The David Rosenthal Blog Traffic Tactics!
Most of this stuff you should know, but it’s the stuff I do. And since you’ve stuck with me this long you might as well hear my ideas on this too. OK, so regular readers may have noticed a slight “lag” in my posting these last few days. Well my internet connection problems are half the reason, but the other half was me doing a giant article submission. I don’t use a service yet because the one I like cost $400, so the software I use costs about ONE TENTH that price. But it is a Total Bastard to train! Basically you have to create a profile at all 600 article directories and I recently decided to change myself from “Dave Rosenthal” to “David Rosenthal” in terms of SEO for this blog. I’m still good ol’ Dave of course, but article submissions is one of those things you hear recommended all the time to build traffic , and it’s true. So we might as well talk about why it’s the most effective method .
Here’s what happened to me; Late last year I was taking pieces I wrote over here and putting them on EzineArticles. I didn’t know you were supposed to really alter them or write brand new stuff (and no problems came of it, I’m just telling YOU so you know ahead of time). But my signature was “Dave Rosenthal.” And after a while, because my articles really weren’t keyword focused, I noticed they DID start showing up on the 1st or 2nd page of Google but, mostly for my name . And that’s when it hit me; the only consistent things in my articles was “Welcome Back Rosenthal,” for which there was zero competition, and “Dave Rosenthal” for which there was a LOT of competition. And pretty soon my name made it to page one, position 8. And that’s where I’m at. My articles submissions had pulled my name out of the deep end of the searches. And that kind of proof is good enough for me about article power. So now anybody looking for me like an old friend (or enemy!) will be able to find me. But I’m on page 3 for “David Rosenthal,” so my new goal is to get on page one for that. But it occurred to me, THAT’S what people meant by articles being useful for getting to the top . Using a keyword(s) in the articles themselves, in the “author box” or, if permitted, all those place will give you lots of one way links to your site. Now that you know the idea, please go research it.
Social Networks
This is not any kind of new big and hairy information right? Social media sites are your “go to” place for READING traffic. Remember, I make a VERY big distinction between reading blogs and money blogs. You can use social networking for money too but MY preference for my money blogs is search engine traffic. Having said that, you’ve got to learn about the top 10-20 social media sites. You don’t need to be using all those I’d say pick at least 6 or 7 social media sites and register. But getting your username and logo/photo out there is important.
Here’s the thing; I’ve used Digg and Stumble to submit my stuff. But what I’ve learned is that the kind of stuff I write, well thought out, long pieces, don’t do well at Digg. Short, list filled, 20 second, glance-pieces do better. But each network has a “flavor.” Stumble tends to be quick visits too but those visitors will stick for reader specific topics. And I do still get traffic form stories Dugg a long time ago. I also use MySpace some, but it’s tough to pull people off that site. MySpace does that on purpose, but it is possible. I built up and maintain 1000 friends and I keep it at that level because just like Facebook the people who I see making money start groups WITHIN the site. Yeah, basically since you can’t bring a horse to water, you just gotta take the water to the horses.
So I strongly encourage sites like MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, and BlogCarnival. The first two allow you to make “friends” so do as many as their systems allow (15 per day and unlimited). I just heard about that strategy about a 2 months ago, and as you can see I haven’t really implemented it. But I DO contribute to BlogCarnival and get some traffic from there.
Entrecard
Entrecard is great for a new bloggers. You will learn a lot and you can get general traffic and even targeting traffic if you take the time to focus what you’re doing. And I’ve said it before, but targeted traffic is much better than general traffic. And this brings us to MY theories about understanding Entrecard. Plain and simple it will boost your numbers. I see some of the most awful and poorly visited blogs in the world within the Entrecard system, BUT they have fantastic Alexa numbers, lots of comments, AND some of them are making a few bucks without a lot of knowledge. That’s how good the EC system is. There are lot of great blogs too! But the point I’m making is that participating in this system puts you in a good position to build traffic, build links and make friends. IF you understand what it is and how to maximize from it.
So to reiterate Entrecard is a nice place for “traffic,” and as it stands I would estimate maybe 10-20 percent will actually read stuff. The other 80-90 percent will just drop and leave. I have proof. See my blog is set up on the homepage to just list stories, to see ANY post you have to click a link and go to a story, so I made a VERY easy drop box up top. So if that’s what a person is here for they can get in and out-boom. But if they read I know it, because my stats will show me that they clicked a link.
