Dave's Fast Blog

Thursday, March 12, 2009

eHow 101

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eHow 101

101 eHow Tips and Tricks

Drive Traffic, Increase Ad Clicks, Get Higher Earnings per Click, Make More Money

by David Sarokin
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Some people write books, God bless 'em. I take shortcuts, and write lists.

Here is a list of steps you can take to do the three things essential to maximizing earnings at eHow:

increase traffic to your articles

increase the likelihood of visitors clicking on ads, and

increase the value of those ads, so that each click earns more money.

OK, four things: You can also add affiliate links to earn even more money.

Anyway, I've talked enough. Here's the list, starting with the...

Top Five Things To Do at eHow to Make More Money

1. Write. Write. Write. Even if it's on topics already covered. It's more important to build a library, than for everything you write to be new, improved, never-before-seen materials! Like they say, showing up is 50% of the game. Whether it's an article a week, one a day, or one an hour, set a goal, and try to stick with it. In my view, it takes at least 100 articles (all at least a month old) before you can get a good sense of your earning potential at eHow.

2. Realize what's important. There are three things that make or break an eHow article: Your choice of topic, the wording of your title, and the usefulness/quality of your content. That's 90% of it, right there. Everything else -- really, everything else! -- is just tinkering at the margins.

3. Stand out from the crowd. No matter what you write about, someone else, somewhere on the web, has already written about pretty much the same topic. Why should anyone read what YOU wrote? Get your article to stand out. A catchy title, a flamboyant writing style, some humorous lines, special formatting (I use asterisk headers), appealing images...whatever you can come up with. Even just a simple collection of steps that are more detailed, and clearer, than anyone else's will help propel you to the front of the search results pages.

4. Judicious use of backlinks. Links to your article from other sites, known as backlinks, can be very helpful. First, a well-placed backlink (say, in a crafts forum, for your article on knitting) can be a significant source of exactly the right sort of viewers -- those who are likely to click on the ads at your article. Second, backlinks count in search result rankings--the more backlinks you have, the higher you will rank in Google search results. Other sources: Yahoo Answers, Google Knol, Xoomba (last two have Adsense, and can earn you additional cash).

5. Reproduce success. A few articles are likely to earn much more for you than your average article. When that happens, write them again . That is, write another article on pretty much the same topic, but with different content and wording. For instance, my article on How to Cite an Anthology (MLA style) turned out (much to my surprise) to be a high-earner, so I went ahead and wrote How to Cite an Anthology (APA style) which is also doing quite nicely. I have several articles on how to search for people on the internet, all with overlapping (but not identical) information. Almost all of them are good earners for me.

Now that I think about, maybe these aren't the most important five. But they're pretty important.

Here's all the rest...

...in no particular order.

Find a new twist on an old topic. Easy to say, hard to do, but worth the effort. The easiest way to explain it is with an example. Getting help with foreclosures is an old topic. Been done thousands of times at eHow and elsewhere. But I started noticing news articles about something called "produce the note" as a new strategy for preventing foreclosure. Voila! A new twist on an old standby. This became my niche, and the article quickly became one of my highest earning articles.

Use synonyms. Let's say you're writing an article on finding a good DUI Lawyer. Some people will search exactly on those keywords: DUI and Lawyer. But others will search on DWI Lawyer, or DWI Attorney, or Drunk Driving Lawyer, etc. Cover all your bases by using likely synonyms in your articles. Des' eHow Guide has some good tips on using Google's Keywords tool to find appropriate synonyms, but I find just using common knowledge, and thinking about how people are likely to search, does the trick most of the time.

Start a blog, group or website. Where better to put your backlinks than your own site? Your sites can also carry Adsense ads, so they generate their own income as well (which also means you should sign up for Adsense, if you haven't already).

Patronize the search! Use common search words and phrases in your writing, especially titles. Steer clear of less-frequent search terms. For example, use 'Find' not 'Locate'. 'Cheap' not 'Inexpensive'. 'Cure' not 'Alleviate'. Your best resource is to simply ask yourself: How would people search for _____ ? What would they actually type in the search box? There are also tools like Google Suggest and Google's Keyword Tool that can help.

