Normal Computer Users — Do You Know Any?

April 27, 2006 by Liz

Exploring the SOB Directory

Every week at about this time, I go exploring the SOB Directory. It’s my Thursday night reward to me. I get to read instead of write for a bit. I need to do that on Thursday nights, because Thursdays have this way of getting me down. Working at home I get aware that folks are getting things done and don’t need me bothering them. So I head off to go exploring to get me back on an upward swing.

I put my headphones on and head to the SOB Directory to read what you have been doing all week.

Sometimes I find that takes me to something that makes me laugh. Then I have to come back home again and tell you about where I’ve been, carrying with me links and all. [Read more…]

Before You Publish–Check for Spiders and Opportunities

March 9, 2006 by Liz

Before you hit that PUBLISH button . . .

Publishing occurs whenever an author shares a work with an audience. An email memo, a note that says where you are going, a paper you wrote for a class in Econometrics, these are all forms of publishing.

–ME Strauss

Reading for Spiders

Publishing for the web has two audiences–people and search engine spiders. The first time I read my work over, I read it for people. I checked for errors that get between my readers and the message. I also had my proofreader check it to catch what my dyslexia missed. Yesterday, she caught quite bit.

Then I go over it a second time quickly for my second audience–search engine spiders–to make sure the spiders don’t trip and have plenty to eat.

Making Sure the Investment Pays Off

Prorating the time that I spent gathering ideas, I’ve probably spent 60-90 minutes on this one post. Time is money, and I think of that time spent as an investment. Now is when I make sure that investment pays off. I’ve made a short Pre-Flight Publishing list that I run down, before I pass say, “Go.”

Is the content keyword rich? By waiting to read for keywords until after all other checks, I make sure that I don’t forfeit quality to pray at the altar of SEO. Now, I can look for keywords my readers might search for and make sure that they find the relevant content that I have to offer. I won’t be reaching, and they won’t be disappointed. Current relationships will stay strong, and new readers will be pleased with what they encounter here.
What tags might I add that belong with this post? Tags can help search engine spiders properly index my post. Post tags are definitely blog, brand, and business promotion. If your blogging software doesn’t easily allow you to tag your posts, there are plug-ins and hacks for every platform out there.
What related articles do I have that readers might be interested in reading? Offering related articles for readers to go to when they finished your post, gives people more information about a subject they’ve already shown interest in. It also gets readers more involved with you, your blog, your business, and your brand. The intra-link that you make at the end of your post shows people how your content relates and is relevant throughout your blog–this helps search engines index it as well.
Are there opportunities for trackbacks? If you’ve mentioned another blogger’s work or if what you’ve said meshes beautifully with the conversation on another blog, send a trackback to let that blogger know.
Is this that one-in-a-million post that I should self-promote to other blogs? If you’ve written the post that reveals the nature of how to get “Google Goodness” from every post, carefully write a brief introduction of yourself and your post to a select few bloggers you wish to share it with. Do be sure it’s a one-in-a-million post, and do explain your reasons for thinking it’s a match with their blogs. If you don’t read a blog, don’t send a link. Period. Either way, it’s a long shot that a post really is the one-in-a-million post that we think it is.

Those are just a few ways I try to diversify and grow my investment. I like to make sure the time I spend continues to pay off, compounding interest well into the future.

You probably have other ways that you build promotion into the posts you write. Will you take a minute to share one with us?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

SEO–Five Traits of Relevant Content

November 23, 2005 by Liz

Practical SEO for Every Blogger

Five Traits of Relevant Content

Relevant is the keyword. Content without “relevant” is less than content. Who would want to post something irrelevant? Here are five traits of relevant content.

Relevant content is text.
Search Engines love quality relevant content. They love quality content because readers do. Content here means text, not graphics or photos. That’s where search engines and readers see pages differently. Readers “read” photos and graphics; search engine spiders crawl right past them. So under that photo or graphic include a caption explaining what’s in it.

Relevant content is fresh and free-flowing.
Search engine spiders are demanding creatures. They want original, relevant content to list for their readers–and lots of it. Provide original content with accuracy and frequency about topics readers search for, and your posts will be born relevant.

Relevant content is formatted.
When your document follows a structured format, a search engine can follow how topics relate. Relationships between topics establish that keywords aren’t just mentioned–they are connected and relevant.

title
h1–subhead that relates
paragraph(s)
h2–subhead that relates
paragraph(s)

Relevant content is linked–Links in, links out, and links to yourself are relevant.
Spiders crawl the web by following links. Links draw spiders to related pages from blog to blog and within your blog. Connections in content are inherently relevant.

Relevant content is error free and accessible.
Open HTML tags, gross errors in spelling, and unnecessary plugins trip spiders. Enough said.

Relevant content is what readers are searching for, what spiders are crawling for, what bloggers are blogging for–right?

I’d rather not blog than be irrelevant.

I think there’s a t-shirt in that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

SEO-OSE-SOE–When an Alternate Spelling Is Optimization

November 15, 2005 by Liz

When I do a link search on MSN for my personal blog, I always get that starred question Were you looking for . . . ? The same thing happens on Google, Yahoo, and most search engines.

I find it useful when I mistype a word, fun to follow when I’m on a link search, and funny when it’s unconnected to what I’m searching for. I didn’t think much about it, except to notice the number of listings under misspelled words.

In an October post written by Jamsi at Workboxers, The Overlooked Optimization Technique, Jamsi tells how with the Overture Keyword Tool, he used an alternative spelling as Search Engine Optimization. By removing a space and a capital letter from a keyword, Jamsi achieved a top three rank in the listings at Google, Yahoo, and MSN for an obscure blog.

The logic is simple and compelling.

It’s the big fish in a small pond strategy. Choose the less preferred spelling, and you’ll get more attention. Use the Overture Keyword Tool to make sure that you still have an audience. Then tag your post with keywords that will get you a higher rank in a shorter listing.

–ME “Liz” Strauss aka My Lis Straus

Blog Promotion Basics [for Everyone]

November 8, 2005 by Liz

If you look up–under the logo for Successful Blog–you’ll see the words content that is organized, thorough, and relevant. That means I plan to capture and present the basics for everything. I also plan to make sure that those posts–like this one–offer information for everyone, not just new bloggers. Oh and, my other plan is that these posts won’t be boring. 🙂

Well, it used to say that. Now, we just live it.

I’ve hidden a posting Easter egg of sorts in this one. Hope most of you don’t have it already.

This post is based on Duncan Riley’s Building blog traffic for newbies. If you already know the basics, read the 31 comments that follow the post.

Duncan lays out six main points he pulled together when he realized that people seemed to know little about promoting blogs. I’ll list them here [with my notes], and you can get the detail from the post.

Don’t use blogrolling for your site links. It stuffs up search engines.
Pinging is good, but trackbacks and comments are better.
Offer to exchange links in your links section [in the sidebar].
Link to small sites without exchange through sidebar or a post.
Submit your blog to all search engines [and directories].

And what we both agree is the most important one:

Post regularly, [consistently], and often.

I’d also like to add two if I might.

Join a forum in your niche. It offers natural opportunities to talk about your blog.
Find websites in your niche that would like to list your link.

Of course, the best promotion is quality content when the traffic gets there.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

PS. Do we have to use the word “newbies”? Has anyone got a better one?