Never underestimate the power of submitting your blog to directories. It’s something that I knew I should be doing but I was unsure of it’s true value. Derek Beau had this to say about the matter:

Submitting your websites to directories can be a huge source of valuable inbound links. In many cases, this is all you need to do in order for your website to be given a Google PageRank 4. The problem, however, is that the work is very monotonous.

After reading that, I will try to get my blog in as many directories as possible, and then hopefully I can build this up to a PageRank 4 and start making some serious money blogging. Derek’s last point about it being monotonous work is very on the money. One thing that Derek suggests that I had never thought of before is outsourcing your directory submission work.

While it sounds very glamorous, what it entails is just going to a forum and finding somebody who needs a fast buck to add your link(s) to multiple directories. The low fees these guys charge makes me wonder why they do it, but I guess everybody has to make a dime somehow. It’s like working in an office doing data entry – and most of us have done something similar at one time or another.

One forum Derek recommends is the Digital Point “Buy, Sell or Trade” forum. Some people offer automatic submission, while others will do it manually. Derek recommends only using manual services, although he doesn’t say why. I found one guy offering submission to 350 directories for $25. I don’t know anything about automatic submission software, and so I would be more tempted to use someone who offers manual services, like this guy who offers a range of packages, including submission to 1,000 directories for $120. How he has time to do that I don’t know.

I am personally of the disposition that I don’t like to pay for something I can easily do myself, but adding your site to directories is donkey work and after reading Derek’s article I will be investing in some directory submission work in the near future.

For a bit of cash you can get it done easily, but I wouldn’t expect a Page Rank 7 just through directory submissions. Remember that if it only cost $120 to get Page Rank 7, everyone would be doing it, so even submitting your blog to directories has its limits.

The only problem I can envisage if you have already submitted your blog to a number of directories and not kept a list of which ones. There may be some overlap there if you’ve been doing a good job.

Tags: Blog promotion by Angel
3 Comments »

Today I learned a valuable lesson. I wrote and published a blog post, editing it on the fly, when my wireless Internet cut out. It was extremely annoying because I was yet to edit in the links on the post I had just written. I also hadn’t fully read through what I had written, and some of my points were unclear. A reader picked up on these and now I feel foolish. I had to make corrections at my local net café.

Don’t hit “Publish” until you are 100% happy with your post

Editing posts after they’re written is bad form and I need to stop doing that. Part of the reason I do it is because I find myself in a bit of a rush to post some days, what with work and all. From now on I will not publish anything until the post is up to the standard I want it at. I’d advise other bloggers to do the same, although I’m sure most people do already.

Tags: Bloggers starting by Angel
5 Comments »

Many bloggers have been freaking out recently about the Google Page Rank update. I’ve found it incessantly annoying to be browsing site after site, and reading forum post after forum post, all about the imminent update.

“Get your links in now!” – what were you doing for three months?

If you’re serious abut blogging, then you ought to be aware of Page Rank. If you aren’t, then here is a brief summary from the horse’s mouth:

PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at considerably more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; for example, it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important.” Using these and other factors, Google provides its views on pages’ relative importance.

Some bloggers go to serious lengths to try to explain how Google compiles its Page Rank, but the truth is that nobody except Google knows a whole lot about it. Page Rank is updated every three months. This usually inspires bloggers to go into overdrive with contests and link baiting and all manner of ways to improve their Page Rank. Well, what the hell have they been doing for the rest of the time? Building up your link backs is a steady, gradual process that requires work all the time. Even I know that.

Also, a lot of people are wrong in their assessments of Page Rank; it isn’t continually updated. I found this over at the Digital Point forums that set the record straight with some hard facts:

When PageRank is updated (talking visual update here, anyone who thinks they’re being intelligent by pointing out that behind the scenes PR is updated constantly should be slapped), Google bases it on a single snapshot from a specific point in time (same goes for BL updates, btw). That point in time is usually a few weeks prior to the actual export. When you are looking at PR, it is calculated by all using all of the links that Google knows about at that time. Any links you get to your site after than snapshot won’t be counted, even if you get them prior to the actual PR itself being exported.

What that means for me is that my blog will probably not receive a Page Rank in the next update. No big deal, as I will have three months to build it up. But people should remember that rushing out to buy links or have links placed on a blog just before the update is released to the public won’t help you until the next update. Even so, there’s no need to do everything at once.

Just chill and work hard all the time.

Tags: Google by Angel
4 Comments »