Profitable Mommy Blogging

SEO Tips for Your Blog, Part 3

Kimberly — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:40:05 +0000

So far we’ve talked about optimizing your blog posts with long tail keyword phrases in Part 1 of this SEO For Your Blog series, and discussed keyword density in Part 2.

Today we’ll discuss what makes a high quality blog post and why it matters so much in SEO.

Bottom line: the search engines and your readers are looking for unique, highly valuable content.

Period.

The whole reason people go online is in search of information. Those mysterious Google algorithms can distinguish quality content from insufficient quality which in the end can effect your position in the search results.

A blog with helpful, information-rich content naturally attracts readers. I can tell you there’s nothing more frustrating than searching for information, or a solution to a problem, and finding nothing but superficial, incomplete articles. Providing valuable, interesting, engaging content pays off in the long run.

How can you be sure you’re publishing quality content?

Here’s a handy checklist you can use to evaluate your posts before making them public:

Make sure it relates to your business or niche
Keep your topics fresh and unique; don’t be rehash what’s already out there
Make sure it’s useful
Make it personal by including stories about your own or your customer’s experiences

SEO Tips for Your Blog, Part 2

Kimberly — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:42:55 +0000

The SEO rules are always changing. The same techniques that got you on the first page of the Google search results back in 2007 may not yield the same results in 2010. The search engines look at many elements of a blog when indexing your site pages and assigning a position in the search results; but the search engine algorithms pretty much remain a mystery.

Which brings me back to pinning down SEO techniques that work. You know from yesterday’s post that choosing targeted keywords, especially long tail phrases, can optimize your blog for better ranking. The question is does it matter how many time the phrase appears in your content.

Does Keyword density matter?

In SEO the number of times a keyword/keyword phrase appears in content is known as the keyword density. A couple of years ago SEO experts swore packing your content to a certain keyword density would get you noticed online.

There was a lot of awkwardly written, overstuffed keyword articles floating around, but because the algorithms seemed to love content stuffed to a 15 percent keyword density, producing quality content became less important to some bloggers.

Eventually, the algorithms caught on to keyword stuffed content and began penalizing it as keyword spamming. Since Google no longer recognizes content containing an excessive number of repeated keywords, does keyword density even matter anymore?

Those mysterious algorithms

Well, yes and no. Since including targeted keywords in your blog posts can affect your blog’s search engine ranking, you’ll need to include the phrase enough times for the algorithms to recognize the phrase.

Aim for a density of 1 to 3 percent.

That means that a 300 word article at 2 percent density will include a long tail phrase six times. That’s more than enough to appeal to the search engines and deliver quality, natural flowing content your readers will enjoy reading.

Keyword placement can make a difference

Focus less on density and more on where you place your keyword phrases in your posts.

Here is where your keywords should appear for maximum impact:

Title
First sentence
One subheading
Last sentence

You don’t have to follow this guideline to the letter, but including your keyword in the title of your post and sprinkling the phrases throughout will produce results over time. Keep in mind that providing your readers with well-written, useful content is much more important than keyword density.

SEO Tips for Your Blog, Part 1

Kimberly — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:41:05 +0000

If you’re blogging for profit, you’ll want to find ways to increase your online visibility and really stand out. Search engine optimization (SEO) techniques can help. There are two types of SEO: pay per click (PPC) and organic search.

This will be the first of four series posts getting to the bottom of how SEO can give your blog a Google search engine boost making it easier for other to find you. I’ll be focusing on organic search methods because these are simple, highly effective techniques you can do on your own.

You won’t see immediate results from organic SEO methods, but once they start working for you the results are long lasting with very little maintenance; best of all these strategies won’t cost you a thing.

photo credit: davidflanders

Who’s Reading Your Blog?

Kimberly — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:49:32 +0000

According to Jakob Nielsen, author of Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed, people who surf the web don’t read. They scan information instead.

