How Tagging and Pinging Work

A must read if you are using social bookmarking as part of your marketing strategy.

Tagging and pinging are common terms used in social bookmarking and web publishing, and it's important to learn how to do both effectively when you need the top rankings on sites and search engines. Search engines and social bookmarking aggregators work in very similar ways, and the most effective strategy for gaining prominence in either of these is to code your copy correctly!

TAGGING: WHAT IS IT?

Developing search-engine friendly copy has become even easier with the introduction of tagging widgets on a variety of web publishing interfaces. Tagging is simply a process of breaking down your submissions into keywords. Keywords of relevance are usually general in scope, and will make your copy fit into a variety of indexes and categories with a few simple tweaks.

Consider tagging to be a condensed version of your main idea. This is an effective approach when you are trying to make sense of the process, and the best way to do it is to start with your heading and title. Your title will serve as the main source of indexing by search engines, and you can make it stand out even more by adding relevant tags.

As a general rule, you'll want to make sure you are also using the appropriate tags and meta-tags in descriptions and heading titles. Both Yahoo! and MSN use these areas to index anything you publish, and it's important that they are relevant and free of spam.

Still, tagging within a social bookmarking site offers multiple benefits. Many social bookmarking sites such as Digg and Technorati make use of tag clouds that break out each article and section it off to different categories. Using keywords such as 'internet' or 'computer' for example will automatically list your article or submission in both areas. It's just another way for users to find articles or entries of relevance; whenever they click on one of these tag clouds, a full listing of articles with those tags will show up on their screen.

A growing number of portals and websites are offering tagging systems to index content. This is especially helpful for blogs and other larger resources where context is highly important. Think about the millions of articles and entries on the web today, and how difficult it would be for someone to find your specific article if they could only find you with a few keywords. tagging helps to create context and relevance within different categories, and once a user has reached the social bookmarking platform; it makes it much easier to find you.

More people are becoming comfortable and familiar with using tag clouds to group and find the information they need; your website can reach a much wider audience when it's easily found in a variety of areas, instead of just under one content page or index.

As each social bookmarking site indexes and aggregates the incoming data, patterns of tags start to emerge; the more popular a particular theme or idea becomes, the larger the tag cloud. You'll notice this as you review different tag clouds, and you'll see some words standing out far more than others. This means that more people are submitting articles with the same tags, and more people are viewing them. it's an easy way to monitor and review how well specific topics are doing at any given time.

TAGGING: HOW TO DO IT

Tagging each entry you submit will become a habit, but you do need to make sure that the tags are relevant and free of spam. Only use keywords that actually apply to your entry; if you start using extra words simply to gain exposure or search engine placement, another user may report it and you may be forced off the network.

Think of tagging as labeling all of your data; you are creating an easily index-able system so that search engines and social bookmarking sites can find and place your article. Breaking down your article into a 'notes' form is a very effective strategy for rising to prominence!

You'll need to break down your main idea into general topics, then narrow it down to more specific keywords. Titles in your article are a good way to start, and you do not need to include words such as 'the', 'it', or 'a'. If you do, the tagging system will usually just take them out. Be sure to pick keywords that classify your submission the best; while there are no limits to the number of tags you can add, it's important to limit them to only those of relevance.

PINGING: WHAT IS IT?

Pinging has quickly become a popular activity with the social networking boom, and in most cases it is an automatic process. Pinging is the process of identifying your IP address and making sure that it is a valid address for search engines. Pings identify the web address to various hosts, and once the address is verified, it can be networked and updated in search engines and indexes.

Bloggers make use of pinging when in cases where posts are not updated automatically. Pinging allows the user to update search engines and various indexes that a new blog posting has been submitted. This is necessary for indexing purposes only, and can help search engine spiders and indexers 'pick up' your submission much faster. Old search engine strategies required manually entering sites and submissions for pinging; today, however, most publishing platforms take care of this process automatically.

Sean S. Sampson provides valuable resources, and information to help the home business owner, and online business owner prosper with their business. For more information about Social Bookmarketing, please go to www.makinglotsofmoneyonline.com

Pressure To Rank High In The Search Engines

The following article discusses other ways to increase your traffic without relying solely on search engines.

The ultimate goal for any webmaster is getting quality traffic to their website and therefore customers. In the past web masters felt they had one choice and one choice only but to get placed in the top 10 position in order to get traffic. Times have changed. They are now given more than one method to generate traffic to their web site. The pressure to rank high in the search engines is lessened.

With the great uprise of social bookmarking, blog and article directory sites, more and more webmasters are turning to these alternatives to get traffic. These sites have come as a relief to those who have struggled to gain a piece of the pie of the search engines without success. These social media sites without bias make it possible for any web master great or small to get traffic in as little as 24 hours unlike the search engines which can take months.

