How can I optimize my site on a small budget?

Can my blogroll affect my blog's reputation in Google?

Recently Matt Cutts answered this in the Oficial Google WebMaster Central Channel on youtube....

Share on Facebook link

........

A great way to drive more traffic to your blog posts is to use Social Media sites like Facebook. There is an easy way to place a link at the end of everypost so that users can add it to their facebook profile.

You can see an example of this @ the facebook junkie blog.

It's very easy, all you have to do is edit your HTML template. First
make sure you have the "Expand Widget Templates" tab selected. Then find this piece of code: "<data:post.body/>", and Below that place this:

<b:if cond='data:post.url'>
<br/>share on: <a expr:href='"http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=" + data:post.url'>facebook</a>
</b:if>

When a user clicks on the link it will add it to their news feed and show up on their facebook profile.

Acceptable Search Engine Optimization Tactics

Don't want to be considered SPAM?. Then you need to know which optimization tactics are acceptable by search engines and which ones are not. Here is a video from Nathan Buggia @ the Live Search Webmaster Center on the topic.

Webmaster Guidelines from all Major Search Engines

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: seo google)

Anatomy of a Search Result

Here is a cool video from Matt Cutts where he talks about how google comes up with the text it displays on the SERPS..

Matt Cutts Discusses Snippets

Related Posts by Category in Blogger.com

Another great hack for blogger.com is to dynamically create at the end of every post a "Related Posts" section like the one on display here. The goal is to have your visitors stick around longer and take more of an interest in your blog.

It's very easy to do, but as with every modification to the template be very carefull.

Go to the Layout Tab and clic on Edit HTML. Then look for this code:

<data:post.body/>

Then immediately after that place this code:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>

<div class='similiar'>

<!-- ***http://hoctro.blogspot.com***Jan,2007**** -->

<!-- ***Related Articles by Labels - Take Two*** -->

<!--

Modified by JackBook.Com to make it easier to use.

1. Now, users don't need to change anything to use this widget. just copy and paste, and done!

2. The current article will also be listed, now it's no more.

-->

<div class='widget-content'>

<h3>Related Posts by Categories</h3>

<div id='data2007'/><br/><br/>

<div id='hoctro'>

Widget by <u><a href='http://hoctro.blogspot.com'>Hoctro</a></u> | <u><a href='http://www.jackbook.com/' title='Related Posts on Blogger Modified by JackBook.Com. Read More?'>Jack Book</a>. Brought to you by <a href="http://bloggerblackhatseo.blogspot.com">Blogger SEO</a>.</u>

</div>

<script type='text/javascript'>

var homeUrl3 = &quot;<data:blog.homepageUrl/>&quot;;

var maxNumberOfPostsPerLabel = 4;

var maxNumberOfLabels = 10;

maxNumberOfPostsPerLabel = 100;

maxNumberOfLabels = 3;

function listEntries10(json) {

var ul = document.createElement(&#39;ul&#39;);

var maxPosts = (json.feed.entry.length &lt;= maxNumberOfPostsPerLabel) ?

json.feed.entry.length : maxNumberOfPostsPerLabel;

for (var i = 0; i &lt; maxPosts; i++) {

var entry = json.feed.entry[i];

var alturl;

for (var k = 0; k &lt; entry.link.length; k++) {

if (entry.link[k].rel == &#39;alternate&#39;) {

alturl = entry.link[k].href;

break;

}

}

var li = document.createElement(&#39;li&#39;);

var a = document.createElement(&#39;a&#39;);

a.href = alturl;

if(a.href!=location.href) {

var txt = document.createTextNode(entry.title.$t);

a.appendChild(txt);

li.appendChild(a);

ul.appendChild(li);

}

}

for (var l = 0; l &lt; json.feed.link.length; l++) {

if (json.feed.link[l].rel == &#39;alternate&#39;) {

var raw = json.feed.link[l].href;

var label = raw.substr(homeUrl3.length+13);

var k;

for (k=0; k&lt;20; k++) label = label.replace(&quot;%20&quot;, &quot; &quot;);

var txt = document.createTextNode(label);

var h = document.createElement(&#39;b&#39;);

h.appendChild(txt);

var div1 = document.createElement(&#39;div&#39;);

div1.appendChild(h);

div1.appendChild(ul);

document.getElementById(&#39;data2007&#39;).appendChild(div1);

