Posts tagged with “web publishing”
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Create a Blogger Wiki to Promote Your Content

Note: This was originally written for HubPages and the writers there.

When you write content on a site like HubPages you want it to be found by people interested in reading about your topic (niche/ genre/ subject matter). But, it can feel like you're alone in a vast ocean, standing on a rock, jumping up and down, waving and waving without anyone noticing you at all. So, you need to build a platform which rises you a little higher and makes you easier to find.

The established ways to do this are to use social media, backlinks, and other worthy and less worthy ideas which people lump into SEO (search engine optimization). The problem with some of these tactics is the difference between attracting human readers versus attracting search engine bots which don't actually read your content. Search engines won't read your content, won't link to your content and won't refer friends and followers to your content. A search engine will only list your content for the real people to find. It does not endorse your content the way a referral from a real person can.

So, you need to do something more to bring people to your content. Keywords are not enough. Too many keywords will detract from your content because no one really wants to read that promotional content which is directed to SEO and not human readers. Too many keywords make your writing dull and bland.

Use Google Blogger to Create a Wiki Resource

Try opening a Google Blogger blog, pick a name which suits your content.

Write an introduction post and an about page.

Look for other content such as content curation feeds and RSS feeds relevant to your main topic. Some of them, like Scoop.it, will have widgets which display the content feed. Plus, this is another place you can suggest your own links to as you write new posts. So you will see your HubPages post appear in the feed on the widget you have displayed. This is especially nice because people reading your wiki will see you as an authority beyond the content you have created yourself. It's like making yourself famous.

Create a few links to sites which you know are excellent references for your topic. You can ask for a link exchange with these sites - once your wiki is established, aged and seasoned a bit.

Now the part where your own content comes in.

Begin to post links to your HubPages posts/ content. Do not repost the content, just create an index. Sort your posts into subtopics branching from the main theme or genre which you write about. (If you write about several topics set up a fresh Blogger account and repeat the steps above for each topic).

Use your subtopics as post headers (titles) and add your links relevant to each subtopic in your topic/ genre. Check your links, make sure they are all going where they should be going - it is not too hard to miss something when you are cutting and pasting several links this way.

In your blog sidebar, over the links to outside reference sites, post links to each of the posts you have just created (the subtopics). Like building an index to your own subtopics in the sidebar.

In this way you are creating a wiki for your content which focuses on your HubPages content but not exclusively. A wiki is a personally created resource about one topic. Traditionally, a wiki is not run by just one person but several contributors sharing knowledge and resources. You can gather others to join you too. However, then you are sharing some of the limelight but building a wiki community is a great way to share your links among the community you create. So it is a trade off and something you can consider.

This idea does not work as well on WordPress.com because Blogger.com is Google's own appendage blog site. So, it gets some preference.

It does take extra time and energy to create this kind of index to your HubPages content, but it will bring you to the attention of the Google and other search engines. Also, extra Adsense (which you can easily load on Blogger too).

Don't let your wiki stagnate.

Maintain the blog, add your fresh HubPages content to the subtopics which you have set up.

Add new outside links as you find really good sites to refer people to.

Create an actual post for the blog once in awhile, monthly is fine. The post doesn't have to be labour intensive. An update about the work you are doing to research your topic is a good post. Or, something you heard/ read in the news relevant to the topic. The point of keeping a monthly post is to show the site is active, at least once a month.

Link to this blog in each of your posts on HubPages. Just add it to the links with a note about it being your wiki or reference site for people who would like more information, etc.

Share the wiki.

The link to your Blogger wiki is one more link you can promote to social media, content feeds, and all the other routine places and ways you promote your content.

Creating the wiki is giving your content (on HubPages or any other sites you write for) an extra boost, another way to be found in the great, big ocean.

Participate Outside of HubPages

If you aren't already involved in forums and other online communities within your topic make sure you get involved now. Join a relevant forum and be active. Daily is nice but not very practical. Aim for at least weekly and then read as many posts in the forum as you can and contribute. Of course, you can create a signature to use in the form with at least one link to your wiki or your HubPages link, both if possible.

From the comments on the original post:

That Grrl  Hub Author

@prarieprincess I got the idea as I was replying to someone else in the forum who was complaining about Google and traffic and etc, the same old stuff. I have never been overly reliant on Google for traffic. I like to look for my own ideas to bring in traffic/ readers.

One thing people writing here don't quite understand is that HubPages is not buying your content/ articles. If they were there would be copyrights involved. HubPages is buying your social media skills and whatever else you do that works to bring in readers (traffic) to the site. HubPages sells ads which appear with your articles. We get a percent of that. So, in reality the whole thing is not about your content but about the traffic you generate here.

