iBlogZone by diTesco

Forget Making Money Online - It Sucks #2

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:49:00 +0000

Welcome to the second part of this mini-series. In case you missed out the making money sucks #1, I recommend you to read it now. If you are not included amongst those that have not read part one yet, then read on.

Does Making Money Online Really Suck?

In the first part of this series, I have received comments were many of you disagreed with this statement. Since, I am not yet ready to give you the conclusion, I will continue on giving you reasons, why I think making money online sucks.

7) I hate HTML - So do I. But I have to learn how it works. At least the basics, like setting up a link with a nice anchor text and all. You do not have to be a programmer or a tech savvy, but trust me when I say that it helps a lot. Take some time to get familiarized with terms and basic coding. It pays off in the long run. Here is an awesome online school to start.

8) Too much competition - Exactly. So you thought that you have found that perfect niche where there is no one else but you. You write a killer post and 15 seconds later you are wondering why it is still not on the #1 spot on Google. Well, maybe you should wait at least 30 minutes and type the full title you used with quote (“”), and I am sure that it will be on number 1 (provided your website is already indexed).

9) Affiliates are a tough sell - Nobody buys anything, you may say! Wrong. There are millions of people buying stuff online every day. The problem is that they are just not buying it from you. Why? You are not using the right strategy. People do not know who you are or where to find you. Answer this question. Why are they going to buy something from a stranger? First, build your credibility and trust. Then everything else works like a breeze. And a word of advice, endorse products or services that you can trust, otherwise forget it.

10) I need a list - Yet another list. As if my daily to do list, shopping list, is not enough. Actually I am not talking about this type of list, but rather your opt-in list, a list of people who subscribed to receive something from you, e.g., newsletters, hot deals, etc. Building a list is not complicated. The complicated part is to have people read and act on it. There are many tips out there that should give you some pointers on how to manage your list.

11) I have to give something for free - Now that sucks. You want to make money online and yet you have to give something for free. Why, because it is definitely one way to build an opt-in list while at the same time building your credibility. If you are able to write on your blog then you should have no problem writing a small ebook on a certain hot subject. Include affiliate links where appropriate and give it for free in exchange for subscribing to your newsletter. There is also a way to make money online by giving away stuff for free.

12) I can´t click on my own ads - This is by far, one that sucks the most. And yet the temptation on trying to game the system is present. You know that this is not recommended and will only get you to trouble. So don't do it. Period

13) I have to do that SEO thing - We all need to be found one way or another. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the technique we use to increases our chances of being found by users who are searching for something specific. The more optimized your website is, the better. So now is the time to update the formula: No website = NO HTML = No SEO = No Promotion = No List = No Credibility = Nobody. Nobody = No money

14) They lied to me about making money on autopilot - I bought this ebook for only $47 and showed me how to reap thousands a month. Just like the ebook said, click the button and then sit back and relax. Well, I'm about to have a serious problem, because up until now, I'm still sitting and having a hard time to stand up and go grab another coffee:). Despite all this hard effort, no money - go figure

The conclusion:
As I said in the beginning, many of you had disagreed that making money online sucks. I totally agree with all of you. After all, why in the world does making money suck? The purpose of this series was not to discourage, but rather open your eyes that, if you are serious about trying to make a decent income online, then, everything I said here does not necessarily suck.

Making money online is a LOT OF WORK. Understand this and you are good to go. If on the other hand, you are not ready for all this yet, maybe you need to re-evaluate if you got what it takes to make money online. Now, if you think that all of the above is something you can do, congratulations, you are amongst the few who will stand out and eventually succeed. Just don't give up. And remember, every bit counts....

DiTesco's Weekly Echo #9

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:14:00 +0000

Yet another week has gone by, and hopefully you all had a great week. This past week has been again very interesting and apart from the usual mentions, I am adding a new topic, which are the weekly roundups of other blogs that I have encountered and found very interesting to share with you all.

As usual, in no particular order:

Theme Authenticity Checker: Scan all of your theme files for potentially malicious or unwanted code. Be aware of advertisements or dangerous JavaScript inserted into legitimate themes by third party theme download sites.

Google Wave Simplified: How it Basically Works: If you are new or don't know anything about Google wave, then you will find this article very interesting.

Text Link Checker Tool: This tool, which was introduced to me by Heather (see below), will scan the links on your website, and on the pages that your website is linking to and flag possible problem areas. This can greatly ease your SEO efforts.

30 Great Twitter Tutorials and Useful Tips from Around the Web: An awesome compilation of, well, Twitter Tips and Tutorials.. What else!

21 Offline Marketing Ideas for Your Online Business: Who said that all your online marketing efforts should only be done online? These offline tips will certainly help boost your online business.

Fix Wordpress Feedburner Feeds Not Updating: A simple way to fix your WP feeds. It is simple now that Justin has found this simple solution. If you have problems with your feeds not updating, give this a try.

Read My Lips: Twitter Lists Are Meant to be Exclusionary: Being included in someone’s Twitter list can make your day. What if you are not? Should you feel bad? Find out more...

10 eco-friendly food trucks: Food venders go green. The budget-friendly mobile food business is booming, and now street vendors are stepping up and going green.

Google Dashboard Sets Lead On Privacy Issues: A shameless promotion of my posts that I am sure many have missed out due to being under the Technology tab of my website:) Anyway, this is a recently released new product from Google that addresses User's Privacy Concerns.

The RoundUps:

Sunday Smash 25 Blogs, Bloggers and Blogging Tips

“Sunday’s Best” Top Blog Posts of the week

How to Manage a Special Space on Weekly Rounds and Series Posts for Famous Bloggers Blog?

Weekly Round Up – YouTube, iTunes, WordPress Plugins

Special Mentions:
These four awesome bloggers are in a hiatus right now due to their participation in the NaNoWriMo, an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world. It is tough to write a novel from scratch and moreover with 50.000 words. Please join me to help support their websites while they are all enduring their tasks. Visit them once in a while as I am sure there are plenty of blog posts that will be to your liking.

That's it. Enjoy!

Forget Making Money Online - It Sucks #1

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:48:00 +0000

Does Making Money Online Really Suck?

It depends! Making money online is for everybody, but it is really not for everybody. What does this mean? It means that anyone can make money online, but not everyone can make a decent amount of income, or better yet, fail to succeed. Today, I am opening the secrets that lies beneath the most coveted niche on the sphere and I will lay it down for you. The plain truth about making money online.

1) It's Not Easy - I'm a fool thinking that all the following below are just a "Myth". Whatever happened to "quick cash" and "easy money"? I Google the damn terms and I get millions of results. Why does it not work for me? Well, read on...

2) I need to have an online presence - Well not necessarily, but it will certainly help if you have a website or a blog. There are many ways you can make money without a website or blog, if you prefer to choose this path. Nevertheless, it is strongly recommended that you have one.

3) I have to write quality articles - Now, what in the world does this mean. Quality articles? Hmmm, nobody told me that I had to set up a Department of Quality and Control. I love to do #3 below and that should be good enough, right? Wrong.

3) I can't use other people’s content - Hey, copy and paste is a hard job. Sometimes I have to correct the spelling of the content I'm using, and that is a very complicated thing to do. I even change the image, which sometimes does not have anything to do with the article. That's quality all right, but it is quality copying and not writing.

