Monthly Archives: August 2012
Is Using Automated Article Submitters for Your SEO Campaign is Good Idea?
Many newbie marketers start their SEO campaign with writing articles for online article directories and Ezines. This method offers high quality back links that fall within the marketer’s niche and can bring massive amounts of traffic to a fairly new website. When article content writing hit its peak thousands of article directories popped up everywhere online.
The most basic problem was that marketers had to do each article submission manually one-by-one, which can get very tedious. Each individual submission can take up to 10 minutes to complete. When you submit to over 200 article sites it can take weeks to finish the submission process. You will also have to sign up for each directory one-by-one.
Article Spinning
Smart marketers came up with new software to save time. This software automatically submits your article to hundreds of directories all for free. Some automatic submission software companies offer an article spinner built right in. An article spinner changes your article around so it becomes a brand new article. When you submit an un-spun article to hundreds of online directories search engines will only count this article as duplicate content.
Search engines do not penalize your website for duplicate content but they do not add to your search engine rankings. The whole goal to article marketing is to get quality back links that will boost your search engine rankings and thus bring high quality traffic.
An article spinner is a good idea because you can take one original article and make it into 50 more original articles that can be submitted to article directories for a huge jump in your rankings and organic traffic. Article submission software can save an online marketer time and money.
I am sure you have heard the expression” I wish I could clone myself” in a way using article submission software clones not you but your submission efforts. You upload your article to the software and click the submit button and your article is submitted to over 200 directories within seconds.
If you add a spinner software this really can double your marketing efforts.
There is nothing you as a marketer should want more than to be able to set it and forget it. With the push of a button you can post unlimited articles online. Once you go back to check on your website traffic you should see a huge jump in your hits. If you are a serious article marketer or you want to be then article spinner and submission software could make your life a whole lot easier and your website a whole lot happier. Most reputable software companies offer a full satisfaction guarantee that offers a full refund so you really have nothing to lose.
About the Author: Ken Laing is a small business web designer that helps small businesses to get more customers on the Internet. He offers website design as well as search engine marketing services to his clients. To find out more about Ken, go to his website www.design2work.net
How To Monetize Your Blog With Ads, Sponsors and Affiliates Sales
So you want to monetize your blog?
Here are the many ways you can monetize your blog.
1. Ads
Ads are the most common way to monetize a blog and should definitely be considered. In fact, you would have to have some very good reasons NOT to monetize your blog through ads.
Here are some of the most common types of Ads:
Ad Networks
These include Google AdSense, AdBrite, Chitika, Infolinks, etc. These are a great way to monetize your blog through ads. Generally, these ads are either banner ads or text ads or link ads within your content itself.
Each ad network has very different rules, policies and payouts so do your research. Generally, Adsense is the best following by AdBrite and Infolinks (depending on your content).
Media Networks
Media networks like GLAM Media and others are very similar to ad networks except they require a few extra things from you. First, you must sign over your COMScore “Traffic Rights” to the ad network – basically this allows the media network to say that they have a network of 80 Million page views a month with part of that number being YOUR page views.
This is good – it helps them negotiate better ad deals for you so it’s a win-win. Never sign an agreement for more than 1 year – one year is a long time in the internet business so you don’t want to get locked into a long term agreement if anything changes.
2. Affiliate Sales
Affiliate sales can be a huge moneymaker as a blogger – if you do it well.
If you’ve never heard of affiliate marketing, it’s basically where you promote someone else’s product or service – and they pay you a commission for every sale.
Every affiliate program is unique and different but the industry standard for most digital products (ebooks, video training courses, seminars, etc.) is usually 50% but the range is generally from 25%-75% for digital products.
Physical products usually offer much lower commission percentages because of the cost of delivering and manufacturing the product so the range could be 2%-50% on a physical product. It all depends on the merchant (the person/company that created the product).
Some products you can only sell through an affiliate network (like Clickbank.com or CJ.com) and others you must apply directly with the merchant. I recommend signing up for Clickbank.com and CJ.com and seeing which products you would like to promote – then just contact the merchant and tell them you’d like to be an affiliate (through Clickbank or CJ you just apply on the website and it’s pretty simple).
