10 Easy Steps To Improve Link Popularity

You've spent the last few months optimizing your web site. You did your homework and learned all about optimizing techniques for your web page. Your relevant keywords are prominently placed in all the right places on your pages. Yet your site still isn't ranking the way you want. What do you do?

It's time to improve you link popularity!

Why bother with link building? Link popularity and link quality are very important because every major search engine now considers them as a part of their ranking algorithms. If you don't have links, you won't rank well for competitive keywords.

If your page includes all the important on-the-page criteria and scores well with Page Primer, it's time to focus on your links. Good inbound links can move your page up the ranking ladder and act as new entry points to your site. But how does your site get those coveted inbound links we hear so much about?

First off, let's make sure we understand the basics. Link popularity is the measure of inbound links to your web site. Link analysis evaluates which sites are linking to you and the link text itself.

Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to improve your link quality and popularity, which will give you a boost in the rankings. Here are some guidelines to help you set up your own linking campaign:

1. Prepare your site first

Before you start your link building campaign, take time to get your site in shape. Make sure your site looks professional, has good content and is easy to navigate. Validate your HTML code and check your links with a tool like HTML Toolbox. If a potential linker goes to your site and finds broken pages, they are not going to want to link to you.

In addition, directories have gone on record saying they may exclude sites with broken links and page errors. Directories want only professional looking sites in their databases, so do your homework on your site before you start promoting it and your linking campaign will be more effective.

2. Budget time for link building

Don't expect to grow your link popularity overnight. Budget time every week to work on link building. If you force yourself to spend a couple hours a week on link building, it will become part of your routine. Pick one day a week and set aside time as your "link building time." If you don't make it a priority, it won't get done.

Link building is an incremental activity. Over time these one or two new links start adding up until they are hundreds or even thousands of links.

3. Establish realistic link goals

Don't expect to see instant results. Link building is difficult, frustrating and time intensive. Convincing another web site to link to you can be exasperating. If you get one good quality link a month you're doing better than the majority of sites out there.

Patience and creativity are key to link building. Track your progress so you know who you've asked already. It could be embarrassing to ask a site for a link if they've already given you one.

If a company initially declines your link request, wait a while and then ask again. Their company focus may change over time. A "no" today may change into a "yes" 6 - 9 months later.

4. Develop internal management support

If you're link building in-house, build support from your company's internal management for your link building. This usually means educating management about the benefits of link building.

Link popularity is unique to the search engine industry - it's not taught in graduate schools (not yet, anyway). Sit down with your management and explain the concept behind link building - don't assume they understand it or have even heard of the term. In fact, most won't have a clue what you're talking about.

Explain link building in terms they will understand and in ways that will get their attention, such as describing the relationship of link building and increased revenue. Talking about making more money usually gets management's attention.

Why worry about management support? You will need it to provide the time and money you need to get into search engines or directories.

5. Link popularity is all about quality

Be selective about the sites from which you request links. Search engines use sophisticated rules when judging the importance of a link, and the popularity of the site linking to you is a key criteria. One link from CNet is worth far more than a link from a personal web site.

And don't even think of using a link farm! Link farms are sites that exist solely to link to other web sites. Link farms are a blatant attempt to inflate your link popularity, and search engines take a dim view of them. Google in particular has been known to ban sites found using a link farm.

Try to identify non-competitive sites in the same field as your site. Links from sites that are related to your area carry more weight than sites from Aunt Sue's favorite horse site. That doesn't mean you should refuse a link from Aunt Sue, just be aware it won't help you much in link quality terms. On the other hand, links from sites within your industry are strong endorsements for your site.

6. Develop a relationship with a site

Before you ask for the link, get to know the web site. Establish yourself as a real human first. That way, when you ask for a link, it's harder for them to say no.

Impersonal broadcast emails asking for links are spam. Sure, it's easier, but it will only result in making another company mad at you. Spam link requests do not work and waste everyone's time. Don't do it!