Quality articles are set to provide something of value to your readers. It should be unique (you, your opinion, your own voice), and not copied. Otherwise it is not you and you will never gain credibility that way. Better be wrong about your own opinion (controversy in the making), than boasting about something that is not yours. No credibility = no money (hah! that's different from no traffic = read on…)

4) I need a lot of traffic - What? I am sick and tired of traffic, reason why I quit my day job in the first place. I hate to confront traffic everyday and now you are telling me that I must have traffic. Well, "up yours", I don't need that aggravation... That's a fantastic statement for the offline world. Online, your website needs traffic (people visiting your website), period. Now for the formula: no website = no credibility = ...read on

5) I have to do too much promotion - You write something like this: "Hey check this out! The picth after this, "blah, blah, get rich.....". Now, you bookmark this, send broadcasts, Tweet it, Stumble, Digg, and the list goes on. Nothing happens.. still no moolah. Maybe you are promoting it in the wrong place. Try using the "organic" tactic - YES, SEO (what's this?) - more about that later.

6) I have to socialize/interact/comment on other blogs - Building a network of friends, interacting with the community and all that stuff are one of your best methods of promoting yourself and your website. You did hear about "word of mouth" and the power that lies behind it, right? There is your answer. Now to update the formula: No website = No Promotion = No Credibility = read on….

Oooppss. Actually, this is the reason why I said #1. I'm stopping this here to give way for my weekly echo #9. Part #2 is already finished, but that will be a couple of days after the echo, so you really do not want to miss that. Here's a taste of what comes next:

* Too much competition
* I need a list
* I have to give something for free
* I can't click on my own ads
* I have to do that SEO thing
* I hate HTML
* Affiliates are a tough sell
* I have to disclose paid post
* They lied to me about making money on autopilot
* The conclusion :)

What do you think so far? Do you agree with me that making money online sucks? What other reasons besides what I said until now will further confirm this statement? Leave them here so I can adjust #2 of this mini-series. Until then.

Amazon's Make Money With Twitter Program

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:01:00 +0000

Amazon.com makes a big turnaround

A few months ago, Amazon had said that they will no longer accept referrals from certain sources of traffic. This included Twitter and at that time, Amazon Associates were quite shocked with the news. Today, another breaking news from Amazon was sent to their Associates stating that they have launched a new feature called Share on Twitter. While this is not exactly sharing, it is an attempt from Amazon to further boost its earnings and can help their affiliates to make more money online. Here is a small blurb of the email:

Dear Associate,
Today we are excited to announce the launch of a new feature called Share on Twitter. You can access Share on Twitter from the Site Stripe and post to your Twitter account from Amazon detail pages in just two clicks.

The Share on Twitter feature is easy to use. .....
......You’ll have the option to edit this message or simply hit the ‘Update’ button to post to your Twitter account. When Twitter users click on the link in your post and make a qualifying sale, you’ll earn referral fees. That’s it.

So why can this be good for Amazon Associates:
If you have a good followers base on Twitter, it is most likely that some of them will eventually click on your links. As Amazon states in their email, when a user clicks on these links and buys products you get paid referral fees. Another thing that I really find interesting is that with this feature, it is now very easy to promote Amazon products on Twitter. Just select any product that you think is interesting (maybe some of the best sellers), hover your mouse over the "share on twitter" button located on the site stripe (a management toolbar on top of the page, which you have to be logged in your account to have access to this), click and you be will redirected to Twitter (through OAUT). At this point you can edit the Tweet (if you want) or simply, hit update. Here is an example:

I tried it and it works just fine (see below - oooopppsss just testing guys). Furthermore, it is shortened by bit.ly so it won't say that it is an affiliate link.

The Dark Side:
While this is good, it can have a negative effect on you and your followers. Some of them might not like the idea of you sending them to buy products so you will have to use this wisely. For example, If you really think that there is a good deal that some of your followers may be interested in, I think it is OK. Also, you should use it sparingly and not bombard your followers with these type of links. For what its worth, set up a different account and send tweets from there. This way you do not run the risk of loosing your followers.

That's it. If you are not yet an Amazon Associate, you can read the Building Your Own Online Shopping Store With Amazon and find out more about it or read the Amazon FAQ about Social Networking.

So what do think? It this a wise move from Amazon? Do you think that others will follow?

DiTesco's Weekly Echo #8

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:01:00 +0000

The Echo, which is published every week, comprises of mentions (no specific number) from the several blogs and websites I have visited during the course of the week and also some other information that are equally interesting for my readers. This week, I have a special mention, which you can all find below, right after the featured posts.

Again, in no particular order:

7 Reasons Why Google AdSense Sucks: Chad Randall's guest post on John Chow's blog. Interesting post about trying to convince Google to disclose what percentage of your revenue they keep and force them to pay out all monies owed to small site owners.

Post Titles, Page Titles & Title Elements – Why POSH matters: Have you heard that WordPress gives 85% SEO, right out of the box? Do you believe that? What's the answer?

Bloggers With Authority Are Made For Success: Typhoon tells us about the 3 basic principles of being a blogger with authority.

Ethics in the World of Affiliate Marketing: Nicholas Cardot has beat me to writing this post about why he only endorses products or services he can believe in:)

$1,500 Thanksgiving Giveaway: Jaypee has gone wild this week by deciding to thank all his supporters 1.500 times.

10 flu-fighting foods: Buried in the controversy over whether to get the H1N1 vaccination (or even where to find one), Dave Grotto, reveals 10 foods that provide top doses of the vitamins and nutrients you need to protect and defend against illness.

How to add Hundreds of Subscribers to your FeedBurner Stats in one day?: Good post for those who want to increase their RSS readers in a flash.

If you want to be somebody, be yourself: With responsibility and productivity comes great rewards. With determination and commitment comes success. With success...

Sunday Smash Blogging Tips, Contests, Google and Pictures: ExtremeJohn's weekly roundup. Just keeps getting better..

Real work-at-home jobs: Computers and high-speed Internet access mean new, better-paying choices for people who want the flexibility and convenience of careers that don't require an office-building cubicle.

Special Mention:

Sampaguita, owner and author of Home Affiliate, due to personal reason has decided to sell her blog. While our work is priceless, Sampaguita is more concerned about someone actually continuing an effort which she has started. The amount she is asking is ridiculously cheap, compared to the quality content she has over there. If you or anyone you know might be interested, head over there and send her an email.

That's it for this week. Let me know what you think?

Thanksgiving Giveaway - The $1.500 Bonanza

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:43:00 +0000

Yes. You read that right. When I first saw this, I did not believe it myself. The first question that comes to your mind is who in the world at this present state will give away a whopping $1.500 worth of prizes? Well, look no further, a friend of mine is hosting and sponsoring one if the biggest contest I have ever seen. Jaypee Habaradas of JaypeeOnline.net is "giving" away $1.500 worth of prizes that ranges from cash, to premium WordPress themes and web hosting. As he says on his blog, "This is my way of expressing my gratitude for all the blessings I’ve received this year including the recent achievements and success". If you still do not know, JaypeeOnline has recently been awarded the Best Technology Blog in the prestigious Philippine Blog Awards of 2009.

