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The Process for Launching Niche Sites on Wordpress If you've been reading my recent posts, you already know I'm trying something new over the next few months and documenting it here. If you've haven't been reading along that's totally fine. To bring you...

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The Process for Launching Niche Sites on Wordpress If you've been reading my recent posts, you already know I'm trying something new over the next few months and documenting it here. If you've haven't been reading along that's totally fine. To bring you...

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Building an E-commerce Website So I've decided to launch my very own e-commerce website. I've got some experience optimizing other people's e-commerce websites, but I've never actually built one up from the ground up and am beginning...

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My Try Creating Affiliate Relationships with Local... Ever had one of those ideas that just won't go away? Me too. One concept that's been rolling around my mind for the better part of a year was to forge an affiliate marketing or lead gen relationship with...

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Search Engine Optimization Secrets Book Review [caption id="attachment_1563" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Meet The Author of Search Engine Optimization Secrets: Danny Dover"][/caption]I opened my mail box to discover Search Engine Optimization...

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About
I'm Brett, Co-Owner of StartSEOCompany.com. Here I write about SEO business strategies, along with the struggles and rewards of owning an SEO company. If you'd like to learn more about me click here or follow me on Twitter.

Build Links Faster with Do-Follow Blogs

Posted by admin | Posted in seo strategy | Posted on 25-01-2010

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Let’s talk link building. Most SEO companies aren’t very good at it; Those who are often outsource the work or buy links. I can’t blame them. No matter how much you automate processes or systematize a plan, high-quality back links still take time to develop.

No doubt, link development is a task that can stretch the human capital of your SEO business each month. But it’s a process that’s absolutely mandatory for an SEO campaign’s success.

And since link building is so important for an SEO businesses, I want to share one technique you can use to generate contextually relevant, one-way links to a client’s website with the exact anchor text of choice. Interested? Read on.

1.) Make a list of do-follow blogs and blog directories. Create a unique list to target each vertical—technology, finance, health, etc. Save these lists for future link building campaigns. Or if you’re feeling lazy, just bookmark the do-follow list provided above.

2.) Create a guest-post template. Next, have your virtual assistant contact each one of the do-follow bloggers by email or within the comments section of their blog.

If you’re VA’s not a very good writer I suggest creating a guest-post template. A guest-post template is a brief message sent to bloggers that can be easily personalized for relevance. Don’t make this request more than a couple paragraphs in length and be sure to include one or two links to articles already published online. Many bloggers request examples of previous work anyway, so this cuts a step out of the process.

Below is a guest-post template you can send to a VA. Feel free to copy or edit this template:

Hi (Insert Name),

I’d like to contribute some unique, on-topic content for your blog. You can view examples of my previous work here and here (add links).

Please email me with any questions you may have. I’d really appreciate the opportunity to write for you.

Insert Your Name

This guest-post template is concise for a reason. Don’t waste bloggers’ time when contacting them. Get straight to the point and the blogger will respond if interested. The best advice I can give is to submit the guest-post template and forget it. There are about a million bloggers out there and even more blogs. Don’t waste your time sending out more than one request to the same blog.

3.) Deliver content. It’s a good idea to have content ready before sending out guest-blogging requests. Of the bloggers that respond, provide them with content as soon as possible. This will help build up trust with the blogger and improve your chances for submitting more content in the future.

4.) Document success. After successfully contributing content, don’t forget to record the name, email address, date, and URL of the submitted blog post in a spreadsheet. This will help you remember when and where you obtained a link and target the blog again for future link building campaigns.

Why Do-Follow Blogs?

Targeting do-follow blogs for link-building is a makes sense for a couple reasons.

First, there are a lot of high-authority and high Page Rank do-follow blogs out there. Second, do-follow bloggers don’t mind spreading the link love. After all, they do follow! I’ve found that PR 3 and PR 4 blog owners will almost always post average, on-topic content. On the other hand, for anything PR 4 and above you’ll need to create a truly exceptional piece of content to be published.

Of course, you shouldn’t target do-follow blogs exclusively. Guest posting anywhere there’s an audience is worthwhile and recommended.

But if you’re looking for highly targeted, authoritative blog links you can develop fast, try implementing this link-building strategy. It’s a quick and effective way to build links and buzz for your clients.

Schemes, Plots & Tactics of an SEO Business Blog in 2010

Posted by admin | Posted in uncategorized | Posted on 18-01-2010

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It’s the start of a 2010 — plans are being made and goals being set. So in the spirit of resolutions that mark the beginning of a new year, I’ve decided to share my personal goals for this blog.

