Trevor's Travels

Ask this question of any SEO expert and they will tell you “fresh content” and “backlinks”, other than Google took over Blogger. The last one is the favorite as no one can argue with that.

Search engines like fresh content as it is valuable for their users, and links show that other sites or blogs (and not just your own website) think that the information on your website is useful to their readers.

A blog can be an individual’s viewpoint, a life journal, a school girl’s diary, a poet’s space, an artist’s expression, or just about sharing your moments with family and friends. One can share information, pictures and even videos with no previous knowledge of designing and programming.

Companies use blogs to promote their latest products, introduce new services, announce upcoming events, share event pictures and videos, announce special offers/discounts, run opinion polls, introduce new team members, special announcements, build loyalty, and invite their customers to leave comments and give testimonials.

Bloggers believe that blogs are being taken more seriously as information sources. One in five bloggers don’t think that newspapers will survive the next ten years. Half believe that blogs will be a primary source for news and entertainment in the next five years.

Bloggers are most open to receiving marketing messages from other blogs. Even non-blog web content is more influential among this group than traditional media sources for brand information.

Home businesses and young entrepreneurs use blogs to increase awareness and attract traffic to their online business, new ventures, and daring expeditions into the unknown.

Professionals use blogs to brand themselves, create awareness and credibility, make money (yes that’s possible), and share their knowledge and experiences.

Housewives use blogs to share cooking tips and recipes, their children’s growing moments, travel log of the last trip, and shopping expeditions.

We SEO experts use blogs for achieving higher rankings for specific keywords. Unbelievable, and yet in many instances my blog link appears higher on search engines results page than pages that I optimize personally for the same keyword.

Getting started with blogging is relatively easy. You can sign up with blogger.com or other such blogging platforms.

If you don’t own a domain name for your blog, no worries, you can start with a free subdomain with Blogger.

Lets look into some interesting statistics on blogs.

The numbers vary but agree that blogs are here to stay!

comScore MediaMetrix (August 2008)

- Blogs: 77.7 million unique visitors in the US

- Facebook: 41.0 million | MySpace 75.1 million

- Total internet audience 188.9 million

eMarketer (May 2008)

- 94.1 million US blog readers in 2007 (50% of Internet users)

- 22.6 million US bloggers in 2007 (12%)

Universal McCann (March 2008)

- 184 million WW have started a blog | 26.4 US

- 346 million WW read blogs | 60.3 US

- 77% of active Internet users read blogs

Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008 Report is now available. For a detailed report go to technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/

The report states that Brands make up a major part of bloggers’ online conversations. More than four in five bloggers post product or brand reviews, and blog about brands they love or hate. Even day-to-day experiences with customer care or in a retail store are fodder for blog posts. Companies are already reaching out to bloggers: one-third of bloggers have been approached to be brand advocates. (ref Technorati 2008 Report)

But wait, that’s not all. The report also states that Blogs are an increasingly attractive platform for advertisers. The majority of bloggers we surveyed have advertising on their blogs. Marketers realize that bloggers are creating high quality content and attracting growing, loyal audiences. So there is potential for profit from blogging. (ref Technorati 2008 Report)

Well you are convinced, and you start writing periodically, uploading photographs and videos and have shared your blog link with many friends, but a few months down a nagging worry start to hit you (this is for those who don’t track their readers using tracking software’s like Google Analytics) that you are writing for “you” alone and your mum who thinks “my son is the best”.

While there is nothing wrong with writing, just for the pleasure of writing, I am sure you all want to reach out and touch someone else with all your hard work. The real challenge is to get your target audience to read your blog whether its family, friends, colleagues, or readers around the world who would be interested in what you are writing about.

Trust me even friends will betray you if what you write does not make them want to come back, so pay close attention to the questions below and answer them as honestly as you can.

-What would make your blog special to your audience?

-Why would they want to bookmark your blog?

-Why would they want to link to it and tell others?

-What is my ultimate goal for this blog?

While the first 3 questions require you to dig down deep inside your minds and hearts, the last question is most critical. What do you ultimately want out all the hard work, late nights and coffee cups invested into your blog?

Well, whether your blog is for the purpose of sharing knowledge, gaining credibility, increasing visibility and rankings, building customer loyalty, sharing information, making money, or assisting our fellow men in the journey of life, the bottom line remains search engines love blogs, and so should you.

