Top Blog Posts of the Year

Well, its been a while since I wrote a blog post. I've been working hard to get two of my other projects off the ground - Only Facebook and Emarketing Newsletter.

In an effort to start contributing more frequently, I figured I would kick off the New Year right by re-capping the most popular blog posts of 2009. These were measured by re-tweets, diggs, site engagement and incoming links.

Top Blog Posts of 2009:

• Optimizing Title Tags in Blogger (look for an update to this post soon!)
  
• Top 8 DoFollow Link Finder Tools
• Internet Marketing Maturity Models
• Top 75 Twitter Tools, Apps & Plugins
• Track SEO Rankings with Google Analytics
• PPC Management for Firefox Download
• Keyword Research Flowchart
• 200+ Negative Keywords for B2B PPC Campaigns
• Blogger Statistics - Who Are They?
  
• Scam: Domain Listing Services Corp.

What are your favorite blog posts of the past year? Leave them in the comments!

20 Must Have Pages for Every Blogger

I stumbled upon ProBloggers post regarding 20 Types of Pages that Every Blogger Should Consider and thought it would be a perfect follow up to the 52 Ways to Optimize Your Blog post.

It's important to note static pages are different from blog posts. The blog posts you create are dated and show up on your blog in chronological order. The static pages sit on individual web pages and are linked to from the navigation bar of your blog. These pages never move and the content stays the same until it is updated again.

I summarized a couple of my favorites but all 20 are definitely worth considering depending on the size of your blog and its readership.



1. About Page - perhaps one of the best uses of a blog static page. Having an about page is essential in my mind as it gives new readers to your blog a snapshot of who you are and why they should subscribe to your blog. This is the page that I go to every time I hit a new blog.

2. Contact Page - I’m amazed how many bloggers don’t have any way of contacting them on their blog. While I understand the temptation not to have one you could be missing out of wonderful opportunities by not giving readers, potential partners, press, other bloggers a way of contacting you.

11. Services Pages - If you offer services to readers then develop a dedicated sales page for yourself and link to it prominently on your blog. The example here is my Consulting page - a page I used to point to regularly. These days I don’t offer these services any more (due to workload) so have not promoted it for a while. I find that when you have a dedicated page to selling your services you can sell yourself much more expansively than just a quick mention elsewhere on your blog.

14. Sneeze Pages - one great way to propel people deep within your blog is to develop a Sneeze Page or a ‘Best of’ page that highlights some of the better articles on your blog around a particular theme. Put links to these pages on your sidebar or refer to them in posts and you’ll see your page impressions per visit

15. Testimonial Pages - if you’re selling something (even if it’s yourself) to have some sort of a testimonial page can be very worthwhile. People base buying decisions increasingly upon the opinions of others - so capture some of these opinions and present them.

Darren lists quite a few other options as well, though many apply only to certain types of blogs. I would advise reading the entire list! You are sure to stop at least one static page idea you haven't already implemented. If your blog publishes plenty of content, check out #8 and #9. If your blog is used to promote functions or you're a requested speaker, consider adding #16.

Top 10 Most Influential Blog Posts - 2007

Top 10 Most Influential Blog Posts for '07

As 2007 quickly comes to a close we have seen a lot of changes, shake-ups, mergers, mix-ups - whatever you want to call it - in the Internet marketing industry. I stumbled upon a great blog post that combines a few of the better stories and articles of the year in review.

There is a lot of good information here, so please take the time read any that you may have not see before now.

You will not be disappointed! Enjoy:)

1. Andy Hagans’ Ultimate Guide to Linkbaiting and SMM
   I don’t remember if social media sites were as widely popular in the beginning of 2007 as they are now, but this guide provides almost all of the details you need to start creating link bait for promotional efforts in high traffic’d social media websites. Need more assistance? Here are some more specific link bait and viral marketing examples to get you on your way.
   
   
2. But is it SPAM?
   I could probably include a dozen posts from SEOBook that I find of value, but the specific examples herein provide a thought provoking discussion on what you should or should not be doing for your own search engine marketing strategy.
   
   
3. Google Local Search Glossary
   The promise of local search has a bit more luster on Cape Cod than in other places, and this collection of local search terms and definitions is one of the first places to reference when considering how to implement local SEO strategies.
   
   
4. The First Question You Should Ask Your SEO Consultant
   Brian Provost caused a real stir when he wrote this post about the field of SEO consulting, but it made me think a lot more about why I am an SEO consultant and where I want to be, 1, 5 and 10 (plus) years out down the road.
   
   
5. Google’s Power - The Only Thing to Fear, Is Fear Itself
   Maybe I am missing the point, but this post provides inspiration and motivation on ways to create self-sustaining business models and depend less on the stability of other entities (or sole entities) for revenue generation. A must read if you are out there forging your way with an online business model.
   
   
6. Blogging Is About Writing
   Guest authored by Lorelle VanFossen, this post basically sums up about 100 other “how-to-blog” posts out there today, detailing 30 blog writing tips, suggestions and best practices. Of course there is material more detailed out there, but start here to figure out which areas of blog writing you need to improve first.
   
   
7. The SEO Playbook - Welcome to the Rabbit Hole Alice
   This post on SEO strategy is a must read for those getting into the search engine marketing space or even the fairly experienced looking to touch up their skills and background. Easy to digest concepts with an incredible amount of third party links and reference points to follow.
   
   
8. The First Principle of Social Web Apps and its Implications
   What interested me most about “First Principles” is the sheer simplicity of the concept. “For each ‘complete’ user interaction”, the user must receive more value than the energy expended, to complete a given task. Basically, this idea needs to be applied to every online marketing strategy recommended and implemented.
   
   
9. Newsflash: You’re Damn Right It’s a Popularity Contest
   When people started complaining about social media sites like Sphinn, popularity and popular people, Rae Hoffman’s “straight up” way of communicating what really is a key component of search engine marketing was simply a breath of fresh air amidst a lot noise pollution.
   
   
10. “There Are No Secrets” and other SEO Myths
    Are there SEO secrets? I really don’t know because I don’t know if you know what I know about search engines and search engine rankings. It all sounds so easy in blog format; then you roll up your sleeves and need to determine just how easy, and how many secrets there really are.