Here’s a nice email forward I received today which clearly “suggests” how funny Google can be at times.

If you'd like to stay updated with SEO, grab the RSS feed now !What's this?

Hey, last week orkut made a small yet significant change. Orkut now allows to search and add your friends from outside the Google circle. Like AOL, Hotmail and Yahoo ! After all, it has probably discovered that all your “old  school buddies” are on other networks, while Gmail was not there. Good thought there.

SEO guru Eric explains to you how you can win over social media websites using authoritative content, and why  funny images does not bring any value to your business.

Recently, Google was spotted showing sitelinks for many websites.Erick Daffron reports that Google even lists the URL’s blocked by robots.txt in it’s sitelinks. lol

Read write Web has a nice interview with Mark Zuckerberg - I like this guy somehow!

Anthony (The OldschoolSEO guy) has posted some interesting Stumble Upon commandments at his blog. It’s worth a read and probably a stumble !

Donna has got a nice little link building tip for you over here. See if it will work for you.

Some geeks in Kerala, and around Technopark, have been thinking about this for quite some time now, and they have come to a conclusion.

The Blogcamp Kerala is suggested to be in June 2008, and things are going to be bigger than ever.

While the team is not teling us anything more than that there’s surprise around the corner, I’m assuming that’s going to be sweet. There have been invitations and replies flying off from outside the country even. Hmm…sounds really big! And I also hear that talks are out with Kerala Tourism guys for a major sponsorship.

Check out the buzz and the participants here, here, here and here.

I think I’ll make it this time around.

And, I coudn’t resist designing these posters.

Photo credits - Charles Haynes,blackfin2,Martinthomas1

Andy has an interesting article on how to increase your blog readership with 20 hot tips. Must read.

Social Media and networking is not interesting all the time. Ace “social media enthusiast” and “Link builder” Lyndoman thinks that social media is NOTworking and not Networking. Interesting article there.

Caroline Middlebrook has an interesting article on hitting the right balance of work. She says too much work is bad and so is too little work.

Amit Agarwal made an interesting observation about the Lynx love from Google. Amit is ppular fr finding such un noticed errors and mistakes and this  one I really enjoyed.

Jude Festus thinks you can make money from your Orkut profile - well, I’m not sure if it’s a good plan, but check it out and decide yourself.

Arpit has a post that explains you how to check for viruses online on files. Sounds stupid? It’s real. Check out.

Other cool things

There’s a Twitter enthusiasts meet up happening in Chennai this March 23rd, Sunday. If you’d like to join, hop in !

Well, it may happen without your knowledge most of the times, and if you really look for it, you’ll find it. (Damn, I’m sounding like a preacher now.)

Yes, indeed. In fact, I hadn’t thought about it in my earlier days of blogging. But as it grew on me, I could sense some pressure building up. And that’s right here with me as I write this post.

What is the pressure, is it the stress?

Well the Wikipedia definition for stress is  -

Stress is the condition that results when person-environment transactions lead the individual to perceive a discrepancy, whether real or not, between the demands of a situation and the resources of the person’s biological, psychological or social systems.

So, that explains it. I constantly get’s questions asked to myself while writing an article.

• Will this article be of interest to your readers?
• Does it make sense?
• Would you run out of topics to blog on?
• Is it of the quality that will make it popular?
• If it get’s popular, would you be able to write a second part to it?
• Are there any errors in the points that you mentioned?

So as long as I’m going to be asked these questions, I think the stress factor is always going to be there.

But it’s just not bloggers right? Everyone goes through it, the news reader, the ceo, the stock broker and the police man. And bloggers are the one group of geeks that stay on the edge all the time, so it’s quite natural.

How does it affect you in blogging?

Positively. You see it’s natural for a blogger to undergo stress, after all, you are competing with the rest of the world to make it to the top. So, I think it’s a good sign to have stress. The point is that you shouldn’t let it grow bigger than you. You got to have a command over it. Once it gains over you, you collapse and things go haywire. So make it a point to keep it to a minimal level and make it a positive virtue.

