Popular blogs

Blog.com - Offers free blog hosting with unlimited bandwidth for their free package, more benefits for paid members.

Blog Ladder.com - All blog entries show up on the main ladder as well as inside your own blog.

Blogger.com - A great starting site to get a taste of blogging, very easy to use.

Blogr.com - Allows you to blog, host photos & videos, and podcasts.

BlogSpirit.com - European based blogging site, offers 30-day trial and subscription thereafter, but offers quite a bit of storage.

Blogster.com - Offers free image hosting in addition to free blogs.

BlogYx.com - Blogging site with extras such as chat boxes so you can interact with your readers.

Bloki.com - Lets you build a blog site and even open it up for collaboration.

Bravenet.com - Free blog hosting with RSS feeds and more.

ClearBlogs.com - Free blog hosting and offers templates, friends only posts, IP-Banning and more.

Etribes.com - Based in Europe, allows you to create all sorts of websites including a blog.

Multiply.com - Mixes blogging and social networking, with photo galleries and more.

Netcipia.com - Free blog and wiki for private or public display with 2GB of storage.

Open Diary.com - Offers unlimited storage and posts, low cost subscription rates for advanced features.

ShoutPost.com - A platform for creating blogs with a focus on generating traffic.

SoulCast.com - Have something you want to talk about, but want to say it anonymously? This may be the blogging site for you.

Squarespace.com - Lets you build your blog with numerous themes, also allows you to add other site features.

Terapad.com - Offers blogs as well as features such as an integrated store.

Tooum.com - Fully integrated blog and forum which allows for seamless discussion between the two.

Tumblr.com - A blog platform with a focus on allowing media-rich posts.

Weebly.com - Allows you to create a site and blog, free hosting and change designs on the fly.

Windows Live Spaces - Free blogging with your MSN account, only drawback is readers have to have an account also.

Vox.com - Part of the SixApart family of blogging sites, very much geared towards the personal journal types of blogs.

Xanga.com - Part social network, part blogging, all free.

Optimizing Your Site for Both Google and Yahoo!

Search engine optimization techniques for Google and Yahoo are quite different. Many websites rank well in one search engine but not the other. This is the direct result of each search engine having its own unique ranking algorithm. For example, the Google algorithm predominantly values the anchor text of in-bound links. Yahoo places more emphasis on keyword density and meta tags.

The primary reason for the difference in ranking algorithms is that Google owns the patent on Page Rank (PR), named after Google's founder Larry Page. As a result of owning this patent, other search engines need to place more emphasis on different optimization factors including website URL, keyword density and so on.

What are the greatest differences in search engine algorithms?

Google places a significant amount of emphasis on inbound links to your website. The value of these inbound links are measured based on their Google PR. The more links you receive from high Google PR web pages, the better your search result placements will be for a given keyword or search term.

Yahoo places emphasis on website URLs, meta tags, and keyword density. These factors can be analyzed on any website with a limited amount of effort, allowing Yahoo to quickly and easily rank websites properly.

How you can optimize your website for both Google and Yahoo!

The challenge all website owners face is making the most of their optimization efforts. When thinking about search engine optimization, you need to cover all the bases. To do so, pay particular attention to the following guidelines.

Keyword Targeted URL. If your website URL doesn't contain your keywords, consider purchasing a new one or creating a new page off of your root directory (ex: marketingscoop.com/internetmarketing.htm). Having your keywords in the URL helps improve both your Yahoo and Google search results. Yahoo weighs the website address as an important ranking factor. Google values a keyword rich URL when third party websites place a link to your site using nothing but a web address.

Meta Tags. Although not as important as they once were, Yahoo still uses meta tags to help align search engine rankings and appropriate website pages. Make sure that your meta tags are complete and include your keyword phrases in the title, description, and keyword tags.

Keyword Density Between 6 - 8%. Although much has been written about the importance of keyword density remaining between 2 - 3%, Yahoo looks for sites with keyword densities as high as 8%. Don't be afraid to include your keywords throughout your webpage content. Make sure however, that your keyword density is not more than 8%.


Link Building. This is the most important factor for increasing Google search result placements. Develop a link building campaign and give other sites a reason to link to your site. This may include free downloads, tools, or other valuable resources.

Site Map. Publish a sitemap. This makes it easy for search engines to spider your website and access all of your most important web pages. Site maps should be accessible from your home page and kept up-to-date.

Optimizing for both Google and Yahoo can be challenging. Following basic seo principles and working to develop incoming links can help you reach the top of the largest search engines. Apply these techniques regularly to see the greatest results.

About the Author: Michael Fleischner is a marketing expert with more than 12 years of Internet marketing experience. Learn how to improve search engine rankings with his latest ebook, The Webmasters Book of Secrets at http://www.webmastersbookofsecrets.com.

Bagaimana meletakkan Title dan Meta Tags yang sesuai

Tajuk atau TITLE merupakan perkara utama yang akan dicari oleh search engine. Tajuk biasanya akan menentukan isi kandungan laman web tersebut. Sebagaimana sebuah buku, apabila pembaca terlihat tajuk yang dicari sudah tentulah pembaca tersebut akan mebelek-belek buku tersebut untuk melihat isi kandungan selanjutnya.

<>Tajuk Web< /title>Bagi sebuah laman web tajuk akan dinyatakan dalam bahagian .... . Tajuk juga akan terpapar dibahagian atas peluncur internet anda.

META descriptions tag pula bolehlah diandaikan sebagai ringkasan atau summary bagi laman web. Bila anda tercari-cari buku tentang masakan atau petua tertentu, anda mungkin melihat kepada tajuk buku dan juga sinopsis di belakang buku. Itulah fungsi META description tag. META tags juga diletakkan dibahagian dengan contoh penggunaan < name="description" content="Berbagai petua berguna untuk merawat penyakit kencing manis">

Disamping itu terdapat juga META keyword yang berfungsi sebagai suatu yang lebih ringkas dari META description tadi. Contohnya < name="keywords" content="petua, kencing manis">">