Getting Granular: The DigitalGrit Blog

Excellent Tips on Blog Promotion

Saunderslog has posted an awesome little manifesto on blog promotion. Incorporating some well thought-out SEO tips and general blogger sensibility, this post is a keeper for anyone serious about increasing traffic to their weblog. Here's a snippet:

The majority of my traffic comes from Google.  I optimize my site for Google searchability:

1. Optimize your page count.  Google ranks sites with lots of pages as having more authority than sites with few pages....
2. Use a Google Sitemap.  Again, this is easy to do with WordPress.  Arne Brachhold has written a great little plugin which re-constructs your sitemap each and every time you post. 
3. Make sure every post has a title....
4. Make the titles eye-catching!....
5. Link and trackback to others.  The point of blogging is to have a conversation.  Make sure you’re having conversations, then....
6. Make sure you have a top level domain.  Buying http://saunderslog.com increased my traffic dramatically over being http://radio.weblogs.com/0111520....

There's much more. Definitely click through and read the whole post. Then print it, cut it out, and stick it on your fridge.

(Via Randy at KbCafe.)

Excellent Tips on Blog Promotion

Saunderslog has posted an awesome little manifesto on blog promotion. Incorporating some well thought-out SEO tips and general blogger sensibility, this post is a keeper for anyone serious about increasing traffic to their weblog. Here's a snippet:

The majority of my traffic comes from Google.  I optimize my site for Google searchability:

1. Optimize your page count.  Google ranks sites with lots of pages as having more authority than sites with few pages....
2. Use a Google Sitemap.  Again, this is easy to do with WordPress.  Arne Brachhold has written a great little plugin which re-constructs your sitemap each and every time you post. 
3. Make sure every post has a title....
4. Make the titles eye-catching!....
5. Link and trackback to others.  The point of blogging is to have a conversation.  Make sure you’re having conversations, then....
6. Make sure you have a top level domain.  Buying http://saunderslog.com increased my traffic dramatically over being http://radio.weblogs.com/0111520....

There's much more. Definitely click through and read the whole post. Then print it, cut it out, and stick it on your fridge.

(Via Randy at KbCafe.)

Free, On-Demand Business Blogging Webinar Now Available

Wondering whether blogs really are essential to your business? 

We've just published an on-demand webinar that can help you see that they are. Even if you're not ready to dive headlong into the blogosphere yourself, you probably should be listening to what the blogs are saying about you (or your brand). And if you are ready to start blogging, we've got some common-sense tips to help you hit your stride.

Take 32 minutes and check out this webinar led by our SVP & GM Scott Delea and Lori Arnold of relevantNOISE. If you thought blogs were just a trend, they'll persuade you otherwise.

Just a reminder: The Webinar is free, but registration is required. (The form's short and we totally respect your privacy.)

Free, On-Demand Business Blogging Webinar Now Available

Wondering whether blogs really are essential to your business? 

We've just published an on-demand webinar that can help you see that they are. Even if you're not ready to dive headlong into the blogosphere yourself, you probably should be listening to what the blogs are saying about you (or your brand). And if you are ready to start blogging, we've got some common-sense tips to help you hit your stride.

Take 32 minutes and check out this webinar led by our SVP & GM Scott Delea and Lori Arnold of relevantNOISE. If you thought blogs were just a trend, they'll persuade you otherwise.

Just a reminder: The Webinar is free, but registration is required. (The form's short and we totally respect your privacy.)

Whose Earth Rules? Yahoo v. Google v. Microsoft

With the launch of satellite imagery Yahoo Maps on Tuesday, we now have our choice of virtual planets. You can scope out your college roomate's backyard via Google Earth, MSN's LivePoint.

It's all cool technology, and it's now become a standard offering in online maps. (Although I'm having a hard time finding it on MapQuest...)  It also ads great dimension and value to advertising offerings in local search, as we've mentioned elsewhere on this blog.

But who's got the best technology? As Charlene Li points out in her blog, Google may have the most fun offering - and they certainly got the most fanfare for launching first - it's Microsoft who takes the prize here. They've got the most sophisticated technology...I mean, it's Microsoft. They had MapPoint before most of us were even thinking about online maps.

Read Charlene's post for a good comprehensive overview of the offerings out there.