The main ways to create affiliate sales are:
- Linking to the affiliate product within your blog posts (works great when doing product review posts).
- Linking to the affiliate product with a banner ad on your sidebar (works great if the offer applies to most of your visitors and you have a good banner/graphic for it – most merchants will have banner graphics you can use, just ask them!).
- Linking to the affiliate product in an email to your email list.
These are the best ways to sell affiliate products – there are many others, but I recommend starting here. Focus all the rest of your energy on driving traffic to your blog, and you can drive the traffic from your email list and blog to the affiliate sales by creating a good blog that pulls people in!
3. Sponsors
There are many ways you can get sponsors for your blogs.
Sponsored Posts
A sponsored post is where a company or person pays you to write a post on behalf of that company. They might want you to review one of their products, talk about a contest they’re running, or just mention some of their charity work on your blog.
Sponsored posts can cost anywhere from $10 to $10,000 depending on the size of the blog and its audience and what the sponsor is willing to pay for that exposure.
To see an example of a sponsored post on one of my blogs, check it out here: http://www.tomcorsonknowles.com/blog/the-dole-california-cook-off-contest/
I was paid $150 for that post. It’s not life-changing money but for less than an hour of work, it’s worth it. And it builds my credibility because I can now say my site was sponsored in part by Dole.
Sponsored Product Launches And Online Events
You can also get sponsors for your site if you are doing a product launch that you expect to reach a large audience. Events like teleseminars, webinars and livestreams are attractive to sponsors because they allow them to connect with your audience in a more intimate way than just through a banner advertisement.
Blog Sponsorship Resources
GLAM Media – has a special program for bloggers for advertising as well as sponsored posts. http://www.glam.com/
The Get Rich Quick Automated System Mentality
So I got this email recently from a subscriber and I think it illustrates perfectly how so many people just want an autopilot system for getting rich – and they don’t realize what it actually takes to get rich..
“While I am desperately in need of making some spare cash, due to the fact that my sole income is a disability pension – and I am in serious debt at the moment – I have neither the time to study lengthy courses or learn how to access various internet marketing sites, so (if this sounds like what I would need for what you are offering) I would appreciate it if you will kindly REMOVE MY NAME/ADDRESS from your records.
Allow me to level with you. Three days of each week are taken up with my dialysis treatment at the local hospital, so perhaps you can understand how frustrating it is for me to receive literally dozens of emails each day from internet marketers – all with tempting offers (even though I am fully aware that most of it is spam).
If there was just one with a genuine auto-pilot offer that is quick and easy for me to initiate and that WON’T cost me money (I refuse to pay anything up front because I simply cannot afford it) and that will still bring me in a few extra dollars, I would be overjoyed and more than willing to write letters of recommendation to anyone you care to nominate – or do anything else I can to repay your goodwill.
If you ARE genuine and able to help me, please send an email direct to me at my personal email address (see above) marked “ATTN. (NAME REMOVED FOR PRIVACY)” in the subject line and I promise to respond. Otherwise, please don’t bother me again.”
So here’s what I wrote back:
There Is No Magic Formula To Get Rich Quick
Hi (name removed for privacy),
There is no such thing as an autopilot system that you can just implement in a day, not study or learn anything new, and get rich immediately and forever. It’s kind of ridiculous if you think about it.
For me personally, it took me 4 months of work before I even made my first sale online. But after 9 months, I had my first $1,000 month, and it’s just grown from there. There is no secret system – I worked my ass off to make that happen. Yes, there are system and ways you can automate things – but you can’t automate everything.
And you certainly can’t go into it thinking you’re not going to study or learn anything or work hard and think you’re going to succeed.. that’s not how you get rich quick – that’s how you get broker faster.
If you really want to get rich online, or IN ANY BUSINESS, you have to be prepared to learn, invest in yourself, make mistakes (because you’ll make plenty), and have the persistence and courage to keep going no matter what happens.