7. Provide the linking code

Make it easy for other sites to link to you. Send the prospective linker the exact HTML code you want in the link and suggest which page you want the link from. This ensures the right words are used in the link and reduces the burden in setting up the link. Everybody on the Internet is pressed for time and if you don't make it "drop-in simple" by giving them the exact HTML, you've made their job too hard. Make it easy and your success rate will go up.

8. Get directory listings

Jumpstart your link campaign by getting directory links first. This is especially important if you have a new site or a site with no inbound links. A shortage of inbound links puts your site at a severe disadvantage because link analysis is an important part of every search engine's ranking algorithm.

The way to overcome this disadvantage is to get a few quality links. A good way to start is to get listed in as many directories as you can. There are many directories out there, and the more you can get into the better.

A few to target include:

• Open Directory
• Yahoo
• LookSmart
• Zeal.com
• Joeant.com
• Business.com

Be aware that most of these directories require you to pay for a listing. It's worth the expense.

9. Consider bartering for links

It's a good idea to have something to offer in return for a link. Many sites won't link to you unless you link back to them or otherwise make it worth their while. Create a Resources or Partner page that allows you to have a place from which you can easily link to them.

You might also offer to work a barter arrangement with them. If you have a popular site with their target market, they might consider free advertisements in exchange for a link. If the link is of great value to you, be prepared to give something back.

10. Link building alternatives

If time constraints keep you from link building, consider outsourcing your link popularity work. Link building is undoubtedly the most time consuming part of search engine optimization. You may find it is not cost effective to do it in house. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, it just means you hire someone else to do it for you.

Many top SEO firms have turned to outsourcing this function. For example: Jill Whalen of highrankings.com uses Debra O'Neil-Mastaler's link building firm.

Outsourcing to a reputable link building firm ensures good links and could be a more efficient model for you if you are already time limited.

One word of caution if you do chose to hire a company specializing in link building: make sure any firm you hire follows good link building practices. Ask them to describe the process they use to request links Make sure they follow a personalized approach, and don't simply spam sites with requests for links.

If they refuse to discuss their link building methods you can assume they use impersonal widespread email drops or link farms - that's spam. They may call it a fancy name, but if the process involves sending out large numbers of form emails, it's still spam and will only set your campaign backwards and injure your company's professional reputation. Go find a different company or develop your links in house.

Just do it!

Link popularity is important and the link building process needs to be given high priority. Link analysis is only going to get more important to search engines, not less. Search engines have found it highly resistant to manipulation and a legitimate way to measure the importance of a site. Since link building takes time, the sooner you start the better.

So think of link building as a long-term investment in your site. Put in a little time now to improve your linking today to insure a good search engine ranking in the future.

How to be a Better Blogger : 30 Best Oneline Tips

How to be a better blogger or writer – have FUN!


Ask your readers questions. Find out what’s going on in their heads. You might be surprised.

Use keywords, long tail and short, that people are searching for right now.

Find out what your readers want and write about that. Ask them.

Be consistent. Build your reputation. Hold that reputation clear.

Give stuff away. Hold contests or just give things to everyone during certain times.

Join forums, meet people, find out what’s happening in your niche.

Have a good looking blog that zings. If your blog is ugly, fix it now.

Be different. Be unique. You are the only YOU there is, so be yourself. Everyone else is taken.

Try new things, do new things, explore and experiment in life and in your writing

Read. Read lots and read often. Read all kinds of things. Just read.

Go for quality. It’s better to have a few posts that kick ass than many posts that put people to sleep.

Send out press releases. Common, you know you want to. Toot your own horn for a change.

Guest blog on other blogs. It’s like helping the community and getting help from the community.

Make friends with your readers. Talk to them as you would any other friend.

Take surveys, conduct polls, do research and show the results

Be consistently good. You are only as good as your last post.

Be different. Stand apart from the crowd. Take a controversial stand.

Read what you’ve written with fresh eyes to make sure it’s getting your point across

Run contests. Silly contests, outlandish contests, the kind that get people talking.

Break news. Be the first to report, or connect your niche to a breaking story.

