Brian Ussery reported that Google has dropped two of the most relevant and vital bullet points from the Google Webmaster Guidelines. Those bullet points include:

* “Have other relevant sites link to yours.”
* “Submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites.”

Over at Google Groups they showed what the page looked like before & after the changes…

Google Webmaster Guidelines

Used to say:

Have other relevant sites link to yours.
Submit it to Google at http://www.google.co.uk/addurl.html.
Submit a Sitemap as part of our Google Webmaster Tools. Google uses your Sitemap to learn about the structure of your site and to increase our coverage of your web pages.
Make sure that all the sites that should know about your pages are aware that your site is online.
Submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites.

Now says:
When your site is ready:

Submit it to Google at http://www.google.com/addurl.html.
Submit a Sitemap using Google Webmaster Tools. Google uses your Sitemap to learn about the structure of your site and to increase our coverage of your webpages.
Make sure all the sites that should know about your pages are aware your site is online.

Yup, I saved screen shots, as I do because they change these things
without notice, ignorance of the law is not a defense in Googleland.

Could one of the reasons be that the old version was in conflict with them cracking down on blogs selling text links. After all to get your links on Yahoo you have to pay $299… A paid link.

Tough to tell others they are being slapped for selling text links, and turn around and recommend the Yahoo directory on their webmasters guide.

Hmm… food for thought!

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One of the best benefits of attending seminars is the networking. You get to get out from behind the computer and meet folks. Its fun to meet new people, catch up with folks you already know and mingle with the same people you follow online.

This seminar was kept small for this reason. We got to learn from people who are on the cutting edge of traffic generation, and hang out with them during breaks.

It was cool to have lunch with Ross, and pick his brain. That alone was worth the price of the seminar. Awesome stuff.

Here are a couple of pictures with some of the speakers…

Me and Ross Goldberg:

Me and Simon Leung:

I learned a lot from this seminar, but my two biggest take aways had nothing to do with traffic… here they are…

1. Fail Fast - Get out there and start taking action. You will make mistakes, and that’s OK… just make sure you learn from these mistakes, and don’t repeat them. It’s all about taking fast action

2. Focus on one idea/project – This is probably one of the most common mistakes around. We are all guilty of making this one. We have an idea, and jump into action… then a new shiny thing passes by. We drop the current idea/project & jump on the new one. Unfortunately the 1st idea/project is left unfinished. The new idea/project gets started until another can’t miss newer shinier idea/project strolls by… We drop the current idea/project to take advantage of the newer shinier idea/project… See a pattern?

Finish your current idea/project before moving on to the next one.

Now, I can’t give away all the traffic secrets I learned… but they were powerful. Some stuff I’ve never seen before. I’ve put them into action, and seen some awesome results.

You can head on over to the Three Sides of Traffic and learn how to get a copy of the seminar DVD’s with resale rights.

As an added bonus for checking out the site is you will get to see my video testimonial on the sales page.(It’s the last video testimonial on the page… They saved my testimonial for the end because it is strong enough to hold the entire sales letter up! )

Go ahead an check it out today.

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I’ve been playing around with it today, and have already posted a comment on the 30 Day Challenge blog. It’s easy to post a comment with this plugin. I also found it easy to setup in the blog.

There is a nice feature to this option. Video blog comments get added to the Seesmic public time line. That means you could grab some traffic from people searching Seesmic. Cool beans.

One thing I like about this plugin is you don’t have to have an account with Seesmic. Anyone can post anonymously. Of course to prevent morons from posting insulting or spam videos you can have them held for moderation. I’m doing that for the time being.

You can grab the plugin at Seesmic’s Wiki page. On the wiki page they show you how to install it & how it works.

I’ve added a video comment to this post, so you can see how it works.

How about posting a video comment yourself?

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Wait… I know what you’re thinking? Doh! Nothing-new here… Everybody knows that Entrecard will increase web traffic. The big problem is it’s a bunch of junk traffic.

