Category Archives: Web Site Tools

15 Easy Free DoFollow Backlinks to Your Website

Posted on by
1

Remember from the “Website Backlink Popularity Tools” post: “Backlinks are incoming links to a website, web page, or blog post.” And just so you know, I use the words linkback and backlink interchangeably. :) Also please note that these links will help websites or businesses that are still in the startup phase. I don’t think any of these links have a higher Google Pagerank than 2 or 3. ** This means that creating backlinks from these resources are worthless to a site that already has a pagerank of 4 or higher. **

General Places to Get a Listing for Good (Meaning Not the “NoFollow” Kind) Backlinks / Linkbacks:

1. Merchant Circle is a definite must have business listing. Here’s mine: http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Virtual.IT.Assistants.317-670-9977

2. http://www.haiku.com/VirtualAssistants This one isn’t one of my favorites, but it works.

Helpful Internet Business Tools:

3. Outright is a cool accounting service that Jen uses for her business. I’ll bet that when she first setup an account with them she didn’t realize they’d give her a free good backlink! See her profile: http://entrepreneurs.outright.com/virtual-assistance-by-jen

Social Network Profiles:

4. Fast Pitch Networking is an internet business social network site. A profile here is worth setting up for the good linkback to your business site: http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com/profile.cfm?ContactID=52366547

5. YouTube Got videos? Get them on YouTube and be sure to fill in your business site into your profile for yet another good linkback. See my profile: http://www.youtube.com/user/virtualitassistants (Scroll down to my avatar and see my link under there. If you are curious about where it shows up.)

6. Inbound Marketing University If you are into internet marketing of any kind, you should already have heard of this place . Even if you are already an experienced inbound marketer, you should at least have a profile here. See mine: http://inboundmarketing.com/user/3906. It also gives you a good link.

Twitter: (Of course, the master tool for getting backlinks and traffic. )

7. Mashable Twitterlists See Kena’s Lists: http://mashable.com/twitterlists/user/KenaRoth/ She may not have realized this when she shared her lists here, but it gave her a free link back to her site from mashable.com. Bonus!

Add Yourself to Local Twitter Lists:

8. Twitter States

9. Local Tweeps

(P.S. Find twitterers near you and follow them. It’s great to have friends all over the world, but you be surprised at how practical it is to get tweets regarding events closer to home)

Website and Blog Site Tools with Profiles That LinkBack:

10. Sitemeter Do you like sharing your site analytics? Create a profile at sitemeter.com for your domain.

11. MyBlogLog If you have a blog, then you need to signup for a free account at mybloglog anyway. – Never mind the free backlinks! See some of my blogs: http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/darkbluesun/

These next profiles may be a little less practical for brand new businesses, but you should still know that they are available to anyone.

12. Act.ly Twitter petitions at act.ly include your web address that you use in your twitter profile. I created one about cybercrime awareness a long time ago: http://act.ly/uo. When you stop by, you should sign it! It’s been awhile, but all the info is still very relevant.

13. Quibblo is a  free online quiz creator. It links back to your site when you set up a profile. See mine: http://www.quibblo.com/user/virtualitassistant

14. Google Knowledge Profiles (called Knols): If you have a knol, or have some good content to start a knoll, you should definitely link back to your business site where appropriate. (Only create one or two links. That should be sufficient.) See mine? http://knol.google.com/k/darkbluesun/the-abc-s-for-work-at-home-parents/1jq3j1sfpra4f/1# I just happened to link to myself within this old business starter e-book.

15. Squidoo lens Do you have one? Do you know someone who does? If you create a linkback to your site from it, then it does give you a good link as well. http://www.squidoo.com/darkbluesun#module29853702

Who is linking back to you right now? Check it out at Link Diagnosis. Look for the ones where the link type equals good. And let me know if I missed any other easy linkbacks.

Another great way to get linkbacks is to guest post for a great blog like this one! ;) We had to take a break from that little opportunity for a little bit due to the volume of responses and the lack of extra time to find the best ones. There are still so many great guests we will have before the end of this year I promise. However, we still want to fit you into the rotation as well to get your turn in the spotlight! So signup to be a guest blogger today. If you haven’t heard from us and it has been more than 2 business days since you sent your response then please let us know.