Writing for the web is much different from writing print articles and newsletters. The speed of the Internet coupled with pages and pages of information at your fingertips means readers want instant gratification so they spend more time scanning content online than they do reading it word for word.

Writing scannable blog posts is much easier on the eyes and allows your readers to quickly digest the information you provide. Here are a few tips for writing scannable blog posts:

Use a Friendly, Conversational Tone

Pretend you’re writing to a good friend so that the tone of your posts is easy and conversational. Write the way you naturally speak. For instance use contractions (e.g. isn’t instead of is not) and common colloquialisms instead of writing in a formal tone.

Remember the Inverted Pyramid Writing Style

The inverted pyramid style of writing simply means that you start your post presenting your key points and conclusion first; and then you provide background information and other details.

The first line or two of your blog post could determine whether or not a reader decides to stick around for more so grab their attention right away.

Keep paragraphs short

Forget what your high school grammar teacher taught you about paragraphs consisting of four or more sentences. Keeping paragraphs shorter with white space between to break up the copy is much easier to scan. One tip that might help is putting only one idea at a time in a paragraph.

Use Bullets

Bullet lists are a great way to summarize important points. They really stand out.

Use interesting headlines

Headlines are important because they serve two purposes: They entice your reader to keep reading and they let the reader know what the next paragraph is about.
Your reader can scan your post and get the gist of what you’re saying by scanning the headlines. Many times they’ll go back to read more in depth the get to the meat and potatoes of your topic.

Your content is what draws readers to your blog so it’s important to make sure it’s easy to “read.”

photo credit: auntjojo

Brainstorming Ideas for Your Blog

Kimberly — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:01:53 +0000

Even if you’re blogging everyday about a topic that’s near and dear to your heart, chances are eventually you’ll run into trouble coming up with new ideas. It’s not unusual to hit a brick wall. It’s one reason so many bloggers wind up abandoning perfectly good blogs – they think they’ve run out of things to say.

If you’re delivering good content to your readers and building a community of loyal followers, you don’t want to all of a sudden stop supplying them with good information. Fortunately, this is an easy problem to solve. There are ways to get unstuck and get those great ideas flowing freely again.

Plan Ahead

Create your own editorial calendar by making a list of topics in advance. You can plan a week, month or even a year in advance if you’re feeling ambitious. This will ensure that you’re never left with nothing to say.

Revisit Older Posts

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you’ve probably noticed that some posts draw more discussion than others. When you feel blocked, read over your more popular posts again – and don’t forget to read the comments too. Sometimes reader comments will spark a completely new idea you may have never thought to blog about.

Tackle a Topic from a New Angle

You can revisit an older topic and explore it from another angle. For example, let’s say you have an attachment parenting blog and six months ago you wrote a post listing the benefits of breastfeeding. You could revisit the topic and writing about overcoming breastfeeding challenges, breastfeeding multiples, how to treat and cure thrush while breastfeeding, etc.

Look Out for Ideas While Networking

Forums and social media sites like Twitter can be great places to find new ideas for your blog. Pay attention to what others are saying – especially if you notice topics discussed in your niche. It can lead to lots of topic ideas.

Just Ask Your Readers

Your readers can be your greatest source of inspiration. Invite them to send in ideas for future posts. If a reader contacts you privately with a question you feel might benefit others, create a post based on the question (taking care to protect your reader’s anonymity, of course!). Make sure that your contact information is easy to access.

photo credit: opensourceway

Popping in to Say “Hi”

Kimberly — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Hi, I’m Kimberly and I’m the new intern blogger here at Profitable Mommy Blogging. I’m really excited to be a part of the Moms Talk Network, and look forward to sharing helpful blogging and Internet marketing tips as well as interesting news tidbits that will benefit your business.

A little background about me: I’m married with four children ranging in age from nine to three. I’m a blogger and web entrepreneur working from home and love every crazy minute of it.

It’s so amazing how far the business of blogging has come. You can find blogs covering just about every topic under the sun giving readers vital information and sparking community discussions. As a business model, a blog can do everything from help you connect with and understand your customers and sell products/services to raising awareness about important issues.

