If you’ve been active on a social network for the past month or so, chances are you’ve either used or heard of Google+. What started as a mysterious black bar that stood out at the top of Google.com has now been unveiled as Google’s latest entrant into the social networking scene. Google has been working on this project for the better part of a year now, and after a long period of speculation, Google+ has been opened selectively for use.

Interestingly, Google doesn’t seem to be buying into the “Facebook killer” or the “social network to rule them all” buzz that has been doing the rounds of the internet recently. They haven’t been pushing Google+ aggressively either because they don’t believe in their product, or because they think it is a small part of the overall Google redesign. Google top guns Vic Gundotra and Bradley Horowitz have stated that Google+ is simply an extension of the overall Google experience.

The look and feel of Google+ is quite different from any other Google product. Apparently the developers at Google have picked up a few lessons from the disaster that was Orkut. The “Circles” concept is something that is unique to the product, and yet is something that all of us can identify with. Grouping contacts and selective sharing is something that we have been doing offline for years now, and it’s about time someone introduced this concept into social networks. Facebook offers certain group management features, but the process isn’t nearly as intuitive as Google+ makes it. You simply drag your contacts into one or more circles and you’re ready to go. Since the black bar now appears across all services on Google, sharing information on Google+ is really easy. This isn’t something revolutionary since sharing links and interesting posts has been around for a long time, but Google is attempting to add features similar to StumbleUpon and Twitter to this concept. Basically, once you find something that you think is interesting, you can add it to your interests (similar to StumbleUpon). This item will now exist in your interests anytime you want to refer to it. Other users can also see stuff you like and talk about it in the “Featured Interests” section. This is similar to Twitter’s hash tags.

Google+ also includes “Huddle” which is basically a fancy name for a group chat application. You can use this to chat with your different circles. Google has also included a cool feature called “Hangouts” which allows users to use new high-bandwidth connections to organize a virtual meet up via video chat. Google has also eliminated much of the skepticism behind video chat by allowing users to signal when they are available to talk via video. So any user who wants to chat with his friends can select the people he sees are interested in chatting, and organize a virtual video “Hangout”. This feature works really well and is a lot of fun to watch in action. The system intelligently recognizes who is talking at a particular moment and allows that person to be in the spotlight while they are talking. Hangout users can also watch YouTube videos together as part of the chat session.

While managing all of these features might sound a bit difficult, Google+ simplifies the process by using the unified toolbar that gives you easy access to all its features. Much like the Facebook news feed, updates from Google+ users show up in real time to their friends. In an interesting move, Google has put its own spin on the “Like” button by calling it a “+1”.

All of this sounds great, but there is no denying that Google+ has a lot of challenges to endure if it has to make its mark among the social networking giants. Google has tried its hand at social networks before with Wave and Buzz, and both of those ventures were duds. With its new product, Google seems to have gotten most things right. As it stands right now, Google+ isn’t offering users enough reasons for users to abandon Facebook or Twitter. It has a lot of nifty features, but it needs to step it up. Google has also integrated Picasa with Google+ to further motivate users to share photos. the outset, it seems like Google has created Google+ as a largely stand-alone social networking experience. It may not be directly competing with heavyweights like Facebook and Twitter, but comparisons are inevitable. All in all, Google+ seems to be an interesting addition to the Google arsenal, but only time will tell whether it will be able to carve out a niche for itself.

Trust the internet gods on this: the social networking sites will continue to evolve and attract more users. The question is, which one will stay on top when the next millions of users sign up?

Facebook, which has been around since 2004, had 160.8 million unique visitors in June. LinkedIn had 33.9 million unique visitors in the same month, while MySpace had less than 33.5 unique visits. Coming in fourth is Twitter, with 30.6 million unique visits. Interestingly, Twitter’s VP for business and corporate development, Kevin Thau, had previously stressed that Twitter is not a social network but a channel for news content and information. However, the average internet user sees Twitter as just another Facebook competition; to others, it is Facebook 2.0.