Mention products and brand names. Advertisers spend billions to plant their brand names in our oh-so-suggestible brains, so these terms often turn up in searches. Might as well use them in your articles as well. They can be especially useful for topics that don't tend to earn a lot. If you're writing "How to Make an Omelet", instead of: "Step 1. Heat the frying pan." try "Step 1. Heat the frying pan. I have a Calphalon 12" from Crate and Barrel, and I love it".

Think Pricey Products. I don't really have a Calphalon 12", but I bet they spend a lot on internet ads (as does Crate and Barrel), so they're worth mentioning, eh?

Think Pricey Services. It's not just about things you buy in the store. People spend big bucks on lawyers, doctors, accountants, decorators, and all sorts of other professional services. Keep these in mind as you choose your topic, and write your articles.

Think Special Advertising. Who else is spending on ads? It's not all commercial activity. Political candidates, disaster relief services, charities, counseling services, government services, global warming groups, etc. They all have an ad presence, and it may be worth crafting an eHow article that builds them in.

Don't forget key phrases. All the talk about keywords tends to get people thinking about individual topic words. But you really want to be thinking about phrases as well (usually 2,3 even 4 or 5 words). Search phrases. People are more likely to search on 'cook a turkey' than simply 'turkey', so 'cook a turkey' is your keyphrase. An even more targeted phrase like 'cook turkey in a bag' will help you pull in niche searches.

Picture this. Use an image in every article. Include keywords and phrases in the image file name, as well as the caption. This will help your article appear in image search results.

Make the reader move around. Point out different features on the page, like 'More Articles Like This' or 'Resources' or a link to your profile. This gets the reader moving and noticing what's on the page, including the ads (don't point out the ads though...that's a no-no).

Read everything about how to make money written by Janet Ford and Writergig. Their articles, certainly, but especially their ebooks, How to Write for eHow and Earn Passive Income at eHow. I haven't seen Anthony Delgado's book, but I hear it's an excellent guide to researching keywords.

Give a listen. Suzanne and Maria's (Writergig's) podcast is a masterpiece.

Read out loud. Really! If your article doesn't sound natural to your ear, then it won't to readers, and it won't to search engines, either. I remember one article with a passage something like: "...you can buy Martha Stewart curtains, Martha Stewart fabrics, Martha Stewart utensils, and Martha Stewart cookware...". That may have showed up well in terms of keyword density, but read it out loud and see how it sounds.

Link to your own articles in Related Articles. This is a much bigger pain in the butt than it should be, and hopefully eHow will fix this one day. But for now, try to load up the Related Articles list with your own articles, rather than with an eHow-generated list. Use the "Search for Related Articles" tool when writing your eHow to find your own articles (it's not easy -- try combinations of titles and keywords) and load them up on the Related Articles list. This is assuming, of course, that you have five articles related to your topic. If not, just let eHow auto-load the list.

Use Your Featured Articles, and pay attention to results. List five articles in the Your Featured Articles area of your Profile Page. You can put your best articles there, in the hopes they will do even better. Or, try listing your 'underperformers' to give them a boost. However you do it, though, keep track of views and earnings for those articles. If they don't pick up after a few weeks, then list some others, and track those.

Pick five categories. When you write an eHow article, you can choose up to five categories in which your article will be listed. Use all five, to get as much 'face time' as you can in eHow's listings. The first category will be your main category, and helps determine your ads.

Keep track of which articles are earning for you. This isn't as easy as it sounds, since older articles may be your highest earners only because they've been around the longest. They can 'mask' some of your newer, high-earning articles. Use the "See Earnings By Month" feature to view your earnings for the current month (or any other month you choose). Click on the Earnings column to sort articles from high to low earnings. You'll get a good look at which articles are your top earners just for that month. Learn which topics work best for you, and which articles are hot at the moment.

