Monetization Magic

Colorado Website Development

What is Latent Semantic Indexing?

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What is it?

According to Wikipedia, Latent Semantic Indexing is an indexing and retrieval method that uses a mathematical technique called Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) to identify patterns in the relationships between the terms and concepts contained in an unstructured collection of text.

What?!  You say you speak English?  Oh!  No problem!  What this means in plain English is that when you write an article or post about a key word, certain other words normally occur in the same context.  For instance, let’s say you were writing an article about schools.  It would be normal to see the following words in the same article:  students, teachers, teacher student ratio, classrooms, budgets, parents, curriculum, extra curricular activities, clubs, textbooks, books, schedules, grades…you get the idea.

Why Do I Care?

Not too very long ago, the way to achieve a #1 ranking with Google was to stuff your articles and posts full of your key work with no regard to the quality of the content.  Those boys and girls at Google are pretty smart.  They wanted to ensure that the readers had quality content to read on the internet instead of a bunch of garbage so they changed the magic formula.  They now judge an article or post based on how many related keywords are in the article instead of how many times your keyword phrase appears in the article.

If you’re not on the first page of a Google search, your chances of being found by a potential reader decrease significantly.  If there’s not anyone finding your site, there’s even less chance that any of your ads are being looked at much less clicked upon.  Consequently, when you decide to sell your site, you’ll leave a lot of money on the table that could have been in your pocket.

Who Uses It?

Ultimately, Google uses it to rank your site.  Since most people use Google to do their searches, it’s pretty important to rank in the first 3 or 4 choices for your keyword phrase as most folks don’t look any further than the first page of a search to get to the information for which they are looking.

Your competition is using it to gain ranking over you!  Obviously, you won’t know this; however, your best insurance is to write content rich articles for your readers so that you don’t even have to be concerned about your competition.

Can I Leverage It?

Yes, you can.  Find out your competitions keywords and write better articles and posts.  If you don’t write well, hire someone who does write well to help you to get ahead!  No one said you had to do it all.  Finding out the keyword phrases that your competition is paying for and writing better articles for these phrases is even better!

Another way to leverage this concept is to sprinkle high paying keywords among your keyword phrases to raise the dollar value of the ads that Adsense is feeding to your blog so that when your reader clicks on one of your ads, you automatically make more per click.  You will want to ensure that the high paying keyword actually fits in with your post or article.  I would only use one extra high paying keyword per article to ensure you are playing by the rules and don’t get your Adsense account shut down by the nice boys and girls at Google.

Are There Tools to Help Me?

Once again, you’re in luck!  I use a tool called BlogGlue Toolbox to assist me with my SEO when I’m posting my articles.  It checks my title, description, keywords and document content and gives me suggestions on how I can write a better article.  Best of all, this won’t cost you a dime!  Talk about great insurance!

The bottom line is to show off a bit of your knowledge about your niche and give your readers great content.  You will be richly rewarded for it.

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What’s the Difference Between Tags and Categories?

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What are WordPress Tags? What do they do?

These little tags that you add to your blog posts are used by All in One SEO and the search engines as the keyword phrases of your post.  They basically say what your post is about.  They also help search engines to find your posts.

Does this mean the more tags I have the better?

No, you don’t want to put any irrelevant tags on your posts. In fact, Google will lower your rating if you put irrelevant tags on your posts.  I would recommend about 5 targeted tags that have to do with that particular post.

You’ll want to include the obvious keywords that pertain to your post as a tag.  Also include other keywords that people might use when looking for a post like the one you are writing.  For instance, this post is about “tags” and “categories” and one might look for “keyword phrases” as well.  Be sure to use synonyms for your tags as well.  Using 5 tags for each post should be plenty.

Keep in mind who your target audience is.  If it’s geographically specific, you could potentially corner the market in terms of having a top search result for that topic.  For instance, “small business owners” or “small business owners in Las Vegas, NV” would attract a different set of readers.

How do I pick my categories?