A social networking site or a social network is a multipurpose virtual platform created to encourage people to communicate and share with each other endless stream of information and various forms of entertainment, such as amusing or meaningless shout outs, homemade videos, personal photos, and anything viral in the internet. These top-ranked social networking sites may differ in terms of focus and thrust, but they offer essentially the same things to their users.

As the social network competition heats up, internet users can only enjoy a better and more active social interaction online. It is easy to imagine the internet gods being busy doing either one or both of these two things: overseeing operations in their own social networking site and /or picking up improvement ideas from competing networks. Facebook, the most popular social network, has over 750 million active users as of July 2011. That is not even ten percent of the world population today. Considering the internet itself has yet to gain popularity in some remote areas around the world and the next year could produce a fresh batch of internet users and social network junkies, the brains and genius of social networks are on their toes. How do you keep your members and how do you get millions more?

For the average user, a social networking site should be effective in three fundamentals: easy navigation, zero down time, and a reliable search system. If the social network is easy to navigate for a technophobe grandparent, then that’s brilliant! If its Instant Messaging system doesn’t lag or die in the middle of a chat and if photos can be uploaded without hassle, then that’s fantastic. If it can yield the right person in search results when the only information submitted is the name of a university, then users will definitely keep coming back. Facebook is a top favorite for these very reasons.

Users who join social networks do so for three things: easy access to loved ones and long lost friends, unlimited media sharing and a dependable shout out channel for promotion of any kind – personal or professional. Facebook and Twitter fit the bill just right, MySpace seems to be a favorite of indie and upcoming artists, while LinkedIn is perceived as the social network to join for job hunting and business promotion purposes. It seems there is something for everyone. Anything new is an improvement or a niche version of the existing social networks.

One logs on to Facebook, and voila – the latest shout outs, photos and even national news are displayed. You want to see a steady stream of concise information, go to Twitter. You want to enjoy a “personal website” look and feel to your music page, you log on to MySpace. For self-promotion and industry exposure, LinkedIn is a great network. It is way too early to describe Google+ but if only for its simple process for classifying everyone in the network, it deserves a long good look until it’s out of its beta stage.

The best shout out right now is your social network wishlist. The internet gods are listening.

Do you Squidoo? If you are unable to answer that question, that’s probably because you don’t know what it is. Welcome to the world of Squidoo, a very popular Web 2.0 website that allows members (called lensmasters) to create their very own pages (called lenses) on just about any subject. Being a lensmaster has its advantages. You can build lenses that feature anything from personal lenses, movie review lenses, how-to lenses, moneymaking lenses or lenses on just about any subject that you would like to write about. There are no limits to how many lenses you can create, and you are even encouraged to make as many as you want. The possibilities to making lenses are endless which makes Squidoo a perfect place for self-expression.

Becoming a member is very simple. The registration process does not require revealing too much personal information, and it only takes a few minutes to finish the whole process. Once you become a member, you will be able to do a number of things such as create lenses (most important of all), rate other people’s lenses, leave comments, participate in polls and do a lot more. You are also allowed to leave comments even if you are not a member, but that’s about the only thing non-members can do. It is definitely worth it to join and besides, it won’t cost you anything.

Building lenses may sound complex, but it is actually very easy. You don’t have to possess any technical knowledge on HTML to make one because all inputs required are text based and is more like typing text on Windows Notepad. Another wonderful thing about making Squidoo lenses is that the various parts that make up a lens such as the guestbook, polls, text input, etc. come in the form of modules which are accessed through a single control panel. All modules are organized according to category to make it easier to find. All you’ll have to do is just add modules as the need arises, and drag them within the control panel to arrange them to your liking. You have the option to view your work-in-progress lens to see what the actual lens will look like, and when you’re happy with it, just publish it. It is that easy.

