Use Keywords to Label Your Images for Increased Traffic
When I wrote for a music blog, I went from receiving a few hundred visitors a day to a few thousands visitors a day overnight. Did I hit it big on Digg? Get major Stumblage? No. I brought in thousands of readers through Google Image Search.
I know many bloggers and web writers label their images haphazardly or with little thought as to whether or not they’ll bring in search engine traffic. A picture labeled “snow122208″ probably won’t bring in as many search results as one labeled “snow conditions”, “snow boots”, “snow tires” or “snow boarding.”
In addition to saving your images using keywords, use keywords in your image descriptions and, if you can do it without looking spammy, your image captions. Start doing this and within a week or two your traffic numbers will rise.
Labeling your images properly is one small thing you can do to bring in big results!
10 places to find unique products for your blog
Most of the blogs I write for are low-level product centered; meaning I sometimes blog about products but more often I post tips, news, or advice. Still, I do post products, if one, I think it might be useful for my readers to know about the product or two, if it’s during the holiday season.
During this time of year you can get some decent traffic by focusing on gift guides (examples: 10 kooky gifts for your neighbor, 15 sustainable toys for Christmas, etc.) or products that suit the season - decor, costumes, table settings, and more. I’m not a huge fan of product driven blogs, but in the case of my blogs, posting about products some of the time works. In fact, one of my most popular posts ever was a holiday product post; although it’s been a year, I still get big traffic from it.
If you’re interested in blogging about products, it helps if you can find some unique products. No one wants to see the same old thing that every other blog is showing. While it’s tough to have 100% unique product posts at your blog, you can find some spiffy fresh products if you know where to look and where to avoid.
For unique product finds avoid the following:
Blogs on your blogroll: I don’t tend to look for products at other blogs covering my topic, because I’d rather find something that my favorites haven’t already blogged about. That said, I will look at blogs that cover other topics. For example, for my green blogs, I’ll sometimes check for cool products at say, an office or tech blog
Books: Products you show or review on your blogs should be timely, and books tend to become outdated quickly, which means searching books can be a huge waste of your time. The only exception I’ve found is in how-to books, like home building or home design for example. Often the resource section in these sorts of books will still be current, but not always, so for me, books are a last ditch effort for product reviews.
Where to look for unique products to post about or review:
- PR.com and ProfNet: Both offer press releases about new products. We posted about ProfNet before in Where To Get Blog Contest Prizes.
- Consumer Reports: Consumer Reports doesn’t show the most unique products, but they will give you some great ideas about what’s hot in product news. Also, because they show so many products, you’ll be able to link out to online shops quickly.
- This Next: Bad because you’ll see duplicate products often, but good because once in a while you’ll see an extra fab unique product or a link to an unusual online shop.
- Magazines: Unlike books, magazines update product listings monthly. You can check in the back of a magazine hard copy, or look at a magazine’s webpage (most now have a shopping section).
- Interior design magazines: IDMs, are to me, in a different league than other magazines. You can find some very neat and unique home products, art, clothing, and more in these publications. Dezignare has a great listing of tons of interior design pubs.
- Local stores: Local shops are good places to visit and look for products. I hate shopping, so I usually don’t go to the store directly, but will check my local business chamber website instead. You can find unique local merchants who carry items you may not see in any other part of the world. In line with this would be local galleries, although, you have to be careful, because not all galleries sell online, and I’ve had readers complain when I show something impossible to purchase.
- Show websites: Green home shows, home and garden shows, parenting expos, and other events list plenty of sponsors on their websites.
- Local and national business directories: You could choose a single profession like the Toy Industry Association, or choose a large general guide with a focus. Since I blog green topics, I tend to frequent directories like Co-op America and my local ReDirect Guide, but of course, choose a directory that focuses on your topic.
- Etsy: Etsy always carries fresh products - most handmade and unique. Plus if you post an Etsy product you’re usually helping out a self-employed artist.
- Online shops: I collect online shops related to my topics, sort them into bookmark folders, and then bookmark the new product page.
*Bonus tip: Ten Sites for Finding Wonderful Things
Are you offering gift guides and product reviews this holiday season at your blog?
It’s not too soon to blog the holidays
I’m back. My move took WAY longer then I expected and other stuff happened like a nightmare cherry on the cake. But I’ll not bore you with that; Deb already covered some of the issue in How to Ruin Your Blog (Like We Did).