Categories are the broad topics that you would use to classify your posts.  Several posts should fit in each category.  Find the highest searched related keywords to give you a start on your categories.  You can see the highest searched keywords by looking at your Google Analytics reports.

Since the categories are broad topics, it is possible to have one post that fits in several categories.  You don’t have to have a post for each category; however, you can have several categories for each post.  It is acceptable to have only one post for a single category.

Your categories should be 2-3 words long at the most.

How many categories should I have on a blog?

I would recommend about 5 – 10 categories depending on how many sub-topics you can go into on your blog that still fit with your main blog phrase.

In general, tags can be specific and categories are designed to be general yet relevant to your post.

Here’s a tip:  Since I use both tags and All In One SEO on my blog posts, I had to find an easier way to include my keywords without typing everything twice.  The tag area likes to put an “X” between each entry.  So I use Notepad ++ to do a search and replace to turn the X’s into commas and then copy and paste into All In One SEO.  It’s just a small task but it does cut down on some time as I’m not always the best typist in the world.  By the way, Notepad++ is a free application.  I love free, don’t you?

Firefox Extension That Enhances Your Blog

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Are you working smarter or harder?   Well today I am going to show you how to blog smarter. What does this mean exactly?  I have always found that being organized have having my tools close at hand has always increased my productivity.

I just started using a fantastic little FREE Firefox addon that automatically gives me related links, photos, articles and tags as I type my blog posts.  I use it to enhance the quality content and tags in my blog.

No more searching for related information to add to my posts. It appears right on my wordpress admin post page. Let me show you…

How to I get this? Easy! Head on over to Zemanta.com and click on the Download Zemanta Firefox Extension button.

How I Use Zemanta

I do not use the “Links” they provide in my blog posts. Why? It creates “leakage” on my site.  I prefer for my readers to stay on my blog and read me articles.  I have no control over what someone else puts on their site.  I do use them to find more information to write about.

Secondly, I only use photos that are either licensed as Public Domain or I create them myself. Why? Because if they are Public Domain I don’t have to post a link to the source like I would with the other images.

As far as articles go, it is great that they do research for you and give you different articles related to your blog post. I often visit them and read what others are saying about the topic. It’s a treasure trove of ideas for your own blog.

I LOVE that they give me tags for my blog posts. I just need to click on the related tags and it does the work for me.  This is awesome!  I’ve been using tags since the beginning; but I always felt like I was overlooking some tags…but which ones?  Now I know and can include them with the clickety-click of my mouse!

The BEST Part

Let me tell you the BEST part of Zemanta. Above all, this is the main reason I use it… It leaves a little symbol at the bottom of your blog posts that looks something like this:

This little button gets me more backlinks than articles posted to an article directory!  However, this only works if you have really high quality blog content.

How it works: Someone visits your blog and falls in love with your posts. He or she clicks on the REBLOG button and is presented with a choice of different quotes from your blog post that they can post on their blog in exchange for a backlink to your post.  You get to contribute to someone else’s success and you receive a back link in return.  That’s a win/win situation!

This does not mean they get to copy your post. They can only choose one paragraph to quote and you gain a backlink and some free publicity and advertising for your blog.

So if you don’t use Zemanta for any other purpose, use it as link bait! Get your backlinks and increase your search engine rankings.

What are Backlinks and Why are They Important?

Google and other search engines often base your rankings depending on how popular your blog is. The more backlinks you have the more important your blog looks. You want to gain as many HIGH QUALITY backlinks as you can.

10 Ways to Convert Blog Visitors Into Dedicated Readers

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Do you want your blog readership to grow? Convert your blog visitors into dedicated readers using the following 10 tips.

Visitors are people that stop by your blog, skim through an article or two, and then leave – never to return.  They are simply browsing.

But dedicated readers regularly read your blog, spread your articles, leave high-quality comments, and buy your products.  These are buyers.

Your mission is to convert your blog visitors into dedicated readers.

What good is 1,000 visitors a day if most of them don’t return? Traffic figures alone might make you feel good, but it doesn’t get you any desired results.