Here is what you are bound to receive (if you get lucky and follow the rules):

1st Prize
Pro Plus All-Theme Package from StudioPress ($199.95)
Single Theme License from Pro Theme Design ($79)
Single Theme License from Press75 ($75)
Single Theme License from WP Zoom ($49)
1 Year Theme Club Membership from Elegant Themes ($19.95)
1 Year Hosting w/ Free Domain from DreamHost courtesy of Jehzeel Laurente
$50 Cash via PayPal from Jehzeel Laurente

2nd Prize
Single Theme License from Pro Theme Design ($79)
Single Theme License from Press75 ($75)
Single Theme Package from StudioPress ($59.95)
Single Theme License from WP Zoom ($49)
1 Year Freedom Plan Hosting from WP Web Host ($80)
$25 Cash via PayPal from JaypeeOnline

3rd Prize
Single Theme License from Pro Theme Design ($79)
Single Theme Package from StudioPress ($59.95)
Single Theme License from WP Zoom ($49)
Single Theme Licenses from WP Now ($29)
1 Year Freedom Plan Hosting from WP Web Host ($80)
$10 Cash via PayPal from JaypeeOnline

Consolation Prizes
Single Theme Package from StudioPress ($59.95)
Single Theme Licenses from WP Now ($29)

SPONSORS:
1. StudioPress
2. Pro Theme Design
3. Press75
4. WP Zoom
5. WP Now
6. Elegant Themes
7. WP WebHost
8. Jehzeel Laurente

There you have it. Join the wagon, have fun and in the process you might just get lucky and win. Details of the contest can be found on Jaypee's Blog. Good Luck and make sure to tell Jaypee that DiTesco sent you there, lol.

Website Keyword Discovery Tool

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:39:00 +0000

Recently, I have introduced to all of you a SEO Tool that tracks your website positions for keywords or key phrases for a specific URL on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. KPMRS (Keyword Position Monitoring Report Service) is a tool that will inform you of changes in your web rankings for your targeted keywords, as it happens, by email. As I was checking today my new rankings, I’ve found out another feature that I have overlooked the last time I mentioned about this tool. This feature is called the website discovery tool.

What is the website discovery tool?

This tool is a one of a kind weapon for your SEO Arsenal. What this tool does is that it shows you a list of new keywords for which your website was discovered and clicked on through Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines on a specific date. Say that your website receives some traffic from search engines for multiple keywords, say 100 visits from 40 different keywords daily. At this point, it is very complicated to find out if your website was discovered for any new keyword (if any), unless you download your keywords and start analyzing them manually. What I like about this tool is that it will do this job automatically giving you the information you need at a click of a button.

Here is an example of a report generated today for iBlogZone. While this might not seem much to you, please note that these are new keywords that received clicks through to my site yesterday.

To use this tool, you need to have a Google account and Google Analytics tracking installed on your website. You then authorize KPMRS (OAUT) to integrate your Google Analytics account with your KPMRS Account in order to generate this report.

DiTesco's Weekly Echo #7

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:31:00 +0000

Another week has gone by and Echo is now #7. Can't believe how time flies. This week, there are "new blogs on the block" and I could have easily picked more than my average 10 mentions. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this week's selection.

In no particular order:

You’re the World’s Coolest Blogger If Only…: An introduction to Google Wave? Read the article and watch the video, it is hilarious.

I Am Going To Steal Your Ebook!: An article Retweeted by Jan, this post will show you how to avoid the "dangers" of selling your ebook (if you have any).

2 Social Integrations From Google: Two social integrations that Google recently announced. With Twitter being integrated into Google (and Bing), Nick raises two interesting questions as to how this ~~will~~ might work in the future.

Creative inspiration takes flight at the Kephart compound: Halloween crafts for kids. Breaking; spider webs are now "square":)

Garys Social Media Count: This little Flash app developed by Gary (which is in constant development), shows how active & dynamic the Social Web is. Amazing numbers, must see.

Sunday Smash Blogging Tips and Weekly Link Luv: ExtremeJohn's Sunday smash: Need, I say more?

Friday Flick Find: Microsoft App Lab & Apple On Windows 7’s Broken Promises: Microsoft has decided to join Weekly Echo with many new announcements this week:) From, BingTweets to Windows 7, they obviously did not miss out how their designers develop applications for Windows Mobile devices.

EasyComment to assist you in Commenting: A FireFox extension which makes commenting a breeze. No excuses now with this great app. Use it wisely:)

Little changes can save a lot of water: Choose chicken over beef, install a low flow shower head, and skip the eggs for a bowl of cereal and save hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a year.

How to green your coffee: Do you like coffee? Here are top five ways to green your coffee.

Top Referrers:
Google
SU
Bing
JsKit
BlogCatalog
Twitter

That's it. Now time to follow those links and let me know what you think. Have a great week ahead.

What Does Google Know About You?

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:34:00 +0000

When starting a website or blog, one of the most common tips you will find on the internet is choosing the right niche or topic. Normally, you will already have a clear picture of what your website is about and at a certain point of your journey, your readers too.

To further build your readership base, it is also important that search engines understand what your site is about. The coveted #1 on Google’s rankings is a dream come true for many and in order to get to that spot, you have to implement acceptable SEO techniques, provide value for your readers and focus on your sites brand or image of yourself. Having a powerful identity online will make it easier for search engines to know the topicality of your site and will be very helpful for you in the long term. Google uses several ranking algorithms and one of them analyzes and associate terms and topics to your brand, usually your name (gravatar) or your site, if you don’t have an official brand name like Google:)

So, what does Google think of your site?
Fortunately, there is no need to theorize on what Google thinks about your site. For those who have not yet heard of the wonder wheel, I have made a simple introduction to this tool on an article I wrote about the 3 step guide to simple SEO article writing. This is probably one of the tools I use the most. Anyway, let me give you an example as to what Google thinks about iBlogZone.

Fire up the wonder wheel and Google returns the following for iBlogZone:

That’s just about right. Only thing missing there is internet marketing and I will just have to be patient and wait until Google finds out more about my site. If you noticed, Google also associates iBlogZone to DiTesco (wonder who this guy is). Let’s click on that and see what happens. This will explode another wheel.

Yep! Still right and clicking on Google affiliate program will return iBlogZone #3 (just under Google’s first two). Not bad:)

Finally, you can also click on related searches. In iBlogZone’s case, it returns the following:

As you can see, I believe that Google pretty much knows what my site is about and that, can be a relevant factor when determining my web ranking results.

What about you? Give it a try and see what Mr. G has to say about you. It can be fun or frustrating, and unfortunately, there is nothing that you can do, except to focus on your sites topic. Google will reward you for that eventually.

Make Money Online With No Ads?

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:51:00 +0000

Well, not exactly and let me explain. All of you know that one form of making money online is by displaying ads on your website. On the other hand, it is also true that ads have been proven to be one of the most annoying things on a website, especially if your ads are all over the place, creating hurdles for your visitors to find where your content is located at. There are even some that hesitate displaying ads on their websites, thinking that it might drive loyal readers away.

Here is an interesting question. How can you have the best of both worlds? Meaning, is it possible to display ads only for certain type of visitors? The answer is YES and I suggest you to read on.

Revenue - Made For search engines

I think it is pretty much understood that we all have different types of visitors (or sources if you prefer).

