This is a republished guest post by Brandon Connell from Brandonconnell.com
As you may know, RobsWebTips.com will no longer be a blog on January 1st, 2011, so Brandon’s guest articles on there will be published here.
Let’s face it. Traffic is a necessary ingredient if you ever want to achieve an income online. Without traffic, you can hear crickets in your blog or on your niche sites. You will notice that ‘make money blogging’ niche sites like mine teach you the many ways to drive traffic and keep readers. But what about the big guys that really splash themselves across the world wide web and make those phat incomes?
Well let me tell you…
Droppin’ a Bomb!
There is one method I have used for years to gain top 10 rankings, and it never fails. Can we say “google bomb”? The funny thing is that Google is not as relevant as many people think. They are easily influenced because they allow their algorithm to be susceptable to outside influences. In this case, inbound links. For this reason, I have personally come up with a search engine algorithm and system for changing it that does not allow any outside factors whatsoever. If I ever came out with a search engine, google would be screwed! But alas…
The google bomb gas become famous for that one time when bloggers across the world united to link to President Bush’s website profile with the words “miserable failure”, and it landed him in the #1 spot of natural search results. If that’s not funny enough, just think about how you can use this special power without knowing that many bloggers that can assist you.
A technique I like to use to do the google bomb on stealth mode is to design web templates, or wordpress themes and require an unedited link in the footer with my anchor text in order to use that template or theme for free. This method has gotten me so many backlinks on various websites that I own or manage that it is ridiculous.
If you don’t have the design or technical expertise to design web templates or themes, you can always outsource the work to a pro and have your link placed in the footer credit area. You can use websites like WordPress.org or Open Source Web Design in order to distribute your designs to a mass consumer database.
Where’s my resource?
Another method I have used was to create software or a script that is useful to the audience in my niche. For example, if I wanted to promote a search engine optimization related website, I can develop a script that allows visitors to check their keyword density. The script could also allow them to submit to search engines for free, or generate meta tags, or some other tedious task that makes their life easier.
Creating such useful resources means that those who find them useful will link to them. I remember a company to this day that gave me the idea way back when. That company is “Submit Express” which I am unaffiliated with by the way. They have various free tools and people link to their free tool which means one-way links and traffic. PageRank follows suit and so does social branding and status.
There are other ways to create useful resources. For example creating a forum in a specific niche and building it up so that users feel that they can generate some traffic for themselves by taking part in it. There are some huge influential forums out there now who started as a no-name and become so big that major corporate chains actively advertise with them.
Leverage your distribution…
When I released ebooks for free in pdf format on my blog, I also released them on Amazon for a minimal 99 cents which allowed Kindle users to download it. This had multiple effects. One of those effects was me getting my name and brand in front of readers who have never heard of me before. Another effect was establishing myself further as an expert by having a major brand like Amazon backing my book release.
Think about the ways you can use leverage to drive in traffic and solidify your brand further.
Your turn
Are you a player in the majors or the minors? Your strategy will determine the answer. There are ways of being a major player without having a major budget. your success fully depends on your ability to be creative and use leverage to achieve your goals.
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{ 46 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Brandon and Alex
You never cease to amaze me Brandon with both your work ethic and your creative ideas that just seem to flow on and on and on….;-)
You do have a big advantage in that you are tech savvy. I have heaps of creative ideas but what slows me down with implementing them is my lack of techie skills.
As soon as finances permit I will be outsourcing those projects. Then I should see things moving faster than they have done so far. Learning heaps and just want to say thanks for all the informative posts you keep posting. Much appreciated Brandon.
Patricia Perth Australia
Im with you on this Patricia, it makes things a lot easier when you are tech savvy.
Brandon – Bastard
Kiss my Butt-OX Alex. Hater
…and chronic masturbater.
No problem Patricia. It sucks when you don’t have the skills to DIY, but I never let that stop me.
Hi Brandon and Alex,
I agree that offer free Wordpress themes and free SEO scripts can produce some good amount of backlinks. Also, free Joomla templates, free Wordpress plugin, free Joomla addon, free Blogger’s themes, free Myspace themes and if you are the web design company, you can add your link to customer’s website footer as well (most customers won’t care about that except customer who know SEO).
I agree people love free, just look at Google, a whole company built around free services for the consumer.
Even in the case of seo-knowledgeable, they have to follow the rules of the license. Otherwise, you can take down their website under DMCA.