One of Squidoo’s best features is that you are allowed to earn extra income from your lenses. You can earn income through various ways such as adding moneymaking modules (Amazon, eBay or CafePress) to your lenses, through ads automatically placed on your lenses or by selling your lenses. This means that you can earn passive income just by making a lens and publishing it. The wonderful thing about it is that it generates passive income for you while you concentrate on other activities. It is truly an amazing website.

There are so many things you can do at Squidoo. Aside from getting an opportunity to hone your writing skills, you also get a chance to earn extra income. You will also be a part of an elite community of wonderful Squids who want nothing more than to share their knowledge and help others. There is nothing else quite like it on the Internet; it is unique in its own right. Just be careful though, it can be very addicting.

July 2011

An excellent strategy for communicating and sharing ideas with other people is to offer a newsletter on a regular basis. In particular, newsletters are excellent tools that allow a company to keep its name out in the forefront. This style of drip marketing is inexpensive and easy to maintain.

The most effective newsletter is one that engages the interest of your targeted audience. In order to create an effective newsletter, or one that people want to read, follow a few rules regarding its content and design. Your newsletter should be interesting and attractive.

Select a Target Audience

The content in your newsletter needs to engage the interest of your readers in order to be effective. Therefore, once you select a target audience, you should cater to their needs and interests, styling your articles to offer information pertinent to your readers. The content needs to appeal to your audience in order to get them to want to read it.

Limit the Scope of Your Newsletter

Limiting the topics that are included in your newsletter keeps your content focused on the needs of your readers, while also providing a template for future issues. Sticking to a pre-determined format allows your writing staff to coordinate the newsletter’s content successfully and on time.

Offer Information Your Readers Can Use

If your newsletter provides useful information, your intended audience is more likely to read it. On the other hand, few people are going to actually read the newsletter if none of its content is of any value to them. Examples of useful information that you can provide in your newsletter include: useful tips, a list of informative websites, how-to articles, updated information on products or services, anecdotal content containing a useful tip, special sales and promotions, and a list of upcoming seminars, meetings, or events.

If you are selling a product or service, your newsletter should offer information that reinforces the credibility of your company. You can provide recent statistics or success stories that strengthen your company’s image in order to encourage your readers to utilize your services or remain employees within your company.

Engage Your Readers

If your newsletter’s content is entertaining and short, you can maintain the interest of your readers. One useful idea that helps to keep your newsletter interesting is to vary the length of your featured content.

Anecdotal stories can break up the monotony of a newsletter that contains material of a dry nature. Their inclusion offers easy reading and provides a momentary break in dry, factual content.

A spotlight feature that offers an insider’s look at a product, service, or employee provides easy reading that engages the interest of people. In particular, people enjoy reading about other people, so be sure to include success stories, customer profiles, and/or a question-and-answer section in the newsletter.

You can also offer a section in the newsletter that comments upon recent successes and upcoming changes within the company. This type of section encourages readers to return to the newsletter with each new edition.

Select an Attractive Design Style

The appearance of your newsletter can add to its popularity with your readers if it is attractive and interesting. A simple design is often the best way to go for a newsletter, since the content is the most important facet of it. Try and select a design that is easy on the eyes and attractive in style.

June 2011

They landed on your page, they took a look at what you had to offer, but for some reason they were not ready to commit. It happens. In fact, on average, prospects consider a major purchase at least seven times before they follow through and buy the product or service.

However, the problem on the Internet is these prospects may not find your website when they are ready seal the deal. You have to find a way to keep your solution in front of them until they are ready to purchase.

Email marketing lets you engage with your prospects until they are ready to convert to paying customers. With a soft sell autoresponder series, you can keep your brand and solution in front of these browsers until they have all the information they need.

Seduce Them With a Giveaway

First, you have to get a prospect’s email address, often accomplished by offering a giveaway she cannot resist. This can be an e-book, white paper, webinar or video. You could even offer a widget or other download.

This works best if the freebie is related to the product you are offering. If you are selling a series of lessons you might offer the first lesson for free. In fact, many coaching programs start with a free goal setting lesson that then smooths the way for a complete system designed to help prospects achieve the goals they have identified.

