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What Every Blogger Needs To Know About SEO

2012-07-18T23:33:00.002-07:00

Find Out What You Must Know About SEO In This Guest Post Written By Deepak Gupta:

Almost every day hundred thousand of new blogs get launched over internet, which make the blogger’s world more competitive and at one point of time most of the new bloggers start feeling depressed because their blog doesn’t get as much exposure as they thought it will get while starting it. And most of the bloggers couldn’t find out what they are lacking in? The answer to this question is Search Engine Optimization. Read this article further as it will explain what every blogger needs to know about SEO or Search engine optimization. In SEO the content plays the most crucial role, therefore a blogger must be well aware of how to play with it in order to gain maximum exposure on search engines. In search engine optimization there are some other crucial factors also but before we move on to them let us begin with the content.

Content:

Content is considered to be the King in the web world, without it no one can utilize the power of internet. Therefore, you must put a lot of stress on it and make sure that it is something which is fresh and genuine because search engine and users hate duplicate and unauthentic content. Your content should include relevant facts and sources (if you have used any) so that the reader can verify it from them too (if required). To begin writing your posts select topics that you are well aware of or if you want to cover the topic that is new to you but might prove beneficial for your blog then research about it and get yourself well aware of all the facts so that your post look like as if it is written by an expert. Avoid grammatical errors, use short sentences, and write your posts in points.

Keywords:

Choose your keywords and key phrases wisely, do not opt for keywords which are being targeted by most of the bloggers. Use synonyms whenever required because targeting keywords that are already being targeted innumerable times is of no use but if you’ll use synonyms for the same keywords you might lead the race on those synonym based keywords.

Unique Post Title:

Select a unique title for each and every blog posts that are available on your blog and for the ones that you will write on in the future. The title must be enriched with keywords. Your post titles must not exceed a limit of 75 characters including spaces, so make it short but distinctive.

Use SEO plugins on your Word Press blog

You can also use some of the great SEO plugins available for your WordPress blog, which will definitely help you in promoting and maintaining your blog according to the SEO requirement and standards.

Listed below are some of the great SEO plugins:

SEO Smart Links: It offers multiple benefits to its user as they can easily customize their keywords list. It also allows the user to set no-follow attributes to avoid others from reaping the PR benefits from your blog by frequent spam commenting on your posts.

SEO Friendly Images: This plugin automatically update all existing images on your blog with ALT and Title attributes, which helps the spider bots to index the images as well.

All in One SEO Pack: It optimizes the post title and generates Meta tags for search engines automatically. The beginners can just install it and leave the rest on it, however, the advanced users can fine tune it anytime according to their needs. The best thing about this plugin is that it provides its user with such flexibility that they can override any title and set Meta description and Meta keywords as per their requirements.

Share:

Utilize the power of social media, share your content on leading social media platforms such as Google+, Facebook and Twitter. Connect with your readers by sharing data feeds using RSS feeder and weekly newsletters or post updates on their email address.

About Author

Deepak Gupta is an experienced internet marketing professional and active blogger. He is not just involved in offering top notch SEO outsourcing services to the clients of his SEO Company but also loves to make readers aware about his viewpoint on online branding and experience on various web marketing trends.

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Can You Really Make Money As A Blogger?

2011-06-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

I Have Been Talking About Becoming A Successful Blogger Online For Sometime Now - Well, I'm On My Way!

As many of you already know, it's been a while since my last post here on i-Blogger. And it's basically because this is not my main blog.

In the past I have mentioned my blog, HCG Diet 411 - Well, that is where I spend most of my blogging time. And in addition to running a blog, I also have a forum that has started to become pretty popular. I even have a full-time career.

In case you are wondering what I do, I am actually on the internet team for BMW. I do things like write content about our cars, I'm also an administrator for our Facebook fan pages, and believe it or not I even take photos of our vehicles before writing about them.

Actually, part of the reason I was able to even land the job with BMW, is because my boss had been a regular reader of this blog as well as HCG Diet 411.

And even though I'm not always posting to this blog, I enjoy doing it when I can. I like to try and help other bloggers by writing about my own blogging experiences.

But for some reason there are people out there that insist on having proof of your success before they will listen to anything you have to say. So today I have decided to show all of you what I make from my blog and the amount traffic that I receive each month.

And although I would love show you how great i-Blogger is doing, it's not anywhere near where I would like it to be. So for now I am just going to break down my monthly traffic statistics and earnings for HCG Diet 411 during the month of May.

Traffic Statistics For May 2011 (HCG Diet 411)

Visits: 32,432
Pageviews: 66,911
Bounce Rate: 67.43%

Daily Average: 1,046

And here is a breakdown of where my traffic comes from. You'll notice that a large percentage of my traffic comes from search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Below I've given you a breakdown of my earnings for the month of May 2011. Keep in mind this is only the money that I made as a result of people visiting my HCG Diet 411 Blog.

