Write a Keyword-Rich Article to Increase Site Traffic

Write a Keyword-Rich Article to Increase Site Traffic

Want to increase traffic, build credibility, improve your search engine rankings and get people talking about your business--at no cost? Then open up your word processor, and start writing. By determining your best search keywords, writing an article that includes those keywords and getting it distributed online, you'll be putting yourself on the radar of people looking for what you provide.
Step 1: Set up your site for maximum "searchability."Your site has to feature the keywords your potential customers use to search for your product if you want them to find you. To determine your keywords, type a word or term you think people in your market might search for into Yahoo! Search Marketing's Keyword Selector Tool to find out how many people searched for that particular term over the past month. It'll also show you a list of related words and phrases and how often they were searched over the last month, too.
Once you’ve generated a list of useful keyword ideas, you can do some more serious research. Wordtracker goes into more depth to show you not only what people are searching for online but also how many other sites are competing for the same audience. You're looking for search terms that are popular but don't have too many sites competing for them. Wordtracker is a paid service, but you can sign up for a day for less than $8 and for a week for less than $27.
Now that you have some great keywords for your market, find as many places as you can to plug them into your site. Use them in your title tags, source code, page copy, headers and subheads, and your opt-in.
Step 2: Create a keyword-rich article.Write a keyword-rich article that relates to what you sell, then give it away to other sites--for free. Believe it or not, this is one of the best ways to drive a steady stream of eager customers to your site.
Why does it work? Well, people basically come online for one of two reasons: to check their e-mail or to look for information. Sure, some of them end up making purchases, but this isn't generally the reason they log on. They want the answer to a question or the solution to a problem--and you can provide that in a short article.
Make sure that each article you write contains rare, valuable or hard-to-find information. Not only will this increase the chances that other site owners or managers will post your article, it'll also increase the number of visitors who click through to your site after reading it.
For example, if you have a site that sells used golf equipment, you could write an article about three things to look for in a good, pre-owned putter. Or if you sell an e-book about setting up your own home computer network, why not write an article about common problems people have in setting up a wireless router?
Look for article ideas in the questions people ask you all the time or in the things you often see people doing wrong. Share hot new tips on how to use the products you sell, or talk about trends you've spotted in your industry. Your quick piece should:

• Be no longer than 400 words (not even a whole page in Microsoft Word)
• Contain a relevant keyword in the first 90 characters
• Contain the keyword in the first and last paragraphs
• Have a short, credibility-building bio with a link to your site at the end. For instance, "Joe Smith is a recognized authority on the subject of widgets. His site, www.JoesWidgets.com, provides a wealth of informative articles and resources on everything you'll ever need to know about widgets."

Step 3: Get your content headed everywhere on the web.Once you've taken the time to write one or two articles, head to one of these top online content distribution sites. Upload your keyword-rich content to:

• www.contentdesk.com
• www.ezinearticles.com
• www.freesticky.com
• www.goarticles.com
• www.ideamarketers.com
• www.findsticky.com

These sites carry hundreds (some carry thousands) of articles on a range of topics. If someone's looking for content for their site, they can download or copy an article from the distribution site without paying a dime to use it. They can't change the text of the article, and they must publish it with the author's name and information intact.
Now people plugging your keywords into search engines will be directed to your content at these highly ranked sites, and site owners looking for fresh, search engine-attracting content will download your article--along with your bio and link--and put it up on their pages. And once visitors see that you know what you're talking about, they'll click on the link in your bio and head straight to your site.
Some content distribution sites also offer "send to a friend" links next to articles posted on their sites, so make sure you're uploading your articles to sites with this kind of capability. Every time someone enjoys your article enough to pass it on, your audience grows. And since people don't forward bad content to their friends, they're basically recommending you as a credible source just by passing it on.
The best thing about this strategy is these visitors are quality, targeted traffic--they actually want what you're selling because you're meeting a need or giving them help with the problem they came online to solve.