Hey Alex! Change the message man. RobsWebTips is not down yet, so he must have pushed the date back a little. Just say it’s going down…
Hi Brandon and Alex,
thanks for sharing this info.
A question for you.
You can design the theme and have your link placed in the footer credit area, is it hided or the user can remove it?
In all the themes I used I could remove the credit link.
Thanks for the tip to sell Ebook in Amazon for Kindle for few cents,
I will soon publish my first easy, free and simple Ebook, I think it’s a good idea.
Nothing prevents them from physically removing it. However, if you make the link mandatory under Creative Commons license, then removing the link credit would be illegal. Any website that you find using it, you can contact their hosting account and do a DMCA demand for take-down. Smart webmasters would not risk a takedown after they spent so much time creating content and marketing the website.
Two semi-related questions…
1. Did you move any of the posts with the original comments attached?
2. What the heck is going on with Rob?
#1 – I did not. I still link to the original under the guest posting area in my sidebar though, and will until it goes down for good.
#2 – I tried to talk Rob out of it way before he announced it. He didn’t listen, and announced it on December 10th in his newsletter. It was scheduled to go down on the 1st if January, but hasn’t for some reason. I do not know why yet, but I know he didn’t change his plans to delete his blog.
Wow and holy crap and everything else. I thought I was subscribed; I guess not.
Does he give explanations? Is it possible for you to email me a copy of that newsletter?
admin @ dennisedell.com if you can. Thanks man.
Sure, I will send you a copy of that email right now. He is opening up an e-course on that domain. I suggested it would be wise to just add the ecourse to his blog rather than delete a ton of valuable unique content that is bringing in search engine traffic. Alas, not everyone listens to me.
I got it and frankly wish i hadn’t asked for it…I replied.
It is interesting to note that “miserable failure” no longer returns that result but does return a stack of results that celebrate the outcome at the time.
Whenever there is a system – which implies rules and procedures – there will always be a way of manipulating that system. That is not to say that manipulation is bad, it’s just a fact of life.
However, such manipulation can lead to unintended consequences. Take Twitter for example. I have seen Twitter users with follower *and* following numbers way up there with multiples of 10,000. I know it can be managed with lists but following anything more than a few 100 users means message chaos. I see maybe 1% of the messages that flow through my twitter account and most of those are IM related.
The point I am making is not that any of this is either good or bad rather, it can lead to unexpected outcomes that are not all that useful for either the user or the system.
Brandon, the traffic/backlink ideas in your post are good. Do you have a figure (guess one if not) of how much of your traffic comes from these “sleeper” links?
I never attempted to put together a figure for that. I simply did the work, and received the backlinks. It solidified a PR4 on a website that has changed content multiple times, gone down, and has not been updated with new content in forever. I would say that is reason enough to make it happen.
I was actually digging through Amazon today because I completed a book this weekend but then I realized that the graphics I used within the work aren’t for commercial purposes
I guess I could contact the people and ask if I can pay for them but yeah, just gotta remember that when you’re publishing else you could run into some legal trouble.
Yeah. Something to consider. I always create my own graphics in Photoshop and take screenshots of websites I reference.
Good ideas for creating some backlinks and building traffic. I particularly like the idea of putting your free e-books up on kindle for a minimal price. I’ve been thinking of doing the same thing when I do an e-book.
Hi Brandon,
These are three good ideas & not too hard to use. I especially like the plugin idea, and have one myself. That is one that I have been thinking about for a bit of time, actually. Perhaps sometime in June I will code it up.
Shame to hear about Rob’s site going away, but I am glad you are getting these put up elsewhere.
Have a great day!
I have had an idea for a great plugin, but I need to find a programmer who wants to implement it into a freemium package. That will allow it to be put in Wordpress extend database, and upgraded on the plugin site. Kind of how Pretty Link gets promoted.
Like Patrica I feel I am not technically savvy enough for a few of these good ideas. Though I will keep them in mind, because i could always outsource the work, Coders, programers and stuff are a dime a dozen overseas.
I really liked your Amazon idea I have been thinking about that myself previously. It sounds like quite an idea
“Coders, programers and stuff are a dime a dozen overseas.”
That really hurts, Steve
Lol. Unfortunately it’s the truth. I switched to affiliate marketing to move away from the service based specialized industry. Besides Rick, it gives you more time for yourself if you dropped the programming and coding, and leveraged others to do it for you.
