Top Blog Directories To Submit Your Blog

Gaining exposure for your blog is critical to building a following and revenue. After creating compelling copy, titles, descriptions and link strategies, it’s time to list your blog in one or more directories.

There are many paths to building links, such as link baiting or blogroll-link swapping, but few are as easy to implement and cost effective as submitting to blog directories. And good link juice makes for a growing blog.

Here are 24 directories you need to know about:

1. Best of the Web Blog Search remains a powerful tool for sharing your blog, especially since this director’s very selective, listing only mature and valuable blogs. A link from here is majestic.
2. Bloggeries is one of the most respected blog directories. The layout is clear and concise, and readers are able to find what they are looking for in a snap.
3. EatonWeb Blog Directory is a powerful list. The fee, currently $34.99, pays for a review of your blog.
4. OnToplist.com is a free, manually-edited directory that reads the RSS feed of your blog. You can also use the site’s social features, article directory, and other great tools to build your blog.
5. Blogged.com is an interesting mix of a directory and a Google News type site that is fed by the blogs listed with Blogged. And it’s free to list your blog.
6. While the design and infrastructure have changed somewhat over the years, Blog Search Engine remains one of the most selective blog directories on the web. Membership has its privileges.
7. Blog Catalog features a vast number of categories, from “academic” to “writing”, while offering the ability to search by country, language or user. It has a no-frills design, but offers convenient access through a simple blog registration.
8. Globe of Blogs has too many features to list. Only non-commercial blogs are accepted. The site may be busy, but I like being able to narrow my search by title, author or subject.
9. The ultimate directory of British blogs isn’t focused on location, but on the culture. It is asked that bloggers be genuinely “Britished.”
10. Blog Universe has a layout that’s easy to navigate and, although the content is limited, it’s an all-around good directory worthy of submission.
11. Bigger Blogs is intertwined with a business directory and an article directory, giving you access to several powerful tools in one location.
12. Bloggernity is a crisp, clean and easily navigated site. It’s low ad-to-content ratio has helped solidify its reputation as a quality directory.
13. Bloggapedia has an interesting and eye-catching homepage. Readers are easily connected to top blogs and new posts. Innovative categories, a colorful design and its blogger tool kit make this directory a hit.
14. Spillbean is a well-designed directory with categories such as “health,” “society,” “Internet,” and “personal.”
15. Blogging Fusion boasts over 60 categories, including family-focused blogs. Blogging Fusion has an good number of listings, and it also has visitor stats.
16. Blogflux is organized and clear with a strong social element.
17. The blogs at the top of Bloglisting are fun, colorful and catch the attention of the reader. Bloglisting displays the page-ranking blogs, which is a helpful tool when determining with whom you want to exchange links.
18. Blogio stores plenty of quality blogs, and it sports solid on-site search.
19. Blog Digger is a strong search tool, especially for local blog listings.
20. Blog Pulse features a powerful community element, on-site analytics, and a clean design. The “submit” page is a bit tricky to find, so here’s the quick link.
21. Technorati’s blog directory is well-respected and spans more than 30 categories.
22. Blogarama has a strong base of blogs and a solid text-ad system for its front page.
23. Blog Hints features over 100 categories. The site is very picky about which blogs are included, and those that are listed are presented via a visual interface that shows the site’s design and page rank. This makes Blog Hints the perfect site for finding link-swapping partners.
The above listings are a glimpse inside the large and vast world of blog directories and the valuable inbound links that your can build for your blog and your business.
There are countless more directories at your disposal. Which do you like? Leave a comment.
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SEO : Search Engine Optimization from 2012-2013: 7 Key Factors That Will Take The Lead

This time of year is suitable for retrospection. We’re able to take a good look at how things played out in 2012, and get an idea of the trends and patterns that are most likely to dominate the coming year.

2012 was rough for SEO experts due to radical changes in Google’s algorithms, including many updates to Panda, as well as the the introduction of Penguin. While content quality and inbound links continue to play major roles in organic rankings, let’s take a look at the other factors that will govern SEO in 2013.

2013: The 7 Key Factors That Will Determine Your Survival in SEO

If it were up to me, I’d simply focus on creating value for the reader — because ultimately, that should be the goal of any website. However, increasing competition may require you to employ strategic practices in a pragmatic approach to assist your rise to the top of the SERPs. Here are the tactics and strategies that will dominate the SEO landscape in 2013.

1. Quality of Content

Ultimately, it all comes down to the quality and value of the content on your website. Google has been very explicit this year about good-quality content, and we expect this trend to carry over into next year in full force. By content quality, the metrics are:

1.     uniqueness of the content/topic
2.     resourcefulness and information richness (i.e., no thin content)

2. Content Marketing

Content marketing is being touted as the next big thing. Experts have called it the new SEO. To an extent, this is true. As a general rule, content marketing attracts backlinks, and adds value for the user/reader. It is more challenging, because you have to generate more content of high quality, circulate it, and make sure your content gets published widely with ample social signals to generate substantial SEO value.