It’s all about quality over quantity. 100 dedicated readers beats out 1,000 passer-by visitors.

Here are 10 ways to convert your blog visitors into dedicated readers:

1. Be Yourself

This is slap-in-the-forehead common sense. But some bloggers try to be someone they’re not just because that type of personality is successful.

Just be yourself. Not only is it easy when you don’t have to force an unnatural persona, but you’ll have a 100% genuine and desirable voice.  You are unique and as such you are special.

Are you funny? Be funny. Serious? Be serious. Angry? Be angry.

2. Put the Reader Experience First

What makes you return to a restaurant? Chances are it’s not just the food but the experience.

Great articles alone aren’t enough. You also need a great reader experience. If you want visitors to convert into dedicated readers, you need a website people want to regularly return to.

That means don’t do anything on your blog that’ll compromise the reader experience. Translation: don’t annoy your visitors.

Common offenders: too many popups, ads, social bookmarking buttons, and subscribe links.

Just look at some of the most successful blogs: Daily Blog Tips, Problogger, Copyblogger and so on. No popups, and very light ads, social bookmarking buttons, and subscribe links.

I have even installed a translation button recently after noticing where my visitors reside.  If you look at the picture, you’ll see the red dots all over the globe.

I thought I wonder how many don’t speak English?  Or perhaps would be more comfortable reading my blog in their own language?

If someone really wants to subscribe or share your article on Twitter, they’ll do it. Don’t annoy and turn them away, losing what could’ve become a dedicated reader.

3. Focus on Benefits to the Reader, Not Your Features

If you want dedicated readers, your blog should focus on what the benefit is to the visitor. Not just your thoughts and ideas but value to a visitor.

Answer the “so what” question for new visitors: what’s in it for them? Why should they care?

Instead of putting the spotlight on what features my blog has, I focus on the benefit to visitors: helping you maximize your life. Ideas and strategies to help you do more of what you love and are passionate about. Not only do I state it in the About page and anywhere else, but that’s the focus I have for each article I write: how can I help and provide value to you, the reader.

Visitors care what you can do for them (benefits), not what thoughts and ideas you have (features). Focus on benefits, not features.

4. Write for Humans, Not Search Engines

Who reads your blog? People read your blog. So write for them.

Some bloggers make the mistake of writing articles solely based on highly-searched keywords. That results in nothing-new, unremarkable traffic bait. They might get search engine traffic, but very few visitors will be converted into readers.

The best search engine optimization is valuable content. Not website tweaks. Not a WordPress plugin. Not meta voodoo. Just content that human’s find valuable.

If people like your articles, they’ll share it on social media, blogs, email, and even word of mouth. You’ll get higher-quality links, too, since it’s interested people linking to you. And, as Daniel here or Darren of Problogger and Brian of Copyblogger will tell you, high-quality backlinks are the ultimate SEO.

Now, optimizing for search engines can help with search traffic. And if you find a keyword phrase that happens to fit what you were going to write about anyway, go ahead and use it.

I don’t consider searched keywords when writing an article. Only once I have an idea down, I’d use the Google keywords tool to see if there’s a wording for the topic that people use most often. If not, I don’t worry about it at all. I never once let keywords dictate what I’ll write.

But put your message first – don’t compromise it. Make search engine considerations a distant second to writing what you have to say.

Write for people first, optimize for search engine traffic later.

5. Be Consistent

Choose a posting schedule and stick to it no matter what. Build a cache of articles or schedule your posts if needed.  I recently created a video on how to schedule posts.

Consistent readers need consistent updates to return. Provide it for them.

They’ll know when to expect a new article, just like how people regularly check in to their favorite webcomics and news sites on certain days.

6. Make It Easy for Visitors to Subscribe

The more you have to work to get something, the less likely you’ll take the time to get it. Right? Don’t even try to deny it. That’s why iTunes is killing it in music sales: it couldn’t be easier to find and download a tune.