Careful with words that mean more than one thing, especially in titles. If your title is "How to Juggle Family and Work", you might wind up with ads for juggling.

Use affiliate links. eHow has spoken. It's OK to add affiliate links to the Resources section of your articles, as long as you don't come across as a pushy salesperson, or an advertisement for a product. Some affiliate links, like this one, pay you as much as 50% of product sales. Affiliate links take a fair amount of work to evaluate and manage, so start with only a few that you think have good potential. e-junkie.com and linkshare.com are good resources.

Explore high-paying keywords. Google doesn't publish a list of their highest-bid keywords, but a smaller (much smaller!) search site called 7search has just such a list . Google's keyword tool can also give you good insights.

Keep a one-track mind. Write about "How to Take a Cross Country Trip", or "How to Send Flowers to Your Wife" or "How to Handle a DUI Charge", and you'll get well-focused ads. But if you write "How to Send Flowers to Your Wife After Getting a DUI Ticket on Your Cross Country Trip" the poor ad-bots won't have a clue what your topic is. Stay focused.

Search for your article. Don't do this for every article, but if there's one that's suddenly a good earner, make the effort to find out why. Put the article title in quotes, and run a Google search to see where it's showing up...you may find some surprising backlinks from newspapers, major websites, etc. Do the same with the actual url...put it in quotes and run a search (try it with and without the http:// ... for some reason, it makes a difference in results).

Reach out and touch someone. Rich actually. Do you have an article you think would make a good front-page feature? Message it to Rich at username:revisitingnixon

Do minor tweaking. Check your new articles after about 24 hrs. Read them over, and look for spelling errors, needed changes in wording, or goofy ads due to an unintended keyword. Do whatever editing is needed, but then move on. Repeat visits and corrections to articles probably aren't worth it...your time is better spent writing new material. Only change the title if you think it really needs it.

Use templates. 'Template' articles follow a set pattern that is easily recognizable, and easy to reproduce, from one article to the next. I'm not talking about cloning articles -- cutting and pasting text directly from one article to another. That's bad! But having an article 'formula' can make it easy to crank out your next eHow, especially when writer's block hits hard. My 'How to Find the Best insert product at the Best Price' series is an example of this (the product can be electric shavers , computers, lawnmowers, antivirus software, etc, etc). When I get stuck for my next article, I can always do one of these. Geography is another good one: "How to Get a Learner's Permit in __________"

Use Google Suggest to get in the top ten search results.

Use Google Suggest to generate lots of new ideas .

Use other tools to generate lots of new ideas.

Try government programs as a topic. The government has endless services for citizens, people always seem to be searching for information on them, and business is always trying to sell something related to them. All in all, a good combination for an eHow, and one that generally earns well. I'm talking about things like: apply to social security, hold mail at the post office, get a driver's license, get food stamps, get a rush passport, apply for Medicare, trademark a business name, find a government grant, etc. There are zillions of them.

Delve deep into Google. If you really want to optimize for search engines, go to the source. Read Google's manual .

Check the competition? This is a judgment call. Checking on what others have written on your topic can help you find the things that make you stand out (or even decide the topic's been overdone, and go for a different topic). On the other hand, such checking takes time. I do it only occasionally.

Make your articles timeless. Assume that eHow will be around a long time, and people will be reading your article ten years from now. Will it look fresh, or hopelessly dated? If you have references to the current year, or to events of the moment, then future readers will know right away the article is old, and may feel it is out of date. This is especially true for seasonal articles. If you write about Christmas 2009, or the Spring 2009 planting season, then readers and search engines from 2010 on may give you the brush-off.

Don't tell 'em everything! Leave readers wanting a wee bit more info, so they'll look to the ads. For instance, How To Buy a Used Car may tell readers all the things to look for, but may not mention particular websites to use, so the reader looks to the ads for more information (it's mean, I know, so don't overdo it...have mercy on the reader as well).