Work the social networking way to get the most out of your online presence.

Work the social networking way to get the most out of your online presence.

If you've jumped on the social networking bandwagon and are wondering "Is this all there is?" don't give up just yet. It's not so much about what you can get out of social networks today but what you can gain tomorrow-- when they become personalized. If you've ignored the social networking trend up until now, consider this handy list your set of training wheels.

1. Read 10 blogs. Sign up for a Bloglines account and search for and subscribe to 10 blogs about social networking; you can return to your page on Bloglines to read all the new content. Of course, you can add blogs about your industry and interests here, too.

2. Comment on 10 blogs. Posting relevant comments on blogs you read is a simple form of social networking. It's also a good way to get extra visitors to your site or blog.

3. Join Facebook. You'd be surprised at how many of your existing contacts have Facebook accounts. With its rich set of tools and large community of active users, Facebook is a great place to observe how people interact in social networks. Once you get your feet wet, you can use Facebook to connect with business contacts you don't bump into often.

4. Create a MySpace page. This service is embraced primarily by musicians and the younger set, but it's a great tool for learning how to build a presence outside of your website. It also happens to have a large underbelly contingent, so be warned.

5. Join LinkedIn. This service has been called "the Facebook for business." It's about meeting and connecting with like-minded businesspeople, and it's great for making connections with people who may otherwise be out of reach.

6. Visit Ning. This is the largest custom social networking service that allows you to create your own community using a variety of tools branded to match your current site.

7. Create a Workbench profile. This tip is a little self-serving, as this is my new social business networking site, but it's a good example of the next wave of personalized business communities for entrepreneurs.

8. Create a Twitter account. Twitter is pretty silly on the surface: It gives you up to 160 characters to tell your network what you're doing right now. It feels like a giant waste of time, but a large and active community has formed around this kind of microblogging, and you should understand how people are using it.

9. Create a StumbledUpon profile. This social network is built around discovering and recommending sites you like. Active stumblers can send a lot of traffic your way. 10. Create a Digg account. Keep updated with what's happening in the world of business and join other users by submitting content and voting on what you consider most important.

Also consider Flikr, Mixx and Squidoo as places to find and develop niche communities when you're ready to really get out there. Think of Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace as your labs--get in there and experiment for the future. Then start planning your own personalized social business network.

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List of 350+ socil networking sites

List of 350+ socil networking sites

Mashable releases a comprehensive list of social networking sites.

One of the main topics here at Mashable has always been social networking. In the past several years, some networks have thrived, some vanished, while hundreds of new ones appeared. It has become a huge area to follow, and this article illustrates this well: a collection of over 350 social networking sites, all of which were covered in one way or another here at Mashable. We hope to have created an extensive and useful resource for anyone interested in social networking. Enjoy.
Feel free to add more apps in the comments. And don’t forget to subscribe to Mashable for the latest web news and resources.
Books

Americabookshelf.com - One of the largest book exchange clubs across the US.
BooksConnect - A book sharing community site connecting readers, authors, publishers, librarians and booksellers.
BookCrossing.com - A community of users from over 130 countries who exchange books with each other at public places like cafes, parks etc.
Bookhopper.co.uk - Free community for UK residents to share used books with each other.
Bookins.com - Book sharing website that enables members to exchange used books with each other in real time.
BookMooch.com - An interesting concept where users can exchange books with others through points. Users gain points when they give books to others.
Booksalescout.com - Online community of users allowing them to sell books in the US.
Bookswim.com - Book borrowing service with free shipping for registered website.
ConnectViaBooks - A social networking site connecting book lovers and enabling them to discover other similar interests.
GoodReads - GoodReads is a book reader’s community enabling members to review, share books they have been reading.
PaperBackSwap.com - Users can share books amongst each other and only pay for the delivery charges.
Pazap.com - A book trade engine for students to buy and sell old books.
Read It Swap It - A free service that allows users to exchange books with others.
Revish - Revish is another community for book lovers, letting them review their favorite books, group up, or simply tell the world what they’re currently reading.

