Posts Tagged yahoo

Successful Social Media Experts Have A Plan

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Is It Really Possible to Create a High Traffic Blog?

The blogging bug bit mankind a couple of years ago and since then, it has spread like a virus. Blogging as a hobby appeals to people of all generations; everyone, from the age of eight to eighty, seem to be interested in the concept. The reason behind this is that the topics of the blogs are of such diverse nature that it has an inborn element of appeal attached to it.

Nowadays, people blog on just about anything, from their experience of a one-night stand to their latest culinary endeavors.

And needless stay, most blogs have a dedicated readership base, a fact that is reflected by the huge amount of online traffic each blog enjoys everyday. This unconventional ability to attract readers without putting in too much of an extra effort soon caught the attention of the corporate houses. Once the clever bourgeoisie got wind of this fact, they immediately tapped this sector to advertise themselves. In return they set up a source of income for the bloggers. Truly something quite unheard of!

Why does a blog attract so many netizens? The reason lies in the fact that most blogs are like one’s personal diary made public, where every common man reflects on his day-to-day experiences. In the midst of these discussions, there comes forth issues of social relevance, and soon concerned readers pour in to share their views. So it’s quite evident that the social networking facility of a blog is the secret behind its being such a brilliant net traffic inducer.

The very concept of blog may not be directly a social networking scheme; in fact the very idea of having a common public forum for discussing things appealing to similar tastes was already present in websites and chat rooms.

Twitter and Facebook came after blogging had already won the faith of almost all netizens. But the revolutionary thing about blogs was that it afforded people to elaborate their views or display their literary skill or any other such fondness and in turn make new friends with people of similar or different passions.

When corporate houses understood the marketing potential of blogs, they immediately set up sites Lifehacker and Kotaku, each of which has its own set of dedicated content writers, who have to ability to amalgamate their creative juices with their bookish (or shall should I say wikish) knowledge and churn out new articles at the flash of a lightning.

Hence, interested readers would log onto that page every half an hour or so to check out what’s new. And the fun doesn’t stop there. Most readers, after reading these blogs, comment on them as well. Nine out of ten times a healthy conversation ensues which leads to an elaborate process of quoting numerous bloggers and thereby getting to know other people who might thinking about these matters.

Social networking inevitably leads to linking of various blogs together. Once the process of linking starts, the blog sites become virtually a more powerful search engine than Google or Yahoo, since quite effortlessly and without any net traffic hassles, the concerned reader would get to know a lot about the issue.

These opinions are again open to debate; some are a bit biased while others are extremely lame in their logical structure. But since they reflect the various human perspectives of a single issue, blogging ensures that a person develops the ability to appreciate various angles of a single matter.

By being informal in their structure, blogs do cater to a large and dedicated reader base, one that keeps expanding with time.

If you want to go this route, make sure you write your content in such a way that it encourages healthy conversation between bloggers. Soon enough, you’ll notice marketing managers hankering after you to attach a small tagline of their product to your blog. In that process you end up earning quite a bit, if and only if you have the flair to weave magic out of words. Happy Blogging!

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Tags: blog, facebook, Google, Kotaku, Lifehacker, Social network service, Web search engine, yahoo

StumbleUpon Tips To Success Part 2

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StumbleUpon Toolbar
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Most people don’t know how to take full advantage of all that StumbleUpon traffic has to offer.  If you are going to focus on gaining solid, ‘I will visit your site always’ type of traffic, then StumbleUpon is the web traffic tool you should use.  When going over my Google Analytics report, I realized that StumbleUpon accounts for almost 25% of my traffic.  In a 30 day period, StumbleUpon sent 24.55% and Google (organic) sent 13.81%.  Digg sent 4.53%.

Did you know that even if you get lots of traffic from StumbleUpon in the beginning, that you will continue to get traffic for many months to come?  So for me, StumbleUpon is a viable traffic tool.  Here are 25 more fantastic StumbleUpon tips that will help you bring more success to your blog while enhancing your traffic and Alexa ranking!

Take a look at the 1st 25 StumbleUpon Tips to Success here

26. Stay away from the automated tools if possible, since they will end up causing
problems in some cases, like creating spam-like postings and will give your
pages the overall feel of a robot behind the keyboard instead of a human
being.