What can do to get over it?

Getting over stress is easy for bloggers compared to other fields of work. Simply because bloggers have a lot of options, a lot of them. Take for instance the questions I asked you earlier.

Will this article be of interest to your readers? - Just rephrase this question. What is the worst case scenario if your readers don’t get interested in it ? They may not leave comments. They may write a comment criticizing you. What else? Cancel your subscription? Yes may be. But in that case you can write a better article next time. Something that explains the readers who not to be stupid and write stupid articles that make you lose your subscription. You caould take the example of the first post too.

So it’s basically about making the best of whatever you’ve got. If you got a bad writing style, show it to people and say - this is how you shouldn’t write your article. You just passed on some information to them. And, they’ll appreciate it.  

Another way to go about it is to get proactive.

Foresee what your goals are and what the bottlenecks are. Make a comparison, study it well and start gathering resources that will get you over the situation. So when the time comes, you’ll be pretty much comfortable with what you are doing.

So essentially, stress in blogging is pretty much natural, but bloggers are at the luxury of having more options than others. Get proactive and study your weaknesses, you’ll be safe when the testing time comes.

Have you thought about it? If yes, this article is for you, if not quit at once.

When I first started a blog on a blogspot account, I was in a very bad shape, to be honest.
Just like you, I was in the learning phase of the blogging phenomena.
I picked a free template, tweaked it a bit to suit my preferences, and added all the possible plugins.
And when someone told me that content is the king, I wrote content daily. As anybody’s guess I struggled to find content. I’ll list down the things that really bothered me at the time of blogging.

• Content
  - Somebody would’ve already blogged about the content that I thought writing of.
  - It was difficult to write long paragraphs about something very silly.
• Audience
  - No comments
  - Confused over who I’m writing to.
• Returns
  - No incoming money.
  - No appreciation.

Content was the major concern. When people told that you should find traffic rich keywords, I found it difficult to write on “Mesothelioma” and “Asbestosis”. And when I managed to find some interesting topics, others would’ve already blogged about it and it would dishearten me.To top it up, even when I wrote about some topics that I was comfortable about, there wouldn’t be any response from the readers (if at all there were any). I think it’s a phase all young bloggers go through when they start blogging. Despite all this events, it was not an easy task to climb up the ladder.

But, down the line, there are some things that I think worked out in making the blog a success. And let me be honest with you, there is no rocket science involved. To bring you all that in a capsule form, here goes.

• Content is not the king. Consistency is.
  Well, content might be. But I think being consistent in delivering articles to your readers plays a more important part than the content itself.
• There is no topic on steroids. Your passion in your steroid.
  You don’t need to write on mesothelioma and asbestosis. You write from your head but make sure you have the dedication and passion all the way. It shines through.
• You will or cannot make everybody happy.
  Success doesn’t mean that you will make everyone happy. A more important thing is to make everyone talk about you. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t something that you need to work towards but something that comes along.
• Nor will you get followers overnight.
  Followers doesn’t exist. It’s a wrong term. What I’d be interested to know is, the number of people whom you managed to develop an interest in.
• Success does not come with money.
  Success isn’t money. It’s the measure of how close you are to your personal goals. This is my personal perspective, it should differ for you.

So there you go, all that blogging taught me in three years in a capsule form.

The point I’m trying to make here is that, blogging is a profession/career/hobby/whatever that is very slow in delivering results. It’s probably not for the stock broker kind who wants a return the very next day. It climbs slowly and steadily. Yes, the returns are there but it comes as a surprise and you can never invite it to you. Sweet isn’t it?

I’m unsure how by metrics am I going to depict this, but it is surely a remarkable reference. Some would agree and some ould not, just as it should be. What are the things that you’d take into consideration before linking to a site?

If we were to dissect out the essentials of blogging, links play a vital role. Links as many calls it are votes given by one person for the credibility of another. Every time someone want to link to a site, he things twice. There are many thoughts that goes through your head. Some bloggers are voracious linkers like John TP, some are selective like Darren and many are in between.