Folks just whiz by drop their card and leave. Barely stopping long enough to even notice the name of each blog. Maybe, maybe not…

What if I told you the traffic is not as junky as been reported? Would that surprise you? Or would you scoff and be on your way?

Here are 3 ways to improve quality of Entrecard traffic…

1. Drop on those who drop on you – Make a habit to drop on those that drop on you, and you’ll get repeat visitors. And repeat visitors are more likely to participate in your blog. I really noticed an upturn in my comments after doing this.
2. Buy ads in your category - Make sure to spend your credits in your category. I’ve seen some people advise to buy all the cheap ads to get your 125X125 out there.However my experience has shown that if you are advertising in your category traffic quality improves. Remember you want like-minded people coming to your blog.
3. Drop in your category – I know there are lists out there of fast loading blogs, you drop – I follow and others like these. These lists will allow you to rack up the credits fast ,and bring traffic to your blog.However unfocused dropping it why so many get “junk” traffic. It’s not really junk… it’s unfocused. You want people coming to your blog who already have an interest in the subject of your blog. Dropping in your category brings people like-minded visitors.

One thing I’ve noticed… most of the time our blogs could fit within multiple categories. I’ve found these tips work well with related categories. So, don’t limit yourself to the category your blog appears.

These 3 tips have helped increase the quality of the traffic. Plus, they have helped improve the popularity of this blog in the Entrecard categories.

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Guest Posting is a great way to get yourself in front of targeted traffic…

One of the best methods of marketing is finding targeted traffic. Birds of a feather flock together… and that is so true with blog readers. They are interested it the same subject, and are a sympathetic ear.

Steven Snell at Pure Blogging makes a great point about how guest posting is get past the advertising defense by demonstrating your expertise…

The Best Blog Advertising is Free – Are You Using It?

Despite the title of this post, I do realize that guest posting is not really advertising. However, it allows you to accomplish many of the same objectives that an advertisement would, and in most cases it’s even more effective. …

Darrin Rowe over at Problogger makes a powerful case why guest posting is a effective way to find new readers…

Finding New Readers for Your Blog with Guest Posting

Perhaps one of the most powerful ways of exposing your writing to a new group of people is to put some of your best content on other peoples blogs – and not your own …

Jason at The University Kid goes over how to make sure you are putting out quality guest posting content. You can get a leg up on your competition if you remember to follow these steps with your guest posting…

How To Annihilate Your Competition With A Guest Post

A lot of people get sucked into the whole guest posting spree and churn out posts for various blogs in their niche… and then neglect their own website. Remember, people are notoriously fickle – their views about how good a writer you …

So, how can you take advantage of what you’ve learned at these blogs?

Simple… I’m taking a week’s vacation starting Sunday. I’m looking for some guest posters. If you would like to guest post for me next week head on over the my about me page. fill out the contact form, and submit it. I’ll get back to you, and see if we can make arrangements.

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He gets it! Chamillionaire understands the power of social media. He has started using the many social sites to feed the demand for his fans. They are demanding more content, and he realizes if he is not there to feed the demand they will go elsewhere.

Here is the video I watched today.

[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4798499561605779000&hl=en[/googlevideo]

Chamillionaire also JV’d with Weird Al Yankovic to explode his sales. He knew this would give his video new life, gave Weird Al permission to make a spoof video. He knew that Weird Al could reach an audience he couldn’t reach.

The video that Weird Al made has to date over 27 Million views… how’s that for viral. It’s titled White & Nerdy a spoof on Ridn’ Dirty. Here is the video

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw&feature=related[/youtube]

Oops, I bet you mashed on the play button and nothing happened. Why won’t Weird Al video play? It’s because big dumb corporations still don’t get it. This video’s embed feature has been disabled.

The big dumb corporation still clings to the belief that they must force people to the content. They don’t understand that the new way is to put the content where your fans gather. Watch and learn from Chamillionarie… find out where your fans are and add your content there. Get in front of them… Make it easy for them to find you.

In case you would like to see the video here is the link… White & Nerdy It is classic Weird Al… Hilarious.

