Now let’s talk about the rel=nofollow attribute. Nofollow is a method (introduced in 2005 and supported by multiple search engines) to annotate a link to tell search engines “I can’t or don’t want to vouch for this link.” In Google, nofollow links don’t pass PageRank and don’t pass anchortext.

So what happens when you have a page with “ten PageRank points” and ten outgoing links, and five of those links are nofollowed? Let’s leave aside the decay factor to focus on the core part of the question. Originally, the five links without nofollow would have flowed two points of PageRank each (in essence, the nofollowed links didn’t count toward the denominator when dividing PageRank by the outdegree of the page). More than a year ago, Google changed how the PageRank flows so that the five links without nofollow would flow one point of PageRank each.

Q: Why did Google change how it counts these links?
A: For one thing, some crawl/indexing/quality folks noticed some sites that attempted to change how PageRank flowed within their sites, but those sites ended up excluding sections of their site that had high-quality information (e.g. user forums).

Q: Does this mean “PageRank sculpting” (trying to change how PageRank flows within your site using e.g. nofollow) is a bad idea?
A: I wouldn’t recommend it, because it isn’t the most effective way to utilize your PageRank. In general, I would let PageRank flow freely within your site. The notion of “PageRank sculpting” has always been a second- or third-order recommendation for us. I would recommend the first-order things to pay attention to are 1) making great content that will attract links in the first place, and 2) choosing a site architecture that makes your site usable/crawlable for humans and search engines alike.

For example, it makes a much bigger difference to make sure that people (and bots) can reach the pages on your site by clicking links than it ever did to sculpt PageRank. If you run an e-commerce site, another example of good site architecture would be putting products front-and-center on your web site vs. burying them deep within your site so that visitors and search engines have to click on many links to get to your products.

There may be a miniscule number of pages (such as links to a shopping cart or to a login page) that I might add nofollow on, just because those pages are different for every user and they aren’t that helpful to show up in search engines. But in general, I wouldn’t recommend PageRank sculpting.

Since Google wants us to be more natural with our linking habits, why are we chasing after better PageRanks or search rankings when you can be going after the better user experience as that would naturally create more return visitors, natural links and better search engine rankings:

Here’s the mental model I’d employ: search engines want to return great content. If you make such a fantastic site that all the web has heard of you, search engines should normally reflect that fact and return your site. A lot of bad SEO happens because people say “I’ll force my way to the top of Google first, and then everyone will find out about my site.” Putting rankings before the creation of a great site is in many ways putting the cart before the horse. Often the search rankings follow from the fact that you’re getting to be well-known on the web completely outside the sphere of search. Think about sites like Twitter and Facebook–they succeed by chasing a vision of what users would want. In chasing after that ideal of user happiness and satisfaction, they became the sort of high-quality sites that search engines want to return, because we also want to return what searches will find useful and love. By chasing a great user experience above search rankings, many sites turn out to be what search engines would want to return anyway.

Zappos.com ‘ CEO has recently made an official annoucement to all its employees - the letter can be read here.

So where are you from?
Malaysia, Taiping, Perak. Taiping is one of the most amazing places in Malaysia. Do you know Taiping has the most historical records in Malaysia? It has 30 number 1 in Malaysia! Such as the 1st railway station, the 1st muzium, the 1st english school…!!! Well, as a blogger, i really wish i am good in photo shooting so that i can publish the beautiful scenery on the web. Besides, i’m a chinese education graduate, then after that spent my college time at TARC at both Penang and KL.

How long have you been blogging?
I started blogging since August 2007.

Was it a hard decision to become a full time blogger?
Not really. Coz that time just feel that if there’s a job for me to earn money, i’ll go for it. Not really thinking too much on what to work on. So then i see the opportunity is there, my interest is there, then just full force on this journey lo. anyway, once in a while i will still online search for job la. have to maximize my earning this year ma, haha~

Where do you blog and what do you blog about?
Basically i have several blogs running at this moment. some are using my “bb community” nickname, and some are using “Tom”. Anyway, I blog mostly on daily experiences, reviews, opinions. In year 2009, i plan to revamp my BB MARKET PLACE into a real market place, where readers can see business advertisment over there, shopper can buy products online etc. and of course, the most important part is some tips to tell others how to utilized internet marketing. I currently able to blog at home with my OK-speed stremayx connection. Before this, it was totally a great experiences, where I blog at coffee shop, kfc, shopping mall, and even petronas station. That time was like a homeless guy but trying to find wireless connection, haha~

Do you blog all day?
Ya, can say so. Maybe longer than normal 9am-5pm employee.

Is it easy to make money online?
Easy to make few bucks a day. Just ask your friends to click your adsense ads and join those pay-per-post programs. I’ve already made 4 digits from that in the last few months. But in fact, i’m doing it for a living. therefore, i really have to find a more efficient way to make money online. so now i’m more focus on private ad and affiliate programs.

Wow, do you also teach people how to make money online?
Ya, got put up some affiliate links for them to sign up. But never write too much on those programs anymore. Coz if a person really eager to earn money online, he will go & read the FAQ in details. No need us to write too much on them.

Since you are now a full time blogger, what is your advice for those starting to make money online?
If just want to earn extra pocket money, go sign up those PPP middleman programs such as smorty, PayPerPost. But if really looking for a long term business, please focus on personal ad. ***A reminder to those who really want to make big money online, never never write paid post by joining those middleman company.

