But what is the best way to receive guest articles on YOUR site, over and over again?

Essentially what you want to do is “create a dedicated guest article submission page”. You need to make it easy for others to submit guest content on your site. The easier, the better!

When you do this, I assure you, the submissions will flow.

First make it loud and clear that you ACCEPT guest posts on your site. Use banners or text links to announce that you freely (and gladly) make use of guest post articles. Then give clear instructions on where and how to do it. Via the guest article submission page. In this page, you would include the following:

• a form that others fill out
• the form (or page) would look like this
• allow for picture uploads (optional)
• allow links (optional)
• do NOT set the submissions to auto-approve (unless you like s.p.a.m.)
• look over each guest article submission, and approve accordingly
• send a note via email to the sender, when article is approved (or denied)
• thank the sender
• enjoy the free content!
• want more good examples of guest post submission pages? See Wisebread, Trick Daddy, Wp Blogger and I Will teach You To Be Rich

How To Create The Page

You can create the guest article page several ways, but one quick way is through the use of a wp plugin. I use a contact WordPress plugin and tweak it a bit for my purposes.

image via WpBlogger.com

Once you’ve created the page, be sure to write a post on your site letting those who follow you, know that you accept guest articles. Then pass that post along to your social network. In other words, get the word out.

And do it periodically, not just once.

Ideally your site or blog, should have some PR juice that it can pass along to the guest blogger, anything above a PR 1 is good. This is the best way to thank the blogger for the content he or she has freely given you. To check the PR of your site, use this free pagerank checker tool.

This is a pretty simple and straightforward (traffic and backlink tip) anyone can implement right away. Ok. Let’s recap.

The best way to receive countless guest post articles on your blog is to make it EASY for others to submit it. Via the creation of a dedicated guest article submission page. However, no one will submit anything if they don’t know you allow this. So get the word out that you LOVE to receive guest posts.

You know what comes next, right? Yep! I want to let you know that I freely (and gladly) accept guest articles on my blog. And you can do so, via my guest article page. The categories which I discuss on this blog, are as follows; Blogging Tips, Net Marketing, Site Flipping, Twitter and anything exciting to do with Wordpess.

Know examples of good “dedicated” guest post pages? Share the name and link below.

(blogger image via) Ruud Hein

Below are my top five SEO tips for WordPress bloggers.

1. Install an SEO plugin on your blog - such as the powerful All-in-One Seo or the newer more robust Platinum SEO. These two take care of alot of the basic onsite search engine optimization you need on your blog posts and pages. (this mostly applies to WordPress bloggers)

2. Get Backlinks – it doesn’t matter if your blog is a day old or 3 months old, you can never start too early to hunt down for link opportunities. Start with relevant directories.

3. Link To Yourself – Well not exactly. What I mean is make sure you regularly link to other articles, pages and blog posts you’ve written. This creates a spider web effect that search engines know and rely on.

4. Install a Sitemap – Sitemaps are literally maps to the content on your blog, and Google loves them. My favorite way to add a sitemap to my blogs is with the Dagon Design sitemap plugin. Fast, easy and free.

5. Use a Related Posts Plugin – this action produces similar results as installing a sitemap. It lets Google know of the content on your site and how it relates to the overall topic of your blog.

These are basic but powerful ideas, don’t underestimate any of these tips. If you haven’t yet added or practiced these SEO tips, now is a great time.

You’ll rise to the top in no time.

Next Article!

Our next article will touch on the topic of: traffic generation.

1. Name – Every website needs a domain name that’s descriptive and relevant, but what type of name should you pick? There are two rules of thought here. One is to go the brand route and use a name that over time will become relevant. Second is to go the route of a keyword-rich name which will rank well and instantly let your readers, visitors, and the search engines know what you’re about. Which domain name route you opt for is entirely up to you, but deciding upfront which you’ll be taking is what you want to focus on.

2. Structure – You want a site that is search engine friendly and one of the best ways to optimize a site from the get go is to use a blog format, such as WordPress. With WordPress you get search engine friendly URL’s, as you get to choose the URL structure within the back-end area of WP.

The URL (or permalink) of your site should have keywords in it, so when search engines spider it – they know what its about.

3. Purpose – Every website should figure out what is it’s PRIMARY focus – is it to capture leads, direct sales, testimonials, or provide information? Determine this early on as it will help when it comes time to develop a content strategy.

The purpose of your site will also determine its layout and design.

4. Design – The look and feel of your website says alot about you. Do you want a standard generic template or a custom design which highlights your logo and unique brand?

With WordPress you have several choices -

A. Free Theme: A generic template found on the web.
B. Premium Theme (with customizations): A paid for theme you can customize.
C. Custom Theme: A theme created from scratch specific to you.

I recommend B or C. Either will serve the purpose of having a professionally designed blog website that stands out.

Some good premium WordPress themes include: Fresh News Theme, Thesis Theme, and Revolution Church Theme.

5. Layout – Depending on the purpose of your site (see above) you will want to lay out your site accordingly. If the purpose of your site is to gather leads then be sure to highlight your sign up form. If the purpose of your site is to sell directly, be sure to make it easy to place an order. If the purpose of your site is to be an information portal, set it up so that it highlights information right from the onset.

6. Content – Every website should have the following pages:

About Us Page – What are you about? What is your business about? How are you different? Etc.

