There is one SEO technique that I discovered not long ago that holds great promise and can help any site make leaps in popularity and activity.  It is a variety on the “back-link” idea.  Many web site owners want to have their links on your site because it forges another web in a network of web strands leading to their site.  When you have links to other sites ( the larger, more active and popular, the better)  the search engine bots read this as “activity” and “relevance” and this can improve your page-rank making your site easier to find because, it is at the top of the list of sites dealing with your subject.  I call this technique, for lack of a better term at the moment, “The Jewel and Crown Strategy.”  It is not my invention, but I am spotlighting this technique here so you can consider it for yourself if you are looking for ways to improve your site visibility.

The Jewel and Crown  Strategy is simply this:  Your Blog is like a Crown Jewel.  It is the central focal point of the Crown which is actually a network of smaller sites that belong to YOUalso.  In other words, you have a blog and now you will spend some time building a number of smaller web sites.  These make-up the Crown into which your blog will be set as the central focal point.  Every site is linked to your blog and to each other.  You are the Sovereign of your network, in a manner of speaking, and you can forge links with yourself with complete assurance that you can trust the site you are linking to, assuming of course, that you trust yourself.

What will these other sites be about?  It depends on the theme of your blog .  There are a couple of considerations to be aware of.  If your blog is a Family-friendly blog, don’t create and link to a site that is not Family friendly.  The same common sense rules for linking to other web sites apply to linking to other sites owned by you.  It can be useful to create a site based on your blog content, e.g., if you have a sports blog, you may want to create a site that offers sports apparel or equipment items for sale.  You do not have to warehouse these items.  You can promote these items for an affiliate network.  creating a site such as this, offers you three huge advantages: 1)  you have one more site that can be making money for you  2) you can concentrate your promotion of commercial items from your other sites, permitting your blog site to remain relatively uncluttered with any but the most profitable ads and 3)  another site gives you another active link to your site creating another strand in your own network of web sites.

You can create just one other site, or several.  It is reasonable to assume that the more sites you can link to your site, the more dramatic the results will be.  Building additional sites does not have to be expensive or difficult.  If you are somewhat adept at basic html and have built sites before, it will be very easy and almost without cost.  There are several good templates available which are free.  You can simply follow the general instructions for building your own blog discussed in an earlier post: Setting Up A Blog and Setting up your Blog:Making it Visible to the World.If you are very busy or have not yet mastered the basics of web site building, you can have someone else build the site for you.  You can find experts willing to do this for a fee on Elance or you can use Godaddy as I did for one site and get the domain, hosting account and website for one fee.  It is more expensive than doing it yourself, but the results are guaranteed to please you as they are very professional.

Another advantage you will have by creating additional web sites linked to your blog is that on some of your other sites, if you have some particular product or products, you can write a post for your blog that is in some way related to the product(s) you are promoting on your other site(s).  For example, suppose you are interested in the different running styles of avid running enthusiasts; you can feature a product from your other site, running shoes, for example, and do a product review of that product-or, you can offer a text link to that product on your other site.  When a visitor goes to your other site, he or she will also see the other links you have to your other sites and may go to these as well.  Do you see the possibilities here?  Your multi-web site network can really become energized and crackling with activity when you apply this strategy.  I have been very busy since August of this year building several additional web sites myself and this is the reason there was an absence of posting activity here on my blog(sorry).  I will say this:  It is a lot of work, though it is not unpleasant(in fact, it is quite a lot of fun) and once completed, you will be able to generate more traffic, not only to your other small commercial sites, but also to your blog from visitors who find your other sites.  Think of the possibilities!-

(I have) : These are several web sites I have had in thepast.  They are no longer active,but to properly emply this technique, you will want to have multiple web sites of your own.

  http://www.choicechristmasgifts.com

http://www.sneakers-airmax.com

http://www.toystory3-dvd.com

http://www.transformers-optimusprime-hasbro.com

Consider this.  It is another way to bring your blog more traffic and another opportunity to generate profits from your online activities.

Thanks for reading.

–wil

Keep in mind that “more” is not necessarily “better,” and fewer, well selected products may accomplish your goals just as satisfactorily as if you offered many products.  Some bloggers, however, may prefer to offer a number of products, because they believe that a wider the range of products will result in more sales.  If you are not sure which strategy is the right one for you, you will need to experiment. Irrespective of whichever approach you use, you can offer a product review from time to time, as a post about a product or products that you are spotlighting.  If you have a separate page of products, you can review one or more products from this page, or you can introduce a new product not mentioned anywhere else on your site.

The products you will review are products which you believe in, (based on your research) and which you think will appeal to your visitors;  including other bloggers and non-bloggers alike.  Everyone who visits your site is a potential buyer.  Even bloggers, who may simply be searching for interesting products to sell,  and may want to read about the products you are promoting to decide if they want to promote them too, may decide to buy something to evaluate it for themselves.  There is no better way to write authoritatively about something then by experiencing it first hand.  A product review is especially useful to other bloggers who may not have been aware of the product(s) you are promoting.

So, how do you review a product?  A review can be simply a discussion, either formal or casual, depending on your writing style, of what the product is, who it is for, what are its benefits and any other information or comments about cost, ease of use, how and where to purchase it and so on.  Think about whatever you would want to know before you purchased this product and that is what you should discuss.  That is really all there is to it.  You can review 5 or 6 products at a time or just one, giving that product a thorough and favorable review. 

You can provide a banner in your post or a link to the product landing page ( which will promote the product more aggressively) and readers can click on this banner or link and be brought to a place where they can buy the product.  Be sure that, in the case of an Affiliate Network source for this product, that your I.D. code is embedded in the link or associated with the banner so that if a reader actually clicks through and purchases the product you are promoting, you get credit for that sale and you get paid.    

You are promoting only products that you believe are high quality products ( not just high profit products.)  Since you hope to make a sale, you want products which will result in customer satisfaction.  If you want, as a public service, you can, from time to time, also do a review of products you would never recommend that people purchase.  This will not result in any commercial activity for you directly, but it will make your site more valuable as a source of useful and trusted information.  Visitors will return to such a site and may eventually purchase something as well. 

My opinion is that a blogger should not over do it with product review posts.  I believe review posts are best used as one would use seasoning to enhance a meal.  You can space these posts out with other kinds of posts in between for variety.  I mention this because there are some blogs which consist almost entirely of a discussion of products.  How you use the product review depends on the purpose of your blog.  However you use it, the product review is a useful service to your readers and provides some interesting material for posts, as well. 

So, start your search for the best products available and tell the world about them . The sooner you use this approach to monetizing your blog, the sooner you will make money with your blog.

Good Luck and Good Success,

–Wil