Make Your Blog Attractive

How To Increase Your Blog's Earning Potential with Google AdSense

2011-10-23T05:14:00.000-07:00

When you include Google AdSense ads on your blog, there is certainly potential to make money, but how? Many beginner bloggers have Google AdSense ads running, but the earnings aren't coming. Follow the steps below to give your blog's Google AdSense program the greatest chance for success and start making money now.

Time Required: Ongoing

Here's How:

1: Determine your blog's primary focus.

Google AdSense ads are most effective when they are served to people who are interested in the products and services those ads offer. With that in mind, Google AdSense tends to work best on blogs that are about niche topics such as a specific product or hobby. Consider how you can make your blog's topic more focused to better attract specific types of readers and specific types of ads.

2.Write consistent and focused content.

Google serves ads based on the content on each of your pages. The more focused your content is on each page, the better Google can determine which ads are the most relevant to your readers. Write consistently and stay focused on a specific topic to increase the likelihood that Google will display ads on your blog that your readers are apt to click on.

3.Work to increase your blog's traffic.

The more visitors to your blog, the more potential for clicks on your Google AdSense ads. Work to increase your blog's traffic to boost your chances for ad click-throughs. However, keep in mind that if you write focused content, the ads on your blog will be relevant to that content. The traffic that comes to your blog needs to be interested in your blog's topic and your content, or they are not likely to be interested in your corresponding Google AdSense ads. Work to drive traffic but make a concerted effort to find traffic that adds value to your blog.

4.Research and test keywords.

Google serves ads through its AdSense program based on keywords. Advertisers bid on keywords relevant to their businesses. Some keywords are more popular than others and therefore, drive higher bids. Higher paying keywords also mean higher payouts to you when your readers click on them. The ads served on your site are determined by the content on your site. If you're writing about topics related to higher paying keywords, then you're likely to earn more money from your Google AdSense program than if you wrote about topics related to lower paying keywords.

5.Test Google AdSense ad positions on your blog.

You can display Google AdSense ads just about anywhere on your blog. Test a variety of positions on your blog to determine which work best for you in terms of generating click-throughs and maximum revenue.

Tips:

1.Check with your blogging software provider and blog host to ensure your blogging package allows you to place Google AdSense ads on your blog. For example,Wordpress.com does not allow Google AdSense ads.

2.Don't fall victim to the allure of covering your blog in ads to generate income. Blogs that are cluttered with ads are difficult to read, and readers typically don't return to blogs where the meaningful content is hidden in between ads.

3.Track your results to see what's working, particularly as you test keywords and ad positions. This will allow you to develop the best advertising mix to maximize your blog's income while staying consistent to your blog's brand image and overall message to readers at the same time.

How to Achieve Site Goals Through Design

2011-10-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

Every site has a reason for being online. It has a purpose. Good design takes into account that purpose, and then works towards it.

Site goals are what you want your visitors to do on your site. It is important to make the distinction between what you want, and whatthey want (Although the two may often overlap).

For instance, your readers may not originally want to sign up to your newsletter, but if you want it enough, you just might persuade them.

The first stage in creating a great design is to lay out your blog’s goals. My advice is to scribble down everything that you would like to gain from your site (RSS readers, advert clicks, sales leads etc.), then take that list and order it by importance. It is important to think this through now because it will make decision making during the actual design much, much easier.

It’s All About Prominence

Readers will not read everything on your page. The path to achieving your goals rests on choosing what you really want visitors to see, and knowing what you won’t mind them not seeing. In short, it is about giving prominence to the important elements.

The tricky thing about prominence is knowing not to overdo it. There are many ways of giving an element prominence, and they will be discussed below, but it is crucial to realize that in order for one thing to stand out, another has to fade in.

In short, for every element you give prominence to, you lessen the overall effect of those elements. This is the main cause of clutter. When a person attempts to highlight too many sections of the page, the effect is ruined, and instead of one or two things drawing a reader’s attention, everything tries to draw that attention, causing confusion and loss. Minimalism is about drawing attention to just one or two, crucial, elements.