The non-search engine visitors: Our friends, online buddies, loyal readers, visitors from Twitter and Social sites, friend’s blog rolls, etc. These, are those who visit your website on a regular basis. They visit your website because you have been referred to by somebody. These are the people who enjoy reading what you have to say. These are the people that are less likely to be qualified buyers or potential revenue sources :)

The search engine visitors: These are those that will most likely be looking for something to buy or something very specific. In some cases, search engine users may land on your page and decide that there is nothing there for them. They quickly hit that back button, making your "bounce rate" stats look ugly. At this point, you may just have lost one potential source for conversion.

The Now You See Me Now You Don't Ad

If you are a regular reader of my blog or have arrived here from a referral site, such as Twitter, Stumble Upon or through one of my friend's blog, you will most likely see my homepage this way:

On other hand, if you have arrived from a search engine, first, welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy your stay :) Let’s move on. As I was saying, if you did land here through organic traffic (search engine), then you will most likely see my homepage, like this:

Introducing Chitika Premium Ad Revenue Program

Unlike other contextual advertising programs, which will display ads no matter what, Chitika is an online advertising network that capitalizes on your websites organic traffic. This means that ads will only show to visitors that arrive from search engines. If someone lands on your page that is not coming from a search engine, then Chitika will simply not display any ads at all. That's cool!

Some advantages:
- Not annoying for your regular visitors. You obviously will still have your other ads (or not), such as banners and stuff, but they will all be discretely placed in a place where it can be seen but at the same time, not act as a "shield" for your content.
- Search targeted. Ads appearing on your website will display results based on the users query.
- Works with Google’s AdSense and low minimum payout ($10 on Paypal)
- No more ads for your regular visitors. A search engine user who eventually decides to be your loyal reader will no longer use a search engine. Rather, they will visit your site directly. In this case no ads? How cool is that?

The disadvantage:
Chitika capitalizes on your SEO traffic, so the more organic traffic you have, the better. Should you decide to display Chitika Ads on your website, don't forget to take action on those many SEO techniques you have learned, to increase your revenue potential. Another drawback (it depends) is that at this moment, it will only work for visitors arriving from the US and Canada. Then again, you still have AdSense, right?

There you go. Now there is no excuse for having ads splattered all over the place. Sign up for your free Chitika account and good luck.

Oh and before I forget, no disclosure here (except for that link, which is a shameless referral link) as I have not been paid to write this post (I wish, lol). I don't want this Mr. FTC guy sniffing around and saying that I am not complying with the FTC guidelines :)

DiTescos Weekly Echo #6

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:12:00 +0000

It's time again for yet another weekly roundup (number 6 and counting). This week, apart from the usual mentions from the several blogs or websites I have visited, I will also include my top referrers of the week. Maybe next week, I will come up with something different, but until then...

In no particular order:

A Newbies Journey to Making Money Online: A four part series that tells you a story about a certain "Johnny" who wants to be rich by making money online. The problem is...

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Read a "true" story about a 14 year old boy who changed his life (and of many other people), buy taking action on what he believed in. This is really very inspiring.

New Twitter Social Proof: Are You on Everyone’s List Yet?: Twitter's new cool feature explained. Didn’t know about this feature until, I read this article. And now I am using it like crazy:)

8 Features You Should Know About Su.pr: If you have been using Su.pr and you think you already know its features, think again.

A Poem For Halloween The Night Of Frights: Sire writes this poem about a scary night when you’re home alone. Thing is, he ended the poem with a bit of a twist. Now what would that be? Only one way to find out..

Sunday Smash Link Luv, Twittley for Twitter, Yahoo Meme: ExtremeJohn's own weekly roundup. The good just got better.

How to start blogging in a web 2.0 environment: If you have not yet heard of BlogEngage, you are missing out a great community. Believe it or not, Brian only started to blog after he created this awesome social networking site.

9 Useful Twitter Retweet Button Scripts For Blogs: I didn't even know there are so many of them:) Cleth not only tells you which ones they are, he also shows you how to get them up and running.

The 15 most toxic places to live: Hopefully you don't live in anyone of these places. See, the 15 most polluted places in the world.

Top Referrers:
Google
Bing
StumbleUpon - Su.pr
BlogCatalog
Twitter
Extremejohn

Enjoy!

AdSense Expands With Promoted YouTube Videos

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:05:00 +0000

About a week ago, Google officially launched yet another form for advertisers to reach their audience. This form is called YouTube Promoted Videos, which will now appear in AdSense ad units. Promoted YouTube videos feature a thumbnail image containing three lines of text, and will be contextually targeted to AdSense publisher’s pages. When clicked, AdSense publishers will earn from these ads on a CPC (Cost-Per-Click) basis.

With this addition, it is expected that promoted video advertisers will drive up the competition, as they will be competing on Google’s standard ad auction. This means that AdSense publishers can expect higher payouts as CPC increases. The ad formats will be basically the same as the current ones you already know, them being, 300x250 Medium Rectangle, 336x280 Large Rectangle, 728x90 Leaderboard, 250x250 Square, and 200x200 Small Square.

Watch Google’s pitch of YouTube Promoted Videos below:

<a href="http://www.linkedtube.com/YNeL_eUOY8887724da3f523c6b6a8a85542fbf06674.htm">LinkedTube</a>

YouTube Promoted Videos vs. Video Ads

By now, you may be wondering what the difference is between one and the other. Are far as video is concerned, you guessed right, there isn’t any. The main difference between one and the other is that Video Ads are classified as image ads, and when displayed on your website, can be played within your ad space (user will not leave your site). The URL found on the bottom of the video, when clicked, will take the user automatically to the advertiser’s website.

YouTube promoted video on the other hand, when clicked, will bring the user to watch a video or view a channel on YouTube.

Unfortunately, at this time, these ads are only available in English to US publishers, but as with everything Google, you can expect them to start rolling out this new form of advertising to other locations and languages, soon.

So, what do you think? Is this another form of Google widening further its tentacles into the online advertising arena? If you are an AdSense publisher, do you believe that this will be of some advantage to you? Share your thoughts with us.

Blog Action Day 2009 #BAD09

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0000

What is blog action day?

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day on their own blogs with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 will be the largest-ever social change event on the web. One day. One issue. Thousands of voices.

The issue of this day is "Climate Change". Take action and make your voice heard. To participate, click on the banner located right there --->

Blog Action Day #BAD09 - iBlogZone

Join the movement guys. Take action now! Blog Action Day 2009

Google Affiliate Network's AdSense Payment Integration Complete

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:26:00 +0000

Having posted an article about some important changes on Google's Affiliate Program a while ago, this is just a friendly reminder for publishers marketing this program. Effective September 21, all publishers should have already linked their accounts into an AdSense account, in order to get paid in October. If you have not yet linked your account, you will not get paid until November (provided of course that you have something to receive).

OK then. So what's new, you may ask? Well according to Google, after October 31st, publishers must have an approved AdSense account ID linked to their Google Affiliate Network account in order to continue participation in their network. After that deadline, it is “adios” (bye, bye) Google Affiliate Program.

Obviously, this does not apply for publishers who are creating their AdSense account for the first time.