You see if they like the content they will come to your website and check out what else you have. Now they are arriving because they trust you, and like what your are providing. This will make it easier to make sales… they are coming pre-sold.

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The last few days, most people have been blogging about the Google page rank updates. Judging from what I’ve read the Google page rank updates have been a lot like Christmas. There are some people that are blogging about the increase that they receive from Google. There are some that are bemoaning the fact to they’ve lost page rank. Just like Christmas, some are happy and some aren’t.

Many Blogs rely on Google Page Rank for revenue

I can see how some people are upset about their Google page rank, because of how they base their business model. A blog and that relies on page rank and or Alexa score to determine the value of their revenue hangs on the results. Personally I find it unsettling to allow a third-party to determine how much money I’m going to make.

So after reading several blogs I decided to go ahead and check my page rank. My page rank has been zero for the past four months, but today when I checked, I saw that I’ve been given a page ranking of three. Imagine my surprise.

Seeing such a big jump in my page rank this kind of cool. But since I don’t rely on these numbers to determine revenue it’s more for fun.

So, how did I manage to get a Page Rank of 3?

The big secret is… I don’t really know. I haven’t given it much thought. There are no secret SEO tactics being deployed here. At least not consciously. No keyword optimization, no secret linking strategies and no black hat tactics.

I’ve just tried to write content that I think people would like to read. Used some basic traffic generation techniques. Then got involved with the blogging community and networked with other online businesses. That’s it…

Darren Rowse over at Problogger in his video post Google Page Rank Updating… BUT… summed it up perfectly. Don’t build your blog for the page rank… just build a quality blog.

Congratulations to those who got a wonderful Christmas present from Google. And to those who got a lump of coal my condolences.

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My hard drive is full of traffic generation ‘secrets’ in one form or another. Some were paid; others were included as bonuses and the rest were free. So, I started reading them. A pattern started to emerge; the same tactics, strategies and techniques kept popping up. Of course many would have a different twist, but the principles remain the same.

Then the light bulb went off (or on) in my head……and got me thinking. So I sat down and wrote out all the things I do to get traffic to this blog.

Here are top 10 things you can do, right now, to get traffic…

1.Put up a blog post - Yep original content will get traffic to your blog. Search engines are looking for new, original content. They do this because their customers (people looking for information) demand it.

2.Submit a post to a blog carnival - This is a powerful way to pull traffic from the blogosphere. Submit one of your best posts to blogcarnival.com.

3.Leave a relevant comment on another blog - Leave a strong comment and people reading will click on your link to see what else you have to say. Leave a lame comment and you will be ignored. Avoid comments such as “I agree.” “Good Info.” –these are lame-o! If you have a relevant comment to post, then write it out.

4.Write and submit an article - Articles still work… Articles still work… Articles still work. Hope I made the point clear. I still get traffic from articles I wrote months and months ago. Don’t know what to write about? Why not rewrite one of your blog posts?

5.Record a video - There are people who don’t have time to read, and get their information by watching videos. A video is a great way to find another source of traffic that would normally miss your blog. Hey, look at how popular You Tube is!!

6. Add some friends at Twitter – Go to Twitter, and start looking for people who have the same interest you have. Add them as a friend. They will usually check out your profile, and visit your blog. Make sure your profile is good, and gives them a reason to visit your blog.

7.Sign up for MyBlogLog & add some friends - For the same reasons you add friends at Twitter you add friends at MyBlogLog.

8.Drop some Entrecards – There has been a lot of talk about Entrecard driving junk traffic… but I can tell you that many people who comment here are coming from Entrecard… nuff said.

9.respond to a forum post - It in vogue to bash forums, but it still gets you traffic. Make sure your are adding valuable comments. This will get people curious to see what you are doing on your blog. One quick tip… make sure your signature file only has one or at most 2 links.

10.Make sure you are using trackbacks - Trackbacks kill two birds with one stone… you get to write a blog post responding to the other bloggers post, and you get to add a relevant comment.

