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Bloglines used to be the only RSS reader displaying publicly the number of subscribers to a particular feed. That is the reason why the Bloglines API is widely used on advertising networks that need an indicator of how many RSS subscribers a certain website has.

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Google is now moving in the same direction. If you log into Google Reader you are now able to see how many RSS subscribers a certain feed has, just by typing its name inside the “Add Subscription” form (type the “name” of the website and not the URL).

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I think this is an interesting change. Google Reader is by far the most used RSS reader, and the ability to access these numbers for any website will provide a much better estimation of the RSS readership.

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Via: Google Operating System\n

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© Daily Blog Tips – visit the site for more blog tips!

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In my old position as an SEO analyst, I often found myself having to correct my clients’ assumptions about search engine optimization. Some had the misconception that SEO was all about keywords and meta tags. If anything, these are among the last factors to consider. Other, slightly savvier clients thought it was all about building good content and inbound links. Sure, these are certainly important elements of a successful campaign, but they aren’t even the first things to worry about. With each of these clients, I had to share the following revelation:

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SEO isn’t as much about what you do as what you DON’T do.

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That is to state, if you’re going to start down the road of search engine optimization, you have to know where the potholes are before you get underway. If you’re getting started doing SEO for your blog, here are some of the most important practices to avoid.

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• Keyword Stuffing. Stuffing keywords is only useful for getting your site penalized or delisted. Period. There is no legitimate reason to do this except to game the search engines, and they’re very good at detecting it. Whether you’re putting them in your content, in alt tags, in meta tags, or wherever, be sure to use your keywords in moderation.
   

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• Mirrored Sites and Content Duplication. “Why settle for one top 10 rankings when you can have all ten?” Because it can cause all of your rankings to drop. This is the reason that scrapers are dangerous. Ideally, your content should be as one-of-a-kind as possible to a single page. As I mentioned previously, search engines are probably smart enough to recognize content duplication within blogs (e.g., the same post text on your home page and the individual post page), so some duplication isn’t much cause for concern. Generally speaking, though, the more one-of-a-kind your content is, the superior off you’ll be.
   

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• Cloaking. Showing one thing to users and another thing to search engine spiders is a huge red flag. To those who think it’s a good idea, here’s a news flash: It’s just as easy for a spider to change its user agent as it is for a browser. You can bet search engine spiders are crawling your site under a variety of names just to see if you’re cloaking or not, so don’t do it.
   

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• Hidden Text and Images. No matter how you hide content, search engines are smart enough to detect it. Granted, there are legitimate reasons to hide content from users, but it’s pretty obvious when you’re up to something. Just to be on the safe side, think about carefully if you really need to hide your content or if you could find another solution.
   

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• Cross Linking. Generally speaking, it’s okay to link your sites together. People do it all the time. However, it can be considered spam if you do so excessively (e.g., in the footer or side bar of each page), especially if the sites reside on the same IP block. As with everything else, ask the question, “Is this adding value for the user?” If you can answer yes, it’s probably okay.

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Knowing and avoiding practices like these is the first step toward ensuring good search engine rankings. Only after realizing what not to do (and correcting it if you’re already doing it) should you move forward with keyword research, content development, link building, and all of the fun parts about SEO.\n

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© Daily Blog Tips – visit the site for more blog tips!

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I believe we have all the bugs fixed now, including those around search, filtering, and paging that were particularly frustrating. Sorry it took a bit, it wasn’t native functionality in WordPress but we developed a set of functions around the new taxonomy system that allows that sort of search and filtering for ALL WordPress blogs, and those improvements will be included in the upcoming 2.3 release. Next up we’re tackling bringing uploads and updates back.

Hello everybody this is Matt. Last month in a conversation with Thomas he said that he wished the theme viewer worked more like the new plugins system on WordPresss.org, but he didn’t have as much time to devote to the project anymore and asked if I could find a new maintainer. Thomas and the other volunteers here deserve a round of applause for all the work they’ve put in.

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Well I’m happy to announce that work on Version 3.0 of the Theme Viewer has begun, and to kick it off I thought it would be important to identify some of the current problems with the theme viewer before moving on.

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(more…)

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Boy, people don’t seem very happy with Google lately, huh?

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Never mind the future implications of a world controlled by Massive G. Webmasters and bloggers are making more and more noise about the pervasive power Google has over their online businesses right now. Selling links is the newest hot point, and it looks like some people have been made an example of to put the FUD in the rest of us.

