Recently I’ve been developing a few e-commerce stores. One of the stores has requested my help with building steady traffic to the site. Similar principles apply to an e-commerce store as to a blog. The idea remains the same — build backlinks to increase your site’s authority with search engines. Of course, no one knows the Google algorythm, but the trade secret doesn’t make it any less obvious to site builders that a link back to your domain from a respected source can net you significant jumps in search standings.

It’s not the only thing that matters though. As I’m thinking about ways to increase this store’s visibility on the web, I’m noticing a few stark differences between this store and a blog.

• An e-commerce store doesn’t have regularly updated content, and thus can’t take advantage of search services like Google’s blog search. There’s no pinging.
• Tailoring the content on each product description page should net the best return when it comes to SEO.
• Obtaining linkbacks for a product site remains a difficult challenge, whereas a blog tends to receive linkbacks organically.

So the differences set this project apart from my normal marketing of a blog. I’m in the habit of building traffic to blogs utilizing blog community sites. I also venture into forums, using my site as a signature, and also answer questions on Yahoo! Answers with links to my site. So this project has me looking at marketing a site in a completely different way. Social networks will all but disappear with this site. There’s not going to be any Digg traffic or Stumble visitors to it. So how do I build traffic to it?

Think Outside the Box

There doesn’t seem to be a hard and fast rule. The Yahoo directory, DMOZ and others would be essential. The e-commerce site would need authority though. We need quality links from well ranked sites. One possibility could be wiki’s, AboutUs.org, WikiPedia (if the content was non-commercial), and others. I could still utilize Yahoo! Answers, but might have to branch out in the field of the e-commerce store to post comments on blogs and create connections with site owners.

I do own quite a few high PRs websites that have been around since the late 1990s. I’m fairly certain a link from one of these sites should benefit the site in the long run. I’m trying to stay positive, as the product niche for this store is saturated with big players and independent powerhouses.

I’m thinking of turning this SEO adventure into a series on this blog. Would this be something my readers would be interested in reading about?

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I’ve been wondering this recently. What makes a blog successful? Do you count the number of subscribers and measure that against other blog giants in the industry? Do you count the amount of money your blog makes? To answer this question, we first need to determine your blog’s purpose.

Why do you blog? Take a minute to think about it. I’ll wait.

Many may blog to vent, provide information, sell a product, advertise an idea, or simply to expound on hot topics in their particular niche. Now tell me – what does a succesful blog look like? Does it have high subscriber numbers? Does it have a sleek appearance? Does it nail down content on a regular basis? (What?)

 A blog’s success depends on our own definition of our blog. One blogger may be comfortable with a blog’s few readers, while the next blogger wants a thousand and one people to open their RSS feed daily. The difference is in perspective.

Do you look at your blog as a business?
If you do, for a moment consider it a brick and mortar store. The more customers that walk through the door, then the more potential sales you’ll make. Stores do things for a rhyme and a reason too. Don’t think the 80’s music softly pedaling you through the store aisles isn’t by design. It is. Grocery stores have an entire science behind placement of products on shelves, location, and all. They want you to find this, so you then realize you need something else across the store.

The same principles apply to a good blog. A person may come in looking for SEO tips, and realize they’ve found a goldmine and explore further into the store. The repeat customer is the RSS subscriber, so the RSS feed count does make a difference, when considering the success of a blog as a business. It doesn’t mean as much as constant traffic, but you need folks coming through the doors, right?

A blog as a personal outlet
This type of blog derives success from far different metrics. The personal outlet blog frees a person up to spout political rants, to editorialize on current events, to gossip, mudsling, parlay, and otherwise vent in a secure place. These blogs do become vastly popular. They sometimes even morph into blogs as a business. Once the traffic comes into the site, their ad space revenue starts to add up. These blogs take a liking to it, and often times the blogger will kick down cubicle walls to be at home. They have a pioneer spirit.  As soon as that happens, they rely on the business aspect, and the walls of a personal blog’s success crumble away as well.

In the beginning though, a personal blog’s metrics lies with the quality of writing. Like me, many of you have probably experienced the exuberance over RSS numbers, but the real challenge, and the real joy comes from the writing and the process. Blogging becomes a lifestyle. It’s success everyday when we interact, engage, and entertain strangers through an online medium. We are writers, poets, pranksters, and socialites. That’s the success of the personal blog. It’s a unifier and a societal lens.

So to gauge your blog’s success you should first consider your blog’s purpose. If you want to make money, then success may have to wait for dollars and readers to sign up. A personal blog finds success when it reaches a true voice, when the author finds themselves laying in bed with an idea too good to lose to sleep. They stretch, find a pad or laptop and jot it down for its birth on the web the next day.

Stand up comedians work a rigorous schedule, and they have to produce laughs. What a life, right? It seems easy, until you set out to write something funny. I’m sure comedians each have their own ways of finding, creating, and writing their bits. One may work it out with friends, others may record their thoughts, while some may just jump on bits from their own experiences. Why should bloggers care how comedians create their material?