Share Pertinent Information

If you want prospects to open and read your emails, you need to strike a balance between your soft sell and content that has value for the reader. Of course, the best email marketing series will successfully offer both – valuable content that also sells your solution.

Just keep in mind, especially while you establish the relationship with the first two or three emails, that you want to give more than the prospect senses you are trying to take.

Answer Questions and Overcome Objections

The soft sell aspect of your email autoresponder series should overcome any objections in the prospect’s mind by offering testimonials and case studies. Over the course of several emails you should answer any questions prospects may have and show how your product or service solves their problems.

Move Them to a New Bucket

One last thing to consider, once the prospect has made the purchase, you should move him to the next bucket in your sales funnel. Most email autoresponder systems allow you to segment your lists, so you do not waste energy (or goodwill) trying to sell prospects on something they have already purchased.

Even if you do not yet have a next step to promote, moving prospects to your “already sold” bucket helps you better target your future emails to that group.

You can’t please all the people all the time, and you won’t sell every prospect the first time they visit your site. Email marketing gives you a second, third, maybe even fortieth chance to close the deal and convert those prospects into gold.

May 2011

Securing the right type of backlinks is extremely important if you want to get good rankings on Google and other search engines. Here are four tips to help you get started.

Make Your Website Linkworthy

Create a website with interesting content to generate links. You will find it difficult to get links from other webmasters if your site is a disorganized mess. The more appealing you make your site, the more likely that others will link to you.

Find Related Sites

Get in contact with related websites or blogs that have similar content to your own site. You can then direct them to interesting articles on your site that they might like to link to.

List Your Site in Web Directories

List your website in internet directories such as DMOZ and Yahoo. This will ensure that your website is categorized correctly, which will result in search engines ranking your site higher for keywords that are related to that category.

Vary the Backlinking Text

The incoming links from other websites should use the keywords that you want to get high rankings for in the linking text. It is also good if the content of the linking text varies. If multiple pages link back with the same text, it will look artificial.

Therefore, in order to get useful inbound links and improve the ranking of your site, you need to create interesting, user-friendly and linkworthy web pages. You will soon see your website rankings improve if you follow these basic principles.

April 2011

MySpace has continued to lose users on a yearly basis since it was overshadowed by Facebook in 2008. Quantcast.com estimated MySpace’s user base to be around 17.9 million people per month by May 2011. By comparison, Facebook’s user base was around 141 million people during the same period. That’s a sharp drop from the roughly 80 million users MySpace had in 2007. With a declining user base and several business problems, is MySpace still useful for online marketing?

The Musician’s Friend?

During the height of its popularity, MySpace was primarily a marketing tool for musicians, writers and other creative artists who uploaded their work to share with others. Musicians could upload MP3 files of their songs that users could add to their profile. Actors could upload videos and artists could upload pictures. MySpace still retains these features, but so do many other social media sites. The only unique feature MySpace offers is the ability to upload music files to a user’s profile, which is a considerable marketing tool for aspiring musicians who want to spread interest in their music. Since the 2010 redesign of the site to be more of a hub of entertainment, musicians and artists may still find the website somewhat useful. However, most musicians consider YouTube a much better investment of their time because the website’s number of users is only slightly smaller than Facebook’s and over seven times larger than MySpace.

What about Everyone Else?

Facebook advertising is nearly as popular as using Google AdWords and offers much better targeting. MySpace doesn’t offer any option for users to purchase ad space. Without the ability to advertise, your business’s or blog’s potential audience on MySpace is limited to your direct contacts. MySpace visitors use the site primarily for entertainment purposes, so even indirect advertising via status updates or posting pictures isn’t generally well-received. The potential for spreading information about your products and services is also severely impaired by the much small user base, the reduced likelihood of people sharing your updates, and the fact that making connections on MySpace is harder than on other social media websites. Small-business owners would be better off concentrating their efforts on more popular and more receptive venues.