}

}

}

function search10(query, label) {

var script = document.createElement(&#39;script&#39;);

script.setAttribute(&#39;src&#39;, query + &#39;feeds/posts/default/-/&#39;

+ label +

&#39;?alt=json-in-script&amp;callback=listEntries10&#39;);

script.setAttribute(&#39;type&#39;, &#39;text/javascript&#39;);

document.documentElement.firstChild.appendChild(script);

}

var labelArray = new Array();

var numLabel = 0;

<b:loop values='data:posts' var='post'>

<b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'>

textLabel = &quot;<data:label.name/>&quot;;

var test = 0;

for (var i = 0; i &lt; labelArray.length; i++)

if (labelArray[i] == textLabel) test = 1;

if (test == 0) {

labelArray.push(textLabel);

var maxLabels = (labelArray.length &lt;= maxNumberOfLabels) ?

labelArray.length : maxNumberOfLabels;

if (numLabel &lt; maxLabels) {

search10(homeUrl3, textLabel);

numLabel++;

}

}

</b:loop>

</b:loop>

</script>

</div>

</div>

</b:if>

Save and you are all done!
...

Hide the Blogger Navbar

While this one isn't necessarily an SEO tip it will make your blog look more professional and will enhance the overall user experience, so in the end it will serve the same purpose.

So you want to hide that ugly navbar at the top of your blogger blog?. Easy, just go to the Layout tab and clic on Edit HTML, this will bring up the XML source of your template (be carefull here). Then just insert this CSS code and save:

#navbar-iframe {
height:0px;
visibility:hidden;
display:none
}

It's that easy!!!
..

Blogger.com blogs can become #1

Many people doubt that Blogger.com blogs can rank #1 in google SERPs, well, here is proof to the contrary.

On Nov. 8th I stared a new blog, facebook junkie, I wrote a few posts, followed the techniques that I've outlined here in this blog and the next day guess what? It was already being indexed by google!.

I continued adding new content and working on my SEO for this blog and in less than a week it was already in the top 10 for the phrase facebook junkie. Right now as of this writing it is #1 for that phrase.

I'm working on adding more content and diversifying my SEO strategy for this blog in hopes of driving up traffic.

Blogging, Microblogging and The Future of Online Media

by Darren Rowse, enjoy:

Basic SEO tips - Part II

Continued from my previous post with Basic SEO tips.

6. Do not link to link-farms or other search engine unfriendly neighborhoods.

7. Do not use doorway pages. Doorway pages are designed for robots only, not humans. Search engines like to index human friendly pages which contain content which is relevant to the search.

8. Title tags for text links. Insert the title tag within the HTML of your text link to add weight to the link and the page where the link resides. This is like the alt tag for images.

My site contains navigation menus on the left and right of the page. The menu consists of links not images. When you hover over the link with your mouse, the title of the link appears. View the source of this page to see how to add this tag to your links.

9. Describe your images with the use of the alt tag. This will help search engines that index images to find your pages and will also help readers who use text only web browsers.

10. Submit to the search engines yourself. Do not use a submission service or submission software. Doing so could get your site penalized or even banned.

Here is the submission page for google: http://www.google.com/addurl.html

Submit only once. There is no need to submit every two weeks. There is no need to submit more than one page. Robots follow links. If your site has a nice link trail, your entire site will get indexed.

Basic SEO tips - Part I

1. Insert keywords within the title tag so that search engine robots will know what your page is about. The title tag is located right at the top of your document within the head tags. Inserting a keyword or key phrase will greatly improve your chances of bringing targeted traffic to your site.

Make sure that the title tag contains text which a human can relate to. The text within the title tag is what shows up in a search result. Treat it like a headline.

2. Use the same keywords as anchor text to link to the page from different pages on your site. This is especially useful if your site contains many pages. The more keywords that link to a specific page the better.

3. Make sure that the text within the title tag is also within the body of the page. It is unwise to have keywords in the title tag which are not contained within the body of the page.

Adding the exact same text for your h1 tag will tell the reader who clicks on your page from a search engine result that they have clicked on the correct link and have arrived at the page where they intended to visit. Robots like this too because now there is a relation between the title of your page and the headline.

Also, sprinkle your keywords throughout your article. The most important keywords can be bolded or colored in red. A good place to do this is once or twice in the body at the top of your article and in the sub-headings.