How To Create Prominence

Positioning. The key locations are the top of the page, above the fold, and in the center. User eye movements will tend to flicker over these locations, so placing important content here will make it more likely to be noticed.
Color. There are a number of ways of making a certain color pop out of the background it is on. Does it contrast with the background? Is it a more intense, saturated color? Most backgrounds are cold colors (How often do you see blue backgrounds?), so using a warm color will make the element stand out. Various color combination tools can help you out.
Size. If it’s big, it’s worth noticing, right? Size tends to be a decent indicator of importance. Can you think of a time when a blog’s title was the same size as it’s body copy?
Inconsistency. Certain styles have consistent traits, like a certain font that is used again and again. If you want to make an element stand out, then break the flow of what the user expects to see(Post headings use a serif font here). Be careful though. Break the flow too often and all you will do is make a mess.
Active whitespace. Whitespace is simply empty space. Passive whitespace is when we use empty space to pad out a design, and prevent it from feeling claustrophobic. Active whitespace however is when we purposefully space out a certain element, causing it to draw attention.

I bet you read this. Whitespace rocks!

Test your own design out. What is the first thing you notice? Is it really the thing that you want people to notice most? And what caused you to notice it?

7 Elements to Make Your Blog Look Great

2011-10-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

n What Makes a Design Good?, I talked about the technical aspects of a good design, like site and user goals, branding, and distinction.

I did not however answer the question of what makes a design look good. What makes one blog visually attractive, but makes another one ugly?

There is no mathematical solution, but there is an artsy one. A good looking design is a combination of a number of factors. If your blog succeeds in each of these areas, then the overall effect will be an appealing design.

Structure

I have a friend who won’t go into a certain sports store because the layout is too confusing. Men’s clothes next to the women’s, kids next to adults, football tops out on their own etc. I’m sure there is an order to it somewhere, but I can’t see it.

There is a lot of information on a web page. You can order your page in your own mind, but if the ordering is not blatantly obvious to a first-time visitor, they’re going to be overloaded and leave.

Structure and grid-based design are the corner-stones of a well laid out blog.

Further Reading: Designing With Grid Based Approach

Balance

A good design is easy to take in. It allows your eye to glide around the page naturally, without being continually drawn to a certain area of the page.

Think of a see-saw. If you put too much weight on one-side, it will tilt in that direction. But if the weights are equal, it will balance.

In the same way, the weights of the different areas of your page should be equal. The weight of a specific element is affected by its size, but also by its color, its position, and even the detail within it.

Further Reading: Principles of Design: Balance

Color

Image byVygotskij.

Color is a scary topic for many people, but it must be braved. The most sure-fire way to ruin a great design is to choose an awful color scheme.

If you don’t trust your eye to pick a good color scheme, there are many tools out there to help you.

Further Reading: Basic Color Theory

Small Details

A person can appreciate complexity in a design. The small details make the overall effect.

You don’t need great works of art in your header, or fancy features in your sidebar. The small details in your site will communicate the level of effort put into a design all by themselves.

It’s working on those details that takes a design from good to great.

Further Reading: Design Is In The Details

Clarity And Emphasis

No reader cares to read all of the content on your page. Most want to read as little as possible. They only need the gist of your points, and then they move on.

Clarity in your design allows one element to differentiate itself from its neighbor, and emphasis on your most important elements, such as post headlines, indicates clearly where the reader should look.

Ample whitespace is a favorite tactic for achieving this. It lets your design breathe, preventing readers from being overloaded and confused.

Further Reading: Give My Web Space

Remarkability

Image byOrgutcayli.

This is Seth Godin’s word. You normally hear about it in the context of products and services, but it applies to web design as well.

There are two routes that a design can take. Safe and not safe. You can choose a simple color scheme, a regular 2-column layout and a normal Arial font, and make a decent blog. It won’t be anything spectacular, but it will do the job.

A great design does something more. It goes further than the regular web site and it makes itself unique. Great designs have a certain aspect that makes them better than other sites. Something about them that is worth remarking upon.

Further Reading: 25 Incredibly Artistic Websites

Functionality

Design on the web is not based solely on appearance anymore. Even on blogs, the functionality on your page plays a large role. What do you think when you see beautifully laid out threaded comments? Or well implemented Gravatars?