Now, if we all know that links are the building blocks of the internet and the blogging world, why do we hesitate to link?

After all, a link is important to another person as it is to you. So why do you not be proactive and link to others?

What are your mental blocks?
Few of the things that keep you from linking to a person are these questions.

Is extensive linking good?

Many a times, people ask me, Mani why do you keep linking to Google , AdSense and such sites often, Is it good for SEO?

Well, not really. I link to them because it helps as a reference to even novice readers who might be new to a product like AdSense. It might help me in SEO in very little amounts, but that’s not my interest first.

And, I’ve never recommended anyone not to link too much. It all depends on how many incoming links you’ve got. If the ratio of incoming to out going links is fat, you are in good shape, if it’s thinner then you might not want to link too much. That’s the point.

So provided you have a healthy number of incoming links to fight the competition, you can go ahead link to various resources and content relted websites, that’s not a problem at all. Having said that, make sure that you dont go about inserting stand alone links on the sidebar and the footers as non contextual links. When Google spiders a page, it can easily make out the contextual links and the non contextual links.

If there are 10 links within an article write up, referring to content related websites, it is perfectly fine. But at the same time, if there are 10 links on the sidebar referring to websites (which cannot be determined if it’s contextual or not), it may not be ahealthy situation.

So please expel your doubts on linking and number of links. If it’s all well withing the article and it supports the article, Google sees no harm in them.

Does the guy who’s linked deserve the link?

This is yet another popular factor. Before linking to (mostly personal sites) a site, it is normal for someone to think as to whether the person being linked to is actually deserving the credit. Well, the choice is your’s. If it’s not a relevant content you better not link. Keep in mind that you are not linking to a person to make him happy. You should be linking to a site because the content in the website is interesting and you like to refer it to someone else. Simple as that.

When you think in that sense, you might link to a person boldly than otherwise.

Will he reciprocate?

Again, here are two situations. 1 - If you are linking to a person to make him happy, then chances are that he would just be happy with your link and never link back to you.

2- If you are genuinely linking to a person because you think the content is interesting and you agree/disagrre to it, then he sees some value in your link and is more likely to reciprocate.

So, when you link, let the question be as to whether your link is passing on value or not rather than it is to make someone happy.

Will he acknowledge it?

This is interesting. There is no thumbrule to this, but from experience I’ve found that genuine and gentlemen bloggers do acknowledge links. Some of them I can name are Nate Whitehill, Michael Martine and Kevin Muldoon. They are big names in the blogosphere but rarely miss a chance to acknowledge genuine links. I’ve experieinced it over the years.

So if your link is genuine and passes on value, people are likely to acknowledge it. Again, it depends on whom you are linking.

Will he just enjoy the link or will he return it back?

This might be of interest to all those link-exchange freaks out there. My sincere apologies to all of you. But this practice is something that I don’t recommend. If you are linking to someone assuming (or even nudgin him on chat) that he will link you back, then I’m sorry even if they link back, it is not going to give you any value. It just becomes an excercise that is not going to help in long time.

So essentially speaking, when you realy have to link to someone, because an article he wrote is interesting or you’d like to refer it to your reader, please do go ahead and link to him even if you don’t like his hairstyle.

But never link to someone in the hope that tommorow he will link back to you or send you some money over paypal.

Have you ever had the chance of having a traditional Indian meal ? For the Indian readers, this question is irrelevant but for the rest of the world, this article might be interesting and mouth watering at the same time.

The (grand) Indian meal is pretty popular, particularly the south Indian one. Once, a foreign friend of mine who had the chance to have one jokingly said, that the thali itself reminded him of the solar system model he learned at school. Huh? He said, the rice is the sun (being at the middle), and there are lot of planets and their satellites revolving around it making it look almost like a solar system.

Well, I’d agree him on all points except that, in the traditional Indian meal, eating the sun won’t burn you, but the curries (the satellites) may, they are very spicy.