Monthly Earnings For May 2011 (HCG Diet 411)

Amazon: $80.57
Clickbank: $203.68
Adsense: $375.85
Personal Ad Space: $60.00
Affiliate Program #1: $572.38
Affiliate Program #2: $69.00
Affiliate Program #3: $159.98

Grand Total: $1521.46

As you can see it's not a ton of money, some months I make more, some months it's less, but it's growing. And I just want to be completely honest. Plus, this is from about an hour per day, 6 days per week. I used to blog 7 days a week, but I promised my wife I would spend a little less time doing it.

Another important thing to point out is I'm not just using one specific way to make money - I have a few different methods for earning income with my blog.

Actually, there are people out there that make way more money with even less traffic than I get. Remember, traffic doesn't always equal money - But it doesn't hurt either.

Keep in mind, I'm not doing this to brag or toot my own horn... Either way, it's not like I'm able to retire from my blogs earnings - Yet!

How much money do you earn from your blog each month?

As always, I would love to hear what you think - So be sure to tell me your thoughts in a comment below.

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Living The Life Of An Internet Celebrity

2010-09-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

Forget partying like a rock star, I want to party like an internet marketer!

Everyday you see these internet marketers and bloggers that are living the life of a celebrity. Doing interviews, hanging out with stars and even going to parties at the Playboy Mansion. No, that was not a typo - I said going to parties at the Playboy Mansion.

Is it really that hard to imagine, a bunch of "Computer Geeks" hanging out with gorgeous playmates at the famous Playboy Mansion - Well believe it!

But these aren't the Computer Geeks that you see in the hollywood movies; you know the ones I'm talking about - Oily hair, acne, glasses, shirts buttoned all the way to the top with their pants pulled up to their chest. Actually, it's just the opposite - These guys are slicked up, they dress well, drive fancy cars and they are always surrounded by beautiful women. That's right, no pocket protectors here. So if this is the definition of a computer geek - sign me up!

Don't believe me? Just ask my man DK, this guy even has the pictures to prove it. Just head on over to Purpose Inc. to see the evidence.

You know, watching DK's videos he seems like he'd be a cool guy to hang out with and a good friend to have too. He's always promoting his friends and talking about what amazing guys they are. Plus, he's always hanging out with the beautiful Jenny. I'm sure people go to ThinkTank just to meet her - If I could get a ticket, you better believe I'd be there. Not just for Jenny, but because it's the who's who of internet marketers. It sounds like one great time.

I've heard, the only rule of ThinkTank is... You don't talk about ThinkTank.

Actually the ThinkTank rules say...

"Each attendee will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement and a liability waiver before the event begins. This means you will promise not to discuss anything you learn at the event with anyone unless you have the (sober) permission of the person who told you"

Now if you have to sign something like that just to get in, think of all the things that are shared at this event - I'm sure it's like an information gold mine.

But these are the internet celebrities that I am talking about, people like DK, Shoemoney, John Chow, Amish Shah and the list goes on. What they do online has gained them a celebrity status and a lot of money too. The cool thing is that they are just ordinary people; so it's a big motivator to know that you can accomplish the same things, if that is ultimately what you want.

As for me, I'm ready to join the party. So hand me the contract and show me where to sign!

What do you hope to achieve online?

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And You Thought This Blogging Thing Would Be Easy

2010-09-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

I thought making a living as a blogger was supposed to be easy

A couple of years ago I started getting into affiliate marketing. I built websites, joined an affiliate program and started selling products. We'll I started offering them anyways - I really didn't do much selling at first.

But then one day everything changed for me - I came across an article that was posted on some guys blog. The article was about how blogs have the potential to bring your website a lot of traffic. There is one part of the article that has always stuck with me, and this is basically a run down of what it said...

If you want to drive traffic to your website, a blog is a great way to do it. Start a blog on blogger.com, write a few articles that link back to your website and wait for the traffic to pour in.

After reading the article, I thought to myself - this looks easy enough, I'm going to start a blog. And like I've mentioned before, my only goal at the time was to drive traffic to my websites that I built for affiliate marketing. Needless to say, it worked, well sort of. See, I did get traffic, but it didn't funnel over to my websites. However, it did help me realize how much I enjoy blogging.

In fact, I liked it so much that I decided to stop building websites and start a completely new blog from scratch. I wanted to start a blog on a topic that I knew a little more about. So I abandoned the blog that I already had, which was getting traffic, and I started another blog. It was a video game blog - as if there wasn't enough of those on the web. Unfortunately it bombed. It was shown no love by the search engines, but still I kept at it and even started another blog.

It was about 1 year after that when my wife and I started the HCG Diet 411 Blog - Well, we had talked about doing it for about a year before we actually launched it in October 2009. Either way I'm glad we did; it has been well received by the search engines and visitors alike.

This blog on the other hand has yet to gain as much momentum. But it's a fun topic to blog about. After-all, I am enjoying the journey to become a successful full-time blogger. However, the road is anything but easy; there are a lot of speed bumps and detours along the way and I've yet to reach my destination. But at least I know that I'm on the right path.