There are blog sites for just about any subject, and you can be assured that there are some that relate to your products and/or services. The true origin of the word "blog" found on the Book of Joe web site shows that Dr. Seuss actually created blogs. At first people thought the word "blog" came from the word "web-log". Some blog sites provide commentary or news on a particular subject while others function as a personal diary. Blog sites are great for generating traffic to your web site because you can express yourself in an interesting way that gets people to respond to your blog. You can simply sign up with a site such as Word Press and begin blogging away. You can even have your own blog site!

Article writing is a great marketing method. Depending on who you talk to you might just hear that it is the best marketing method to generate traffic to your web site. One thing for sure is that if you can provide people with some great information, sharing valuable tips that they can use right away, you will get your article read. Article writing plays a very active role in getting out there and finding people who are interested in what you are saying. Search Engine listings on the other hand wait for people to search your keywords in order to find you. It's role is a passive one. You can get your article out there for thousands of people to see for free!

Social Bookmarking is another great method for generating traffic to your web site. Millions of people are using social bookmarking sites to find information. They have become so popular they are even considered to be a new type of search engine. If you are new to bookmarking sites, they allow you to store your bookmarks online and use tags to organize and remember your bookmarks. Tags are keywords chosen by you to remember the subject, name, category, etc. of an article or web site. In order to get social bookmarking to work for you, create quality content, tag it, and get other people to see your content and tag it themselves. This can do wonders of getting traffic to your web site.

Knowing that there are other methods of generating traffic to your web site other than being place in the top 10 of the search engines, have significantly lessen the pressure to rank high in the search engines.

About the Author:

Rosemarie Bryan is an experienced web marketer who helps small online businesses get the best web marketing services at a fraction of the cost. Visit her web site at: http://www.websitemarketing.friendlyfirm.com

Web 2.0, Internet Marketing, The Easiest Way To Generate Massive Exposure

Many people feel that they are running in circles when trying to improve the traffic to their site. The following article looks at the many marketing opportunities that exist in today's Web 2.0 world.

If you’ve ever been involved in a small business, or possibly even a home-based business then you’ve most likely hit the brick wall, just as many people do. No, I’m not talking about start up capital, or operating expenses, because starting a home business is actually one of the most affordable ways for the average person to break into the world of business, and break out of the world of 9 to 5 slavery.

The brick wall that I’m referring to is that of creating exposure for your products and services, and generating traffic for your web sites, presentations, and business briefings. In fact, one can very quickly find themselves pulling out their hair with shear frustration and confusion.

What once was a world of duplication, manipulation, and old school marketing, has in a matter of a few short years been swept aside by those on the cutting edge of the Internet landscape. The cutting edge of what has become the world of web 2.0. Unfortunately, despite the trends, most people really do not know what web 2.0 really is.

Of course, it’s cutting edge, it’s now, it’s happening, but are you using it?

Don’t get me wrong, web 2.0 Internet Marketing is not rocket science, but you do need to be armed with the basics. Just putting a few video clips on your site, or tossing up an audio file or two that people can access or download does not make your site a web 2.0 experience. In fact this has been done for years, but what does make it web 2.0?

Here are a few things to consider before jumping head long into the world of web 2.0 Internet Marketing, and possibly a few suggestions that may make your transition into this world a bit easier.

Architecture of Participation

The first element of a well-designed web 2.0 experience is something called the Architecture of Participation. You might also hear things like RIA (Rich Internet Applications), or even SOA (Service Oriented Applications).

Despite the use of fancy buzzwords, this simply refers to the user experience. Is the site pleasing to the eye, easy to use, and most importantly does the site make it possible for visitors to participate in the content of the web site?

This could best be demonstrated by taking a look at sites such as YouTube.com, EzineArticles.com, as well as social networking sites like MySpace.com. Each of these examples has a very well planned Architecture of Participation.

Mash Ups & Integration

The next element of a true web 2.0 experience is often called the mash up, or content integration. This is actually quite simple. Again, going back to sites like MySpace.com, you’ll see that participants can implement many different sources of web content. You’ll not only see video and audio, but you’ll also see blogs, comments, and networks of friends. Many sites will also integrate content from multiple sources or sites onto a single, new web site that generates fresh content on the fly, ready for eager site visitors.

Mashing multiple streams of content onto a new web site is where the term Mash Ups actually came from, which here again, is not rocket science when you determine what content your visitors might like to see, hear, or read. It’s simply a matter of pulling the appropriate content and mashing it up into one convenient place.

Social Networking

Finally, social networking is a big part of web 2.0. Of course, it’s deeply routed in the Architecture of Participation, and it almost always implements the mash up to create unique content, but the unique factor in social networking is that it’s designed to bring like minded people together.