Having said that, I think there’s lot of points in common between having an Indian meal and blogging.

1. Template.
   In blogging, it is essential that you have a cool template, good enough to get the attention of the reader. Similarly, in the meals, there’s the template - the plantain leaf. A plantain leaf is used instead of a plate, which must be large enough to carry all the ingredients well.
   Similarity - 80%.
2. Starters.
   In both blogging and the meal, there are the starters. In blogs they are the headers and above the fold stuff. If the starter is good both the meal and the blog is enjoyable. In the meal the starters are placed “above the fold” and also in the blog.
   Similarity - 99%
3. Main course.
   And there’s the main course which is rice and the curries. In the blog, there are the articles in different categories. Having a good main course fulfills your hunger, be it a blog or the meal.
   Similarity - 99.7%
4. Dessert.
   In the meals, there is a always something sweet at the end. It normally would be “payasam”. And in blogging, there are the comments. Comments, though not always sweet, is definitely a dessert!
   Similarity - 59%
5. Addiction.
   Both the meal and blogging is addictive! If you taste it once, whenever you think of one, your mouth starts watering and you can’t get rid of it. Everyday, new tastes, new flavors, a whole new meal !
   Similarity - 70%
6. Widgets.
   In the blog you have the widgets to spice you your blog. Like the Lijit widget or the Mybloglog widget, and in a meal, you have the pickles and banana chips that sits alongside the main template , though very small, adding to the spice of the blog.
   Similarity - 85.6%
7. SEO and the thali meal.
   A thali meal is very much like doing a search engine optimization on your blog. As you know, in SEO, there are some procedures that has to be done methodologically in order to put yo in good shape. Like the keyword saturation and onsite optimization procedures. In an Indian meal, the order of serving the meal is really important. First, the spicy pickle, then some banana chips, then some curries, then the rice, then the sambhar(spicy curry), then the next set of curries!
   It sounds more or less similar right? If you mix up the order neither the meals is enjoyable nor the blog. You have to serve every ingredient in the same proportion.

   SEO - Keyword density - You sprinkle the keywords here and there to meet the right density.
   Meals - Salt - You sprinkle the salt to meet the right density.

   SEO - You make sure that the template is search engine friendly by ensuring a standard three column template with a proper header and footer.
   Meals - The template (plantain leaf) is very much like the template with the header to one side and the footer(tapering end) to another.

Seven reasons to think that an Indian meal is similar to blogging - there you have it. Now, some of the points may sound bizzare, but if there’s at least a 50% similarity that you found, I’d be happy!

What is that one thing that keeps buzzing in your mind when you write an article?

I want to impress my reader.

Well, I could be wrong, as there might be other things that matters to you but I don’t think anyone can neglect this factor.

We all want to impress our readers, and mind you you would want to do it the very first time, in the least time, and every single time. (Bad rhyming eh?)

So how can you impress your readers?

• You got to know very clearly who’s reading your article
  Analytics experts may call it target segmentation or customer profiling whatever whatever, beyond the jargons it just means that you got to know who your subscriber is.

  Two possibilities here -
  If he is your friend/well wisher, you are safe. You can go on writing about things that you are not sure of and he’ll probably excuse you and encourage you to study more on the subject.
  If it’s not your friend, you are still safe. You can go around writing about things that you are sure of and he’ll poke his nose into it, just because he is irritated. He’ll do it anyway!