Social Media Should Be Part Of Your Marketing Campaign

Posted on by
Reply

Social Media Marketing should be a part of your Internet Marketing Campaign.  But it’s not all about link baiting or viral marketing, which is where a lot of people are confusing Social Media.  Link baiting and viral marketing are “big events” in Internet Marketing and not ongoing activities.  Your business’ focus should be on the ongoing activities… those “big events” are bonuses.

The most common question businesses have is: “Why should I focus on social media when all the content I need is on my website?” which is a valid question to ask.  Working with Social Media involves a shift in thinking that your online strategy needs to be focused in more than one place, not just your website.  The traditional thought is that your website is dependent on generating traffic from one source: search engines.  Through PPC and SEO, you use the “super highway” of Google, Yahoo and MSN to drive people to your site.  But, there is a whole “neighborhood” around you that you need to focus on as well.

If we use a brick and mortar analogy, consider for a moment that your website is your “storefront.”  Your storefront gets a lot of walk-in traffic from one road (which would be your SEO and PPC strategy to your website).  But, you’re starting to notice that some new neighborhoods have sprung up in the area and contain a demographic that matches your target audience.

What do you do?  You wouldn’t sit there hoping your target audiences in these new neighborhoods somehow find out about your store through some random search – you’d look at expanding your business and building more stores in these new locations to meet your audience where they are.  The concept of Social Media Optimization is similar.  You want your website and message to appear where your audience is congregating online.

Just as in any city, there are good and bad locations for your “storefront” or website.  Sometimes, it’s very obvious from your research whether one neighborhood or social media site is better than another. Research is essential!  Just like in the brick and mortar world, finding the best social media site for your company depends on your target audience.  You don’t want to put yourself into a neighborhood that turns out differently than the way you thought it would.

Using Social Media to Grow

Posted on by
Reply

One thing I’m always asked from potential clients is, “How can using Social Media help grow my business?”  Social media networks are a fantastic way to promote your business, connect with customers and drive traffic to your website.  Just like anything else, if you want results, you’re going to have to make an effort and it will require a bit of your time.

Many business owners just start using the networking sites without a strategy.  I can’t emphasize enough the importance of creating a strategy when starting out with Social Media.  Not only can a strategy keep your marketing efforts on track, it can keep you from wasting your precious hours.  When setting up a strategy there are some things to remember –

  • The whole team must work together (web guy or gal, graphic designer, writer, IT department, management, Virtual Assistant) as keeping everyone in the “loop” is the only way to go.
  • Don’t expect results overnight. A successful Social Media campaign takes time.
  • Know who you are.  Get them interested in your story and use the tools available to you through social media to pique your customer’s interest and make them invested in who you are.  This makes them want to share you/your business with others.

Figure out your expectations – know what you want out of using Social Media.  Knowing who you’re going after and where to market them, is key.  Is it to drive traffic to your website?  Or is it simply to get your company’s name out there?  Understand your audience and build goals that are realistic and possible.  All of this is fundamental in reaching your goals.

 The use of social media nowadays is very crucial to promote your business. So, determine where to build your communities- as in, find your customers and go wherever they are.

Website Backlink Popularity Tools

Posted on by
Reply

Backlinks are incoming links to a website, web page, or blog post.

Creating Backlinks

You create backlinks to your website or blog by:

  • commenting on other people’s blogs,
  • submitting your site to directories,
    • My favorite tool for creating and keeping track of directory submission is OneWayTextLink.com. If you are a seasoned directory submitter, you’ll like it too!
  • trade links with other webmasters with related content (be choosy, you want to add value to your website, try to find affiliates with similar or higher Google pageranks than yours),
  • creating sharable (possibly viral) content that others want to link to,
  • creating social network profiles and making sure you include your website address wherever it asks for it.