So keep writing!

http://www.seo-optimization-experts.com/seoblog.html

Are you one among those who never stops looking for a new adventure? Or do you consider yourself as one who cannot close you eyes without watching the beauty of the natural world?

How about watching wildlife? It is always good to see wild creatures in their natural habitat, rather than seeing them in the zoos or on the TV. Do you think it is an exiting experience for a weekend vacation getaway?

Wildlife consists of organisms, non-domesticated plants, animals and it is available all over the world.

It may be in plains, ecosystems, deserts and other places too. This experience surely will be full of fun.

The United States national parks are the best place for an exiting trip in the northwest. Experience the wonders of Mother Nature now and get off the couch and touch a lizard!

If you are planning to view animals in their natural setting, then best places are in the below list:

Denali National Park – It consists of features like the magnificent 20,320 feet tall Mount McKinley, one of jaw dropping beauties of Alaska. You can also enjoy variety of thrilling tours, activities, dining and lodging. You can also choose from hundreds of hotels, chalet rooms, lodges and inns outside the park.

Camping is a great pleasure with its five wide camp grounds. Entry is restricted to some areas because of the presence of wolves and bears. This is the reason why it is called wildlife, and many more wild animals are in this area. There is nothing to worry, as they take care of visitors and camp goers during their stay.

Ways to get there: There are many ways to go to the park. You can drive yourself, or use the Alaska railroad or even you can take the bus. Bus services are admired for independent travelers and the fares vary considerably. Trains are also fun with great views across bridges and the central Alaskan marshes.

Yellowstone National Park – Another place to observe wildlife would surely be Yellowstone National Park. It is also considered America’s first national park, located in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. It was established in 1872 as a residence for various kinds of grizzly bears, wolves, elk and bison.

Have you seen a geyser ever before? If no, you should never miss his opportunity, as it is a lifetime experience of visiting old faithful, this is the most popular geyser in the world. There are several hundreds of other hot geysers and hot springs around. You can even go camping, hiking, fishing and watch films and visit several exhibits. You have to be prepared for changing temperatures as well depending on the season you chose to travel during.

Klamath Basin – It is known for its diverse habitats and also for its vast range of bird life.

Bird lover’s paradise is the other name given to Klamath Basin, located in the State of Oregon and California. Take pleasure in bird watching and taking pictures of the beautiful picturesque area. Make some leisure time and visit this region which offers a number of activities for its visitors and guests.

Enjoy the exiting and enjoyable wildlife experience. Visit these wildlife adventures and become astonished by the beauty in Gods creation.

Yes you can. In the past, blogs were only used by people to record their daily stories and happenings in the virtual world for others to read, but with the internet’s propensity to be attracted to fresh content, blogs have taken an online business turn for the better.

Now, more and more people are making profit from cyberspace with the use of their blogs and the concept is quite simple. Fresh content is something that the internet likes a lot, and when you have a situation where you are updating your blog on a daily basis, you get ranked on Google, depending on the amount of keywords that you have on your blog.

For example, if you were to be writing a travel blog, then inadvertently, there would be some similar keywords that appear in your blog that would coincide with people all over the world searching for tips on how to get the best travel deals or find out more about the countries they want to go to.

This is the critical element of the online home business that uses blogging as a platform, and when traffic is driven to your blog, you have the unique position of profiting from this very fact.

When there is volume going to the blog, there is potential to make money from them. The interesting thing about this is that you have just found a way, inadvertently, to get a targeted list of people interested in a certain industry to your blog. This is where you can then make recommendations to services online.

Whether it is Google Adsense, affiliate links or even direct selling, you have the basic elements for your online home business. This is how things work. But of course, you need to know how to start a blog that is designed to make money and the internet is rife with blogging tips from commercial companies or websites that can help you do this.

There is an art to making your blog into one that earns you money. Substantial amount of research will have to be done but more importantly, you also need to enjoy yourself in the process. Blogs are supposed to be fun, and the more personal and the more fun they seem, the better your gravity. Gravity in digital marketing terms is just how attractive your blog is to your target audience.

In the end of the day, a blog is a blog. People were making money from blogs a long time before the realisation that it had the potential to be enhanced in marketing and fiscal terms. Blogging is one of the ways that you can start up your own online business, and it is time you think about capitalising on the internet and content production as a means to open up a revenue stream for yourself. Writing blogs for money? It is surely a reality in this digital day and age.