I’d rather talk about blogging. Right now it’s almost October, which means it’s past time to start blogging the holidays. No matter your blog topic, holiday posts are a big traffic draw from September to December. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and all the winter holidays are easy to cover and people want to read about all of them.
I usually start a little early when it comes to blogging the holidays, because frankly, I don’t see the point of a post titled “Ten perfectly green Christmas gifts” two days before Christmas. That’s not very blog reader friendly. Right now my focus is Halloween and although my blogs cover an array of topics, I’ll find a way to incorporate the topic at each and every one of my blogs.
Examples:
At Tree Hugging Family: How to green your Halloween costume
At Declutter It: How to organize a scary Halloween party
At Green Home Tips: Recycled Halloween decorations
At Pregnancy & Baby: 5 great baby Halloween costumes
At Offbeat Homes: 6 spooky homes you never knew existed
And so on…
By the time Halloween hits, I’ll have moved on to Thanksgiving, and well before Thanksgiving I’ll start covering the winter holidays (because people like to shop early.)
If you’re stuck in a blogging slump the holidays are a perfect time to get over it, because so many possibilities abound. You can try gift product recommendations, crafts, recipes, decor tips, or even go the sentimental route with topics like “how to have a peaceful family holiday” or “downsize your gift giving.” You can also work in some self-help posts like “dealing with your evil in-laws at Christmas” or “eating right during the holidays.”
I know some bloggers who skip holiday season posts entirely, maybe because they don’t celebrate or they feel like everyone else is already blogging them, but I don’t think it’s a smart move. Holidays provide free traffic ready material, and this is one time when you never need to wonder, “What the heck can I blog about?” so why pass it up?
If you don’t have a good handle on which holidays are which check out All Holiday Cafe to get up to speed.
What about you? Are you already blogging the upcoming holidays?
What Makes You Feed A Blog?
When it comes to finding blogs that turn me into a returning visitor and loyal reader, there are a few things a blog must have in order to get me to keep coming back.
They must be updated regularly, and by regularly, I mean at least 3-5 times per week. If I visit a few times over the course of a month and it’s not been updated, I remove it from my reader.
A blog must present something new - An occasional copy of an article is ok, but seriously, how hard is it to copy a portion of an article and comment on it with your own opinions. It’s your opinions I’m interested in, not your abilities to copy and paste someone else’s.
People who don’t have the ability to form an opinion on their own should not blog. Harsh, but true.
I also like to find the occasional interjection of humor. Make me laugh and I’ll love you forever.
Keep in mind that many of your readers are still on dial-up. I was there until just over a year ago, so I can still feel their pain. If your blog takes a long time to load, I’m not going to hang out and wait. I just keep on clicking.
Those are really the biggies for me. I enjoy reading on such a wide variety of topics, so topic isn’t so much an issue. Content is King!
What makes you want to add a blog to your feed reader? What can bloggers do to keep you coming back?
This topic has been discussed numerous times around the blogosphere, but this happens to be one of those topics where too much is a good thing and there can never be enough.
So many people think slapping up a blog and just providing words is all it takes to become a blogger.
They couldn’t be further off base.
Too much of a good thing - Overused Blog Topics
When I began providing tips for aspiring bloggers, one of the most common mistakes was bloggers believing that my "make money online" blog was the money maker when in fact, it was quite the opposite. That blogging persona was one of charitable contribution only. There was no money to be had. Mostly because there are such amazing and valuable resources that exist and frankly, I don’t like to try to reinvent the wheel.
Most of the topics I would discuss was my own experiences with various affiliate programs - did they work, did they not?
The driving force for my effort to help educate those scouring the Internet looking to grab the brass ring - was to provide some bit of prevention to those who would otherwise be taken in by the promise of easy, quick money.
My heart was breaking in fact, after my cousin had left my house with a box full of Mia Bella Candles (MBC).
It’s my personal opinion that MBC is one of the biggest scams going. The way the company stays afloat is by the force ships they send those who sign up for their programs. It’s not customers buying the products, it’s the ones hoping to turn a profit once the candles arrive on their stoop.
I have been fortunate enough to be at home with my twins since they were 5-years-old and I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world. Especially being a single mom for most of their life. I believe other mom’s (and dad’s) should have that option too.
Now that I’ve rambled on and on and gone totally off track, let’s step back here and find out just what you think are topics that are so completely saturated when it comes to blogs?
Any thoughts on where the money might be?
