I came across this great blog post today about the most common flaw in author websites.

Any guess what it might be?

Focus.

Determining what you most want your visitor to do and telling him or her exactly how to do it.

The post also has examples of 5 different sites and what’s good or bad about them. I’d recommend visiting the Exhibit links before you read the commentary to see if you can spot the good or bad parts of each site. This is a great way to see if you have the gene for “good design” (and if not make sure you hire someone to help you design your websites and your book covers)!

You can read the entire post here.

A couple more website challenges I see are

1. not enough info to help me decide if I should buy/if I really want it,
2. bad graphic design (including poor/jagged graphics),
3. too much focus on the author and not enough focus on how the site can help the visitor,
4. too hard to buy,
5. no contact info and
6. no way to subscribe for more info/no reason to subscribe.

What do you think? Anything else I missed?

Every website (including yours!) needs an email newsletter. Why? Because of the bazillion marketing messages your visitors will receive today. Once you go to all the trouble of learning how to get traffic to your blog, then you have to get your visitor to DO something.

Even though you may want them to buy on the spot, experts tell us it takes 7-9 exposures before a potential prospect turns into a buyer…. and an email newsletter is a wonderful way to get more exposure.

We set up email newsletter functionality for all our blogsite clients, but you’ll notice there are several different email newsletter software programs we are using. To help you determine which one is the best, here are 10 questions you should ask about each service:

1. Does the email newsletter software offer a free or low-cost trial version, a demo version or a money-back guarantee? You want a chance to experiment with the software to see if you like the way it works or not.

2. Does it offer free newsletter templates? Especially if you are setting up your own newsletter, you want an easy-to-design newsletter that lets you incorporate your business logo or book cover.

3. What does the email newsletter cost, and even more importantly, what does it cost as your list grows? Your goal should be to have 10,000 subscribers, and several of the services, while inexpensive at the beginning, start rising in a hurry once you have 500, 1,000 or just 2,500 subscribers.

4. Can you send unlimited messages? Many of the email newsletter programs will charge you per message sent rather than per user. We never recommend these services because we want you to feel confident sending messages whenever you want to (especially when you want to announce something new).

5. What does the service do to ensure deliverability of your newsletters? It can be difficult to get email delivered. Many of the largest services create relationships with the major internet service providers to help track their deliverability. They also require double opt-in which means that when an email address is entered, a confirmation link is sent to the new subscriber to ensure they did want to subscribe (this stops spammers who use email addresses without permission).

6. Do you have unlimited sequential autoresponder services? An autoresponder is a special kind of email functionality that lets you set up a series of messages (for example, a message a week for the next 52 weeks) and then each time someone subscribes, they will receive the messages in order. It doesn’t matter when they subscribe, they always get the first message and then each one in order.

This can be an easy additional revenue stream if you can reposition your content into a weekly or monthly “course” delivered by email (Want to know more? Check out Membernaire here. I’m a member and it’s a thorough step-by-step course.)

7. Does the newsletter service automatically convert your RSS feeds into newsletters? An RSS feed is the technology that automatically notifies readers of your blog that you have new contents. Some of the services automatically create email newsletters from your RSS feeds.

8. Can you personalize the messages? Most services let you collect your visitors’ names and then let you put the names in the newsletter so you can say, “Hi Julie” at the beginning of each message.

9. How long has the service been around? The real challenge for email newsletter services is staying power. Many of the free services, especially, started out strong but then their policies prevented them from being a long-term solution, and they shut down leaving their publishers without a way to reach their subscribers.

10. Does the service support CAN-SPAM requirements? The CAN-SPAM legislation has some very specific requirements for email newsletter publishers, and many of the services handle the requirements for you.

11. Can you schedule your messages to go out sometime in the future? This feature is really helpful when you plan to go on vacation. You can schedule your newsletter so it will continue to go out without you.

12. Is your newsletter archived for you? One of the best ways to get new subscribers is to share past issues with them. Some of the email newsletter services will set up archives for you.

Another common question is whether instead of paying for a service, can you just use one of the free services, like Yahoo Groups, for your newsletter? Can you? Yes. Should you? No, and here’s why….. most of these services put unrelated advertising in your newsletter. Do you really want to send your visitors to someone else’s site–and not even get paid for the advertising? It’s also a challenge to get yourself off these services because you have to resubscribe everyone to your new service (and lots of people won’t take the time to resubscribe). You don’t want to know how I know this (one of my sites is still using Yahoo Groups because of this!)

My number one piece of advice about email newsletter software is to get started with the right service from the very beginning. Moving around later will cost you subscribers. It’s much better to pay a little more now and have a long-term solution.

