Days 3 & 4 – Finding Sources for Content Ideas!
I know someone will say it… so let me just get this out of the way. Yes, I skipped Day 3! The reason I skipped it is because it was a Sunday and I will not let my work tie me down to a PC on Sundays! Work to Live… not the other way around.
Today, I need to spend a bit of time on 2 specific things… Finding related blogs and forums with the same target audience of my own, and getting this new site listed in some of the blog networks on the web. One task will be used daily and the other will only be used once to help gain exposure on the site.
Adding your Site to BlogCatalog
Adding your site to the BlogCatalog blog directoryis an important step in gaining exposure. While your link will not be followed by search engines, BlogCatalog is a highly travelled site and you WILL get link visitors from it! One additional very important thing you get from BlogCatalog, is a list of other sites in your own niche!
First to do of the day… Add your Site to Blog Catalog!
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Go to BlogCatalog
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Using the search box, type in one or two words about your broad niche and when the list is returned, click the Directory link, above the top-center search box.
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Click on a few of the listed blog links, to get an idea of which section of the directory to submit your site
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Go to the “Submit your Blog” link in the upper right corner, complete the form and submit your blog!
After you have submit your site, make sure you use one of the Blog Catalog widgets to display on your site. This is done for both verification AND to help you gain exposure to the site! As you can see on the DIY Reviews site, I placed a badge in the right side footer.
Browsing the Blog Catalog for Post Ideas
If you just can’t find a topic to write about today, browse other blogs in your niche and see what readers of their blogs may be asking about! After you write your own content post, make sure you revisit their blogs and leave comments based on their OWN topics – DON’T spam the blog, actually get into the discussion with the people… this has the highest return on your time and you will find people visiting your site.
In my case, its that time of year where winter is coming to the south and people have to put on Pool Covers and winterize the outside of their home. Since today is Monday and I have a full week of posts in front of me… I am going to go into my wordpress administration and scratch out 5 posts titles based on getting ready for the winter season. I started this last week with a post about Home insulation made easy.
Where else do you list your site other than BlogCatalog?
Previously Published Articles You May Like to Read:
- Days 8 and 9 – Finding Blogs to Comment and Join Discussions!
- Ideas for Post Content are Just a Spin Away!
- Days 15-16 – Write Content for your Readers – Not Your Wallet!
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I have been doing my part to "Build the Internet" since 1994, when I built my first website! Since then, I have built hundreds of niche websites for myself and many others, focused on design, applications, ecommerce, search optimization and internet marketing.
There is a whole list that Robin Good has given here:
http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/index.html
I bookmarked at SocialMarker.com through its All in one button; but unlike OnlyWire.com it never asked me about joining the 50 sites that it submits to and finalized my job.
Should it have asked me to join those 50 sites?
Great post. I have slowly been adding WP to my BANS sites and trying to write content. I am still confused on how to post a comment on someones blog to help get traffic to mine without sounding spamy. Could you possibly elaborate more on the topic. A sample would be awesome.
Thanks
@John
Basically just give an hosnest comment on the post. Have a look at how I have set up my comment here. My name contains my website name, and most blogs let you add a link to your website in the comment form. this is the link that gets attached to your comment name.
So you see my name is “Chris – BlogToyBox.com”, and where it asks for my website I put in “http://www.blogtoybox.com”.
As long as your comments relate back to the posts, and contribute to the discussion and are not going VISIT MY SITE FOR STUFF, then it is a good comment.
Hopefully like this one! :-)
@ GB –
I have not used the Socialmarker site… I will make a point to go to it tonight though!
@ John –
Exactly what Chris just said!
Your comment itself, is a GREAT example of participating in a topic-relevant discussion. Now, you just need to change your name from John to “Soccer Gear” or “John from Soccer Gear”.
Once you get that part going…. head on out to some soccer blogs, and join in the discussions!
@ Chris –
How long before the ToyBox opens? I saw several indexed posts in the serp’s, but all lead back to the main page! :-(
Mark
Mark,
how do you add the widget to your site?
@ Bob -
After you have submitted to BlogCatalog, the will supply the code you need to use in a sidebar text widget.
After you have it:
Login to WP > Design > Sidebar Widgets > Choose the sidebar > Add Text Widget.
Paste the code into the text widget box… and click on save.
Mark
I use SocialMarker and usually submit to Digg, Stumble Upon, delicious, furl, and technorati.
I also manually submit to MyBlogLog, Blog Catalog, and Top Blog Area
Mark, have you tried adding more pings to your ping list in the writing section of the wordpress admin? Also, do you know anything about being banned from pinging too much from the way wordpress is setup initially, i know it will ping with every modification as well as posts. thanks!
Dan
Mark-
A loosely related question. I still struggle to do things like add a widget, I’m still a novice at html.
Remember the Firebug pluggin in Firebox you showed us about a month ago? Its pretty much the only way I know to find where to edit code. My question is, the ‘console’ panel in the bottom shows you all kinds of info about the code, except the ‘file’ that the code is in. I usually have search all kinds of files to find the code.
Sorry for the rookie question, but is there a way with Firebug to tell what file some code you are looking at exists?
thanks.
@ Dan -
I use the feedburner pingshot service (Free) and they shoot it out automatically through the feed.
@ Glenn –
I only use firebug for the css aspect…. which it shows on the right side. I dont use it for the file part, but WP really runs off very few files in the theme folder.
header, footer and the sidebar files are usually common to every page on the WP site. Meaning, they are used on all… index, single and page (All of these end in php) are the three main files that assist in layout.
I know its not much of an answer… but its a HUGE answer required! If you want to shoot me the area your trying to change, I may be able to help.
Mark
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