Best of GrowMap: Our Pillar Foundation Content

October 24, 2009 · 110 comments

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Please Spread the Word ~ SHARE these GrowMap Resources to Grow Businesses, Blogs and Causes!

Every blogger has posts they feel have really hit the mark; what many call pillar articles or foundation content. When Liz Strauss (Liz Strauss) decided to celebrate the 4th Birthday of her Successful Blog with a Bring ONE Link offer she motivated me to compile these links for my readers.

There are now so many posts I wish every regular and new visitor knew about here that I decided to write this compilation so YOU don’t miss some of the most important information I’ve researched and shared.

This would be a great post to save in your Delicious or StumbleUpon account so you can return to it for reference. We will continually update and add to these important resources to keep them current just for you. Is there anything else you would like to see here? Just let us know.

MOST IMPORTANT CONTENT:

We have added so much top information, but these posts are among the most often shared:

HOW TO GROW or SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES:

Small Business Internet Marketing – What to do first – what to make your priority and how to do it
MEME: BizLuv in Support of Small Businesses – Why the economic crisis makes this essential
BizLuv MEME: Specifically What Bloggers Can Do to Support Businesses, Causes and other Bloggers
Marketing is NOT Evil – It is how we find what we desire. Read about how Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) can benefit buyers and sellers alike
KEYWORDLUV: How Using KeywordLuv Benefits Us All

LOCAL SEARCH DIRECTORIES:

How Businesses can get FREE Business Listings in Local Search Directories * Best Local Search Post *
Why Local Search is so important. Use our shortcut to getting any business or Web site with a physical address listed in Major Local Search Directories including Google Maps, Yahoo! Local, Bing, SuperPages and many more.
Scan the Local Search Categories in the right sidebar for comprehensive information on and how-to obtain listings in specific Local Search Directories

HOW TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING:

Top How to Make Money Blogging Resources; Who REALLY Makes Money and Teaches Their Methods Best
How to Create a Successful Blog Based Business – All blogs are not created equal; what you need and how to get an optimized blog even if you don’t have technical skills.
Super Thesis Resources and why we wish we had installed Threaded Comments from the beginning.

KEYWORD RESEARCH / SEO:

ANCHOR TEXT: Are You Playing Hide and Seek with Your Market? Identify your most important goals and the keywords and pages related to them.
SELECTING KEYWORDS: The Importance of Researching and Selecting Your Keywords First to make your content easy to find and keep your posts on topic
TRACKING SEARCH POSITIONS: Tracking Search Engine Positions: Free, easy way to track

BLOGGING BUDDIES, BLOG OUTREACH, GUEST BLOGGING:

How Guest Blogging Can Change Your Life – Guest post by Greg Rollett of Rock Star Lifestyle Design and Internet Marketing
Blog Outreach: 8 Compelling Reasons You Should Be Doing It NOW – Guest post by Affiliate Marketing Expert Murray Newlands

GrowMap 125x125 Ad Block

DOFOLLOW and BLOG COMMENTING:

KEYWORDLUV: How Using KeywordLuv Benefits Us All
Use our DoFollow Lists and Tools to increase your incoming links
How We Increased Our Blog Traffic Over 76.63% in one month by first commenting and then sharing other bloggers’ content across Social Networks
How We Encourage Community and Comments

AFFILIATE MARKETING:

Merchant Affiliate Marketing Management – What businesses who offer affiliate programs need to know.
Massive Affiliate Reference Resources with links to Power Affiliates, Affiliate Forums, Affiliate Training – includes How to Evaluate Merchant Ecommerce Stores so you know which will convert BEFORE you promote them. This post uses an excellent gift affiliate program as the example store.

PAY PER CLICK ADVERTISING:

How Not to Lose Your Shirt on PPC Advertising
My Step-by-step Method for Evaluating Your AdWords Account – what settings to use and why
Why PPC Summit is the Very Best PPC Seminar EVER – ?(no longer live events – now AdWords Advantage Webinars instead)

ORGANIC SEARCH SEO SEM:

Why You Can NOT Rely Solely on Organic Listings for Traffic and Revenue

BLOG DIRECTORIES:

Coming eventually: Which Blog Directories are most important and why. Start with PostRank, Technorati, MyBlogLog, Blog Catalog and the blog directories reviewed by Keller Hawthorne at FresheVenture.

