Earn money with your blog selling links

A good way to monetize our website when we have little traffic but a pagerank interesting, is to sell links.

Although this practice is frowned upon by Google is hard to detect if done with care.

While it is possible to deal with personally sell links, offer to sell links on the same page where they will be included is dangerous. So there are companies dedicated to broker between buyers and sellers of links.

The two best in my opinion are Text Link Ads and Telia.

Text Link Ads is dedicated exclusively to buying and selling of links in different ways, and have the best market prices.

Telia also has good prices, and besides offering marketplace for backlinks, also offers SEO Ranking Analyses, Link Building, and Ranking Check.

Directories to Avoid

If you frequent webmaster forums, I'm sure you've seen the numerous new directory announcements - seems there's more and more new directories being launched every day.

We're all looking to get the most from our directory submissions, so which directories should you submit to and which directories should you avoid? Here's a few tips to help you pick the best of the new directories.

Most of the directories are using a free script - not a problem, it's not the script. The majority of the directories are using a free template as well. What I don't like is the category dump that's used over and over again - So many directories have the same structure and duplicate many of the listings as the directory owners promote these hyperlink dumps in the same places time and time again. They get the same sites submitted by the same webmasters. No unique content.

What I find hilarious is the prices they think they can charge for inclusion. here's and example:

Domain name registration date: September 9, 2006

Script: PHPLD Free version

Template: Free

Logo: None - default template logo.

Category Structure: Free dump.

Tag line/description: High quality paid web directory.

Pricing:

Regular Link w/Reciprocal: $19.95

Regular Link: $24.95

Featured Link: $49.95

Total Listings: 2 - appears to be added by owner.

Promotion:

The above is a prime example of the type of directory you should avoid - even if it were free.

Directory Saturation

Seems that the popular trend right now is owning a general or niche Internet web directory. There are free directory scripts and a variety of templates available, so all that you really need is a domain name and some cheap hosting to give it a go.

You have to wonder about the shelf life of these directories, as it's easy to get the impression that most are started to generate some quick revenue from the initial rush of submissions by offering cheap "Featured" listings.

Once the initial rush is over, and webmasters looking to promote anything and everything have moved on the the next directory launch, the owners rarely spend any time on promotion. It's easier to repeat the process over again with another domain name to collect a few quick bucks before abandoning the project or offering it for sale based on short the term income. Ask some of the directory owners how many directories they own - you're in for a surprise.

Not many webmasters or directory owners appear to be in it for the long term, so it leaves me to wonder if it's really a waste of time submitting to the never ending string of general web directories.

Ever look at the domain name registration length before paying for a "Lifetime" listing? You'll be lucky to find more than a handful registered for a period longer than one year.

Consider checking the search engines for a cached version of the directory, many are not even indexed in the major search engines and with the lack of promotion, it's likely to remain that way. There's no value in having a listing in a directory that no one will ever see.

How many pages are indexed? Are the pages listed as a Supplemental Result? It's long been thought that Google gives little value to having a link on a page within their Supplemental Index. You have to wonder if this is true, considering the page doesn't qualify for the regular index and will likely not be seen unless it's returned for some obscure long-tail search term that the regular index has few results for.

Don't get me wrong, there are webmasters that operate multiple directories with good intent. Kudos to you that do.

Google and Adobe

Adobe and Google team up for Toolbar

Adobe recently announced a new multi-year deal to bundle the Google Toolbar with it's Macromedia Shockwave Player downloads and various other Adobe products over the life of the deal.

There have been over 200 million downloads to date, and it's estimated that Macromedia Shockwave Player is installed on 55% of internet enabled desk top computers.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Choosing a Domain Name

What's in a name? What should you consider when choosing a domain name? Here's some suggestions to keep in mind when you decide it's time to try and establish your internet identity.

1. Length - Even though it's possible to register a domain name with an excess of 60 characters, you should consider that the longer the name, the more difficult it will probably be to remember. Memorable names are also easier to type into your browser's address bar.

There was a time when it was best to keep the length to 7 or 8 characters, but getting a short and meaningful domain name today is increasingly difficult. You should always avoid using trademarked names to avoid any future disputes.

2. Extensions - Which extension should you use? The oldest and most recognized extension is .com, followed by .net, .org and .info. The use of .com can give the impression that you've been around for a bit.

It can be prudent to register all of the available TLDs so that no one else can register it. With the minimal cost of registering domain names, it's a good investment to protect your name.

Country specific extensions may make sense if you're be targeting or doing business in a specific country. Your potential customers in Great Britain may not order a products from a .com site and look for a .co.uk (UK) domain instead.

3. Hyphens - With many domain names no longer available, it's a consideration. One disadvantage of hyphens is that it's easy to forget the hyphen when typing the domain name and could end up at an altogether different web site that you intended. Using a hyphen also increases the difficulty when using the domain name verbally.

One advantage is that search engines can distinguish the individual words better, and may score your web site higher for those keywords. An excessive number of hyphens may work against you, as long hyphenated domain names are typically associated with spam.

4. Prefixes and Suffixes - If a particular domain name is no longer available, it's possible that using an alternate form of the name with a prefix or suffix is still available. many domain name registrars offer suggestions when your first choice is not available, such as MyWebsite.com or eWebsite.com or WebsiteOnline.com - you get the idea.

Domain names should reflect your business or be awfully catchy if you're trying to establish a brand. Clear concise names without hyphens are memorable and easy to communicate to others. If you have to continually spell the domain name for others, it might be time to get a new one.

If you're experiencing difficulty finding a suitable name, you can always check some of the domain name resellers to see what names might be for sale. SEDO, BuyDomains, GreatDomains and others offer domain names for sale - we found SEOSuccessful.com on the front page of one of the resellers, but with the other extensions still available, it would appeal to those wanting the .com version only.

Google and Dell

Google has confirmed a long-rumored deal that will bundle some of its software on Dell personal computers.

Google's desktop search software and its toolbar will come pre-installed on Dell PCs, and the browser's home page will be set to a co-branded web page.

The 3 year agreement has the potential to place Google software on an estimate 100 million PCs. Until now, Microsoft's Internet browser and services have been the default setting on Dell PCs.

ODP Descriptions - MSN

Seems MSN has decided to do what no other search engine is doing - giving webmasters the option of not having their DMOZ description snippet displayed in their search results.

You have to give MSN Search credit for this one, they're also the first search engine to note that there may be bias or errors in a human edited directory.

"Just to give some background, the Open Directory Project at dmoz.org is a repository of millions of human-edited descriptions. Even though these human-edited descriptions provide a lot of value, with human editing may come human error, bias, descriptions getting outdated, or the editor’s text may simply not suit the webmasters who want to be represented in their own way."

If you're bothered by MSN displaying the ODP directory description for your web page in their search results and would like them to display your meta description, you can add the following meta robots tag to the page:

META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOODP"

or

META NAME="msnbot" CONTENT="NOODP"

While no other search engines currently recognize this directive, it would be a good thing if they started to some time in the future.

You can read more about MSN Search's decision at:

Opting Out of Open Directory Listings for Webmasters