Thursday, September 28, 2006

Videos as content for blogging

A recent Ken Evoy's posting at SBI! Forum about "How Your Video And The Big Four Video SEs Can Drive Traffic And Business To Your Web Site", which gave me an insight into not only creating my own videos to be posted at the SEs but also adding videos as content to my web site/blog.

Then, yesterday's Google Adsense affiliate's newsletter also touched on the potential and values of embedded videos (i.e., at Google Videos)as a traffic-pulling content for certain web sites including travel-related.

So, I started a little test today to see how really good videos are over content. I embedded a video from YouTube.com to my Travel Borneo Blog. One thing for sure, it's a quick content for a blog.

If the result is encouraging, I'll test it out on both my my non-SBI! site as well as my my SBI! site.

You see..., I'm still not really convince totally that videos can be as good if not better than content as per my previous post entitled Online Videos Vs Content.

However, that post was more specifically touching on internet marketing sites. But perhaps, videos may be a more effective strategy for travel sites.

Anyway, I better test it out first.

Will let you know the result at a later stage.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

SBI! Launches Two-Level Image Search Reporting!

Recently, SBIers got a Surprise! A secret project launches!

The Two-Level Image Search Reporting is another tool for SBIers. It's unique and I don't think you can find this in any other company's "compare page."

Why is this launch so important?

According to Ken Evoy:

Google's Image Search forms about 12% of its regular search. That's one whole lot of search... more than all of Ask.com, for example. If your site lends itself to photos, that percentage could jump to 25-40% of your traffic.

So..., SBIers will be finding an exciting new world of keywords to grow image search results.

This 2-level drill-down report shows you the data you need to grow your image search results (from all major engines) substantially.

Personally, I reckon the best thing regarding thsi latest launch is that the price of SBI! remains the same.

Click Here to find out why Only Site Build It! helps you build a profitable, long-term business and what makes SBI! so much better than all other major small business hosting solutions?

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Scam Warning: FROM BRUNEI PRINCE HAKEEM F. BOLKIAH

This type of scam has been doing its round on the Internet for many years but to my surprise, it's still going strong. I guess there are 100 times more "newbies" going online each day as there are veterans, who are vulnerable to such scam, which is also known as the Nigerian Scam.

From a dictator's son in Africa to the wife of a former Philippines' ruler, the modus operandi is the same. Only the lead character(s) are different, each of them happily agrees to share their stolen/hidden/confiscated fortune with you - all for a small upfront fee.

Now it's the turn of a Brunei's prince to share his treasure with an unfortunate victim(s). Wow! I don't think a price from Brunei needs to do that.

Please do not fall prey to this latest and laughable (for a guy in Borneo leaving just "next door" to the sultanate kingdom of Brunei) scam.

If you received an email or similar as shown below, just delete it.

====================================

From: IMPORTANT INFO: "FROM PRINCE HAKEEM F. BOLKIAH
Subject: Strictly confidencial/private.


THIS LETTER AND IT?S INFORMATION CONTAINTS ARE STRICTLY CONFIDENCIAL:

ATTENTION: PLEASE READ WITH UTMOST CEARFULNESS,

Dear Friend,
I am contacting you for an Urgent Business Transaction and further explicit investment assistance in your country. Based on the information and recommendation satisfactorily gathered concerning your person, I hereby need you to read this email message carefully because it is very imperative.

I have been reliably informed that some people send fraudulent letters to unsuspecting individuals overseas making bogus claims. Please be informed that this is not such letters as my claims are real. My name is PRINCE HAKEEM F. BOLKIAH, the eldest son of PRINCE JEFRI BOLKIAH who was the former Finance Minister of Brunei. Brunei Darussalam is a small country located in the northwest of the island of Borneo and governed by His Majesty SHEIK HAJI HASSAN-AL BOLKIAH MU'IZZADDIN WADDAULAH.I will save your time by not amplifying my extended Royal Family history which has already been disseminated by the international media during the controversial dispute that erupted between my father and his stepbrother, the sultan of Brunei SHEIK HAJI HASSAN AL BOLKIAH. You can visit the websites below for a better understanding of the situation:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/670959.stm
http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/magazine/2000/0310/nat.brunei.jefri.html