WEB ANALYTICS:

REVIEW: Mastering Google Analytics: Easy to Understand Free e-Course

LOGO and WEB DESIGN:

What Makes a Great Logo – How to create or buy one; the differences in deliverables between $50 and $1000+ logos.
What NOT To Do With Your Existing Web Site When You Upgrade or Remodel

SOCIAL NETWORKING:

Social Networking is NOT Chat – How to get your content shared by others, where you can find us and what to do if you would like us to comment in your blog and send you traffic in our daily travels across the Internet.
How Monetizing Social Networking Sites THIS Way Benefits Everyone
Twitter FriendFeed Quick Start – How to get up to speed right away at Twitter and on FriendFeed
Coming soon: Our process for maximizing our reach across Social Networks

Tagged as: internet marketing

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{ 91 comments… read them below or add one }

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Sire Twitter: LottoMan01 November 6, 2009 at 4:48 pm Twitter: @LottoMan01

OH, I see your strategy, give em a whole lot of interesting topics to study so that they have to keep coming back. So that’s why they call you The Internet Strategist?”

OK, it’s worked, because I haven’t time to come read them now so I’ve bookmarked it for later.
.-= Sire´s last blog ..The Child Of God =-.

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap November 6, 2009 at 9:59 pm Twitter: @GrowMap

Hello Sire,

Good to see you here again so soon. Liz’ offer of a link motivated me to finally compile this post and I use it more than anyone as a shortcut to sharing specific information.

I do my best to convey that I consider this blog a reference resource not a serial story.

Years ago I realized no matter how well I managed ppc accounts for small businesses if their sites did not convert or their shopping cart did not work they could not be profitable. I ended up advising them on far more than just pay per click.

It became obvious that what I was actually doing was total Internet Strategy and I changed the title on my business cards to Internet Strategist. Back then it was an uncommon term. Now it is ubiquitous.

Only those who understand that they must continually expand and improve on what they’re doing will succeed. That was true prior to Social Networking and is far more true today.

That is also why I am always recommending collaboration. There simply are not enough hours in the day for any one person to become an expert on everything. Better that we each understand the big picture and specialize in something and then swap that expertise for what else we need to know.

The fast path to success is knowing who is the very best on any subject and having a relationship with them that allows you to ask specific questions and get the very best answers.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Evaluate a Merchant Gift Affiliate Program =-.

Sire Twitter: LottoMan01 November 7, 2009 at 5:33 pm Twitter: @LottoMan01

Gee where does that leave me? lol

I’ve always considered myself a ‘jack of all trades’, proficient at doing a little of all tasks but not an expert in any. I can sort of apply this to my blogging life as well. I suppose that means I have to leach of others
.-= Sire´s last blog ..Three Ways To Increase Your Ad Space Earnings =-.

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap November 7, 2009 at 5:39 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Hi Sire,

I don’t consider it “leaching” – I call it collaborating and we all need to do a lot more of it to be truly successful. Have you discovered my dollow list at Twitter? I see that as an easy way to keep in touch with other dofollow bloggers and what they’re doing.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..What is UP with Backlinks from Google, Yahoo, Bing? =-.

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Free Article Directory Twitter: ArticleDirec November 6, 2009 at 12:07 pm Twitter: @ArticleDirec

This is a great post, for novice or experts. All the crucial information in one place, under one page. Thank you for sharing

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap December 7, 2009 at 11:36 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: You’re very welcome. I created this post to make it easier for new readers to see what we do here and for regular readers to see posts they may have missed.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How Guest Blogging Can Change Your Life =-.

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John who writes about milanhotels November 2, 2009 at 4:38 pm

This post is just what I needed. You have supplied me with very informative information. Now I can take what I have learned here and put it to good use.

James who writes about cool games November 2, 2009 at 11:45 am

What an awesome list, I think you really deserve a biiig thanks from all of us

Thanks for making everything so much easier with the great tips and for teaching us plenty of things, keep us updated in your future posts as well

John Biaz who writes about health and safety equipment November 2, 2009 at 12:17 am

thanks dear thanks for the post, i will surely join you in Digg, since your blog is dofollow i am adding you in my list too and soon joining you in Twitter too, it will be my pleasure to get connected with Dragon

nvestment property in Australia Twitter: mark_tait34yahoo.in October 30, 2009 at 11:38 pm Twitter: @mark_tait34yahoo.in

Its a great post…i like this blog….
.-= nvestment property in Australia ´s last blog ..From A Global Financial Crisis New Millionaires Emerge =-.

saurabh who writes about acdsee coupons Twitter: saurabhsnv October 30, 2009 at 8:31 am Twitter: @saurabhsnv

thanks you Internet Strategist for replying me, i will definitely go to social networking sites and especially Stumble Upon.
.-= saurabh@acdsee coupons´s last blog ..Special offer =-.