Leave a comment here with your ideas and I’ll gladly give you my own opinion on what I think would work and what won’t - and I’ll even toss in a why for good measure.
The 3 Worst Things I Did for My Network Blogs
When I first began blogging for a network I didn’t have so much on my plate. Sure, I had a few of my own blogs and work with other clients, but the snowball didn’t really start rolling down the mountain. As a result, I had a successful start to my network blogging career. Towards the end of my network blogging career, it was apparent I was making some mistakes - all my own fault.
Here are the 3 Worst Things I Did for My Network Blogs
- I posted the network minimum - Because I was so busy I posted the network minimum. This didn’t really do anything to help my blog grow. The more successful network bloggers were posting to their blogs at least twice a day, some more. Remember, not all blog posts have to be 300 words. You can write a paragraph and link to someone else’ s post, embed a great video, ask a question and let your community discuss…and so much more. Go the extra mile and reap the rewards.
- Instead of working more on my existing blogs, I applied for more blogs - Every time a topic opened up I loved, I applied for the gig. Many times I got said gig. Then I did the minimum amount of work for each. Some of my network blogs brought in very good traffic. Others…meh. It would have made more sense for me to work on my existing blogs by posting more often and working on traffic and promotion than taking on more.
- I let my blogging become a job - Don’t get me wrong, I love blogging. It got to the point where there were so many blogs, and not much time. Soon I was suffering from burnout. Blogs weren’t fun anymore, they were a job. Something I had to to. This is the biggest reason I gave up my network blogs when I began working full time. I wanted blogging to be fun again and I had my hands in too many pots for that to happen.
I think a mistake many network bloggers make is to keep applying for more network blogs. We all have different reasons why we do this. For me it was because I needed a full time salary - and because I loved the topics. I made the mistake of taking on too much and blogging wasn’t fun for me anymore.
What are the worst things you did for your blogs and how di you fix them?
What makes a good blog topic, the topic or the writer?
What exactly makes a good blog topic, the writer’s knowledge and perspective of the topic or the topic itself?
I was asked that question recently and to be honest, I have to believe it’s the writer.
I’ve seen topics that I would have never dreamed I would find interesting, but was drawn in and captivated by the writing abilities of the writer.
A simple search of some of the most mundane topics can yield hundreds, even thousands of websites or blogs - that in itself suggests that nearly any topic has an audience.
While discussing the future with my kids and their desire to get a summer job, I encouraged them to learn how to write. To write about what’s of interest to them or pick a topic they want to learn about.
They were quick to respond with lack of confidence trying to convince me they wouldn’t know how to write.
The simple truth is, if you can take a subject and answer the questions:
- Who?
- What?
- When?
- Where?
- Why?
- and How?
You can write!
The part of blogging that people fail to focus on is what exactly sets them apart from other bloggers within the same niche.
Again, the answer is simple - be educational or entertaining, however, the perfect storm for any writer would be to possess a little bit of both.
Thoughts?
What, When, Why and How of Blog Linking
One characteristic that I want to be most known for is remaining humble enough to occasionally enjoy rubbing elbows with famed bloggers, but to live daily among the meek. It’s where I feel most comfortable.
When I look at some bloggers who have taken hold of the brass ring and seem to be living life in the fast lane of the blogosphere, one thing I like to do is take a look around their site and see just how fame has changed them.
One of the first places I look for is a links section. I noticed the links when they were among the meek and I notice them when they can officially claim a certain amount of fame. There’s a big difference. Sad, but big.
What I see is a shift of loyalty from linking to the people who helped them climb to linking to the people they believe will keep them secure in the clouds.
About a year ago, I got a very good glimpse at what "famed blogging" does to a person. Someone I had watched climb to fame and fortune from the blogging ghettos seemed to have felt so important that they couldn’t be bothered by a pleasant introduction made to an email list by a new member who was nothing more than excited to be there.
The horrible and degrading email has left a raw and lingering effect on me. That day, when reading the spewing’s of an all important blogger, I vowed to never become one of them.
As a result, on that specific day, I developed my own linking policy. Not one that I make public, just one that I implement as needed.
If I like a blog and want to link to it in my blogroll and the blogger links back to me - I will anchor their link with any keyword or website name they request. However, if I find that I’m linking to someone who no longer links to me - I may consider keeping the link, but I will change the keywords to something that’s a little more beneficial to the success of my blog rather than continuing with a mutual hospitality where I’m left being the only hospitable one.