A blogger typically has to be unique to receive any sort of Blogo street cred. Blogs that provide fresh insight receive backlinks, subscribers, and usually receive the stumble, Digg or other social media traffic they deserve. The blogger that regurgitates others ideas as their own usually experiences limited success. They may find some who haven’t heard what they’re saying on another blog, and view them as an inspiration, but most will see their site as the trapping of the unenchanted.

A comedian has to be funny, albeit funny with their own material. They may even poke jabs at another comedians’ bits, but usually they have their own material, a persona, and a delivery.

We’ve all seen comedians we enjoy. I’m sure if we looked at that comedian we’d see one thing. They have a perspective on life that stands apart from the norm. They see things differently and express their vision with style. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Ever see a list of the richest black people in the country? Oprah’s on there. Cosby. Michael Jordon. Magic Johnson. Tiger Woods. Movie Stars. But you can’t get past number eight without running across a brother who just hit the Lotto jackpot last week. — Chris Rock

A recent survey stated that the average person’s greatest fear is having to give a speech in public. Somehow this ranked even higher than death which was third on the list. So, you’re telling me that at a funeral, most people would rather be the guy in the coffin than have to stand up and give a eulogy. — Jerry Seinfeld

New Blogging Perspective

We may not be looking for the funny in our blog posts, but we most certainly need to entertain or inform in a unique way. To create some truly creative content, we only need to look at the minutae.

The small details unravel a thread we can use to spin a nice article. For instance, look at the sports world. If I were writing about baseball right now, I would first look at the strangeness surrounding all the controversial homerun calls within the last ten days. I could be funny about it and call it a conspiracy, even though we all know no one could hit the top of the fence, nail the side of a foul pole, or some yellow steps on command.

Perspective gives our readers a unique way to see old ideas. We can still talk about the same blogging tools, websites, or methods, but this time do it with pizazz. Think of it as a lens we put on our eyes. The lens doesn’t have to be rose colored. It can be anything we want it to be.

We all hear the advice regarding blogging longevity: stay excited about blogging, remember why you started, read other blogs, and eat peanut butter without jelly. They all work! They work because they focus on changing perspective. So lighten up. Step up on that stage and take your tomatoes like a man. We’re waiting with stained hands and shirts here.

It’s Memorial Day weekend. One of my favorite weekends in the whole year. Not simply because I have an extra day off from the office, but for its outdoor appeal. The weekend represents the start of summer, baseball, and the Indy 500.

I’m excited about blogging too. This week saw my resurgence, or my return from hibernation. I provided everyone with a look at a great upcoming blog and also discussed my Pagerank of 4. I have also seen my subscriber numbers increase from my previous highs. At one point this week, I crested the 100 subscriber mark.

Going Round the Track

I’ve had a minor dilemna recently. I seem to want to write about what I’ve already written. I come up with ideas and think, well I did that with this or that article. The experience has caused me to start writing three blog posts and then stop. It seems my ideas have come full circle. So I’ve decided to buckle up for the ride to see where my topics take me. Why not put a new spin on an old idea, right?

Upcoming Explosions

One of the three posts I’ve started will be called Blogging and Stand Up Comedy. Stay tuned for that this week. We’ll also get you all a chance to win some bucks for May, even though it’s late. I’ll post the contest tomorrow.

I’m looking for guest post opportunities as well. I need to up my traffic numbers. If you want to know how to lose traffic, just simply leave blogging for five weeks. The results won’t be what you want. I have a lot of work to do to get back where I was. Consistency is the key. I’ll keep you all updated on my progress. Until next time…

Google has smiled upon me! I just checked my site’s Pagerank and much to my surprise the site now has a Pagerank of 4. This must be how those WoW junkies feel when they finally level up their level 59 character.

I sat on the fat zero for about three months. Of course, I’ve been preoccupied these past weeks, so maybe this Pagerank update went into effect while I was hibernating. I don’t know for sure. I think it’s a recent development. Either way, it’s good news for the Jason Boom dot com site.

From what I understand of Pagerank, it helps have your pages rank higher in search engines. It represents the number of quality links back to your site’s content. As the name implies, each page on my site has a different rank. Some of the pages don’t register, while others hold a 3 or 2. I’m curious if anyone has written a definitive guide of Pagerank. I would love to read it.

Building Content and Links

Many bloggers will tell you that content reigns supreme. It’s true. Relevant content has a long shelf life. I just recently experienced a stumble rush from the 100 Why Not Activities for Bloggers. It was featured on Lorelle’s site and touched off a mini-camp of link passing and traffic blitzes. I can’t argue with that. I can only imagine what will happen with the blog as the years go by. Some stories may come alive again, while others may die cold and alone in the archives.

The content I’ve created so far has received a good amount of links. I would say the results have caused me to have the Pagerank of 4, rather than a 3 or a 2.

It probably didn’t hurt that I kiss my computer before I write each post, blow on my keyboard, and bury two fingers in my temples when I’m fishing for explosive content. We all have our routines, right?