Allison Reynolds who writes about Allison Reynolds Twitter: allisonr October 30, 2009 at 4:31 am Twitter: @allisonr

Shared this page on FriendFeed, not only for the good information, but a lesson on how to reuse content without having to rewrite it (as well as getting some deep linking going on)

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 30, 2009 at 11:42 am Twitter: @GrowMap: Welcome Allison,

Good to hear from another FriendFeed user. One post that isn’t included in the compilation that may interest you is my Top Ten FriendFeed Friends Challenge. Since that post is still in the Most Popular section perhaps I should add it.

I just shared your Anatomy of a Troll post on StumbleUpon which would then send it on to Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook and Delicious (when all the third party apps work right anyway!).

Your blog is dofollow, right? I just added you to my new DoFollow List at Twitter. I have a great idea for how to use it. By putting any do follow related bloggers in that list and then going to it you can quickly and easily support each other’s efforts, know when to drop by and comment and share new posts, and easily find other do-follow blogs.

I just created it last night; however, I expect it to be very popular soon. I’m continually working on processes that make it easier to be consistent. I hope you’ll join in. I just shared your Personal Branding post a few minutes ago.

If you think your readers might be interested in personalized gifts for the holidays check out the post I’m including in the CommentLuv. I’ll be posting a countdown of the top gifts sold between Nov 1 and Dec 24 last year and all affiliates are invited to change the affiliate link and reblog the post as is or make it their own.

Bloggers can choose any products that strike their fancy, do the whole series, or just add those that appeal to them or they believe their readers would like.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Evaluate a Merchant Gift Affiliate Program =-.

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manu who writes about organic chemistry October 30, 2009 at 3:32 am

Above content is really very helpful for me and I learn a lot from it.Thanks for sharing such valuable views.

Adult Social Networking Twitter: mark_tait34yahoo.in October 30, 2009 at 2:18 am Twitter: @mark_tait34yahoo.in

I am impressed with the content of the article. I have been trying this method and I have seen some real improvements. This method is very useful.

saurabh who writes about ticket printing Twitter: saurabhsnv October 29, 2009 at 7:23 am Twitter: @saurabhsnv

i have been a regular commenter of grow map since it was come into the light.i must say that it is a great blog ,so much useful information available here.it has increased so much knowledge of mine.

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 29, 2009 at 12:55 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Thank you Saurabh,

I appreciate all my regular readers and hope each of you will take the time to tell others about us. This is the perfect post to share with friends, co-workers, and clients or to bookmark at Delicious, Reddit, StumbleUpon and any other Social Networking sites.

If you don’t use those I highly recommend opening accounts using the same Avatar and UserName on each. Social Networking and especially StumbleUpon can drive hundreds or thousands of visitors to sites you share.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Social Networking is NOT Chat =-.

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PLACE test Twitter: mark_tait34yahoo.in October 29, 2009 at 4:22 am Twitter: @mark_tait34yahoo.in

Thanks for the great advice! I just came across your blog and love the content. I look forward to reading your posts in the future

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 29, 2009 at 12:51 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Welcome,

I am not familiar with Place tests. You may want to add an About page that explains what they are and who might want to know more about them. Do update your copyright years too as many will assume a site is inactive if that is old.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Happy Birthday GrowMap – One Year Old Today =-.

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Brian who writes about Directory Submission October 28, 2009 at 8:59 pm

You were write about the usefulness of this post, even the RSS subscribers like me won’t ‘find’ these gems because we only come to know about new posts.

BTW, how did you compile the list? Just by number of visits / posts or you used things like retweets, web mentions, trackbacks? In some cases, I feel I managed to put together a perfect piece of article, but if it’s not seen by others, it’s as good or bad as a bad article that I wrote.

The PPC and adwords posts really sound promising (from their title) off to those pages now.

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 29, 2009 at 12:48 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Welcome Brian,

Many of the posts included in this compilation are or were appearing in the Most Popular Recently section or get major traffic usually from StumbleUpon, Twitter or FriendFeed; however, they were hand selected by me.

The posts I selected are the final comprehensive research and recommendations for each subject. They often pull together many other posts related to that topic and provide additional reference resources.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Instantly Acquire 76 High Quality Incoming Links =-.

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Betaclick SEO Company October 28, 2009 at 5:05 am

I was struggling to low rate of comments and posts in my site, really i got good points to promote comments and discussions from above topic how to develop comments and discussions, and i get a good list of do follow Blogs above, really resourceful informations.

