Backlinkage

81% of Online Shoppers Read Reviews Before Buying

Kelly Verge — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:32:07 +0000

If you’re not using review sites, you might be missing the boat.

Nielsen released some new poll results showing that 81% of online shoppers read reviews before making a purchase.

This explains why review sites are so powerful and work so well.

New internet marketers often have a difficult time figuring out how to do a credible product review. They often sound like an extended sales pitch rather than an objective review. Obviously there are several different styles of reviews, and you’ll have to decide which style fits your needs and your market.

I prefer to use a “reporter” style of review. This way, even if I don’t love the product, I can be honest about it which lends credibility to my other reviews.

If you’d like to give review sites a try, but don’t know where to start, take a look at Chris Rempel’s Conduit Method. He details a type of review site that performs very, very well. Not only do they boast great conversions, Conduit sites also naturally drive long-tail organic traffic.

For those who struggle with HTML or CSS/Wordpress Template design, Chris also offers a set of website templates, including a Wordpress theme that work perfectly with his Conduit Method.

If you’ve been having less-than-great result with your niche sites, follow Nielsen’s advice and try review sites. 81% of your customers think you should.

7 Posts + Minimal Backlinks = 3 Sales

Kelly Verge — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:58:02 +0000

To continue detailing the results of my neglected conduit site, I am now up to 7 posts/reviews. I’ve done a bit of social bookmarking for each of the reviews. I still haven’t worked on any other manual backlinks.

I dropped this site’s feed into my RSS pipe, and I’m already seeing some small traffic from that as well as some backlinks.

Since my last post about this site, I’ve made two more sales - both of which are for a membership site.

I moved this project up towards the top of my list after seeing the results it was getting. Now I’m putting even more effort into it. Quite obviously, the Conduit Method works, and while the theme I’m using looks a little sparse to me, it’s driving sales. Who am I to judge?

Bountiful Booklet with 259 Bonafied Blogs for Bundles of Backlinks

Kelly Verge — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:34:27 +0000

Most of us have used a couple of the many free blogging platforms for building backlinks to our main (money) sites. Some have probably even used a dozen or two.

However, for those seriously hardcore link-builders, I present a list of 259 free blogging platforms.

I have not checked every single site to make sure that each one is still active, so if you find a dead site in the list please let me know. Also, please post real content on these blog platforms. Most are likely human-reviewed, and it will save them and you trouble if you provide content - even duplicate content.

Now get busy!