A good blog is much more than a diary with comments. It allows for you to interact with the content, and makes your experience much more enjoyable.

Further Reading: 35 New WordPress Plugins for an Effective Blogging Experience

When you see a web page with great functionality, obsessive attention to detail and no flaws to be found, it gives you high expectations for the site. It says a lot about the blogger.

There are far more than 7 elements to a great design. These are merely my favorites. What do you think makes a design great?

How To Make Your Blog Posts Attractive.

2011-10-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

I have the confidence that I have a pretty good looking blog and along with good content, my blog is attractive to look at. The overall aesthetic of my blogs initial impression hopefully draws readers in.

So, besides good content and all the other bells and whistles it takes to make a blog, a blog. Let me share with you what elements there are to a blog post to draw people in.

Post a relevant image.

I cannot stress how important this is. Along with some other elements (mentioned in this post), an image posted in your blog post is imperative if you want to rise above the millions of other blogs spawned everyday. This says ‘I care about my image and my blog’. Not only does the image draw the reader in to at least check out your headings, but you’re blog looks more like a magazine than a scribble pad.

Some other things you can do with images is use them to break up very large pieces of text, like with a thesis post of large teaching. But if your info’s gonna be big, rather do a teaching video explaining it properly. Not only is it more entertaining, it also help seeing something done instead of reading about it.

Break up text with headlines.

When you have a large chunk of text (like in this post), do what you would do when you have a large steak in front of you, like at a BBQ. You chop it up into bite size pieces.

The benefit to the reader of your blog, is that he has several sentences in bold spread all across the post. He could then scan this if he hasn’t got the time to read the entire post at once. He absorbed the information, and if he likes what he reads, he will either keep the post open to read it all later, or he will bookmark the post to share with others and consume at a later stage (this is a good thing).

Write interesting material.

It’s very important to take on a format in your writing, for your blog, that people would want to read. You can read more on popular blog post formats here.

Ps. Your blog posts’ text should usually be a transcription or an accurate reflection of what is said in your video, if you choose to use one.

Insert an MP3.

This is usually an audio extension of your video (if you used one). It just gives an impressive touch to your blog and allows your readers to be able to listen to your content, like with a podcast or a radio show. Being able to listen to teaching over and over allows for greater retention of the information. If you have a MP3 audio clip or a podcast posted (without a video), you may want to transcribe the audio and place it as text in your blog as well. So, people that don’t have speakers or time to listen can scan your content quickly. See how valuable the text break up is?

To do this properly, you need the WordPress Audio Plugin. You can customize the design to fit your blog and all you do is make sure your audio has a proper path from your server host (make sure to test the audio before the link is posted). Once it’s all working just insert your link in between the text where you want the player. WordPress will automatically insert the player in the post for you. If you’re guest posting and you either don’t have access to the player or cannot upload the plugin, simple use anchor text to promote the MP3 and post the link into it.

Lastly.

Insert quotations into your post.

There’s nothing really to it besides it making your blog look good. To explain, allow me to quote myself:

See, if there is a quote highlighted here, which WordPress does for you (check the fifth button in toggle mode), the reader is automatically drawn to read what it says. Here, you can quote someone (which I like to do a lot), or your could simply highlight parts of the text (like magazines do). Looks good don’t it?

And that’s is basically the whole shebang. There’s nothing really to it, but attention to these simple tricks (and hard work of course) will raise your blog above the rest to hang out with the rest of us pros. Try one of these things at a time, and by the time two weeks is finished, you’ll be riding high with blogging celebrities.

P.s. If you find ait hard work to implement all of these, try posting one time less a week on your blog (like 3 times instead of five). Not only will you produce better quality content, but you won’t find producing excellent posts (like this one) so tiring.

147 Blog Post Ideas to Keep Writer’s Block at Bay For Good

2011-10-18T11:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to My DoFollow Blog! As a Big Thank You, I'd Like to Give You FREE Access to my "Online Marketing Success Formula" Report That Gives You The Key Ingredients For Success in YOUR Business!

Are you still struggling to come up with blog post ideas?

You know what? It shouldn’t be hard at all.

However, writer’s block is one of the biggest challenges that many bloggers face today.

And, even experienced bloggers get stumped for content ideas from time to time.