27. Make the content more social. Try to achieve a feeling of updating friends and
customers instead of a plain informational page. This will make people stay
interested and want to know more as things with your business changes.

28. Edit your posts often, and have another pair of eyes take a look at them as
well. Sometimes, someone else might catch errors or suggest room for
improvement that you may not be aware of.

29. Blog about your StumbleUpon page. Talk about your page on other websites
and in other places, so more traffic is led there.

30. Choose tags carefully, and only use the ones that have the most impact.

31. You can generate article ideas and brainstorm concepts by buzzing around
the web and finding the hottest topics and other blogs. Take from them as
much inspiration as possible.

32. Try not to use commas and apostrophes in your title. It’s been shown to scare
people away & indicate to them that the topic will be boring.

33. Use the most up to date tracking software possible, so you can get an
accurate hit count and you’ll know how many people have visited the site.

34. Make the most of photos, and strive to use the most visually appealing and
interesting ones you can that are pertaining to your topics.

35. Show off some recent pages on the sidebar, so people can easily see the
other postings you’ve comprised.

36. Relate your articles to common emotions such as happiness, excitement and
even fear to get the point across and garner interest.

37. Diversify. Don’t just stick to one niche topic, but instead broaden your base by
writing a number of different things.

38. Try to be the first to discover new sites and link to them, so that people
consider you a reliable, interesting source.

39. Do not expect success to be overnight. Remember that this website takes
time to build up a base of people and ratings, so allow it to happen naturally.

40. Make sure you comment on other peoples’ pages and review them as well.
This shows you’re an active user who cares about what others are saying.

41. Use StumbleUpon itself as a case study to find the best Internet websites out
there, and then expand on it by making it even better with new links.

42. Humor really does help with this site, so use it freely.

43. Keep your friends list up to date and only use active members as top friends,
so people know you’re paying attention to what is going on.

44. Enable search views. This will help you get more hits in Google and Yahoo.

45. Watch the number of ads that you incorporate and make sure they’re going
with the topic at hand. Poorly blended ads can turn people off and confuse
them.

46. Utilize as many tools and tutorials you can. There are plenty of great tools
and add-ons available, many free of charge, for use with StumbleUpon.

47. Remember that traffic can last a long time. Even if you gain a lot of stumbles
in the beginning and then it dies off, the traffic will still be generated as long
as your page is up. Just make sure it’s current including your contact
information.

48. Be exclusive. Try to feature only certain parts of the bigger picture of your
website. This encourages visitors to actually go there instead.

49. Fill up your page with as much content as possible. Some people might skim
over the page, some might actually sit and read it all and digest it. Either way,
the more information, the better.

50. Branding is essential, so be sure to have a memorable URL or basic title that
people will not forget.


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Tags: Alexa Internet, Digg, Google, Google Analytics, StumbleUpon, Uniform Resource Locator, Website, yahoo

Short And Sweet: An SEO Primer

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A typical search engine results page
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SEO tools

Search Engine optimization is of two kinds, Organic and Mechanical. Organic SEO depends on manual or natural ways of optimizing a website and takes more time resulting in long lasting results. Mechanical SEO use software i.e. seo tools to optimize a website. It takes less time but results have a shorter shelf life.

SEO tools are numerous. They are available for keyword verification checking and suggestions, link popularity checks, meta tag optimization, search saturation checking, back link building, search engine ranking etc.

The seo tools are being extensively used today to optimize websites. In the fiercely competitive industries it is very important to be on top of Google, Yahoo or any other search engine rankings to tap targeted audience. This greatly helps to sustain, grow and expand your business through your website.

Each category of seo tools in turn has number of software developed by different companies. It is relevant to know which are good before you embark upon using one. Almost all of them have demo versions available for free download. You can always try them out before narrowing your options and buying the best. Remember, SEO tools are only tools; one should use them with a lot of prudence lest the search engines black list you.