http://2pt.net/
http://9rules.com/
http://apcala.com/
http://avatale.com/
http://avblog.userplane.com/message.cfm
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/
http://blog.9hts.com
http://blog.allyouwant.cn/
http://blog.com/
http://blogbud.com/
http://blogcityusa.com/
http://blogema.org/
http://blogetery.com/
http://bloghi.com/
http://blogisme.com/
http://blogmole.com/
http://blogonfly.com/
http://blogrox.com/
http://blogs.botw.org/
http://blogs.namesatnames.co.uk/
http://blogs.skaffe.com/login.php
http://blogs.xanco.com/
http://blogsarena.com/home.html
http://blogsavy.com/
http://blogsearch.google.com/
http://blogslive.net/
http://blogspex.com/
http://blogster.com/
http://blogstreet.com/
http://blogvis.com/
http://boingboing.net/
http://clearblogs.com/
http://conservablogs.com/
http://current.com/
http://dakotablogs.com/
http://ebzzo.com/
http://edublogs.org/
http://findory.com/
http://geocities.yahoo.com/
http://home.live.com/?mkt=en-us
http://hubpages.com
http://iblog.net.au/
http://jaoblogs.com/
http://johndoe.org/
http://journalhub.com/summary.php
http://knol.google.com/
http://knowwizard.com/
http://livelyblog.com/
http://members.freewebs.com/
http://monkee.biz/
http://multiply.com/
http://my.opera.com/community/
http://myblog.ph/
http://mytypes.com/
http://newblog.com/
http://nodblog.com/
http://nowblogging.net/
http://okayblog.net/
http://ourstory.com/
http://pagebuildr.com/
http://peopleconnection.aol.com/blogs
http://portal.eatonweb.com/
http://scribd.com/
http://seo-blog.org/
http://shinyblogs.com/
http://shoutpost.com/
http://speedytown.com/
http://squarespace.com/
http://squidoo.com
http://tabulas.com/
http://tennerblog.com/
http://thespoke.net/
http://thingamablog.sourceforge.net/
http://tooum.com/
http://ufem.com/
http://vivopress.wordpress.com/
http://webcamfreeblog.com/
http://weblogs.us/
http://webmasters.thumbblogs.com/
http://wetpaint.com/
http://wordpress.com/
http://wpfreeblogs.com/
http://writetomyblog.com/
http://www.20six.co.uk/
http://www.21publish.com/
http://www.365.travel/
http://www.3ebooks.com/
http://www.aeonity.com/
http://www.alivedirectory.com/Blog-Directory/
http://www.alkablog.com/
http://www.angelfire.lycos.com/
http://www.antville.org/
http://www.atom5.com/
http://www.backpage.com/
http://www.bahraichblogs.com/
http://www.baidu.ws/home.php
http://www.beanrocket.com/
http://www.beklo.com/portal.php
http://www.blog-city.com/
http://www.blog.ca/
http://www.blog.co.uk/
http://www.blogabond.com/
http://www.blogadr.com/
http://www.blogalaxy.net/
http://www.blogates.com/
http://www.blogbeee.com/
http://www.blogcheese.com/
http://www.blogdog.com/
http://www.blogdrive.com/
http://www.blogeasy.com/
http://www.bloggar.cjb.net/
http://www.blogger.com/
http://www.blogger.de/
http://www.bloggerteam.com/login.php
http://www.blogghost.net/
http://www.bloggrok.com/
http://www.blogharbor.com/
http://www.blogher.org/
http://www.bloghoster.net/
http://www.bloghub.com/
http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/
http://www.blogiversity.org/
http://www.blogladder.com/
http://www.bloglisting.net/
http://www.blogmyway.org/xportal_main_clone_open_source.php
http://www.blognow.com.au/
http://www.blogomonster.com/
http://www.blogowogo.com/
http://www.blogpod.com/
http://www.blogr.com/
http://www.blogrankings.com/
http://www.blogs-blogs.com/home.php
http://www.blogsboom.com/
http://www.blogsearchengine.com/
http://www.blogsome.com/
http://www.blogspirit.com/en/index.php
http://www.blogstudio.com/
http://www.blogtastic.com/
http://www.blogtext.org/
http://www.blogthing.com/
http://www.blogtv.com/
http://www.blogupper.com/
http://www.blogyx.com/
http://www.bloki.com/
http://www.bloty.com/
http://www.bloxster.net/portal.php
http://www.blurty.com/
http://www.botablog.com/
http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/journal/
http://www.busythumbs.com/
http://www.crablog.com/
http://www.danchan.com/weblog/
http://www.deadjournal.com/
http://www.deardiary.net/
http://www.desiblogz.com/home.php
http://www.diaryland.com/
http://www.digitalexpressions.nu/
http://www.doteasy.com/
http://www.dragid.com/
http://www.easyjournal.com/
http://www.eblogger.com/
http://www.ebloggy.com/
http://www.egoweblog.com/
http://www.etribes.com/index_etribes.php
http://www.filefront.com/
http://www.fotopages.com/
http://www.free-blog-site.com/
http://www.freevlog.org/
http://www.getjealous.com/
http://www.globenotes.com/
http://www.greatestjournal.com/
http://www.hosting365.com/blog/2006/04/01/free-blogs/
http://www.hyperblogs.net/
http://www.indoblogger.com/login.php
http://www.inknoise.com/pages/index.php
http://www.insanejournal.com/
http://www.inube.com/
http://www.iseekblog.com/
http://www.iuplog.com/
http://www.jaiku.com/
http://www.jeeran.com/blogs/
http://www.journalfen.net/
http://www.journalfiend.com/
http://www.journalhome.com/
http://www.kmax.ws/bloglinks.htm
http://www.livejournal.com/
http://www.livelogcity.com/
http://www.lonelymind.com/
http://www.loudblog.com/
http://www.lsblogs.com/
http://www.maktoobblog.com/
http://www.manhattanservice.com/directory/blogs.html
http://www.memebot.com/
http://www.mindsay.com/
http://www.motime.com/
http://www.my-diary.org/
http://www.my-journal.com/
http://www.myblog.net/
http://www.myblogvoice.com/
http://www.mydeardiary.com/
http://www.myhappyblog.com/
http://www.myitblog.com/
http://www.myspace.com/
http://www.netcipia.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome
http://www.newsisfree.com/
http://www.opendiary.com/
http://www.openserving.com/
http://www.outblogger.com/
http://www.perfectfreewebhosting.com/
http://www.phlog.net/
http://www.pitas.com/
http://www.planet-travels.com/
http://www.rememory.com/
http://www.salon.com/blogs/
http://www.shoutpost.com/
http://www.snap.com/
http://www.snapvine.com/blog/list
http://www.soulcast.com/
http://www.superblogdirectory.com/
http://www.supersized.org/
http://www.talkingforest.com/
http://www.tblog.com/
http://www.terapad.com/
http://www.textamerica.com/
http://www.theblog.cc
http://www.theblogs.net/
http://www.thefreesite.com/Free_Blog_Resources/
http://www.thoughts.com/
http://www.thumblogger.com/
http://www.today.com/
http://www.topix.com/
http://www.trippert.com/
http://www.tumblr.com/
http://www.twoday.net/
http://www.upsaid.com/
http://www.upwith.net/
http://www.viddyou.com
http://www.vox.com
http://www.webcrimson.com/
http://www.weblog.com/
http://www.weblog.ro/
http://www.weblogalot.com/
http://www.weblogger.com/
http://www.weebly.com/
http://www.wikyblog.com/
http://www.wikidot.com/
http://www.wordcountjournal.com/
http://www.x-aff.com/
http://www.x8blogs.com/
http://www.xanga.com/
http://www.xlogz.com/
http://www.yourblogs.net/
http://www.zefrank.com/
http://www.ziki.com/
http://www.zimbio.com/
http://www.zoomshare.com/
http://www2.globbo.org/
http://zeroblogs.com/
http://zorpia.com/