To be completely honest, I’m a newb when it comes to blogging. I’ve got a few years of search-engine marketing under my belt so I can speak to the benefits having a blog. I also understand how powerful they can be for some businesses. But alas, until I’ve experienced success in the blogosphere first hand, I will not masquerade as some make-believe guru. It’s got nothing to do with my moral compass. I just don’t think you’d buy it — too easy to pick out the real thing from a fraud.

That hasn’t stopped me from plotting the swift ascent of my blog, however. The French may consider my attitude a bit naiveté, but I’ve got high hopes for this website. StartSEOCompany.com has got a clean, attractive design that I’m happy with and based on the initial rate of email sign ups, interest in an SEO business product seems to exist.

Although my spirits are high, from everything I’ve read online about pro blogging, it’s going to be one hell of a slog the first few months. I’ve made a commitment to put out at least one great piece of content per week and to contribute two guest posts per month to other blogs. I’d like to write more, but I fear it would take away too much time from my existing clients right now.

Here are my 2010 goals for StartSEOCompany.com:

  • Launch StartSEOCompany.com Enterprise: This will be my complete SEO business building kit. It will provide everything you need to start an SEO agency or to begin consulting. I want to have this launched in the first half of the year.

  • Write one high-quality blog post per week: From what I’ve read, I should probably be writing more. But for now, one blog post a week is target I’m comfortable with.

  • Guest post two times per month: It’s no secret that writing guest posts for other blogs can introduce your brand to a new audience and drive traffic. Again, I should probably write more, but this is a good beginning goal.

  • Find my voice: This may sound a bit peculiar, but I’m committed to finding my own “voice” within this blog. I want people to identify my writing style without reading the author’s name. This is something that I will work toward by being passionate, honest, and consistent with the quality of my posts.

I hope you’ll join me on my quest through 2010. It’s going to be exciting. I’m confident we’ll laugh, cry, share a few war stories, and maybe even learn a little about owning an SEO business in the year to come.

World’s Biggest, Most Ridiculous Do-Follow Blog List*

Posted by admin | Posted in seo strategy | Posted on 11-01-2010

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*Disclaimer: This might not be the World’s largest Do-Follow Blog list. If you know of anything more comprehensive, let me know in the comments.

Posting comments on do-follow blogs is a common SEO technique used to develop inbound links. If the comments provided are insightful, adding value to the conversation or present a controversial point of view, this tactic can generate extra blog referrals as well. For those of you willing to put forth the necessary time and effort, it can be a powerful component of a link building strategy. But don’t become intoxicated off the link juice just yet. Remember that by arming yourself with this great power comes the danger of looking like a spammer to search-engines. Fortunately, there are some easy ways to stay in the good graces of the traffic gods when commenting for links.

Do-Follow Link Building - Remember to Mix it Up!

Some beginners make the mistake of using the identical anchor or link text for every comment. You don’t think 157 new links with the anchor text “affordable seo services” overnight might be a little suspicious? Mix up your anchor text, URL, messages, and times when commenting for links. Also, post  a few comments on no-follow blogs. You may not receive any SEO value from the links, but acquiring  only do-follow links could appear unnatural. At the very least, Google uses no-follow links as a type of ‘signal’ for when determining rank.

I recommend bookmarking this page as a reference for future link building. These blogs are organized by Page Rank from highest to lowest with the exception of the do-follow blog directories. Keep in mind the Page Rank of these blogs may have changed since the last major update at the end of 2009. If you prefer, click here to download this list in Excel. Enjoy the list and happy link building!

Do-Follow Blog Directories and Lists

http://www.dofollowblogs.com/
http://followlist.com/
http://www.blogsthatfollow.com/
http://dofollow.info/
http://www.bigfootwebmarketing.com/dofollow/
http://fulldirectory.net/
http://migliana.com/
http://stentcard.com/
http://cedpro.com/blogs/
http://www.whydowork.com/blog/blogging-tips/558/
http://courtneytuttle.com/blogs-that-follow/
http://www.seo-writer.com/blog/2008/05/10/dofollow-blogs/
http://dofollowmovement.com/
http://nicusor.com/do-follow-list/
1000 Do-Follow Blog List!
http://www.strategicmarketsegmentation.com/dofollow-blogs-search-engines-and-directories-for-dofollow-backlinking/
http://www.dofollow.net/
http://www.facebook.com/dofollow
http://www.web-directories.ws/Press/Blogs/
http://www.webmaster-elements.com/dofollow-lists/dofollow-blogs.htm
http://www.amjadiqbal.com/dofollow-blog-list-and-how-to-boost-pagerank.htm
http://niceblogger.com/2009/08/21/dofollow-list/
http://www.directory-list.com/directorylist/blog_directory_list.php?type=bdl
http://socialwebtools.info/do-follow-blogs/
http://www.feverishthoughts.com/do-follow-bloggers/
http://earnonlinemoney.today.com/category/page-rank/
http://atniz.com/2009/07/05/high-pr-6-dofollow-blog-list/
http://rumahabi.com/a-very-complete-of-do-follow-blog-list.html
http://freeseotipsandtricks.blogspot.com/2009/03/do-follow-blogs-list.html
http://www.crazylinks4free.com/2009/07/a-free-do-follow-blog-list.html