As you may know from the international media, the Sultan had accused my father of financial mismanagement and impropriety of USD. $14.8 Billion. This was as a result of the Asian financial crisis which made my father?s company AMEDEO DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (ADC) and government owned Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) to be declared bankrupt during his tenure in office. PRINCE JEFRI BOLKIAH was relieved of his post as Finance Minister of Brunei and was stripped of his chairmanship post as head of the nation's international investment arm, the Brunei Investment Agency in February 1998. The Agency controls 13 companies & Brunei's overseas assets.

In July 1998, SHEIK HAJI HASSANAL BOLKIAH barred trading by Amedeo Development Corporation when the world's biggest corporate debt of USD14.8 Billion came to light. In September 1998, the Sultan ordered an investigation of the BIA by accountants KPMG after the Brunei government alleged that" large sums of money" had been misappropriated to companies controlled by PRINCE JEFRI BOLKIAH. The Sultan then asked the Bank of England to help track down an alleged 28 Billion British Pounds of state and family funds said to be "missing".

On the 02/10/1998 PRINCE JEFRI BOLKIAH flew from London in a private jet and was going to settle matters directly with SHEIK HAJI HASSAN AL BOLKIAH. PRINCE JEFRI drove straight to his seaside palace at Jerudong, about 10 miles south of the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan as he was due to meet with officials of the Amedeo Development Corporation and visit the sultan. After series of meetings, relations between the Royals appeared to deteriorate quickly. However, my father was arrested, his Bank Accounts and private properties including a crude oil export refinery & three large oil wells which were later confiscated by the sultanate.

During this unfortunate period i was advised to evacuate my immediate family outside the sultanate to avoid further prosecution from the sultan and his security operatives. Before I could do that I was placed under house arrest by SHEIK HAJI HASSANAL BOLKIAH. Before my arrest, I went ahead to dispatch the sum of USD$1.Billion in cash under special arrangement into the custody of different Offshore Banks and Private security and Trustee companies for safe keeping abroad. The money where split and kept in the following countries in this proportion: USD$500 Million is in different offshore Bank accounts while the rest are with Private Deposit & Trustee companies with:- USD$250 Million is in England, USD$ 30 Million is in Spain, USD$ 50 Million is in Arabia, USD$ 20 Million is in United Arab Emirate the balance USD$ 70 Million in Germany and USD$ 30 Million in Malaysia. All the funds in Asian countries are now confiscated by the government agencies based on the latest information I got though Internet, the USD$ 250 Million in England has also been freezed by United kingdom authorities, I am only left with the funds in Spain and Germany. I am unable to reach my friends & associates whom would have provided all the much needed moral and financial assistance I require to release the funds because my private/personal diary was seized by my uncle SHEIK HAJI HASSANAL BOLKIAH who also happens to be the Sultan of Brunei.I seek your good will & assistance to receive and invest these funds into profitable business investment in your country to facilitate future survival for me and my family abroad befote the authorities confiscate the remaining funds in Spain and Germany, I will give you further contact details of the said financial institutions as soon as I receive your mail of acceptance.

I am counting on your absolute transparency, honesty and confidentiality which this transaction deserves while looking forward to your prompt response, reply to my private email box for security reasons. (princehakeebolk@yahoo.com.my). I await your Urgent Reply.

Best Regards,

PRINCE HAKEEM F. BOLKIAH-
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM.
Wassalam!

Monday, September 11, 2006

Must Read: The Future of Small Business

Recently, Ken Evoy reviewed a book entitled "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More" by Chris Anderson, the Executive Editor of WIRED magazine.

What?

Ken Evoy's doing a book review and even interviewing the author?