Now, a blog without content is dead, it will not attract regular visitors, subscribers and customers.

No one will take you seriously if you don’t provide content.

If you find yourself stuck in this blogging rut, then I have good news for you.

Let me show you how you can keep writer’s block at bay, get out of a rut and start having fun blogging like I do

Blog Post Ideas – Getting the Basics Right

1. Sharpen Your Axe

Keep learning to keep up with the latest developments in your niche. Do properkeyword research, take courses, attend marketing events, read books – do whatever you need to do to stay on top of the game! And then share what you learn and discover with your readers.

You will then attract more traffic to your blog and establish yourself as a leader and the expert in your niche. You suddenly become the “go-to” person in your field of expertise.

2. Create a Blogging Schedule

What helped me to create content regularly and consistently is by sticking to my blogging schedule. I used to do 2-3 posts a week without fail. I didn’t need a reminder. I also posted at the same time – first thing in the morning. And now? I do 4-5 posts a week and it’s going really well.

3. Plan Ahead

Successful blogging starts with good planning. Create time and plan ahead. How you do this will depend mostly on how important blogging is for you and what you want to achieve with your blog.

So, what do you write about?

Blog Post Ideas to Keep Writer’s Block at Bay For Good

Not only that. I also show you:

You’re in luck! I have created a list of 147 blog post ideas that you can write about for years to come.

1. 5 key principles for successful blog post writing.

2. Where to find ideas for your blog content.

3. How to engage, enlighten, entertain and empower your readers.

4. How you can get your readers glued to your content.

5. How you can beat writer’s block for good and start having fun blogging

6. Essential tools you must use to make sure your content gets found and read.

Blog Post Ideas Key Takeaway

There is no way you can still run out of blog post ideas, after reading my tips. The key is to take action and implement what you have learned.

No more excuses as you will have SO much to write about…

Keep the dreaded writer’s block at bay for good! You now have 147 things to write about over and over again!

If you want to beat writer’s block for good and draw people to your content like honey to bees, then click on the “Add To Cart” button below to get access to this mind-blowing information for only $27.

And, start sharing your interesting blog post ideas with the world!

Be quick before the price goes up!

Side note: If you’re not struggling with coming up with blog post ideas daily, then this ebook is not for you. If you have mastered the art of blog post writing like the top bloggers have, then you don’t need this ebook either.

I would be grateful if you could share this valuable information with your friends and followers. Remember, sharing is caring!

Top 10 Client Attraction Tools For Business Blogs

2011-10-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

I don’t build in order to have clients. I have clients in order to build.

We coach because we love to coach. It’s all about helping people. But in order to do that we need people to help.

Here’s a list of the top 10 client attraction tools:

1. Ethical Bribe (Your Free Offering)
2. Referrals from Past Clients
3. Free Teleclasses
4. Live Speaking Presentations
5. Effective Follow-Up Process
6. Social Media
7. Referral Partners
8. Joint Venture Partners
9. Focused Network organizations
10. Blogging

However, if you do nothing else, offering a consistent, value-packed newsletter is the absolute best way to attract new clients.

This Week’s Goal

Start your value-packed, consistent ezine newsletter and start building your pipeline!!

I’d love to hear some of your top client attraction tools, too!

2011-10-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

Dark World Download

2011-10-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

S Impress Download

2011-10-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

I Theme Download

2011-10-16T09:56:00.000-07:00

Leia Download

2011-10-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

Blogy Glass Download

2011-10-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

Minyx Download

The Best Blogger Themes

2011-10-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Valeron HTML Template Download

65 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

2011-10-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

This guest post is by Satrap of BlogStash.com.

What is the best way to drive traffic to my site? What’s the fastest way to generate traffic to my site? What’s…?

We all want to know the best way to drive the greatest amount of traffic to our sites. However, the truth is that there is no best or fastest way to drive traffic! What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. Just because I manage to get 500 visitors a day from an article I submitted to article directories doesn’t mean you can get that much traffic doing the same thing.

Of course, there are some traffic generation methods that produce better results than others. But again, it all depends on you and your situation. Let’s take article marketing as an example. Article marketing is one of the oldest and best ways to generate traffic. But the success of your article marketing campaign depends on many different things, like the number of articles you write, the number of article directories you submit to, the quality of your articles, how many articles a day you submit, and more.