So if anyone tries to tell you that blogging is an easy way to earn money online... they're lying. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. In the beginning you'll probably spend more time with your computer than you do with your own wife. (or husband) Most people think that you can pick a template, type some words and boom, you're making money.

If people didn't think that, why does every single blog have Google AdSense all over it?

But you need to be the one to make the decision. If becoming a successful full-time blogger is something you want to take a run at, then I say go for it. However, I wouldn't go and quit your job just yet. For the simple fact that... most people that try to make a living online through blogging, give up on it within just a few months of starting. Even if you do stick with it - there are no guarantees. So make sure that you have a back-up plan.

3 Tips For People Wanting To Become Full-Time Bloggers

Don't go into it expecting too much - Otherwise you are going to feel very let down if it doesn't happen for you.
Find something that you really like to talk about - Because... you will likely have to write hundreds or even thousands of articles on the topic if you plan on being successful in that niche. So it is always better to write about things that you know a lot about.
Have a blogging schedule - I have learned through trial and error, that you can't put your blog before everything else. So set aside time for your family. And if your wife/husband tells you that you need to spend more time with the family, you better listen.

But more than anything, make sure that this is something that you want to do. Being a full time blogger is not for everyone and it's really not a quick way to earn money online. If you are looking for a get rich quick scheme, there are a lot of those to choose from online. But unfortunately, blogging isn't one of them.

Why did you first start blogging?

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Another Perk Of Having A Successful Blog

2010-09-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

I discovered yet another perk to having a successful blog.

When you work hard to build your blog, it's personally rewarding to see that it's starting to grow and become more successful every-day. Just knowing that your hard work is finally paying off is a great feeling.

But as I am starting to discover, there are many other perks as well. Things like traffic, more money and backlinks. And as of yesterday there is one more perk that I can add to my list, FREE STUFF - Yes that right, free stuff.

I know that I have mentioned before that I have 2 main blogs, this one and the HCG Diet 411 blog. Well, my other blog has had much more success than i-Blogger, but it's also a few months older too.

Anyway, yesterday this company contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying out one of their products, then tell the HCG Diet 411 Blog readers what I think of it. (a review of sorts) Of coarse I agreed. So now they are sending this product to me free of charge. The nice thing is that it's the type of product that me and my blog readers use; so my review should be very helpful to them.

The cool thing about this is... not only is it free stuff, but this company saw the HCG Diet 411 Blog, and thought that me mentioning their product in a blog post would make them more money than they would lose by giving me the product for free.

What does this tell you?

This says that...

They are smart and probably right too.
They can see from visiting my blog that my readers most likely trust the advice that I give them.
They believe in their product and brand enough to think that I will like it and give it a good review.

There is a good lesson to be learned here. You should also believe in your brand just the same as they do. Whether it's a product you've created or just the advice that you give to your readers - you should be able to give it to people for free and know that they will love it enough to spread the word.

That is basically what you are doing when you're building a blog. You give your blog posts away for free because... you are trusting that others will like your content enough to link back to it and share it with others. This in turn, will bring you more traffic, more subscribers and ultimately make you more money.

So trust and believe in your brand and others will too.

What perks do you get from blogging?

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Building A Relationship With Your Readers

2010-03-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

There are many different reasons that a blogger would want to build a relationship with their readers.

For one, your blog's readers are the reason that you are able to make money from your blog. Without them how would you build your email-list, or better yet, who would click on your AdSense Ads.

Your readers are great for bringing more traffic to your blog too, if they find your blog helpful they are more likely to link to you from their blog or website.

How To Build A Relationship With Your Readers

1. Post questions for your readers. You could ask them how they feel or what they think about a certain topic.

2. Ask your readers to comment on your posts. This is a good way to get your readers more involved with your blog.

3. Respond to your readers comments. If you leave a response to your readers comments, they will feel more of a connection with you.

4. Make your email address available to your readers. Tell them to contact you with any questions they might have. This will also build trust with them.

5. If possible, visit their blogs and leave a comment for them. When your readers see that you have visited their blog, they might then look at you like more of a friend.

All of these things can help you and your readers to have more of a relationship. This of coarse, will benefit you and your blog. It will also let them see you as a person and not just the author of some blog.

How do you connect with your readers?

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The Top Commenters Spot

2010-08-23T23:55:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed the Top Commenters Spot here on i-Blogger?

I have just added an awesome new feature to i-Blogger today - It's the Top Comenters Spot. What it will do is... the people who comment the most on i-Blogger, will have their name and URL show up on the list automatically; it starts with the person who has made the most comments on this blog.

Then, if you look a little bit lower, you will see an area which shows the most recent comments made. So everyone who makes a comment will have their name, URL, and comment show. This widget lists the last 6 comments left on i-Blogger.

Most bloggers, myself included, love to get feedback from their readers. This is why we encourage comments on our blogs. So please be sure to leave a comment before you leave and let me know what you think of i-Blogger.

