Successful Blog

How to Find Homes for Your Links

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It’s easy to get people to do what you want, just show them why it’s to their benefit to do it.

If what you want is a link from me, then your challenge is to persuade me. Show how it’s in my best interest and that of my readers to give your link a home on my blog.

Speaking of homes, you should also make sure that you want me to have your link. A link represents a vote from you. You want to find blogs with quality content, blogs with like-thinking writers who will value your relationship. Here’s how you might do that.

  • Get to know me and my blog.

    • Don’t become a stalker, but do make a project of finding out who I am and what I care about. Study my blog and my readers’ comments. A little reconnaissance and you’ll get a good idea of where or whether your link is a good fit.

  • Think about where your link would add value.

    • No one needs a link on their blogroll. Find a reason that I need your link. Do you have a post that ties well with one of mine? Do you expand on a topic that my readers have shown an interest in? Have you covered a subject I’ve missed, or does your content compliment mine, offering my readers a change they might enjoy? Once you’ve found a compelling answer to a question such as one of these, then you’re ready to talk to me.

  • When you talk to me, be personal and persuade me.

    • If you want my attention talk to me, not sir or madam, and let me know how you see your link improving my readers’ experience. That will surely get my attention. Persuade me. I want to feel there is a compelling argument for your link. That way I won’t see myself as someone who gives away links to anyone who asks. I’ll see myself as a person who was lucky to have met a clear thinker like you–someone who knew exactly how to improve my blog.

If I refuse you, you’ve lost nothing. You’ve probably picked up a few things by studying a blog. You’re not likely to research too long on a blog not worth linking to. If I agree, you’ve made a connection to quality content. Hopefully my blog will grow into old age with you. Then we can spend our days together complaining about those misbehaving young blogs.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

10 Things Google Wants per Liz

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In March 2005, Google’s patent document for their search engine was made public. This is the abridged Liz version.

10 Things Google Wants

Think of Google as a kindly caretaker who only wants the best for the blogging community. Google wants your blog to

    1. Put down roots. Google values blogs that last. If you can make it your own domain. Quality takes time, but spam occurs with a wink.

    2. Be a valuable citizen. Add value to the community by developing quality content. Content is what Google users go searching for and that leads to Google selling more ads. Google likes that.

    3. Grow like an oak, not like a weed. Authentic relationships take time to form naturally. Young blogs gather links over time like trees branching out, and grow with them. Fewer, slowly-acquired linking relationships impress Google. Too many links coming too quickly make Google wonder whether something hokey is going on.

    4. Know beauty is nice, but brains always win. Quality, relevant fresh content is king, queen, prince, princess, and all of the Google information kingdom. There is no substitution and in the end nothing can beat it.

    5. Ignore hangers-on. Cultivate quality friends. Google knows you can’t control who links up to you–that you’ll find backlinks of the most dubious sort. Care about who you link to so the community becomes stronger because of your links. Not every link needs to be reciprocated. Reciprocate those that serve your blog, your readers, and your niche community.

    6. Keep your address and your name. Everyone knows that spam blogs make name changes suspicious. Name changes also make re-indexing issues. Keep your name and domain. Then Google won’t have to worry about losing track of you, and you won’t have to wait while Google finds you again.

    7. Be popular among readers and among your peers. Google watches clicks–clicks on searchs and clicks from referrals–to see what draws visitors to your blog.

    8. Show up with fresh, new content–often and consistently. Posting fresh, new content often is important. Even more important is posting consistently. Google likes a nice steady pattern to your posting. It’s better to post only Tuesdays and Thursdays, than to push out ten posts all on one Saturday.

    9. Keep your visitors interested and know which doors they use. Google is interested in how long your visitors stay, where they came from and where they go when they leave you.

    10. Keep clean and tidy–and that includes spelling. Google is a bit anal about design, code, and spelling–things that make spiders trip. No dusty corners, broken tags, no misspelled words please.

