How Site Maps help your web site attract traffic
It’s no longer enough to just put up your web site or blog and expect the search engines to index it. You have to include a site map. The sitemap allows you to inform search engines about the pages on your website and allows the search engines to find pages on your web site the search engine might not be able to access "naturally".
One thing I ADORE about WORD PRESS BLOGS is the plug in that automatically creates an XML site map for your blog web site. Now, there are other elements to achieving good rankings other than a site map. You must blog regularly (the search engines LOVE content) and you need to build inbound links for your site.
However, being able to be INDEXED is an essential element to web site success.
I recently was contacted by a woman whose web site was 6 years old and STILL wasn’t being indexed by the various search engines. Every link on the opening page was a javascript roll over with an image. Since the search engines don’t READ javascript, the bots couldn’t get inside to index the site.
So, in addition to adding text links at the bottom of the page, I also included an XML site map and let Google know I had done so. In less than a week, all the pages on the site were showing up in Google. My client was thrilled and has sent more frustrated web site owners to me as a result.
If creating an XML site map is beyond you, then consider a Word Press Blog instead of a traditional web site. Acumen Web Services makes it easy to put the power of XML site maps (which update every time you post) to work for your web site.
Why your blog doesn’t have a lot of comments
There has been a LOT of "fuss" lately over comments or the lack thereof on many blogs. Chris Garret has a great post on 10 reasons commenting is good for bloggers.
Since I recommend Blogs for my clients, I prepare them in advance for the lack of comments they may experience on their blog. I tell them that from a blog standpoint, it’s better to have 100 bloggers who read your blog (and therefore LINK to your blog via comments and trackbacks) than it is to have 1000 non-blogging readers. The reason: because I’ve found the overwhelming reason most blogs have comments is to create a link back to the author of the comment’s own blog or web site. PERIOD! Which is why, the blogs with the most comments deal with, surprise surprise…. BLOGGING!
In the case of my clients though, most don’t have ANY intention of becoming a "professional" blogger. Instead, we use the BLOG as a type of CMS or Content Management System. Using a word press blog instead of a traditional HTML web site allows my clients to create content easily and update content on their web site. In addition, posting allows my client the ability to share their stories and connect with potential clients.
AND BLOGS DO A GREAT JOB OF DOING THAT FOR MY CLIENTS! It’s not uncommon for my clients to relay tales of someone reading their blog, then subscribing to their newsletter to end up signing up for long term coaching with my clients.
However, these very blogs, the ones that are actually WORKING delivering clients to my clients, are suffering from a DEARTH of comments, which is why I warn clients up front not to expect a LOT of commenting to go on when it comes to their blog. Since they’re not speaking to "bloggers" there isn’t a lot of "reason" for their readers to comment.
Of course, it’s HARD when your comment spam blocker is working over time but few if any people are leaving comments. It reminds me of a story from an edition of the Click Tracks newsletter.
In that edition of the newsletter, the editor relayed a story of a company who had launched a company blog and insisted that key employees begin blogging. The employees did as instructed, but within 6 months virtually all blogging activities had stopped. The lack of comments on the blog had lead employees to believe they were "wasting their time" by blogging. However, after running a Click Tracks reports and tracking buyer behavior, the company saw that visitors to the blog portion of the web site were 60% more likely to buy than people who didn’t visit the blog. Suddenly, armed with the information that their blogging efforts were making a difference, the staff got back to regular blogging, no longer feeling that their efforts were a waste of time.
So don’t judge a blog by it’s comments. It’s possible for a blog to have dedicated readers who prefer to "lurk" rather than comment.
Quality Hosting for a Blog
Lorelle helps you learn more about Word Press and blogging via her Word Press blog. But while Lorelle knows blogging, she doesn’t know web hosting.
In her I hate my web host blog entry, she pleads for a recommendation and so far, she’s gotten approximately 80 replies, many of which are either thinly veiled affiliate links or blatantly obvious affiliate links. (eg: buyhostgator.com which redirects to the affiliate link with the end provider of the hosting service.)
Oh, and one comment suggesting that she take the BIG leap to dedicated hosting. It makes me laugh.Moving from a "typical" hosting solution to a dedicated one is very similar to making the switch from driving a sports coupe to an 18 wheeler…. both may travel the same roads, but the 18 wheeler requires a lot more skill and dedication than driving a traditional 4-wheeler. In that guy’s defense, he’s not recommending his affiliate link be used, but me thinks he doesn’t recognize that which comes easily to him doesn’t come easily to all web dwellers.
Blogging is easy.
Finding quality hosting is hard.
Finding quality hosting with great customer support…priceless.
Finding quality hosting with great customer support for people who REALLY don’t understand this whole "computer" thing let alone internet thing…. nearly impossible…with good reason.