But this is OK! You’re getting your numbers up-and if you believe my Alexa theory-it’s good to have “general traffic.” But EC people WILL visit your blog if they’re just out exploring, and that happens quite a bit. I even do it myself and I have NO time to waste. You can also generate a lot of reading visitors by commenting-but this is standard practice for blog traffic anyway. However, the extra bonus is that you belong to a “club” so people have a more compelling reason to visit. And the third sort of reason they’ll come is your “advert;” so again, the accuracy of your traffic is determined by what message you put out there. Plus these last few weeks have seen a few technical glitches but that’s because they’re adding lots of new and very smart features. Like the “add a blog” tool which allows you to link multiple blogs, they also put out and instructional E-book . And again for new bloggers, and even more experienced, it is a great way to see hundreds and hundreds of blogs and how they do things. Many of them are just playing follow the leader, but there is some very innovative stuff out there.
Ping baby! I’ve got a long list of ping sites in my Wordpress installation, but if you use Feeburner, they have a bunch you can check off too. AND you can go to Blogflux and use their tool. I do that after every post.
Tags are CRUCIAL. Sites like Delicious, StumbleUpon and Technorati thrive on the tags. And you can even build your story ideas off BIG tags in the cloud at those sites too. I learned about this too by accident, when I started using the Simple Tagging plugin and found traffic JUST from the tags from various sites. Speaking of that, if you’re a Wordpress user additional good traffic plugins are; All in One SEO, Do-Follow, Link Luv (that I’m trying to get set up) and Yet Another Related Post.
LASTLY, JTPratt showed an incredible spin on an old standard. You know you should have a signature in your emails and especially in your forum posts right? Well he shows how your sig on forums should be specific wording like “My blog talks about this interesting topic.” That’s not what you should write but how you should word your sig in an interesting way instead of “Yourblog.com.” And if that wasn’t good enough, you can even think about using specific post instead of homepage!
And Now, a Word From our Sponsor!
The Software I use to Make Money Online.
This blog makes me a few dollars, but it’s not one of my serious money sites. My money sites are set up in a completely different way. This blog is my 1st one and covers issues that are interesting to me personally. No research, no planning and not that much promotion. On the other hand, with my money blogs not one line of code is touched until I know EXACTLY what I’m doing. I’ve researched and tested first.
But the big story here is that I use software. And on top of that, it’s software I bought. So here’s the story on that; my 100$ a day (and growing) income CAN be done manually-no software. There are also free software tools out there, but let me give you a comparison model; I’m a single guy with no kids and for years I washed my clothes at home in the tub. For one guy without that many clothes it was fine. But in any scenario, other than that, it’s NOT a wise use of time or money. So paid software is like a washing machine in the house. Free tools are like trekking to the laundromat with quarters, the crowds and the gas usage. And no software is a tub full of clothes!
Now, the deal about making money is understanding and using Long Tail theory (lots of people use the buzz word “niches” but it’s essentially the same thing). And the way I use Long Tail to make money is through Adsense, eBay stores and affiliate sales. There are probably many ways to make money online, but after months of experimenting and testing those 3 methods are what I found to be a) things I could do b) have no ceiling on income-sky’s the limit c) not have to depend on other people approving me to take action and d) generate the most money with the least amount of costs (money or time). So here’s my junk I advise looking into them, to see if they’re right for you too. I wouldn’t offer them to you if I didn’t believe in them AND use them.
