Of course, I understand that there’s a huge percentage of people out there who don’t know the difference between a search box and a url locater/address bar (and somebody has actually created a site entitled “Anatomy of a Web Browser“). In spite of this ignorance, your blog has achieved a certain amount of name recognition when your domain name becomes the top search term.

I run finerepast.com and the number one search key phrase for this month is “finerepast.com.” I guess I could have been a little more geo-targeted here and named the site “ColumbusFineDining.com” or something similar, but the plan was to review more than just Columbus restaurants. It’s nice to think on grander terms at the start of a website.

If you’re looking for signs that your blog/website has turned the corner in this ever expanding internet, name recognition is a strong one. Keep building on that brand recognition momentum to make the next steps forward.

Blogging levels the playing field for those out there who don’t know html or for those who don’t want to hassle with a web site. It’s an easy and effective way to drive traffic to another site. And more traffic means more sales of your product.

How do you do it?

1 – sign up for an account at blogger.com

2 – you’ll be asked to create part of the domain name for your site – this one is http://ebooknow.blogspot.com – I added the “ebooknow” – come up with a name that incorporates the most popular words people will use to find you in google or yahoo.

3 – Add your first post. Provide information that people interested in your topic will find useful and informative. Indicate that there is even better stuff at your main website.

4 – Post on a regular basis. At least once a week or as often as everyday. The more the better. People will come back often if you do.

5 – When you customize your blog, go to the template tab, select page elements and add a link list (or edit it if you already have one). Add your main site to the link list at the very top.

6 – Under the settings tab, go to “basic” and select, “Yes” for adding your blog to blogger’s listings.

7 – Now go to “formatting” under the settings tab and select, “Yes” for “show link field.” Add your home page link under each title of each post. Make sure and save each new setting.

It may take some time but if you post good information often enough, you may be able to build a following. From there, you can lead the following to your website and enjoy more sales of your product.

Good luck!

I have a restaurant review blog and I’ve been getting a ton of traffic from my review of Taboo Fine Dining and Lounge. So what do I do?

I rotate that sucker right back to the top on a regular basis. I want to keep that high traffic coming on in. How do I rotate it?

Look to the right. I simply edit the date and time that the posts was originally published on. I change the date and time to something more recent than my last post. You can also use this to publish posts on a specific date and time in the future. If you are industrious enough to write several posts, you can set them to be published on your blog at a specific time everyday. For example, you can set a post to be published during your highest traffic hour so that people coming to your blog see something new.

Or you could set your older posts to rotate to the top of your blog on a regular basis. New visitors will never know the difference and your blog will seem like it is updated on a frequent basis.

There are many uses for the publication date and time function. Employ it to get more traffic and keep them coming back.

2 – Become an active member in a forum/bulletin board related to your website topic(s). With each post you add on the forum/bulletin board, tell people to visit your website for more detailed information.

3 – Start your own forum/bulletin board on your website. People flock to forums especially if they have a lot of posts and activity.

4 – Submit an article to sites like articlesfactory.com on a topic related to your website. Others can take your article and post it on their website along with a link back to you.

5 – Buy traffic to your site with Google adwords.

6 – Post comments on other people’s blogs and leave a link to your website (you may want to get permission first).

7 – Try to get other webmasters to link to your site. Link to their sites first before asking them to link to yours.

8 – Put a link to your website in your email signature, on a business card, in your letterhead, on your voicemail – hopefully you picked a domain name that others can easily remember.

9 – Give away something for free on your website. You’d be surprised how many people search for “free” this, that or the other on search engines.

10 – You can always resort to adding porn to your website if all else fails. Sex sells.

Looking for more advice on how to get traffic to your website, check out my book, Ebook success: Guide to Starting your Ebook Business Now.

What did you say? Oh, you want legitimate posts about your blog topic. I see. Well . . .

2 – Find friends that have blogs and post on each other’s blogs on a regular basis. Oh, that’s too simple? And you want strangers to post on your blog? Go back and read this again then. Find friends that have blogs and make an agreement to post on each other’s blogs.

3 – Once you get a network of friends posting on your blog and you posting on their blogs, your blog will seem popular. Someone coming to the site is more likely to join the fray and get involved if they see several comments from other people. That stranger doesn’t know that they are your friends. On the other hand, if someone comes to your blog and sees no comments, they are not likely to be the first one to post. Everyone is afraid to be the first. Establish a thriving community with your friends and then strangers will join the fun.

Looking for more advice on how to get people to participate on your blog, check out my book, Ebook success: Guide to Starting your Ebook Business Now.

You can take it one step farther and have a domain like www.ebooknow.com/ebook/ebook_delivery.html. I’ve got “ebook” in there three times and hopefully the page that that domain is pointing to is about ebook delivery.

2 – Consider the title of your website. Check out this website. Look at the very top of the page. The page is entitled “Home.” This person is telling the search engines that her page is about “home.” Her page should be entitled “Handmade Judaica mezuzot” or something similar. When people bookmark her page, it will show up as “home” in their browser bookmarks/favorites. Don’t miss the opportunity of telling search engines and surfers what your page is about in the title of your page. A 9-12 word title is a good length and should contain the words that people would use to find your website.

3 – Fix your headings. Check out this page. I have the following headings on the page:
Landlord’s Guide to Ohio Eviction Law
Inside “Ohio Eviction Law Kit”
Testimonials – Landlord’s Guide to Ohio Eviction Law
Why purchase the Landlord’s Guide to Ohio Eviction Law
Customers who bought the Ohio Eviction Kit also bought
Sample text from Landlord’s Guide to Ohio Eviction Law
Do you see a pattern?

I keep putting “Ohio Eviction Law” in the headings. I’m telling Google, Yahoo and any other search engine that will pay attention that my page is about “Ohio Eviction Law.” If you can’t tell, check out the big bold text with “Ohio Eviction Law” everywhere. I know that a lot of people are searching for the keywords, “Ohio Eviction Law.” I want those people to find my page.

4 – How do I know what people are using as search terms? Check out the yahoo keyword selector tool and do some research. Type in some search terms and check out the results.

5 – Optimize your text. If you have a web page about rubber stamp art then “rubber stamp art” better be all over that web page. Don’t overdo it. But I would try to get “rubber stamp art” or combinations thereof in every other sentence. If another keyword is “rubber stamp ink” then devote a second web page to that keyword. A good tip is to only focus on one keyword/keyphrase per web page.

Those are some basic tips on boosting your search engine placement and getting traffic to your site. I’ll add more later.

Looking for more advice on how to get traffic to your website, check out my book, Ebook success: Guide to Starting your Ebook Business Now.

Future topics – more tips on getting traffic to your site; creating an effective sales page; so you want to sell your printed book on the internet; how do I get people to comment on my blog.