Measuring Backlinks

Mike’s Link Popularity Tool

Link Diagnosis

Previous Posts I Have Written About Backlinks and SEO

  1. FREE Inbound Link Check also mentioned Mike’s Marketing Tools and LinkDiagnosis but included a few other possible links of interest.
  2. SEO updates for Virtually Assisting You includes another website tool I like to use for measuring SEO. Website grader also likes to see backlinks to your site from social bookmarking services like delicious and Digg.
  3. G is for Google on ABC’s for Work at Home Parents Blog includes a list of all the search engine webmaster tools. Each one (Google webmaster tools, Bing webmaster tools, and Yahoo! site tools) offers a comprehensive view of indexed sites that are linked back to your website.

Google PageRank

Posted on by
Reply

Google PageRank imageI am sharing this Google pagerank checker because until about 4 or 5 months ago, I didn’t really understand the whole Google pagerank numbering system.

When I was first learning, I thought if you had a page rank of 1 that it meant you were number 1! (HAHA! – I can laugh at this now ; ) However, that isn’t how it works. If you have a pagerank of 1, that’s 1 out of 10! Being 1 out of 10 isn’t as exciting as being number one right?

Use this nifty tool to see what your business or personal website’s Google pagerank is.

Check Page Rank of any web site pages instantly:
This free page rank checking tool is powered by Page Rank Checker service

That’s my number! -> Check PageRank Kinda sad huh? But it’s only a place to start.

It just means we have some work to do. :)

Wired Magazine Exclusive: How Google’s Algorithm Rules the Web really gives you some good info on how the whole Google Algorithm/Ranking system works.

How is Your Business Measuring Up?

Posted on by
Reply

As a small business owner, you must measure your successes, failures, and most importantly your progress. Even if you are getting reports from your web developer or social media consultant, it’s smart to know how to get some numbers of your own. Consultants and virtual assistants can bring so much value to your business! Make sure you can measure that value.

How much $$$ is your web presence and SEO worth?


  1. This WMtools link tells you what your website is worth based on Google page rank, backlinks, etc.

  2. Try SERP Analytics to see what keywords your website has and how much their worth! See this analysis of a website I was searching for when I first found this tool: http://www.serpanalytics.com/sites/www.softalize.com. You can simply delete the “www.softalize.com” and type in your own web address. (This really only works well for people who own their own domain.)

How much traffic is your message getting?

  1. Alexa Web InfoAlexa tells you where your website ranks on the traffic level. Many sites aren’t large enough to be given a graph, but the historical data will tell you if your business website is becoming more popular.
    *It also shows you some of your inbound links.

  2. For more on website traffic analytics, see this article: Histats, Google Analytics, and my favorite URL shortener- bit.ly. If you shorten all of your links with bit.ly, you will be able to keep track of how many hits your links are getting.


  3. Klout.com will measure your influence on twitter.

What is your grade? Graders by


  1. Measures a website’s marketing effectiveness and search engine optimization (SEO).


  2. Get the most out of your press releases.


  3. Measure your twitter network reach.


  4. I love this tool! It measures your personal reach with your Facebook profile and your professional reach with your Facebook fan page.


  5. Does your content have “goggledygook words?” Better check it out!

Numbers are so important. We number almost everything in our lives; just look at our clocks, calendars, price tags, and bathroom scales. Some numbers are easier to remember than others, like our favorite television channel, our favorite football players or our best friends’ phone numbers. Others are a little more forgettable, like the number of Hershey’s Kisses you’ve already indulged in (what’s one more?) or how many boxes you were actually carrying up the stairs when you tripped and twisted that ankle. Some can be scary like our credit score or the percentage of our population that’s unemployed. Regardless of what numbers you’re dealing with, it’s so important to make sure you are dealing with them.

Know your numbers and keep tabs on them constantly. You have to know what you need to work on and what actions you need to take to keep it up.

Next week I’ll bring together an article on backlinks. They are also so important and I’ll explain why. Don’t miss it!

Fun with Photos

Posted on by
Reply

In class, we were assigned to find an image editor for a website project, and if we couldn’t find one then we are to use Microsoft paint. (Ew.)

Well, I already had two websites lunapic and picnik I previously posted about that are online photo editors where you could do all kinds of nifty edits and special effects.

I decided to look up other free online/no download photo editors and I found two more fun sites for profile pics and what not.

