12 Reasons Why You Need A Blog

"Why Should I Blog? I Simply Don't Get It"

This post on a popular discussion forum set me thinking - and I came up with 12 reasons you should blog.

Read them and get started on your blog. Or better still, go get your blog up and running and THEN come back and read this :)

#1 - You Do Not Need To Know HTML

One of the biggest hurdles many hopeful website creators face is they don't know to design a webpage. Blogs overcome this - all you do is type into a box, and the blog software automatically converts it into a webpage and publishes it on the World Wide Web for anyone to see.

#2 - You Are 'Forced' To Keep Your Content Fresh

Blogs are essentially online diaries. It doesn't make sense to write in your diary every month or two. Similarly, running a blog itself 'forces' you to update it often. And refreshing your blog often makes it more useful to readers and consumers - and by extension, to search engines who are in the business of presenting *their* clients with valuable resources.

#3 - Your Blog Is AUTOMATICALLY Optimized For Search Engines

Search engines love fresh content. But that's not the only way blogs are powerful tools to rank high. Indeed, most blogs are structured to offer a high degree of search engine optimization.

All sections of your blog are linked together. The terms used as link 'anchors' are keyword-optimized. Categories can be created to host themed content. Navigating through your blog is intuitive. Archives can be customized, and generate hundreds of pages of content that act as 'search engine spider bait'.

#4 - You Get A Built-In Linking Structure

With very few exceptions, most blogs are structured to be a tightly integrated network of links - to other sections of your blog! It's quite easy for a visitor to get 'lost' within your blog... without ever leaving it.

Calendars link to posts on specific dates. 'Recent Post' listings point to your freshest content. Archives connect all your earlier posts. Search boxes let browsers look for certain kinds of content. And it all happens automatically, without you spending hours on creating a link structure or sitemap!

#5 - You Generate Multiple Content-Rich Pages

Every post you make on your blog is content. And by intelligently setting up your archiving preferences, you can turn each post into many different forms of content, each on a page of its own. Blog regularly for a few months, and you could end up having a 100+ page website - all filled with relevant, keyword-optimized, themed content!

#6 - You Can Keyword-Optimize Your Blog Extensively

All parts of your blog's template can be customized. And a very powerful way to do it is by inserting relevant keywords. It's a do-it-once job that will give you ongoing benefits for as the life of your blog. You can include keywords in your blog title, description, blog post headings, trackback links, comment invitations, archive titles, and category names.

#7 - You Create An Online Community

If your blog is on a specific theme, you can build a loyal readership and develop an online community. You can even take it a notch higher by tying it in with a forum or membership site. Ask for comments, suggestions, ideas and feedback, or invite reader participation. Pretty soon, your blog will be growing organically - even if you don't write a lot!

#8 - You Initiate Conversations With Readers

Of course, the first step is yours - to initiate a dialog with readers. You could do it with your blog post, asking a question or by inviting comments and interaction. Your blog will be read by an audience that's already interested in your subject or theme. This conversation will be priceless to you, the blog owner.

#9 - Your 'Inbound Link' Process - Trackbacks

Blogging is about distributed conversations online. Links are an integral part of such an informal network. Trackbacks are a kind of blog technology that make it possible - and simple! Your blog will benefit from the inbound links a trackback will bring, and you'll also get extra traffic from other sources.

#10 - You Can Syndicate Your Content Easily

Getting readers for your content is good. Getting your content out where many more readers can see it is GREAT! Syndication (via RSS feeds) is built in to most blogging platforms, giving you a quick and easy way to get a wide readership for your blog posts.

#11 - You're Creating Stuff Search Engines LOVE

Search engines exist to offer their audience a compilation of the best resources on a subject or keyword. Your blog is the answer to a search engine's prayers! By sticking to a theme and presenting the content in an organized, structured, intuitively connected pattern, your blog will be appealing to search engines in a way only a very professionally planned and designed website can ever hope to be.

#12 - You Get 'Alternate' Traffic Sources

Remember what we saw about blogs being linked and networked together? Bloggers like to share opinions with others. And when they 'talk' about you, they are going to point to your site, or a post on your blog, to show their readers what they mean. They become 'alternate' traffic sources - for YOU!

Other tools like blog rolls, furls, favorite bloggers and more can drive sporadic - but sometimes big floods - of traffic your way. And best of all, it's effortless and costs you nothing!

Not yet convinced? Well, then maybe blogging isn't quite your cup of tea. But if you trust me, try it - you just might be pleasantly surprised.

Powerful Ways to Boost AdSense Revenue

Are you interested in boosting your AdSense revenue overnight? The following ideas are the very ideas that tripled my AdSense earnings when I applied them to my first ad supported website. This article will explain the reasoning behind each strategy, and will follow with my particular application.

