1. Amit Agarwal
Digital Inspiration ‐ www.labnol.org
Digital Inspiration ‐ www.labnol.org ‐ © 2007 and beyond 1

2. Writing a Personal Blog ? Skip To Last Slide
Finding Fodder
Blogging Relationships
White SEO – Best Practices
Effective Monetization
Online Plagiarism, Fair Use
Gray Areas
What Works with Blogging
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3. Platform ‐ Blogger, WordPress or Tumblr
Think Ahead When Picking any URL
No Trademarks please
Blogging Toolset
Windows Live Writer / Firefox
TechSmith SnagIT + Picnik
CSS – Borders, Align, Margins
FeedBurner FAQ
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4. Build Relationships
With Blog Readers
▪ Respond to Comments
▪ Highlight, Compliment
With Fellow Bloggers
▪ Send Tips
▪ Leave Comments
Join Forums
Track Reactions & Online Reputation [ego‐surfing]
Meet Offline
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5. Limit Re‐blogging (or link‐blogging)
One Original Post Every Day
Avoid Echo Blogging
Ignore TechMeme, Digg, TechCrunch
Or add a very different perspective
Use Google Alerts, Twitter, GAS
Quickly Scan Google Groups, Forums
Credit Sources [social bookmarking ?]
The actual article, not the homepage
Do not link to the print‐only version
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6. SEO for Blogs Is Legal
Bad Titles Can Make You Extinct
Unique Number in URLs [Date ?]
Use dashes, not underscores
Meta Tags
Control Distribution of Google PageRank with NoFollow
Text, Text, Text – Never say “watch this”
Master Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Central
Never Ignore Flickr, Google Images [alt]
Picture Captions, Surrounding Text
Adobe PDFs ‐ Organic Traffic + Yahoo! Ads
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7. AdSense Is The King
Section Targeting
Split Testing
Channel Descriptions – Convince
No Banners, Only Large Formats
Do not feel shy of showcasing Ads.
Remember the letter “F”
Reward Regular Visitors with Ad‐Free Content
Avoid Ads on Homepage – Not targeted well
AdSense Sandbox
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8. Gray Areas
Text Link Ads
Link Exchanges
Paid Posts [can repel readers]
Cross Linking
Solution: REL=NOFOLLOW
Case A: <a href=quot;www.buy‐viagra.com/quot;>Cheap Viagra</a>
Case B: <a href=quot;www.free‐viagra.com/quot; rel=quot;nofollowquot;>Free Viagra</a>
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9. Why Remain Strict
Duplicate Content
Search Engines Are Generally Clueless
Finding Copy‐Paste Content
Typos, unique strings
Incoming links to external site
Dealing with Plagiarists
Polite email [with deadline]
DMCA notice to Domain Host + AdSense
When nothing works, forget it.
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10. Schedule – Don’t disappoint readers
Thick Skin – Cannot please everyone
Never Flame / Avoid Personal Attacks
Spelling / Typos
Formatting – Most People Will Scan, Not Read
Think and Write ‐ Avoid Embarrassment Later
Never Blog When Angry – It Reflects
Anything Posted Online is Undeletable
Wrote a killer post ? Tip But Don’t Spam
Avoid Blog Clutter
Offer RSS and Email subscriptions
Change that About Us Page ‐ Self Promotion Not Bad
Blog Design Matters
Readers are 100x Smarter Than You – Respect Their Time
Stop Obsessing about Stats and Income
The word “Sorry” can do wonders.
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11. Digital Inspiration
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Message Board
www.labnol.org/forums
India Blogs
http://tinyurl.com/2bvwac
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