Here's what Ken said:

I don't recommend books, never have. Well, I guess I have mentioned a book or two by Seth Godin, but nothing has impacted me as significantly as Chris Anderson's new book, "The Long Tail"...

Must be some groundbreaking book then, eh?

So, I did some research on the subject and here's what I found out:

Chris Anderson was acknowledged as the first person to coin the phrase "The Long Tail" through a 2004 article in Wired magazine to describe certain business and economic models such as Amazon.com or Netflix.

Long Tail is also the colloquial name for a long-known feature of statistical distributions (which I have the priviledge to get to know many many years ago while studying at Monash University, Australia).

The book is actually expanded from an earlier article and subsequently continued coverage of the subject on his The Long Tail Blog, where Anderson described the effects of the long tail on current and future business models.

So basically, The Long Tail is where the business world is headed.

And why Ken Evoy is so excited?

Because small business has a HUGE role "out there in the long tail." We can...

Figure out where you fit into the long tail and how to use it to grow/start your small business.

Now, that gets me excited...

Naturally, the single best way, by far, to execute "Long Tail Marketing" is with Site Build It!. Nothing comes close to providing your with both process and tools to become a Long Tail winner.

Read Ken's review of the book, and listen to the interview on Long Tail Marketing.

Together with the interview (i.e., in mp3 format), you will know how to capitalize upon THE major trend of this decade.

Click on the link below:

The Long Tail - Why It Is Important For Small Businesses

Friday, September 08, 2006

Health is wealth after a productive site-building week

This first week of September has so far been quite a productive week as far as my my SBI! site is concerned.

Added about 10 new web pages and also edited/amended/improved around 10 other existing web pages.

Even the homepage or the frontpage had been edited slightly to make it more SEO-friendly for the Search Engines.

The beauty of SBI! is that my Tropical Vacation Blog automatically gets updated each time I add a new web page or upload an edited one (see Site-Blogging).

I guess I managed to find some free time (not sure how much work is in store for me next week), and immediately follow Ken Evoy's sensible advice.

A much needed rest is in store for the weekend, which I normally put aside anything related to both office work and business.

It's normally a break to spent quality time with my family and just relax.

I do hope you can take a break too during the weekend instead of working too hard. One thing I learnt is "Health is Wealth".

If you are planning to work throughout the weekend in the hope of making more money, please do consider this advice seriously from someone who was almost "bed-ridden" for several months just less than three years ago.

You have no idea how invaluable good health is until you don't have the ability to find wealth anymore...

Have a great weekend ahead.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Dropped by Google - should I panic?

In recent months, my SBI! site search engine results placements (SERPs) at Google has plummeted out of the Top 30 - although placements at Yahoo! as well as MSN and Ask have been rather encouraging, especially at Yahoo! (i.e., eight no. 1 rankings for various keywords including my specific keyword).

Early this year, it had more than ten top 10 rankings at Google and appeared to rank much better/higher than the other SEs. Must be because of the dreaded "Google Dance".

Should I panic?

"Take a deep breath and don't panic" so said Ken Evoy.

In a recent newsletter for SBIers (i.e., SBI! Xpress), Ken Evoy said

"The key is to keep a balanced perspective...

Stay the course. Always remember that the engines WANT quality, relevant sites. If they drop good sites, their results ultimately suffer. So...

When a major drop (or total drop) occurs (as it will from time to time), at one engine or another, don't panic. Your site will be relisted.

Just keep building great content right through it."

Ken even recommended some of the action steps to take as follows:
  • Create more quality content.
  • Carefully examine your existing pages to rule out possible violations of the SE's quality guidelines (which is easier for SBIers as we can rely on SiteBuilder's Analyze It! module).
  • Find more in-pointing links.
  • Consult the FAQ for the Primary, Major Search Engines (i.e., Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Ask) for any the latest algorithm shake-up (SBIers can simply Use the Forums to stay abreast with developments in the Search Engine world).
  • Keep creating more quality content!
And some tips specially for SBiers as follows:
  • Review DAY 7 of the Action Guide.
  • Read a case study of a SBIer (He just add more content and "complete belief in the process" to get his traffic way back up, exceeding previous highs).
  • Mine the TNT HQ Traffic section.
Hope the above helps, especially for those who were delisted/dropped by the SEs, which can be a real gut-wrenching experience if a large portion of your traffic is coming from that Search Engine.