If there is a topic you’d like to see covered, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m always keeping an eye out for new ideas.

photo credit: Claudio Matsuoka

The Relevant Conference: For Christian Bloggers

Kelly — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:21:10 +0000

I just learned about this up and coming conference from a fellow blogger. It’s The Relevant Conference.

They have a Mission Statement which includes this:

Relevant is a one-of-a-kind conference that seeks to engage women by teaching blogging techniques and social media skill while also urging and encouraging women to live fully integrated lives with their faith and family.

If you’re a Christian blogger who craves an in person event, this could be a good fit for you. Be prepared to sock some cash away though – as with most events, the conference ticket and hotel will set you back quite a few precious dollars.

If you can’t go but would love to sponsor someone else, check out this blogger’s pitch for sponsorship.

Mom’s Talk Network Blogging Internship Application Open

Kelly — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:41:46 +0000

Session Four of the Mom’s Talk Network Blogging Internship is starting up in March. If you have ten hours a week for ten weeks available to serve as a blog intern you can earn access to an amazing internet marketing education. Check it out here. Sign up for Kelly McCausey's Blog Internship! Related posts:Mom’s Talk Network Blogging Internship [...]

A Fast Growing Group: Plus Size Bloggers

Kelly — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:45:55 +0000

Have you noticed that one of the fastest growing niches in the blogosphere is that of Plus Size Bloggers?

Plus Size Bloggers = People blogging about their efforts to lose weight and get in shape.

There’s a brand new website getting ready to celebrate their launch on Twitter next week that intends to celebrate and reward these bloggers on a regular basis.

If you blog about your weight loss efforts, you can submit your blog – thus volunteering to be tracked on their website. If you are faithful to report your weight loss efforts on a weekly basis all through their quarterly tracking schedule, you are entered to win a Wii Fit Plus and other awesome prizes.

In addition to recognizing the efforts of Plus Size Bloggers, the site also intends to feature and appreciate other blogs that serve their needs.

Visit the site and submit your Plus Size Blog!

Do You Need a Blog Designed?

Kelly — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:18:35 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to work with Lara Valez of Designed by Lara and had a great experience that I want to share with you.

My friend Angel wanted to start a new blog. Usually, I would want to design a blog for a friend – but I knew that she would be interested in a particular style of graphics that I’m not especially gifted for. I immediately thought of Lara and invited Angel to check out her work.

It was a match at first sight and we quickly secured a spot on Lara’s design schedule.

Lara has a very polished and professional approach. There was a detailed questionnaire for Angel to complete and we were able to communicate everything we wanted in the new design.

Right on schedule, Lara created the new blog design and presented it to us for review. We were super impressed and couldn’t wait to put the design on Angel’s blog! (See it at plussizeskills.com!)

If you are in need of a classy new blog design, I heartily recommend Lara.

I Drove Through The Mountains To Learn This…

Tishia — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:48:56 +0000

Hey everyone! I’m writing this from the NAMS 3 workshop in Atlanta, Georgia right now. Let me just say that NAMS has far exceeded my expectations! I’m blown away by the speakers, the information and just all the networking going on here! It’s AMAZING. Seriously you need to consider attending the next workshop in August this summer! I WILL be coming back that’s for sure…but probably will fly and NOT drive through the mountains again (let’s just say I had a major meltdown because I was so scared while we were going through the mountains!).

(Note: Kelly gave me permission to post here what I have posted on my blog.)

So let me get right to the point! No beating around the bush right?

I’m working towards winning this sales contest that they have going on. We have until 5pm tomorrow, January 31st to see how many sales we can make on a product that 5 top internet marketing gurus sat right in front of me and created!

The product?

Strategies 4 Social Marketing.

