How Search Works Straight From Google's Mouth

This is a quick video by Matt Cutts from Google giving you a quick explanation of how search engines work. He also provides you with some search engine optimization techniques you can use right away that will help your blog get more traffic.

It's a good video for a new blogger that is just starting out and trying to learn how search engines work. When I started out SEO seemed like a foreign language and I thought I'd never grasp it, but it's not really as hard to understand as it first appears.

If you already know how search engines work and understand the basics then don't waste your time watching this video. But if you're a new blogger and have some questions then I'd recommend watching this quick video.

Here's a link to Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide that's another great resource to learn from.


 

Google Adsense Is Still Confusing and Frustrating

Why doesn't Google make the Adsense platform more user friendly? I've been struggling with learning it off and on for a few years, but I always end up pissed off and frustrated. Then I'll take a break and say that I'm done with trying to figure things out because it's way to time consuming for me to learn while I'm trying to continue building my sports site and creating content for it. But then I always seem to somehow find myself trying to figure out how to use Adsense after my cooling off period is over.

It's become a vicious cycle of mental torture that I can't escape. Now I know how Bill Murray felt in the movie Groundhog Day, help!!

I'm not writing this to badmouth Google, I'm actually a fan of Google and use several of their services, but Adsense continues to be a struggle. I know that part of the problem is with me, but I still think they could make the user interface and help sections more user friendly as well as easier to understand.

I really want to use Adsense and don't mind dedicating some time to learning it. I'm also aware that things are always changing and you may need to spend some time learning new features as they become available.

One thing I'm going to do if I ever learn the ropes is to make an easy to understand tutorial for people like me to use from the sign up point right on through.

I've actually created ads and served them on my site, but there's a lot I'm not grasping and it's just so frustrating to feel like I'm wasting so much time on something I may never figure out.

Still Kicking Around The Blogosphere After Five Years and Loving Every Minute Of It!

I can't believe it's been almost five years since I got the itch to start a sports blog! Time has seemed to fly right on by. My journey has been filled with many ups and downs, but my love and desire for blogging has only grown stronger.

I started this blog as a way to chronicle my trials and tribulations and to connect with other like minded bloggers. I haven't kept up with this site as much as I intended too at the outset, but will be doing so from here on out.

A lot of things have changed over these last five years to make it easier than ever for "newbie" bloggers to get themselves up online and to get their message out into the Blogosphere without spending a dime. I was scared to death when I first started out and knew absolutely nothing about the online world. I couldn't do much more than surf the web and send someone an email, that's the truth.

When I was introduced to blogging a light bulb went off and I knew right away that I had to do one, no matter what. I've spent many, many hours learning and have come a long way. I've made many, many mistakes along the way as well, but I just keep plugging along and learning. There's been a ton of frustration and at times I've felt like quitting, but I can't. I love the challenges and enjoy learning all the different aspects to building a successful blog.

One of my biggest mistakes when I first started out was to avoid joining social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. I had no clue how powerful of an ally than can be. I was scared to join because I wasn't sure how to use them and thought they'd somehow end up being a detriment to building traffic for my sports blog. Now I look back and realize how ignorant I was.

If you're reading this and thinking of starting your own blog I'd say to go ahead and jump into the social media frenzy now, you will thank me later, I promise. Just dive right in and start interacting with people.

Google Gives Blogger A Nice Makeover

The new makeover Google has given to Blogger is great from what I've been able to see so far. I give Google big props for how much the Blogger platform has improved since I started my journey into the Blogosphere a couple of years ago.

When I first started you had very limited choices for your template and there wasn't any stats available for you unless you knew how to add Google Anaylytics manually. That was way beyond my capabilities when I first started using the blogger platform.

I've always been a big fan of Google because they're always looking to improve on their products and 90 percent of them are free to use!


  

e w r e s n o r s t m t e n e o e o . I e e g s r w h e r m s d e I d y y o e e a e f s n I t d u d y d s r r e d e t y s e r u s u w w o d e s . t s y d y s n I t d g e r e s n a g n f e e e s g o e n r s d 0 t f m e e o  

A Must Read For New Bloggers Part 2

There are many different blogging platforms for you to choose from and I will list a couple here and give you my thoughts on them. I have used Wordpress.org and Google's Blogger the most and I like each of them, but they are not the only fish in the sea. Before you start your search for a blogging platform I suggest you write down a list of things you are looking for in a platform and try to find the best match for your needs.