Anyone know of any good and thorough sites that I can do some serious, in-depth research on online marketing and SEO?I’m pretty stinkin broke right now so FREE is good
Thanks
I am so pissed on me right now. Because I know programming, I kind of know web design (I know the html,css,js,vbscript and all that but my graphics skill kind of sucks) and although I’ve seen this method used by so many people I failed to put it into practice myself.
Getting links for free while giving something free, well that’s a good balance, nothing goes to wasted everything is transformed. Your effort into links and they get something that they want for free.
Sounds like we need to partner up Alex. I got the design skills, and the do-it attitude. I just need a programmer to partner with.
I actually recently started a forum myself (links are do-follow for those of you who would like to check it out – http://www.thephotobusinessforum.com). I’m not really sure how to promote it though. Like you said, it could be a great way to get links back to your site…if people use the forum. Any suggestions for ways to get the word out and get the conversation started on a new forum?
That’s an awesome URL name you have gotten yourself there TJ!
Good luck with the forum and promoting it – I say just start commenting on photography blogs and linking back to the forum. Hell – even push your luck and add a link to it in the actual comment.
Do this a few hundred times and I bet the place starts cranking mate!
Brandon, your thoughts?
Damn! I got to think now? Start promoting your forum by using it as your author credit on guest posts. Then proceed to participate in larger established forums like Digital Point and place the link in your signature. After that, blog hop about 100 times with the URL for the forum. By then, you should start getting regular signups to your forum.
Also, free Joomla templates, free Wordpress plugin, free Joomla addon, free Blogger’s themes
Hi Alex and Brandon,
Like Patricia, I am not very tech savvy unlike you guys. But little by little I try to learn or at least understand them.
I never knew that e-books could be sold on Amazon for Kindle users. I’ll keep that in mind when I decide to make my first e-book
There’s so many conversations going on in this post! I admit I was entertained, LOL
Thanks for sharing!
Just to jump into the conversation here, I am with you and Patricia on this one Joh! I have no idea about tech and if I did not have Brandon I would be well and truly stuffed sometimes.
I have heaps of creative ideas but what slows me down with implementing them is my lack of techie skills.
Hey Alex and Brandon,
Robwebtips no longer a blog..really?
Giving away templates or themes with an anchor text in the footer is an awesome idea. Using amazon as well as kindle for eBooks is a neat idea as well. This is going to be handy as I am releasing an eBook for one of my niche sites here in about 15 days.
Thanks for the info. You guys rock!
Lol, i’m just about to visit robswebtips after hearing the news and then the signal on my wireless cuts out… Great help that is
It still looks like a blog to me though?
Anyway, I’ve been using the link bomb method on a theme that i developed and am hoping that that will bring in some greater rankings. It’s the same as how Carl Ocab got into the top page for ‘make money online;’ he released his own theme.
I told Alex to change the message so it doesn’t say January 1st. He delayed it, but he said it is still going down. I have no idea when. I just know he is deleting his blog database and doing an ecourse.
You are right though about themes. They are a great tool for this.
Hi Alex and Brandon, Those are very good tips to produce
Wordpress themes and plugin or software with backlinks. I can do
them and I need to press on to make one available to the public.
About widget or plugins, if you have any idea, let me know…
(privately). Ben Wan
Fantastic post. I think I need to read it a few times, just
because it’s packed with useful advice.Thanks for this! Just
continue your god work and wish you the very best! seph
We have been also releasing some books for free but never thought of releasing it on amazon thanks for this info
I think the PPC is the greatest way to get big traffic and all gurus have ppc specialists that work for them. It’s just my opinion…
Creating a resource for your niche, is about the best method on this list. There is a steeper barrier to entry, thus not as many people attempt this.
The dividends of creating a useful piece of content will pay for itself many times over.
“The dividends of creating a useful piece of content will pay for itself many times over.”
Well said Jeff, could not have put it better myself (unless I spin it – which I will… LOL)
Alex,
Thanks for opening my eyes to a few strategies with this post. For example creating a forum in a specific niche and building it up so that users feel that they can generate some traffic for themselves is brilliant !
Savor Your Day,
Tom
Hi Brandon,
I agree with your post you really share great tips for blog traffic sources, this post help many WordPress website and also help in backlink to stay on top. Keep it up and share more related to traffic stuff.
Thank
Kamran
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