One last advice from Ken was "Focus on building, building, building. Do this and you will achieve the best results. And you will sleep much better, too!"

Hemmm, I guess I can sleep much better tonight then, with Site Build It! by my side.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Resource/Tool: SEOmoz Page Strength

SEOmoz offer a free web-based tool called Page Strength. Page Strength is a SEO metric which measures:
  • The Relative Importance/Visibility of a Webpage
  • The Potential Strength/Ability of a Page to Rank in the Search Engines
  • Data on Popularity, Links & Mentions of the Page Across the Web
It provides many SEO-related info but besides the usual ones (i.e., Google PR, etc.), there are also pertinent info such as links from domains with .edu and .gov TLDs, and even links from top authority sites such as del.icio.us and Wikipedia.

Check it out at the link below:

SEOmoz Page Strength

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Article on little known Linking Techniques

Just read an excellent article that provide great info on little known/used linking methods - nope, not link exchange, article marketing or even syndication (RSS/XML). Check out the article below, which I found so useful that I'd better share with you (it's very rare that I find a useful article nowadays) and also acts as a reference for me in the future. I hope that you will find it useful too:

Untapped Linking Tactics

by Kim Roach

Links are the pathways by which all information on the Internet is connected. Whether you are traveling your preferred search engine or your favorite website, your paths are directed by the links you come in contact with.

Because of this, links have become the lifeblood of the Internet. Major search engines like Google evaluate your incoming links to help determine your search engine positions.

However, a link is much more than just a ranking factor. A quality inbound link can bring your website a steady stream of targeted traffic and buyers.

In this article I will reveal the untapped methods of obtaining quality inbound links. We all know that reciprocal links are dead. Smart internet marketers also know about the power of article marketing and rss syndication. This article looks to explore beyond those techniques, unveiling linking tactics that are largely undiscovered.

Read on to find out about which links you can gain to build buzz, how to leverage the power of wikis, why everyone needs an affiliate program, and how to use the web 2.0 craze to garner hundreds of high quality inbound links.

We will begin our journey with editorial link opportunities.

The right links can generate massive buzz and word of mouth marketing. This type of marketing can occur from links like Yahoo Picks, Forbes Best of the Web, and USA Today Hot Sites. Get listed on the following sites and you've certainly got a winner.

Yahoo Picks of the Day/Week
Forbes Best of the Web
USA Today Web Guide/Hot Sites
NY Public Library Best of the Web
Exploratorium Ten Cool Sites
Librarians Internet Index
Reference Desk

Wikis

Wikis are some of the best sources for link building. With a bit of digging, you can find plenty of wiki pages with high link popularity and PageRank. Not to mention, many wikis rank well in the search engines. This is especially true for Wikipedia.

However, like everything, there is a wrong and right way to go about it. Many people try to spam wikis with hundreds of links. Because of this, there have been strict measures taken to find and eliminate these culprits.

To benefit from the Wiki community, you must be an active participant adding quality and relevant information to their collection of content. You must add value to a page. Once you have done this, you can then incorporate your link if it's a good fit.

However, don't just add information to pages that present linking opportunities. You should also be contributing to the wiki just for the sake of adding great content to the database. When appropriate, add quality links to articles, even links you do not control. Using this strategy, it is much more likely that you will be able to benefit from the many wikis available online.

To find potential linking opportunities, simply go to Google and type in %22your keywords%22 inurl:wiki. This will help you to find sites that have wikis related to your keywords. For example, if you are looking for wikis related to search engine marketing, you would type in %22search engine marketing%22 inurl:wiki.

For a comprehensive list of wikis you can start contributing to , go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wikis.

