Sunday, October 25, 2009

How to get more backlinks for blog

Backlink is a link from somewhere else to your site. Backlink building is long and boring process but very important. Accidentally, I found interesting free backlink service which can help you to generate many backlinks day by day without lifting a finger.


Guide for blog use who want to join backlink program


To join backlink program blogger should done only three steps:

  • go to trafficmomentum web site

  • user should enter his blog info into the form on the right side of page

    Enter blog details to submit to trafficmomentum

  • user should copy widget code and paste it on appropriate position in his blog This is how list look on my blog after widget code is implemented:
    Momentum sample list

Widget code is HTML with 7 links. After blog user do all steps, every time some new visitor visit his blog and join trafficmomentum program through click on 7th link "Free Viral Blog Traffic" our blog user will get one more backlink.


How generating backlinks system works

To better explain how backlinks are created we will use sample.

  • John have a blog

  • John visit blog interestingwebs. On blog interestingwebs is list with 7 links

    • blog 1 link

    • blog 2 link

    • blog 3 link

    • blog 4 link

    • blog 5 link

    • blog 6 link

    • advert article link

    • trafficmomentum link

  • John click on trafficmomentum, enter his blog data and copy & paste widget code to his blog

  • now on John's blog is this list

    • interesting blog link

    • blog 1 link

    • blog 2 link

    • blog 3 link

    • blog 4 link

    • blog 5 link

    • advert article link

    • trafficmomentum link

  • interesting blog link is now first because John enter to backlink system from interesting blog trafficmomentum link

  • David visit John blog, click on trafficmomentum, enter his blog data and copy & paste widget code to his blog

  • now on David's blog is this list

    • link to John's blog link

    • interesting blog link

    • blog 1 link

    • blog 2 link

    • blog 3 link

    • blog 4 link

    • advert article link

    • trafficmomentum link

  • if Peter visit David's blog and enter to backlink system link to John's blog will be at third position...

  • let's say only 2 visitors submit to free backlink system on every level, John will have 126 backlinks (2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64), and this is the reason why I like this system, it is simple and effective

    number of links for two new users per level

One more thing, link to your blog for users who submit to backlink system from your blog will be added after trafficmomentum webmaster approve your submit. trafficmomentum webmaster will send you a mail. In my case it was on the same day.

In the end here is my Free Viral Blog Traffic table:


Friday, October 23, 2009

Add new page element to blogger header

This article give tutorial how to add page element under header in blogspot (blogger). Follow instructions in this article and you should have new page element under (or above) header page element in blogger design (Add and Arrange Page Elements) window. This new page element have exactly same length as header element.


First you can ask yourself, why I want new page element below or above blogger header? Most common answer is that blogger users want menu bar inside header. First step to have menu (or something else) inside blogger header is to add new page element (also called Gadget) under header Page Element which is explained in step by step manner in this short guide. In some cases reason can be to put adverts inside blogspot header.


We will illustrate how Page Element look like before and after new page element is added to blogger header.


Before:
There is only header element (TestDisplay)

Add Page element window before new widget is added to blogger header

After:
Add Page element window after new gadget is added to blogger header, now it is easy to add new page element beneath or above header element. Take attention to new "Add a Gadget" on the picture.

Add Page element window after new widget is added to blogger header


Steps to add new page element to blogger header

Go to Edit template:

  • Go to Layout

  • Click on Layout --> Edit HTML

    Edit blogger template

  • it is recommended (wise) to backup template on local hard disk before doing any change in edit template box


in Edit Template

  • find header-wrapper
    <div id='header-wrapper'> 
    <b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='1' showaddelement='no'>


  • for maxwidget replace 1 with 3

    • if maxwidget is 1 - there is only header and you can't add new gadget in Edit Layout window

    • if maxwidget greater then 1 (maxwidget > 1) - you can add new gadget for above or below header in Edit Layout window

  • you must replace showaddelement from no to yes

  • layout code for header-wrapper should look like this
    <div id='header-wrapper'> 
    <b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='3' showaddelement='yes'>


Now it is simple to add anything inside a blogger header.
Example of adding text "Test" in the blogger header:

  • go to Layout --> Page Elements

  • Click Add a gadget above Header page element

  • choose text widget

  • in content enter TEST and click on Save button

  • drag and drop created gadget below header element

  • save this and view blog

    Example of blogger header with text gadget added below with text TEST

Of course, last example is just for demonstration purpose, you can add any gadget you want such us: links, HTML menu, AdSense advert...



