http://www.jonathanleger.com/Jon Leger’s blog is an online tutorial you really want to go and read. Unlike some other guru tips you may receive, this marketer simply reports what he has tried and what results he has had with it. The most recent information on his blog ismostly  regarding seo for blogs and sites and especially about my favourite topic of making friends with princes – as he says links win the game.

So far I’m still losing – but I’m getting better everyday…

He discusses on this last post the popular theory that non relevant links to your site are not counted. He proposes that this is a falacy and believes that evidence shows that they are counted. ie All links count towards page rank. Relevant links are still important because a link that leads to something that isn’t relevant is an annoyance to a customer and likely to create a quick bounce but so far as Google and other search engines are concerned – every link counts.

He gives many examples and reasons for his conclusion and you should read the article and the comments for more information. The comments are just as interesting as the original article, with many people agreeing, and occasional people disagreeing. Either way it will convince you that inbound links are something you should be spending time on cultivating.

I listened to the audio interview he made with Keith Baxtor and discovered several things I didn’t know that I share below. Its only a tiny piece of what he’s offering in the interview and on his blog, so go read it and subscribe to his feed and learn more from it.

Links win the game. Inbound links are the most important strategy for site discoverability. With a brand new site don’t submit to say 100 directories on one day, or do 100 comments in a day,  just submit maybe 10 a day. Building your links too fast may get you sandboxed, so just build those valuable links gradually. Continue to apply a link building strategy half an hour a day,( think of it like cleaning your teeth) and work on that indefinable popularity factor.

Google only counts one link from one domain. They want diverse site links. Spread your requests for links to a variety of different sites. Don’t think this forum I like will bring me 100 links or votes because I’ve made 100 posts. These links may bring you traffic, if you made a good post and a reader clicks to see who you are, but as link votes (as counted by search engines), one forum = one vote.

A high page rank link is not worth paying for. Don’t know what that means? He’ll tell you. At the end of the interview he presents a very compelling reason for getting inbound links. Go listen to the interview and find out why I recommend him.

Click the link above to visit his blog or check the feed on the members site.

Popularity: 3% [?]

He’s an aussie blogger so I do have a cultural reason to endorse his blog but the fact is, its just good reading. He has made a reputation for himself for being the guy to seek out when you need more information about gaining traffic for your blog. He has an email list you can sign up for which will send you out some great Blog Traffic tips.

But overall he’s just fun to read, he included this link to a satiric look on sales pages recently which had me grinning from ear to ear. I included a quote from it, I hope he doesn’t mind, it just cracked me up (that’s aussie slang for ‘made me laugh’ BTW)
http://www.clickhereyouidiot.com/

PPPS: The last person who read this letter and didn’t click the Paypal button accidentally set fire to his house, reversed over the cat on his way to get help, crashed into a police car … and discovered his ex-wife in it having fun with a copper – she wasn’t gay after all. DON’T FALL INTO THE SAME TRAP!

But seriously, getting back to this blog, there’s affiliate program posts, traffic, marketing, buying and selling websites and his main focus topic is always blogging and he’s good at it.

http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/category/blogging/

He’s not secretive either. There is a nice biography post here called “how I made money online.” He openly lists the products he has endorsed and the advertising companies he uses. The articles in the series before this, tell how he started selling things through the trading post, especially Magic Cards, those collectors card sets we all used to trade with holographic images and such. My son has 100′s in a box somewhere (that over time we poor silly parents spent a lot of money on) that he has now totally lost interest in. Maybe I should tell him to list ‘em on ebay!

http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/687/make-money-online-blogging-2/

So this is our favourite blog at the moment. Too much to read in a day and in fact, with the range of archives there, too much to read in a year. Someone could probably make a good living editing archived blog posts for people into “The Best of Excellent Blogs ” book series. With all the top names available, print copies could soon become collectable items themselves. Now there’s an idea…

Popularity: 53% [?]

Lorelles WordPress Blog http://lorelle.wordpress.com/

Lorelles blog is always great reading. It’s definately one of the best blogging sites. She’s been doing this a long while and has an extensive archived area including the following categories:

* Blogging Tips * Web Design * Web Wise
* WordPress News * WordPress Plugins * WordPress Themes
* WordPress Tips * WordPressdotcom * Writing

I first discovered her blog when I was doing a search for how to add content and have it auto update over the next few weeks. She showed me how to use the post date feature.

She writes easy to understand “blogger how to’s” and has a flowing conversational style, with a great sense of humour.

She has many valuable tutorials and blogging advice, specifically about WordPress. She has the longest list of “lists people have made of their favourite word press plugins”. She has a favourite themes area with some niche themes to try out. But she also tells you about new blogging developments and seems to have her finger on the restless pulse of the blogasphere all the time.

For anyone looking for information about adding genealogical data to a blog, its worth taking a look at her family and genealogical blog and she has also posted regarding looking for other people interested in the genealogy although its some time ago now. http://www.cameraontheroad.com/family/category/family-news/
http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/04/10/help-wanted-genealogy-wordpress-blogs/

She also has one of the most attractive themes I’ve seen, a fast loading blog and excellent navigation with some subtle decorations in the corners that she explains how to do.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Alister Cameron – Blogologist (or Aussie blog consultant) http://www.alistercameron.com
Getting a high readership for your blog is something many of us dream about and few of us achieve but Alister Cameron shares some of his secrets in this excellent post called
How to grow your blog by over 2000 per-cent in one month .

He speaks about branding and domain names and shares a great tip about changing the title of your bio page to your name (as he says – who searches for ‘bio’, or ‘about us’?). Nicheing is discussed, why relocating some archived history is good, plugins, SEO and themes.

Emphasis is made towards creating good content and what Digg can do for you. I also found what he said about using a good idea and having good timing very interesting. He also talks about sharing your posts with other people, link love and related posts.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I genuinely want people who will read this blog to have access not only to information I provide but to be able to follow some links to expert blogs that can provide you with so much more information than I can currently give. To this end I have created a category called best blogs on blogging.

I have learned so much from people blogging on and it will be a pleasure to link to their blogs and share this information. Where you would be paying at least $20 for a book on a topic, the information on these blogs is freely given with perhaps an option to donate.

Unlike a book it is short and sweet and dated so you can assess its relevance. Often a post will link to further information. I would personally like to take this opportunity to thank every one of these bloggers for the content that has helped me learn so much and has basically been a free education. I hope in return I can send a few new readers to you.

Popularity: 2% [?]