Library Sites

Ok. Are you ready for the MacDaddy of all links? You may be surprised to hear that some of the best links on the Web can only be obtained from public shool library Web sites. Yes I know, it's hard to believe that an unattractive school website that lives out in the .us or .org jungle would be of value to you. But in fact, these are some of the most trustworthy links you could ever hope to obtain.

Library web sites are some of the most trusted sources on the Internet and Google knows it. So, if you have an extremely valuable site that would prove a valuable resource to people around the world, then you should certainly get in contact with a librarian to suggest your site as an addition to their list of resources.

Below is a list of library sites to get you started:

Virginia Pubic Library Websites
Ohio Public Library Web Sites

Affiliate Links

Affiliate programs are one of the best ways to obtain thousands of inbound links to your site. With the right software, you can use an affiliate program to super charge your search engine rankings.

Using an affiliate program, you can get hundreds and even thousands of other people to promote your products with no risk on your part. Your affiliates send visitors to your web site using banner ads, text links, articles, and email promotions. For every visitor who decides to buy, you pay your affiliate a percentage of the sale.

The beauty of this system is that it allows you to create extra revenue without spending any additional advertising dollars. You can use affiliate marketing to explode your online sales and catapult your search engine rankings with no risk to you.

However, you have to make sure you have the right software to do this. Some affilate tracking software doesn't lend any link popularity back to your site.

Go to Assoctrac.com to find out about some very powerful affiliate software.

Press Releases

As I wrote about in a previous article, press releases enable you to tap into multiple news sites across the Internet, including Google News, Yahoo News, and MSNBC Searchbot.

In addition to attracting thousands of targeted visitors to your site, press releases can also create thousands of quality inbound links.

However, to realize the full potential of your press release campaign, you must take time to optimize your press release properly. Press releases should be optimized in much the same way that search engine optimization specialists optimize ordinary web pages to achieve higher rankings. By optimizing your press releases for the search engines, you will receive much higher visibility.

For example, one press release from MarketingExperiments.com resulted in 2,200 visitors and 5 interview requests by journalists. This is the power of a highly optimized press release.

Some of the best places to distribute your press release online include:

prweb.com
internet.com
businesswire.com
prnewswire.com
bacons.com
e-releases.com
prfree.com
pr.com
webwire.com
marketwire.com
24-7pressrelease.com
pressreleasenetwork.com
i-newswire.com

Start your own press campaign to begin creating invaluable buzz, attracting targeted visitors, and gaining thousands of inbound links.

Social Search Engines

With the growth of Web 2.0, social bookmarking services have become extremely popular this past year. However, these search engines are much more than simply a tool for searching and saving your favorite websites. These social communities can also drive massive amounts of traffic to your site and build brand awareness.

Popular submissions can expect to receive an onslaught of traffic. In addition, popular sites also receive an abundance of link love. These social search engines influence bloggers, publishers and journalists. On average, a website that is Dugg receives an average of 500 to a thousand new inbound links within a short period of time.

If you have a very informative site, your traffic may increase permanently after being Dugg. The key to succeeding with social search engines is to be a true contributor to the community. You must have quality content if you want to submit any of your links. Otherwise, you are simply wasting your time.

In addition, don't just submit your own links. Share the love and submit other sites that you feel would provide a great resource to the community.

Some of the best online social communities include:

Digg
del.icio.us
Furl
Shadows.com
MyWeb
StumbleUpon
PreFound
Technorati

In today's generation of web 2.0, publishers have been given multiple outlets for their work. It's time that we start taking advantage of the changes occurring in the online publishing world.

Podcast Syndication

Another publishing opportunity that is undergoing rapid growth online is podcasting. The Internet is changing. Broadband Internet connection is allowing millions of Internet users to start downloading podcasts on every imaginable topic, from search engine strategies to the adventures of parenting.

According to Forrester Research, podcasting will reach 12.3 million households by 2010. Unfortunately, many webmasters are not taking advantage of this amazing opportunity.

