JeffKlein.com is Born

Welcome! It’s been a long time in coming but I’ve finally launched my very own blog, JeffKlein.com.

I’ve been designing websites for clients since 1997 and working with WordPress for the past two years. During that time I began thinking about starting my own blog. After securing the domain name, designing the site, and writing some initial content, I am finally ready to launch the site.

I am very excited about this new project. I appreciate your time and will do my best to provide you with valuable insights into my online endeavors. My areas of knowledge include web design and usability, affiliate marketing, and search engine optimization.

The power of blogs is the interactivity they provide. Please join the conversation and let me know your thoughts and ideas. Thank you in advance for your readership.

Naturally Build Backlinks to Your Site

Most Webmasters understand the importance of backlinks for a website’s search engine rankings. Unlike on-page search engine optimization (SEO) where you have direct control to implement changes, building backlinks to your site requires the involvement of others outside your organization.

Why Backlinks are Important to Search Engines

The principle behind building backlinks to your site, also known as link popularity, and why they are of such importance to search engines is pretty straight forward. If a web page provides value or is of interest to others, people will naturally link to it. Because of this, search engines have incorporated link popularity into their algorithms, or decision making, when evaluating a web site’s relevancy. Think of links to your site as votes by others. While link popularity is just one of many factors search engines evaluate, generally speaking, the more votes/links your site has, the higher its search engine ranking.

How to Build Backlinks Naturally

The easiest way to get backlinks without spending much time or money is to create sites with high quality content. This can be easer said than done.  If your site is not profitable, it can be difficult to sustain the survivability of the site, let alone to keep on adding new content to the website itself.

There are plenty of creative ways to build backlinks to your site.

Directories

Quality directories can be a powerful and effective source of links. DMOZ and the Yahoo directory are two important “authority sites” that carry a lot of weight in the eyes of the search engines. Getting listed in these directories can go a long way in your efforts to improve your search engine rankings. There are numerous other ways to get backlinks to your site with a little effort.

Forums

Forums are great for getting backlinks to your site as they are free to use and allow you to customize your signature with links to your website(s). You can even choose the link text you want to use. This is something you don’t always have control over with a directory listing. Research forums in your niche and become an active member. With each post / comment you make, you will be naturally building backlinks to your site.

Blogs

Similar to forums, posting comments on relevant blogs is another great way to get backlinks to your site. The problem with blog comment posting is, many blogs tend to implement the “no-follow” tag that prevents passing any link value to your site. In your research, you want to look for blogs that have disabled this built-in “no-follow” tag.  A simple glance at the source code will let you know if the tags are disabled.

Article Directories

Submitting article to online article directories is another fantastic way to get backlinks to your site.  This method however does require more effort in that you either have to write or outsource the creation of the articles. While there is more effort involved in article marketing, the rewards are potentially greater as well. When other Webmasters find your articles and post them on their site, you not only build your link popularity, but also can improve your perceived credibility within your market. You can become an “expert” in the eyes of potential visitors.

What are some effective methods you have used to build backlinks to your sites?

Domain Name Basics

A domain name is a memorable web address for a particular site that can help people find you online (example: www.amazon.com or www.microsoft.com). Similar to your home’s address, a domain name is your website’s address.

You do not have to be a company or organization to register a domain name. Any individual can do so.

A domain name consists of two parts. In the case of google.com:

• The first part, google, is a unique name reflecting the web site.
• The second part, .com, is the extension, which often describes the website category. “.com” for example stands for “commercial.”
• .com, .net, .org are the most popular extensions in the United States. Many others are available however including .biz, .info, .name, and .pro.
• “http://” and “www” are not part of the domain name.

You might choose a domain name based on your own name, the name of your company, keywords that describe your business, even a short phrase— anything that will make your web address easy to remember.

How Do I Get a Domain Name?

Domain names are acquired by registering them with a domain name registrar, an organization accredited to register top-level domains (TLDs). TLDs are domain names ending in standard extensions such as .com, .net, or .org. Your domain name registrar is responsible for maintaining your domain registration records, managing your domain renewals, and other administrative details.

Upon registration, your registrar submits information about your domain name to a central database. This central database, or registry, allows other computers on the Internet to find your domain. This makes it possible to view your web site or send your email.

How Do I Register a Domain Name?

You register a domain name by working with either an approved domain name registrar, or a third party who registers the name on your behalf. Two low priced registrars that I recommend are GoDaddy.com and 1and1.com. Here is list of accredited domain name registrars.

How Much Does It Cost to Register a Domain Name?

Domains are registered on an annual basis for a period of anywhere from one to ten years. Prices range from $10-$30 per year depending on the registrar.

Do I Own The Domain Name I Register?

While many people say they “own” a domain name, what they’re really saying is that they own the exclusive right to use the domain name for a certain period of time. It’s kind of like leasing a car. You have the right to use the car but you don’t really own it.

When you register a domain name, you pay an annual fee for the exclusive right to use that domain. When your registration period is over, you have to renew your domain name registration. If you don’t renew your domain, it will eventually be dropped or re-released back into the general pool of available domain names where anyone can register it. If that happens and someone else registers your domain, your website would be lost.

It’s also worth noting that under certain circumstances, a court or governing organization like ICANN, can take your domain name away from you.