Archive for May, 2009


Eventually, someone rises to the opportunity to compete against a large entity such as Google. Although they may not be a true competitor in the sense to Google, MozRank provides what I’ll refer to as “an alternative way” to determine your page rank vs Googles PageRank system, utilizing the MozRank Linkscape program, from their free SEO Tools.

As many bloggers know, their page rank was dropped by Google in 2007 from participating in PayPerPost’s program, which payed bloggers to publish advertisements in their blog posts. Unfortunately, PayPerPost did not disclose to any bloggers the potential consequences of advertising for them, creating a violation of Googles webmasters policies. For those of you who do not know, what occurred were sites being penalyzed by posting advertisements for money, utilizing the “do follow” attribute, which passed page rank to the advertisers. This resulted in many of us (yes, I included) losing page rank to our blogs. I, like many other blogger’s did not understand that we were violating any type of policy with Google, and for those (like myself) who submitted a request to Google for reconsideration, that may not have returned their page rank back to its prior status.

Although my prior paragraph here may seem like a rabbit trail, the point I’m wanting to make is that there is still hope to see your blogs having page rank, but perhaps not yet through Google. I guess you could say that MozRank is a competitor to Google’s pagerank system, although they rate things differently. Their algorithm for the page ranking must work differently, otherwise they would be violating Google’s patent for the specific manner and algorithms used when Google establishes page rank.

So, if your blog(s) experienced a penalty from Google or you lost your page rank for whatever reason, such as no longer receiving fresh backlinks, there is another resource to check your page rank. At the very least while you await for Google to re-evaluate your blog, you have something to make you feel a bit brighter!

This blog had attained a PR 3 according to Google’s page ranking system, prior to Google’s drop, and since that time I’ve been fighting the Google PageRank blues since. :( There were other reasons though too that I lost my page rank, which included a year away from actively posting to my blog or building links, due to significant changes on the home front. At least for now, MozRank’s Linkscape evaluation has made me feel a bit brighter these days as I checked my page rank with their beta system. If you’re experiencing the page rank blues, head on over to MozRank to check out your blogs!

There are two ways you can check your blog ranking with MozRank, using their Linkscape Beta program. The first obvious one is to check it directly from their site, and the second option is to install the page rank plugin for Firefox to see the rankings from MozRank while you’re on your blog, or any other site. To give you an idea of comparison, my blog TallSailsAdventure.com, which is currently at a PR1 is rated at PR2.67 using the MozRank Linkscape system.

Just a side note, for anyone who may be wondering, this post is NOT an advertisement for the above mentioned site, but simply something I came across and thought I would share with my readers. Now chin up, and don’t give up on your blog, which may have lost Google PageRank, because now there is another way to evaluate your blog with an alternative page ranking system. Happy Blogging! :)

It takes time to develop a blog or other website, and it may seem to take forever to gain and increase blog traffic, which in turn increases people linking to your blog posts. Google Analytics provides you with greater insight to assist you with strengthening your keyword strategies for your blogs, which will result in more organic traffic and more links to your blogs. Here’s a step-by-step approach to make use of Google Analytics data to determine which keywords are bringing in your traffic, and how you can capitalize on those keywords by a proper linking strategy from your own blog.

If you haven’t already done so, you will need to establish your Google Analytics account. If you already have one, login to your account and let’s begin a keyword linking strategy based on your Google Analytics results!

Step 1. LOGIN TO YOUR GOOGLE ANALYTICS DASHBOARD

Step 2. SELECT THE FIRST BLOG YOU NEED TO BOOST TRAFFIC WITH, BY CLICKING ON “VIEW REPORT” FOR THAT BLOG

Step 3. SELECT “TRAFFIC SOURCES”

Traffic Sources

Traffic Sources

Step 4. SELECT “KEYWORDS” FROM THE TRAFFIC SOURCES MENU AS HIGHLIGHTED BELOW

Keywords

Keywords

Step 5. LOCATE THE LIST OF KEYWORDS FROM THE LOWER RIGHT AREA OF YOUR ANALYTICS PAGE WHERE YOU SEE THIS HEADING

google-analytics-3

Step 6. From the list of your keywords, select ONE of the keywords or keyword phrases which best represent your targeted traffic goal for your blog. Be sure to wisely choose the phrase or keyword that best represents your sites niche! Once you identify which keyword or key phraseto use, you have one of two choices to make.

A. Write a new blog post (fresh posts are always good!).

B. Or, from the Analytics list select one of your top landing blog posts which best represents the keyword or key phrase you selected.