Although it was once the king of social media, MySpace’s rapid decline over the past few years no longer makes it a viable marketing venue. MySpace always was a bit of a niche market, and since the site’s rebranding in 2010, it is even more firmly ensconced as an entertainment site. There may be a small number of aspiring musicians who still find the website useful, but for most people interested in online marketing, larger social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are much more effective.

March 2011

Article directories are websites that encourage writers to submit researched, well written articles on a variety of topics. These directories are a good source of information for those surfing the internet. These directories can also help you gain exposure for your site or service, and some well-known article directories are, Yahoo Contributor Network, Bukisa, and Ezinearticles.

When looking to improve your website’s page rank or to drive additional traffic to your site, article directories can be a valuable resource. Most article directories are free to use, and some even compensate the authors for the content they submit; however, those offering compensation may not allow links in the content. It is important to be able to insert links to your web page, or web site, when submitting articles for SEO or traffic purposes.

A link in the body of the article or in the authors’ biography section could steer visitors and search engines towards your site, and that equals more traffic. Not all article directory submissions will increase back links, since an article directory has to have ‘do-follow’ links enabled to count as a back link. Some sites use ‘no-follow’ links to discourage users from abusing the sites to gain higher page ranks.

The main difference between a ‘no-follow’ and a ‘do-follow’ link is that a ‘no-follow’ link still leads back to the site, but it cannot be followed by search engines. If a search engine cannot follow a link, it cannot validate it. This means that a ‘no-follow’ link cannot be counted as a valid back link for a site. ‘Do-follow’ links allow both users and search engines to reach your site, and so can increase your online exposure, your traffic levels, and your back links.

Page ranks should be considered as well when using article directories. Search engines evaluate the quality of a site’s back links in order to calculate its page rank. Some article directories have higher page ranks, and when building back links these are the directories you should focus on first. It is possible to submit to hundreds of low page rank directories, but you will be better off to submit to fewer, high ranking directories.

Most article directories will accept articles on a variety of topics, but the requirements or submission guidelines will differ from one to the next. Some of the most common guidelines are to steer clear of illegal topics, or anything that could be considered hate speech. Some directories will also penalize content that they consider to be overly promotional.

When submitting content to different article directories you’ll find that the requirements and rules vary greatly. One site may require a minimum word count of 250 words, while another requires at least 500. There are also different rules regarding the amount of links allowed, and which areas of the article can be linked to. It is important to always check the guidelines before submitting to any article directory, as this will help prevent possible rejections. Repeated offenses may lead to a banning of the account in question, so sticking to the guidelines will work in your favour in the long run. Persistence is important when using article directories to build back links or to drive traffic to a web site. Some submissions may take up to three weeks to be approved, but if your efforts are consistent it should lead to an increase in traffic, and back links, over time.

February 2011

The current situation of online thievery seems to mimic the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, albeit with a more digitalized twist. In the tale, a merchant named Ali Baba comes across a secret cave where the accumulated treasures of forty thieves are hidden. The cave entrance can only be accessed by uttering the magic words “open sesame”. After secretly overhearing the thieves mention the password, Ali Baba waits for them to depart and attempts to enter the cave himself. He is successful and finds himself surrounded by valuable gold and silver. In an ironic turn of events, Ali Baba decides to pilfer some of the precious metals that the thieves have previously stolen themselves

Like the secret cave, every website contains the collected works of their respective owners, but unlike the cave in the story, most owners don’t hide their website. On the contrary, they highly advertise it by vigorously competing for the top search engine ranking. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art and science of aligning elements in a website in order to be indexed and catalogued among the top ten in search engine rankings in relation to a specific niche. SEO has become a major source of attention for website owners hoping to make a decent living online. The higher the website’s ranking is, the greater the chances of attracting customers and visitors. Competition for the top is often aggressive, but most participants maintain an ethical and friendly attitude towards one another, choosing to make improvements in their own site rather than sabotaging others. However, this is far from a generalization. There are plenty of individuals called “black hats” that use underhanded, and oftentimes illegal, tactics in order to boost their search engine ranking. One of these methods is content theft.