Listen in as 5 top gurus – Willie Crawford, Kevin Riley, Maritza Parra, Jeff Herring, and Joey Smith – share their Secret Strategies for Driving Traffic and Dollars through Social Media. With an audience of 180 eager online marketers watching, five of the world’s most successful Internet Marketing masters revealed their secret strategies for leveraging the incredible power of Social Media.

I was one of those 180 eager online marketers mentioned above. Let me just say it was awesome and because I was sitting right here in the audience I can personally tell you that the product is packed full of great information and easy to implement tips from the gurus. The product is based around 5 questions:

Why would I want to build an online presence using Social Media? Isn’t it just about hooking up with buddies? Find out how Joey Smith transforms his online ‘buddies’ (and former girlfriends!) into happy and loyal customers.
Is Social Media for real? If so, how is it changing the way we interact on the web? Learn how Maritza Parra uses Twitter to tap into what her audience really wants – and uses that information to create products that have a hungry market already waiting for them.
How do you drive traffic using Social Media? Take notes as Willie Crawford explains exactly how he achieves an “economy of action” with his Social Media efforts. (Hint: he is traffic-driving legend for a reason!)Do you still need an email list if you have thousands of followers online?
How can you convert ‘friends’ to a list and why? Jeff Herring explains why you still need both – and offers great insight into how to convert your Social Media lists into responsive email marketing lists.
Do conversion tactics still work in Social Media? Kevin Riley offers some great ideas on who you should be following and why – and how this can dramatically improve your conversion rates.

Strategies 4 Social Marketing, like mentioned above, sells for only $17.00. And this is exactly why I drove through the mountains!

Tishia

Win a Year of Free Hosting from Mom Webs!

Kelly — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:14:27 +0000

Learn how to enter at Mom Webs Hosting!

Do You Offer Ad Space?

Kelly — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:54:42 +0000

Blog Advertising is great for brands and the large ad networks know this very well – yet so many of them refuse to consider blogs with small readerships. This is tough on new bloggers. They’re working hard to grow an audience, writing their hearts out, promoting their blog as much as possible – but until they hit a certain level of readership, they can’t plug into a good ad network.

What many bloggers then do is offer ad space of their own – with mixed results. From what we’ve seen, most aren’t providing enough information about their readership. In fact, I went looking for a few good blogs to buy some affordable ad space on and had a really hard time of it!

Should we create a new directory that lists mom blogs that offer ad space? What do you think?

By the way, Advertising Moms has a great article on blog advertising. If you’re trying to sell ad space, you may want to link to this great information.

Bloggers Needed for Online Marketing Campaign

Tishia — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:02:30 +0000

Do you love blogging?

Want to make a little extra cash doing it?

Below is an email that recently came through to us and we wanted to make sure to share it with you. If you’re interested please read the following email for instructions.

We are Work Interactive, a digital agency based in Edinburgh,
Scotland.

During the last few months we have been busy developing a tool called Vertical Blogger (http://www.verticalblogger.com) which acts as a meeting point between bloggers and advertisers so bloggers can make money from their blogs.

Advertisers will post suggestions for blogs that need to have a
maximum of 250/300 words and will pay around £25-£30 per blog. Each blog can post one article per campaign per month as long as it fits into the sector of the advertiser’s campaign.

If you are interested in using our platform you can register at
http://www.verticalblogger.com

The tool has been translated into Spanish and English but very soon we will launch it in French and other languages. However, bloggers from every nationality and language can register.

If you know anybody who may be interested please forward them this email.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards

Javier Bravo
Head of Marketing at Work Interactive Ltd

Stepping Away From the Fear of Sales

Kelly — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:08:23 +0000

Bloggers are often people with passion and for sharing information, tips and more. Some of those writers already have a knack for sales. But there are many who still haven’t quite gotten the hang of it, even though they hoped to make their blog a profit center for themselves.

With a few pointers, it’s easy to become one amongst the ranks of those who successfully make a living from their writing. It comes down to reminding yourself of a few key aspects, as well as being prepared for the task at hand.