Don't always write to earn. It may sound counter-intuitive, but writing just because you've got a How To to offer, even when you know it won't earn much, can be in your own best interest over the long term. It can also just be fun (remember fun?). Some articles just let people get to know you, and what you're capable of, and puts them on the alert to look for your other articles as well. My How-to-do-stuff-at-eHow articles hardly earn anything. Most views are from fellow writers who are reluctant to click on ads to begin with. But I consider them an important part of my earning strategy just the same. Plus, I really enjoy writing them.

Send out a bulk press release. You can even do a press release for free, get backlinks, and let the world know about your latest spectacular article.

Send out PR emails. Or, you can send out well-targeted press releases to just a few select reporters. This can be for a particular article, or more generally, for your work as an eHow writer.

Don't trust everything you hear. Advice and rules about keyword density, deadly stop words, ad clicks count, ad clicks don't count, duplicate content, ping-submissions, directory submission...it all can overwhelm and just get you way off track. Good writing and common sense is your best guide. Really.

Use Related Articles. Fill the Related Articles list with your own articles, which will drive more traffic to them. The Related Articles search feature is clumsy, so it actually takes a fair amount of time to find the right links. But it's worth the effort.

Update your cross-links. Don't just add old articles to your Related Articles list as you write new articles. Go back and edit relevant old articles to include newer articles in Related Links.

Mirror your title. The keywords used in your title should be repeated in your article text, and elsewhere (captions, things you need, etc). Also, include synonyms. At what 'keyword density'? I don't use any tools for this. I use my ear. If the writing sounds natural, then the keyword density isn't over-stuffed.

Manage your time. Be honest, now. How much time do you spend writing new articles, compared with your time in the forums, or commenting, or groups, or.... eHow is just like a regular job, in that sense. You get paid for your work, and the work is new articles.

Go For It. If you have a hot article that's getting lots of views and earnings, add it to your Featured Articles list to make it even hotter (I probably said this already, but what the hey!)

Use singular and plural forms. It seems to make a difference to some search engines whether you use the phrase 'microwave oven' or 'microwave ovens' as your keyword. Use both.

Try another site. Sometimes you just get a good article in your head, but it isn't a How-To. Don't despair, and don't try to strangle it into how-to format. Just post it elsewhere. Xomba is an easy place to post (and earn), even with it's gaudy look. Google Knol is more presentable, and also pretty easy. Even Bukisa has its fans. Give 'em a try.

Think about links. Links are sometimes a necessary and helpful part of your How-to article. But each link is also an invitation to leave your article, or to click on something other than an ad. I tend to mix it up...some active links in Resources (especially for long, awkward URLs), some inactive links right in the article text (e.g. 'visit google.com/adsense for more info'), and sometimes just leaving it to the reader to find things on their own. Hopefully, one of the things they'll find is an ad to click on.

More backlinks. If you do include active links (in Resources), then consider sending a note to the website to let them know. For a small or medium business, a link at eHow is notable, and they may well link to the article on their own site, giving you a valuable backlink.

Ignore your spell-check, sometimes. Sometimes people write 'website' and sometimes 'web site'. Which is correct? Who cares? As long as lots of people are using both of these in search, it's not a bad idea to put both in your article as well.

Break the rules. All of them. Everything here is meant as a useful
guide, but sometimes you just have to follow your heart...or gut...or
instincts. Whatever. So go ahead and break the rules. You just might
wind up writing the article that you retire on.

Some Things to Avoid

Videos. They can't be uploaded, for now, and even when they could, they never made anyone any money. But stay tuned...eHow seems intent on reviving their video upload option.

Search engine submissions. If they're not good enough to even find you, why would you want to make any effort be listed on them?

RRC Overdrive. Just go easy on the read, rate, comment thing. It can suck up your time like crazy.

Sex and drugs. Rock n roll is OK, but articles about sex or pharmaceutical drugs often will not carry any ads, and will not earn you any money (there are exceptions here, but you really have to 'go to school' to figure them out. If you do try it and get an ad-less article, try changing categories, as it usually helps).