4. Do not use the exact same title tag on every page on your website. Search engine robots might determine that all your pages are the same if all your title tags are the same. If this happens, your pages might not get indexed.

I always use the headline of my pages as the title tag to help the robots know exactly what my page is about. A good place to insert the headline is within the h1 tag. So the headline is the same as the title tag text.

5. Do not spam the description or keyword meta tag by stuffing meaningless keywords or even spend too much time on this tag. SEO pros all agree that these tags are not as important today as they once were. I just place my headline once within the keywords and description tags.

Claim your Blog on Technorati

One way to drive traffic to your blog is to claim it in different blog directories, one of the best is technorati, they provide a pretty straight forward method to claim your Blogger.com blog. Once there they let you fill out your blog profile, including keywords, description and so on.

There is a side to this that most people don't understand. It's very hard sometimes for you to actually get into the top 10 SERPs on google.com and the major search engines, sometimes it takes months. But on most blog directories you can easily get into their top search results if you use the right keywords and descriptions, and since a lot of people visit these sites to find blogs they will eventually drive traffic towards you.

Also the profile page that it creates for your blog will get picked up pretty quickly by the major search engines, so this will also drive traffic towards your blog pretty quickly.

Blog Directories to Submit Your Blog To

Another way to help people find your Blog besides Organic Search and SEO is to submit your blog to Blog Directories. There are tons of them out there. Some are paid, some are free, here is a top 20 list:

1. Best of the Web Blog Search La Crem de la Crem, Best of the Web’s Blog Directory is very selective and only lists aged and valuable blogs. A link from here is majestic and well deserved.

2. EatonWeb Blog Directory is a real jewel with many aged inbound links and a blog rating system. You may have to pay a fee for your blog to be reviewed, but like Yahoo, the review fee is well worth the few dollars.

3. Blog Hub offers a drop down category and member blog list. With its “new blogger” list and hot topics, Blog Hub is a great directory to list your site.

4. Upon visiting Bloggernity, you find a crisp, clean, and easy to navigate site. Scrolling down, you find the new blogs. As there is little advertising on the home page, it is pleasant to the eye of the reader as well.

5. Blogarama has an impressive listing of over 65,000 blogs. The site is well designed and follows the same content categories as many other sites.

6. One of the most selective Blog Directories on the web (and Wordpress powered), Blog Search Engine is owned by Performancing’s parent company and serves search results powered by IceRocket.

7. Blog Catalog features a vast directory of categories, from academic to writing, while offering the ability to search by country, language, or user. It has a no frills design, but offers convenient member access through simple blog registration.

8. Globe of Blogs has too many features to list. In order to be listed on the site, the blog must not be commercial. The site may appear to be busy, but I like the features of being able to search by title, author, or subject. Narrowing the search becomes easier on this blog.

9. The ultimate directory of British blogs connotes all things British. It is not directed by location, but by the culture! It is asked that bloggers be genuinely “britished.” Being listed in this blog reaches readers all the way across the pond!

10. Blog Universe is the perfect place to promote your video or podcast themed blog. Its layout is easy to navigate. Although the content is limited, it is an all around good directory site worthy of submission.

11. Bigger Blogs is a relatively new blog directory with only a few blogs registered. The blog is intertwined with a business directory. The blog section is difficult to find, and it is located through a link on the right side of the business directory page. However, the benefit is that the earlier you are accepted on a blog directory, the more exposure your blog will obtain. In addition, a back link is indeed a back link, so this can help with your search engine placement.

12. Bloggeries has the best categories and subcategories home page on the internet. The layout is clear and concise, and readers are able to find what they are looking for in a snap!

13. Bloggapedia has an interesting and eye catching homepage. Readers are easily connected to the top blogs and newest posts. Innovative categories and a colorful design make this blog directory a hit.

14. Spillbean is a well-designed blog directory site with categories such as health, society, internet, and personal. The site is aesthetically pleasing, but there are not many listings yet.

15. Blogging Fusion is a blog with over sixty categories. These categories include photo blogs and family focused blogs. Blogging Fusion has an good amount of blog listings within the directory, and it also has visitor stats available.

16. Blogflux is not only a tool for bloggers, but a directory that has the listings in alphabetic order. The blog listings are organized and clear. It is definitely an effective blog directory in which to be listed.