Here are my favorite email newsletter software programs:

Aweber - Easy-to-use, good deliverability, flat monthly fee for unlimited messages to 10,000 subscribers, supports RSS and includes HTML templates. Find out more about aWeber here.

iContact - Easy-to-use, includes over 300 templates, archives, pricing varies with number of subscribers. Get more info on iContact here.

OrganizedCart.com - Useful if you will be selling downloadable items or doing teleseminars/webinars where you would like your buyers added to an email list once they buy. Bit more complex to use, and may be more than you need. We typically set up the system for our clients, and then train them on the pieces they need to use. Try the trial version here.

Feedburner.com or Feedblitz.com - These two solutions are specifically for bloggers and will notify your subscribers automatically each timen you’ve made a new post.

With a little time spent experimenting, you can find the perfect email newsletter service for you.

In my last post on how to blog, we discussed how to find search-engine friendly phrases to blog about.

Here is another quick and easy way to find something to blog about: comment on current news in your topic area and add your own spin on it.

For example, I typed “what’s new in blogging” into Google. Then I clicked on the News tab to see an article that mentions how libraries are using blogging to increase circulation here. Here is the post I could do about it:

Even Libraries See the Power of Blogging

Libraries are jumping on the blogging bandwagon and are using the medium to increase circulation. The Williamsburg Regional Library in Virginia has recently launched Blogging for a Good Book, and noticed how this new medium has attracted readers of not only the latest titles, but also older titles. As LibraryJournal.com reported in their book survey article, all of the titles being blogged about are circulating, even older ones.

Since blogging is such an interactive experience, libraries can use this medium to connect with their patrons. The commenting feature of blogs could even be used to facilitate online book discussion groups. Libraries and blogs are definitely a good mix, and an area for growth for both librarians and readers.

A couple features for you to note:

• These types of posts can be quick and easy-to-write,
• They provide interesting topics for your readers,
• Include links to the original news article so your readers can find out more,
• Be sure to expand on the topic with your own original spin,

and

• Definitely use the online news sources to find the latest and greatest news on your topic.

Just a little surfing can provide a quick and easy way to blog!

One of the biggest challenges for a new blogger learning how to blog is determining what to write about. We have a list of 15 different ways to blog that we share with our clients, and I’ll describe one of them here.

First, think about the question, “What is something my readers really need to know about?” Make a list of the 10 most common questions you get about your topic. Then do keyword research to see exactly what phrases are used most often in the search engines for that topic.

For example, one of the topics you need to know about when creating your blog is a “blogroll”. So I went to the Wordtracker keyword tool and determined that the most commonly typed phrase is What is a blogroll? So then I wrote a post with the title, Glossary: What is a Blogroll? and back when I created this post, I ranked #11 on Google for this phrase–and I got traffic from it.

The Wordtracker keyword tool will tell you the different phrases people type in and how popular each one is. The best way to start is by typing in a fairly general phrase (for example, I used “blog”) and then look at the list Wordtracker generates. Then you can pick a phrase that is used often and is easy for you to blog about.

So if you’re having trouble determining what to blog about, follow these three simple steps:

1) Go back to basics. What do your readers need to know?
2) Do keyword research with the Wordtracker keyword tool to see how they are looking for that phrase.
3) Create a post with a commonly-used keyword phrase in the title and in the post.

It doesn’t get much easier than that when you are trying to learn how to blog!

I’m sure you’ve heard the proverb that “A picture is worth a thousand words.” In the blogging world, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a picture on a blog is priceless.

Pictures add feelings, emotions, excitement and then you also get to add words for your readers to help explain why the picture has been included. Our client, Erica Ross-Krieger at WellnessCoach.com, does a fantastic job of including photos in her posts.

See how you instantly get a feeling for what this post is about without even reading it?

You want to do the same thing on your blog… give your visitors a feeling for what you’re talking about before they even start.

So where do you get the photos? The internet has plenty of photo sites where you can purchase photos (and some are even free)! Just make sure you read the terms of use on each site to make sure you have the copyright/permission to use a photo on your blog. You may need to pay for the right to use a photo, and sometimes you pay royalties based on how many times it is used.

Two of my favorite places to get budget-friendly images are iStockPhoto and Big Stock Photo.

I was going to recommend a popular site for free images but after checking their terms, I couldn’t….they don’t get model releases for the photos and you could inadvertently post a photo without the proper permission.

Another thing to keep in mind with your blogsite is “How busy is my site?” You’ll notice we don’t have a lot a photos on YourBlogTeam.com…. mainly because the site has lots of places for your eye to land the way it is. Because of the unique design with the offset header, the rolling headlines at the top, and the text fully justified, adding too much more could be overwhelming to the visitor.