What do you do to get your readers to comment more?

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Using Annotations In Google Analytics

2010-08-18T23:16:00.000-07:00

Do you use Google Analytics to track your blogs statistics?

Using Google Analytics can be quite useful for seeing how many visits your blogs gets and even where your visitors come from - Whether a visitor arrives from the Google Search Engine or from a referring site, I can see it all.

But Google Analytics can also be useful for testing out different SEO techniques and strategies that you apply to your blog.

A few weeks ago on my HCG Diet 411 Blog, I made a change to my title tag. I had already optimized it once before, but I thought if I made a simple change it could get me more visitors. Well it did.

But how do I know that it was that little change to my title tag that brought me that extra traffic, because the day that I made the change, I made an annotation using my Google Analytics account. And just a few days after I made the notation - I started seeing a spike in my blogs traffic.

How to use Annotations in Google Analytics:

First, you select the site that you want to make the annotation on.
Then, you hover over the date that you want to make the note on.
Now just click on that specific date.
The little bubble that pops up will say "Create New Annotation".
Then you just click on that and type in your note. Just be sure to click save after you are done writing.

From that point on, you should see a little note that tells you how many annotations you have when you hover your cursor over that specific date.

I like to use this feature for marking all sorts of different things. You can make an annotation for when you make a change to your blog or even just a new color scheme that you started using on one of your AdSense ads. Anything you want really. But whatever you do, just be sure to at least track your stats using Google Analytics. This is a great free tool that every blogger should be taking advantage of.

Do you use Google Analytics or some other tool for tracking your blog statistics?

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Let There Be Blogs

2010-08-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

Ready for an original i-Blogger Quote?

This is another quote that was inspired by the Bible - just like the last i-Blogger quote, Love Thy Blogger.

The original quote goes something like this...

"Let There Be Light - And There Was Light"

Of coarse I changed it up just a little bit. Now it says...

"Let There Be Blogs - And There Were Blogs"

I don't think that this one needs any explaining.

What is your favorite quote?

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What Every New Blogger Wants To Know

2010-08-08T01:24:00.000-07:00

If you are a new blogger - you might want to read this entire blog post...

I think that I can speak for all new bloggers when I say, the one question that every new blogger wonders about is...

Am I doing everything right?

When I first started building the HCG Diet 411 Blog - I had already been blogging for quite a while. So I knew right away that I was doing things right. But this is only because I had learned from my previous mistakes - Trial and error if you will.

So this just means that my other 4 blogs before this, wasn't very successful, not at all! I mean yeah they got some traffic, but I was working day and night to get it. And the sad part is that it wasn't coming from Google or any of the other search engines. You know the places that you want your traffic to come from.

During the days of my more un-successful blogs, I did a lot of reading. I read e-books on SEO, (Search Engine Optimization) e-books about getting traffic, I even read those e-books about how to build a better blog; and even though I felt like I learned everything that I needed to know, my blogs just weren't going anywhere.

But this is because I did everything backwards and half-assed. I thought that I could just kind of wing-it. However, this is not what a good blogger does. If you have read anything about me, you know that I started blogging to drive traffic to my websites, which I had built for affiliate marketing. It was during this time that I realized that I really enjoyed blogging.

So I took the blogs that I had already started and I became more serious about building my blogs. But you see, I started those blogs for all of the wrong reasons. I picked the niches that I was blogging about, because those were the type of affiliate products that I was promoting.

And what is the first thing that you learn about creating a successful blog?

Blog about something that you are passionate about! If I would have done that from the beginning, I might have had an easier time building them into successful blogs. But I didn't.

Here's What I Decided To Do

I knew that I enjoyed blogging and I definitely wanted to keep doing it. So I made the decision to start all over from scratch. But this time I was going to do things the right way.

So here's what I did...

I chose a topic that I knew a lot about, one that I had an interest in.
I decided to treat my blog more like a business.
I made the commitment to post quality content for my readers - not for the search engines.
I bought my own domain name.
I started setting goals for my blog.
I was excited about what I was doing.
I put it out of my mind that I was blogging to make money.
I got more personal with my blog readers.
I started really using analytics and testing what worked for my blog.
I used good SEO tactics.

But I think the main thing that I did was... I just really enjoyed what I was doing and I continue to enjoy it today.

Right now my blogs are nowhere near as successful as I would like them to be, but they are getting there. Plus I am having a good time building them - I think this is one of the main reasons that they continue to grow as well as they do.

Keep in mind when I talk about my blog being successful, I am mainly talking about the success that I am having with my other main blog - The HCG Diet 411 Blog. And I think this is what proves my point about how you need to enjoy what you are doing to have your blog become successful.

Weight loss is one of the most over-saturated niches, with probably the highest amount of competition. But I wasn't worried about that, I just chose to blog about something that I knew a lot about. Plus, I like blogging about the HCG Diet because it's a topic that me and my wife get to work on together. This helps us to build a relationship with our readers and with each other. And because I enjoy it, my blog has started to become very successful.