Shelfari - Shelfari is a popular social networking service for book lovers.
Socialbib - Book swapping network between students.
Business Networking & Professionals

AdvisorGarage - It is an online directory of advisers who are willing to assist budding entrepreneurs.
ArtBreak - ArtBreak is an artist community for sharing and selling artwork.
Blogtronix - Blogtronix promotes corporate social networking, enterprise 2.0 and wikis.
Commutal - Commutal is an online sharing platform for businesses to create media rooms, participate in domestic groups and share event happenings with each other.
CompanyLoop - An online co-working community for global businesses.
ConnectBeam - Connectbeam offers social networking specially designed for corporate users.
Decorati - An interior designer community enabling users to post items for sale and for exchange.
DoMyStuff - A good site for working professionals looking to find online assistants.
Doostang - An invite only career community for professionals.
Fast Pitch - It is a quickly growing business networking community in corporate world. Its online provides users with a one-stop shop network to market their business.
iKarma Inc. - iKarma is a specialist in providing customer feedback for organizations and professionals.
ImageKind - ImageKind is a community and marketplace for professional artists.
Jambo - Jambo lets you connect with your neighborhood friends.
Jigsaw - An online business card networking directory for users to establish contacts with each other. Each business card is listed with an email id and a contact number.
Konnects - Konnects enables members to create their own professional networking communities.
Lawyrs - A professional social networking community for lawyers.
Linkedin - LinkedIn is a professional social networking website for business users, one of the most popular such sites out there. Some aspects of it are free, but many are paid.
mediabistro.com - mediabistro.com is for professionals in content or creative industry.
Pairup.com - Pairup connects business travelers Debunking-Travel-Myths assisting them to travel together.
Ryze.com - A site for establishing new connections and growing networks. Connections for jobs, building career and making sales.
Spoke.com - Spoke offers access to business network of over 40 million people worldwide.
Visible Path - Visible Path helps organizations to integrate social networking into their existing tools.
WebCrossing Neighbors - It provides a private label social network with personal spaces and user groups.
XING - XING is a networking directory of business contacts powering relationships between business professionals allowing users to connect with each other.
Family

Amiglia - A family networking service enabling users to connect to family members by publishing and sharing family trees Family tree , photos etc.
CafeMom - CafeMom is a social networking site for mothers to connect and share thoughts with each other.
Cingo - Cingo users connect with each other to organize their family life.
CommonGate - A social networking platform Most-Networked-Executives that enables users to create their own social network for their friends, family or organization.
Family 2.0 - Family 2.0 helps you create your own family social network, you can add family members, send personalized emails and create event alerts.
Famiva - A premier social network to connect with family members and relatives in a secure environment.
Famster - A private secure social network for family members.
Geni.com - An exciting social networking site enabling members to create their family tree. Although it’s a relatively new site, it has grown tremendously fast, and has hundreds of thousands of users.
Genoom - Genoom creates a meeting place for its site users. They can create a family network by inviting their relatives and discover their past memories.

Kincafe - An ideal social network for families to connect with their beloved ones.
Kinzin - Kinzin is an online meeting place for families to share family events, photos, stories and recipes.
MayasMoM - A family networking site for parents.
Minti - A collaborative parenting site.
MomJunction - MomJunction allows mothers to find reliable answers to questions, create private spaces with friends and build communities.
MothersClick - MothersClick connects mothers in a neighborhood with each and provides parenting advice to them.
myfamily.com - An excellent way to connect with your family members.
OneGreatFamily.com - An online shared database with combined knowledge and data at a single place.
OurStory.com - OurStory enables users to share stories of their families with others.
Parentography - A social network offering advice and advice for families.
The Family Post - A sharing network for communication with family members.
Friends