So I use 4 tools. The first one is SEO Elite. EVERYBODY with a blog or website should be using this if they want traffic; for website research. The second is Microsoft free plugin/add-in for Excel called Ad-Intelligence or Keyword Elite. Ad-Intelligence is buggy and you need to have an account with Microsoft Adcenter. Keyword Elite works without any trouble] these are for keyword research. The third is BANS for eBay, and a companion tool that REALLY cuts site creation time with BANS called Niche Store Writer. It’s a way to make an eBay store cleanly and fast. BUT if you’re willing to spend a little time and you like Wordpress, you can turn Wordpress into an eBay store with phpBay. I use that one too, and it takes a little more work but all those theme choices are nice. Just keep in mind; making sites is not where you should be spending your time. Researching keywords, choosing a product, getting targeted traffic and site promotion is where you should put in the time. So you definitely want to shave off hours and hours of tedious tasks. And the thing about DOING tedious tasks is you make mistakes, “oh man I forgot to put in this code or those keywords” and stuff like that. The software speeds up the process and maintains the integrity of your work. I also will tell you that I use HyperVRE for Adsense, but listen very closely; you need to learn the ins and outs of Adsense before you try this software. If you can make $10 a day with an Adsense site then maybe you’re ready-otherwise think twice, and then think a third time. Download the free copy just to play with it and read the manuals, those are very helpful. But I cannot recommend you buy and try to build sites if you can’t already make money with Adsense already. LASTLY, I use Article Submitter, like all the other tools you can look for alternatives on Google, but for the price and the automation this one is the winner. There are submission services but I’m not ready for one yet. BUT this tool is TIRESOME the first couple of uses while you get registered at all the sites. Plan on a day of watching over it while it does its thing. But you need articles out there.
So to recap; you can do it for free. If all you have or want is one site you don’t need to go the software route. Or you can look for free alternative tools. Also if you’re going to buy of you don’t NEED to buy it all at once! Choose a path and learn it. Many of these also have multiple uses; SEO, Keyword and Article work for whatever kind of site you’re making.
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Hi David,
I stopped by to thank-you for your visit and comment. I have a feeling you might have used IE instead of FireFox because I can’t ever find some widgets when I use IE and when I use FF they are always there.
I see you have a lot of useful info, but I don’t have time right now to view it so I’ll be back when I do. Thanks again.
Comment by Jude — June 4, 2008 @ 12:02 pm
Hi Jude
Thanks for making the trip over here, I hope some of this information will be motivational and useful to you when you have time to look it over.
Yeah, I actually do use FF, and once I got onto the comment page the EC was visible.
Comment by Dave — June 4, 2008 @ 12:19 pm
Dave, as usual man… so much information to absorb! Excellent post! Glad to see these though… keep them coming as long as you like.
Comment by Collin Williams — June 4, 2008 @ 2:50 pm
Sweet
Today I added about 25 ping places to my list…here’s hoping.
I’m leaving for about a week…but I’ll catch up when I get back!
Comment by Chelle — June 4, 2008 @ 9:35 pm
Great news Chelle,
You’re doing the work by writing, so might as well get the word out.
Hope the time away is beneficial to you.
Comment by Dave — June 5, 2008 @ 4:19 am
Damn, It took me some time to read it! :p But some great tips Dave. I never heard about Blogflux so I’m going to check it out, thnx!
Comment by Behrad — June 5, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
Hey man!
I was just at your blog writing about Metal-that’s funny!
Glad you managed to get through, now all you have to do is read the other 7 parts…
Comment by Dave — June 5, 2008 @ 3:09 pm
Hey Dave… I signed up for Entrecard, and dropped on your site here. I like the community… I’ve sold 4 days worth of ad space already… You were right, a lot of cool stuff on there. I am under “politics”… what category are you in?
Come drop on me sometime.
Thanks again for all your help man!
Comment by Collin Williams — June 5, 2008 @ 9:15 pm
UGH - so much going on right now for me, but I did read every word of this post and I’ll likely read it several more times before I feel satisfied that I absorbed it all.
Hey…how did you build your websites? I mean technically…what software did you use to build them? I’m really hung up on soho launch and looking for something easier.
Laters~
Comment by Kathy — June 5, 2008 @ 9:57 pm
And of course you being a jew - who hates white people already - always has and always will - you will try to hide and ignore the fact that the Jews were the main ones buying and sell the slaves from the black african chiefains and you owned a heck of a lot of plantations too.
Don’t keep telling us all that it was all whites because it wasn’t and you know it.
What about that black professor who wrote “the secret relationship between blacks and jews” and the jews shut him up by trying to get him toi lose his job.
What about the UN Race Conference in Durban South Africa - when the jews and their lackey america walked out because it came up that Israel is very racist.
So you’re not on the high road and you’re not on the truthful road.