Be an expert. Whatever your area is, be the expert or interview the experts

Take one step at a time and keep going. Don’t get overwhelmed.

Get fascinated with your topic. Fall in love with your niche, and communicate your enthusiasm.

Be passionate. Don’t be afraid to let your opinions shine through.

Be interesting. Find a fresh voice, fresh material and be entertaining.

Don’t just rely on what you know, interview other experts in your niche. Be the Opah of your field.

Give links generously and you will get links. Links = traffic.

Ask for comments, then answer the comments. Make your blog the happening, active place to be.

Learn to craft great headlines that rivet the reader’s attention.

Focus. Pick your point and make it. Don’t wander all over the place; your readers will leave.

Have fun with your writing. If you’re having fun, odds are your reader is having fun, too.

Write in the moment. When you have something to say, write it immediately or you’ll might lose it forever.

If you have some more points to be shared, feel free to drop it via comments section.

Blogspot Bloggers Official Sharing Buttons

Blogger has been rolling out new features to improve the looks and usability of the blogs. Blogger is now testing out a new Social Sharing icon set consisting of Email, Blogger,Twitter(with goo.gl shortener),Facebook and Google buzz buttons. The set looks simple and elegant with some cool mouse over effects. These Sharing buttons are still in draft(still not published on the official draft blog) and so wont be available in your regular dashboard.If you need to take a peek at these new sharing icons, then take a look at my post page(and try sharing it :P ).

You are still reading. So  i guess that you are really interested in implementing these Sharing buttons on your Blogger Blog.

Then don’t wait. Just follow these simple steps

• Login to Your Blogger in Draft Dashboard at http://draft.blogger.com
• Go to Design > Page Elements and Click on the Edit Button near the Blog Posts Gadget and check the “Show Share Buttons” Option

• You can Drag and Drop the Share buttons and place it where you want.

• Now if everything went right, then you should be able to see the Share buttons on your Blog. If not then read on. :)
• If it didn’t appear then don’t worry, That is because you are having a modded template. Just Got to the Edit HTML page under the Design Tab and locate 

<p class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'>

Or if that is not there then find

<div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'>

and place the following code just below any of these lines[whichever is present in your template].

<div class='post-share-buttons'>
<b:include data='post' name='shareButtons'/>
</div>

and Save your template.

Optional Tweaks

• Show the Sharing Buttons on Post pages only - Find the Following Code in your template

<div class='post-share-buttons'>
<b:include data='post' name='shareButtons'/>
</div>

and wrap it within conditional tags as

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>
<div class='post-share-buttons'>
<b:include data='post' name='shareButtons'/>
</div>
</b:if>

• Hide Some of the Sharing Buttons – If you want you can hide some of these buttons using CSS. For example to hide the Blogger sharing button, add the following code above ]]></b:skin> in your template 

.sb-blog{display:none}

sb-email , sb-twitter, sb-facebook, sb-buzz and sb-blog are the different Button Classes. If you hide the mail or  buzz buttons, then it might look a little bad as these have rounded edges,

Automatic Read More Hack For Blogger With Thumbnail

Automatic Read More Hack For Blogger With Thumbnails i.e expandable post hack for blogger with thumbnail of image used in blogger posts and all this work is done by the script automatically,you just dont need to locate your image the script will do all work for you automatically.Just you have to write your post and publish it with one image in post related to post.

If you dont want to add thumbnail image in post summary then i had an post previously on automatic read more hack for blogger,read this.

Now how to install Automatic Read More Hack For Blogger With Thumbnails Demo snapshot is below.

Lets start with its installation:-

Now Login to Blogger Go to Layout > Edit HTML in your Blogger dashboard and check the "expand widget templates" box.