When you think about it, asking for an automated system that you can set up one time and be rich forever is like trying to have a wonderful relationship with a woman and get a marriage that lasts forever – and all you want to do is show up for the first date and “have the system do everything else.”
Some things in life you actually have to figure out for yourself – like how to get rich. Mentors, teachers and coaches are just there to make it easier and help you avoid a lot of the mistakes that they made. But to think you won’t make ANY mistakes – well, that could just be the biggest mistake of all.
To your success,
Tom Corson-Knowles
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Clarifying Twitter Rules for New Users
The internet is filled with numerous Twitter guides that only specialize in telling you what to do but rarely go further to explain how it should be done leaving many new Twitter users in complete confusion.
When you join Twitter, you might finding a “tweeting”, or messaging, balance might prove challenging at first. However, this should not lead you to worry. It is expected and most Twitter users have been in the same situation therefore you should not give up. This guide will be of great benefit in shaping your Twitter habits especially if you have been taking in numerous tips from all over and are yet to see positive results.
The necessary rules and tips that aid new users to started on Twitter need to be clarified better and simpler to avoid confusion which is very common. In most instances, some of the tips are usually correct but done wrongly because they tend to be a little complex and therefore people easily misunderstand them.
Common Twitter Tips
Examples of common tips that need some more clarification include:
– You should follow a lot of people
– You should reply back to everyone
– You should ensure you Tweet a lot
Following a Lot of People
The fact that the main point of Twitter is following a lot of people and also get people to follow you cannot be disputed as this gets you more involved. However, this should not be the case all the time. Giving this tip to a new Twitter user without clear clarification on how to do it is probably one of the worst Twitter advice as it will only get them confused and focus on the objective instead of enjoying Twitter as a social networking site. Check out our UK twitter prices here
When you are new on Twitter, it is more advisable to build up your stream first. This can be done by several ways such as: Sending out about 20 messages that actually mean something, talking about your interest, something cool that you like, or something you found out about today.
This will make people realize how beneficial you would be to them if they followed you in return. Start following about 10 people after the first 20 messages or so. To regulate your progress at a manageable rate, you can follow 10 more people for every 20 messages and above.
Make it easier for yourself to follow people and avoid following a lot of people at the same time with no way for them to connect with you by looking at your “tweets”. This will help you interact more.
Replying Back To Everyone
Avoid replying back to everyone when you are new on Twitter. This makes Twitter appear like Yahoo Messenger or any other chat forum and can easily bother the people you follow or even your followers.
If you want to reply back to everyone, you should at least wait for a sometime before replying, especially if the message did not require you to respond immediately. A long stream of instant replies can be a major turn off to Twitter users who are more established that you may be trying to befriend.
It is advisable to mix up your tweets with other general tweets, links every now and then and replies to create diversity making it more interesting.
Tweeting A lot
When you are new on Twitter, you will probably find it hard to find a balanced way to establish a good reputation on Twitter. However, unless you have a reason to tweet a lot, Avoid! This is the quickest way to be classified as a spammer and no Twitter user wants a spammer as a follower or to follow one.
Your twittering habits will build and grow naturally as more you follow more people and have more people following you. Sending out between 10 to 20 tweets is completely okay and might even be considered perfect for some of your followers.
Find Your Tweeting Balance
Numerous articles are written day in day out to help new Twitter users and most of those who are new to Twitter take them to heart and apply these suggestions as best as they can yet they still get a lot of hesitation from other users to follow them back. The reasons explained above could be the reason for this. Hopefully these simple suggestions will help you get better results with getting your followings to follow you back.
Article provided by Steve of buyfollowerstwitter.co.uk
The Secret Auto-Pilot System For Making Money Online
Are you looking for the secret auto-pilot system for bringing in loads of cash online while you sleep without any work whatsoever?
Well, I hate to break it to you but IT DOESN’T EXIST!