The Advantage of AdSense payment integration

As I have mentioned in my other article, Google's affiliate network payment structure differs from that of AdSense. Affiliate checks can be paid bi-weekly and with a minimum of 50$, whereas AdSense pays only once a month with a minimum of 100$. Now that the affiliate earnings is consolidated with AdSense, it will be easier (not easy), to reach the $100 threshold. The catch is, if you have affiliate earnings of say $55 and only $15 of Adsense earnings, then you won’t get paid, whereas in the old payment system, you would have received an affiliate check of $55.

The Disadvantage of the integration

In a way, Google’s move here forces all Google affiliates to open an AdSense account thereby encouraging (or discouraging) further the use of Google's contextual advertising. In my previous article, it was not yet clear as to what will happen if you do not have an AdSense account to associate it with? The answer to that question is now clear and I will give the honors to Google:

We understand some publishers are concerned about the integration of Google Affiliate Network and AdSense, particularly those who are unable to successfully link/create an AdSense account. But the fact is that fewer than 1% of all accounts that have attempted to link have been unable to do so. We are working to address publishers who have invalid account information or duplicate accounts, but we may not be able to continue working with those who have a disabled AdSense account due to policy violations.

There you go. If for some unexplained reason, you have been banned to display AdSense ads, then it is most likely that you will no longer be able to make money online with Google’s Affiliate Program. Sad, but true.

Have you heard about this move before? What do you think about it?

DiTesco's Weekly Echo #5

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:44:00 +0000

Yet another week has gone by, and again I am late for the weekly echo. What's new?:) This week has been rather interesting and a lot of good stuff ~~was~~ are out there. As I have mentioned before, I only made room for 10 mentions in this weekly series, however, this week I will be exceeding that for a little bit.

As usual, in no particular order:

36 Quality Tweeps to Follow: Gautam's awesome list of Tweeple you should follow on Twitter (including me, lol)

13 Facebook Applications to Promote Your Blog: Ching Ya started her little journey digging through Facebook in past weeks, hoping to find some relevant ideas on how to promote your blog using Facebook applications. See what she has discovered.

10 Tips for Removing Your Blogging Blinders: Some of you are probably wondering what the hell “Blogging Blinders” are? Well you won't find out until you read this. Head over there and find out:)

Friday Flick Find (On A Sunday) - Amazing Ball Girl Catch: See, its just not me, being late that is:). Who said baseball was sport for men only. Think again. A very short video but an amazing catch indeed.

FTC Updates Guides on Endorsements, Testimonials to Include “New Media”: The much coveted topic of the week. FTC requires disclosure on paid everything, lol. Read what Holly has to say.

Google Duplicate Content Penalty — Create keywords and make it work for you!: One of the best articles I have read about this "Taboo", only in an encouraging way - Dave's "two sides to every coin"

10 Blog Lessons I Did Not Learn From Darren Rowse: What? Blogging lessons that the "master" missed out. After ten months of blogging, Jan says that he did not exactly reinvent the blogging wheel, or did he?

The Five Simple Truths On Promoting Your Blog: Liane's solution to promoting your blog. First, you should discover the truths.

How Much is Extreme John.com Worth?: Double mention this week for ExtremeJohn. I'm mad, his blog is worth more than mine:) Here is what he has to say: "one of the worlds most useless blogs written by an egomaniac that still has yet to figure out how to spell some of the most basic words is worth $1.18 million bitches!"

Stop Tweeting Political Stuffs, Bro. Seriously: Elmot's first experience on someone making him "shut up" on Twitter. What should you do when something like this happens?

Special Mentions:

The Inspirational Book is Finally Here: A labor of love by 27 authors/bloggers who have contributed so that the book would come to fruition. Join me guys in supporting Jen on this wonderful accomplishment. You can also read her interview here: Inspirational Thoughts and Stories from Bloggers All Over the World

JaypeeOnline Wins @ ‘09 Philippine Blog Awards: Join me to congratulate my friend's achievement in winning the Best Technology Blog 2009, in the most prestigious Philippine Blogging Awards.

Back into Blogging Biz from my small Hotel Room!: Hesham, founder of New Media Bloggers and the Famous Bloggers Club is back, after a bold move to a new country. Welcome back!

That's a wrap. Take a moment to follow these links and I hope you enjoy the read.

How To Become A Better Blogspot User?

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:53:00 +0000

Quick answer: By Becoming a blogger (dot com).

The Ultimate Guide To Becoming A Better Blogspot User

I will start by saying that this is not a debate about what is the best platform out there for blogging, but rather a ~~little~~ big piece of advice for blogspot users, who are serious about their blogging journey. If you are on any other platform, you might want to skip on this, although there might still be a few things here that may provide you with some tips on improving your blogging experience.

Why do you use Blogspot?

Many will disagree with this, but the one reason that I can easily come up with, is because it is free. It is also, one of the easiest platforms to use and lately, blogger has been surprisingly adding more and more features to make it better. Regardless of what your motivations are, you have to know that you might be loosing a lot, only due to the fact that your are on blogspot. Be advised that many will not even bother looking at your blog just because of this. I personally go the extra mile, if your content is really fantastic, however, trust me, many people won't.

Why do people hate blogspot?

As I said, this is debatable. But frankly speaking, and having read the reasons why other people won't bother looking at your blogspot blog, I have to admit that I will have to agree with them. Although this is true, there are only a few changes which you can do, to make your blogspot blog more human friendly. Not doing so, will only enhance people's belief that you are not a serious blogger, especially if you are, the so called "newbie" in the sphere. I was a newbie once, and now, a "?" wannabe. Does that make me better than you are? Absolutely not. Thing is, I learned and most importantly, took action. Now, the question is, are you ready to take action? On with it..

Start by reading these two articles:
10 Blog Lessons I Did Not Learn From Darren Rowse - Pay attention to this one important message - The Blogger Is More Important Than The Blog (need I say more?). The other article is one that I wrote, way back, which explains why I use blogger (dot com) as a host. Don't get me wrong here, I have other blogs running on self-hosted WP, but that is not the issue of today.

The only things you should really be concerned about

Content is a given, and SEO techniques (complicated on blogger dot com, but doable nevertheless) are standard requirements for a better blogging experience, so we'll skip that too.

Get Your Own Domain Name

You surely heard about this already. If not, Google is there to help you. Also, reading Custom Domain Name - Do you need one, can give you an insight of why it is important to have your own Domain as early as possible.

On blogspot, you do not own the domain (URL). It is a sub-domain (yourblog.blogspot.com) that can be easily taken away from you, should Google decide that your blog is not "behaving" accordingly. Owning your own domain will give you the possibility of moving to another host whenever you feel like. Just be sure that you "backup" your data regularly to avoid any surprises. One other advantage of having your own domain is that it removes the blogspot from "yourblog.blogspot.com" to just "yourblog.com". And yes, you can have your own domain and still host your blog on Blogger (dot com). Google allows you to do this, and you can even buy the domain directly from blogger's dashboard. What's holding you? Is it the money? WTF, it is less than $1 a month. Surely, if you can afford an internet connection, you should also be able to find that extra buck a month, right? Don't think, do it.