• You got to know what you are talking about
  You don’t have to write about something just because someone else is writing. Write about only the things that you are comfortable with, and it will show through whether you are faking it or not. Remember readers are good judges.
• You need to have a firm stand on your decision
  It’s easy for anyone to go confused, because there are lot of opinions about a single matter. And you don’t know whom to stand with. Follow your heart and stick to what you think is right. People disagree with you because they think they can make you feel guilty, but you know you never will.
• Get opinion form your friends before you make a statement
  When you are unsure about something, say a topic like “iPhone is better than Windows mobile or not”..ask your friends. Non geeky friends can sometimes give you excellent pointers to something that you have missed. Brainstorming is the key.
• Give your readers something to take home
  Why should someone read your blog? Shouldn’t they benefit from it? Give them something to take home, like a unique information, a unique perspective about something normal.
  Though they’ll not let you know, they’ll take it home and come back often.
• Be creative and think out of the box
  Like this paragraph, where I’m writing nothing but just blah-blah about nothing just to fill the 4-5 lines of this paragraph so that it looks like the other paragraphs which may have some information. Now this paragraph sits right along with those paragraphs( repeated 5 times now) and most of the readers who skims through articles doesn’t even notice it, except you. They would’ve read the title though.
• Be friendly, if all were gurus where are the listeners?
  Think about it, are you a guru or a listener? If everyone talked like they were gurus in their own niche (which they might be), then who would care to listen? Everyone would have their own “10 principles of success” to preach about. So cool down, there’s nothing wrong in being a listener, be a friend and talk in modesty to your readers and they’ll reciprocate it.
• Be Honest
  I like Darren because he is honest.I know you like Darren because he is honest.  Millions like Darren because he is honest. See how a small virtue can affect many in exactly the same way? Practice honesty. Even if it gives you small set-backs every now and then it pays in the long run.
• Laugh at your mistakes
  I end up laughing every other hour or so. Damn!

Having said all that, it’s true that you cannot impress everyone. If you are set out to please everyone and get them smiling to whatever you say, you are in the wrong gear. Leave space for some criticism,it will give you room for growth.
Photo courtesy - Mudcat

If there was one thing that you could do to dramatically boost your website traffic, what would it be?

You may go buy a copy of “Click monkeys”, buy the “Ghana Institute’s world famous Traffic Booster software”, or enroll in a “Double your traffic with popups” program. The first one doesn;t even exist, the second one will hack your paypal id and the third one will get your AdSense ads a lifelong ban. Kaboom!

Now, is there something that you can do worthwhile to really boost your traffic by double fold?

Honestly, I don’t think it’s fair to claim anything such. After all we know that there is nothing as “predictable traffic”. If that was the case,then SEO’s like me would’ve given you the exact measure of traffic boost you’ll get if we tweak just the title tag!

So coming to the reality version of things, is there really something that I can do to boost my daily traffic? Yes of course!

Now, this is no magic or “trick” as they call it. It’s sheer hard work. I’ll tell you the short-cut if you are willing to work hard.It worked for me so it should work for you, provided you try.

Step 1 - Subscribe to all those blogs you are interested in. They may be from the same niche you are in or they may be different, that’s not a problem.

What matters is,
- whether the blog authors are popular
- do they reply to comments
- are they likely to get high number of comments and
- do they update regularly

Yea so keep those in mind while subscribing.

Step 2 - Watch out for updates at these blogs in Google reader like  Hawk!!
Do you have a problem doing that? Then you are out of the game. If not, please continue.

Whenever there’s an update in these blogs, be the first to comment. No second no third, be the first!

I know what you are thinking - That’s not easy Mani, there are time differences, there could be others, and the topics may not be interesting, you know there are all these troubles.

Well, my friend, that answers the question why you are not seen a blogstar in the blogosphere!

Had you been the first to comment on the blogs..

- You’d get personal attention from the author.
- You’d get attention from the rest of the commenters.
- You become genuine and passionate blogger.
- You write meaningful comments, not a “I’m doing it just because I have to” thing.
- You’ll get insights on how to write better blogs.

Get the idea? You know that you can’t write great articles like them (the super blogs that you’ve subscribed to), so why not get the maximum out of them with the minimal effort? Makes sense isn’t it?

Some of the blogs that I’d recommend you to subscribe and star commenting firs would be - DailyBlogTips.com, Problogger.net,45n5.com,Copyblogger.com,Bloggingtips.com and Dailyseoblog.com

The inspiration to this article is Amit Agarwal when he “called” me A Rising Blog Star.