All three candidates are maggots - and I will work against them all. Obama is a racist against white people and they are learning that.
Young people who watch the jewowned mtv and vh1 all day are constantly hypnotized to believe that jews are great and whites are terrible - that’s they one you have that will vote for obama.
Jake
Comment by Jake Arlen — June 5, 2008 @ 10:26 pm
Kathy I’ll email you about some Akismet issues.
And “Jake” I’m going to leave your comments up. I’d like your insights to be shared for the whole world to see. Many people doubt me when I tell them about the America I know, but luckily you’ve discovered the internet. Although I’m not certain why you went through all the trouble to leave one article and come WAY over here, to the bottom section of a totally different article to “express yourself.”
Comment by Dave — June 5, 2008 @ 10:33 pm
Nice one Dave. I agree with everything here except to add that using software like Web2.0Submitter to submit to the social networks is great for money blogs because it saves time,gets your piece out faster,and gives you a better view of which social networks are working best for you.
In my blog’s side widget there’s rss feeds to other blogs to further help my readers…I had JohnCow on there,but just replaced it with yours. Do you have a specific rss feed url for just your marketing posts?
Comment by Caleb — June 6, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
Jake: you’re starting something I hope you can finish! These ‘degrees’ should have been added on CipherSearch where we share insights on life,the state of the world,and anything useful under the sun.
Comment by Caleb — June 6, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
Hi Caleb
Noooooo! Thank you for much for the position of honor, but really I’m getting out of the is “how to” game in a few more post. Maybe. I mean I don’t think I could claim that sort of title until after a few years of money making. All I have to offer is what I’ve actually tried and worked for ME.
I think WP now allows like blogroll categories, maybe you could put me in “friends” or something. That’s one of the reasons all I have is a “computer” section I didn’t even know you could make category RSS’s. Or you could link to this series…
And as for Web Sub 2.0, I actually like BookMarkingDemon better, but I’m waiting for them to work out the bugs before I recommend it to people.
And the Jake thing, mannnnn. I’d LOVE for one of these mouthy internet tough guys to even LOOK at me with a thought like that in his head. We could work that shit out FAST.
Comment by Dave — June 6, 2008 @ 1:20 pm
Hi Dave!
Of all the things that you’ve said, one of the biggest things to make a difference to my blog has been pinging. I’m a MAJOR pinger after every post. It definitely gets the job done.
Great post!
Comment by Shelia — June 7, 2008 @ 3:44 am
Hey Sheila
Yeah I think people are surprised-but I’m a “3 pinger” I’ve got 3 separate lists that I’m using and when I get time I’m going to find MORE.
But I’m telling you the tag thing can change your life. The article thing can blow your mind, and I haven’t even talked about Squidoo yet-I’m going to do it my keyword piece. I’m telling you they can blow your mind.
Comment by Dave — June 7, 2008 @ 6:58 am
Hey Dave,
Thanks for the advice, as usual. You always seem like you manage to do some much!!
I have yet to dip into article marketing but will be attempting to very soon. How do you find time to get all this done?
As for SEO, I use Micro Niche Finder and it does well for me.
I’m interested in Bans but am considering, like you mentioned., making my own WP Bans style template and finding a way to easily mod that.
Comment by Forest — June 14, 2008 @ 7:09 am
Hi Forest
Thank you very much for the kind words.
Actually I DON’T find the time-this week I haven’t written for this blog in almost 7 days-and that might be the longest stretch ever for me. And the reason? Because I decided to try to see if I could create my own ebay sites without the software I mentioned above. It. Is. Kicking. My. Ass.
I’m sure for a programmer it would be an easy thing to do, but I’m just a regular guy and I’ll find a solution but it’s costly ( in terms of time)
Comment by Dave — June 14, 2008 @ 7:58 am
Hey Dave! I miss you!
I have been BURIED in internet marketing. Talk about getting your ass kicked.
I actually have a sales site pretty much finished now, though, and tomorrow my goal is getting adsense all hooked up to it. THEN we’ll see how my traffic driving skills are!
Hope to see ya ’round these parts soon!