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Tags: Add new tag, Google, Meta element, Methods of website linking, Optimization, search engine optimization, Web search engine, Website, yahoo

Them Crooked Vultures Created A Twitter Storm

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TwitArt.
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Yes they have,  if you check what was trending the last 24 hours on Twitter, you will see the band Them Crooked Vultures at the top.  But, how can you get your tweets to be top trending?  I know, secretly you also want to be like Them Crooked Vultures so you can ride the wave of a Twitter blizzard.  You desperately want your tweets to turn into a viral snow storm so that Yahoo, Bing and Google will pick them up and make you king for a day.  Well, if you put into action the following list, its all but guaranteed you’ll create a Twitter storm!

1. Network with noteworthy business associates, competitors, and peers. You
don’t have to simply befriend every person you can that requests you or vice
versa on Twitter. Instead, choose your networking buddies carefully. Look for
fellow executives or business owners who work within your particular niche.
Then, follow their progress, look for advice, and of course, throw in some of
your own two cents as well. By befriending people who are in the same line of
work as you, you’ll get an insider’s look at how their successes compare to
yours.

2. Update your audience fairly regularly, but don’t over load them. A lot of people
are most likely interested in what you have to say, otherwise they probably
wouldn’t have added you to begin with. This means you should be updating
them on a fairly regular basis so they can keep up with what’s happening in
your world or your business’ world. On the other hand, you don’t want to
overload people so much that the feel of your Twitter site feels “spammy” and
they turn away. Try to maintain the balance between good updating and
overwhelming people with insignificant updates.

3. Use Twitterfeed to help people stay updated. Twitterfeed is basically the
website’s answer to an RSS feed, and it’s a great way to automatically keep
your followers updated without them checking your page too often. It also
allows things to be updated on their own, so you don’t have to spend extra
time telling everyone you have an updated; it’s all done for you.

4. Use Twitter at conferences and trade shows. When you’re out and about
networking in the REAL world, don’t forget to use Twitter then as an
opportunity to update your customers and peers on what you’re seeing and
doing. This shows them that you’re being proactive and it’s a lot of fun as well.
You can tell them some funny things you might be seeing at the trade show,
or maybe inform them of an interesting vendor you’ve hooked up with. By
sharing your experiences as you go along, you’re garnering more interest in
what is happening with your business.

5. Keep an eye on what people are saying. Don’t forget that Twitter, like any
other virtual conversation, is a two-way street. Pay attention to what other
members are saying, and see if they’re Twittering about you. If they are, you
might want to use that as an opportunity to either thank them for a nice
compliment, or to make good if they are posting a complaint. Remember that
you’re never 100% safe from someone who might try to talk negatively about
you, your website, or anything else on Twitter. Be sure to use this to your
advantage in a diplomatic way.

6. Display your Twitter profile on business cards, your website, and in email
signatures. Remind people in other ways that you’re on Twitter. Some clients
and customers might not know this until you pass the information along. Get a
nice snapshot of your Twitter home page and then display it along with a link
to the Twitter page on your actual website. Include the page’s URL in email
signatures and you can even print this on a business card if you like.

7. Make Twitter another home hub. Use Twitter to display your business growth,
charts, statistics, and other factual data. This way, people who prefer to watch
what’s happening with you on Twitter have the same basic information and
access as those who usually just visit your website.

8. Promote Events. Remember to not just update people on the comings and
goings of your business, but also to get them hyped up for any big events you
may have coming up. This can be anything from an appearance at a trade
show to a huge seasonal sale or a launching of a new product. Always keep
Twitter in mind when it comes to these updates, and remember that it can

9. Filter your traffic to other places. You can use Twitter to also steer people to
other resources that you use for marketing such as a blog page or website
updates. The exchange of information through Twitter can go both ways, so
keep that in mind. It’s a good way to get others moving to different resources
that you have available that they might not know about.

10. Find a cool template that says who you are as company. Twitter now allows
users to customize the look of their home page. Use something individual and
creative as your Twitter page. This can be the same graphics you use on your
website, a company logo, or something you’ve customized just for Twitter. No
matter what it is, make sure it’s appealing to the eyes and does not look too
“busy.”