So do you use photos on your blog? Why or why not?

I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.

Increase your blog traffic with these ten traffic tips from Yaro Starak, guru of Blog Mastermind and author of the Blog Profits Blueprint.

In every bloggers life comes a special day - the day they first launch a new blog. Now unless you went out and purchased someone else’s blog chances are your blog launched with only one very loyal reader - you. Maybe a few days later you received a few hits when you told your sister, father, girlfriend and best friend about your new blog but that’s about as far you went when it comes to finding readers.

Here are the top 10 techniques new bloggers can use to find readers. These are tips specifically for new bloggers, those people who have next-to-no audience at the moment and want to get the ball rolling.

It helps if you work on this list from top to bottom as each technique builds on the previous step to help you create momentum. Eventually once you establish enough momentum you gain what is called “traction”, which is a large enough audience base (about 500 readers a day is good) that you no longer have to work too hard on finding new readers. Instead your current loyal readers do the work for you through word of mouth.

Top 10 Blog Traffic Tips

10. Write at least five major “pillar” articles. A pillar article is usually a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are longer than 500 words and have lots of very practical tips or advice. This article you are currently reading could be considered a pillar article since it is very practical and a good “how-to” lesson. This style of article has long term appeal, stays current (it isn’t news or time dependent) and offers real value and insight. The more pillars you have on your blog the better.

9. Write one new blog post per day minimum. Not every post has to be a pillar, but you should work on getting those five pillars done at the same time as you keep your blog fresh with a daily news or short article style post. The important thing here is to demonstrate to first time visitors that your blog is updated all the time so they feel that if they come back tomorrow they will likely find something new. This causes them to bookmark your site or subscribe to your blog feed.

You don’t have to produce one post per day all the time but it is important you do when your blog is brand new. Once you get traction you still need to keep the fresh content coming but your loyal audience will be more forgiving if you slow down to a few per week instead. The first few months are critical so the more content you can produce at this time the better.

8. Use a proper domain name. If you are serious about blogging be serious about what you call your blog. In order for people to easily spread the word about your blog you need an easily rememberable domain name. People often talk about blogs they like when they are speaking to friends in the real world (that’s the offline world, you remember that place right?) so you need to make it easy for them to spread the word and pass on your URL. Try and get a .com if you can and focus on small easy to remember domains rather than worry about having the correct keywords (of course if you can get great keywords and easy to remember then you’ve done a good job!).

7. Start commenting on other blogs. Once you have your pillar articles and your daily fresh smaller articles your blog is ready to be exposed to the world. One of the best ways to find the right type of reader for your blog is to comment on other people’s blogs. You should aim to comment on blogs focused on a similar niche topic to yours since the readers there will be more likely to be interested in your blog.

Most blog commenting systems allow you to have your name/title linked to your blog when you leave a comment. This is how people find your blog. If you are a prolific commentor and always have something valuable to say then people will be interested to read more of your work and hence click through to visit your blog.

6. Trackback and link to other blogs in your blog posts. A trackback is sort of like a blog conversation. When you write a new article to your blog and it links or references another blogger’s article you can do a trackback to their entry. What this does is leave a truncated summary of your blog post on their blog entry - it’s sort of like your blog telling someone else’s blog that you wrote an article mentioning them. Trackbacks often appear like comments.

This is a good technique because like leaving comments a trackback leaves a link from another blog back to yours for readers to follow, but it also does something very important - it gets the attention of another blogger. The other blogger will come and read your post eager to see what you wrote about them. They may then become a loyal reader of yours or at least monitor you and if you are lucky some time down the road they may do a post linking to your blog bringing in more new readers.

5. Encourage comments on your own blog. One of the most powerful ways to convince someone to become a loyal reader is to show there are other loyal readers already following your work. If they see people commenting on your blog then they infer that your content must be good since you have readers so they should stick around and see what all the fuss is about. To encourage comments you can simply pose a question in a blog post. Be sure to always respond to comments as well so you can keep the conversation going.

4. Submit your latest pillar article to a blog carnival. A blog carnival is a post in a blog that summarizes a collection of articles from many different blogs on a specific topic. The idea is to collect some of the best content on a topic in a given week. Often many other blogs link back to a carnival host and as such the people that have articles featured in the carnival enjoy a spike in new readers.

To find the right blog carnival for your blog, do a search at http://blogcarnival.com/.

