Jane May Blogs

Today, I continue my series of what webmasters should do on their first week of having their web site, you can see the summary here: Learn to Blog and Earn Money: Week 1.  Two weeks ago, I left you with what you should do on the first Monday having your blog.  You can review that post here with Learn to Blog and Earn Money: Monday.

Today’s post will cover Meta tags.  There has been much discrepancy as to the importance of using Meta tags.  The reason this is my number two thing to do when starting a web site or blog is because Meta tags are one of those things that are a lot easier to do when creating something from scratch.  They don’t hurt right? They do help and help in a monetizing way.  I have implemented them on a site or two.  I did so only when creating a new site or blog.  

There are so many other things you can do to better optimize your site that take a lot less time.  Things such as including title and heading tags and great content can be a better use of time if you already have a site created.  Having to go through an already existing site to include these tags would be tedious.  If you have an existing blog, I wouldn’t go through the trouble of inserting these tags, focus on the headings. 

A major reason I like to use these tags is because they tend to have an impact on my adsense and the ads that are being shown.  Anytime I can focus those ads translates to more adsense revenues.  This can be a major factor in turning daily totals from $100 into $300 with adsense.

Meta Description Tag

Meta description tags are not visible for the world to see.  Well, at least they are not supposed to be.  Sometimes web sites leave the tag out of their code.  Why can this be a bad thing? Well, search engines usually display snippets from your site in their listings.

Here are some possible scenarios in which your Meta description tag might be displayed instead:

1. If you have a Flash or graphics only site, or maybe even if you have the only content on your site being a redirect to another page.
2. When off-page factors make your site a relevant match for a search but no exact match is found in your site’s text
3. In less-sophisticated search engines that use the description tag as a workaround for their inability to display snippets

Search engines often display 150 characters or more for the listing description.  That’s kind of a lot of space.  Well, a lot of space relative to the page title that is.  That space is prime real estate to convey your message. So, if good writing comes naturally to you, you have a lot of opportunity to make this tag stand out. But if writing isn’t your strong suit, this tag gives you a little more room to make mistakes. Bring in a proofreader if you need to; this is a bad spot for an embarrassing typo. 

I’ve recently taken a tour around my community on MyBlogLog and there are a good 50% of blogs in my community that have some sort of grammatical errors in key places.  I usually cut and paste my content into a word document to catch any minor grammar errors I might have missed.

Here are some pointers for writing a great Meta description tag:

Keep it simple and informative. Think of the Meta description tag as an “About Us” blurb, not a “Buy Now!” advertisement. Do you have a 30 second elevator speech you have prepared for those key moments when you are next to a high profile executive and you want to network?  Well, this is similar, think of it as your keyword-rich elevator speech.  It’s not worth the upkeep to write this tag to promote special events or deals.

Pair it with the page title. While you can’t be sure exactly when or how people will see your Meta description tag, it’s a sure bet that when it is shown, it will be right under your optimized page title. So, don’t repeat your title text in your description tag.

Include your keywords. While the Meta description tag may not be a huge factor in influencing rank, include your target keywords because they’ll be bolded in the search results. Notice how the bolding catches your eye in these pointers.

Make it Unique. Like your page title, your Meta description tag should be custom-written for each landing page to match its specific content.

Here’s some good news if you’re interested in saving time: The combination of page title and Meta description tag can be used as is, or with a little trimming or spinning, for any directories that you submit your site to later. And, if you’re looking for a keyword-rich tagline to add to the bottom of your page, your Meta description tag can be a great starting point. 

Does anyone want to work at Google? Take a look at a recent 3 minute Oprah clip where she tours the GooglePlex. Quote of the day - Google is ”the next best thing to probably not working at all.”