My advice would be to pick a few methods from the 65 I’ve listed below, and start implementing them. Test them for yourself. Depending on your skills, you might find a method that would work wonders for you.

Don’t just follow what everybody else says. I’m not saying, “Don’t listen to experienced people who are successful in generating traffic to their site.” By all means, listen to them and do take their advice—but experiment to find out for yourself which traffic generation methods work best for you and your situation.

With that said, here are 65 simple and (mostly) free ways to generate traffic to your site.

Turn your articles and blog posts into PDFs using free PDF converters like OpenOffice. Then submit your PDFs to document sharing sites like Scribd and DocStoc.
Write truly informative and useful articles related to your niche, and publish them on WikiPedia.
Hold a contest and give prizes to your readers. Use social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to let people know about the contest. A good contest with good prizes will attract a lot of people.
Build a wiki page for your blog. To ensure your page doesn’t get deleted, create an article that is educational, informational, and not self-promoting.
Write list posts like the one you are reading. Readers love posts like “10 ways to make money” or “6 ways to drive traffic to your blog”. List posts are amongst the most popular kinds of posts, and people tend to share list posts with others more often than other posts.
Make flyers with a catchy title and a description of your blog, and post them on bulletin boards in the entrance to supermarkets and other community buildings.
Post frequently, but don’t sacrifice quantity for quality. Both search engines and visitors like to see fresh, quality content. The more content you have, the more chances you have for ranking for variety of keywords, which will mean more organic traffic for your blog.
Make a lens (or more) using Squidoo and in it, place a few links back to your blog.
Submit your blog to directories relevant to your niche, like InsLink.com (an SEO/webmaster directory).
Make it easy for non-technical readers to link to your blog or share your links with other people by making a “How to link to us” page. Here, give readers easy instructions on how to link to your blog with your keywords as anchor text.
Submit your blog to search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Or simply use AdMe.com to submit your site to over 25 search engines for free.
Use sites like Odiogo to turn your blog into a podcast, then submit your podcast to podcast websites.
Answer questions related to your niche on YahooAnswers and other Q & A sites. Include a link to your blog in the resource box.
Submit your blog to social bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon.
Write and submit articles to article directories like EzineArticles and ArticleDashboard.
Turn your articles to videos using free video creation services like Animoto, and submit them to video directories such as YouTube and DailyMotion.
Build a Facebook fan page for your blog.
Make use of plugins like Tell-a-Friend to let your readers quickly share your posts with their friends and family vie email.
Use Hi5 to build a page for your blog and create a community around it.
Don’t clutter your blog with too many pictures, ads, and so on. Keep it clean and easy to navigate. This will help both search engines and visitors to navigate around your blog easily and quickly.
Join BlogEngage to submit your blog and create a community around it.
Ping your blog posts using free ping services such as Pingler and Pingoat.
Create a hub about your blog on HubPages.
Register with few good niche-related forums and use your signature to place links pointing to your blog. Participate in discussions and contribute as much as you can.
Make it easy for your readers to share your posts by installing social bookmarking plugins likeSocialMarker and Digg Buttons.
Readers like to read other people’s comments, especially those who responded to their comments. So, take advantage of that by using a plug-in like Comment Notifier to automatically let your readers know of new comments posted on your blog.
Make your blog more search engine friendly by using SEO plug-ins such as Platinum SEO Pack.
Target long-tail keywords with low competition and try to rank for them. Such keywords are easier to rank for in search engines and give you much more targeted traffic.
Make a MySpace page for your blog.
Make business cards with your blog info on them, hand them to friends and family, and ask them to pass them on. Mall parking lots are good place to pass your cards around. In some states you can even put your business card on windshields. You can get up to 250 free business cards using sites like VistaPrint (although you do have to pay $5 shipping).
Submit your blog to the free directories like DMOZ (hard to get into, but well worth the effort!).
Write a good press release, or hire a professional to do it for you (you can get a pretty decent press release written for you for $5 on Fiverr.com), and submit them to free press release distribution sites like PR.com.
Write creative and attention-grabbing ads about your blog, and publish them on free classified ads sites such as CraigsList and UsFreeAds.
Controversial posts attract visitors. Write a controversial post. Be creative and bold, but be careful not to cross the boundaries.
Ask an expert or a trusted, well-known person in your niche for an interview. Then post the entire interview on your blog, either as a text post or as a video.
Leave quality comments on blogs that are related to your niche. Make sure your comments add value to the blog. Don’t just spam-comment and hope for the best. It never works, and your links will get deleted. Worst of all, you might get blacklisted from the site. If you leave a useful comment, people will be more likely to visit your blog.