There Is No Auto-Pilot Cash Machine
Real success in any area of life takes work. I mean, could you imagine someone selling you an auto-pilot system for making your wife happy? “It’s so effective, it’ll please your wife while you sleep!” LOL…
Sorry but you actually have to do some work to earn money online. And you have to actually hug your wife if you want her to be happy. And you actually have to do something different than what you’ve been doing if you want more financial success.
Just trying to get rich quick or make money on auto-pilot without actually doing anything sounds good – but it’s not reality.
EVERYONE who gets rich online worked their ass off to get there – even the people who got rich quick like Chris Farrell (who made over $1 million a year within 2 years) or Brendon Burchard (who did over $1 million in sales his first year and over $4 million his second year) WORKED THEIR ASS OFF!
Anyone who tells you getting rich just requires buying a system and putting it on autopilot is full of shit. Period.
Success Takes Work – Not Software
Yes, Brendon and Chris have autopilot systems for their business – but they both still work their ass off to keep it going well and keep it growing. And yes, there are other marketers out there earning millions of dollars a year who work very little – but they worked their ass off to get there. And THEY STILL DO WORK just not as hard as they used to.
Even the best business system in the world requires a human to look after it and keep it going.
So go buy some autopilot cash money machine if you want – just realize you’re still going to have to work your ass off to get rich. Sorry to break it to you.
Why Hit And Run Internet Marketers Will Never Be Rich
So many affiliate marketers and internet marketers out there today think the secret to success online is simple:
Ok are you ready for the secret internet marketing formula for not getting rich? Here it is!
Super Internet Marketing Get Rich Quick Formula
1.Pick a “Hot” niche just ready to be tapped!
2. Put up a squeeze page or “money site”
3. Send traffic
4. Watch the dough roll in
5. Move on to the next hot niche and repeat steps 1-4…
Why It Doesn’t Work
Despite thousands of internet marketers out there trying to get rich quick chasing the hottest niche or the newest fad, it just doesn’t create long-term success. Why?
Because it’s just short-term thinking. If you think you’re just going to put up a squeeze page, create some shitty product or free offer, build a list and sell them stuff, that’s fine. But you’ll never build long-term relationships that way. And when it comes to business this is the REAL secret formula for getting rich:
Long Term Relationships = Long Term Wealth
The only way to get rich and keep it in business, especially in the internet marketing business, is to create long-term relationships. The truth is it DOES NOT MATTER what niche you pick when it comes to getting rich. You can get rich teaching people how to train their dogs, or how to pick up women, or how to make money blogging, or how to clean their house… you can get rich in any business and in any industry.
How do I know it’s possible to get rich IN ANY NICHE…?
Because someone else already has!
But when you look at people who have gotten rich and stayed rich in any niche or industry, it’s never just some fly-by-night operation with shitty products and no focus on customers. It’s always a person or a company that focused on serving people, adding more value to their market and kept at it… sometimes for years, sometimes for decades!
When it comes to internet marketing, you shouldn’t just think about what’s going to make you the most money this month or this week – you should think about what business do you want to be in for the next 10, 20 or 30 years? That’s how you build A REAL BUSINESS online.
So next time you get a new idea to go sell toys online because it’s “hot” right now – think about your long-term success. Is that really going to help you create a lasting business that you can sell or pass on to your children? Is it going to leave a legacy for you and your family? Or is it just another one of those get-rich-quick ideas?
10 Easy Ways To Get More Instagram Followers
Instagram is currently one of the world’s hottest social networking sites. In the last year it has surged in popularity, as it gives users simple tools to edit, manipulate and share their photographs. I have no doubt that many of you are as addicted to Instagram as I am.
The social networking aspect draws many parallels with Facebook and Twitter as you’re given the opportunity to like and comment on people’s photos, as well as follow your favorite users.
If you want to draw more attention to your photographs and increase your list of followers, then pay close attention to these top 10 top ten tips. I’m still new to Instagram but found that these tips increased my list of followers in a matter of days.
Instagram is one of the hottest social networks – learn to master it!