You started this journey to make money, and it’s time to get that working for you. It’s important to remember how each reader is also a potential customer. It’s up to you to guide them to the products they require. If you do this part well, your readers may come to rely on you and your opinion as their source for advice and information.

You may come across people who become annoyed at your suggestions to purchase a certain product. This simply means these people aren’t part of your target market – you want to sell stuff, so you target market is buyers and people who are receptive to product suggestions.

Some of the ways you can prepare yourself for success are easily established. You can learn copywriting. While it doesn’t always mean a hard sell, any copywriting skills you acquire gives you the opportunity to incorporated copy elements naturally into your content.

Look for experienced writers or bloggers who tend to “pull you in” with their content, making you want to act on their calls to action. Watch what they do, and try to achieve the same thing while keeping your own writing style.

Inform and sell at the same time. Whether it be a detailed review or an explanation of how exactly a product works, sales and information together in the same copy can be helpful for your readers.

As a blogger, you don’t need a big sales pitch, but you’ve got to persuasive and sure in your recommendations. Studying copywriting, the writing of others and applying it to your own writing will go along way. Find your own balance between information and promotion – it’ll get easier than you think.

Need more help?

For more tips for using the power of words for your marketing, visit Contentrix…your source for straightforward content marketing advice. Whether you’re looking for more traffic, sales or both, Go to ContentrixContentrix has it covered.

Blogging to the Frugal… If You Gotta Do It, To It Right

Kelly — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:05:33 +0000

When it comes to great bloggers, they’re passionate about their topics. They can even use blogging as their income venue. But the problem is, many bloggers allow their passion to take the upper hand over any profit plan they may have.

And there’s nothing really wrong with that. What better job is there than something you love? If you decide you want to blog to a more frugal audience, it’s your choice. But if you want to make some money doing it, here are some tips – just remember you probably aren’t going to be making millions anytime soon.

While the Internet Marketing gurus may not agree with this, try creating smaller sized informative products you can sell to the more frugal-minded crowd. It’s easy to break down documents or series, creating smaller morsels of information on a regular, scheduled basis. You could create a membership site where a customer pays monthly for this content, yet has the ability to cancel at any time.

Take time to develop your advertising sales plan. No, not signing up for those ad networks that give you a tiny fraction of the profits after you do all the work. I mean independently sell advertising while you spend time building your own traffic and marketing your own advertising opportunities. This keeps the aggressive marketing away from your precious readers, and into the sights of potential advertisers looking for areas to spend money in.

Prove your worth. After you develop a customer list and they start realizing how fantastic your products are, you can start selling them higher priced products…but keep true to your blog’s message and ultimate goals.

Work on building your mailing list. It’s not enough to rely on RSS subscriptions – when it comes to conversions they won’t provide the effectiveness as your direct mailings. With your list you can mail out promotions directed at a certain group, or even use your publications to sell advertising space.

Demonstrate effective use of products to your audience. Promote products which can save them money, and when possible show them how exactly they will save.

Explain how spending money often results in makes money. This applies to certain subject areas such as: business start-ups, managing finances, etc.

Look for offers of quality products which are either freebies or pay-per-leads which you can promote (unfortunately there are some which aren’t very good – so do your homework). Those that convert well are worth sharing with your readers. This may take a bit of practice, but soon enough you’ll discover what works.

Be sure the items you sell are practical. One business-smart idea is to sell consumable items your customers will buy over and over again. The most frugal of people have to spend money on day to day items. Consider items which will provide them with both online convenience and great value at the same time.

Alter the way you approach blogging and you’ll discover an entirely new aspect of your business. The aspect which permits you to finally get PAID for everything you’re doing.

Need more help?

Tips for a Mom Vlogger: Write it Down

Kelly — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:03:08 +0000

This is a guest blog post by Alice Seba of Contentrix.

Audio and particularly, video seem to be the words of the day when it comes to content marketing. But have you ever stopped to think – the written word is still the root of it all, no matter what format you choose for your content.

