doing so will make your activity look natural and ensure you get the full benefit from your efforts.
By simply being a decent community member at these sites all will be good and you’ll find your bookmarking campaign performing for you the way it should.
Topics: Social Bookmarking, Social Marketing, link building | 8 Comments »
Does Eben Pagan Work in His Underwear?
By Todd | December 9, 2008
Are people who work in their underwear really successful? Before I ditched my 9-5 grind to work at home as an internet marketer I used to drool over the idea of being able to work in my underwear. Not so much actually sitting in my Hanes all day, but simply the freedom to do so if I wanted to. The idea that I could have such a casual approach to life and career and still make a fortune was pretty appealing for sure, but is it realistic? Do people get rich working in their underwear?
Porn stars and lingerie models excluded, and maybe Frank Kern too, I don’t really think it happens too often. The truth is internet marketing is hard work. Sure the payoff can be HUGE making the relative work seem insignificant, but it takes a lot of effort and dedication to make it in this business.
I make a decent living marketing on the web and although I’m not even remotely in the same league as the big internet marketing gurus like Eben Pagan and Frank Kern, my growth is steady and it’s just a matter of time. It might sound cocky to imply that some day I might make the “guru” league, but I believe it with all my heart to be true, and I’m willing to bust my ass to make it happen. Just like they busted their ass to get to where they are today.
People in this industry often talk about how easy it is to make money, but easy doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of work involved. You still need need discipline, you still have to think hard, and you still have to follow a plan for your success like any other career path.
If you’ve been spinning your wheels there’s a good chance your problem is in your attitude and work habits, and not necessarily your marketing technique.
Be honest with yourself. Are you spending most of your time surfing and reading about the latest greatest technique? Are you DOING or just reading?
Like any business you need a plan and you need to implement the plan. You need to work
with discipline and realize that your business goes beyond just business. Your whole life and the attitudes that permeate it are intertwined with your online success. If you want great success online you need to work on being successful in all aspects of your life.
Look, just go checkout Eben Pagan’s latest video on getting altitude and you’ll see what I’m talking about and why this guy is in the guru league … in fact, in my mind, he’s the guru of the guru’s.
I’m sure you remember Eben’s Guru Mastermind series. Right?
Topics: Internet Marketing Gurus, Productivity, eben pagan | 9 Comments »
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