PR 6

http://brownsista.com
http://foolswisdom.com
http://engineering.curiouscatblog.net
http://www.davidairey.com
http://www.wegame.com/

PR 5

http://blog.sellsiusrealestate.com/
http://blumenthals.com/blog/
http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog
http://www.billhartzer.com
http://howtosplitanatom.com
http://www.fastlanetransport.ca/blog
http://lifecruiser.com
http://thearticlewriter.com/blog
http://www.bloggingtips.com
http://www.cssglobe.com/
http://seo2.0.onreact.com/
http://www.teachenglishinasia.ney
http://www.raproject.com/
http://andybeard.eu/

PR 4

http://blog.jakerocheleau.com/
http://www.pixelheadonline.com/blog
http://bestofstupid.com/
http://www.logon.ie
http://www.howtowakeupearly.com
http://www.tw3o.com
http://www.joebartender.com
http://jakeldaily.com
http://tallfreak.com
http://blog.achille.name
http://www.layercake.net
http://www.roadlesstravelled.com.au
http://www.5xmom.com
http://dereksemmler.com
http://linguisticszone.blogspot.com
http://smartwealthyrich.com
http://lillieammann.com/blog
http://thedivinedivas.blogspot.com
http://www.jhsiess.com
http://comedyplus.blogspot.com
http://www.communityspark.com
http://www.ecommtips.com
http://endangeredspaces.blogspot.com
http://titaniastarlight.blogspot.com
http://www.fuzzyfuture.com
http://thermalblog.co.uk
http://timeforblogging.com
http://pimpmypagerank.com
http://www.zr5.net
http://www.lifeintherough.com
http://wandersworld.fourleafhosting.com
http://www.jonlee.ca
http://www.thedietdiary.com/blog
http://veganmomma.com/blog
http://super-blogging.blogspot.com
http://workathomemomrevolution.blogspot.com
http://www.mycreditgroup.com/membersblog
http://secretofunlimitedprosperity.com
http://www.lostartofblogging.com/
http://www.detacheddesigns.com/
http://mmoexplorer.com
http://www.oibo.org/
http://bestofstupid.com
http://howto.helpero.com/
http://www.hopefulspirit.com/
http://www.jhsiess.com/
http://jqueryfordesigners.com/
http://warpspire.com/
http://www.fabulouslyjinxed.com/

PR 3

http://www.chandan.in/
http://www.health-mania.com/
http://www.insidethewebb.com/
http://www.getfoundnow.com/
http://lifelearningtoday.com
http://fatladysingz.com
http://revellian.com
http://www.triathlontraining.us
http://marenda.biz
http://savingmoney.iblogger.org
http://baseballinvestor.com
http://www.thedailyfuzz.com
http://menstrualpoetry.com
http://www.erikkarey.com
http://www.robertaferguson.com
http://pilotjohn.com
http://www.brilliantcheers.co.uk
http://chrishoyt.com
http://www.bhatt.id.au/blog/
http://pajamaprofessional.com
http://diydollars.com
http://www.benspark.com
http://blogaboutmoneyonline.blogspot.com
http://www.mydandelionpatch.com
http://afrogtokiss.net
http://thereasoner.com
http://skeetsstuff.skeeterbess.com
http://emoneymarketing.com
http://kansha-shite.blogspot.com
http://lastblogger.com
http://leaveamerica.info
http://magicalrosegarden.com
http://www.tobsy.de
http://www.theuniversitykid.com
http://marketingblagger.com
http://www.msaufong.com/myhomerecipe
http://recoveringlutherans.blogspot.com
http://laughoutlouddogs.com
http://sunlightflavour.net
http://www.dontfearthetruth.com
http://marketingasolicitor.com
http://www.patricksays.net
http://buzzqueen.blogspot.com
http://cooladzine.blogspot.com
http://table4five.net
http://womantribune.com
http://paulamooney.blogspot.com
http://www.simplekindoflife.com
http://armymomnj.name
http://www.feverishthoughts.com
http://dotcommogul.net/
http://www.muxton.com/
http://ipentimento.com/
http://secondstorygamer.com/
http://blabberwocky.net/
http://slyvisions.com
http://pimpmypagerank.com/
http://randaclay.com/