Friday, October 16, 2009

Change background image in blogger

This article is a simple step by step guide how to change or add background image to your blogger blog. First it will be discussed how to add background image to blogspot header. In second section you can learn few tips and tricks about setting up background image for entire blogger blog. To apply those changes blogger template must be edited.


Change background image in blogger


First step is to go to Edit template:

  • Go to Layout

  • Click on Layout --> Edit HTML

    Edit blogger template

  • it is recommended (wise) to backup template on local hard disk before doing any change in edit template box



To change background header image find #header-wrapper attribute and enter URL of picture you want to be background in header inside url().


Example (tic tac template):
#header-wrapper {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
font: $pagetitlefont;
background: #e0e0e0 url(http://www.blogblog.com/tictac_blue/titac.jpg) no-repeat $startSide top;
}

You can use some image which is already on the web. If image is on your personal computer you can upload it on the web. My advice is to use Google picasa web to upload pictures. After you upload image in Google Picasa, you can chose album, click on picture to open edit mode. Right click on image and click on "Copy Image Location" (in Firefox) and you have URL of image in clipboard. Now you can Paste this URL inside #header-wrapper to background attribute between brackets of url parameter. This is the way to put your image to header background.


Adjust image size

You can encounter problem that your image do not fit (it is too small or too big) to your header background. For background attribute image must fit or it will not be displayed properly. To adjust your image size you can use Windows Paint application (All Programs --> Accessories --> Paint). To adjust image with Paint open image in Paint application and adjust image size. Unfortunately it is possible to loss image resolution with this method.


Example of adjusting image from size 488x360 to 500x500 with Paint:

  • open image with Paint

  • click on Image --> Attributes to open Attributes window

  • enter desired width and height (in this example width is 500 and height is 500)

    Page attributes (how to change image width and height)

  • now your image is expanded with blank space

    Select image after resizing it in attributes window

  • You need to select image, click on the corner of selected area and resize to fit to new borders. There must not be empty space anymore

    Image in paint after expanding selected area

  • on the end we have image with specified width and height with some loss of resolution


In case background image is too small to fit in header you can use repeat property. With help of repeat property the background image will be repeated both vertically and horizontally.


Example of code for repeat image in blogger header:

#header-wrapper {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
font: $pagetitlefont;
background: #e0e0e0 url(http://static-graphics.jupiterimages.com/stockphotos/572/1wm_tropical_055-thumb.jpg) repeat $startSide top;
}

Example preview of small image repeat in blogger header:

Repeat property for background image in blogger header


Simple method to change blogger header background image

There is a simpler method to change blogger header image through blogger interface but it is less flexible then method explained above.


Steps to change blogspot header picture:

  • go to Layout --> Page Elements

  • Click on Edit link for Header (in example Useful and interesting web ... ) in "Add and arrange page elements"

    Arrange blogger page elements, header

  • in Configure Header window chose you image from your computer or from the web

    Configure header popup window

  • there is very useful option, Shrink to fit, if you want your picture shrink to fit blogger header check this checkbox


Change or add background image for main area of blogger blog


To learn how to add or change background image for blog and few helpful tips about this topic read this section. To change background image you will have to edit blogger template. It is possible to choose one big image for background or to use repeat property. My advice is to use later. To manipulate background image for blogger content use #outer-wrapper attribute.