43 Things - A tagging based social networking site. Users create accounts and list a number of goals or hopes and these are parsed based on similarity to goals of other users.
Amitize.com - Amitize is a worldwide friendship network.
aSmallWorld - aSmallWorld is a private online community designed for individuals who would like to connect, re-connect to share similar thoughts with each other.
Badoo.Com - Badoo is a dynamic multi-lingual social networking site with innovative photo and video features that allows its users worldwide to gain an instant mass audience and interact both locally and globally.
Bebo - Bebo is a hugely popular site (especially in the UK), and similar in philosophy to MySpace. It allows users to communicate with their friends in multiple ways including blogging, sending messages and posting pictures.
Eons - An online gathering place for the elderly; most of the users are over the age of 50 years.
Facebook.com - Facebook is a social networking phenomenon connection people with their friends, family and other users with similar interests.
Faceparty - A UK based community social networking website. It started for youngsters but has now risen to popularity among all age groups.
Flingr - Flingr allows users to connect with all categories of friends – colleagues, college mates and school buddies.
Friendster - It is a popular global social network for finding new friends and developing friendships as well as searching old friends.
hi5 - Hi5 is a prominent social networking service in India with over 40 million users. However, Hi5 has recently experienced an upsurge beyond India and has shown increasing popularity in EU too.
Lovento - Lovento allows you to discover news friends and also find information about latest events.

Multiply.com - Multiply is a social networking website providing easy way to share digital media Writers-Strike-Hurts-LA-Economy which includes photos, videos and music.
Mycool - Mycool enables members to find and share their interests with special groups.
MySpace.com - MySpace is an interactive social networking website consisting of personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos. It’s currently the biggest social networking site out there, and while it might not be the most advanced one, the users seem to love its simplicity.
NetFriendships.com - A comprehensive social networking site enabling users to make new online friends and discover old ones.
Netlog - A social community of more than 20 million young Europeans.
Orkut - Orkut is a social networking service owned by Google. It enables users to meet new friends and create communities.
Passado - Passado is Europe’s no.1 re-union website connecting members with friends from school to workplace.
Piczo - Piczo offers safe social networking environment to youngster around the world. Piczo users can design their personal website with photos, videos etc. and share it with their friends.
Plazes - A social networking website for connecting with local users.
Pownce.com - Pownce is a mix of social networking and microblogging. It enables users to send messages, files, events and links with each other.
ProfileHeaven.com - A UK based social networking site for teenagers.
reunion.com - A leading online service for discovering old friends, classmates and family members.
Vox.com - Vox is a social blogging service where users share their ideas, photos, videos with family and friends.
Xanga - Xanga is one of the biggest social networking platforms with features of sharing photos, photos and videos.
XuQa - An online college social networking site with poker gaming features.
Hobbies & Interests

ActionProfiles.com - It is social networking community for sports and action. The features of the website are profiles of users with photographs and videos, reviews of products and job discussion boards.
Arts community - Arts community provides a dynamic community experience by providing extensive listing of exhibitions, events and openings.
BeGreen - BeGreen is a community that aims to generate environmental awareness for users.
beRecruited - beRecruited is a dedicated online community for sportpersons and coaches.
BottleTalk - BottleTalk is a wine lover’s community making it easy for members to share their drinking experiences.
CarGurus - An automobile community website enabling users to post car reviews, photos and share opinions.
Change - Change is a nonprofit social networking website that connects like minded users and allows them to exchange information.
ChangingThePresent - A nonprofit fund raising community with membership of over 400 nonprofits.
ChickAdvisor - ChickAdvisor is a sharing community for women users.
CircleUp - CircleUp is one of the best community website connecting users to groups, clubs for knowledge sharing, information exchange.
Coastr - Coastr connects beer lovers with each other.