While my links may or may not be as important as some, I feel that who I link to and how I link to them says a lot about my character. It tells a story of whether I am groveling at the breadcrumbs left behind by fame or whether I’m sharing a common interest in passion with fellow bloggers.
Forget the caviar wishes and champagne dreams - I’ll take a nice cold Coor’s Light, in the bottle and a bag of pretzels any day.
Have you ever thought what your link habits might be saying about you?
Dumbing down your blog topic
I have this one blog that intermittently drives me nuts. We’ll call this blog, Blog X. Blog X is a semi how-to blog, sort of tip heavy, and it’s a topic I know well. Because it’s a topic I know well, I always want to write advanced ideas about said topic, but I can’t; the readers hate when I do this.
I can tell that my readers hate my advanced slants because when I write a more advanced post, I get no comments - at all. When I keep it simple and super basic, comments come in droves, and readers say things like, “WOW, I never knew this!” or “Awesome ideas; can’t wait to try this!!!”
In my mind, these basic posts are WAY too basic, but it would seem that readers disagree. Since I’m writing the blog for reader use and enjoyment not my own mental health, I dumb down my topics. I keep the info easy to digest, and I don’t write weird slants anymore. It’s all easy all the time. At first it was hard for me to do this. I kept sneaking in harder topics, and readers kept rejecting them. I finally realized, why waste my time? Sticking to easy topics bores me a little, but I found some positives about it too:
- Shorter posts - which is more web reader friendly than long posts.
- It’s now an extremely fast blog - i.e posts take almost no time to write, and that gives me more time elsewhere.
- Readers are happy - can’t beat happy readers.
- It’s been a good exercise in restraint - I’m not the best at ignoring my own wishes when it comes to blogging. I like to blog what I want to blog. Blogging what I’m less interested in, while keeping it interesting, has been a good lesson in blogging.
Now you: Have you ever had to dumb down your blog’s topic, beyond your own comfort level? Or if not; have you ever had to make a blog change that bugs you, but benefits readers and keeps them happy?
UPDATE: Due to reader comment.
Here’s a comment I got on this post:
“As someone who is, or was, a fan I’m insulted. I’m so sorry you have to “dumb” down your posts before presenting them to us idiots. I apologize if that sounds harsh but isn’t that what you’re saying? Your readers obviously aren’t so advanced and now you have to talk down to us because we’re not interested in bringing ourselves up to your level?
I liked this blog in the beginning. It offered helpful tips and stuff I could really use. I appreciate the tips on traffic and social networking. Now the posts are complaints lately. I don’t want to subscribe to a whiny blog. I hope you continue to offer tips on how to be a good blogger and stop with the whining about clients and dumb readers otherwise I don’t have much incentive to return.”
This reader was right; this post was harsh. Dumbing down is not exactly what I mean, just more a feeling, and it sounds really rude - sorry about that if you were offended. Actually, Deb left a comment on this post that noted that tips of all levels are best, to cover all reader knowledge, which is a much nicer way to put it, and also a more correct way to put it.
Adjusting your blog to suit all levels; or one particular level is a blogging issue though. Especially if your reader base knows more or less about the topic than you do. I think it is an issue that comes up. I’ve talked to plenty of bloggers who do have to adjust their content in ways they didn’t think they’d have to.
That said, I don’t want to delete this post, because one, it’s not about this blog but a client blog, which is what we cover here along with networks; but I’m sorry if it offended anyone sometimes I write while I think, instead of after.
Do You Really Blog in Your Pajamas?
I hate when people say, “Wow, you write at home! You’re so lucky to have such an easy job.”
Excuse me while I first laugh, and then implode. Yes, I am lucky. I LOVE what I do. It’s not easy though. The good thing about the statement above is that at least the person, while not very knowledgeable, is being straight forward. It’s the off-handed comments that bug me more. The whole, “You can take time off whenever”, or “Work in your pajama” comments. Those really irk me. To me, it always feels like the person is implying that I blog as a second thought, like I took blogging up so I can laze about. They might not mean it that way, but that’s how I feel.
Do bloggers really work in their pajamas? I don’t. Not ever. I simply work better and faster if I get dressed, brush my hair, and slap on some lip gloss. I feel more work-ready. If I stay in my pajamas I feel sort of lazy, and I find that I don’t blog as well.
What about you? Can clothing, or a lack there of, affect your blogging day?