Be like iTunes on your blog. Make it clear and simple for visitors to be able to subscribe via email and RSS feed. Remove as many doors for your visitors as possible.

A visitor who subscribes is much more likely to convert into a dedicated reader. This is because your visitors can read your latest articles from the convenience of their email inbox or RSS feed reader. Your stuff is sent to them, so even after they forget about your blog they’ll still get your new articles, increasing the chance of them reading regularly (and maybe even sharing or buying your stuff).

Putting an RSS and mail icon in a sidebar isn’t enough. Make the subscribe option on your blog as non-cryptic and easy as possible.

Only a small percentage of your visitors will actually know what what an RSS or mail icon mean. Spell it out for the rest of your visitors, including why they should subscribe (it saves them time and energy because new content is delivered directly to them).

And people love free stuff, so don’t forget to mention that visitors can subscribe for free. Magazine subscriptions still have some thinking that subscribing to anything means paying.

7. Be Remarkable

Be unique. Be great. Amplify yourself.

Don’t try to be the best in some field where you could never dominate. Instead, do what Seth Godin says: create your own category and dominate it. Analyze and figure out your unique traits, then crank them up to a 10.

People aren’t going to be interested in yet another productivity, personal finance, time management, self improvement, or whatever blog that says nothing new. Use #3 (Be Yourself) and amplify your unique traits.

Would you return to a blog that bores you or doesn’t excite you? Of course not. So be interesting to read, and visitors will start converting into dedicated readers.

8. Talk With Your Visitors

It really is that simple: talk with your visitors. Reply to their comments and emails, send thank-you notes if they leave a comment or subscribe, or whatever else.

Use what works best for you (and doesn’t compromise your personal style – remember, be yourself). Email, comments, Twitter, whatever. But use at least one method of communication, so that visitors can form a relationship with you and feel like they’re reading from someone they know (or know that they can contact, at least).

People regularly return to something that they’ve formed a relationship or connection with. Think about it: you care way more about what your friends are doing than strangers.

9. Be Unconventional

Say something new that gets people thinking, motivated, and/or take action.

I’m constantly pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone and become even less self-conscious by writing about unconventional topics (or at least an unconventional perspective on something). Heck, even I would get bored of my own writing if I played it safe.

If your article is no different from the latest blurbs that day, your visitors will treat it at such: a quick skim-through and then move on.

Get visitors thinking and talking and you increase the chance of them coming back for more (and maybe even bringing some friends along).

10. Have Fun

A blog isn’t a cubicle job, so just have fun.

People want to enjoy what they consume. If you have fun writing an article, chances are people will have fun reading it. And people tend to return and consume more of what’s fun and enjoyable.

I have so much fun writing and making music on Lifebeat it should be illegal. Like, I’ll be writing an article or creating a new tune or mix, and an alarm will sound. Woo woo woo! It’s the fun alarm: someone’s having way too much fun.

Have fun, and your blog will be fun – and visitors will start converting into dedicated readers.

Maximize Your Blog Visitors

Maximize your blog visitors by converting them into dedicated readers using these 10 ways.

Your blog will grow, your readership and subscriber numbers will increase, your content will be constantly spread, and you’ll make more money from more products sold. Now who doesn’t want all that?

Have these 10 ways helped you convert your blog visitors into dedicated readers? What other ways have worked for you?

How to Make Money From Your Blog

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A lot of people are really perplexed about how people make money online.  There are many ways to do this.  Once my students take my free 7-Day Blogging eCourse, I schedule a time for them so that we can map out the many ways that they can specifically make money with their chosen niche.

For beginners just starting out, I will show them how to add Google Adsense to their blogs along with Kontera and Chitika ads.  If these words are foreign to you, let me explain.  There are two sides to the advertising equation.  There are those who buy advertising and those who sell advertising.  It’s a very simple concept.  Most bloggers just starting out don’t care much about selling advertising; however, getting the money from advertising is something that can hold some interest.  Adsense, Kontera, and Chitika are three types of services where you can apply to host ads on your blog.  These services will look at your blog and serve up ads that match the content of your blog.  For example, if you blog has content about artichoke recipes, you will likely attract ads about cooking, recipes, and such.  You will accumulate money by providing meaningful content for your readers and when they click on your ads, you will make money from your blog.