Whose Earth Rules? Yahoo v. Google v. Microsoft

With the launch of satellite imagery Yahoo Maps on Tuesday, we now have our choice of virtual planets. You can scope out your college roomate's backyard via Google Earth, MSN's LivePoint.

It's all cool technology, and it's now become a standard offering in online maps. (Although I'm having a hard time finding it on MapQuest...)  It also ads great dimension and value to advertising offerings in local search, as we've mentioned elsewhere on this blog.

But who's got the best technology? As Charlene Li points out in her blog, Google may have the most fun offering - and they certainly got the most fanfare for launching first - it's Microsoft who takes the prize here. They've got the most sophisticated technology...I mean, it's Microsoft. They had MapPoint before most of us were even thinking about online maps.

Read Charlene's post for a good comprehensive overview of the offerings out there.

Google Calendar Launches (Screenshots!)

Well... Randy hinted at it yesterday on the RSS Blog...and here it is!

Google Inc. is introducing on Thursday a free Web calendar service for consumers to schedule events and share them with others, opening a new level of competition with rivals such as Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) and Microsoft Corp.

Google Calendar, available at www.google.com/calendar, offers a variety of features to make using Web calendars as easy as desktop calendars such as Outlook, allowing users to "drag and drop" events from one calendar to another.

The new service takes advantage of slick Web programming tricks using Javascript and XML along with RSS. But perhaps the biggest breakthrough is the calendar's use of "natural language processing" technology that simplifies how events are entered.

The best part is that (apart from being really cool) it's very intuitive and fun to use. Give it a shot.

Of course, it's still in Beta. That's the Google way, is it not?

Google Calendar Launches (Screenshots!)

Well... Randy hinted at it yesterday on the RSS Blog...and here it is!

Google Inc. is introducing on Thursday a free Web calendar service for consumers to schedule events and share them with others, opening a new level of competition with rivals such as Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) and Microsoft Corp.

Google Calendar, available at www.google.com/calendar, offers a variety of features to make using Web calendars as easy as desktop calendars such as Outlook, allowing users to "drag and drop" events from one calendar to another.

The new service takes advantage of slick Web programming tricks using Javascript and XML along with RSS. But perhaps the biggest breakthrough is the calendar's use of "natural language processing" technology that simplifies how events are entered.

The best part is that (apart from being really cool) it's very intuitive and fun to use. Give it a shot.

Of course, it's still in Beta. That's the Google way, is it not?

Predictions: Online will beat Outdoor, Blog ads will top $50 Million

Some big predictions today:

First -- Online spending will beat out outdoor:

Research from Zenithoptimedia predicts global online advertising will attract 6.5 per cent of all advertising in 2008, which is up from 4.5 per cent in 2005.

The company said: "The internet is now firmly established as a mainstream advertising medium in developed markets and in many developing markets too.

"We predict it will overtake outdoor [advertising] in volume in 2007, even though outdoor is gaining share itself. By 2008 it will be catching up with radio too, which will have a 7.9 per cent share, down from 8.5 per cent in 2005."

Should we be surprised that a medium that catches people sitting and reading will be outperform a medium in which people are attempting to read and drive at the same time?

Secondly, BtoB online reports (from a new study) that spending on blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds will close in on the $50 Million mark in '06. We suspect that blogs will make up the lion's share of that for this year, but expect RSS advertising to gain popularlity quickly.

Predictions: Online will beat Outdoor, Blog ads will top $50 Million

Some big predictions today:

First -- Online spending will beat out outdoor:

Research from Zenithoptimedia predicts global online advertising will attract 6.5 per cent of all advertising in 2008, which is up from 4.5 per cent in 2005.

The company said: "The internet is now firmly established as a mainstream advertising medium in developed markets and in many developing markets too.

"We predict it will overtake outdoor [advertising] in volume in 2007, even though outdoor is gaining share itself. By 2008 it will be catching up with radio too, which will have a 7.9 per cent share, down from 8.5 per cent in 2005."

Should we be surprised that a medium that catches people sitting and reading will be outperform a medium in which people are attempting to read and drive at the same time?

Secondly, BtoB online reports (from a new study) that spending on blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds will close in on the $50 Million mark in '06. We suspect that blogs will make up the lion's share of that for this year, but expect RSS advertising to gain popularlity quickly.