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Believe it or not, my strategy since the beginning of Copyblogger has been to pretty much forget search engines exist. Don’t get me wrong… I’m not doing anything to annoy them, and I certainly don’t turn away visitors from search engines. I just don’t depend on them for traffic.

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While people work hard to attract links to rank better in search engines, you’ve got to realize that some of the highest quality traffic comes directly from the links. Pretend like search engines are not even a traffic option, and instead focus on repeat traffic and referral sources that no one can take away.

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It all boils down to the three “S” strategy:

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Subscribers

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I’ve said it from the very beginning here at Copyblogger—the most important thing to focus on is not page views or search traffic. Focus instead on subscribers.

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Getting someone to voluntarily pay attention to you over time is the greatest gift you can get as an on the web publisher. Do everything you can to get more subscribers, and quit trying to please Google.

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Social Media

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There’s been some great advice lately about posting less, and focusing more on quality so you can concentrate on attracting social media traffic from other bloggers, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Digg, Sphinn, etc. That’s been my traffic strategy for Copyblogger all along, which allows me to forget about search engine hiccups.

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Last month, this blog did 1.35 million page views with only 16 posts, thanks in overwhelming part to social media traffic. Even when I first started Copyblogger, I wrote only two high quality posts a week so that people would link to and recommend my stuff.

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Read this great article that provides an in-depth look at how to get more from social media, and you’ll worry less about Google. And stop posting so much. Try to make every post you write unique and high value to your target audience, and you’ll achieve more with less.

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Selling

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Let’s face it—most of the wailing about Google has to do with the fact that people are fascinated by the prospect of sucking in traffic from Google Search and swiftly sending it away for cash via AdSense. Even in the relatively rare instances where that model results in livable amounts of cash, I thought the goal was to work for yourself, not Google.

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When you focus on attracting traffic via social media referrals and converting as many of those people as possible into subscribers, you build trust with your audience. And when you have trust, you can make money from selling stuff, whether by affiliate marketing, joint ventures, or your own products and services.

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Oh yeah. And when you have something to sell, you can put other people to work getting traffic for you.

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In case you missed it…

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If you missed my selling ebooks post, at the end I revealed that I’ll be issuing a free report next week about developing premium content that not only sells, but also results in recurring customer relationships. The report will contain strategies you can use to monetize your blog, or simply stop blogging all together.

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Stay tuned.

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Sponsored By: Add Copyblogger to your Technorati Favorites today!

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As more people start to realize that blogging for ad dollars and other free content strategies might not be the best way to make money on the web, I’m getting more and more questions related to creating information products.

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Producing information products is almost entirely an exercise in marketing. Everything from the topic you choose, to how you position it, to the copywriting strategy you use to sell it boils down to figuring out what people are willing, and even driven, to pay for.

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As far as ebooks go, the first question you have to ask is whether or not the ebook is the format you should be using at all. The humble PDF seems to be the first thing that comes to mind when people consider developing a product, but it’s often the least useful and has the lowest perceived value—at least when you want to charge for it.

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Is the Ebook Dead?

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While the format is still alive and kicking, the basic ebook is a pretty weak alternative for a real book. It has none of the tangible attributes that make books the portable and convenient information vessels they are, and the only real advantage the ebook has is that it is instantly deliverable.

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Plus, for any topic where there is already a “real” book available, you’re most likely going to lose the sale, instantly downloadable or not. People trust Amazon, and whether fair or not, they think about “real” authors to be those who are delivered in ink on dead tree material.

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So if your goal is to write a 200-page book, you might just go ahead and try to get a publisher, or even have your work self-published. People who read books tend to love books themselves, so it makes sense to give book lovers what they want… a real book.

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Ebooks That Sell Solve Problems

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The good news for people interested in making money from ebooks is that the ones that sell ideal are nowhere near 200 pages. In fact, you can often turn a sweet profit from a document that is only 10, 20 and up to 50 pages long, as long as those pages solve a problem that people will pay to have the solution to.

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Contrary to what you might think, it doesn’t matter if the solution to a problem can be found by even easy online research. “Normal” people don’t like to do in-depth research online and are often skeptical of free information sources. Do the work for them and demonstrate that you are a credible person (or partner on the ebook with someone who has the necessary credentials), and as long as the problem is real, you’ll make sales.

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There are so many ebooks out there that try to tell you that the key to successful ebook creation is “write what you love” and the money will come. They use that angle because that’s what people want to hear, and it sells a lot of ebooks about ebooks. But that doesn’t make it true.

