1.Decide on a stand alone domain name www.myblog.com or directory of existing site www.mysite.com/blog. Sub domain is also an option blog.mysite.com. Avoid hosted services that do not allow you to use your own domain name!
2.Obtain and install customizable blog software - WordPress and Moveable Type are my favorites.
3. Customize blog look and feel templates - aka design.
4. Research keywords and develop a glossary - Keyword Discovery, WordTracker, SitePoint, SEOBook Keyword Research.
5. Optimize the blog: Template optimization - RSS subscription options, social bookmark links, HTML code, Unique title tags, URLs, Sitemap Add helper plugins specific to WordPress or MT
6. Create keyword rich categories (reference your keyword glossary)
7. Enable automatic trackback and ping functionality.
8. Create Feedburner Pro account and enable feed tracking.
9. Setup a Google account for Sitemap, validate and prep for future submission.
10. Identify authoritative blogs, web sites and hubs for outbound resource links and blogroll.
11. Format archived posts, related posts.
12. Enable statistics for tracking - Google Analytics, ClickTracks.
13. Submit RSS feed and Blog URL to prominent RSS and Blog directories / search engines.
14. Engage in an ongoing link building campaign.
15. If podcast or video content are available, submit to Podcast and Vlog directories.
16. Submit blog url to paid directories with categories for blogs - Yahoo, BOTW, bCentral, WOW, JoeAnt.
17. Optimize and distribute a press release announcing blog.
18. Request feedback or reviews of your blog in relevant forums, discussion threads. If you have a resourceful post that will help others, point to it.
19. Research and comment on relevant industry related blogs and blogs with significant centers of influence.
20. Post regularly. If it’s a news oriented blog, 3-5 times per day. If it’s an authoritative blog, 3-5 times per week, but each post must be unique and high value. Monitor inbound links, traffic, comments and mentions of your blog - Google Alerts, Technorati, Blogpulse, Yahoo News, Ask Blogs and Feeds.
21. Always respond to comments on your blog and when you detect a mention of your blog on another blog, thank that blogger in the comments of the post.
22. Make contact with related bloggers on AND offline if possible. When making blog posts always cite the source with a link and don’t be afraid to mention popular bloggers by name. Use keywords in the blog post title, in the body of the post and use anchor text when you link to previous posts you’ve made.
23. Use social networking services, forums and discussion threads to connect with other bloggers. If they like your stuff, they will link to you. Remember when web sites were a new concept and the sage advice to print your web address everywhere you print your phone number? The same advice applies for your blog.
24. If your blog’s goal is to promote you as an authority, interview other prominent bloggers in your industry. Your own credibility will improve by association. Build out your online networks through services such as MyBlogLog, Twitter and Facebook and leverage them to promote particularly useful content on your blog. Once your blog has 1000 or more subscribers, show your Feedburner badge Host images with Flickr making sure to include an anchor text link in the image description back to the post where the image is used.
25. Use your blog to gain press/media credentials at relevant industry conferences and use the event to create content, connections and increase your knowledge.
Next, you are going to drive tons of traffic to your affiliate pages using free channels and methods.
But before we talk about driving traffic, you are going to choose the right product to promote. Do some research to find out what things are hot currently and go to affiliate networks such as Clickbank to find a product that suits the trend. It is very important for you to focus on promoting one product first if you are new to affiliate marketing, before moving on to another winning product.
Now, let us talk about ways to drive traffic to your affiliate product page, strictly using free methods:
1. Create a Squidoo lens. Make sure that your lens is keywords optimized according to what you are promoting. The naming of the lens will play a big part on whether you will get to top of search engines.
2. Writing keyword-optimized articles. Research and gather keywords that are related to the products that you are promoting. Write an article for each keyword and make sure that it gets to prominent pages of search engines.
3. Create a report. Create a short report which talk about the topic or product that you are promoting. Use free source to convert it to a PDF file, and distribute it for free on the Internet.
4. Forum postings. Join relevant forums and include a signature to your affiliate product pages. Make sure that you do not spam but contribute informative ideas to the forum.
5. Classified ads. Post free ads talking about the product that you are promoting on popular classified sites such as Craigslist. These are just some free ways to drive traffic to your affiliate product pages. The quality of the product that you are promoting also plays a big part on whether you will get any sales out of it.
Chitika
9 ways to let your blog/website noticed
With billions of web pages it can sometimes be hard getting yourself noticed. What can you do to stand out from the crowd? How can you get your web pages highlighted and sought after? Here are 9 ways in which you can get more attention for your web site.