17. The blogs on the top listings of Bloglisting are fun, colourful, and catch the attention of the reader. Bloglisting displays the page ranking blogs, which is a helpful tool when determining with whom you want to exchange links.

18. Blogio may be a small blog directory with few listings, but it worthy of a submission. Despite its small size, there are quality blogs and a solid ability to search on this site.

19. Blog Explosion claims to be the largest blog promoter on the internet. They have a vast directory but do not seem to have direct links. However, the listing in the directory can still show up in SERP’s, so keep this in mind.

20. Super Blog Directory is a great site that offers tools to posters that others do not. You can see the latest submitted links and blogs on the site, which is a perk that draws traffic into the directory.

Thanks to Loren baker for the info...

Adding Google Sitemap - Part I

One way to help Google crawl through your Blog is to add a sitemap, there are various ways to do this. First I'll start off for those of you who already use Google Webmaster Tools.

After you login to your account on Google Webmaster tools procede to the Sitemap section and click on the Add a SiteMap link.

The URL for your Blogger.com blog will be:

http://BlogName/feeds/posts/default?orderby=updated

This is basically an Atom XML feed, but it's enough to help google crawl through your website.

Swapping Blogger Title Hack

When you create a new post in Blogger it assigns a Title like this:

BlogName : Post Name
Blogger SEO : Swapping Blogger Title Hack

In terms of SEO you should have your Page Title first. Luckly we have an easy workaround in order to change this. Go to your Blog DashBoard and open the Layout tab, then clic on the Edit HTML link. Find the following code:

<title><data:blog.title/></title>

and replace with:


<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<title><data:blog.pageName/> - <data:blog.title/></title>
<b:else/>
<title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>
</b:if>

After that your Page Titles will look like this:

Post Name - BlogName
Swapping Blogger Title Hack - Blogger SEO

That's all!!!!

Blogger SEO Books

Here is a list of recommended reading material:

• Blogger: Beyond the Basics
• The Rational Guide to Google Blogger (Rational Guides) (Rational Guides)
• Blogging For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
• ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
• Blogging Heroes: Interviews with 30 of the World's Top Bloggers

Burn Your Feed with FeedBurner

One of the best ways to keep people up to date on your blog postings is to have them subscribe to your RSS feed. Most blogging platforms provide standard RSS/Atom feeds but very little customization options.

For me FeedBurner is the way to go, the sign up process is pretty straight forward, just provide them with your RSS feed URL, Ex: http://http://bloggerblackhatseo.blogspot.com/rss.xml and they will read it and Burn it. It will give you a new URL to hand out like this one: http://feeds.feedburner.com/BloggerSeo

What happens to people that have already subscribed to your original RSS feed? No need to fear after you have burned your feed you need to tell blogger to redirect all of your RSS requests to the new URL. Go to your DashBoard and click on the Settings tab of your Blog. Then on the Site Feed option. All you have to do is enter the URL that FeedBurner gave you in the Post Feed Redirect URL box and you are set.

Add Google Analytics to Blogger

Google Analytics is a powerful tool for anyone looking to do SEO. It allows you to track your visitors, see where they come from, how they got there, how much time they spend on your site and much more. Just follow these easy steps to add it to your blogger account:

1. First of all you need to go ahead and sign up to @ http://www.google.com/analytics/ during the signup proccess you'll enter your Google Account information and Blog URL. 
2. After the initial signup is complete you'll get some javascript code to add to your Blog, choose the "New Tracking Code (ga.js)"
3. Copy this JavaScript code into the clipboard
   
4. Login to your blogger account. Head over to the Layout Tab and Select "Edit HTML". Here you will see the HTML code for your template (be carefull here so you don't mess up your blog).
5. Scroll down all the way to the bottom until you find the body tag. Paste the JavaScript code just before the body tag.
6. Wait a couple of hours, then log back into the Google Analytics website and click on "Check Status" button. If it says that it can't find the code just try again latter, sometimes it takes a while.
7. Done!!!!.... All you have to do now is wait for your visitors to come and your stats to pile up.

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My First Post

We all know that blogger is not the easiest platform to perform SEO in, but in this day in age we need to do some SEO to stay ahead of the competition.

I'll share with you my experiences on doing SEO with Blogger.