Step 7A. (If you selected option A above) Write a new blog post and be sure to utilize the keyword, or keyword phrase EXACTLY as shown in the Analytics report several times within that blog post, and utilize the keyword or keyword phrase for the first words in your blog post title. From the keyword or keyword phrase, create at least one hyperlink to an existing blog post you wrote earlier about the same keyword. Publish the new blog post and locate the new blog post permalink. Go on to step 8 below.

Step 7B. (If you selected option B above) Review your existing blog post you chose to use. If necessary, edit the blog post to ensure you have made good use of the keyword or key phrase you chose to use from the Analytics report. Be sure to utilize the keyword, or keyword phrase EXACTLY as shown in the Analytics report several times within that blog post, editing the post if necessary. From the keyword or keyword phrase, create at least one hyperlink to an existing blog post you wrote earlier about the same keyword. Publish the revised blog post and locate the new blog post permalink. Note: DO NOT change the blog post title of your existing posts involved in this strategy. Now go on to step 8 below.

Step 8. Add a link within your blog sidebar from the same blog, to the new blog post permalink, or to the existing blog post permalink, whichever option above you went with. Be sure to use the keyword or keyword phrase for the link text (hypertext), and again EXACTLY as shown in your Google Analytics report. If done correctly, the keyword link to your blog post will really pay off by bringing in more traffic from organic search results.

Step 9. Moniter your future Google Analytics reports to see how this strategy has increased your traffic, and sit back and enjoy the brighter future your blog will have.

Step 10. If this information has helped you, please comment here to let me know! Thanks!

You may also find these to be good resources to learn from about this topic:
Using Keyword Segmentation in Google Analytics
Analytics Basics and Keywords
Reoptimize Posts using Analytics and Keywords
Keyword Tools Using Google

WordPress Plugin Test

Blogging on WordPress allows you to access and utilize custom plugins to customize your blog. Today I just downloaded some plugins and I’m experimenting with this plugin called “External Permalinks.” At first I liked the concept of the plugin, but I was having some challenges with getting it to work. Perhaps I was having a conflict with one of my other plugins, or my theme. Not sure which is the case, but for now I had to disable the plugin until I can take the time to troubleshoot the issue.

Scenario…
1. You moved your Blogger blogspot blog to a new custom domain.

2. You want to check if Blogger implemented a 301 redirect for redirecting your old blogspot url to your new custom domain.

3. You use the Blogger free hosting service, and therefore do not have access to the back-end of your site for full control.

If that scenario fits you, or if you want to double-check your 301 redirect for any other url, here’s a handy 301 redirect checker tool to use! To clarify for those who are not yet familiar with redirect codes, a 301 redirect creates a permanent redirect for your old domain name to your new domain.

To utilize the tool, enter your old url (blogspot.com url if that’s what you had) and the redirect checker tool will determine if indeed the old url is working under the 301 redirect command to go to your domain. It’s that easy!

I checked my old blogspot urls to determine if mine was correctly redirected utilizing the 301 redirect, and here’s the image from using the redirect checker tool so you can see how easy it is to use.

301 Redirect Checker Tool

301 Redirect Checker Tool

Happy blogging on your own domain!

Blogger Help on YouTube

Blogging on Blogger is probably the easiest blogging platform for a beginner, or even for a seasoned blogger to use. Some people learn better by visually seeing how to create and maintain a blog. If that describes you, and if you’re thinking of using Blogger for your blog, or already have a Blogger blog, then you can make use of Blogger’s YouTube site for answering many questions or resolving issues with your Blogger blog. Hope that is of help for those of you making use of the Blogger platform!

You can also subscribe to BloggerHelp on YouTube to keep up with their latest video releases.

WordPress Improved and Easier

If you are a new blogger or you are thinking about becoming one, but you need an easy to use blogging platform, WordPress’ newer version is just what the blogging doctor would order! It’s new admin interface is far easier, more intuitive, and fully geared with tools to make the administrative process of your blogging adventures much easier.

Are you a Blogger platform fan, and didn’t want to complicate your life with WordPress? WordPress just became much more enjoyable and easier to use – almost as easy as Blogger!

Happy blogging! :)

Blogger on the Go

Have you ever been on the go, and while you were out you came up with a super topic for a new blog post, and just couldn’t wait to get back to your computer to write the new blog post? Like most of us, I’m sure you’ve had that occur. The good news for Blogger users, is that you can post text and photos while you’re on the go!

Using your mobile device, you can write a new blog post and submit a photo for that blog post using Blogger on the Go! Have fun as you take some time off away from your computer, yet still remain plugged in to your blog to post to your Blogger blog! Happy blogging! :)

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