Clones. Don't be cutting and pasting text from one article to another. Although some amount of this is OK, no one knows exactly how much is acceptable or unacceptable. Just write each article anew, to be on the safe side.

Alter-egos. If you post your articles anywhere else, make sure to use your eHow user name, otherwise, you'll get dinged for plagiarism (the jury's out as to whether it's a bad thing, from a search engine ranking point of view, to have duplicate content posted. It's your call!).

Agonizing over the 'keyword' box. Put in your danged keywords. Put in five. Put in ten. Leave spaces. Use commas. It doesn't matter.

Accidental keywords. Writing 'easy as pie' might get you ads about pie.

Accidental html. Using carats (<^>), pipes (|), brackets ({[]}) and a few other oddities will get eHow terribly confused, and make your article hard or impossible to post properly.

Title zonkers. eHow titles don't seem to like apostrophes or quotes. They're not catastrophic, but they can be messy in odd sorts of ways. Best to steer clear of them when possible.

Short term. Things like freebies or coupons that expire after a while. Remember, articles should last (and be viable) for years.

Things that don't seem to make much of a difference

Length of the title

Having or not having comments

Number of comments

Whether comments are on target or off target for keywords

Ratings (I know, I know. eHow has said ratings and comments are part of their mysterious algorithm. That may be, but I just don't see them making any difference as far as earnings go).

Pinging

Well, there you have it. My list of 101 eHow Tips and Tricks, except there isn't really 101...I just liked the sound of it that way. If anyone happens to count the real number, keep it to yourself.

Friday, May 23, 2008

eHow Article Stats for May 23, 2008

eHow Statistics (based on How to Find the Most Popular Articles)

Arts & Entertainment 16,424

Art 3,459
Books 2,458
Dance 1,312
Magic 726
Movies & TV 2,354
Music 5,163
Theater 952

Business 11,216

Advertising 645
Business & Society 717
Business Insurance 227
Business Management 1,092
Human Resources 677
Marketing & PR 1,611
Office Machines & Supplies 470
Running a Business 3,106
Small Businesses 2,671

Careers & Work 13,782

Career Advice 5,108
Careers 6,675
Job Search 1,999

Cars 6,518

Auto Repair 1,038
Buying a car 621
Car Aftermarket Options 778
Car Enthusiasts 404
Car Insurance 239
Car Loans & Financing 90
Car Maintenance 1,266
Cars, Trucks & Autos 715
Driving & Safety 988
Fuels 222
Selling a Car 157

Computers 13,085

Computer Hardware 2,873
Computer Networking 848
Computer Programming 429
Computer Software 6,184
Computer Troubleshooting 785
Operating Systems 1,966

Culture & Society 11,096

Charities & Organizations 1,471
Cultures 2,239
Etiquette 2,129
Funerals & Burials 375
Legends & Folklore 280
Paranormal 630
Politics 1,961
Religion 2,011

Education 10,655

College & Higher Education 2,324
College Life 1,415
Continuing Education 1,640
Homeschooling 615
K-12 4,295
Standardized Tests 366

Electronics 7,681

Cameras 1,060
Car Audio & Electronics 285
Cell Phones & Accessories 1,840
DVD Players & Recorders 636
Global Positioning Systems 130
Home Audio 910
Optics 386
Personal Audio 1,377
Satellite Radio 44
Telephones 232
Tivo & DVR 86
TVs 695

Fashion, Style & Personal Care 14,027

Beauty 3,209
Children's Clothing 289
Clothing Care 756
Grooming 780
Hair Care 1,995
Hair Removal 277
Men's Fashion 1,007
Skin Care 1,195
Spa & Salon 701
Women's Fashion 3,818

Food & Drink 25,447

Appetizers, Soups & Salads 3,074
Breads & Breakfasts 1,097
Cooking & Baking 5,549
Desserts 2,653
Drinks & Cocktails 3,390
Healthy Recipes 2,061
Holiday Recipes 1,203
Main Dishes 3,970
Wine 634
World & Regional Cuisine 1,816