You really do need to blog for the right reasons. If you want to have a successful blog, choose to blog about what you know - Remember, you can't fake passion. You either have it, or you don't. But because I have become more passionate about becoming a successful full-time blogger - this blog is also starting to grow better than I ever thought it would.

How do you know you are doing things right?

The numbers will speak for themselves. If you are doing everything that I listed above, your search engine visibility will grow and so will your readership. You will see it in your analytics - If the lines keep going up, your doing something right. If they are straight across the board, you might want to re-think your strategy. Kind of like I did.

But the main thing is, if you are doing things right, you'll just know it!

Do you think that you are doing things right?

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A New Comment Feature For i-Blogger

2010-08-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

Have you had a problem with posting a comment on i-Blogger?

If you have recently tried to leave a comment on i-Blogger you were probably not very successful. Unfortunately - there was a problem with the comment box because this is a custom template.

However, that has all been fixed as of today. I am now using the Comment Luv Widget on i-Blogger so there should be no more problems with leaving comments.

Now every-time you leave a comment, you will earn points. The person with the highest points will have their comments show first on i-Blogger. As you know comments are huge to bloggers, so make sure to come back often and share your thoughts about my blog posts.

Do you use Comment Luv on your blog?

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Never Get Bloggers Block Again

2010-07-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

Do you ever find yourself getting Bloggers Block?

After blogging everyday for over a year, I started running out of good ideas to blog about. Well I didn't really run out of them - But when I sat down to write a post, I wouldn't remember any of the ideas that I wanted to write about.

So I started to use a notepad and a pen to remember my ideas. When my son saw me doing this he decided to help me out by getting me a "Dad's Pad". Here is the video tip that I made about this Blogging Tip:

Never Get Bloggers Block Again:

This is something that I use every single day to get blog post ideas for both of my blogs - i-Blogger and The HCG Diet 411 Blog.

Have you ever thought about writing down your blog post ideas?

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Setting A Blogging Schedule

2010-07-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

Do you have a set time that you start blogging everyday?

These days to build a successful blog, you need to have consistency. So setting a specific time to start working on your blog everyday will help you to establish a routine.

In this video I talk about the importance of setting a blogging schedule for yourself.

Setting Yourself A Blogging Schedule

So if you like to blog in the mornings more than the afternoon, set that as your start-time. This will be a big step in creating success for your blog.

What did you think of my video?

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Love Thy Blogger

2010-07-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

I thought of another great i-Blogger Quote today. This one is actually kind of biblical. Instead of re-writing a quote or saying, I decided to re-write one of the 10 commandments.

I am sure that everyone has heard this one...

"Love Thy Neighbor"

I thought it would be better if it said...

"Love Thy Blogger"

Which basically means to love thy fellow blogger. Bloggers need love too.

Do you think I'll still get into heaven?

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If You Think It - Blog It

2010-07-23T00:34:00.000-07:00

Time for another i-Blogger Quote. As I have mentioned before, some of the i-Blogger quotes that I write, are just quotes or sayings that I rewrite to make them more appropriate for bloggers. But some of them I just make up.

Today is an original Quote from yours truly. It goes...

"If You Think It - Blog It"

I thought this would be good because... I see a lot of bloggers out there that seem to blog the same things as everyone else, it's like they are afraid that if they are different, people might not like them.

But it's more likely that if you are thinking one way about something, you're probably not alone.

So the way I see it is...

"If You Think It - Blog It"

Because being different is what will set you apart from all of the other bloggers out there. So say what's on your mind - Unless you're having a bad day and you feel like telling everyone to "F--K OFF" - that's one you might want to keep in the "old vault" for another day.

What do you think about these i-Blogger Quotes? Not that it matters anyway, because - "If I Think It - I Blog It"

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Be An Original Blogger

2010-06-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

How important is it to be an original blogger?

If you ask me, this is one of the most important parts of becoming a successful full-time blogger.

Pretty much anything that you decide to blog about has already been done, this makes it hard to have an original blog topic. However if you can have an original style of blogging, that can be just as good.

10 years ago, bloggers were not as common as they are today. But these days, there are millions of bloggers all over the world. This means that originality could be the only thing that separates you, from all of them.

So what can you do to make sure that you are an original unique blogger?

3 tips to help you be an original blogger

Write your own content - Don't copy material from other blogs on the web. Stealing material from other bloggers is not only dis-honest, but in some cases illegal. Plus it's kind of hard to be original if you aren't even writing your own posts.
Do your own thing - Sometimes it can be beneficial to read other blogs in your same topic to get some ideas. But don't write about the same exact things that those other bloggers are blogging about.
Start something unique - Do something that no other blogger is doing right now. For example, i-Blogger is about the journey to become a successful blogger, yeah, there are a lot of other bloggers that write about that same topic, so what I did was... I started writing i-Blogger Quotes to be different and start something new.
Blog like you talk - Try to write your blog posts the same way that you have a conversation. Just act like you are talking to your friends or family when you blog.
Just be yourself - Let your true self come through in your blog posts and let your readers see your personality. Don't try to be somebody that you're not.