These are 10 things you can do to start getting traffic to your site today.

Here are a few other posts I found about driving traffic to your blog:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/01/04/7-types-of-blog-posts-which-always-seem-to-get-links-and-traffic/

http://www.blogtrepreneur.com/2008/03/03/increase-blog-traffic/

http://blog.2createawebsite.com/2008/02/18/how-i-doubled-my-blog-traffic-in-2-months/

http://newsletter.theebookcavern.co.uk/6-creative-ways-to-generate-traffic-for-your-blog.html

http://www.searchengineguide.com/mack-collier/10-easy-ways-to-grow-your-blog-traffic.php

But, once again it is only as good as the action you take on these tips…

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Whew! That’s a long title…

But I wanted to point out 3 blog posts you might have missed.

Stop Linking To Your Home Page! from Lynn Terry over at Clicknewz. I knew that deep links are something that the search engines like to see. I also know you should add your URL to blog comments because it’s a good way to get backlinks and traffic. The one thing that I haven’t thought of was putting them together. She sums it up perfectly here…

Stop being general, and start being super specific with your links. Of course, you’ll want to make sure that your website has good navigation, and that each individual web page contains a strong Call To Action. Remember: what makes visitors happy, usually makes search engines happy too

One thing… I know the back links don’t work is a blog is no-follow.

Are You Committing This Cardinal Marketing Sin? from James Lee over at Online Business tells you to give your customers what they want… not what they need. What he says here is the tightrope you need to follow marketing to your customers…

A side note – Something important to bring up here is that we don’t simply give our prospects a bunch of flash in the pan products that they will buy, then not accomplish anything with.

As someone who understands the path they are currently on, this would be an abuse of your power. It’s unethical and karmacally unclean.

Instead, it’s up to you to take your prospects and customers by the hand, and gently lead them to what they need through the doorway of what they want.

12 Ways to Be a More Interactive and Accessible Blogger by Darren Rowse over at Problogger makes the point that you need to have a strong line of communication with your readers. I like these tips because they show many different ways to open that line of communication. And you can do this without becoming a slave to your blog…

Today I want to share a few tips on how to remain accessible to readers even when your blog is growing and the demands on your time become greater. By no means am I an expert in this – but here are a few things I’ve learned.

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I know some folks would argue with this. They say that putting up a lot of content with no traffic is a waste of time. And to a point they are right. If you drive a ton of traffic to a site with no content… you’ll have 1st time visitors. But will they return? Probably not.

Content and Traffic go hand in hand. You need both to have a thriving blog.

Creating content can be tough, and one of the drawbacks of blogging.  Writing posts is time consuming especially if you don’t have a plan to follow.  One way to do this is by writing posts that other bloggers have found to be popular and easy to write.

I’ve seen lists with as many of 25 or more types of blog posts you can write.  I’ve narrowed my list to 5 my favorite types of posts.  I like these types of posts because they are easy to write., and when it’s easy to do I’m more likely to get it done…

1. Lists or tips posts – This is a popular type of post. Can be a list of tips, or a resource list. People like to read lists because they can get to the information quick. This is an example of a list post.

2. Comment posts – Let’s say you are writing a comment on another blog. You find that your comment is a couple hundred words long. Instead of adding a long comment why not expand it a little and post it to your blog? This is one I wrote in February: Are Questions The Answer In Your Copy?

3. Rant posts – Want to get something off your chest? Is something bugging you? Well then write a post about it… You’ll find this is an easy post to write. Especially when you are a little riled up. Here is a good example of a rant post from Michel Fortin titled: The Real Sinister Side of Forced Continuity

4. Interview posts – One of my most popular posts is An Interview With Copywriter Stephen Dean. Good part about this post is I only had to write the questions & opening paragraph.

5. Meme posts – Some one writes a post about their favorite books or movies. Then they ask readers to make a blog post about the same. This is fun to write. Here is one in response to Ryan Healy’s meme: 9 Books That Influenced Me The Most…

It’s informative to read lists, but the real question is… What are you going to do with this information?

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