Blogger Standard Templates/Themes

Don't judge a book by its cover. Very true, but unfortunately, there are people who judge you blog by its cover. With the help of a massive community of bloggers, there are surprisingly many beautiful free themes out there that will replace those outdated "standard" templates from blogger (dot com). All you need to do is find what you like best and voilá, a waterfront view for your visitors. Here are some places where you can find fantastic free themes. These guys work hard to make your blog look good and why should you not help them by showing off their hard work? After all, this is the only payment they want (no affiliate nor referral links). Here are the best, in my opinion: Falconhive.com, bloggerthemes.net, dantearaujo.net, and a great compilation of themes by SpeckyBoy

Commenting System

If you have read Commenting 101 - The Power sometimes ignored, you will see that I have suggested to make it easy for your visitors to comment on your blog. What's with the captcha, pop-up form, restricted accounts and that anti-span arsenal anyway? What you are doing is setting a huge barrier for people to comment on your blog. Moderate your comments and get rid of those things fast. At the least, embed the commenting form inside your blog. Other commenting systems, such as JS-Echo and Disqus are available for blogger (dot com) and all it takes are a couple of clicks to replace entirely blogspot's commenting system, which unfortunately lags in a lot of things.

So this is what I recommend, install either one of those two commenting systems and then commentluv (give your commenters the Link Luv they deserve). You will not regret it, period. What are you waiting for, action, action, action...

Sorry for this lengthy post. But honestly, do you not agree that making these changes will enhance your seriousness and show the world that you care? It was OK then, not anymore. Take this as "words of encouragement".

Federal Trade Commission To Regulate Bloggers

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:44:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Bloggers Must Disclose Paid Reviews

Having read about this "breaking news" on DragonBlogger's blog, I've decided to share this with you all because I believe that this is too important to be ignored.

For the first time in blogging history, the Federal Trade Commission will try to regulate blogging, requiring writers on the Web to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they receive from companies for reviewing their products. It is the first time since 1980 that the commission has revised its guidelines on endorsements and testimonials, and the first time the rules have covered bloggers.

Having been unanimously voted 4-0 by the commissioners, the new rules will take effect on December 1, 2009. Violations by bloggers or advertisers could bring fines of up to $11,000 and could also face injunctions and be ordered to reimburse consumers for financial losses stemming from inappropriate product reviews.

Now, I really think that this is a wise move. Not only will paid reviews be more transparent but will also gain credibility, considering that there are many reviews out there that are misleading and inaccurate. On the other hand, I can see a "breath of fresh air" from serious bloggers wanting to choose this form of making money online, as this could change Google's stance on paid post.

If interested, you can find more info here: FTC: Bloggers, testimonials need better disclosure

What say you? Do you think that this is a good move from the FTC?

Ditescos Weekly Echo #4

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:53:00 +0000

Here we are again on yet another weekly roundup. Time has been running so fast that I can still vividly remember the first Echo. Anyway, here are the most noteworthy articles that I have found this week and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. I have been running so late on posting echo on Saturday's, that I might as well call it Sunday Smash, like ExtremeJohn does:)

In no particular order:

Friday Flick Find: 100 Viral Videos In 4 Minutes - A compilation of 100 viral videos, up for show in just…. 4 minutes!

Do-It-Yourself SEO Using Microsoft’s Bing Toolkit - A guest post by Holly Jahangiri on Dave's website in a weekend blog. A good example of "don't just read and learn", but rather, taking action.

Share your Ondoy Story to help the Nation Heal - You all have heard about the recent calamities up on the Far East, right. Rey's posts is an example that if you care, you can make a difference.

10 Things I’ve learned as a Blogging Newbie - Ms. Freeman has started to blog recently and already has some very important blogging tips to share.

My Premium Domain Names For Sale Cheap! - Doug Dillard goes crazy. He decided to sell some of his premium domain names at rock-bottom prices. Check out his portfolio, you might just find something interesting.

Blog Engage, Our First Official Year End Contest 2009 - Brian, owner of BlogEngage organizes an awesome contest, where fabulous prizes are going to be given away. Plus, you get the chance to join a great community of bloggers.

33 super engagers to follow - Gautam, finally reveals his secret list of super Tweeple to follow.

Google's Udi Manber: Search Is About People, Not Just Data - Rob Hof of Businessweek interviews, Udi Manber, Google’s vice-president of technology for core search.

The Top 5 Make Money Sites You Should Visit - Blake Waddill. The man responsible for almost getting my blog sold:)

Free Antivirus From Microsoft: Security Essentials - In case you missed it, Microsoft, who lately has been giving away a lot of free stuff, now gives another product for free.

BTW, and before I forget, this is another format I'm testing for my weekly echoes. You've seen the standard text links on Echo #1, and last week, I used images of the author's on Echo #3. What do you think of this one?

Make Money And Get Exposure With Qondio

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:45:00 +0000

Sometime in October of last year, I published an article on how to get quality backlinks for free on Qassia, now Qondio. Since then, this website has evolved and many changes had been made. At its core, all you need to do is submit articles or "Intel" as they call it, get those articles rated and essentially nothing more. Think of it as an article submission directory (like Ezine), but with a very big twist.

An All-In-One Situation
Where else can you get, exposure, backlinks, and make money online, all at the same time? Quite difficult I must admit, but at Qondio, this is veritably possible. So how does this work?

1. Exposure: Each intel submitted includes mention or signature (resource bio box) of the contributor's website, with a prominent link (including screenshot) to that website. The more intel you add, the more exposure (backlinks) you get for your site. Also, you can add as many websites you want, without having to add any reciprocal links or badges to further clutter your website's design.

2. Reward Points: For every intel you add, you get reward points credited to your account. Reward points are earned based on the screening process of members, who rates your intel. Your intel does not get edited, but rather it receives "votes" from Qondio users. The higher your intel is rated, the more points you get. The more points you have, the better your websites will rank in their directory. Just for you to have an idea, I do not have much articles submitted, but one did rate particularly well and it has been sitting on the featured section of Qondio's homepage for nearly six months now.

3. Revenue: This is where it gets even more interesting. On your Qondio pages, there are 5 zones available for your ads (see below).

Use your Google AdSense, Clickbank, Commission Junction, Google Affiliate Program, or anything you want. Yes, anything you want. You can even put your own banners up there and you are allowed. Basically, you manage those spaces as if it were on your own website. How cool is that? So, when someone visits your pages (profile, intel, etc.), your ads will be displayed and 100% of the revenue is yours to keep. Here is an example of one of my intel pages.

To make things even simpler and easy to manage, they have partnered with uniQlicks, an ad manager web application which allows you to rotate your ads and monitor its performance.

With nearly 32,000 members and counting, you now have triple incentive to contribute to the community. Obviously, this will not get you ranking #1 on Google or make you rich overnight, but it certainly will help. Again, every bit counts. Interested? Hop over to Qondio and sign up for an account.

POST UPDATE (Oct. 05, 2009): @Klaus of Techpatio called my attention that it is now required to pay $5 to activate your account. I apologize for not letting you know sooner about this, but quite frankly I totally let this slip, as it was free before. My bad. Anyway, please be advised that you will have to pay a non-refundable activation fee of $5, should you wish to use this service (unless you have already signed up for Qassia before). It is still recommended, provided you participate and have the time to manage your account. Otherwise, you might want to hold on this for future use.

DiTesco's iBlogZone Is For Sale

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:42:00 +0000

I’m betting that this one, you were not expecting. To be honest, neither have I. So why, you may ask, am I selling this blog? Well, this is a long story, but to find out, read on. I promise to keep it short.