Beautiful.

RSS Directory Submission - Easy, Semi-Automated, and Free

Kelly Verge — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:38:29 +0000

Yesterday I posted a comprehensive list of RSS directories to which you can submit feeds from your sites for both backlinks and traffic.

However, the list is huge.

I can only speak for myself, but although I’d like to be able to say that I would submit every new site to that entire list, I know that over time there would be a dropoff. Before long, I’d be lucky if I remembered to add my feed to the first five on the list .

I prefer an automated solution for this type of repetitive task.

I have a couple of software tools that are designed to help automate this - one of which only handles RSS directory submissions. Neither has anywhere near as many directories as are on the list. (The second tool, SENuke, also does many other things very well, so I’m still happy with it.)

I’ve ironed out a mostly-automated system over the past few days that will make it super simple to add your RSS feed to all of the sites on the list with just a couple of easy steps each time you create a feed-enabled site. Follow along:

Copy the link for one of your feeds. For Wordpress blogs, http://yoursite.com/feed/ will work.
Go to http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/.
Either create an account or log in to your account if you already have one.
Once inside your pipes account, click on the “Create a pipe” button.
Drag the “Fetch Feed” block into the workspace. This will also create the “Pipe Output” block.
Enter your feed URL’s into the feeds block. If you want to add additional feeds, just click on the small “+” next to “URL.”
Click and drag the control point from the feed block to the output block. This will create the “pipe” for your data. (Yahoo pipes is designed to be able to do some pretty complex stuff, but we’re just mixing feeds)
Click on “Save” and name your pipe something memorable. Your new pipe will be your friend, so treat it kindly.
On the next page, click on “More Options” to get to the URL for the pipe’s RSS feed.
Right-click on “Copy Link Location” to copy the feed’s URL into your clipboard.
Paste the RSS URL from your brand new pipe into every single directory on the list from yesterday’s post. This step is tedious, but the great news is that you only have to do it once.