To begin marketing your own podcasts, submit them to the following directories:

PodcastingNews.com
MasterNewMedia.org

Integrating these new distribution models can vastly increase your exposure online.

New Forms of Article Syndication

Article syndication has become quite popular among internet marketers. It has enabled writers and website owners to gain hundreds of quality inbound links simply by syndicating their articles to article directories, article groups, related websites, and newsletter publications.

However, web 2.0 has transformed the publishing platforms that are available today. Because of this, there are now many more outlets for your articles and your valuable resource box. Fortunately for you, many online marketers have not spotted these opportunities so I advise you to jump on them quickly.

One of the most exciting new publishing platforms is Squidoo.

Squidoo was created by a revolutionary online thinker named Seth Godin. At Squidoo, you can create your very own lens, which is simply your view on a particular topic. This is a single web page that can point to blogs, favorite links, RSS feeds, Flickr photos, Google maps, eBay auctions, Amazon books and other resources.

Best of all, these lenses are getting traffic, credibility, and even showing up in top Google results. You can use a lens to increase the number of authoritative inbound links to your site, position yourself as an industry expert, announce the latest news within your niche, or promote your podcasts.

I've seen lenses ranging from a pagerank of 3 to 5. Below are some great examples:

FxBootcamp : PR4

Cool Laptop Bags : PR5

To start your own lens, go to Squidoo.com.

The last linking opportunity in this series taps into one of the largest sites on the Internet.

Craigslist

Craigslist was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark and serves billions of unique visitors each month. So, how can you use this to your benefit?

Classified ads can be very lucrative when used correctly. Since Craigslist is free, this is a great place to start with absolutely no risk.

Your presence within this massive site will increase your exposure and link popularity. Many of the ads also appear in Google and Yahoo. This is especially true for those who optimize their ad properly.

I would highly suggest that you incorporate CraigsList into your overall business plan. You can begin placing your own ads at CraigsList.

Now that you know about many of these untapped linking techniques, I urge you to begin your own campaign. Just remember, if you're not distributing quality content, you are simply wasting your time. The first step is to become an authoritative site. After that, you will find that links come quite naturally. In fact, many of them will come without ever asking for them.

------------------------------------------------------
About This Author
Kim Roach is a staff writer and editor for the SiteProNews & SEO-News newsletters. You can contact Kim at kim@seo-news.com
------------------------------------------------------

Monday, September 04, 2006

Site-Blogging vs Full-Blogging

I'm sure most netrepreneurs have all heard about the effectiveness of blogging as a marketing strategy.

Just in case you did not know, some of the benefits of blogging includes:

* Low-Cost Alternative to Having a Web Presence

* Easy and Faster Web Publishing Solution

* Higher Search Engine Rankings

* Opportunity to Build Community

* Better Solution for Notification than Website/Email (i.e., RSS)

At present, most blog software or web-based blog providers (i.e., blogger.com, wordpress.com, etc.) focuses mostly on full-blogging.

For site-blogging, what it means is that it rotates its newest pages chronologically, newest or most recently modified to the top of your blog. For example, when you add a new web page to your site, your blog will be automatically updated (with a "permalink" pointing to your new web page).

In this manner, site-blogging gives you improved and faster coverage for getting your pages spidered and indexed by the Search Engines as compared to full-blogging.

Essentially, site-blogging offers an extra ancillary to boost the benefits of blogging. It adds more value to a traditional blog.

Site Build It! is one of the firsts to offer a site-blogging function (in addition to full-blogging) because it understands the overall values in blogging and hence, the opportunity for SBIers to tap into its immense potential.

Check out my SBI! Borneo Blog - it looks similar to any blog where I can add a message anytime I need to, but..., SBI! also automatically updates the blog everytime I add a new web page or amend an existing one (if I specify it).

Another WIN-WIN-WIN scenario!

Friday, September 01, 2006

SBI! Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho $100 Special


For details, please click on the following link...

Site Build It! $100 Special