Networking is the key to building successful long-term business relationships, but if you’ve ever hit your friends and family up with a business opportunity, you’ve probably discovered that they’re not always as like-minded as you might have originally hoped.

Tapping into such social networks can put you, and your business or opportunity in front of literally millions of potential prospects and future business partners, and because you are networking with like-minded people, you’re not forced to go old school when it comes to pitching your opportunity or product.

Over all, web 2.0 is a major departure in traditional marketing, and is light years beyond the days of mass mailing and classified ad submission. It is a whole new mindset in terms of building relationships, by simply rethinking the design process of your next web site, and oh yeah, the best part is that web 2.0 will cost you absolutely nothing to implement into your business.

Basically, the key to web 2.0 Internet Marketing is in the user experience. Gone are the days of sit and stare web sites. With a little creativity, and a touch of web 2.0, it’s now possible to turn a one way experience into a two way stream of communication, which is the key to any business success.

About the Author:

Troy Berlin has been actively involved in the home-based business industry for nearly 15 years and has been a stay at home dady for the past 10 years thanks to his home business. He now helps others develop their own online home business incomes so that they can enjoy more time freedom as well. Learn more about the Prosperity Cast Network, and Troy Berlin at http://www.ProsperityHomeNetwork.com

Unleashing Web 2.0: From Concepts to Creativity

Unleashing Web 2.0: From Concepts to Creativityis a must read for anyone wanting to put the power of the internet into their business site. From the review:

The emergence of Web 2.0 is provoking challenging questions for developers: What products and services can our company provide to customers and employees using Rich Internet Applications, mash-ups, Web feeds or Ajax? Which business models are appropriate and how do we implement them? What are best practices and how do we apply them?

If you need answers to these and related questions, you need this booka comprehensive and reliable resource that guides you into the emerging and unstructured landscape that is Web 2.0.

Gottfried Vossen is a professor of Information Systems and Computer Science at the University of Muenster in Germany. He is the European Editor-in-Chief of Elseviers Information SystemsAn International Journal. Stephan Hagemann is a PhD. Student in Gottfrieds research group focused on Web technologies.

• Presents a complete view of Web 2.0 including services and technologies

• Discusses potential new products and services and the technology and programming ability needed to realize them

• Offers how to basics presenting development frameworks and best practices

• Compares and contrasts Web 2.0 with the Semantic Web

If you really want to understand what is happening on the web today, Unleashing Web 2.0: From Concepts to Creativityis a great place to start.

Social Marketing and Your Business- The Basics

A great article that looks at the basics of social marketing.

Social Media – Who’s In Control?
by: Scott Lindsay

Social media allows individuals to connect by means of identifying common interests and forged cyber-based friendships. If there are negative aspects to social media they may be offset by potential marketing possibilities.

Please remember this article is intended to demonstrate the marketing potential for social media for online business owners. I understand some have concerns about social media as it relates to children, but this article remains focused exclusively on the on marketing possibilities associated with social media.

That being said, one negative related to social media for some online business owners is the addictive nature of participating in social networking. Time spent on the site corresponding with other ‘friends’ could chip away at the time you may really need for other business related activities.

If you have spent any amount of time on social media then you know it is possible to post a blog entry and be alerted to new posts to your blog whenever a new post is made. You may find yourself heading back to your social media page to read updated comments several times a day. This will probably lead to the desire to thank the individual for their comment. Of course all of this is done under the notion that you are working to market your business through social media, but the truth is there comes a point where you can spend an inordinate amount of time corresponding with people you don’t really know for one small facet of marketing potential. When you’re having fun online the balance between work and play gets a little blurry.

Another negative that may sound somewhat similar is that social media can keep you from face-to-face contacts that may benefit your business. The face-to-face contacts may be in the form of business-to-business networking or meeting affiliates, but social media can, and sometimes does, minimize time for events that are often of equal or greater importance.

One of the keys to effective online marketing is attempting to keep things balanced.

Obviously it can take some time to develop your social media page and it may be hard to fully determine what your goals are in relation to social media, but then you may want to commit to only a certain amount of time each day to the social networking and resist coming back to the page repeatedly throughout the day. You may even want to configure your email box to send all emails from the social media site to a special folder that you can easily review on a daily basis without the need to revisit your page multiple times each day. You may even want to turn the feature off that alerts you to new posts and messages if the distraction becomes too pronounced.

Remember, your social media page is there to help you market your business and connect with prospects while directing them to your primary site, but far too often individuals come to view the social media page with something akin to an addiction.

Allow social media to be useful without coming to a place where it is using you.

About the Author:

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at: http://www.highpowersites.com or BuildAGreatSite at: http://www.buildagreatsite.com. Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com

5 Reasons Why Social Marketing is a Must

A great video if you are using or plan to use social marketing for your business.