Contact Us Page – Make it super duper easy for anyone to reach you. Add a contact form and let people know how and when to BEST reach you.

Services Page – What services do you offer? What are your skills? Any credentials? Highlight your unique offerings here.

WordPress makes it easy to add as many pages as you need. Think about your sites purpose and fill accordingly.

As for articles – keeping your blog website fresh with new content will keep the search engines coming back again and again. This is a good thing. Think about what your customers (and prospective customers) are interested in. What do they want to learn? What tips would they find useful? What keeps them entertained? Fill your blog with these useful, informative or entertaining articles. You can add as many articles as you like and style your site in blog format or style it in a more traditional format – but whichever style you choose – you want to make it known you have relevant articles available for your audience. Make sure this is apparent from the first glance.

7. Plan – Every website should have a marketing plan. How will you spread the word – online, offline, social media, advertising, family and friends?

Have a plan and work the plan. Incorporate your website URL in all your communications, from your business cards to customer newsletters, mentioning it in seminars, attaching to email signatures, etc.

Decide early on how you will promote your blog website. Have a plan in place.

These tips are meant for new blog websites, but can be applied to any site. If you run a small business and don’t yet have a website, but have been mulling over the idea – it’s never too late to create an online presence.

Follow the tips above and don’t just create a website, create an online presence that will explode your sales, leads, and income.

RSS Readers: What Tip Can You Add?

What tip do you have for small business owners looking to create their first website?

Maybe you waited till you had a certain number of articles, or reached a certain number of subscribers before you decided to monetize. Regardless of the reason, you NOW want to know how to make money with your beloved blog.

Let’s take a look at the various ways to generate some cash NOW.

1.) Private Ads

These are direct ads you get from readers or subscribers to your blog. Usually these ads are in the form of 125 x 125 ad blocks found on the sidebar. But this needent be the case. You can rent out space on your blog anywhere. A 486x 60 on the homepage should fetch a pretty penny.

TIP: Try different formats and rates, to see which works best for your niche and your blog.

2.) Google Adsense

If you’re a new blogger try this money maker first. Why? Because it is dirt easy. It is easy to install, easy to manage, easy to make money with. My favorite thing about Google Adsense is that the ads served to your readers are RELEVANT. The ads are matched to the content on the page. This is wht it is called ad sense. Because the ads make sense.

TIP: Use the 336×380 ad format, and place (above and below) each post. It may not look ideal, but it makes money. If you are blogging for money (and who isn’t) you need to do this. Need help? Shoot me an email, i run an Adsense install and configuration service. Each ad block runs $3. Just let me know.

3.) Performancing Ads

This is a new ad network created by the guys from the performancing blog. This is similar to private ads, the big difference is that you benefit from the traffic built by the network. They also charge a small commission per each ad booked.

TIP: Try pricing your ad spots low, and place above the fold.

4.) ShareaSale

If you write about products, then take a look at ad network Shareasale. In a nutshell you sign up and browse the advertisers available, then choose a few that relate to your niche. For example, if you write a finance blog, look for credit report products, etc. Once you have found something relevant, place the Shareasale link on an article.

TIP: Write an awesome article, stumble it, digg it, email it to your friends, build backlinks to it, etc. Point is that after you write a groovy piece, don’t forget to promote it. Example: On my vegetarian blog, i recently wrote a top 10 list 10 Reasons You Should Subscribe To Ideal Bite, i slapped my affiliate link on the article, and so far i’ve raked in OVER $96. Need any more proof? Let me know.

5.) Amazon Store

Amazon makes it (easy breezy) to create and add a basic store to your blog. The super cool thing about Amazon is that because it is so massively huge, they carry everything. So it doesn’t matter what type of blog niche you’re in, Amazon (most likely) will have something for you. My fave type of store to create with Amazon is a bookstore. Run an automotive blog? Hello, create a book store full of the hottest and awesomest books out there. The only drawback about Amazon if you can call it that, is that their commission is pretty low. They pay 4% on whatever you sell. But like Adsense, those pennies do add up.

TIP: Make your Amazon bookstore stand out, maybe have someone design a sweet logo, or have a contest wherein people promote the bookstore for you. It’s all about promotion. (blogger style, you know social media)

In Conclusion

The 5 methods discussed above will net you blog cash right away. Remember the important thing is 1.) relevancy 2.) promotion 3.) and foundation (the foundation is your blogs content) Your blog CAN be a money maker if you like what you write about. People will pick up on that.

If you’re a geek, start a gadget blog. Your knowledge is money. Your personality is money. Your uniqueness is money. How much you make (of course) is up to you.

Stay tuned for Part II of 10 Ways To Generate Blog Income. I will discuss 5 more money makers which you can use NOW to make money with your blog. Subscribe to my RSS feed via email or your fave feed reader, so you don’t miss part deux.

READER QUESTION

Of the 5 money makers discussed above, which are YOU NOT using and WHY? Share below.

via – Web 2.0 Blog

For example, lets say you write a blog on vintage clothes, and you want to stay updated on what others on Twitter are saying and discussing on this particular topic. Just TweetBeep this keyword, and alerts are automatically generated and sent to you, on your schedule, as frequent as hourly, or less so, once daily.

The Twitter alerts service is quick and easy to set up, try it out.