First, let’s hit the “rewind” button here. A couple of days ago, I received an email from Jan Geronimo letting me know about Daniel Scocco’s new ReTweet Club. When Jan recommends something, I always check it out without blinking an eye. So curious, I signed up for it.

Yesterday, I received a formal invite to join the club and as much as Holly Jahangiri, made her point, on her recent blog post, 11 Ways to Get 6 Billion – Well, OK, More Twitter Followers Than You Have Now, I still decided to go for it and see where it goes. Late last night, I received an email from one member of the club, asking me to Retweet an article. With Holly’s post in mind, I went to check it out for myself first, before retweeting it.

The article, The Top 5 Make Money Sites You Should Visit, is actually a recommended read. Blake Waddill, compares 5 blogs, based on their stats, content and style. Bloggers whom I never heard before, such as, John Chow, Brian Clark, and Darren Rowse are on this list:). What really got my attention, was how much their blogs are worth. Needless to say, that they were all worth way over the six figure mark. The company that provided this valuation is bizinformation.org. Again curious, I decided to see what my blog was worth. KABAM!

Yes! That’s $652.131.60. So now you know why my blog is for sale:). While I really want this to be true, I have to admit that I am not convinced that my blog is worth anything close to that figure (maybe a little bit, haha). Who knows, maybe one day (it's OK to dream, right). After all I just found out today, that my Twitter profile is Graded A+, and side by side with the notables.

Go ahead make yourself feel good (hopefully), and find out how much your blog is worth.

I am sorry if I have deceived you, but I really could not find a better title for this post? Fire away. Let the auction begin, bidding starts at $499.999.99. If you don’t have the cash, you can always try to make some money by joining ExtremeJohn’s Fan Sign contest, where he is giving away a whopping $250 prize. That should be enough to reserve my blog for at least five days, lol.

DiTesco's Weekly Echo #3

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:34:00 +0000

This week, I decided to make this weekly echo post slightly different. Rather than the standard text links, I will be using 86X86 images of the author's avatars (or pictures). All you need to do is hover each image and the title of the article will be shown. Link love will still be there, but I figured that it can be a nice way of showing who is the "culprit" behind each link:)

What do you think about this form of showing my weekly echo? Should I use the standard, text links or you prefer it this way? You're the judge.

PS: If you are included in this week's echo and you do not like the image shown, please send me your picture and I will gladly replace them.

The Most Annoying Things On A Website

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:43:00 +0000

We all have our personal choices when it comes to choosing our web design or layout, and we should respect that. There are countless information out there that will suggest you the best practices on how to set up your website. On the other hand, there are also those that are not highly recommendable.

Some 15 hours ago, I posted this question on Mahalo Answers.

"Website Design - What annoys you more? - In your opinion, what are the most annoying "things" that will drive you away, when you land on a website or blog? Pop-ups, Ads, Widgets, you name it. If possible, please tell me why?"

Considering the amount of answers received and the average response time, it is reasonable to conclude that there are certain things that in fact annoy a lot of people when they visit a website or blog. Such annoying things, will not only drive them away but can also get a website flagged as a "do not visit " website, by potential visitors.

Following below, are real opinions, about the most annoying things that were unanimously mentioned, while responding to this question. For each annoying thing, I have picked the best answer(s) and reprinted them here in full.

1) Sounds - Unwanted Music, Videos, and anything else that makes a noise.

"The thing that bugs me the absolute most are automatic video or music players. I often surf with my headphones on, and I'll be listening to my peaceful music or my meditation stuff, and the **BLAM**, I get blasted with someone else's music, usually loud, usually irritating, with no really quick way to turn it off and I have to rip the headphones off and then find the 'off' switch, assuming it even has one. Hate that!"

"Ads with sound: The worst is siting up at night navigating web pages when suddenly an ad trumpets "You've just won an Xbox 360*" - *just spend $500 on our partners to claim your prize . . ."

"Any noise that I don't ask for annoys me, I only want to hear sounds when I click a "play" button. Often I have many tabs open and if one starts making noise its irritating to have to find where the noise is coming from and how to stop it, a lot of these sites hide their "mute" buttons in odd spots."

2) Intext Links, Roll-over ads, Mouse-over ads

"Roll-over ads: These are the ads that start huge and roll into a corner or ads that expand upon rollover, these ads are very distracting and I have to remind myself to avoid them as I navigate the page."

"Those mouse-over ads... They usually cover the text I'm reading on a particular website. (Hate them)"

3) Flash Animations, Animated Text/Ads

"If the first thing I notice is a great deal flashing or animation, I usually click away. This often includes flash pages. I find that movement and animation distracts me from reading textual content and I am rarely willing to wait through a lengthy load time if I don't already know that it is worth the wait."

"Flash animation intro screens also irritate me. I want to see the site. For the most part, no one really cares how fancy your flash intro is. The attention span of the average internet user is so small, you have only a few seconds max to grab their attention and keep them from clicking off - don't want it on a flash intro when people are seeking information or answers to their questions."

"Animated ads - Ads that roll through a silent animation once or upon mouseover are not too bad, but if I am trying to enjoy a page, an ad with constant motion really is a distraction and an annoyance."

4) Pop-ups, pop-under, browser resizing, RSS subscription, freebies, etc.

"If the site automatically does anything to my browser other than load text and images, I click away before it finishes loading."

"If the site requires me to register, give an email address, take a quiz or otherwise provide any info about myself before I can see the content I click away. I can understand offering extra perks for members, but I won't provide a scrap of data about myself until I know the site has something to offer me. On rare occasions I'll use BugMeNot (see source) to gain access without registering if I really want to read a particular article."

"Popup ads. I hate those popups. :( They're really irritating. I dunno why they're even invented. XD"

"Pop ups are irritating, but my pop up stopper stops them all now, so I'm guessing that they are really more a waste of time than anything."

"...automatically spawning a new window (pop up/under, forced yes/no dialog box etc.)"

5) Load time, Page Speed

"If the page takes a long time to load or respond to clicks and I don't know what it is doing or why it is taking so long, I immediately leave the page. I don't know if it's trying to run a nasty script, load me up with spyware or is simply having server issues. Buttons leading to long load times should be labeled with a warning, such as "High resolution image may take time to load", or "Uploading your information could take up to 30 seconds". I don't want to load 15 megabytes of photos unless I first know that I am entering a high resolution photo gallery and have an idea of what to expect."

"Websites that consist of so much stuff that it becomes difficult to load the page quickly and the page becomes too cluttered thus making it difficult to navigate."

6) Navigation Structure

"Navigation problems is what I find most annoying about website designs, not necessarily in the way the menu layouts are setup, but more specifically when it comes to not being able to locate information. When it gets to the point that a website is not user-friendly, then there is no reason to return to the site again."

"I am always impressed with simple web design where everything is organized, easy to find and read. I do not want to have to scroll down half the page through ads, images or videos to find content or useful links. Even if there aren't any ads or such in my way, I still come across websites where links are not placed in an organized way (or are scattered) and it just takes too much time having to search for what I need."

7) Color Schemes, Background images, etc.

"If the site uses a low contrast color scheme I click away. There are probably 50 other web sites out there that have whatever information I need and I'd rather spend 10 more seconds finding one rather than get eye strain trying to read text that blends in with the background. I don't care what color scheme they use (even yellow text on black background is fine with me) providing that I can read it without effort."