Knowing this it is a really good plan to focus on bringing readers from outside of HubPages into HubPages without focusing on Google. This is because once you are in the database at Google you will either rise or stay about the same. There isn't a lot of point in putting all your eggs in that basket.

So, generating traffic in other ways is the key. I got the idea of the Blogger wiki because I had been looking at wiki sites that week and it popped into my mind that I already have all my old Blogger sites from when I began online ages ago. Why not use them for more than just leaving a trail of links. I know they still get traffic even though I have done nothing but ignore them for years.

Thus the Blogger wiki idea was formed. I added more ideas to what I could do with it as I went along. I don't have a finished example yet. I've got so many projects I'm working on that I am hoping to get my nephew out sometime to help me move stuff along.

That Grrl  Hub Author

I have my own blogs with domains and paid hosting. But, you don't have to go that way. I didn't start out that way. I've been online more than ten years. I was online several years before making the commitment to paying for web hosting. So don't feel you need to rush into it. A Blogger blog is still free for software and hosting and that will do just fine. More than that is just vanity - which is how they call it a vanity URL/ domain.

I would do both. There is no reason you can't have an index of all your HubPages post in the sidebar of the blog. Then create individual posts with summaries and links at the end for each post too. This blog is your space to bring your content to the foreground, show it off and get it found. People are using the term 'discoverable' lately. and that is just what you are doing.

The only thing you should not do is copy your post and create the dreaded duplicate content. However, unlike at HubPages, on your own site you can have all the links you want. (HubPages gives you a notice if you link to the same domain more than twice).

Have fun with the blog, decorate it. Add widgets for social media which you use and of course highlight your posts here. Then do post the blog link around - use it for your signature in online forums and communities. Get the link around so people can find your content. This is how Google search bots will also find your content and consider it as important because there are links to it in a source outside of HubPages. Also, the link back from your posts on HubPages will keep the bots looking at your links and finding more of your content. They used to call them spiders because they follow links from one starting point to other directions, branching out from the starting point, spidering out.

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Why Aren't You Writing for HubPages?

Note: This was originally posted on the HubPages site, June 2012. I have stopped writing at HubPages but still recommend the site for new writers or those who don't want to set up their own site or weblog.

I was thinking about what I get out of writing for HubPages and decided it would actually make a good post. Other writers should know the benefits, the less obvious benefits, to writing for HubPages or other networks.

Yes, you get paid. But, yes... you actually do get paid.
You get to practice in front of a live audience.
You get your name out there, on topics relevant to you and your interests.
You get to dabble in blogging without opening a site or buying anything.
You can work on your spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Meet other writers and other people sharing your interests or interested in you.
Promote yourself on social media by linking back to your accounts on Twitter and etc.
If you have a site you can give yourself back links and interlink between relevant posts.
Learn from the guides, tips and rules on the network. Watch for changes to how they do things and find out the reasons behind them.
Get fresh, new ideas from what other people are posting. Use the ideas in your own way.
Making Money at HubPages

My time writing for HubPages is a bit skewed. I opened an account and didn't start using it until about 3 years later. So my results are different from what your own may be. Of course, no one is going to have the exact same experience anyway.

However, when it comes to my time here versus my money earned, things are a bit complicated.

Still, as far as being paid by HubPages. I am getting paid and I am making money here. I signed up for other writing networks and did not get any money for my work and my time. In fact, I've only been paid for work on my own blog (which is outside of any writing network) and HubPages. None of the other networks have paid me a thing in the past year. So, of course, I am putting more into HubPages and my own sites.

My first payment from HubPags was just over $50 and I am halfway to a second $50 payment. Due to my own efforts - choosing topics, writing headlines, writing content and finding context, etc - I have made $25 in three months.

Now, if you look at your cost of living that doesn't seem like much. But, it's pretty good for a writing network. I know others are making more money in different ways. I'm not comparing apples and oranges though. I'm quite pleased with the money from HubPages.

Of course, the secret is time management. Don't over do it. Keep your time, work and the returns you get in balance.

There's More to Writing for a Network than Money

People always want to know about making money. But, as a writer, there is more you can get out of writing for an online network than money alone.

Don't forget the importance of feedback, building up your skills, learning how things work and building a reputation/ creating an online presence for yourself. Those are all real things you can get from writing for a network like HubPages.

I also like HubPages because it gives me a goal to work towards. When I write for myself I have no boss, no one looking over my shoulder or keeping me on track. I sometimes go off on my own and daydream about some new idea or write a post because it appeals to me, just me. Having a bit of a task master at HubPages is a good thing. You need to keep your focus, watch how and what you write/ post and you can see the results and set yourself goals to improving based on the numbers HubPages tracks for you.

