Make Money Online with Brandon Hopkins

Buying links has long been debated, especially when Google slapped so many blogs in the last year. Personally I haven’t had many issues with Google, but many people had. With that disclaimer, be careful where you buy your links. Most places that sell links have a “footprint”, or an easy way to track which websites are selling links. For example of a footprint, search for “powered by Wordpress” in Google. It’s an easy way to find a lot of blogs that are running Wordpress. That’s just a simple footprint, but there is a footprint to just about everything.

One place that I’ve found that sells quality links and doesn’t leave a trail is LinkWorth. If you haven’t bought many links then this won’t matter to you, but if you’re in the game to make money, links are vitally important. LinkWorth has some really big blogs on their network for driving traffic, then they have a lot of 2nd and 3rd tier blogs that are great for just snagging a link.

Personally, I like to get one link and go. I think a single link on one domain is just as beneficial as a site-wide link, and possibly even better. Depending on the quality of where the link is posted, you can see beneficial traffic from links that you’ve earned naturally or purchased.

Either way, LinkWorth doesn’t seem to leave any footprints which means it is nearly impossible to find out if the links are natural or paid.

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Recently, Brandon explained why he uses articles for gaining links and traffic. However, some people were wondering exactly where they should be submitting their articles. Yes, there is article submission software available, but it best to do this discriminately and by hand. Don’t get discouraged when wading through the increasing number of article submission sites. Just like site directories, you have to separate the good from the useless.

Below are the top five places to submit articles for links and traffic. If you are wondering how I determined this list, I merely narrowed down the most popular sites that allow bylines and backlinks by checking each article directory’s Google PageRank and Alexa rating.

1. EzineArticles (PR: 6, Alexa: 426)

EzineArticles is widely regarded as the best free article submission site. Content on this site is ranked well in Google, as you’ve probably already discovered just through casual use of the search engine. EzineArticles currently has over 50,000 RSS feeds, as well, which means you can get some massive exposure through the site.

2. SelfGrowth.com (PR: 6, Alexa: 7,699)

This is a unique place to make yourself known. Touting itself as a “self improvement encyclopedia,” SelfGrowth.com currently receives over 1 million visitors a month and accepts articles from the public. If you have an article that encourages any kind of self-improvement, then this is a great place to submit it.

3. Buzzle (PR: 5, Alexa: 4,914)

Buzzle once had a higher PageRank, but its traffic is still steadily growing. Articles on Buzzle are fast competing with the search engine ranking of EzineArticles, so keep this site high on your list. Buzzle authors also receive added exposure when they are randomly featured throughout the directory.

4. ArticleCity (PR: 6, Alexa: 34, 723)

Offering free articles for reprint, this a great place to both submit your work and acquire free content for your site or newsletter. There are many niche categories on this site to fit your various needs.

5. ArticleBiz (PR: 6, Alexa: 61, 404)

This growing site also offers both exposure for writers and reprintable content for Web developers. If you are smart, you will take advantage of both opportunities. While ArticleBiz may not have the clout of other sites on this list, it is steadily growing in popularity and is definitely worth your time.

There are many more article directories across the Web, but you shouldn’t spread yourself too thin by tracking down every last one. Instead, focus on making yourself known on the most highly ranked article sites. Not all directories were created equal and article submission is only one of many ways to market your site and obtain backlinks.

This article is contributed by Heather Johnson, a freelance writer as well as a regular commentator on the topic of airline miles card. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

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UPDATE: For now the Alex Dombroff Contest is canceled.

Background: A friend, Alex Dombroff bet that I couldn’t rank better for his name than he could. Of course I can, he just didn’t realize who he was up against!

Then I told him that my readers could easily spank him for his own name, Alex Dombroff, in the search engine rankings. He disagrees (and still disagrees!).

So I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is and give you $100 if you are ranked #1 for the phrase “Alex Dombroff” (without quotation marks) in Google on April 15th. That is a little more than two weeks away so you’d better get to work! What better way to celebrate the US tax day than we a SEO and SEM contest?

You can use any method you choose, Squidoo, Blogspot, Craigslist, etc. You must link back to this post about the contest and leave a comment tell me what site you’re promoting. There are even a lot of great Alex Dombroff domains available still!

How to Enter contest in 3 easy steps.

1. Create a website or page (any site, any page, any domain).

2. Link from that page to this contest page to prove your ownership.

3. Post a comment in this post linking to your entry page.

Pretty easy! Winner will get $100 Paypal (or other method of money transfer) on April 15th. Good luck, let’s show Alex Dombroff what we can do!

Update: Obviously I won’t win my own contest, so if this page is ranked #1 then the winner will be whoever is next highest behind property I own.

UPDATE 2: For now the Alex Dombroff Contest is canceled.

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