You may have a new website you want to get indexed with the various search engines at the soonest possible time. Or you may have an existing website which you want to position well in the search engine results. Or you may have a good performing website which you want to remain competitive. Whatever your reason may be, you’re sure to benefit from the blog and ping combo.
Now, you may have heard or read about this before, but your never realized how it works. Or this may be the first time you have been acquainted with this surefire technique. Regardless, much can be learned from this article as we discuss the basics and the mechanics of the blog and ping strategy.
It All Starts With A Blog
Web logs, or blogs as people have fondly referred to them in recent years, were originally designed for social purposes. People used it as online diaries where they could post their thoughts, the events of their days, their secret desires and the likes. But blogs possessed some very special qualities that internet marketers found hard to dismiss.
• Blogs figure prominently in search engine results. The first few pages of some queries would yield many blogs occupying premium spots.
• Blogs are basically free web publishing tools. A little tweaking and it could become a website of its own.
• Blogs are easy to update. Just press EDIT or PUBLISH and you’d have new content in a flash. No need to change the source code. The system will easily take care of that.
• Blogs have their own communities. Bloggers often link with one another. This is a level of connectivity that is pretty hard to come by in other mediums.
Hence, online businessmen started using blogs for marketing purposes.
The strategy goes like this:
1. Create a blog dedicated to the subject your main website is catering to. Preferably, you should create an account with www.blogger.com , because this service is owned by Google, the most widely used search engine in the World Wide Web.
2. Post regularly, and include a link to your website in majority of your messages. Also include your links with popular keywords as anchor texts.
3. Include a link to your own website on the navigation bar.
4. Just to emphasize – you have to post REGULARLY. This means at least every other day. No sweat, though. Short posts of 200 words in length would be enough.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Podcasting Bandwagon - How To Get Into It?
There are more than 25 million owners of portable mp3 players in 2008. 29% of them have tried downloading and listening to podcasts at one point in time. We’re talking about 6,380,000 people who have been exposed to podcasts during a period when podcasting was just in its infancy.
These statistics alone will show you the vast potentials that can be found with the podcasting medium. As an online marketer, you’ll be able to reach a lot of people with downloadable podcasts. Not only this, but podcasting offers a slew of benefits that can only gain momentum in the coming months:
• People respond more to what they could hear rather than what they simply read.
• Podcasts offer a more exciting experience compared to conventional written works.
• Podcasts will attract prospects that you will normally fail to tap.
• Podcasts offer you more leeway in delivering your business message.
• Podcasts would give your business an instant boost in credibility, as people will get to listen to a real voice instead of having to read mere words.
The problem that many Internet marketers face when it comes to the prospect of creating podcasts is the seeming difficulty associated with their preparation. This is borne from simple unfamiliarity, however. The fact is, anyone – yes, ANYONE – can create their own podcasts without having to avail of special software programs for the same. Just follow the steps below:
1. Choose a subject.
2. Choose an engaging aspect of that subject, one which your target market would be interested to know about.
3. Prepare an outline detailing the important points you wish to discuss about the said subject.
4. Do some research, if necessary.
5. Prepare index cards which should contain some summaries of your points. You will refer to these to ensure uninterrupted recording that would streamline the process.
6. Attach a microphone to your computer. This is the only hardware you will need, aside from the PC terminal itself, of course.
7. Set up the Sound Recorder program that is bundled with your Windows operating system.
8. Begin recording.
9. Once you have finished your podcast, review the same using the Media Player which should also be bundled with your Windows operating system.
10. Enhance your podcast with the free tools that can be found at www.odeo.com/inbox .
11. If everything sounds well, convert your file into .mp3 format.
12. Use Microsoft Front Page to upload the file to your web server.
13. Include your podcast link in website repositories like www.podcastalley.com .
Just like that, you could have your own podcast ready to be downloaded. You would want to limit the length of your podcasts to 10 minutes per episode, however, so that the file size can be kept at a minimum. Additionally, you would want to serialize your podcasts into installments to capture the continuous interests of your listeners. They will then become your leads for some marketing purposes.
You could create podcasts for any topic you want. There is no limit, and each subject should command a healthy audience if the podcast is marketed correctly. Submitting the same to the websites we have mentioned above would be a start, but try to look for more avenues where you could promote your podcasts and you’re bound to reach more people in the process.
Afterwards, you could sit back, relax, enjoy all the benefits that podcasting can offer, and realize that yes, indeed, podcasting is as easy as 1-2-3.
These statistics alone will show you the vast potentials that can be found with the podcasting medium. As an online marketer, you’ll be able to reach a lot of people with downloadable podcasts. Not only this, but podcasting offers a slew of benefits that can only gain momentum in the coming months:
• People respond more to what they could hear rather than what they simply read.
• Podcasts offer a more exciting experience compared to conventional written works.
• Podcasts will attract prospects that you will normally fail to tap.
• Podcasts offer you more leeway in delivering your business message.
• Podcasts would give your business an instant boost in credibility, as people will get to listen to a real voice instead of having to read mere words.
The problem that many Internet marketers face when it comes to the prospect of creating podcasts is the seeming difficulty associated with their preparation. This is borne from simple unfamiliarity, however. The fact is, anyone – yes, ANYONE – can create their own podcasts without having to avail of special software programs for the same. Just follow the steps below:
1. Choose a subject.
2. Choose an engaging aspect of that subject, one which your target market would be interested to know about.
3. Prepare an outline detailing the important points you wish to discuss about the said subject.
4. Do some research, if necessary.
5. Prepare index cards which should contain some summaries of your points. You will refer to these to ensure uninterrupted recording that would streamline the process.
6. Attach a microphone to your computer. This is the only hardware you will need, aside from the PC terminal itself, of course.
7. Set up the Sound Recorder program that is bundled with your Windows operating system.
8. Begin recording.
9. Once you have finished your podcast, review the same using the Media Player which should also be bundled with your Windows operating system.
10. Enhance your podcast with the free tools that can be found at www.odeo.com/inbox .
11. If everything sounds well, convert your file into .mp3 format.
12. Use Microsoft Front Page to upload the file to your web server.
13. Include your podcast link in website repositories like www.podcastalley.com .
Just like that, you could have your own podcast ready to be downloaded. You would want to limit the length of your podcasts to 10 minutes per episode, however, so that the file size can be kept at a minimum. Additionally, you would want to serialize your podcasts into installments to capture the continuous interests of your listeners. They will then become your leads for some marketing purposes.
You could create podcasts for any topic you want. There is no limit, and each subject should command a healthy audience if the podcast is marketed correctly. Submitting the same to the websites we have mentioned above would be a start, but try to look for more avenues where you could promote your podcasts and you’re bound to reach more people in the process.
Afterwards, you could sit back, relax, enjoy all the benefits that podcasting can offer, and realize that yes, indeed, podcasting is as easy as 1-2-3.
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