The short time that I have been blogging on my personal blog has been well received.  I’ve gotten many people interacting, asking questions, and being engaged on this blog.  Where are these people coming from?  The answer is many places.  One place that has been sending me traffic is MyBlogLog.  Despite what people’s perceptions are of the web site, it’s been a place where I’ve found great blogs and great opportunities to network.  At least once a week I try to make it around to the blogs that are in my MyBlogLog community to see what’s new and exciting. 

Today, I decided to write about one blog in my MyBlogLog community.  It’s not someone that’s in the headlines every day, nor is it someone that is making a fortune online.  Quite the opposite actually and he claims it himself:

First thing’s first, I’m not the most experienced person on the net. Actually, I’ve had very minimal success on the internet. Which, is why I’ve started this latest venture of trying to maintain a blog, that at least is worth something. 

This blog is fairly new and authored by Randall Cornett, a 17 year old aspiring blogger.  His site is RandLife and it’s about affiliate marketing, technology, SEO, web development, blogging techniques and his personal ramblings.  His latest post is about his trip to Vegas…what does a 17 year old do in Vegas?  Well, he does what any blogger would do, takes pictures and puts them on his blog. 

Why am I writing about Randall?  The major reason is because everyone writes about the Problogger’s, Shoemoney’s and the Chow’s of the world; but who writes about the aspiring blogger?  The blogger who is putting much of his or her time into writing unique content after a long day at work or school.  The blogger doing this day in and day out in hopes of becoming one day a blogging mogul like the ones mentioned above.    Well, I guess I am.

Things I like about RandLife:

1. He posts almost daily (I respect hard work and posting regularly is just that)
2. The site is visual (He includes images, videos, and photos which makes a post easier to read and follow)
3. Unique Information (He writes using his own thoughts which is refreshing)
4. He holds contests (He has a $50 contest right now which I am entering)

If you have a minute, pay him a visit and tell him I sent you :-)  I’m sure he can use a few people saying hi over there.  Also, if you haven’t yet, be sure to join my MyBlogLog community and have a chance at being that person I decide to help out next ;-)

I’d like to give a big thank you to all the top commentators who have helped contribute valuable inspiration over the last month!

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The Benefits Of Being A Top Commentator

If a blog you read offers a top commentator section it is usually a good idea to get on their top 10 list. Assuming the blog uses the Top Commentator plugin that everyone seems to have these days, it comes with the “follow” tag which is great for your search engine rankings. Although the amount of click throughs you receive is usually not as good as a text link advertising spot, it is a very good free method of SEO and still gets you exposure. People are generally curious to see the blogs / web sites of frequent commentators. I know I am

I know the value that ReviewMe reviews can bring to a blog from my main web site, so I went to register Jane May Blogs this morning but forgot about the 3 month minimum. I have to wait another 2 months before I can have sites search for me and ask for Reviews. Until then, I would like to offer my readers direct reviews. There are a number of reasons to pay for reviews.

1. Targeted traffic to your web site. 
2. Multiple backlinks with any anchor text you choose.
3. More Search Engine results for your web site.
4. A positive review can work wonders for you and your business.
5. People love reading reviews about other sites because they tend to associate a review with being objective.

How Much Traffic Does This Site Get?

This blog is 1 month old and I am very pleased with the excellent growth it has experienced. The site receives 700+ uniques daily and has over a 2 to 1 ratio of pageviews to uniques. RSS readership is at 314 and increases each day. If this site was on ReviewMe today, the cost of a review would probably be $100. 

For the next 2 months (until I get into ReviewMe), I will be offering reviews for $50. Please contact me if you are interested.

Yesterday’s How To Find A Profitable Niche got me thinking again about how I can demonstrate to you in a real world example of what will make you money today! I don’t want to give you theory about how to make money from your web site, I want to tell you how it can actually be done right now. So here’s a method I’ve used recently with a lot of success, just not with this particular topic. I am sure this can make money if done right now.

A search on Technorati shows that Paris Hilton is still in the top 10 searches today:

Now that we know people love searching for Paris, lets think of some ways to monetize a niche site based on this. Adsense with some affiliates sprinkled in is an easy way to go.