Right now I'm working on getting traffic numbers up. I want to go from 10K to 100K around the end of this year. It may be too much to reach for. But, I'm past the quarter point. Progress, even if I may fall short at the end, I can still see things might work out. I'm pushing extra buttons by promoting my posts, linking to them and continuing to write new posts.

Why Not Give HubPages a Try?

I'm not going to stick in a referral link here. If you do join I would appreciate the referral but I'm Canadian and I'm just not comfortable asking for something for myself.

But, if you have read this and think writing for a network is a good idea, try HubPages. You don't have to pay to join, you don't even have to start writing right away. Think about it, consider how useful it could be for you and then give it a spin.

Send me a note when you make your first post. I'll leave you a welcome comment.

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How to Reach Beyond HubPages

*Note: This was originally posted to HubPages, February 2012. I'm no longer writing at HubPages but the advice to people who write for network sites is still true and worth knowing. *

To my fellow HubPages writers,

I've been writing with HubPages for a few months. I had joined years ago, but I wasn't writing Hub posts until recently.

My writing experience online comes from other sites, other writing networks and my own sites which I create, maintain and promote. I have moderated forums, email lists and newsletters. I have guest posted and I have accepted guest posts. I have begun working as a content curator. In the past I have been a web directory editor for The Open Directory Project and a less well known directory, BOTW. I have written for known and unknown sites like LockerGnome, Suite101, BackWash, have any Hub writers heard of these? Chances are you have not.

HubPages has become it's own little microcosm, it's own little closed in and sheltered world. The traffic here is mainly from inside the network or Google. This is not really a good thing.

Google is like a bird, picking at bits of food in a huge log on the forest floor. The Google bird just snips up one snack at a time. It doesn't dive in and find more or tell anyone else to come and see what great snacks there are in this tree. Everything Google finds becomes part of its database and someone has to search for it in order to find you. In Google, your content is just a little bug waiting for another bird to dig for it, with the right words.

There are so many other sources for traffic! Most Hub writers are not usingTwitter, for instance. Twitter is simple to use. It would also let Hub writers talk outside of HubPages which is a good thing because it promotes HubPages - outside of HubPages. Twitter is only a beginning... StumbleUpon, Tumblr,Pinterest, Snip.it, Flickr... Are these foreign lands to you? Then it's time to set your eye on the horizon and explore them.

You can promote your Hub posts in so many fresh, new places. Places you will enjoy exploring, places you will find new ideas to write about, meet new people with your interests and interesting sidelines to your interests.

Start your own blog on WordPress.com or Blogspot. It's free in those places. Link to your Hubpages account, post links to your lastest Hub article and invite discussion. Yes, you want people to comment on your Hub, but they have to get there first. Post the best Hub comments on your blog, as a way to lure readers from the blog onto your Hub post where they can add to that discussion. However, don't use your blog or any social media as just a way to promote your HubPages account. That is a slippery slope.

It takes time to use social media or a blog well. They should never be used as just a feed for your Hub content. Why would someone read a carbon copy? Have original content, things you don't post at HubPages. Post ideas you find and may write about. Post updates to old Hubs you have written and, of course, link back to the original Hub content. Post about a bad day, post about your new achievements and goals you are setting for yourself.

Each place you land in, establish a presence in, will bring you new readers and give HubPages new life outside of itself. This will bring traffic from outside of HubPages, those places where most people have never heard of HubPages or think it's not worth visiting. Reach out there and change their minds.

I don't know if there are rules about posting traffic stats on HubPages. I don't mind to share mine, to show my work.

My Hub traffic reaches out past Google. I get traffic from my own blog where I have added a link to my HubPages account right along with my Twitter, StumbleUpon and etc. accounts. I put in time on Scoop.it, content curating for topics which relate to the Hubs I write. While I do link to my own posts there, I also link to some of yours on HubPages and other sites.

On my blog you will see a wider variety of traffic sources. Some of these come from comments I have left on other sites and blogs. Some are networks I have joined. I also exchange links with other bloggers, web writers and friends online. I even get a little traffic from a writer's network which is now abandoned by the owner.

So you can get traffic from a lot of places, even those which aren't especially active. The key is in the focus of the site, especially in the case of a small or inactive site. People wind up there, with the focus of whatever the topic or niche is. If they find your link, chances are you will get clicked on because they came looking for your kind of content.

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Writer's Block Is More Than The Fear Of White Paper (Or Screen)

Guest post by Deanna Dahlsad.