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Desperate Buyers Only

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There’s only one ebook that provides clear guidance on how to research, develop and sell these short problem-solving documents, and it’s called Desperate Buyers Only by Alexis Dawes. This no-fluff guide quickly dispenses with the biggest myths about ebooks, and then takes you step-by-step through:

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• identifying a potential profitable topic

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• researching the viability of developing the document

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• discovering buyer hot button issues, and

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• understanding how the problem is framed in the mind of the prospect

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Alexis then walks you through her five-step variation of the problem-agitation-solution copywriting technique for creating empathy, demonstrating credibility and closing the sale. But it all goes back to the fact that you started with a highly motivated person with a problem, and therefore the “instantly downloadable” aspect of the short ebook becomes a strong selling point.

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I once commented on a review of Desperate Buyers Only that this is the ebook about creating ebooks that I would have written had I been inclined, so I have no problem recommending it to you (and using my affiliate link). It not only tells the truth about what it really takes to make money, it reveals several concrete strategies that I’ve used for years to make a great deal of money.

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Some of these strategies I still use; I just no longer use them to create ebooks.

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Moving Beyond the Ebook

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If developing brief information products that solve problems for people in dire situations isn’t for you, but you still want to explore creating content that sells, you’re in luck. There are huge opportunities, both now and into the future, for creative people who can effectively communicate ideas to others who are more than happy to pay for it.

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But you’ll need to move beyond the idea of the ebook.

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When you consider that 42% of college graduates never read a book again and that most people who actually buy a book never make it past the first chapter, books just don’t seem to be the answer these days. That’s especially true on the internet, where we have all this wonderful interactive ability combined with multimedia to create superior learning environments for buyers, and more lucrative publishing arrangements for you.

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It will take more than a blog post to cover that topic, though. But since I haven’t released a longer white paper or report since Viral Copy back in the spring of 2006, I suppose I can’t let 2007 get away without doing another one.

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Now, if I can only get it finished… but I think it’s nearly there. So, look for a free report with much, much more information on developing paid content in the very near future.

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Sponsored By: Blog World Conference and Tradeshow November 8-9, 2007, in Las Vegas!

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Or is it still really all about you?

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If there’s one thing that gets repeated at Copyblogger over and over, it’s that the key to effective blogging and on the web marketing is a relentless focus on the needs of the people you are trying to reach. I often wonder if the next time I mention it, I’ll get an angry slew of comments saying:

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OK, OK, we get it already!

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Unfortunately, I can think of two prime examples of ways in which many are not getting it. The funny thing about these two things is that they are both aspects of what makes the Internet truly unique as a marketing platform, and yet we often fail to take advantage of them.

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Take a look to see if you’re guilty of either of them.

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1. Producing Content in the Format You Personally Like

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One thing that many who publish on the internet share in common is that we prefer to read. It’s faster to scan, pull out selected pieces of information, and decide whether to invest in a more careful examination.

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The problem is, statistically the majority of people don’t like to read, and don’t comprehend and retain well when they do. The result is, those of us who publish only in text are fighting over a limited audience, while a more massive group of people go under served.

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I hear bloggers all the time claiming that they don’t do audio, video or visually enhanced online presentations because they personally don’t prefer to consume information that way. But the question you should be asking yourself is:

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What format does my prospective audience like?

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With Copyblogger, I know the vast majority of my readers are, well… readers. But learning psychology tells us that even those who learn primarily from text can benefit from a multiple media format approach. And anytime I’m developing content to sell, it’s definitely a complete audio / visual / interactive collection. The choice of media is that which is ideal for that particular information.

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Multimedia content (combinations of text, audio and visual elements) is perceived as more valuable, because for a huge segment of the population, it is more valuable. Thanks to differing learning styles, multiple formats grant most people to extract the benefits of consuming the information.

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Begin thinking about how you can gain a competitive advantage in your niche by presenting content in other formats. And remember, good copywriting is just as vital to audio, video and live presentations as it is to written text.

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2. Ignoring the Marketing Genius

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There’s only one true marketing genius in the world. Just one single person who knows exactly what it will take to make a particular person purchase.

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The genius is that particular paying customer who decides to take the desired action. What you want to achieve with your sales copy is to coordinate your approach with what results in more of those paying customers.

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To find out what this collective of marketing geniuses can tell you, you have to test different aspects of your copy against alternative approaches to see what results in the largest number of buyers. After all, are you really focusing on what more of your prospects really want and need if you refuse to find out which headline, offer and call to action they actually like within the specific context of your business?