Growing up you probably heard your parents say "If everyone was jumping off of a cliff, would you jump with them", (My son always says YES) I think this applies to being a blogger too. Don't try to follow everyone else, be yourself and have fun doing it.

Because, you're either going to be an original blogger or you're going to be like an original blogger! I know that I would rather be the original blogger that others want to be like.

What do you do on your blog that's original?

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12 Blogs Worth Following

2010-07-22T01:13:00.000-07:00

Today I want to share with you a list of blogs that I think are worth following on a daily basis. These are blogs that I myself follow. I think that it is important to stay up-to-date with blogs that deliver good helpful information.

Some of these blogs have helped to shape me into the blogger that I am today. A couple of them have inspired me, while others have just had some really helpful tips. So here they are in no particular order.

12 Blogs Worth Following

Darren Rowse - www.ProBlogger.net
Yaro Starak - www.entrepreneurs-journey.com
John Chow - www.johnchow.com
David Risley - www.davidrisley.com
Chris Brogan - www.chrisbrogan.com
Search Engine Land - www.searchengineland.com
SEO Book - www.seobook.com
Matt Cutts - www.mattcutts.com/blog
Glen Allsopp - www.viperchill.com
Blogging Tips - www.bloggingtips.com
Copy Blogger - www.copyblogger.com
Steve Pavlina - www.stevepavlina.com

These are all blogs that I look to for advice on building my own blogs. I have a great deal of respect for other bloggers out there - It's not always easy being a blogger, but these guys make it look that way.

What blogs do you follow everyday?

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Top 10 Myths About Blogs And Blogging

2010-07-21T00:54:00.000-07:00

I came across this video today on You Tube, it's titled "10 Myths About Blogs". It's a list by Scott Rosenburg, with the top 10 myths that you hear about blogs. I thought it was humorous and true all at the same time. Check it out.

Top 10 Myths About Blogs

Even though this was made last year, it is still the same type of thing that you hear about blogging today.

What do you think the top Blogging myth is that you hear?

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Tips For Writing A Good Blog Post

2010-03-02T22:46:00.000-08:00

When you are writing posts for your blog, it's important that you give your readers good quality information. However, you don't want to bore your readers to death with a lengthy post.

Unfortunately, I used to have this problem myself. When I first started getting serious about becoming a full-time blogger, my paragraphs were oh-so long. But after I made a couple of changes, my posts became a lot easier to read!

Why You SHOULD NOT Write Long Paragraphs

If you write long paragraphs, people might feel a little overwhelmed when they try to read it. They will just end up skimming - rather than actually reading what you have to say.
Writing a huge paragraph looks very un-professional.
If your paragraphs are too long, it makes it harder for readers to follow along and keep their place.

Tips For Writing A Good Post

You want to write good content, but keep your article focused on one topic.
If you have a lot of information on a certain subject, break it up into a few different posts. (example: part-1, part-2, part-3)
Write smaller paragraphs. Keep your paragraphs to about 3 or 4 sentences long.

Using these tips should help to make your blog posts more reader friendly. Your readers will thank you, even if it is just your mom and dad.

Tell me what you think in a comment. Thanks for visiting i-Blogger.

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Blogger of the Week

2010-07-15T22:59:00.000-07:00

As a blogger, it is always good to get your face and blog out there for everyone to see.

So it was definitely good news to find out that Bloggers.com had named me "Featured Blogger of the Week" as of Monday.

What does this mean?

For one week - Bloggers.com places your profile picture, along with a snapshot of your blog on their home page for all of their visitors to view. Needless to say it was good advertising for the i-Blogger blog - to say the least.

This week I have received a nice surge in traffic to both of my blogs and met a lot of new bloggers as well. When you sit behind a computer all-day or night so that you can put out new content for your blog readers, which is what us bloggers do, it's nice to get some recognition from an awesome site like Bloggers.com.

So I just want to say thank you Bloggers.com for naming me Featured Blogger of the Week. The week is almost over and it has been a great one.

If you haven't yet become a member of Bloggers.com - you should go sign up now. There is a large community of like-minded bloggers to associate with. It's a great place to make new friends and view other blogs.

Have you joined Bloggers.com yet?

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1 Thing I would've Done Different As A Blogger

2010-07-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

As a blogger, is there anything that you would like to have done differently?

I know that it's best to not sit and think of things that you cannot change - But I thought that if I shared this with all of you new bloggers out there, it might help you to reach your goals just a little bit faster.

The other day I was thinking about how my blogs and even my style of blogging has changed since I first started. Over the past couple of years, I have had a few different blogs. Of course the past 9 months I have just been focusing on two, i-Blogger and the HCG Diet 411 Blog.