11. Why email when you can Twitter? Don’t send out short and sweet emails to
your subscribers. Most people who sign up for emails from companies expect
a monthly and at worst weekly update that is chock full of information. They
don’t want to open a short email with not much to go on. Save this for Twitter,
where people hunger for the short sentences and blurbs. Then, you can
compile all of these over the span of a month or so into one email for the
others.

12. Use a cool “follow me” graphic. There are now hundreds of different follow me
graphics to choose from that will grab peoples’ attention. You can even
customize your graphic if you want to, so people will see something distinctive
about your page. Just like the template, the follow me graphics get you notice
and entice people to want more information, so make sure this graphic is
done well.

13. Keep it casual. Remember that Twitter is a social site, so it’s got more of a
casual feel than some websites might. Make sure the posts are generally
light, with a touch of humor otherwise you might lose your core audience. The
purpose of following others on Twitter is so that it’s entertaining. If you post
too serious or heavy posts, it might turn some readers off.

14. Sub-divide your Twitter page. You don’t have to just have ONE company
page. Instead, try to come up with a page for all of your staff. This way, your
customers get to know others on the team. It also adds a bit of diversity for
the business, and gives people a cast of characters to follow instead of a
faceless, nameless company. It also entices people to follow more so they
stay connected to both you and your business.

15. Incorporate video into your Twitter page. Many people may not know that now
Twitter allows for multimedia additions, so feel free to include video plug-ins
on your page. This makes it more exciting, and people will want to follow your
postings more closely if there’s video included.

16. Divide and conquer. You can actually separate your followers into different
groups. This is actually quite useful, especially if some people are customers,
some are peers, some are competitors, and some are personal contacts. This
way, you only update the people who care about certain things with particular
tweets, while the others don’t have to see those, and vice versa. It’s a good
way to hone in on your audience’s interests.

17. Itunes, Iphones, and Twitter: There are plenty of new tools available right now
that incorporated into Apple’s applications. This makes your Twitter updates
available to busy people who are on the go, and for people who access your
page solely on their Iphones.

18. It’s not just for Iphones any more: Aside from the Iphone specific applications,
there are plenty of other mobile Twitter-related apps out there you can use.
Not only can your users download these apps and use them on their cell
phones, but you can do the same and follow your friends and cohorts as well.

19. Inform your customers of stock status. Twitter also has tons of great features
and plug-ins that will notify your customers when certain items you carry are
in stock, and when they go on sale. This is an excellent way to notify people
so they can make it purchase. This is also helpful for you, so you can get a
jump start on your suppliers and what they are offering for you.

20. Map it out. Google Maps and many other map websites now integrate with
Twitter. This can be fun to show your followers where you’re traveling, or just
to show them where your business is located. It’s also handy so that you can
find posters and look up where they are located.

21. Digging for other blogs through Twitter: Twitter is a great way to get some
insight into other blogging websites such as Digg and other related sources.
This can be a good way to not only find other peoples’ blogs, but link to them
and inform other people about their content. By doing a search you can find
tons of great blogs on the web that can be linked to your Twitter.

22. Contests are tons of fun on Twitter. Host an impromptu giveaway contest on
Twitter. You can do this every day, every week, monthly, whatever you
choose. It’s a great way to get all of your followers to stay interested and
engaged, and freebies are always a guarantee of new contacts.

23. Ask for feedback. Don’t just tell everyone what you’re doing via Twitter, try to
ask everyone for their opinion or feedback. It’s a good way to start a dialogue
and open up a forum for new suggestions and changes that can be made.

24. Colors matter. Think about the color scheme of your Twitter page, and try to
make it appealing and something that will fit your business’ niche. For
example, a NASCAR Twitter page wouldn’t use a pink and red color scheme!
Choose colors that fit your message and your style.

25. Fonts are Important, too. The fonts you use for the main Twitter page should
also fit the theme of the business or page.

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Tags: Add new tag, band, bing, business, Google, Online Communities, RSS feed, Them Crooked Vultures, trade shows, twitter, Twitterfeed, yahoo

Want To Be Found By Bing?

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If you want to be found by Bing, then you’re going to have to think differently about search.  Bing is making it easier to compete for broad search terms because of the way the categories ‘rise’ to the surface automatically.  This feature actually increases the number of results on the search page and it generates more relevant content.  Basically, the same SEO strategies that are used for Google and Yahoo are applicable to Bing.