Whenever you create a new site with a feed, just head back to your saved pipe and add the additional feed(s) to the pipe’s input. You’ve already added the resulting combined feed to the RSS directories, so you’re just adding content to the existing feed.

If you think this is a great tip, sign up for my list at http://backlinkage.com/secret/ and I’ll let you know when I find a cool trick, technique or product (complete with the occasional affiliate link so you have the chance to say, “thanks”).

Also don’t forget to digg or stumble this post if you found it extremely useful. Just use the “share/save” button just below this text.

Comprehensive List of the Top RSS Directories - Submit Your Feeds For Links and Traffic

Kelly Verge — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:41:01 +0000

One way to put your blog content in front of a lot of eyes is to submit your blog’s RSS feed to RSS directories. Every time you submit your feed, you increase the chance that it will be picked up by someone who’s looking for content - and you’ll get backlinks and traffic in exchange. Also note that you can do the same thing for any site with a feed, such as a lens, hub, Blogger blog, etc.

Below is a fairly comprehensive list of RSS directories to which you can submit your feed for maximum exposure. This list should be current, and I’ve tried to trim away any niche-specific or paid directories. While there are some automated solutions for submitting your feeds to a handful of directories, I will post a follow-up to this article tomorrow detailing how you can add every new feed-enabled website you create to all of these sites with very little effort and zero cost.

List of RSS Directories:

2Rss
4guysfromrolla
9rules.com
Allheadlinenews
Blogcensus
Blogdigger
Blo.gs
Bulkfeeds
Chordata
Crayon
Daytimenews
Devasp
Feed24
Feedage
Feedagg
Feedbase
Feedbees
Feed Burner
Feedboy
Feedcat
Feedfury
Feedplex
Feeds4all
Feedmailer
Feedooyoo
FeedsFarm
Feedsee
Feedshark
Feeds2read
Feedza
Findrss
Free-rss
Gabbr
Goldenfeed
Itsmynews
Jordomedia
Millionrss
Mobispine
News-feeds
NewsGator
Newsknowledge
Newsnow
NGOID News Network
Octora
Plazoo
Pressradar
Purerss
RDFTicker
ReadAblog
Readburner
Redtram
RocketInfo
Rssbuffet
Rssfeeds
Rsshugger
Rssmicro
Rssmountain
Rssmotron
Search4Rss
Solarwarp
Strategic Board
Swoogle
Syndic8
Tailrank
Technorati
Topix
Twingly
Weblogalot
Wingee
YahooRss
Xmeta
Zimbo

If you know of a generic non-niche-specific RSS directory that’s not on this list, please leave it in a comment and I’ll make an addition to the list.

Streamlined, No-Duplicate List of Ping Servers

Kelly Verge — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:52:49 +0000

One of the benefits of using Wordpress as a platform is its ability to automatically notify “the world” when you’ve made a new post. It does this by sending a small bit of XML to a ping server letting it know that there’s new content. These ping servers are used by aggregators and search engines to determine when a site has changed so that they can more efficiently crawl for new content.

By default, Wordpress is set up to use rpc.pingomatic.com, which in turn relays your ping out to a list of other ping servers.

The problem with using ping relays like pingomatic is that if a server starts using their service and you already have that server on your ping list, they might consider the duplicate pings as spam and stop announcing your blog’s changes. This happens even more frequently if you just grab a big list of ping servers from the web since pingomatic isn’t the only relayer (pingoat is another, for example).

If you leave the default setting alone, you’ll be safe, but you’ll also miss out on a handful of ping servers which in turn could cause delays in getting your new posts crawled by some sites.

I’ve begun using a streamlined list of ping servers which doesn’t include any relay services. This should eliminate any chances of getting flagged for ping spam while maximizing my exposure when I make new posts.