Upon reaching a high level of exposure, a legitimate website is sure to fall prey to thieves, because great publicity often means valuable content is displayed out in the open. Unlike the story’s treasures which were stolen goods themselves, a website’s contents, products, and articles are the result of hard work and labor. Online thieves who wish to profit by using shortcuts don’t even need a secret password to access the gold and silver; all they need is a search engine or a web address. Once they find the targeted website, nothing can prevent them from taking what they want.

Content thieves hurt SEO in a lot of ways. If both the owner and thief’s website are high ranking sites, it splits all potential traffic into two. There are even times when the thief may get more visitors, as in the case where his site is ranked well above the original. The owner could also lose ranking since search engine crawlers are more interested in unique content rather than duplicates, increasing the chances of being eclipsed underneath all the other sites that copied the same material. Furthermore, having content stolen hurts credibility and reputation, because the owner does not have control over the quality of the websites his content may appear on. Thieves frequently do not edit the content and may even leave the owner’s original byline in place. As such, the owner’s name appearing on highly inappropriate websites is a damaging possibility.

Search engine crawlers have gotten more sophisticated in dealing with content thieves. Overtime, the crawler will notice websites with duplicated content. It will often attempt to identify the original source. If successful, all other duplicates are ranked lower or are taken out of the listings all together. However, this is not always the case, and most black hats are still capable of getting away with thievery. Although search engines can be relied upon as secondary support, the primary responsibility of catching thieves still belongs to the wronged web user. The steps below outline some of the ways used to identify and report these bandits.

Confirming the theft

The initial mode of action would be to assess whether or not a theft actually occurred. Some of the most popular methods used to ascertain a theft are as follows:

Via search engine - If the content has been lifted word-for-word, taking a sentence or phrase from the original content, adding quotation marks, and inputting it as a search engine query will usually find the culprits. The quotation marks tell the search engine to run through all websites that have been indexed and look for the exact words within the quotation marks. If the thief did not change anything from the original article, as is often the case, websites that use it will appear in the results. The problem with this method is that it is time-consuming. If the owner has hundreds of content, it would be impractical to individually search for all of them.

Via software tools - An alternative would be to use software that quickly mines the Internet for content theft and saves the user a large amount of effort compared to that of a manual search. For example, the online plagiarism checker Copyscape only requires the owner to input his URL, and the program then returns with a list of web pages that contain similar text. It also helps identify content theft that has been repackaged from old content. There are other programs available. Most are free, but some have more advanced features and require payment.

Via website monitoring – Monitoring a website through popular software such as Google Analytics will provide the owner with all the necessary information about his site. This information can be used to catch thieves. For example, thieves may copy content that still has all the attached links to it. A wise site owner will leave links within his content that would bring the visitor back to his original site. All the incoming links will be seen in the monitoring software. This enables the owner to visit all the websites that contain these links and find out if they have copied any content.

There are other methods, but these three are the most commonly used and are very effective in identifying a theft.

Removing the stolen content

Once a theft has been identified, there are a number of ways to have the stolen content removed. The following are three of the most common approaches:

Via private message - The easiest way is to send the thief a private message and request him to take down the content from his website. This method will work in most cases. The majority of thieves are usually very wary about the possible consequences they face should they refuse to remove the stolen content. A message from the source will often set these individuals straight and prevent future theft from them. However, the owner should thoroughly document all forms of evidence before attempting to send a private message. This will help him if he decides to file a complaint in the future or if the thief attempts to alter the content and feign innocence.

Via the webhost or ISP - Contacting the thief’s webhost or Internet service provider (ISP) and reporting the stolen content is a necessary step if the thief refuses to comply with a private request for removal. Any respectable webhost or ISP takes plagiarism seriously and will usually act more readily if they find that a theft has indeed occurred. They usually don’t want their company’s reputation to be tarnished by catering to online thieves, and a more dependable result will come out of the complaint. It is therefore very important that evidence was gathered prior to filing the complaint to support the plagiarism claim.