Before you end up with that polished multi-media content your audience craves, you begin with words. Whether it’s detailed notes or a script, doing your homework produces a much higher quality and informative piece for your viewers and listeners.

Thinking on your feet and other forms of spontaneity do have a place, but doing it all the time won’t give you the impact you want to make on your listeners and viewers. Just look at some of the multi-media content out there for an example. The content is dull and repetitive not to mention awkward in spots. To avoid that, create notes for yourself so you end up with the product that you want.

You don’t believe that movie actors work from thin air do you? There is a script that they follow to get into their characters and to bring out the story. Without some sort of direction, your content would remind viewers of a really bad reality TV show, shooting off into all directions and losing the once focused message. But, even reality TV shows leave a lot of stuff on the editing room floor and the finished product is specifically designed to tell a story. Documentaries are the same, with scripting to avoid being too off-the-cuff and to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together into one comprehensive piece.

Learn to think first and speak well later:

If you’re being interviewed, ask for interview questions ahead of time to avoid babbling and repeating yourself during the actual interview.
Find a preparation method that works for you. It can be creating fully scripted answers to the questions or just jotting down a few points to keep you on track.
When you are the star of the video, by all means use notes. Using a webcam allows you to keep your notes on the screen or somewhere near the camera.
Keep the audio or video moving by alternating between script and spontaneous discussion. Do use a scripted intro and conclusion to be sure that none of your important points are missed…and you can include any slick product promotions where it counts.

These tips won’t stop the occasional stumble or mumble while speaking. Don’t worry, we’re not looking for perfection, just solid content your readers can use. And working from a written game plan will keep your audience watching and eventually lead them to take action on your offers.

It’s Time for Profit with Mommy Blogging

Kelly — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:44:31 +0000

This is a guest blog post from Alice Seba of Contentrix.

What’s all this talk about Mommy Bloggers these days? From Motrin Moms to a Marriott boycott (due to tactless comments by company regarding a sexual assault on a mom), moms are making their voices heard on the internet and felt in the physical world. But, then again it‘s not surprising. Moms have influenced buying in the marketplace for a long time.

Moms these days are high-tech – they‘re connected to the Internet wherever they go. This gives them even more power and far-reaching influence.

And with all this exposure for mom blog, others moms are joining in…hoping to exert influence and earn an income from their blog (if that‘s you, keep reading). The problem is, there are so many different mommy bloggers out there, all with different goals, so it can be tough to figure out how to start profiting from your blog.

But, before we go any further, there is an IMPORTANT point to be aware of. As long as you remember it you can keep working toward your income goals. Here it is:

FACT: A mommy blog with a big audience and lots of comments is not necessarily a profitable blog.

WHAT THAT MEANS FOR YOU: There are two types of blogs: influential blogs and profitable blogs – and sometimes there is a hybrid of the two. If you are looking to make a profit, model yourself after the profitable – not after the influential.

To create a profit from your blog, consider the following tips:

Sell Advertising: It’s nice to get free products from sponsors but that does nothing for your bottom line. Instead, seek out sponsors to BUY space on your blog. Large or small, get payment up front in green.

Get Paid for Your Product Review: Reviews can help a product to gain popularity or make it sink like a stone. Well visited bloggers can ask for monetary compensation for their reviews of products. If you like a product, don’t endorse for free. At the very least, using an affiliate link means you get paid for every sale generated from your review or endorsement.

Be Discriminatory with Offers: When you have a sphere of influence, you don’t have to take the first train headed your way or even every train. If companies approach you to promote, give away or review their product, choose only the ones that are the best fit and that you have time for. Feel no guilt for saying no or for not responding.

Analyze your Ads: Which ads are making the cut and which ones are below the bar? Track how well each ad does in different locations on the site. Don’t be afraid to unload any that aren’t making you any money.

Sell your Own Stuff: Consider creating some valuable digital tools for your target market. Whether it’s a special report, ebook, software or other handy downloadable, it’s a cost-effective way to break into selling your own products.