Be on the cover of a magazine!



fakemagazinecover.com

Upload your photo and play with the Photo Trix.


fototrix.com

Photo Trix aren’t just for kids. :D Even grownups can have fun with these photo special effects.

These could be fun for

  • Facebook
  • Myspace
  • Twitter Avatars
  • Blogs
  • Websites
  • Fansites

Just thought I’d share. Have fun!

Use Social Bookmarks to Your Business Site’s Advantage

Posted on by
Reply

Social Bookmarking is a method for Internet users to share, organize, search, and manage bookmarks (locally stored web address) of web resources. Search engines crawl these sites to see how links are being tagged with keywords and to measure the popularity of each link. When signing up for your social bookmark, choose the same user id and passwords for these types of sites. It’s better and easier to have continuity and consistency. I wish I had done this when I first started. It’s not easy to change over, like I am trying to do on Delicious, as I now have 2 different profiles.

Delicious

On Delicious, most people add one bookmark per site, not really per article. I only added one bookmark to a direct page I liked or homepage. It doesn’t feed or present the bookmarks the same as on Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.

I don’t know if it will help your site’s SEO very much to take the time to go in and post even all of your favorite articles on the same site. It’s better to bookmark your site along with your clients’ websites once. However, make sure you DO bookmark them on delicious at least once.

*TAG TIP: Utilize the tags, but know it’s trickier because you only get one word for each tag. So, if you type in “virtual assistant” in the tag area, it will add two different tags: virtual and assistant, which aren’t very descriptive separately. Try other words like: business or entrepreneur for better results.

Delicious IconOur Profiles on Delicious

Jennifer Gallaher

Kena Roth

Amber Whitener – My New Profile

Digg

Digg your own stuff sparingly. Do not bookmark every single page or article of your own. It will be terribly obvious and a turn off for people who want to follow your stuff. People will go to your bookmark site and see that you are just using your profile to show off your own site.

If you only Stumble or Digg your favorites into your lists and make sure you include some others’ bookmarks, you will begin to make friends, keep track of some great information, and get the word out about your stuff too.

*TAG TIP: Digg is has fewer categories available to add your “diggs” to. Be as accurate as possible when choosing a category so that people looking up diggs in their favorite topic find your new submission.

Our Profiles on Digg

Jennifer Gallaher

Kena Roth

Amber Whitener

Reddit

I do have a profile on Reddit; however, I use this profile less than any other bookmarking site. It seems kind of generic to me. Recently they have added pictures, etc., which makes it better, but I only use this maybe twice a month, really. It does accumulate traffic though, if you follow some of these rules in this somewhat offbeat article – From The Oatmeal:

How to get on the Reddit homepage

You may also add me, darkbluesun on Reddit as a friend here, and I will add you back.

*Vote Tip: DO NOT try to up-vote your own submissions. The reddit administrators will dock you for it (and they have every right to). I’ve seen this a lot from new people. Let the votes be organic.

StumbleUpon

At StumbleUpon, you can see who’s visited you, see what kind of bookmarks they have and then possibly subscribe to their bookmarks if it looks like they are into similar things. I get more traffic from StumbleUpon than any other social bookmarking site.

1. The more bookmarks you add, the better. I suggest adding 3 to 5 (one of yours or your client’s, then 2-4 bookmarks of other people’s stuff) bookmarks per work day until you have about 30 – 40 bookmarks.
2. If someone subscribes to you, you don’t necessarily have to subscribe back, but I do. Regularly check and see who has visited your bookmark profile and consider subscribing to them.
3. You can subscribe to me, FindingAnswers at StumbleUpon, and I’ll subscribe back to you.
4. Utilize the tags that are in the drop down list. These tags are the tags that every other stumbler uses. Don’t make up your own, or it will be more difficult for your links to be found. And remember what I’ve said about tags and keywords for SEO, use them as accurately as possible so you become a valuable contributor and help people find what they are really looking for.

More Resources for Social Bookmarking

7 things you should know about… Social Bookmarking – An older article, but still current info about social bookmarking.

Which are your favorite social bookmarking sites? Which ones do you think are a waste of time?