1. Fill your web site with content Your web site visitors are not interested in you, they are more concerned with their own world, their own problems, their own difficulties. If your web site is full of information that can help them cope in their world, remove their problems, or ease their difficulties, they will appreciate you. So, focus your web site on the content you provide. There are several ways you can do this. One is to provide a blog as part of your site, though you will need to update this at least daily if it is to have any real impact. An alternative is to have an articles section where you include more detailed information than you might have in a blog. You could also have in-depth reports that people download directly from your web site. However you do it, just focus your strategy on providing content - and lots of it. But the content must be practical, useful material that your readers can directly benefit from.
2. Use the words your web site visitors use Whatever your web site is about, it will only attract attention if it is using the language of your target audience. If, for instance, you have a web site that offers "take-away foods" it is not going to get much attention in parts of the world where they call such things "carry-outs". In other words, your content must match your audience. Don't use the words and jargon you might use in your business, but use the words your potential customers use. If you don't know what they are, ask them. Also make sure you check the words that people will use to search for your site using Wordtracker.
3. Have a design that follows the standards People have become used to certain online conventions - links in blue, underlined, for instance. Even though it may be tempting to appear different or unique, if you do not follow the standard conventions your web site becomes less appealing to people. So this means, for instance, having the navigation down the left hand side of the page, or along the top. It means having a footer on each page with your contact details. It means using the conventional colours to signal links, emails and so on. If you try to do something different you confuse your visitors meaning they are less likely to return and even less likely to tell their friends about your site.
4. Get your site listed in directories People often use directories to find appropriate web sites. You need listing in all the relevant directories to your business. To find specific directories that you can get listed in, use a program like Internet Business Promoter. This helps you locate subject specific directories and manage your submission to them. Also, get yourself listed in DMOZ - it might take some time, be patient, but a listing here is helpful as many other directories and search engines use data from DMOZ. Getting a listing in the Yahoo Directory is also worthwhile paying for. Within seven days you could be listed on one of the most popular online directories.
5. Gain benefit from Wikipedia One of the most popular online resources is Wikipedia - the online encyclopaedia edited by volunteers. Contributing content on your areas of expertise will help bring attention to you and your web site. You cannot simply put up a Wikipedia page all about your business - that would be considered "spam". But adding to existing pages, including your links where appropriate to relevant content on your web site, would be valuable to readers of Wikipedia and to your business.
6. Get links to your site Having other people link to your site is essential. It shows that they trust you and like you enough to recommend you. Don't look for any old link; have a strategy to gain links from relevant sites that are also respected. A link on a relevant and respected site is worth many, many times more than a link on someone's site just because you happen to know them. So, if you are selling lawn mowers, get your site linked on gardening sites, web sites about grass growing and so on. Another way of generating useful links is to get your site bookmarked in del.icio.us and on Digg. Look for other social bookmarking sites like these in your spe******t field. Try also StumbleUpon and ReddIt. To find useful sites to link to your web site you need Internet Business Promoter's Arelis feature.
7. Get involved online Take part in forum discussions, Google Groups, Yahoo Groups and other discussion sites. Contribute also to Yahoo Answers. In doing so you bring attention to your expertise and also you get the opportunity to add a link to your web site or some of your appropriate content. Also, be on the lookout for blogs to which you can add comments, again showing your expertise and adding links to your web site, bringing it even more attention. To find suitable blogs use Google Blog Search.
8. Use traditional Public Relations Many web site owners focus all their efforts online, forgetting that the "offline" world is a great way to publicise their web site. Indeed, the owners of Google did a considerable amount of PR to get their venture up and running. So take a tip from them, get as much "offline" publicity as you can. Get yourself listed in Expert Sources - journalists use this to find people to interview. Also make sure your web site has a "media" page that has all your contact details, examples of the kind of media exposure you are available for, links to articles about you, radio programmes you have featured in etc. Also, your web site media centre will need a selection of high resolution photographs of you and your business as well as a short business and personal biography. Your media centre should also include your press releases, if you have them. Journalists look at your web site and if they see a media centre they realise you are "friendly" towards the media and therefore are more likely to approach you. You can also distribute press releases automatically using Press Equalizer.
9. Take part in social networking sites Use sites like Facebook, MySpace and Ecademy to bring attention to your expertise. On Ecademy you can become a "club leader" for your particular topic and on Facebook you can set up spe******t groups on your area of expertise. By contributing to these sites - and others in your spe******t area - you bring even more attention to your web site. Furthermore, you make it easy for your online contacts to mention your web site to other people online, thus further promoting your site. For a list of sites you can work with go to this list of social networking sites.
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