Use free banner-making tools like BannerFans to make an interesting banner for your blog. Then find other bloggers in your niche and exchange banners with them.
Exchange links with other blogs in your niche. Don’t go overboard with this technique, or exchange links with each and every blog you find—be selective and make sure the context for your link is appropriate. Most people use their main keyword as the anchor text for their link, that’s good for SEO. But, if you want to get more traffic from those links, instead use attention-grabbing text as your anchor text. Don’t use “Make Money Online” for your link text—people are used to seeing those links all over the web. Instead use something like “10 ways to make $10 in 10 minutes.”
If you find interesting posts on other blogs, write a post about them and link to them. The other bloggers will notice and might do the same for you.
Find good blogs in your niche that accept guest posts. You can either search manually or make it easy for yourself by registering for free with MyBlogGuest, which matches guest bloggers with blogs that accept guest posts. Write and submit your best articles to get the maximum exposure. Don’t just submit the article and leave. Make sure you follow up and respond to comments and questions that readers of those blogs ask.
Submit your site to review sites that write reviews on other websites and blogs, likeCoolSiteOfTheDay.
Submit your blog to BlogCatalog.
People love free stuff, so give out freebies that are related to your niche. If you are in “online money making” niche, a free ebook that teaches people who to make money on Twitter might make an appropriate freebie.
Write a page on 43things.com about your blog and what you want to do with it.
Use your keywords in the title of your posts. Having your keyword in the title makes it easier for you to rank for that keyword, thus bringing you more organic traffic.
Use your blog’s name as your username on forums, social networking sites, and other places like YahooAnswers. People are curious by nature, so they may check out your blog out of curiosity and if you have good compelling content, they may become your loyal readers.
Make a bumper sticker with your blog address on it, and place it on your car’s bumper. You can even ask your friends and family to do the same for you!
Make a Twitter profile for your blog and tweet each and every post you publish on your blog.
Register with EntreCard and start dropping your card on other blogs. You will be amazed how much traffic you can get from EntreCard.
Register with ComLUV.com and download their plugin.Then use the Global CommentLuv Search to find blogs related to your niche and comment on them. It will return up to ten (recent) posts that will be sent back when you comment on a CommentLuv enabled site. Most are dofollow blogs, and you will get dofollow links back to your most recent posts. This is good for link building and getting some traffic.
Make a free ebook with a link back to your site in it, and submit it to free ebook sites likeGetFreeEbooks.com.
Buy .info domains with long-tail keywords in them and use a redirect to send the traffic they receive to your main site.
Rent a mailing list and send high-quality content with a link back to your site to all the subscribers. Take care with this technique so that you’re not blacklisted as a spammer, though. Find a reputable list broker—or, if in doubt, why not start your own?
Post a classified ad on eBayClassified with a link to your site.
When you eat out, leave a good tip along with a business card with your site info on it.
Create a short report with resell rights and and include your links in the report. Give it to people for free: those people can sell the report to others as their own, so long as they don’t remove your links. The results of this technique will surprise you.
Come up with a really crazy but buzz-worthy post and submit it to NowPublic.com (Previously known as Truemors). If it’s good enough, it might just go viral!
Go to YouTube, find popular videos related to your niche and start commenting on those videos with a link back to your blog. Youtube videos get thousands of views, and since most people are sociable creatures, they will read the comments no matter how far down the list your comment is.
Create a page (personal or business) at LookUpPage.com. You can add as many links to your blog as you like. Write a short “about” post about yourself or your blog, and make sure to link to your Twitter and other social networking sites as well. After creating the page, bookmark it usingSocialMarker and ping it with Pingler (or any other tools you like).
Register with Visible.me for free, and add links and information about your blog. Its a great way to build your brand and get a few backlinks from a high-PR (6) dofollow site.
Submit your RSS feed to RSS aggregators. Here, I don’t mean just your blog’s RSS feed: grab the RSS url of every site you have a link on (example: if you submit articles to ezine.com, you will have your own “author RSS” URL), and go to RssMix.com. It will let you make a custom RSS feed. Take that and submit it to RSS directories and aggregators. This will put your RSS feed on steroids—and will give you many more backlinks.
Make a few (yard) signs with your blog’s URL and a good title related to your niche, and place them on highway exit ramps, at busy intersections, and so on. Make sure you abide by the laws in your own state or country if you try this approach.
Put an ad in your local newspaper. If you live in a small town, it may not be very expensive to have an ad on your local newspaper—or on TV or radio, for that matter.
Order some T-shirts with your blog URL and title printed on them and give them away. People will check out your URL!
This is just for fun, so enjoy it! Make a big and I mean big sandal (or flip flop) with your blog’s URL engraved on the bottom, go to a busy beach, and start walking all over the sand! Leave your mark for others to see.