Find the closing </head> tag in your blog template, and paste the following section of code immediately before it:

<script type='text/javascript'>var thumbnail_mode = "no-float" ;
summary_noimg = 430;
summary_img = 340;
img_thumb_height = 100;
img_thumb_width = 120;
</script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
//
s[i] = s[i].substring(s[i].indexOf(">")+1,s[i].length);
}
}
strx = s.join("");
}
chop = (chop < strx.length-1) ? chop : strx.length-2;
while(strx.charAt(chop-1)!=' ' && strx.indexOf(' ',chop)!=-1) chop++;
strx = strx.substring(0,chop-1);
return strx+'...';
}

function createSummaryAndThumb(pID){
var div = document.getElementById(pID);
var imgtag = "";
var img = div.getElementsByTagName("img");
var summ = summary_noimg;
if(img.length>=1) {
imgtag = '<span style="float:left; padding:0px 10px 5px 0px;"><img src="'+img[0].src+'" width="'+img_thumb_width+'px" height="'+img_thumb_height+'px"/></span>';
summ = summary_img;
}

var summary = imgtag + '<div>' + removeHtmlTag(div.innerHTML,summ) + '</div>';
div.innerHTML = summary;
}


//]]>
</script>

Note in above codes we can change the numeric numbers according to our need

summary_noimg = 430; is post cut height without image

summary_img = 340; is post cut height with image

img_thumb_height = 100; is thumbnail image height

img_thumb_width = 120; is thumbnail image width

Now find this code <data:post.body/> in your template and replace it with below codes.

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>

<div expr:id='"summary" + data:post.id'><data:post.body/></div>
<script type='text/javascript'>createSummaryAndThumb("summary<data:post.id/>");
</script> <span class='rmlink' style='float:right;padding-top:20px;'><a expr:href='data:post.url'> read more "<data:post.title/>"</a></span>

</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'><data:post.body/></b:if>

Preview Your template if its showing thumbnail with read more hack Save it.

To show thumbnail it should have one image in your blogger posts and please upload the .js file to your server and dont forget to change the link with yours in codes to make this hack work.

I am sure everybody will love this hack for sure.

Statistics Widget for Blogger

What is Statistics Widget for Blogger?

 
Statistics Widget for Blogger will display the total number of posts and total number of comments on your blog. As of now, I have included only these two data for display. I do not see any value in displaying the total words in posts and total words in comments. I find them meaningless. If you are interested to display the total number of posts and total number of comments on your blog, please follow the instructions below.

Instructions to install Statistics Widget for Blogger

• Log in to your Blogger account
• On your Blogger Dashboard, click on the "Layout" link 

• This will take you to the "Page Elements" tab. Decide where you want to insert the statistics widget and click on the "Add a Gadget" link accordingly.

• Scroll down the list and find "HTML/ Javascript" and click on the "+" button 

• This will open the "Configure HTML/ Javascript" window. In the title section, please type "Blog Statistics" or "Blog Information" or "Blog Data" or any other title as you may wish
• In the content section, please copy & paste the following code:

<script style="text/javascript">

function numberOfPosts(json) {
document.write('Total Posts: <b>' + json.feed.openSearch$totalResults.$t + '</b><br>');
}

function numberOfComments(json) {
document.write('Total Comments: <b>' + json.feed.openSearch$totalResults.$t + '</b><br>');
}

</script>

<ul><li><script src="http://yourblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=json-in-script&callback=numberOfPosts"></script></li>

<li><script src="http://yourblog.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default?alt=json-in-script&callback=numberOfComments"></script></li></ul>

<span style="font-size:75%;"><a href="http://blogspot-n-blogger.blogspot.com/2010/05/statistics-widget-for-blogger.html" target="_blank">Widgets for Blogger</a></span>

• Remember to replace the text in bold "yourblog" with your blog address. Take note to replace it in two locations.


• Your window should look like the image below.

• I have a link back to my blog at the bottom. You are free to remove the credit, if you don't like it
• Click on "Save" button at the bottom right hand corner

That's it. You have created a widget to display the number of posts and number of comments on your blog. Please contact me if you have any doubts or you face any problems with the widget.

Add Facebook Like Button on blogspot blogger

Facebook has now made a extremely easy for anyone to integrate Facebook social elements into their blog – just copy-paste a HTML code and your site will instantly become Facebook-ready.