Blogger sample without background image

Blogger without header image

You need to go to Edit Template (for help see beginning of article) and find #outer-wrapper attribute Take attention to background property:

#outer-wrapper {
width: 1006px;
margin: 0px auto 0;
text-align: $startSide;
font: $bodyfont;
background: url() no-repeat scroll center center;
}


Blogger sample with one no repeat background image

Blogger with no-repeat one image in background

  • URL to background image is added to background property (inside url)

  • no-repeat - instructs the background-image will not be repeated

  • center center - position of background image

  • scroll - background image scrolls with the rest of the page


#outer-wrapper {
width: 1006px;
margin: 0px auto 0;
text-align: $startSide;
font: $bodyfont;
background: url(http://blog.d3r.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/d3r-wallpaper-jan09.jpg) no-repeat scroll center center;
}


Blogger example with vertical repeating image

This is a image for blogger background and it have only 1 Kb. With help of vertically repeat this image can be used for background of blog content window.


Vertical repeating image for background

On picture you can see two gray columns. Those columns are image above vertically repeated.


Blogger repeat-y image in background

  • repeat-y - background image will be repeated only vertically

  • 0,0 - position

  • with this method you can make your blog look nice without loading some huge image, this is reason why this method is recommended

#outer-wrapper {
width: 1006px;
margin: 0px auto 0;
text-align: $startSide;
font: $bodyfont;
background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6VTFHgw7f65KZdYqxPZX9ogMQuPMo3aRwR6JS7mj_kqGPydArqMZht2pfHmhNmMhqSCjTwiXH-VbIAVS77aqMVo_x8NLhvvUoN0Uz9O-b9TiTCZBxooeerFT65zzNLmW1CrZpqQ2KF_o/s720/tile_left_v2.GIF) repeat-y scroll 0 0;
}

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Unfollow twitter user who do not follow you back

How to unfollow twitter users who do not follow me back? Why to follow twitter users who not follow you and how to do it? In main twitter application there is no simple way to find users who do not follow you. You can inspect your twitter users one by one but it is time consuming process. And now you ask yourself what is a simplest way to extract twitter users who do not follow you? In this article you will find answer on this question.


You can get list of twitter followers who abandoned you on your email or find it with help of web twitter application and unfollow them.


Manage twitter users who do not follow me back


Your Twitter Karma - this excellent web application allows you to manage your followers and users who follow you. You can get list of all followers or all users you follow.


For every twitter user there is:

  • user name

  • user image

  • information does user follow you

  • information does you follow user

  • last user activity


Thanks to those information, you can make decision what to do with each user individually. You can check twitter users you want to make some action on them and decide what to do with them.
Possible actions are:

  • Bulk follow - follow all checked twitter users

  • Bulk unfollow - stop follow all checked users

  • Bulk block - block all checked users


Twitter karma

There is web application friendorfollow with similar functionality but in my opinion Your Twitter Karma is far better choice.


Track twitter users who stop follow you back


NutshellMail - allow you to get mail summary for twitter every day (you can chose how often you would like to receive summary).


In this summary you get:

  • New Followers

  • New quitters

  • Send Tweets

  • Direct Messages,Retweets and @Replies

New quitters are twitter users who stop following you. This is the way to actively tracking your twitter account. With NutshellMail you can track and other social services such as facebook and Myspace.


Monday, October 5, 2009

Google search operators and SEO

Do you know you can use Google search operators to gather useful information for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Google search operators allows you to pull out specific data from google search engine. In this article you can find most useful google search operators with examples and explanations for SEO.


What are google search operators?


Google search operators also called advanced operators are query words that have special meaning to Google. Google search operators allows advanced functionality of Google’s Advanced Search Form in a regular search box query. Some of google search operators are site: inanchor:, inurl:, intext:, intitle: ...


Discover pages on the site indexed by Google


site: operator

site: operator in your query will restrict your search results to the site you specify.