Via DMCA complaint - Lastly, a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaint can be filed. Although filing the DMCA complaint may be a tedious task, it is one of the most effective methods available. Again, proper evidence gathering is indispensable. Lack of evidence or evidence that has been erased by the thief before it could be gathered will put the owner at risk for a potential countersuit. Once the claim is deemed legitimate, a takedown notice is served, thereby increasing the chances of a successful removal. However, the DMCA is a United States law and may not be valid in other territories that have their own respective legislations.

With great power, comes great responsibility. This much-loved saying applies to the Internet as well. Users who have achieved a certain degree of fame cannot escape the reality of having their content stolen from them by less ethical characters. Although it is no fault on the owner’s part, he is left to deal with the brunt of the work of serving justice. Thankfully, there are plenty of resources available to help him pursue his goal of upholding copyright laws. Although it is a painful burden shared by many legitimate website owners, they can take comfort in the fact that pursuing the perpetrators of plagiarism is helping cement the notion that Internet content theft is intolerable. Furthermore, fighting the “open sesame” mentality of thieves that choose to enter a website and make off with valuable materials ensures that a legacy of fair, legal, and original works is all that abounds in cyberspace.

January 2011

Blogging is not nearly as complicated as it sounds! Using a WordPress blog is an effective, easy way to help market your business online. This article also covers essential widgets and tips for your blog to be more productive.

Not only is the world of blogging expanding our vocabulary, but it is also expanding our businesses. Online marketing has greatly increased and blogging has become one of the top and most effective ways to market your business online. The common misconception is that you have to be web savvy to run and promote your own blog. Fortunately, it’s not as scary or hard as it sounds.

The most impressive, and effective types of blogs are powered by WordPress. WordPress blogs are very easy to set up, maintain, and allow a very interactive application for clients to gather information about your company, history and products. The benefits of blogging can be tremendous, with even just a minimal amount of effort.

Ready? Let’s blog!

A. Choose a domain name and cheap hosting through Godaddy.com (very easy to set up).

B. Choose a free WordPress theme (Google “free WordPress themes”).

C. Google hosting will automatically install a WordPress database by clicking on the Fantastico tab in your hosting settings.

D. Install your free theme and choose your widgets (easily add twitter updates to your blog).

E. Start blogging!

It truly is that easy.

Now, there are some steps that most people don’t know about that make all the difference. You can easily add certain widgets to see what type of traffic you are attracting and that enable you to add keywords to every blog post for higher rankings in Google.

Crucial widgets.

A. Google Analytics widget (allows you to track visitors).

B. Simple SEO (allows you to add keywords for Google to every post).

C. Facebook App. (put your Facebook updates right on your blog).

Depending on how often you blog, you can greatly increase your ranking in search engines such as Google.com and Yahoo.com. There is a trick to creating the type of blog that will actually bring traffic to your website. You have to give! Consumers are online searching for answers to problems, so let’s offer them a solution. Try offering them some free advice that in some way pertains to your product or service, bringing them to your website and earning their trust as an expert in your field!

Blogging tips.

Always offer something whether it’s free advice, DIY type of article, or an educated opinion of a service or product.

A. Image is everything. Keep a clean professional looking blog using the best grammar and eye catching photos when possible.

B. Keywords! Try to use related keywords pertinent to your business as often as possible in your blog posts to drive targeted traffic to your website through searches.

C. Humor. You can keep your blog light yet still informative and professional. Keep your readers coming back by offering some personality and memorable posts that they may even want to share with others.

Businesses can no longer ignore the social media factor! Most people have a Facebook and Twitter account, but not many are using them to their advantage. You can send the first line of each of your blogs posts right to your Facebook and Twitter pages, attracting the attention of your fans. By combining the power of Google, Facebook, Twitter and a WordPress blog, you can increase your sales, create an online presence, and maybe even have a little fun!