Here’s the list:

http://1470.net/api/ping http://api.feedster.com/ping http://api.moreover.com/RPC2 http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2 http://bblog.com/ping.php http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC http://blogmatcher.com/u.php http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc http://coreblog.org/ping/ http://ping.blo.gs/ http://ping.bitacoras.com http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/ http://ping.blogmura.jp/rpc/ http://ping.feedburner.com http://ping.myblog.jp http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php http://ping.weblogs.se/ http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/ http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/ http://rpc.newsgator.com/ http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2 http://topicexchange.com/RPC2 http://trackback.bakeinu.jp/bakeping.php http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2 http://www.blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi http://www.newsisfree.com/RPCCloud http://xmlrpc.blogg.de http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/

Please note that some of these servers require you to manually visit the site and initiate the first ping for your site. It’s fast and easy, but that step keeps their services from being abused.

If you know of a ping server that you think should be on the list, comment below and I’ll do some research to see if it is a relay server.

Conduit Site with Unexpected Results

Kelly Verge — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:33:57 +0000

Like many Internet Marketers, I often find myself going in too many directions at the same time. When I catch myself doing this, sometimes projects get shoved to the back burner for a few weeks so that I can refocus on my primary stuff.

About five weeks ago I had a little time, so I thought I would try to set up a review site as suggested in Chris Rempel’s “Conduit” method. I played with some templates myself, but finally picked up his package of conduit-style templates, which included a Wordpress theme.

I picked a niche with lots of affiliate products, and after setting up Wordpress and the theme, I spent a few minutes entering the information for the first product. This is right about when I put this project on the back burner.

I didn’t set up analytics.

I didn’t bookmark my post (I did have the Wordpress pings turned on).

In fact, I didn’t do anything other than create a single page/post using the methods Chris teaches.

This afternoon I pulled up my ClickBank tracking code summary and noticed the code from that single link on the lone page has had 17 hops this month and one $70 sale! Obviously the number is statistically insignificant, but it proves that Conduit style review pages do in fact pull in long-tail traffic - buying traffic.

I’m going to move this project up in the queue so that I can see what it will do with 20, 30, or even 60 pages.

Conduit Method

Conduit-Style Wordpress Theme

HostGator Black Friday 75% Discount

Kelly Verge — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:17:11 +0000

In the spirit of Black Friday, HostGator has a special they’re offering today only of 75% off of their hosting plans. Use coupon code “black” when placing your order.

This discount is good on their yearly plans also - for example, their Baby plan with this discount is $29.50 for 12 months! They offer up to 36-month plans, so with this discount, their hosting is a no-brainer today.

Click here to visit HostGator.

This Tool is Just Right

Kelly Verge — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:39:17 +0000

Those of us who work full time in Internet Marketing spend quite a bit of our time writing. Some days, it seems that’s all I’m doing.

I’ve been using Google Docs, but while the convenience of online document storage is nice, the interface is often just unresponsive enough to be bothersome.

Microsoft Word has everything I need. Unfortunately, it also has TONS of features that I will never use. It’s serious overkill for my writing.

I often find myself using Wordpad just to avoid issues with smart quotes and to ensure that I have clean text.

Today I found a great alternative.

Jarte is a word processor that has been built from Wordpad. It’s lean, fast, and responsive, like the framework it was built from, but it also has a few more features that makes it more functional. Its interface is clean and easy to use.

For me, the handiest feature is that it’s completely portable - it can be run from a flash drive. This makes it simple for me to work at either my desktop or my laptop without dealing with file syncing or such.

It seems like a small change on the surface, but it really makes writing easier and a little more enjoyable. We could all use a little more of that.

http://www.jarte.com/

The Definition of Serendipity

Kelly Verge — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:07:11 +0000

As I often find myself doing, I was starting the process of social bookmarking a couple of blog posts on my niche sites. I loaded up SocialMarker.com, entered the keywords for the first article, selected which social sites to use, then clicked “Start Now.”

As many times as I’ve used SocialMarker, I was pulled in by the placement of the action button on an ad placed next to the site selection area instead of clicking on the “submit” button/tab at the top. Take a look at the screenshot below to see what I mean:

I have to wonder just how many clicks this particular ad has generated on the SocialMarker site.

Almost looks planned.