ColShare - ColShare is a community for people who have hobby of collecting items like coins, stamps etc.
coRank - A rating community for users to share interesting information on internet.
DailyStrength - A huge community of over 500 groups dealing with health issues and various medical challenges.
Dundoo - Dundoo enables users to create image collages out of social networking profile. A big amount of ads on the site somewhat diminishes the overall impression.
Flixster - Flixster is a community for movie lovers.
FuelEmpire - FuelEmpire brings automobile enthusiasts together at one place.
GirlSense - A community for girls to promote their fashion designs & creations.
Greenvoice - An online networking platform for people who are conscious about the environment, who want to inform each other on environmental issues and create a difference.
iYomu - iYomu is an adult social networking website and it allows users to search for site members who have similar interests or for business needs.
Motortopia - Motortopia is community for automobile lovers. It consists of passionate lovers of bikes, planes, cars and boats etc.
MyCatSpace - MyCatSpace is a community for lovers of cats passionate to share experiences of their cats with others.
MyDogSpace - MyDogSpace users can share their dog pictures, write blog posts about dogs and communicate with other dog lovers, all in a very lovely community.
Uniteddogs - A social networking website for dog owners. The dog owners can creae profiles of their dogs, create blogs and share their thoughts.
vSocial - vSocial is a video based social networking platform allowing content owners, site operators to deliver the message online with video.
Language
15+ Language Communities
Media (Photo, Video & Audio)
25+ Video Sharing Services
30+ Photo Sharing Services
20+ Music Sharing Services
Buzdeo - Buzdeo provides secure video sharing service with friends and family.
Fotki - A photo sharing service enabling users to connect with friends.
Fotolog - A big online photo sharing community.
Music

Asoboo - Asoboo is a sharing network for cultural artists from around the world.
BandChemistry - A network for musicians uniting music bands all over.
BandWagon - BandWagon is a music community website for music fans to manage their web pages, profiles, videos and music.
CrackSpace - A common place for fans of hip-hop music.
Moob - A dedicated community of hip-hop fans.
MOG - An online community powering site members to discover music and music lovers.
Mobile

CrackBerry - A community dedicated to BlackBerry research-in-motion-4q-profit-soars Apr-3-2008 users.
Dodgeball - A New York based service facilitating social interactions through mobile phones.
Friendstribe.com - A mobile phone based social networking site.
GotZapp - A mobile social network for sharing images, audio and graphics with your friends’ mobile phones.
Groovr - An ultimate mobile social networking site for staying connected with friends. It is compatible with iPhone.
Jaiku - Jaiku is essentially a microblogging service with an SMS gateway, very similar to Twitter. They’ve recently been acquired by Google.
Loopt - Loopt is a cool mobile based friend locator website. It uses GPS to show its users the location of friends by updating maps on mobile handset.
Mixxer - Mixxer enables users to content on their mobile with site members.
Mobango - A mobile community service powering users to search for user generated music content, videos and other data.
Mozes - Mozes enables members to connect & socialize with each other through mobile phones.
Partysync - Partysync helps users to interact with people using mobiles.
Peepsnation - Peepsnation allows users with similar interests to connect with each other on location basis.
Rabble - A location based social networking service for mobile phone users.
Socialight - Socialight is a mobile based social networking site where users share their travel experiences with other mobile users.
Wattpad - A mobile phone social networking platform allowing users to discover, read and share their stories with each others.
Shopping

18 Sites for Social Shopping and Deals
3LUXE - A community generated product research site.
AgentB - A common place to find out the best shopping deals on internet.
bringsome.com - A global goods delivery platform enabling community members to assist each other with access to best items from across the world.
boxedup.com - Boxedup.com users add their favorite products to their list and share it with others.
CoWorkersAds - An online marketplace listing allowing site members to discover and sell items among coworkers community.
iliketotallyloveit.com - A user generated marketplace where users submit cool products.
MyItThings.com - A user generated magazine for shopping.
MyStore.com - A social market place for buyers and sellers.