1. Share the love and follow others
People are far more likely to follow you, if they see that you’re willing to follow other people. It pays to remember that each and every time you follow someone they will be alerted via a notification and may very well decide to follow you in return.
However be careful not to follow hundreds of users as people will soon catch on to what you’re doing. Try only to follow people who post photographs that you’re actually interested in.
2. Don’t leave one word comments
The key is to leave personal comments, which show that you’re genuinely interested in a user’s photos. If you leave too many one word comments, people will instantly know that all you’re interested in is getting more followers. Instead ask questions and try and spark conversations with other users.
3. Post the majority of your comments during the day
What’s the use of posting during the early hours of the morning, when most users are still asleep. Develop your own posting strategy and upload photographs when your target audience is awake. Just like when you’re marketing on Twitter, you need to interact during “rush hour” so to speak!
4. Only upload high quality pictures
You have to realize that there are countless Instagram users, all competing for attention and recognition. Make sure only to upload the photographs that you’re really happy with. Whatever you do don’t post every photo of you and your friends that you uploaded to Facebook.
If you upload boring, mundane or low quality photographs you’ll soon start to lose followers. If you want to be successful on Instagram perhaps follow some of the most popular users and see what they’re doing right.
5. Upload one quality photo at a time
If you upload 10 photographs at a time you’ll probably irritate your loyal followers. Remember that sometimes less is more and if you post one quality photograph per day you’ll end up with more followers than if you posted 10 mediocre photographs each day. Just like with your Facebook marketing, you want to “drip” content out regularly for people – not overwhelm them with 20 posts all at once!
6. Develop a routine
Once you’ve gotten to know your audience’s routines, you’ll be able to cater their habits. If you post at different hours you may be able to catch your international followers half way across the world, while they’re awake.
If you also get into the habit of posting at regular times your followers will begin to log on specifically to check out your photographs.
7. Utilize popular hashtags
Adding hashtags to your photographs is a great way to increase the number of views your photographs will get. As an example if you have a fun summer photograph consider adding the hashtag #summertime to your post.
All hashtags aren’t created equal. If you’re serious about increasing your views then try to use popular hashtags. Examples of hashtags you might want to try out are #instamood, #instafamous, #picoftheday and #art. Just remember that you can only choose 30 hashtags per photograph.
8. Tag the location of your photograph
Instagram gives you the opportunity to tag the location of your photographs. Tagging locations is an excellent idea as many people search specifically for photographs from certain locations or cities.
Instagram also lets those who are near your photograph’s location or who have previously visited it, know about your photo.
9. Share your Instagram details on other social networks
If you’re a member of other social networks, why not post a link on your profile to your Instagram account. After all your family and friends are more likely to follow you on Instagram than strangers are.
If you have lots of followers on Twitter and Friends on Facebook you’re Instagram followers list could skyrocket as friends of friends may end up following you too.
10. Discover your target audience
If you post on a popular user’s photographs in an effort to gain new followers, your comment may very well get lost amongst the masses.
Instead look out for small communities within Instagram who are on the hunt for new members. As an example the user @joshjohnson created the hashtag #JJ community for his community.
Most Instagram communities will have rules which members have to abide by. As an example some communities dictate that members have to post 2 comments on members photographs and like 3 members photographs, for every photograph you post. This common rule is known as the 123 rule.
If you follow these simple tips you’re guaranteed to increase your number of viewers in no time. As a result you should also expect your number of views and likes to skyrocket. You’ll be on the popular list of Instagram users in no time. If you have any further tips feel free to share them with me too.
About The Author: Steve writes for Buyinstagramfollowers.co.uk, if you are looking for additional followers for marketing purposes, check out their prices on the website.
How To Get Paid To Tweet
There are several awesome websites and programs you can use to have other people pay you to Tweet their marketing message.