Find Long-Tail Keywords

It’s time to find some keywords. A great free tool is the Overture Keyword Tool.  When I type in “Paris Hilton”, a ton of results come up (over 1.6 million searches for paris hilton last month alone). We prefer long tail keywords (3+ words), so find the top 5 long tail keywords and write them down. They are: “paris hilton and britney spears”, “paris hilton photo”, “paris hilton video”, etc. (Note: I left out the sexual keywords but you can use those too if you so choose ).  Now create the content for your page and be sure to include the top 5 long tail keywords you found.

Why Should People Go To Your Site?

This is going to be the key to attracting people to your site - you need to give them something for free! Ready?

There are thousands of free programs available for download on the web. Download.com is one of my favorites. Type in Paris Hilton and see what comes up:

Tons of stuff comes up - great! Find the most appealing free download product and offer it for free on your web site! This is what will appeal to the thousands of people who are interested in Paris and come to your site.

Lastly, blend and insert your adsense ads very well and this is a money maker. You can take an extra step and sprinkle in ringtone and dating affiliate offers through banners on the site. The research for such a site took me 20 minutes and if I use an existing template I own it would take another 2 hours to create the site. Then 30 minutes to insert and blend the ads. Within 3 hours you can have the site up and running and making money!

I have not seen this money making method exposed on other blogs and you’d probably have to buy one of those $197 get rich quick scam ebooks to get an idea like this, so take advantage of it and find a creative way to implement it. I’m not saying you have to do this with the Paris Hilton example I gave (I’d actually prefer you not use Paris because there are better money makers out there), but there are thousands of other ways to take this idea and make money with it. Good luck and if you do use it to make money, come back and let us know how it’s doing

• If you enjoy reading posts like this, please sign up for my RSS feed here, and free Newsletter on the sidebar.

Digg This Post

Profitable and popular niches are easy to find as long as you know where to look. If you want to develop a site that you can enjoy writing for and make good money at the same time, then you should look at the sites mentioned below. I use many of these free resources when doing research. Keep in mind that making money from your web site takes research but these tools help save you a lot of time.

Ebay Pulse

Ebay is the worlds largest marketplace so why wouldn’t you go there to find what people are searching for? Here is a link that you must bookmark:

• pulse.ebay.com

I checked ebay pulse a couple of months ago and saw a new children’s toy called Webkinz in the top 10 searches. I had no idea what Webkinz were so I did a little more research. I still have no idea why they are so popular right now, but they really are. Some things just catch on and others don’t :) Anyways, I checked ebay pulse again today and Webkinz is the #1 searched for item on all of ebay. This could be a ground floor opportunity for someone to start a kids toy site or a toy review site and feature Webkinz. Find an affiliate to sell Webkinz so you can profit from your writing, and if you SEO your site properly you might even start popping up in search engines over time. You can also go the pay per click route and use adwords to drive traffic.

Google News - Fresh Off The Press

The day a big news story hits, there are hundreds of thousands of Google searches for that story. If your blog is geared toward bringing current events to people, be sure to write about the event right away. You can get a lot of targeted traffic from searchers this way. To get news as soon as it hits - you can sign up for Google Alerts and they’ll email you the top stories as soon as they hit.

Technorati

Every blogger should be aware of Technorati so I’ll keep it short. On Technorati’s home page (top, left sidebar) you can see the top 10 most popular searches at any given time. Paris Hilton and Myspace always tend to be on this list. Alexa has a similar what’s hot feature.

Top 100s

This is a great area for affiliate sales. Find the most popular or top 100 items in different categories.

Billboard.com - Top 100 / most popular current songs. Great for ringtone offers, surveys, online dating.

IMDB - Top 100 movies of all time. Great for movie review sites, Amazon affiliate sales, eBay affiliates, DVD rental sites.

Alexa - Top 100 web sites. 

Amazon - Top selling books.