Are these all of the things that Google cares about?
Of course not. That would be like listing all of the things that your mother wants you to be.

Which of these does Google care most about and in which order do they rank?
If Google told us that, then we’d know, wouldn’t we?

ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles:
Check Google Backlinks Through Yahoo
Google Homepage–Got Yours Yet?
Google–Do You Have Something to Tell Me?
Google Zeitgeist–Will Make ME Millions

SEO–Link Checking Tools

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Practical SEO for Every Blogger

Checking Backlinks

Backlinks are an exciting part of watching your blog grow. Each link is a statement, a vote, that moves your blog a bit higher in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Here are some ways for finding out about your links.

Talk Digger
Duncan Riley introduced Fred Giasson’s Talk Digger in an article in the Blog Herald this summer and I’ve been using it since. It’s a quick way to check your links at Bloglines, Blog Pulse, Feedster, Technorati, Ice Rocket, BlogDigger, PubSub, MSN, and Google all at the same time. To quote Talk Digger: Talk Digger is a meta-search engine. It asks major search engines: “Who links that URL?” The results will then be processed and displayed on Talk Digger. This is a free web service developed by Frederick Giasson.

Who Links to Me
Another tool you may have seen around the web is WhoLinkstoMe. Paste the Who Links to Me linking code into your template. Click through the link to check your own or another site’s Google Page Rank, and links found by Who Links to Me, Blogrolling, Google, Yahoo, MSN, Technorati, and Icerocket.

Related Links
Nick Wilson at Performancing had this method to check what Google considers related links. Type in the Google search box: related: yourdomain.com . Then he suggests you review the links to see what kind of sites come up. You would want a strong theme to show through. Your goal would be to answer these questions with a “yes.”

  • Are most of the sites on same theme or topic as your blog?
  • Are there some authorities in your niche?

deep dark blue strip A
THIS JUST IN:

Mark Wade of Blog Marketing, Blog Promotion for Newbies offered this addition to our list.

iWEBTOOL Backlink Checker

Ara Pehlivanian of the site of the same name offers this:

You might also want to check out the Firefox extension SEO Links by WebmasterBrain.

These should give you something to do while that turkey’s in the oven.
Happy Holiday if you’re having one. If you’re not, declare one.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles:
Check Google Backlinks Through Yahoo
SEO–Positioning Keywords for Readers and Search Engines
Don’t Buy that New Domain Name Yet
Checklist for Linking to Quality Blogs

Yaro on Meta Tags and Keywords

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Practical SEO for Every Blogger

Etched in ice and not concrete . . . There are people on the web who know much, much more than I do, and so I went to find one whom Eric and I can trust–Yaro of Entrepreneur’s Journey another 9rules network blog.

Yaro, besides being a phenomenal researcher, is a teacher and a leader. Here’ s what Yaro says about meta tags in his document, Do Meta Tag Keywords Matter Anymore?

Should you be using meta tag keywords at all?
Yes and no. It definitely should not be prioritized and if you have other, better SEO things to do worry about don’t spend time on your meta keywords. If you insist on using meta keywords use them sparingly, only a handful, about 10 maximum, and keep them very relevant to the page content. Less is more in this case.

Meta keywords are a legacy of web 1.0 and are slowly being phased out completely. Your title tags, heading tags and content play a much more important role and really if you have time to spare to work on SEO you should be writing great new content that people will link to, not cramming your pages with redundant keywords.

So there you have it. Meta keywords have a minor use, if used sparingly, but by no means should they take priority over content that people will link, because they most certainly are on their way out.

Hey, we don’t mind learning, especially from a generous teacher. Thanks Yaro, for telling us what works, instead of what we’re doing wrong.

Sorry I took the long way home on this one. But I got here, and the car’s not wrecked.