Fiverr + Twitter
I earn several hundred dollars a month just using Twitter and Fiverr. I wrote all about it and give you step-by-step directions in this article on my Internet Marketing blog:
How to earn $25 a day or more on Fiverr using Twitter! http://onlineinternetmarketinghelp.com/how-to-earn-25-a-day-or-more-on-fiverr/
Adly + Twitter
Ad.ly is only for Twitter accounts that have at least 25,000 followers. If you’re not there yet, you will be soon when you follow the steps in Chapter 3 like using TweetAdder and buying Twitter followers!
http://ad.ly is a website that connects advertisers with celebrity Tweeters. Once you sign up, you will be notified of advertisers who want to pay you to Tweet their message.
Sponsored Tweets
http://spon.tw/r8vtg is a website that connects advertisers with tweeters. There is no limit on the number of followers you need, so I recommend signing up for it right away so you can start getting opportunities to make money.
PaidPerTweet
http://paidpertweet.com/ is a site that connects advertisers with Tweeters. It’s relatively small compared to the others but it might catch on. I recommend at least checking it out.
Affiliate Marketing + Twitter
Twitter is great for creating relationships. And anytime you can create a relationship, you can create sales. One of the easiest and quickest ways to make money online and with Twitter is through affiliate marketing.
However, instead of tweeting affiliate offers, I highly recommend trying to get your followers to opt in to your email list – either by sending them directly to your squeeze page or by sending them to your blog and then having a pop-up optin offer or an opt-in box on your blog’s sidebar.
You can see my squeeze page here that teaches people how to double their sales with social media.
If you don’t know how to build squeeze pages, I highly recommend using WordPress combined with OptimizePress. You can order OptimizePress here: http://bit.ly/LVOOkp
Selling Your Own Products
Affiliate marketing is selling other people’s products and getting paid commissions. Even better, is to sell your own product and get paid 100%!
Again, I definitely recommend building your email list first using Twitter, and then promoting your products to your email list. I do send Tweets once in awhile about my own products, but not on a daily basis. This keeps people interested in my Tweets and the content I share.
How To Get More Twitter Followers
The BIGGEST challenge BY FAR that people have when it comes to making money on Twitter is how to get more followers. If you’ve Tweeted yourself by now, then you’ve probably struggled with the question…
HOW DO I GET MORE FOLLOWERS?
Here’s the deal – if you don’t have Twitter followers, you CANNOT make money using Twitter. It’s just that simple.
No followers = No Traffic = No Money!
The good news is that once you understand how to get more targeted followers on autopilot (Which I’m just about to teach you!), the formula will change to:
More followers = More Traffic = More Money!
Ok so let’s get more followers, more traffic and more money!
There are many ways to get more followers on Twitter. Here are some of the basic action steps you should take RIGHT NOW to start getting more Twitter followers.
1. Put a Twitter Widget on Your Website Sidebar
If you have a website or blog, put a Twitter widget on your sidebar so that your website or blog readers can easily and quickly follower you on Twitter!
If you use WordPress for your site, this is a great free Twitter widget: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/latest-twitter-sidebar-widget/
2. Ask Your Customers To Follow You
If you already have a business with a loyal customer base, try adding a call-to-action after every sale, asking your customers to follow you on Twitter. This is what big retail brands are already doing – and you should be doing it too!
3. Ask Your Friends To Follow You
Ask all your friends to follow you! If you’ve got a Facebook account, then ask all your friends to follow you on Twitter and support you/your business.
4. Get TweetAdder
TweetAdder is an AMAZING tool for automating Twitter. This little piece of software is responsible for my personal Twitter account getting over 100 NEW, Targeted Twitter followers a day!
Honestly, without TweetAdder, Tweeting can be a HUGE pain in the ass. Writing all those new Tweets every day, trying to manually follow people, etc.
This software automates it all for you and makes it SO EASY!!
It’s $55 to buy TweetAdder but it is TOTALLY worth it. It’s the only thing you need to pay for when it comes to Twitter software – and it will pay for itself in less than a month (at least it did for me)!
I’ve shared a lot more details in my other blog post about how to use TweetAdder to get 100 followers a day.
You can buy TweetAdder here: http://bit.ly/NAVZ0s
5. Tweet More!
This is one of the most obvious ways to get more followers, yet most people still don’t understand it or apply this principle in their business.