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 28, 2009 at 4:30 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Welcome Betaclick,

I went to the link in your comment but didn’t see a blog there to comment in. I suspect many bloggers would be surprised to know that 90-98% of visitors never comment. There are usually an active 2% who will greatly add to your discussions and make up the bulk of your comments. Another 8% or so are motivated to comment to obtain a link to their site or blog.

You can only tell whether the balance of your readers gain any benefit by how long they stay on your site and how many posts they read. I encourage interaction because it increases understanding and make it more likely my readers will actually implement what I suggest.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Instantly Acquire 76 High Quality Incoming Links =-.

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Dennis Edell Twitter: DennisEdell October 27, 2009 at 6:58 pm Twitter: @DennisEdell

Awesome post btw, this one goes in the file.
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..What I’m Doing – What You Should Expect In The Very Near Future. =-.

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 28, 2009 at 12:42 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Hi Dennis,

Thanks. It makes it easier for me to share my best content and faster for my readers to find it for future reference.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Happy Birthday GrowMap – One Year Old Today =-.

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Dennis Edell Twitter: DennisEdell October 27, 2009 at 6:58 pm Twitter: @DennisEdell

Hey there, sorry this is so OT. My apologies for being gone so long but my current post describes it a bit. I’m ready now to re-subscribe and get back into your awesome blog! Slowly at first until I get full swing again.

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 28, 2009 at 12:41 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Good to see you back, Dennis. I hope your recovery is going better than expected. I read your latest post and see you have sites that sell products. Check out the post I’ll use in this comment as I hope it might interest you in the Gift Affiliate Program I manage for @ExecGifts.

That post also explains how to evaluate an ecommerce store. Weak stores and those that have shopping carts that don’t work are a poor investment of any affiliate’s time because they won’t convert.

Consolidating your blogs into one can make it easier to keep them up; however, will you lose much in the way of traffic and incoming links if you do that? You may want to leave the secondary blog up and write a post directing visitors to the other instead.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Evaluate a Merchant Gift Affiliate Program =-.

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mark who writes about Commercial Coffee Makers Twitter: ChugginMcCoffee October 27, 2009 at 3:42 pm Twitter: @ChugginMcCoffee

This is a really great compilation! I’m going to pass on some of the posts about making money with blogs to friends of mine because I feel that they really don’t grasp the concept. People often ask what I do for a living, and I have heard other people say that they want to start their own blog to make some money, but I’m sure it would help them out to have a clear idea.

growmap Twitter: GrowMap October 27, 2009 at 3:52 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Thank you Mark. I would love to have my work benefit more people and truly appreciate those who take the time to share it with others. As I’ve mentioned before, I have made an independent living since 2000 and I’ve assisted dozens of businesses to increase their sales. It is obvious to me that most people don’t get it and aren’t clearly understanding what it takes.

Those who want to make money with their blogs can really benefit from selecting one of the teaching courses from the How to Make Money Blogging post and doing exactly what they say to do. I know I am repeating myself but I see people leaving out very important tasks because they don’t understand their importance.

The smallest things can make all the difference. Did you know that using “Buy Now” generates lower sales than using “Add to Cart”? That has been proven many times through testing. My theory is that “Buy Now” is more of a commitment than shoppers are ready to make at that point while “Add to Cart” gives them the option to back out if they change their minds.

I’ve been analyzing Blog Directories all day. You won’t want to miss that new post as I have identified almost thirty directories with page ranks of 3 to 9 and thousands of visitors a month. Listing blogs in these directories can greatly increase visitors and revenue.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Instantly Acquire 76 High Quality Incoming Links =-.

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manu who writes about advertising agency toronto October 27, 2009 at 7:21 am

Above written tips are really wonderful.I am experiencing them in my own website.

belly dancing for beginners October 26, 2009 at 1:54 pm

Yup these are very comman tips used by the every blogger! please share some new updates, i will be waiting for your response!till then bye

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 27, 2009 at 1:11 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Hello Belly Dancing for Beginners,

Actually they are NOT very common tips used by every blogger. Very few bloggers have access to all of the information I’ve shared in this post unless they read this blog that is. I guarantee that only the tiniest percentage of bloggers know as much as ppc advertising or Social Networking or have processes as well-defined as I have developed.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Evaluate a Merchant Gift Affiliate Program =-.