Another popular way bloggers make money is by offering products on their website.  It is very easy to affiliate with Amazon to open your own store with products supplied by Amazon and get paid a commission for each product sold from your website.  Amazon takes care of fulfilling the order and collecting the payment and paying you the commission.  You are even able to pick and choose which products you would like to offer on your blog.  You can place one or two products in your sidebar or open a full store if you prefer.

Some people will create their own content and products to add to the offerings on the website.  Your knowledge is valuable!  You can easily create an eBook about a topic in your niche using Microsoft Word and then saving it as a PDF file.  You can then sell that eBook on your blog or website.  A friend of mine actually has created his own eBook store where he sells eBooks that others have written.  You can find many eBooks at the Gutenburg Project to get your creative juices flowing.

Becoming an affiliate through Clickbank or Commission Junction offers many opportunities to sell other peoples products by posting a review of the product online.  The way this works is by signing up with Clickbank and/or Commission Junction, finding a product that fits your niche and then writing articles about the product with links to the product that you’re reviewing.  When people read your review and purchase the product, you get paid.  It’s just that easy!

The main concept to keep in mind is to provide quality content, products and services for your readers.  People are smart and can instinctively sense when something is not being represented accurately.  Offer quality and you will receive quality in return.  Just as a brick and mortar store has to sell quality merchandise that is dust free and something their customers want, you much do the same with your blog by providing up-to-date, fresh and relevant content on a regular basis so that your readers remain interested in what you are offering.

The Great Blog Checklist

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We’ve all heard of blogs.  There are free blogs.  There are paid blogs.  Blogs have been around for about 10 years.  How are blogs judged?  Are they judged by the number of unique visitors, amount of income they generate, amount of time a reader spends on the site, value they provide to readers?  Are there different features that need to be included to achieve a given goal?  What is it that makes a blog great?  I’ve combined a list of basic elements that will launch your blog above the rest.

1.       Create value for your reader! Your reader is usually looking for something in particular when they click upon your site.  Determine what they are looking for by posting articles and watching to see what that does to your traffic and providing more if the traffic increases significantly.  Provide the reader the ability to leave comments as they can provide valuable insight in this manner.

2.       Use keywords to attract readers. Using Google Adwords, you can determine valuable keywords to include in your articles to drive traffic to your site.

3.       Provide resources to your readers. What a valuable resource is to your reader will vary depending upon the niche chosen.  Typically checklists, templates, diagrams, how to series are great resources.

4.       Keep the blog active by posting articles every 2-3 days at a minimum. Blogging is not a set it and forget it method of making money.  A lot of blogs are literal electronic ghost towns.  It is very apparent to the reader when the date is not on the article and the information is outdated or they visit several times and nothing has changed in the last week or so.  I’ve been guilty of this myself; however, a good way to work around this is to write several articles at once and schedule them to be released during your busy periods so that the site is still fresh and alive even though you may be basking on the beach in Maui.

5.       Give something to your reader and provide an opt-in box. Provide the reader with valuable content and ask them to provide their name and e-mail so that you can open the communication channel to include e-mail as well as online communication.

6.       Use Google Adsense. Google Adsense is a great way to earn a few pennies here and there to offset the cost of hosting.  While you cannot click on your own Adsense ads, you can give others some “Google Love” by clicking on their ads.  It only takes a moment and it helps the other guy out.

7.       Use video. This is where blogs beat books hands down.  Use video on your blog to further establish a connection with your reader.  Video is a great way to convey your personality to your reader and I’ve seen statistics saying that it boosts readership by over 300%!