Ad Positioning

If you want your ads to get clicked on, you have to put it in a place that it will be seen. Each website is different, so it may require a little experimenting on your part. Typically, the most effective position for your first ad unit will be directly under the title, before the content begins. Another effective position for an ad unit is at the end of your content. Your visitors, after reading your article, will wonder what they want to do next. If you place an ad in this position, they may click on the ad. Google gives you one more ad unit. You will have to experiment to find the best position for this one.

My Application: On most pages I placed one text ad directly under title before my content begins, one text ad following my content and one text ad to the right of my content. This ad position strategy provides me with earnings that are far above the 3% average.

Ad Formats

There are many formats to choose from, and some perform better than others. The wider formats, being easier to read, generally outperform the narrower formats. As a rule the best ad formats are the 1) Medium Rectangle, 2) Large Rectangle, and 3) Wide Skyscraper. They are all wide formats, and provide visitors with the maximum number of ad links. Other ad formats should only be considered when space is a concern.

My Application: On most pages I included two medium rectangles, above and below my content, and one wide skyscraper to the right of my content.

Ad Colors

It is best to blend you ad colors with your website. Blue links are recommended, because this is what most people are accustomed to clicking on, and borders should be eliminated. These elements will not only improve your click-through-rate (CTR), they will also improve the overall look of your website.

My Application: The links are blue, and my ads have no border. Gray text under the link, and gray text with a colored URL were both tried. No noticeable variation in CTR occurred.

If you are ready to step out from the crowd and begin seeing your profits soar, the first step is to learn how to track your ad performance with AdSense Channels.

What are the most important factors that affect the AdSense revenue?

1. Keywords – The key to making money with AdSense is the keywords that are used in the content. Ads are displayed from Google AdWords program on your website based on the keywords that are found in the content. If you have used keywords that people don’t use to search, your website will receive low quality ads that have very less pay per click value.

2. Traffic – The second most important factor when it comes to making money with AdSense program and for that matter any other program is the amount of traffic a website receives. Some might argue that it’s more important than the keywords, but out of my practical experience I have seen people making $10 a day out of just 1000 visitors everyday while other websites with similar traffic made only a few cents.

3. Niche of your website – An equally important factor is the niche or the topic of your website. If your website is about a topic which is not at popular, such as ‘how to paint a wall’, then you will not receive traffic to your website. And even if you do manage to receive some visitors, the keywords are not the ones that advertisers are bidding for. So, you will receive low quality and low PPC ads served on your website. Always choose a topic that people will find useful in their everyday life, such as ‘how to tune a car for more mileage’ so that you get visitors.

4. Ad layout and placement – The next factor which is very important is the payout of the ads on a website. If you make your ads appear as ads, people will not click it. But if you make your ads appear as if they are a part of your website, the CTR goes up. I have not seen or heard of anyone to have achieved a CTR of 100%, so there is always some room for improvement. The best CTR numbers are between 5-20%. Anything more than that is bonus to you.

Next important thing to understand is the placement of the AdSense unit. It makes a lot of difference to the CTR depending on the location of the ad unit on the webpage. Remember that when someone visits your website, they always see the upper portion of your website which is also known as ‘above the fold’. Ads placed above the fold naturally receive more clicks than any other ad unit on the page. You will have to experiment with ad placement to achieve higher CTR. Every website has a different ad placement strategy that works best for that site only.

That’s all we have for now, friends! This page will be updated regularly, so bookmark the page and keep coming back to find more information on Google AdSense.

What are the basic jargons that you should know with respect to Google AdSense and online advertisement?

1. PPC – Stands for Pay per Click. It’s the amount of money that you get when someone clicks on an ad on your website. Higher the PPC value, the more money you make.

2. CTR – Stands for Click through Ratio. Number of clicks per hundred ads served. The more the CTR the more money you make. When both PPC and CTR values are higher, you make more money and that should be ultimate goal.

3. Impressions – The number of ads served on your website. Some advertisers prefer to pay for number of impressions rather than number of clicks. On a very high traffic website, the website owner can show CPM (cost per thousand impressions) ads and still make a lot of money.

Make money with AdSense

Google AdSense is the best contextual advertisement program, for publishers, on Internet that is designed to serve most relevant ads on a website and its pages. AdSense serves the most relevant ads on the pages of a website based on the keywords found in the content that make the page. For example: If your page is about a topic ‘make money with AdSense’, then Google AdSense will serve ads that are related to make money with AdSense. Likewise, if your page is about affiliate marketing, then those ads that are highly relevant to affiliate marketing are displayed on the page.

To begin with, you need to sign-up with Google AdSense and submit your website details. Once your application is approved, you can login to the AdSense account and setup ads to show on your website. You will have to select the ad format of your choice, such as banner ad unit, square ad unit, rectangle ad unit and customize the color to fit the best on your website. Google AdSense not only serves ads in website but also on mobile phones and in RSS feeds.