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Suresh who writes about How to lose Weight fast October 26, 2009 at 11:05 am

I like the link and the connect article ‘How We Increased Our Blog Traffic Over 76.63% in one month’, that article has really good points to develop traffic for my blog, and i got good dofollow links in another link above, that blogs have good PR also now……..
.-= Suresh@How to lose Weight fast´s last blog ..Home Exercises to Lose Weight Quickly =-.

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 27, 2009 at 1:09 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: Hello Suresh,

That strategy really does work although it is very time-consuming. We like to subscribe to comments as we leave them and that fills up the inbox pretty fast. We could really use an application to could better manage all those emails.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Happy Birthday GrowMap – One Year Old Today =-.

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Mack who writes about Las Vegas Foreclosures Twitter: seomack October 26, 2009 at 10:08 am Twitter: @seomack

This is absolutely helpful to newcomers. I suggest you have this summary post placed in your home page where it can be quite vividly seen by newcomers. Excellent quality information and hats off to you for compiling this again for the sole purpose of visitors benefit. I am sure I have read all of them, but I dont mind reading those posts again. It will refresh my knowledge. Thanks again buddy.

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 27, 2009 at 11:57 am Twitter: @GrowMap: Hi Mack,

I find having a compilation of the posts most often referred to very handy. I use all of the research I share so this page is as much for me as for my readers. I will definitely be linking this to the home page.

It is good to know who my regular readers are and that what I write benefits them. Thank you for letting me know. I often wonder if anyone appreciates the hours that go into some of my posts – usually when I am laboring over a post for days on end, continually adding one more link and rewriting a section to make it just a little clearer.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Major Television Stations Feature MyLocalLookup =-.

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Debt Consolidation Twitter: mark_tait34yahoo.in October 26, 2009 at 5:20 am Twitter: @mark_tait34yahoo.in

Very innovative! thanks for sharing the tips which will prove to be very helpful in future as well…

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 27, 2009 at 3:30 pm Twitter: @GrowMap: I hope you’ll remember where to find us.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Major Television Stations Feature MyLocalLookup =-.

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john who writes about Milan Hotels October 26, 2009 at 2:50 am

Yeah, great it is really a pillar to like me who is doing some projects in SEO and looking to grow as jaint. I got a good dofollow links to post from the above do follow link, really resourcefull article, congrats.
.-= john@Milan Hotels´s last blog ..Joomla! Security Strike Team =-.

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 26, 2009 at 11:15 am Twitter: @GrowMap: Welcome John,

I will keep this post updated and as you can tell by a couple of posts mentioned I will be adding important new posts to it. Be sure to keep track of any dofollow sites related to your own so you can visit them regularly. Consistency is SO important to success.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Instantly Acquire 76 High Quality Incoming Links =-.

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dan who writes about motivational quotes October 25, 2009 at 1:09 am

what can i say..this is a complete list ! thank for sharing

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 25, 2009 at 9:18 am Twitter: @GrowMap: Hi Dan,

I love quotes and I am sure you will find what you need here to get far more visibility for your blog. I have spent an entire year pulling all of the research together that exists at GrowMap and it was built on three decades of computer background.

It should assist anyone truly serious about growing their business or blog. I personally apply everything I write about and test it to make sure it works.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Top How to Make Money Blogging Resources =-.

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Zeenat{Positive Provocations} Twitter: zeenatsyal October 24, 2009 at 11:42 pm Twitter: @zeenatsyal

Wow! This is such an informative post. I love all the links..and your research is so thorough. Me being new into blogging only 4-5 months now…this is a treasure of information for me.
I will have to go through all the links slowly. See I have my weekend reading source now
I’m a little confused about the Dofollow sites. What does it mean? I have seen many sites promote themselves as Dofollow.
Kind Regards
Zeenat
.-= Zeenat{Positive Provocations}´s last blog ..Why Are We Here? {Inspirational Quote} =-.

Internet Strategist who writes about GrowMap Twitter: GrowMap October 25, 2009 at 9:09 am Twitter: @GrowMap: Welcome to GrowMap Zeenat,

I read you at StumbleUpon and in your blog and am happy you have found your way here. Just this morning I was pondering whether the days of research I pour into many of my posts are worth it because they don’t get as much feedback as I would expect. If they help just one fellow blogger it is worth it.

If you’ve read that dofollow post you already have your answer so I will refer others who wonder what dofollow and nofollow are all about to that post. It explains what do follow means and why we chose to have all our blogs use dofollow.

Also see the related post about encouraging community which explains why we installed CommentLuv and KeywordLuv and how you can best use them to benefit your site when commenting here.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Social Networking is NOT Chat =-.

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Best of GrowMap: Our Pillar Foundation Content