All else being equal, the person who Tweets 5 times a day can never compete with someone who Tweets 20 times a day – because not only will the person who Tweets 20 times a day get 4x as much exposure, but that extra activity will attract more followers who over time will turn a 300% advantage in marketing power to an exponentially more powerful marketing exposure.
Honestly, tweeting more is a great way to increase your ROI on social media.
How Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Actually Works
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not what most so-called SEO experts say it is. It’s not about getting the most links, or having automated software that spams blog comments with links to your site…
SEO is really about VALUE.
Valuable Content Determines Search Engine Rankings
In fact, everything in business is about VALUE. The more VALUE you add to your customers, the more they will buy and the more you will earn.
Likewise, the more valuable the content you post on your website or blog, the better search engine rankings you will get.
In fact, every Google Algorithm Update since the dawn of man has been trying to answer this ONE QUESTION about web content: “What content is the most valuable in regards to (fill in your keyword here)?”
You see, Google doesn’t care what site has the most links – Google cares what site has the best, most helpful and valuable content for PEOPLE to consume. Links are nothing but a measuring stick used to approximate which web page(s) have the most valuable content in relation to any given keyword someone searches for.
That’s why Google always has updates – because some
assholeSEO Consultant figures out some way to try to scam the search engine rankings pretending that their really shitty is more valuable than it really is. This is called Black Hat SEO – and it’s sadly what the majority of SEO consultants, advisors and companies still use today, whether they know it or not.Black Hat SEO Doesn’t Work
Here are just a few examples of Black Hat SEO Techniques still being used today – avoid them at your own peril.
1. Blog Commenting
Blog commenting is one of the oldest forms of black hat SEO. Originally, it worked VERY VERY WELL – which is why Google shut it down many years ago. You can still, of course, comment on any blog you want and put a link in your comment to your site, but the search engines give those links absolutely ZERO VALUE.
Why?
Because those links have literally ZERO VALUE.
You see, I get approximately 250 spam comments a day on each of my blogs. That’s 250 comments PER DAY PER BLOG! Granted, my blogs are bigger than average so they probably get more than the average share of blog comment spam every day… but that’s a shitload of spam. Which is why these comments provide no search engine value – there are too many of them.
Of course, blog commenting can still be a good strategy for building relationships and getting click-through traffic from high traffic blogs, but it’s not an SEO strategy directly. If someone reads your comments and later links to your site organically, then it could provide SEO value – but not from the link itself inside the blog comment.
2. Directory Submissions
Web directories or blog directories are actually a very good source for getting links and a SMALL AMOUNT of SEO value for your website. The problem is that most SEO consultants will tell you that MORE IS BETTER!
So instead of adding your blog to say 5 or 10 high quality directories, they add your blog link to 100 or 1,000 blog directories. This is a huge no-no. Google knows right away what’s going on – you’re either using software or a cheap Virtual Assistant to spam your links in all these blog directories. More is NOT BETTER when it comes to SEO.
You see, Google wants to know that your website’s link profile is natural looking. If you only have links from blog directories – that’s not natural – that’s spam. So you’re much better off getting 5 links from blog directories and 5 links from other blogs than you are getting 1000 links from blog directories – because your link profile looks more natural, you will get better rankings.
I recommend for a new blogger or website owner, you submit your site to 5-10 high quality directories in your niche and then forget about it. Go build links naturally through guest blogging SEO.
3. Web 2.0 Links
Web 2.0 links are spammed now just as bad, if not worse, than blog comments. “Web 2.0” means any site that’s like a social network or has a personal profile – similar to Facebook. There are now millions of websites with members who have profiles – and in those profiles you can place a link back to your website. But Google knows that you can use software to automate all this – and so they penalize and/or ignore these links.
Yes, it’s true, you can buy 10,000 Web 2.0 links to your site for $5 – but do you honestly think those 10,000 links provide any REAL VALUE at all? Of course not! It’s just more bad Black Hat SEO to be avoided.
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