These methods will keep you busy for a while. But perhaps the most important tip I can give you is to be patient. Getting traffic to a blog takes time and a lot of work. You cannot expect to have hundreds of visitors after a few weeks, or months of starting your blog. But, if you are a dedicated person who’s willing to put enough time and effort into it, you can’t help but attract more visitors to your blog over time.

Which of these ideas do you like? What has or hasn’t worked for you? Share your experiences with us in the comments.

Satrap writes at BlogStash.com about different work from home opportunities. Visit BlogStash to learn real ways to make money online.

10 Ways to make your Blog more Attractive to Advertisers

2011-10-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

Today’s guest post comes from Chad Randall, the Director of Sales for b5media and the author ofAdvertiseSpace. Chad has been working in the online advertising industry for over 6 years now, and has personally sold more than $5,000,000 in online ads. I figured he’d be a good person to ask about how to make your blog attractive to advertisers.

1. Have an “Advertise with Us” Banner on your site

This is the single most important issue. It should click to an Advertising information page and have an easy way to contact you for more information and rates. Key points: Make it a graphical image or a tab. Keep it above the fold.

2. Keep the ads on your site specific to your site

Don’t have smiley ads and wallpaper ads if your site is site is about mobile phones.

3. Show them the banners

If you currently have no paid placements on your site, put up house ads or partner ads in the same spot you would run a paid spot. (A house ad refers to banners for other products or sites that you or your company own)

4. Throw up a free bonus ad.

By putting a free advertisement on your site, you may not only encourage similar ads or competitors to that product, but the company you added for free may decide to advertise with you. Ask for full disclosure of the performance of the campaign in return. (Total clicks, total purchases etc. ) Key points. Put the free bonus up with a direct URL without tracking tags or affiliate tags.

5. Show your site stats.

You need to show at least the basics for site statical information: Monthly unique visitors and total number of impressions are the 2 key ones. Other less important can be Google PR & Alexa rank.

6. User demographic information. Know your audience.

The bare minimum is Male/Female % and average age of your readers. Other potentially useful information includes geographic, HHI, single/married, number of kids. etc. How do you get this info? You can do site polls, survey’s, or get more detailed stats from ComScore or Quantcast.com

7. Have an ‘About Us’ section.

Clearly explain who you are and what your site is about. And also why you are an ‘authority’ on what you are writing about, and why anyone should care about what you have to say.

8. Don’t use Google AdSense on your site.

OK, this could be the most painful one for most people especially if you are generating a few hundred bucks a month from it already. But Google ad sense devalues your site and makes it look unprofessional. You have to ask yourself, “Do I want some real revenue from my site or Google’s table scraps.”

9. Keep your blog on topic.

If you are all over the map in regards to topics about which you talk about, advertisers won’t know if they are a good fit for your site.

10. Keep your blog professional.

If you are talking about your cat, (Matt Cutts), ranting about your drive to work, swearing or bashing every product you can think about, it will scare away advertisers.