Health 30,782

Alternative Medicine 3,902
Bites & Stings 241
Cancer 786
Conditions & Treatments 8,056
Dental Health 640
Diet & Nutrition 4,899
Family Health 3,990
Healthcare Industry 653
Mental Health 2,869
Public Health & Safety 2,251
Sexuality 1,590
Surgeries & Operations 905

Hobbies, Games & Toys 22,873

Collecting 1,488
Crafts 7,913
Games & Cards 2,885
Hobbies 2,723
Science & Nature 1,835
Toys 1,238
Video, Computer & Internet Games 4,791

Holidays & Celebrations 10,124

4th of July 210
Birthdays 447
Chinese New Year 38
Christmas 2,465
Cinco de Mayo 129
Diwali 45
Easter 569
Father's Day 200
Gay Pride 132
Gift Giving 900
Halloween 1,065
Hanukkah 209
International Celebrations 49
Kwanzaa 150
Labor Day 33
Mardi Gras 119
Memorial Day 91
More Holidays & Celebrations 1,158
Mother's Day 352
New Year's 429
Oktoberfest 69
Passover 79
Ramadan 19
Rosh Hashanah 22
St. Patrick's Day 199
Thanksgiving 342
Valentine's Day 589
Yom Kippur 15

Home & Garden 26,727

Building & Remodeling 2,747
Furniture 1,169
Garden & Lawn 3,515
Home Appliances 1,127
Home Design & Decor 4,136
Home Repair & Maintenance 3,975
Home Safety 877
Housekeeping 4,376
Landscaping & Outdoor Building 1,874
Plants, Flowers & Herbs 2,931

Internet 13,302

Email 801
Instant Messaging 240
Internet Connections 205
Internet Safety 598
On the Web 4,782
Popular Websites 2,288
RSS 71
Running a Website 1,243
Search Engines & Directories 562
Web Browsers 541
Web Design & Development 1,644
Web Programming 327

Legal 3,694

Bankruptcy Law 77
Business Law 181
Communications & Media 252
Consumer Law 266
Criminal Law 576
Driving Laws 196
Employment Laws 204
Family Law 715
Intellectual Property Law 150
Other Areas of Law 928
Trusts & Estate Law 149

Parenting 9,379

Babies 1,321
Building a Family 501
Children 2,492
General Parenting 2,070
Newborns 513
Pregnancy 855
Teenagers 844
Toddlers 783

Parties & Entertaining 5,335

Entertaining 1,983
Parties 3,257
Reunions 95

Personal Finance 10,418

Insurance 446
Investing 1,642
Money Managing 4,960
Real Estate 1,936
Retirement Planning 292
Tax Information 1,142

Pets 9,021

Birds 475
Cats 1,319
Dogs 4,101
Exotic Pets 371
Farm Animals 435
Ferrets 69
Horses 837
Pet Fish 548
Pet Substitutes 49
Reptiles, Rodents & Small Pets 817

Relationships & Family 14,436

Dating 5,323
Divorce 430
Family 4,283
Friendships 2,285
Marriage 2,115

Sports & Fitness 23,973

Coaching 863
Extreme Sports 1,043
Fitness 5,459
Martial Arts 1,306
Recreation 6,167
Spectator Sports 1,322
Sporting Events 405
Sports 6,342
Sports Fans 725
Team Spirit 341

Travel 23,620

Destinations 7,957
Transportation 3,655
Travel Accommodations 2,591
Travel Advice 3,764
Travel Preparation 2,686
Types of Travel 2,967

Weddings 3,768

After the Wedding 252
Other Wedding Events 198
The Bridal Party 215
The Engagement 264
Types of Weddings 285
Wedding Beauty 101
Wedding Fashion 287
Wedding Memories 145
Wedding Planning 1,540
Wedding Stationary 115
Wedding Traditions & Customs 177
Weddings & Gifts 189

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

eHow Articles by David Sarokin as of May 2008