PR 2

http://www.seorefugee.com/forums/
http://www.iblogs.in/
http://www.untwistedvortex.com/
http://blograters.com
http://www.itmightbelove.com/
http://www.bestrealincome.com
http://www.dorisgoshopping.com
http://bloggersjourney.com
http://www.articlesnatch.com/blog
http://www.cutiegadget.com
http://ericsocia.net
http://myopinionsareimportant.com
http://www.lcdlove.com
http://www.allscm.com
http://yourwebsiteprofit.blogspot.com
http://www.amorphism.net
http://www.jadehat.com
http://www.foximus.com
http://crayonwriter.com
http://tagskitchen.com
http://mumshome.blogspot.com
http://www.brianpratt.net
http://advertising-forsuccess.blogspot.com
http://mouseski.blogspot.com
http://crafts4dummies.blogspot.com
http://flat-water.blogspot.com
http://www.ladylike4.com
http://master-cleanse.info
http://selfhypnosisprogram.com
http://sophistishe.org
http://thewebfiles.com
http://www.wiredkayaker.com
http://mythoughtsideasandramblings.com
http://www.esoterically.net/
http://jameseo.com/

PR 1

http://linkbuildingbible.com/
http://otherendoftheinter.net/
http://www.health-mania.com/
http://www.ahnternet.com/
http://eyeonoahu.com/
http://www.planetsaedel.com/
http://deaneonlinesecrets.blogspot.com/

PR 0 (The Up and Coming Blogs!)

http://www.chrislowthian.co.uk/
http://studentlamarketing.com/
http://www.randomblatherings.com/
http://www.jankoatwarpspeed.com/
http://www.world-for-fun.com

Easy & Free Heat-Map Testing for Your Website

Posted by admin | Posted in conversion testing | Posted on 04-01-2010

Tags: , ,

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I’ve developed a pretty broad definition of SEO over the years. It’s an explanation that’s extended into decisions of page layout and design formerly made only by web designers or user-experience experts. As the existing internet marketing landscape matures, I believe SEOs will find themselves involved with a more widespread business role than ever before. Some day (probably sooner than later) I believe SEOs will even be involved in the early stages of product development.

Feng-GUI Heat Map Testing

But I’ll spare you my SEO predictions for the time being show off a new tool that can help improve conversions for your own website. It’s called Feng-GUI (not an affiliate link) and I’ve been using it to test different home pages for this website. I also plan to use this services heat maps to clients as an aid to explain why a site redesign may be in order.

Feng-GUI is an easy way to make heat maps for websites that can help identify when a call to action or objective is being overlooked by the typical user. Heat maps are often used to help distinguish the part of an image or website attracts a viewers attention. Below is an example of a popular heat map you’ve probably seen in a presentation before:

Heat Map

I’m using heat-map testing on my homepage to help determine what to modify in the future. I’ve been able to glean some interesting results from the initial testing so far. The heat-map results for StartSEOCompany.com homepage can be seen below:

seo-heatmap

  1. Not too surprising, but the first location a visitor looks on my website is the logo located in the upper-left portion of the page. I’m OK with this as it reinforces my brand with the visitor. It’s also a typical spot to place the logo on a web page.

  2. The sign-up form is the second hot-spot on the home page. This is great since whole point of the website right now is to build my email list and develop an audience. While I am happy this is the second location viewers look, I wish their eyes would focus on the form longer as this could result in more sign ups. I’ve noted this as an action item to improve on later. I might experiment with a more visually attractive form or add a Download Now button above or below the Fast Start Kit sign up.

  3. My Twitter badge is another hot spot. Hopefully, this will encourage visitors to add me list so I can connect with them via Twitter and email. I will be analyzing future visitor data using Google Analytics to determine if this is occurring.

  4. The text on my homepage is only skimmed over by viewers. And the meat of my content—Everything You Need To Start Your Own SEO Company—is quickly passed over according to the heat map. I’m still deliberating how act on this information. Text is usually less eye catching than a photo. I plan to test the addition of a download now button below this area of content that directs traffic here to the Fast Start Kit page where visitors can also sign up to my list.

Action Items

The most important step to take after using heat map software like Feng-GUI or any other type of user experience testing is to take action on the information. From one heat map I’ve outlined four elements of my home page to test in the future. Next, I’ve need to follow through with the tests and decide what’s working based on the analytics. I suggest you do the same for your own website.