Are you living out your childhood dreams?
Unfortunately not. I was thinking to become a doctor when i was young, haha~ Anyway, now i write a lot and i’m happy to continue writing. It was like a director of your life. You write it, audience see it.

What quick advice can you give to our readers especially for those starting to make money online?
Firstly, you have to make sure you like to blog, you like to write, you like to share. Then, you have to know what readers like, not writing long long article means people will like to read. Try to focus on an area, that’s why we called it “niche”; be at least know how to play around with keywords with your selected niche. Lastly and most important, you have to really spend your time on your business, not playing around wasting time. And of course, be very passion and interested about what you’ve chosen.

I recommend 2 of my blog links:
1. BB Market Place - bbmarketplace.blogspot.com 2. Blog Of Famer - www.blogoffamer.com

~ 12,000 pages per second / 1 Billion pages per day !!

and last year, Google has tracked over 1 trillion web pages in their giant database… growing bigger and bigger…

that means more information, more data, and more junk too!!

Identifying Your Niche

The first step is simply to identify a hungry market and in within the market, identify or expand to as many sub-niches within that market. Usually, this is a market that you have acquired some knowledge of, have some personal experience in it or perhaps it is your hobby or a special interest. To make it easier for you to understand, I will show you some examples.

Let’s say you want to work with this market: Dog Market

Why do you choose this market?
You own a dog and you enjoy everything about dogs. Okay, fine.

So you would start by brainstorming and expanding your niche and see what other sub-niches or micro-niches are there:

• dog training: dog training with a leash
• dog sitting: dog sitting in an apartment
• dog grooming tips: dog grooming tips at home for goldies
• dog bathing: reviews of dog shampoos
• dog breeding farms: legal and illegal dog breeders in singapore
• dog breeds: maltese, mini-schnauzer, golden retriever, etc.

Another example: Travel & Vacation

Reason: You just enjoy travelling every now and then. Okay.

What comes to your mind?

• budget travel in europe
• cheap flights to bangkok
• travel adventures in kenya
• beautiful islands of the world
• backpacking in asia
• best beaches in thailand for honeymoon
• destination guides for getaway couples in australia

Please note: Dog market or dog training is not a niche at all. Travel or vacation is also not a niche either. A niche has to be a mile deep and an inch wide. Keep drilling down to very specific topics. Look for a micro-niche.

So use some creativity in order to indentify as many possible micro-niches within that huge market. After getting some reasonable sub-niches you think you can work with, you want to spend much more time doing…

Research, Research, Research

This is what most people miss out and also where all the fun is. Start researching and learning about your market or micro-niches are about. Go to forums, hobby websites, competitors websites, magazines, social networking groups, special interest groups, wherever your niche is go there and find out more in detail about your niche. Listen to what your market is asking for and discussing about. This is how you are going to find out whether you can make this niche work for you.

Also find out what your competitors are doing. You would want to do some long tail keyword and trend research, understand the traffic volume, demand, market size and future growth. You may also want to check if there are any affiliate programs around, because you are looking for a niche that is also easy to monetize.

Now, ask yourself this question: How can I master and dominate this niche?

Watch out for your competitors. If this is a competitive market, you may need to work extra hard to beat your competitors and stand strong among them.

So, What will my strategy be to beat the competition or at least standout among the average competitors? Have that in mind.

Also ask yourself this: If I’m not an expert in this niche yet, do I have the passion, energy, determination, perseverence, resources and time to master this niche?

Imagine this situation, if your audience is smarter than you in this market, do you think you will be able to convince them to buy your idea?

Once you have answered those questions, you will understand why some people are making money from their choosen niche and some not. So often we hear, one’s passion on a subject can make a huge difference towards their success. For me, I always have an absolute belief that my passion will lead me towards my goals in life.

Finally, if you’re lucky, you may come across a niche where there are no competitors. Why are there none or very little competitors? It’s either the niche has very little potential or you found yourself a gold mine! I’m sure you’ll be able to figure that out.

So by now, depending on how confident you are on that niche after weighing every aspect of the niche, you are now able to decide whether that is a niche you want to go ahead with. Always go for a niche that works for you and not one that works against you. I hope you find this helpful in your internet marketing journey. Share with me your thoughts if any and whatever you’re doing in life, live your dreams!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7708329.stm

Anyway, increase PageRank you must…

In case you are trying to find out how, here are the 2 easy ways to improve your PageRank:

1. Get more one-way quality backlinks to your site.
2. Use the rel="nofollow" tag in outgoing links.

If you are a rocket-scientist, you can read this to improve your PageRank.

By the way, as some of you may know, my PageRank is still zero as I haven’t been blogging much at all until recently. As I’ll be spending more time here, my PageRank is definitely going to improve in the next 6 months.

Sha Money Maker’s Online Earnings in December 2007

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So, how much money DO YOU want to make online?

What’s The Difference Between Those Who Do And Those Who Don’t?

All I did was try.

All I did was give it a go.

I went in with the right attitude, not knowing whether it would work or not. I believed it would, and I was more pleased with myself for having done the site as it was good practice for my next one.

What’s The Difference Between Those Who Do And Those Who Don’t?