One of the things I now find myself doing in my consulting work is providing clients with a Writing Prompt Service. It was born, like any good service, from client needs. In working with my clients, it quickly became clear that whatever their reason for having a website or blog, writers, bloggers, marketers, etc. all struggle with coming up with fresh ideas to write about.

I shouldn't have been surprised; I've been stuck there myself with my own writing for my own sites. wink Some days, you just feel like you've said everything you can, you have no spark of inspiration. But when someone else hands you the task -- a task that is suited for your own goals, it is much easier.

As a freelance writer, I do provide custom written content; but this Writing Prompt Service is a less expensive, DIY option. My Writing Prompt Service is pretty simple really: I provide my clients with an idea to write about.

What makes this service something worth paying for is the fresh set of eyes. I see what their site or business is all about, what they are trying to do, and what is missing for readers and/or potential clients and customers. I take all that information and provide them with a prompt for writing. It may be a question, an inspirational photograph, a news story -- anything to get them talking (writing) about an idea or issue their website should be covering.

Because I approach this the same way I do with my freelance writing -- from the point of view of the client's goals and the needs of their site visitors, the prompted posts provide engaging organic SEO.

For those who feel stuck with their writing, but do not wish to pay for writing prompts, here's a quick little list of ways to get ideas for writing:

1) Get out of the office or house. Often, part of feeling stuck is largely due to feeling stuck in the same old place. To rid yourself of that funk, get away from your computer, out of the office, out of the building. The fresh air will do you good and bring you fresh ideas.

2) When out -- even just running errands, open your eyes and ears. Notice what people are talking about in the checkout line. Look at the headlines on newspapers and magazines on the sales racks. What are people wearing? What are they doing? What are they not doing? What about the houses, buildings, roads, businesses, etc. Are the flowers in bloom? Is it snowing? What might any of this mean to you, your readers, your business? From larger trends to tiny minutia, there are things you can observe which can spark your writing.

3) Consume media. Listen to the radio, watch TV, read books and magazines.  And read online. Really read. Don't just scroll past the links on Twitter and Facebook, but read the articles and posts. I know this can seem tricky...

On one hand, we fear disappearing down a rabbit hole of lost or wasted time. You can overcome this easily by setting an alarm for say an hour or so.

On the other hand, we fear reading articles and blogs by those in the same industry. Will you be accused of copying someone's idea, of not having your own ideas? If you participate in the conversation (by linking to the source of your idea when you write about it), you won't be lambasted. And you can also bypass this issue completely by simply not reading industry publications.

4) Get fresh (free) eyes. Ask a friend or family member to ask you questions about your business, work, or the "beat" you cover.

We are often too close to our own work. Too often we don't write about something because we believe that "everyone knows that" or we think that we've already addressed something; but they don't and we haven't. Too often we mistakenly believe that we aren't good enough, interesting enough, smart enough, etc. to write about something. Pessimistically we think, "No one wants to hear about this from me." But that's nearly always wrong. If a friend or family member is asking you, likely your readers want to hear about it too -- and from you.

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Avatar-Making for your Online Profile

An avatar gives you a face when you fill out a profile online. There are endless places you can use an avatar on the web: email signatures, blog comments, forum profiles, HubPages or any other site you create an account on.

For this post I am focusing on sites which let you create the avatar online, from start to finish. You may need a screen capture software to save your finished avatar in an image file on your own computer. Go to the home site for your web browser and look up the add-ons. I use Chrome and Firefox (at different times) both of those have simple add-ons which let you use screen capture right from your web browser.

Many online game sites will give you an avatar when you sign up to play their game. This is another way to create an avatar, but it requires you to register for the site and have an account first. If you are not interested in playing the game you can still create an avatar and save it on your own computer, but you will have to take the time to register for the site, first.

Creating an Avatar with Your Own Art

The avatar can be an image of your own choosing. Use a photo you have taken. Your own art/ drawings in an image file (png, jpg or gif files) are great as avatars too.

Modify the image to fit the size you need. Most profiles will have a size limit. Some will have a limit for the pixels/ bandwidth of the image as well. There are web graphic programs which can resize an image. Some have features which let you add text, change colours and change the shape of the image, give it a different background and so on. You can use software such as Gimp, for image editing.

Globally Recognized Avatar

Once you have your avatar go to Gravatar and set up an account. This is a free online service which gives you a globally recognized avatar which will automatically show up when you comment on WordPress blogs or use various comment services and forums online.

  • Creating Avatar in GIMP (Illustrated)

Try Making Your Own Web Avatar (last updated on March 18, 2012).