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I’d say you’re not. What’s worse, you’re likely leaving money on the table.

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Again, many people fall into the trap of marketing in a style that they personally respond to, instead of testing what works with the people who matter—the prospects. Or worse, they blindly follow expert advice without evaluating for themselves what actually works in their particular context.

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The Internet is the most easily testable media environment so far. Everything online is trackable, and there are plenty of low cost and even free tools to do it with, so there’s really no excuse for not testing your copy.

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Don’t be Afraid to be Wrong – It’s a Contest!

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A short time ago I shared the results of a Marketing Sherpa study that concluded that telling people to “click” is still effective in certain contexts. I blogged about it because I have also received higher click through ratios by including the word “click” within the anchor text, based on my own testing.

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OK, I admit it’s not always actually “click here”—I focused on that phrase in the headline because it drives some people crazy (and it did). But I have found click combined with other text to boost conversions, often significantly.

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But what if something else works superior? Would I be upset to be wrong?

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Not at all—being attached to being right means you’re not truly focused on your audience. I’d be happy to have something to work with that people respond superior to.

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With that in mind, the conversion geniuses at FutureNow’s GrokDotCom blog have just announced a landing page contest that could bring you some very valuable data about your specific copy that will help you make more money. And I’m one of the judges of that My Hyperlink Can Beat Your Hyperlink Contest.

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Here’s how it works:

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• Just comment on this post or the ones like it at GrokDotCom and SEOmoz, linking us to the landing page you want tested and telling us why you should win.

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• Judges Brian Clark, Rand Fishkin & Bryan Eisenberg will select 5 winners.

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• To be eligible, contestants must have clear metrics and analytics in place, the ability to test (Google Website Optimizer is free, so no excuses), and the willingness to implement our suggestions.

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• Contestants must have enough traffic to yield valid test results.

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• For each of our winners, the judges will select a single link to be tested, then agree on three variations of that call to action (a.k.a., anchor link).

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• Winners will be announced Thursday, October 11th. Results and analysis of the winners’ hyperlink tests will be posted a few weeks later.

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Click here Teach your web browsing software application to engage this hyperlink in order to retrieve more information from GrokDotCom. Ouch, that much usability hurts!

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Sponsored By: Publishers, Get Paid With TLA! Offer Text Link Ads on your site and begin making more money this day.

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If so, you’ll see my first ever conference talking appearance (for better or worse).

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You know, the funny thing is, I got into on the internet publishing and copywriting so I could live anywhere I wanted and make a nice living without ever needing to get a haircut, put on decent clothes, get on a plane and speak in front of a room full of strangers.

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Something has apparently gone awry.

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So, BlogWorld may well end up being my first and last conference talking appearance. Depends on if things go badly or not.

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If you’re not already signed up, there’s still a bit more than a month until the conference, which is happening November 8-9 in Las Vegas. There’s currently a special on pricing though October 19, but you can get an additional 15% off if you sign up before October 10 by using the promotional code COPYBLOGGER.

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Note: While BlogWorld has been a sponsor here for a couple of months, they are not paying me for this post, nor have they asked me to write it. I just would like to see as many of your smiling faces there as possible, so I asked them if my readers could get an additional discount, which they were happy to provide. So there.

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If the prospect of seeing me crash and burn on stage is not enticing enough, check out all these other fine folks who will be there:

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Om Malik, Jory Des Jardins, Aaron Wall, Charlene Li, Des Walsh, Paul Dunay, Jim Kukral, Leo Laporte, Leesa Barnes, Brett Trout, Shel Israel, Hugh Hewitt, Jeremy Wright, Dave Taylor, Glenn Reynolds, Colonel Austin Bay, Bill Roggio, Matt and Uncle Jimbo from Blackfive, Greyhawk from Mudville Gazette, La Shawn Barber, David Corn, Will Leitch, Tyler Blesinski, Matt Cerrone, Scott Bourne, Alex Lindsay, Larry Webber, Howard Kaushansky, Andy Wibbels, John Furrier, Ari Newman, Steve Boyett, Larry Schwartz, Maggie Fox, Brett Trout, Craig Howe, Professor David Perlmutter, Brian Solis, Brad Feld….

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and the proverbial many, many more.

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Of course, the real benefit of these conferences is the partying networking. So what are you waiting for?

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Remember, use the promo code COPYBLOGGER to get an additional 15% off the already discounted price, but only through October 10, 2007.

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Sponsored By: Hubspot Internet Marketing Turn your website into a marketing machine and generate more leads.

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