Here are some tips…

  1. Nail the basics.  As always unique content is king.  Use ‘H’ tags for titles, alt tags for images, use unique page titles and descriptive meta tags.  Its very important that your content is free of spelling and grammatical errors.  Again, master the basics first for success with Bing.
  2. Because Bing categorizes sites and its content, it also emphasizes the links or backlinks that a similar to the topic being searched.  Quality, relevant links will go a long way in getting high search rankings on Bing.  For example, if you are searching for ‘cars’ then model types like Ford, Lincoln and Honda would show up beneath the top level searched for term ‘cars.’  I believe the thinking her is that a site should be all about the same topic in order to rank well.
  3. Bing also prefers older domain ages.  This site probably won’t rank high because the domain is less than one year old; and Bing establishes authority like Google does by identifying the domain age.

These are just some of the off the cuff, noticeable things I discovered in taking a look at Bing.  There is still no substitute for developing great, original content directed toward your intended audience.  All the things you currently do to be found by the search engines, continue doing them.  Bing is just another player in the search engine game and SEO strategy won’t change for any search engine.

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Tags: Add new tag, Backlink, bing, Google, Honda, Meta element, search, search engine optimization, yahoo

Why Social Networking Sites are So Popular

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Illustration of Facebook mobile interface
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Do you use the internet on a regular basis? If you do, there is a good chance that you have heard of websites like Facebook, MySpace, FriendFinder, Classmates, or Yahoo! 360. What do all of these websites have in common? They are known as social networking websites. Social networking websites, over the past few years, have rapidly increased in popularity, so much that many are wondering why.

If you have used a social networking website before, it is likely that you are already fully aware of their popularity and the reason for popularity. There is just something about these websites that draw in millions of internet users. With a wide variety of different social networking websites available, there are a wide variety of different reasons for their popularity. One those reasons being the ease of use.

Social networking websites are, for the most part, easy to use. Most sites are easy to navigate. In fact, many require little knowledge of the internet. In addition to being easy to navigate, social networking websites also make it easier to meet new people online. There are many internet users who would love to make new friends online; however, that can sometimes be difficult do. Without social networking websites, you would have to connect with internet users, often in chat rooms, and learn about their interests before deciding if you would like to consider them your “buddy.” Social networking sites allow you to learn information about another internet user before ever having to make contact with them.

Another one of the many reasons why social networking sites are popular is because many are free to use. In fact, the majority of social networking sites, such as MySpace and Yahoo! 360, are free to use. Despite being free to use, many websites require that you register with them. This registration will not only allow you to create your own profile or online webpage, but it will also allow you to contact other networking members.

Although most social networking websites are free to use, there are some that are not. Classmates is one of those websites. Many of these websites give you a free trial period or a free membership. That membership can be used to help you determine whether or not the website is worth paying for. What is nice about paid online social networking websites is that many can be considered exclusive. Since most internet users would not want to pay for something that they can get for free, most paid social networking sites are limited on the number of members they have. This may work out to your advantage because it tends to eliminate those who create fake accounts or aim to cause controversy online.

Social networking websites are also popular because they come in a wide variety of different formats. Websites like Yahoo! 360 and MySpace focus on a wide variety of different topics. This means that just about anyone can join. However, there are other social networking sites out there that have a particular focus. These focuses may be on a particular religion, political following, or hobby. Most specialty social networking sites restrict the individuals that can participate in their network; thus, making your experience more enjoyable.

Finally, social networking websites focus on meeting new people, especially online, but over recent months, many have started including additional features only available to their online members. Many social networking members can receive their own free webpage, get free access to popular music videos, a free blog, and much more. Although social networking websites are popular enough to bring in members on their own, these additional features are, in a way, providing internet users with an incentive to join.

Mentioned above were a few of the most popular social networks that could be found online. Those networks included MySpace, Yahoo! 360, and Classmates. If you are looking for additional social networking websites, you should easily be able to find some by performing a standard internet search.

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Tags: Add new tag, Chat room, facebook, MySpace, Online Communities, social network, Social network service, Website, yahoo

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