To this, open your blogger html editor, make sure that “Expand Widget Templates” checkbox is ticked.
Now Search for the following code (you can use CTRL+F on your browser) 

<data:post.body/>

When you found it, on the next line you should past this code

<iframe expr:src='"http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=" + data:post.url + "&amp;layout=standard&amp;show-faces=true&amp;width=530&amp;height=60&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light"' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='border:none; overflow:hidden; width:530px; height:60px' allowTransparency='true'></iframe>

If you found that, it means you are on the right spot.

Now Click “Save Template”. Refresh your main blogger blog now and you should be able to see your new Facebook Like Button.

Animated Image Icon Before Post Titles in Blogger / Blogspot

Blogging is all about providing valuable information to your readers. In addition to this, you can customize your blog in such a way that your readers would enjoy your blog layout with the contents. So, here is the tip to add and show animated image icon before blogger post titles. It will be displayed as the logo to your each post on blogspot. This can be done with some simple HTML edits. Lets learn this blogger trick step by step.

Finding An Image Icon To Insert Before Blogger Post Titles :

First things first. You have to do some homework before adding animated image icons. First of all you have to find an icon to place in your blog. The maximum size of your icon should be 50*50 pixels. You may make a search on Google with search phrases like “Animated icons”, “Animated logos” and choose an image. See if the image you have choosen is not protected under any copyright law. Try to get an icon which blends perfectly with your blog theme. Then upload your icon to any image hosting

site such as imageshack, photobucket, tinypic or googlepages etc and get the link to your image. When you are done with this, proceed to next step.

Making HTML Code For Your Image Icon :

After getting the link to your image icon it’s time to make a HTML code using the image link. Follow below code to make a HTML code using the link to your animated icon.

<img src="LINK TO YOUR IMAGE HERE" style="border-width:0px" />

Change the text LINK TO YOUR TEXT HERE with the link to your image. Now I guess you are done with the HTML code to your link. Move to the next step.

Editing HTML To Insert Image Code

Now it’s time to implement the above code in your blogger template and your blog will start showing your icon before blogger post titles. To do this follow below mentioned steps.

1. Go to your blogger dashboard.

2. Navigate to Layout >> Edit HTML

3. Expand Widget Templates by clicking the box next to it

4. Search for the below code in your template by pressing Ctrl+F on your browser

<b:if cond="data:post.url">

5. Add your image HTML code just above this code in your template.

6. Save the template and you are done.

Now you can see an animated image icon before all your post titles on blogger/blogspot. You can also apply this trick to add some special notes before your post titles. Simply post your text in place of the image icon code in your blogger template code and you are done.

Add a Subtitle to Blogger Posts

This Blogger tutorial shows you how to easily and quickly add a subtitle to your Blogger posts (Blogspot posts) so that both search engines and readers will have more information about your post.This is an easy tweak to your Blogger blog that anyone can carry out in a couple of minutes.

Benefits of Using Subtitles in Posts

Adding a subtitle which appears below the title of your post can be both eye catching and informative. For instance a titling schema for this post could be:

Title: Add a Subtitle to a Blogger

Subtitle: Make Your Posts More Search Engine Friendly and User Friendly

If you craft your titles and subtitles carefully you will encourage more targeted readers of your blog as they will be able to see at a glance what your post is about rather than reading the whole article. Your traffic therefore might be slightly less but they will be far more targeted to the content of your site resulting in a lower bounce rate.

How to add related posts below every post

To add Related posts/Similar posts widget below every post on your blog, follow these simple steps:

First of all download this file:
relatedPosts_ForBlogger.js

Download here :  relatedPosts.rar


And upload the file (relatedPosts_ForBlogger2.js) to SigMirror.com or HotLinkFiles.com to get a DIRECT LINK to that file.

1. Go to Blogger.com
2. Now go to "Layout", then to "Edit HTML" section
3. Back up your present template, by "Downloading it"
4. Now click on "Expand widget templates"
5. Find this code: </head>