• Wordpress.com- It's free and very easy to use! You could be signed up and have your first post up in under 15 minutes and maybe even sooner than that. They are great to mess around with and get yourself some practice. The only drawback in my opinion is that you are unable to run ads or monetize your blog, but it's free.
• Google's Blogger- Whether you call it Blogger or Blogspot they are the same thing and are owned by Google. It's another very easy blogging platform to get started with, but you must signup for a Google account in order to use it. The Google account will cost you an arm and a leg so be prepared, I'm kidding it's all free and I do recommend you to use it. You not only get a free blog, you are also allowed to put up ads and monetize it! Plus your Google account allows you to have up to 10 different blogs and you are free to monetize them all and you have access to a bunch of other cool Google services like Gmail and Picassa to name a couple.
• Wordpress.org- A self hosted version of Wordpress.com that you have complete control over and can monetize it to your hearts content! There are some other aspects to using this version of Wordpress that you need to take into consideration. You will need to register a domain name and find a host for your site, but don't worry because it doesn't cost that much. My other site BeltwayBoy Sports is a self hosted Wordpress.org blog.

I will be posting links to some really good sites and tutorials for you to use in part 3 of this series.            

Google Adds Real Time Search

Google has introduced their latest creation and I like what I see so far. It's a real time search and the results continue to update as you look at them. I can't tell you much more than that because I have not had the time to actually mess around with it beyond the one search I did. It's going to be a big success in my opinion, go check it out and let me know what you think!

Google Friend Is Great

I just discovered how important Google Friend Connect is and if you are like me you will love it. I know that I probably write and talk about Google, but I can't help it because they have some great applications. The best thing is that almost all are FREE! I don't work for Google and want to make that clear, I do have an Adsense account that I'm struggling to learn, but that is for a later post. When I decided to start a blog I was so excited about the possibilities and ready to roll, but I had a minor problem. I could only sign on to a computer and barely access the internet. I had no clue what I was doing and had to start from scratch. So I went to work and have been learning ever since. It was September 2008 when I started learning. I still have a long, long way to go in order to fulfill my vision and reach my goals, but I'm making progress! I started my other site Beltwayboysports.com on a self hosted Wordpress.org platform. I have been attempting to start an email list and user sign ups for the site with nothing but problems. It has driven me crazy and frustrated me to no end! Then I discovered Google Friend. So what can this do to help you and give you a big assist with your blog? It lets you build your list and site sign ups with no headache at all. Plus you can send newsletters to your members, make surveys and let your site members communicate with each other and it keeps stats for you. There is more that you can do with it. It allows you to do all of this without having to code anything. I have it on the sidebar of this site. I wish I would have found it before, it will save you a lot of time so you can be free to do other things for your site. I hope you will find this helpful. Let me know how it works for you or if you discover another way to use it, thanks and I look forward to hearing from you!

What Can Google Do For You

I love Google because they give you a lot of cool services for free. There are certain things they will charge for, but being a new blogger you don't have to worry about any of those just yet. Unless you want to pay them for a domain and hosting, which is a good deal. I would hold off spending any money until you know that you are going to stick with this. Google will give free blogger blogs to get you started, plus you can earn money through ads on your site. If I could do it over again that is the route I would go. It's free to sign up with Google and it's well worth signing up even if you don't use blogger. Gmail is their email application and it is loaded with features, you will never look at email the same way again! My favorite of all things Google is the Google Chrome browser and yes it's free as well. It is easy to use and fast, I love it and everyone I have talked with about Chrome loves it. You are probably reading this and thinking to yourself that I must work or be associated with Google in some way, I'm not. The biggest issue I have with Google is that they need to simplify the adsense installation process, I hate it because for the new guy or gal like myself who have no clue. That is still a problem for me and I may drop the adsense part, there are other options out there. Go and check Google out and see if they have anything you could use to help you along on your journey into the blogosphere, good luck.

What Blogging Platform Will You Use?

After you decide that you are going to give blogging a try, there is one more very important decision you must make. What blogging platform are you going to use? There is a bunch of them to choose from. You have Wordpress.com and .org, I will explain the difference between the two later in this post. Google has Blogger and to be perfectly honest with you, those are the only ones that I have personally used. I like all three of them and each has their pros and cons. They are pretty easy and straight forward when it comes to using them. I started out with a Wordpress.org site. It's Beltwayboysports.com you should check it out sometime. This blog that you are reading is a Blogger site that I got from Google.

Now onto the differences of the Wordpress.com and .org. The differences are .com is free and wordpress will host the site for you, but you don't own the site and can't put ads up if you decide to monetize your blog. I have heard of people losing their blogs because of some type of rules infraction and lost all of their content. Now with a .org blog you control the whole show. You will need to pay for hosting and pick out a domain name like I did with Beltwayboysports.com. I should have went the free route to begin. I knew absolutely nothing and had to figure it out on my own. It really is best to get a handle on how everything works before striking out on your own. It will save you a bunch of headaches, trust me!

Hosting is not all that expensive to get. DO YOUR HOMEWORK when you are searching for a place to host your site. I would recommend my host, but I'm not totally satisfied with their service. I did not do enough homework before I selected them. So I learned a very valuable lesson. I was just so excited to get going and let my guard down for a second and wham. My suggestion is to go and research all the different platforms. Only you will know which one fits your needs. Everyone is going to talk about whatever one they are comfortable working with!

Here is another good resource site that is packed with a ton of great information to help you out as you start your journey into the blogging world. http://2createawebsite.com