Comment by Kathy — June 17, 2008 @ 9:14 pm
Hi Kathy
I’m glad to hear from you, I appreciate that. I’m still “here” but not doing what I normally do. It’s weird; it’s like being the owner of a busy summer rental during the off season and staying around to do maintenance and answer the phones.
At first I was worried, but my daily numbers stayed the same and on some days went UP! But
I’m also glad you’re deep into it. Now THAT sounds like you’re on the right track. My experience is that it’s kinda easy to become a blogger and make a few bucks, but a person needs to stop at some point and do a serious re-assessment and then look at the data and say ok, I need to know more. I just don’t see any way around that step for anybody who seriously wants to “take it to the next level.”
And I’ll get back to this blog soon. I’ve been leaving MASSIVE comments at people’s sites, so I must need to write. I just got kind of demoralized when ANOTHER article got stolen AND the guy was even responding to comments as me.
Comment by Dave — June 18, 2008 @ 12:50 am
“I just got kind of demoralized when ANOTHER article got stolen AND the guy was even responding to comments as me.”
WHAT?????????? That sucks!
Comment by Kathy — June 18, 2008 @ 5:44 am
Boy, that situation bites!! He/she could alter your cyber personality, lol!
Comment by Shelia — June 18, 2008 @ 6:09 am
Hey! Look at you 2 early birds! I, of course, have been up all night working. (well I took the last 2 hours to comb out my hair and watch a bunch of backed up TV–5 episodes of the “The New Adventures of Old Christine” don’t ask why)
But yeah with the constant theft, I’ve left a few words about it at other areas of the blog so I don’t want to rehash-but I’m telling you I GIVE everything away for free, but still they take. John Chow has got a guy actually trying to start a whole business using his name this week-but he got discovered.
Comment by Dave — June 18, 2008 @ 6:50 am
Hey Dave - wondering a few things. Have you tried out ‘Niche Revolution’? (Callen Brothers)
Did you buy Keyword Elite and if so, is it worth it?
How into PPC have you gone? Have you figured this out?
Comment by Kathy — June 20, 2008 @ 7:22 pm
Hi Kathy
I was THIS close to “coming back” today, I’ve even written the return piece, but I’m also getting a kick out of the “vacation” while I work on my money sites day and night. In fact Forest (see comments above) and I have been doing parallel projects with ebay stuff these last 2 weeks.
One of the ONLY reasons I want to come back is to add more stuff I’ve learned. Like, you know that 30 minute program you asked me about. I found a lady who used it and is so crazy about it she’s written multiple posts about it.
product
http://tinyurl.com/6ldkb5
review of product
http://www.nichestorestrategies.com/category/site-promotion/
As for Niche Revolution, I haven’t read all the stuff or tried it, but they’ve been sending me info for their FREE product which builds websites. (squeeze pages really)
http://business.blinkweb.com/
As for PPC I’m VERY involved. I’ve noticed that affiliate people use it more than bloggers. My “1 free tool” article describe my use. And I WARN to be very careful and monitor what you do. Adwords is great but there are other penny click programs, plus the ebay affiliate program doesn’t allow traffic from from google msn and yahoo (PPC).
Keyword Elite and all the items I mentioned in my “little ad block” are tools I have. It’s one of the reasons I took the 30 minute thing out-I like the idea but I hadn’t used it yet.
But here is MY feeling; a person’s game plan should be strong before they buy stuff. I can not stress that enough. Game plan first, and that’ll tell you what software you need.
I thought I had left the link over here, but Chelle and I must have had this talk somewhere else on this blog, but 2 of the 3 people I advise reading are these people
http://beginner-blogger-basics.blogspot.com
courtneytuttle.com
Comment by Dave from Welcome Back Rosenthal — June 20, 2008 @ 10:13 pm
LOL! I need to go back and re-read some of your posts now that I’ve learned some more because I must have skimmed over parts that I didn’t understand before. I didn’t remember you mentioning Keyword Elite or PPC much.
I actually got into blinkweb yesterday in their first 1000 slots they opened their site with. Haven’t looked around at all yet though.
As for Niche Revolution, I bought the first month’s membership at $2.75 (I think). Whether or not I will continue it I haven’t quite decided. I do know that their video training section has taught me SO much this week. Really put a lot of stuff in place for me.
Comment by Kathy — June 21, 2008 @ 7:24 am