Productwiki.com - ProductWiki is a common place for users to share information about consumer products.
RedFlagDeals.com - RedFlagDeals.com is Canada’s most popular shopping community which offers huge discounts to site users.
Sale Grab - SaleGrab is a social shopping site for best sales and discount deals.
Shoppero - Shoppero offers profit sharing to site users for writing product reviews.
Smashing Darling - A collaborative market place connecting buyers and sellers at one place.
Social BookMarking
50+ Social Bookmarking Sites
Students

AlumWire - AlumWire has been created to assist college students, alumni with professional opportunities.
B4Class - A social network for high school and college students.
Campusbug - A college student social networking website.
CampusRank - CampusRank members select and rate their old school friends and group them into various categories.
College.com - An online community for college students.
CollegeMedium.com - A student classifieds website for buying and selling items, jobs search etc.
College Tonight - A great place to meet fellow college students and alumni.
DormItem.com - A local classifieds listings for schools in various cities.

Graduates.com - A social networking site assisting graduate school students to stay in touch post completion of course.
Half.com - A leading student market place for buying and selling textbooks at discounted prices.
iHipo - An international community for college students and business professionals looking for networking opportunities.
LocalSchools - A networking site connecting students with local US colleges and universities.
Pazap.com - A student trading site for buying and selling on-campus books with other students.
Quizilla - Quizilla is a social network for young teens.
RateMyProfessor.com - RateMyProfessor connects students aspiring to study similar courses by assisting each other.

Student.com - Student.com is a big online community for college students, high school students and teens with around 1,000,000 members.
Studentbid.com - Studentbid.com is a student market place for sales and purchase of items without any fees.
StudentSN.com - A social network allowing users to create home pages with contact information, personal information and photo albums.
Uloop.com - Uloop allows students to trade textbooks, promote community events and do host of other activities.
Travel & Locals

Amicoz.com - Amicoz is slightly different from conventional social networking sites; it doesn’t have some of the common features found on socnets. It is dedicated to assist users in sharing their travel experiences, nothing more, nothing less.
Citizenbay - Citizenbay is a user community for discovering local information.
CityTherapy - CityTherapy is an easy way to find and share places of interest (restaurant, bars) in Europe.
CouchSurfing - A global travel network connecting travelers with local communities.
fatdoor.com - A fun and an interactive way to connect with the folks from your neighborhood online.
Going.com - A fun way to interact with people locally.
iloho - An online travel community with similarity to social bookmarking services like digg.
MatchActivity - A site connecting people on the basis of their activities. Users can find things to do and join people in their area.
Matador - A travel based social network with an integrated blogging service.
myTripbook.com - myTripbook.com is a place for people who want to share their travel experiences through photos, videos and blogging with others.
OurFaves - OurFaves is a community of urban savvy folks who enjoy the Toronto city and find out cool places to hang out at.
Outside.in - A nice way to explore local communities to keep track with neighborhood news.
Rummble - Rummble enables users to discover as well as share places of interest in your neighborhood.

TravBuddy - TravBuddy is a cool site for sharing travel experiences, finding new travel friends or reading travel reviews of fellow friends.
Travellerspoint - An international meeting point for worldwide travelers.
TravelTogether - A travel based social networking service enabling users to share travel plans, travel deals and experiences.
tribe.net - Tribe.net is one of the easiest ways to connect with people for finding a restaurant, a killer apartment, a gentle dentist or a hiking friend.
TripUp - A travel community site for finding travel information and planning for trips.
Triporama- Triporama provides an easy way to plan and collaborate on group trips.
VibeAgent - VibeAgent is a site about hotel reviews, travel meta-search and social networking.

WAYN - A social networking website uniting world wide travelers.
WeExplore - WeExplore provides an online platform for volunteers and travelers from all over the globe.
Wikitravel - Wikitravel is dedicated project for creating a trusted, up-to-date travel guide. It has over 16,641 travel destination guides maintained and written by Wikitravellers from around the world.
Zoodango - Zoodango is a website enabling users to connect with urban professionals either online or face-to-face at local venues.