Article Challenge Meets the Blog Chain – Network to the Top of the Search Engines
After participating in Suzanne Lieurance and Kristin King’s article challenge with 60 other writers this summer, I made many new acquaintances. Not only did I meet some great writers who participated in the challenge, I also virtually “met” some of the people who took my articles and used them on their blog or website. I did this by going to the user’s site and leaving a comment thanking them for using my article and inviting them to participate in my next blog chain. How do I know who has taken my articles? Read on.
How to determine who is using your articles
I set up a Google warning for each of my articles by entering the full name of my article on the Google Warnings site. Google then sends me an email with a link to the site(s) where my article is published. Be sure to spell and punctuate the title of your article exactly as you published it in the article directory. Also, remember to use quotation marks around the title to refine your search criteria and avoid receiving email notifications unrelated to your article.
Google alerts are also a great way to make sure that those who collect your articles include your resource box on their site. I found that several people failed to do this despite the fact that they agreed to follow the rules listed in the article directory, making it mandatory. Every time I found a site that didn’t include my resource box with my article, I posted a comment asking them to change their post and follow the rules. Some changed the post, some didn’t. Article directory owners will/can’t do anything to enforce the rules, so keep in mind that this is a chance you take when using article directories. Still, the benefits outweigh the cons.
What is a blog chain? I mentioned that I invited users of my articles to participate in a blog chain. A blog chain involves about a dozen people who have a blog and want to participate in a fun group activity. Each participant visits the blog of each person in the chain within a week of sending the list of URLs. When visiting each blog, participants read and comment on posts they find interesting. When you leave a comment on eleven blogs, you will in turn receive eleven comments on your blog. And the search engines smile at you, because this kind of activity increases the popularity of your blog and increases its rank in the search engines.
By leaving your name and your blog URL in the comment, you have established a link back to your blog. This works like a website link exchange, but you don’t have to constantly present a site in the valuable space needed to promote your own goods or services. The comment is usually hidden on a blog, but the link is there indefinitely. Relationship helps you; the comment helps the other blogger.
Someone on a recent blog chain mentioned that it is acceptable practice and bad etiquette to leave your URL in the signature when you post a comment. I don’t know who wrote the book on blog comment etiquette or how many wet noodle cyber hits you might get for it. However, when we agree to participate in a blog chain, we agree to allow each blogger to mutually benefit.
I maintain a blog chain at least once a month. You can sign up for my next blog series by emailing the writer at YvonnePerry dot net. Notice how I posted my email address here. You’ll have to use your imagination to put the pieces together, but that makes you smarter than the spam software that usually grabs exposed email addresses.
Happy blogging!
PS: If you are interested in participating in Lieurance King’s next article challenge, you can sign up at http://www.lkarticlechallenge.com/
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