Example:

  • site:interestingwebs.blogspot.com

    returns all web pages indexed by Google on interestingwebs.blogspot.com


  • site:interestingwebs.blogspot.com tips

    return all web pages indexed by Google on interestingwebs.blogspot.com with keyword "tips"


SEO usage: with site: operator you can find which web pages on the selected site are indexed by google. Not indexed web pages does not appear in search result page.


Results by anchor text


allinanchor: operator

allinanchor: operator return results containing query terms specified in the anchor text on links to the page. Anchor text is clickable text part of a hyperlink.


Example:

  • allinanchor:interesting webs

    returns all web pages which have terms "interesting" and "web" in anchor text. Result Selina's Wing Blog have one anchor text "interesting webs" and it is a reason why it is in resutls


SEO usage: number of returned results with allinanchor: operator is used by some SEO experts. Number of returned results with allinanchor: operator can be compared to number of google searches for chosen search terms. To find number of google searches use Google adwords: Keyword tool. Smaller number of returned results with allinanchor:, less competition for chosen keywords and better chance to succeed (but don't forget to include number of google searches in formula).


Search title only


intitle: operator

intitle: operator returns all web pages which have query term in title


Example:
  • intitle:SEO

    return all web pages with keyword "SEO" inside tag title


  • expert intitle:SEO

    return all web pages with "SEO" in title and keyword "expert" anywhere in the document


SEO usage: The title tag is a very important part of SEO. With this operator you can estimate the approximate number of competitors for specific keyword.


Search URL


allinurl: operator

allinurl: operator search tells Google to return web pages that have query terms inside URL. The searched term can be in the domain name or in the filename.


Example:
  • allinurl:SEO expert

    return web pages containig keywords "SEO" and "expert" inside URL


SEO usage:text inside URL are very influential in SEO, so it is imperative to find more information about competition.



Further information and resources:

List of all google operators
8 Google Advanced Search Operators for SEO

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Force google reindex of site

You want to google reindex your web site as soon as possible? In this artcile you can found how google works, how do you know did google indexed your web page, how often does google reindex, how to tell google to (re)index your web page or site.


How google works


Googlebot is a web crawler that finds and crawl web pages. Googlebot sending a request to a web server for a specific web page, downloading the entire page, then handing it off to Google’s indexer. It request many different web pages simultaneously. When Googlebot fetches a web page, it collect all the hyperlinks appearing on the page and adds them to a queue for subsequent crawling. Those hyperlinks are crawled later, and hyperlinks from those pages are collected too. This technique is called deep crawling. Deep crawling allows Googlebot to probe deep within individual web sites.


Googlebot gives the indexer the full text of the web pages it finds. These pages are stored in Google’s index database. When user submit a query to Google Google's index database is used to return best web pages in google's result page.


How to know did Google indexed web page



To check did google (re)index a web page use "site:" search operator:
  • site:[URLOfWebPage]


Examples for checking did google re(index) a web site:
  • site:interestingwebs.blogspot.com

  • this Google query will return all pages on interestingwebs site which are indexed

  • in case you can't find some web page in result list, it can be concluded that this page is not indexed


Examples for checking did google re(index) a web page:
  • site:http://interestingwebs.blogspot.com/2009/06/tips-for-html-link-code.html

    Example of using Google site search operator

  • in case google return result you know web page is indexed

  • with this method you know if page is reindex only if title of web page is changed, for example if I changed title to "HTML code tips" and Google return "Tips for HTML code" I can know that web page is not yet reindexed (yet)

How often does google crawl


It depends on the web page. Some pages be crawled every hour, some pages every day and some pages every few weeks or months. Generally if it is consistently adding new content to web site or page have a lot of backlinks (links pointing to web page) google crawler will probably come back more often. Google don't index sites, Google index pages. So on same site one page can be crawled on daily basis while other on can be crawled once in the month. If you submit sitemaps regularly you can most likely speed up the Google crawling for your site.


Force google to reindex site


You can add your url on Google add url page and wait. When your URL is submitted, it is in google queue and google will index your site when it find appropriate. Unfortunately you can't force Google to crawl your site now and index the content.


Google add url web page