Gosh I feel so much better now. 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss

2.5 Queen Ellen’s Advice

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Interview with Ellen

Interview with: Ellen
Her Blog: The Reign of Ellen
URL: thereignofellen.blogspot.com
Her audience: easy-going, funny, non-judgmental readers–moms; dads; college-aged women
Things to note when you visit: the open spirit of community; the royal gallery, the blogroll; the multiple kinds of interactivity; the connection between Ellen and her readers; how the open, friendly, design supports the concept; the special features and unique ideas

2.5 Queen Ellen’s Advice

Ellen Flipped

Ellen has been building blogging expertise since May 2003. Her background in design and graphics also brings an additional dimension to the conversation. She shared some of her experience with the highs and lows of blogging.

What was the biggest mistake that you made?

I wrote some critical comments about one of my sisters on my old blog. . . . None of my family even knew that my blog “diary” existed, so I never thought that she’d ever read it. But search engines are tricky little things, and she . . . found my blog and read every archived post. She was very hurt and angry. I don’t regret writing my true thoughts and feelings on my blog, but I’ve learned that you must be willing to accept the fallout if you choose to do so. Needless to say, I don’t write about family anymore. I don’t know who is reading.

What change made the greatest improvement?

Besides the obvious switch from my boring old “Sugar” blog to “Reign,” I think that the addition of the “The Court of Ellen” cartoons bolstered the community on my blog. People love to belong and love to feel special and unique.

What do you wish you could do for your blog?

To be honest, I really like my blog the way it is. But I do wish I had more time to respond to all the emails and comments that I receive from readers. However, being a working mother with several personal hobbies outside of blogging, this is impossible right now.

What was the best advice anyone gave you?

“If you delete that blog, I will beat you, woman.”

Not really advice as much as a threat. Said to me by my husband after I received my first attacking comment from a “troll.” I get my feelings hurt easily, and I was about to delete my entire blog. Thankfully, I listened to him and have toughened up a bit.

What advice would you give a beginner?

Surf the network of blogs. You can learn a lot about blogging from other bloggers�the good, the bad and the ugly. And as the saying goes for writers, “if you want to be a good writer, read good books,� so it goes for bloggers . . . “If you want to be a successful blogger, lurk on a lot of blogs.�

Finally, make your template–“your template”–something you like to return to time and time again. My personal preference for my template is to keep “clean and uncluttered.â€? It’s about the only place in my life that is “clean and uncluttered.â€?

“Hey, you try having a baby, working part time, and pumping out artwork every week,” added Jason, Ellen’s husband.

In what ways, have you made your template your own? Stand back. Take a look. Does your blog reflect what happens there?

Is your blog a place you want to come back to time and time again?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

TWO Simple Keys to Success

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I was a VP in an executive meeting at a publishing company. The people around the table had the most solid core competencies I’d ever seen in one room. We’d been working together for five months. Our quest was to turn around a failing company. We had about six months left to do it.

“How do we grow the company?” they said.

Three reasons made them turn to me with the question. I had the applicable experience in that industry; I came from a high-growth company; and I was the product person who knew the customers intimately.

How do we grow the company?

Sometimes I get lucky, and the words that come out make me look smart. This was one of those times. My answer became the company’s guiding statement. I’ll adapt them slightly to apply to blogging.

All successful publishers do two things consistently.

  • Give readers what they want–quality content to read that informs, entertains, and makes their lives easier or more fun.
  • Give readers more opportunities to find what they want easily–posting with frequency, writing clearly and consistenly, keeping tags and archives understandable and organized, pointing to other blogs that answer questions and needs.

We give them more of the content they want and more opportunities to find it.

It’s not rocket science. It’s not even particularly clever. It’s simple, respectful, and elegant. Readers know what they need. If they had time to, they could find it themselves. We are the value-added. Those two simple keys–more great content and more ways to get to it–define their reason for reading us.

Our task is to come to agreement with our readers on the definition of quality content and never stray from delivering it.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

PS That little company I spoke of went from $9M to $35M in 3 yrs. At the same time the industry grew 3%, and the dot.com bust occurred.