My blogs have both grown quite a bit in that short period of time. Probably more so with the HCG Diet 411 Blog. In fact, it was because that blog took off so quickly that I decided to start i-Blogger. I wanted to be able to blog about the different experiences that I have as I build my other blog.

However, a couple of months after starting my HCG Blog, I basically had to start all over. You see, I used sub-domain names with the other blogs that I have had in the past, so when I started the HCG Diet 411 Blog - I did the same thing. I figured that if I got a large following of readers, I would just go and purchase my own domain name then.

Of course as I mentioned before, it did do well. So that's when I went and bought my own domain - www.hcg411.info - and I am glad that I did. However, I wish that I would have done that from the very beginning.

Let me tell you why...

About 75% of my traffic was coming from Google Organic Search Results at the time and when I switched to my own domain name that traffic almost stopped completely. Luckily I was able to forward the traffic from my sub-domain name to my new one. So that kept some traffic coming to my blog.

But I still had to wait for Google to index the domain that I just purchased. Not to mention that all of the many back-links that I had received during that time, are still pointing to my sub-domain.

Then, I had to go to all of the different social media sites that I was registered with and update it there too. Places like Facebook, Twitter, Blogcatalog, Bloggers.com, Blogged and many many more.

3 Benefits of having your own domain

You own it - If at anytime you don't like where your blog is being hosted at, you can take your domain name and find another blog host. If you have a sub-domain name and you decide to change blog hosts, you have to leave it behind. You would have to start all over again.
It looks more professional - People are going to take you seriously if you have your own domain name. Could you imagine if Twitter.com was twitter.blogspot.com - It just doesn't look right.
Easier to remember - You want to have a domain name that people can easily remember. Which one are you more likely to remember i-blogger.blogspot.com or i-blogger.info

Now don't get me wrong, I think when you first start blogging if you feel more comfortable using a sub-domain name, then you definitely should. But after you learn more about blogging and you start to develop your skills as a blogger, you might want to think about purchasing your own domain.

So if you were to ask me - Whats the one thing that you would have done differently as a blogger, I would say... I would have purchased my own domain name from the beginning.

What one thing would like to have done differently as a blogger?

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Free Advertising For Poor Bloggers

2010-04-12T00:26:00.000-07:00

FYI: Today's post is just something funny that I thought of today. But if you want to take it literally, be my guest, because I think it could actually work.

Free Advertising For Poor Bloggers

Today I was reading a post on another blog, as I often do, and this guy was writing about how he was reading something on the back of a semi-truck and how some people write messages in the dirt with their finger.

Then it hit me...

What if... you were to write your blog's web address - with your finger - in the dirt - on the back of a semi truck. This is brilliant, right!

I mean think about it...

We live in a world full of technology, with all of the internet ready cell phones and laptops, people all over the country would see your blog's URL and be able to visit your blog right then and there. You know that people would be sitting there bored and wondering... (The Passengers not the drivers)

Hmmm... Why would somebody put that on a semi? I've got to find out.

Then they pull out their iphone, laptop or whatever they use, and type it in. That's what I call... Getting traffic from traffic, literally.

I'll tell you what - I am going to try out this little experiment. The next dirty semi-truck that I see, I will write my URL in the dirt with my finger www.i-blogger.info - Then, I'll keep a close eye on my stats to see if I get a spike in "Direct Visits" to my blog.

I'll let you know what happens!

So there you have it, that's my "Free Advertising For Poor Bloggers" idea. I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I liked writing it.

Remember, to try have fun with your blog readers every once in a while too! Blogging for hours a day can sometimes get old. It's good to break up the monotony with something that you don't normally do.

Have you ever written a blog post just to be funny?

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What Is A Blog

2010-06-11T23:18:00.000-07:00

These days, most people have a blog or at least know what one is. But for those of you that don't, you're in luck.

Today, I have decided to go back to the basics with this post.

As many of you know... i-Blogger is a blog about the journey to become a successful full-time blogger and you can't do that unless you know what a blog is. Which brings me to the first question.

What is a Blog?

Blog, which is short for the term weblog, is basically an online journal where you can write down your thoughts, ideas, opinions or anything else that you want people to read. A blog is a great way to share photos and stay in touch with family and friends. Plus, when you use a blog to share information with your family, you don't have to worry about paying an expensive long distance phone bill each month.

Blogs come in many different styles. But it all depends on what the bloggers personal preferences are. Some bloggers like to use videos and others even use music. These days you can add just about anything that you want into your blog posts.

What is a Blog Post?

A blog post is usually made up of:

A Title - This allows you to give your blog post a name.
A Body - This is the content of your post. Every time you add more content to your blog, you are usually writing a new blog post.
Post Labels - These are so that you can label the content of each individual blog post.
Trackbacks - These are so that other people can create a link back to a particular blog post.
Permanent link - Each time you write a new blog post, it will have its own URL.
Comments - This allows your readers to post comments on your blog. It's great for communicating with your readers.