8.       Know what sizes and colors to use when placing ads on your blog. In this particular case, size, placement and color do matter!  Humans are sensitized to know what is an ad and typically will not click on it unless they are looking for that particular item.  Ads within the body of the post should be 336×280 or 300×250 for best results.  Ads at the bottom of the post should be 468×60 or 234×60 for best results. The leaderboard display panel which places advertising unit above your posts is best at 728×90 pixels.  Colors of ads should blend into your theme, have no border (color FFFFFF) and the link needs to be blue because most humans are trained to believe that all links are blue.

9.       Know who your competition is and what their keywords are. Use Google search to find some of your keywords.  The blogs that show up in the top 5 results are your competition.  Use SpyFu to determine not only what their keywords are but also for which AdWords they are currently paying.  It’s a great tool!

10.   Personalize the reader experience. Make the reader’s experience fun and valuable and you will create a great following.  Create a contest to add some excitement.  Recommend resources they may not be aware of.  When writing speak to your reader as you would a friend at the coffee shop to create a closer connection.  If you’re having fun chances are your readers are enjoying their experience as well!

How to Use a Blog in Event Planning (Part 4 of 4 )

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The Rest of the Year (continued)

Video is another important feature. You may have a video portion of your website for conference videos, but a once a week update or feature with a few with links to your other pages are an easy way to keep traffic flowing and people interested.

During conference use

Special download area can be used to allow conference attendees to obtain a copy of the speaker’s slides along with any special conference material that is included with the price of the conference ticket.  Once the conference sells out, you can offer a backstage pass to those not attending to still generate interest.

Your show daily should be in electronic form and be emailed to conference attendees (you do this don’t you?), it should also be in the blog every day of the show. Even if it is posted elsewhere on your website, you can do a preview with a link to that page where the daily resides. This is called spreading the wealth. The more places something lives, the better the chance it is going to be found and read.

Take a few videos during the show in the form of interviews, highlights of speakers, backstage photo opportunities,etc.  post them to YouTube or Vimeo and then embed them in the blog. Make them interesting and (intentionally with purpose) raw, that gives the impression that it is breaking stuff. This also gives non attendees and “aw shucks” moment that maybe they should have been there.

How to Use a Blog in Event Planning (Part 3 of 4)

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Preconference use (continued)

Information about the host city. This is a great way to get the community behind you. In the weeks prior to the conference, feature local restaurants, shops and hotels and let the venues know that you will be doing this, ask them to contribute an article. They will love the exposure. You may ask these local vendors to offer a discount and you can put the code in your blog.

Video from past conferences. This is a great place to highlight snips from past events and talk about them. If someone did a crazy crowd sourced jig and someone posted it to YouTube, embed it in your blog. This builds excitement and makes people want to attend.

Post conference use

Surveys for venue, speaker feedback could be hosted on the blog.  Calendaring for the next event could be hosted.  Attendees could tell their friends about the value they created at the event to entice others to attend the next event.

Write recap articles, post video (or highlights with links to your video pages) and thank your sponsors and attendees.  Spread this out over a few weeks, you can get a lot of mileage out of this tactic.

The Rest of the Year

Feature sponsor press releases throughout the year, if XYZ company has a new product and they have a press release, post it (and then send the link to the sponsor). They will love this because not very many events care about them beyond their sponsor dollars. This is a great way to show that you value them.

The same can be said for speakers. Let the world know what they are up too since they presented at your conference. If a speaker went on to become President or a Nobel Prize winner, this gives your conference or event added credibility. Ask speakers to provide articles on the industry.

You can also do something that almost no show does and will truly set you apart from the crowd. Feature some of your attendees in the months between events. Pick some attendees from your list and call them and interview them. Ask them what they learned at your event, why they loved it and how this learning has impacted their daily lives. Ask them why they would return and use this as an extended testimonial. A WARNING – Make sure that the focus is on the attendee, not the event or conference. People love to get kudos and be mentioned, it helps them in their career and it helps them with the boss. Talk more about their accomplishments than the events. This is loyalty that money cannot buy…. Again, do not cut corners, you may be tempted to have a testimonial part of your website which is critical but if you do not do longer pieces in blog format, you are missing an amazing opportunity.