Getting Readers From Friendster - Increase Blog Visitors

I started blogging my iStayl Sugbo just this January of 2008. These past few months I learned many new and strange things (since I am not an I T student, all the internet terms I come into contact were not familiar to me). The most significant word of them all is the SEO, meaning Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a complex process of improving the number of visitors in your blog or website. I am not an SEO guru or an expert about this kind of stuff, but when I tried doing things the way most high-ranked blogs do. The results were amazing and of course satisfying for all the effort done. Because if I will look back the time I started this blog, seeing 1 visitor in my feed burner, already gave me a feeling of excitement. That means I was better off today than yesterday. There is a sense of improvement.

There are many ways to get your site ranked on search engines (Particularly Google Search Engine – the most used search engine in the world). The most effective way to have your blog included on search engines is, of course, the quality of the information you provide to the readers (internet users or surfers). It is because if you don’t have that quality posts, then the search engines won’t find anything for them to index at all.

Next best thing to do is to exchange links with fellow bloggers. As recommended by the blogging veterans, it is much advised to link only to blogs that have the same category as what you are blogging. For example, if you blog about Technology and High Tech Stuff it would be better if you link with another blog that’s similar to your blog. In this way your page ranking won’t go down. If you link with a blog that’s not related to your blog, chances are, instead of increasing your page rank, your page ranking will go down. However, most crap bloggers like me really don’t care about this stuff. As long as there is an exchange link, then it’s good enough.

One could also join blogging groups or communities like Blogcatalog, Pinoyblogosphere, Cebu Bloggers Society, are also another way of promoting your blog and gaining additional traffic. Submit your articles to different article publishers such as Digg. Joining forums and leaving your Url links everywhere on the web whenever you can. I call this as “Leaving a SH*T”. Every web page I visit, if given the chance to leave a link that links to your site, then I definitely will.

A blogger must also be aware of the latest trends or buzz and be able to post about it, in order to gain visitors that are using the search engines.

All these and more, generate traffic for your blog. But one thing I am in to now, I don’t know if there are bloggers out there who have tried this, is the use of my Friendster account. Using Friendster to promote a blog is for me the easiest way to gain traffic. Maybe its because there are already more than 65 million Friendster users out there.

What I do is create a post that is interesting for anybody to read, something that’s sweet or something sad, gloomy and even funny posts. After publishing that post on my blog, I would then send a mass message to all my friends on Friendster. Included in the message is an attractive Subject and with a message that would attract the user in reading more towards your blog. Also, always include the word “Pass this to all your friends.”

For example:

Subject: The Power of Letting Go L

Message: Letting go of someone for everyone seems to be the hardest thing to do, especially if that person already made a mark in your life. Somebody special to you and was there all thru the years, months, or days in your life. We always remember the things that had happened, the experiences you’ve been thru, it could be that saddest or the happiest moments. You can always recall that there was this moment in your life that nothing else matters in this world and that within this world the only significant thing that exists is between you and the person you love. To lose someone special gives pain that you wont know when its end. And every time you hear a hymn of a love song, makes you remember and even cry.

If you want to continue reading click here

http://istaylsugbo.blogspot.com/2008/05/power-of-letting-go.html

Please pass to all your friends.

Just as simple as that and you will be gaining more traffic if your message will work. You will have your friends visiting your blog and your friends’ friends and so on. You will notice your counter going up day by day. I myself could not believe that my unique blog visitors would reach more than 2k. Out of these visitors, majority of the referrals are from Friendster messages. My blog is not yet well optimized but I am happy to know that even though my page rank is not that good yet, I still can reach to many people, and that i can express my voice thru the words of my blog, then I was able to share it to others.

The Tale of the Three Trees

Sometimes we feel like our life has gone out of control and that things are happening not the way you want them to be. Your dreams are left just as dreams and that realizing it becomes even more difficult. And there are even times, sad to say, that we blame it to God.

I want to share with you this little story I came across way back years ago. I happen to have read this story when I was still a working student at DSWD (Department of Social Welfare Development). When I was arranging the files and cleaning up the drawer, I saw this piece of hard paper, and on it was written a tale that would truly change the way you look at your life now.

"The Tale of Three Trees"

Author unknown

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: "I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I'll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!" The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. "I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I'll be the strongest ship in the world!" The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. "I don't want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world."

Years passed and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain. The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell. "Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!" the first tree said. The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell. "Now I shall sail mighty waters!" thought the second tree. "I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!" The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the woodcutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me." He muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter's shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold or with treasures. She was coated with sawdust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals. The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty ship was made that day. Instead, the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river. Instead she was taken to a little lake. The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?" The once tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God..."

Many, many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. "I wish I could make a cradle for him," her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and the sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful," she said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and the rain. The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the King of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.

That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

What can you say about this story? When I finished reading it, it changed my view about life. And at that moment I knew that God has a separate plan for me. Each of us has our own blue print in life. We all have different dreams and ambitions in life, these dreams and ambitions are grounded by our present needs. We always want to be in control of our life, we want to control our future. However hard we try to do things the way we want our future to be. There are these never-ending obstacles that we continually face.

Life is never a smooth sailing, never dream of a smooth life, cause in the end, if you have overcome those challenges, you will sit proud and shall tell yourself that you have lived a life the way a man should. And that all dreams that you wanted will be realized in time, maybe not the exact thing, but for sure God has given it you because you deserve it.

Now spread this story to all your friends. To comment it on Friendster or MySpace, just use the code below. Copy it and paste it on the comment box.

<a href="http://istaylsugbo.blogspot.com/2008/05/tale-of-three-trees.html" title="Spread the word"><img src="http://blurem23.googlepages.com/Taleofthetrees.JPG" alt="The Tale of the Three trees"/></a>