3. Submit your blog to blogtopsites.com. To be honest this tip is not going to bring in a flood of new readers but it’s so easy to do and only takes five minutes so it’s worth the effort. Go to Blog Top Sites, find the appropriate category for your blog and submit it. You have to copy and paste a couple of lines of code on to your blog so you can rank and then sit back and watch the traffic come in. You will probably only get 1-10 incoming readers per day with this technique but over time it can build up as you climb the rankings. It all helps!

2. Submit your articles to EzineArticles.com. This is another tip that doesn’t bring in hundreds of new visitors immediately (although it can if you keep doing it) but it’s worthwhile because you simply leverage what you already have - your pillar articles. Once a week or so take one of your pillar articles and submit it to Ezine Articles. Your article then becomes available to other people who can republish your article on their website or in their newsletter.

How you benefit is through what is called your “Resource Box”. You create your own resource box which is like a signature file where you include one to two sentences and link back to your website (or blog in this case). Anyone who publishes your article has to include your resource box so you get incoming links. If someone with a large newsletter publishes your article you can get a lot of new readers at once.

1. Write more pillar articles. Everything you do above will help you to find blog readers however all of the techniques I’ve listed only work when you have strong pillars in place. Without them if you do everything above you may bring in readers but they won’t stay or bother to come back. Aim for one solid pillar article per week and by the end of the year you will have a database of over 50 fantastic feature articles that will work hard for you to bring in more and more readers.

This article was by Yaro Starak, a professional blogger and my blog mentor. He is the leader of the Blog Mastermind mentoring program designed to teach bloggers how to earn a full time income blogging part time.

To get more information about Blog Mastermind click this link.

Want to know more about getting profits from your blog? Read the Blog Profits Blueprint.

What are the biggest blogs in your topic area? Not sure? Here’s how to find out:

1. Go to Technorati.com and enter your main keyword phrase. You’ll get a list of blog posts about your topic.
2. Then go to Google.com and enter your phrase with +blog attached.

You’ll start to get a feel for what blogs are the important ones in your area of expertise.

Then what?

• Add them to your reader so you can follow their posts.
• If they are really good, you may want to add them to your blogroll.
• You can always trackback to their posts.
• For the really advanced bloggers like you, you can find more even more blogs that link to them and expand your empire in the same way.

Let me give you an example. I want to find some of the best blogs about blogging so I went to Technorati and got 1,299,219 blog posts and 23,539 blogs.  Yikes!  Now the tricky part is trying to determine which of these are the most relevant and important.  There are two numbers you can look at on Technorati:  the number of fans and the authority.  Several of the top blogs are listed in my blogroll.

Another thing you can look at is the Technorati list of top blogs and commenting when their posts are relevant to your topic. This is an easy way to get traffic to your blog since Technorati is such a good blog search engine!

P.S.  Make the blogosphere even better by adding your favorite blogs and posts to Technorati (we use the green button on the right hand sidebar that says, Add this Blog to My Technorati Favorites-thanks)!

De.licio.us is one of a suite of social bookmarking sites.  It has three main purposes:

1. an online site to store your bookmarks,
2. a place to share your bookmarks with friends, and
3. a site to check out what other people are bookmarking.

An added benefit is you can assign tags (keywords) to the bookmarks.

You can use number 3 to get traffic to your blog.  By bookmarking your posts with your targeted keywords, you can get a relevant link to your blog.  You may also get visitors to your blog who stumble across your bookmark.

Another useful feature of de.licio.us is you can find other popular blogs in your topic area.  Search de.licio.us for your topic and see what kinds of items are popular and bookmarked frequently.

Be sure to be a responsible bookmarker by not only bookmarking your site, but other sites with outstanding content.

One last thought…. to get to the de.licio.us site just type in http://de.licio.us  (no www or .com).

Blog Rush is a brand new way to get traffic to your blog…. and I’ll use this post to review it for you and let you know how it works to generate targeted users to the site.

What is it? Blog Rush is a small box you add to the sidebar of your blog. Inside the box, relevant blog posts from other blogs are listed (and your blog posts show up on other related sites in there Blog Rush box). Your users can click on a post and it opens a new window to a different blog. You can see a video that explains exactly how it works at BlogRush.com video.

So far here are my initial impressions about Blog Rush….

• It couldn’t be easier to sign up. A little bit of info and you get code to insert into your template and the Blog Rush box appears.
• The software has been created by John Reese, Traffic Secrets guru. He was the first Internet marketer to have a million dollar product launch day so I always keep an eye on what he’s doing!
• You can also block certain types of posts from appearing in your Blog Rush box.
• You get credits if another blog signs up to BlogRush from your link, too.

I’ll follow up this post with more details on how much traffic it generates for me. Stay tuned and in the meantime, sign up for your BlogRush account right away.