How do you get a blog:

If a person wants to start blogging, all they have to do is sign up with a blog host like Blogger or Wordpress. These are both free blog hosting companies that pretty much anyone can join.

What most bloggers have in common:

People will usually start blogging for many different reasons - some do it for personal reasons, financial reasons, religion and some people just like to write. But the one thing that most bloggers have in common is... They all want to make money with their blogs. Many of them will monetize their blogs with Google AdSense, Bidvertiser, or some other advertising company.

A lot of companies can and do benefit from having a blog. This allows them to promote their business through their blogs. With millions of people surfing the web every single day, blogging can be a great way to reach potential customers that they might not normally have access to.

Blogging has become popular all over the world. My favorite thing about having a blog is... There are no rules when it comes to blogging. Bloggers have the freedom to express themselves any way they want.

Do you like the idea of having a blog?

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I Don't Work For Google - Google Works For Me

2010-07-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

If you want to know how to make Google work for you - keep reading!

A couple of days ago I was at the bank depositing some cash and a check into my account - I handed my check to the teller and as I was getting my Drivers License out - she looked at me and said...

"So, do you work for Google or something"

I didn't know what she was talking about at first - So I looked down at my cloths to make sure that no-one had slipped a Google shirt on me when I wasn't looking, and I said...

"Mmm No - Why do you ask"

Of course right when I said that it hit me - she was talking about the check that I had just handed to her. The check was from Google, it was my AdSense earnings for the month.

Just as soon as I realized what she was talking about, I told her...

"No, I'm a blogger - the check is money that I had earned from Google, by having AdSense on my blogs"

When I tell people that I'm a blogger and that I earn money through my blog, I usually get 1 of 2 responses.

What's a blog?
How can you make money blogging?

She responded with the 2nd one. Now normally I would sit and explain, however, because I was in a bank I didn't want to hold up the line. So instead I just told her to come check out one of my blogs and it would make a little more sense.

It's funny that when the bank teller first saw the check, she automatically thought that I worked for Google. But the truth is, I got the check because Google works for me.

We as bloggers have to learn, how to make Google work for us if we want to make money with AdSense. Here are a couple of tips to help you out.

3 Things To Make Google Work For You

Pick your ad formats wisely: When you are monetizing your blog, make sure that you choose the right size and shape for your AdSense. You want to make it look like the ad belongs there; like it's just part of the blog.
Choose the right colors: Try to use the same colors for your ads, that you use on your blog. So if the links on your blog are red and your text is black, make the title of your ads red and the text black as well.
Don't cluster up your blog with ads: Just because Google allows you to show a maximum of 3 text/image ads and 3 text links on your blog at any given time, doesn't mean you should. You don't want to pile all of the ads on top of each other. Try to put some space around your ads. This should help make them more noticeable to your visitors.

Following these three things have made Google work for me. If you start using them, along with a few other key ingredients, they should help make Google work for you too.

Does Google work for you?

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How To Become A Pro-Blogger

2010-03-05T02:11:00.000-08:00

Do you dream of one-day becoming a full-time blogger?

Everyone at one time or another, has dreamed of being somebody famous. Who hasn't fantasized about being a big movie star or musician? And I know we've all dreamed about winning the lottery or somehow striking it rich?

You might be dreaming right now, maybe your dreaming of becoming a "Pro-Blogger" and quitting your day job. However, this dream might be closer than you think.

Most people have big plans and dreams for their future. Sadly for most of us, our plans and dreams never become reality. Instead of getting to experience these exciting adventures in life, we get caught up in our boring 9 to 5 jobs and paying taxes, we never really take those crucial steps to make our dreams happen.

Life would be so much better, if only we could learn to shoot for the stars. The biggest reason that most people can never make their dreams come true, is that we have trained ourselves to think, I can't do this, that's impossible or No one could do that.

If you limit yourself with self-doubt, you will never be able to break past what you believe to be impossible. But, if you reach too far up into the clouds without working toward your goal, you will find yourself hanging on to an impossible dream. Which I think is even worse!

You see the main focus here - is to not limit yourself. You want to aim high and start working towards that goal little by little. However, it's not to smart to set a goal that is unrealistic.

Just think, if you had told someone one-hundred years ago that you could send mail (email) from here to the other side of the world in just a few seconds, they would say you were crazy. But because people out there dare to dream - we can actually do things everyday, that was once impossible.

If you were to ask any "Pro-Blogger" out there about how they got to where they are today, they would tell you hard work, discipline, and a lot of sleepless nights behind a computer screen.

Keep Your Dream Alive

Don't limit yourself. Think big and work hard to reach your goals - whatever they may be. As you go on the journey to become a successful full-time blogger, you will see that your dream - is almost a reality.

If it is your dream to make a living as a Pro-Blogger, I say go for it. Don't let anyone try to stop you, because to do this you will have to be determined. In the beginning you're not going to see a lot of pay-off, but that can't stop you, keep working at it and you will be glad you did.

Do you make money from your blog?

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