"websites where the background image is overpowering to the point where content is difficult to read makes me want to leave that site."

8) Content

"If the page does not have considerably more content than ads, I leave. I assume that it's some sort of scraper site hoping to get money from clicks and isn't making a serious effort to provide what I am looking for."

"What a great question, and of course there are many things that annoy the heck out of me, but the worst are those long long long sales pages that are responsible for wearing out the wheel on my mouse, I start scrolling and it just seems they go on for ever. I will measure one, one day and I will bet they are usually more than 20ft in length LOL. These types of sales pages are usually the ones that include pictures of money falling from the sky, boats, flash cars and big houses - like we are going to believe all of that bull..."

A good reminder:

"I treat the internet as a universe of infinite choices. It is rare for me to encounter a site that provides content that no other site on the web offers, so I just don't see the point in spending more than 3 seconds on a site that annoys me. If you are in a massive Las Vegas buffet line with seemingly infinite choices, you don't reach for the stale item, the wilted salad or the questionable sushi because there are so many more appealing choices that are less likely to make you sick. Staying with an annoying site simply doesn't offer enough benefit for the potential risk of wasting your time or getting hit with as hostile script."

Sorry for this long post. What say you? Is there something esle that annoys you and are not included here?

Monitoring Your Website Rankings on Google, Bing & Yahoo

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:23:00 +0000

Since we are on a SEO streak this week, I figured that another awesome SEO tool won't hurt knowing about. Before going further however, answer this question. What is the next step that we should all be doing after implementing all of those SEO techniques that we have learned about (assuming of course that you took action)? If you answered, monitoring our progress, then you are spot on. There is no point of trying to rank for some specific keywords or keyphrases if you don't know how all of your optimization work is performing.

Keeping track of your website positions for keywords phrases for a specific URL on Google, Yahoo, and Bing can be done in a variety of ways and there are SEO tools out there than will do the job for you. While there are good tools available for you to use, few deliver accurate information and most importantly on a timely fashion.

Receiving a report of your site's rankings, as it happens, will allow you to monitor your progress and should it be deemed necessary, make some further adjustments. It can also be good for your self esteem:)

That said, let me introduce you to KPMRS (Keyword Position Monitoring Report Service). KPMRS helps you to keep an eye on your search engines rankings. It is a free tool that will allow you to track up to three different URLs (or domains) each with a maximum of five keywords or keyphrases. It will also track other information, such as backlinks (from Alexa and Yahoo only), social activity, keywords that have brought traffic on your website (this option works better on Google Analytics) and more. See example of keyword rankings below:

Now you don't have to go to search engines to check your website ranking every time as KPMRS will send you an email, on a daily basis, to inform you of changes in your rankings for your targeted keywords. If you are interested in trying this service, head over to their website.

Ad Intelligence: Advanced Keyword Research Tool

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:30:00 +0000

Recently, I wrote a guest post on my friends blog about the best SEO practices for creative writers. I have accepted this challenge, despite not being a SEO guru, as I wanted to make a point that regardless of what you write about, SEO is SEO. The only difference is that you have to focus your work based on the topic you have chosen, and most importantly, take action.

Content set aside (that's a given), one of the most important SEO ranking factor is keyword usage. In this guest post, one of his readers asked, what are the best keyword tools that are available out there? Needless to say that most of the time, what we are looking for are good tools that work, and preferably for free. Google's AdWords keyword tool, Wordtracker's keyword suggestion tool, and SEO Book's suggestion tool, are great tools that you have probably heard of, and are all highly recommend. Today however, I will not be making a list of the best keyword suggestion tools out there (maybe later), but rather talk about one amazing tool, which you might have heard of or not.

Introducing Microsoft's Ad Intelligence Excel Plugin

Some of you have been asking me how to do SEO for Bing. Well, here's a tool that can help. Microsoft Advertising Intelligence (ex-adCenter Add-in for Excel) is a keyword research and optimization tool that operates inside Microsoft Office Excel 2007. It provides keyword expansion, research, pricing, KPI (keyword performance indicator), and many more, allowing you to maximize the results of your keyword research and analysis. Some of the things you can do with the Microsoft Advertising Intelligence tool, are:

* Build a lists of suggested keywords and develop informed keyword strategies based on actual Bing and MSN query data, including: relevance, volume, cost history, demographic, and geographic.
* Leverage actual historic and forecasted monthly query and content data to optimize your keyword research based on what users are actually looking for, spending more time on what works and less on what doesn’t.
* Gather information based on pricing data for keyword-specific metrics such as clicks, impressions, position, click-through rate, and cost per click.
* Gather pricing KPIs for specific businesses to determine the monetization potential of a vertical and how well it is performing.
* Change date ranges and other variables for any type of research to query for traffic, keyword categorization, keyword monetization, etc.

here are some examples:
All options (to have an idea)

A general query based on a specific vertical: Business

Keyword suggestions, based on the results of the query above: email marketing

Keyword monetization (specific range including CTR, CPC, Match Type, average clicks, etc):

A URL keyword extraction tool (good to analyze your competition):

And now for the catch. All of these data are available as long as you have a Microsoft AdCenter account. You can set one up for $5 (minimum), which you can use for any campaign in the future. So in a way, it is free. A tool this good can easily be worth a lot of money, and if you are looking for something that goes far beyond just keyword suggestion, this tool is definitely worth the trouble. Download the Microsoft Advertising Intelligence Installation Guide here and learn how to start using it.

Additional resources you can read before making your decision (updated since yesterday - pdf format):
Frequently Asked Questions
Ad Intelligence New Feature Guide (complete information about the tool)

Over to you. Do you know of any other free keyword tool that can match the features of this one? Share it with us.

DiTesco's Weekly Echo #2

noreply@blogger.com (DiTesco) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:48:00 +0000

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a great week. I can not believe that a whole week has already gone by since I first published the #1 Weekly Echo as it hardly made it to the second page of my blog. Either that, or I have not been posting fast enough. Anyway, if anyone of you missed the previous roundup, you can always check it out on DiTesco's Weekly Echo #1. Now for the weekly echo #2.

1) TweetDeck 3 Video Demonstration - Dragonblogger If you are a Tweetdeck fan, here's a great video presentation of V0.3 new features
2) Ten reasons you suck at blogging - Potpolitics - A great attention grabbing headline
3) NASA photos: The Hubble is back - Mother Nature Network - Hubble reopens its eyes (photos of the undiscovered world - not anymore)
4) Sex Quotes - Influenza Bloggers - for adults only:)
5) This Week’s Top WOP: Was 9/11 an inside Job? - Asswass - (Conspiracy Theory)
6) Twitter Armour- Ultimate List of Power Tweeting Tools - ClethStudios - A very long list of Power Tweeting Tools
7) How to Stand Out in a Crowded Niche - Copyblogger - No niche is crowded enough
8) What will happen to paid links implemented using JavaScript? - Matt Cutts Video - Time to nofollow Javascript Links?
9) Case Study: Can You Launch a New Site With Twitter Alone? - chrisgarrett - The Power Of Twitter
10) and finally, The 6 Most Terrifying Foods in the World - cracked.com - Warning! This could make you sick, hope you won't hate me for it:)

Have fun!