Blogs, especially mom blogs, have become a popular way to create a presence in cyberspace. What is your goal for the blog? If it is worldwide influence, go for it, but if it is to make money for your family, you may need to change course. After all, this is your business and you need a plan to bring it to profit.

Social Bookmarking: Delicious

Amber Passey — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:11:25 +0000

We’ve already covered StumbleUpon in our series on Social Bookmarking. Now we are heading to one of my favorites for bookmarking: Delicious. I have to admit, I was completely turned off to this site by all the dots: del.icio.us. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it so I didn’t even want to figure out what it was. I’m so sad I waited so long!But very glad they moved away from the former format and are now simply Delicious.

Here’s how it works.

Delicious, like other social bookmarking sites, stores links you save. But there are some features that make me like it more than others. First, I can create my own tags for the links. This is important to me because I can group links together in a way that makes sense to me or that represents how I plan on using the links in the future. Second, you can choose if a link is stored publicly or privately.

Let me illustrate the beauty of Delicious with a personal example.

My mom has an online business selling a product. It’s a rather expensive, but highly beneficial, product that takes a lot of interaction with a client before a sale is made. She has numerous links that she shares with people regularly containing pertinent information regarding her product and the need it fills. She also happens to be visiting us in Tennessee this week, without her laptop. As she has tried to conduct business while here, she has spent extra time looking for those links again because they are all saved on her laptop which she didn’t bring.

I explained Delicious to her and she immediately recognized what a time-saver it would be to have access to your favorite links from any computer. This is one more way to feel the freedom of blogging for income. You’re not tied to a location nor are you tied to your own computer. Feels great, right!

How it affects traffic

Many people need to bookmark your post in Delicious before it makes the front page and really brings in traffic. Vandelay Design recently published a post on using social bookmarking sites to increase traffic. He shows a great strategy for getting to the front page of Delicious, among other beneficial places to get your post showcased. I suggest reading his post and following his strategy.

photo credit: topgold

Social Bookmarking: StumbleUpon

Amber Passey — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:48:48 +0000

This week we are exploring social bookmarking. Social bookmarking is a great way to keep track online of sites you like and a great way to drive traffic to your site. The first social bookmarking site we’ll look at is StumbleUpon. This site is fascinating and rather addicting.

Here’s how it works

You sign up for an account with StumbleUpon. You fill out your profile including keywords related to your interests. Now you have two options.

Option 1: Let StumbleUpon show you different sites people have liked that are related to your keywords. Simply click Like It! if you want to see more posts along the same lines or Thumbs Down if it’s not for you. Then stumble onto the next website.
Option 2: Go out to your favorite blogs and websites and add them to StumbleUpon. You can choose to add a review to the page when you stumble it.

Here’s how it affects traffic

Typically when a post or page on your site is stumbled, you’ll see a dramatic increase in traffic within minutes. It’s amazing how quickly the traffic pours in. It’s great to be stumbled! The down side is that this traffic often bounces. You get a lot of traffic, but they don’t tend to stick around. A few people will hang out and click around your site or follow a link in your post, but don’t expect many people to do this kind of browsing on your site. Most people who use StumbleUpon are in pure surfing mode and are poised to click the “Stumble” button, not the “post a comment” button.

Is it worth it?

Yes, it’s worth it! Even if only a handful of people browse your site and even fewer subscribe to your RSS feed, that’s still more than zero. Plus it keeps track of sites you find and like so you can refer back to them later when you want to link to them in a post.

Additional Features

You can add friends in StumbleUpon and then subscribe to their StumbleUpon RSS feed so you can see what sites they are interested in. You can advertise your site through StumbleUpon. Based on a pay-per-click model, you can drive traffic to your site by asking StumbleUpon to specifically send people to you. Once a few people have given you positive reviews, be sure to remove your site from the advertisement pool so that you don’t continue to pay for traffic that can now be generated from the previous positive reviews.
photo credit: topgold