IGN - Top 100 video games of all time.

With some creativity, you can easily incorporate top 100 lists into your web site or the keywords you target.

Monetizing Popular Items

There is usually only a certain amount of time you have to monetize what is popular today; nothing stays popular forever. The good news is once you build a template for your site (or learn to use wordpress), you can reproduce your prior successes over and over by using the same template. You’ll need a host company that will allow you to host multiple domains on the same host account for one monthly fee. Host Monster is a great option for unlimited domain hosting and a low monthly fee ($5.95/month).

• Be sure to sign up for my free newsletter on the sidebar for more valuable info on making money with your web site.

I enjoy listening to what my readers say; I enjoy reading about the projects you have going on; and I enjoy telling you about my experiences if they help you guys make money. I have had a poll on this site for the last week and a half (side note: it has been sitting below the fold which is a bad place to have something that you want your readers to notice ) which asked what you were interested in learning most.

The majority of you (60%) want me to focus on “Monetizing Your Blog”, 2nd most votes (19%) was “Creating Your Own Blog”, and a close 3rd (15%) was “Affiliate Marketing and Sales”.

A great business motto is “Ask and You Shall Receive“. I enjoy writing about monetizing blogs and since that is what you asked for, this is perfect! As I mentioned before I will be conducting several case studies involving everything I write about. 

These case studies will include:

• Starting a blog from nothing and growing it to see how much it can make per day in a very short period of time.
• An affiliate sales project.
• A Pay-per-click project.

We are all here to help each other make money and these are 3 strategies I can help people with. I am also happy to announce that I have been working on a small project with a very smart affiliate marketer named Max who will guest blog a few posts sharing his money making strategies. His monthly income from affiliate market well exceeds mine; and I will also bring you, Nohel, an expert friend of mine who specializes in building online and offline marketing campaigns. Nohel is a great multi-tasker and will be very helpful in assisting in the case studies we will write about.

I will write a post about my new case study idea very soon.

• Please sign up for my free newsletter on the sidebar to get valuable email updates not always found on my site about making money with your blog :) 

Whether you are selling a service to your readers, selling products or just marketing your blog you have to decide between leading with benefits or features. This is a key distinction that most people do not think about and end up using the wrong choice. Most people display the features of what they are promoting. In most cases, this is not the best way to get sales or grab readers’ attention.

Use Benefits

It is natural for us as humans to care about the immediate benefits we can get from making a purchase or reading someone’s blog. We like catchy headlines or bold words like: “Land a job today” or “Lose 30 lbs in 30 days” These are examples of benefits. Examples of features are: “We list 500 job ads for you to search” or “We provide a diet plan”.

Why Do People Use Features?

When we think about how to market our service, product or web site we think in terms of what value are WE providing to our customer. Naturally, this causes us to write about the features WE are giving YOU. Instead you should grab peoples’ attention by putting yourself in your customer’s shoes and think “Why would they buy my product?” The answer always comes back to - They want to benefit from buying your product or reading your blog. This makes your job simple - show your customers the benefits.

This simple distinction between showing customers benefits over features can be the difference between thousands of dollars in sales and thousands of more readers.

Our review for a free backlink from a PageRank 6 site has been going extremely well and I have really enjoyed reading all your reviews. We have our 4th Round of reviews complete and are half way through Round 5. If you would like to participate and increase your web site’s Search Engine Rankings, you may still do so. Just email us with a link to your review when you are done.

New Jane May Advertisers

I would like to thank our two new sponsors on this web site. They have both purchased side bar text links and their sites are My Eg Inc and Fun Game Videos. If the owners of these sites would like to give a very brief description of their web websites, please do so in the comments of this post.

Advertise With Jane May

If you would like to place a side bar text link on this web site, please contact me. The alexa ranking for this site has been between 25,000 and 40,000 every day since it’s launch about 1 month ago. Thanks to all my readers for your helpful and inspirational comments on each post!