Since Google takes valuable content seriously, a solid content marketing strategy will be the key to climbing to the next level in SEO.

3. Author Rank and Profile

Author Rank has emerged as a vital metric in deciding SERPs, although studies about its value are still ongoing. One thing that we can be sure of in 2013 is that AuthorRank will add credibility and value to your website, and it will be vitally important for every webmaster.

4. Social Signals and Social Networking

After much debate and discussion, social signals have largely been accepted as valid ranking factors. In the next year (and probably in the years to follow), social signals will play a growing role. Shares, retweets, mentions, and perhaps most importantly, +1s are trophies every webmaster should be amassing.

5. Mobile/Responsive Design

Although this does not directly influence the ranking of a page, it will play a role in your fortunes. Google was one of the first companies to become aware of this trend in web browsing due to the growing presence of tablets and smartphones. Responsive design may not be an explicit SEO factor, but in terms of usability, it is likely to be a highly influential element to consider in 2013.

6. Localization / Info-graphics

Google’s growing preference for local websites and information has become evident in many searches. It’s safe to assume 2013 we’ll witness an increase in this preference. Websites that apply local SEO will enjoy higher rankings and visibility. This includes map data, listings, citations, and reviews on local information sites.

7. Social Media Marketing

Images and videos have become staples on the Internet. We’ve consistently seen that relevant results that include videos get ranked higher than text-only content. The further emergence of media content is an important development you can expect next year. It’s becoming essential to add relevant non-textual media to text content, because this adds value and makes the content more resourceful.
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Facebook Redesigns Continue With Timeline: Community Managers Be Ready

Yesterday Facebook posted another major announcement to its blog.  The long tested redesign of Timeline is beginning to roll out.  The new look of Timeline will give users a place for all the things they care about.

As you can see, the Facebook clean-up continues.  The rich media look that they recently featured in the preview of the News Feed redesign carries over into the cleaner two column look of Timeline.  The about and interests of users will be far more prominently featured to the left of the Timeline posts.  This area of the Timeline will offer users a great deal of flexibility to show off the things they care about the most.  Be ready to see bibliophiles showing off the books they’ve read while film buffs feature the movies they’ve watched and look forward to seeing.

The impact that this change has for Facebook marketers is 3-fold.

• Graph Search will have greater depth and breadth of information to display.
• Advertising will benefit from more complete user identities.
• Community Managers will find more information about the people they connect with.

First of all, as the changes finally start rolling out, there will be the usual outcry from the average users about how much they dislike the fact that Facebook is changing AGAIN.  It always happens.  But, the vitriol always causes a portion of their friends to take the time to log into the full desktop version to see what all of the fuss is about.  That is where the next batch of data collection will begin.  As soon as a user lands on their redesigned space they will be prompted to update and customize.  BINGO!  Fresh info.

Immediately, Graph Search benefits from all of the fresh updates.  Search will be better able to tell users where their friends have been, what they like, and other stuff that could lead them to your marketing presence in Facebook.  Make certain that your business is ready to be optimized and searchable.

The influx of fresh user data will give savvy advertisers even better targeting buckets to mine for optimum ROI.  Just think how much better your geographic targeting will be when massive numbers of Facebook users update their current locations.

Finally, for those really super smart community managers, this will be a boon to better understanding the people they interact with on behalf of a brand.  Although you can count on many users to take the time to play with new features, few will delve deep into their privacy settings.  Most of the information that will come out of the redesign will continue to be publicly visible to any other Facebook user logged into the network, including page administrators.  It won’t be difficult at all to click the link to your most active community members and find out more about the music, locations, and activities that they enjoy the most, and then use that information to improve your page content and engagement.

What are your thoughts and concerns about all of the changes coming to Facebook this year?

Image Credit: Facebook

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Big, Beautiful Photos Of The New Samsung Galaxy S4

No, that isn’t the Galaxy S3 you’re looking at. That is Samsung’s upcoming flagship, the Galaxy S4, pictured in the wild and detailed for all to see. As revealed in the pictures from the Chinese site that managed to secure the device, the phone will include a few new TouchWiz features we hadn’t heard about (like S Pen-free preview functions), as well as confirming many of the hardware specs:

Samsung Galaxy S4

• 7.7mm thick
• 138g
• 4.99-inch 1080p display
• 13MP camera
• 1.8GHz Exynos 5410 Octa core CPU with 533Mhz PowerVR SGX 544MP3 GPU
• 2GB of RAM
• 16GB of storage and expandable micro SD card slot

Now unless Samsung pulls a fast one, this is exactly what you can expect to see at tomorrow’s unveiling in New York. What do you guys think? Real? Fake? Disappointed? HTC One killer?

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Everything You Need To Know About The Samsung Galaxy S4

Samsung is going to announce its next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S IV, next week. This is a really big moment for Samsung. It has successfully transitioned from being some boring phone maker to one of the premier brands in the world.

 

The S IV could be its peak, or it could be the next step on the path to world domination. It all depends on how good the phone is. Since you're probably curious about what Samsung has in store, we've summed up just about everything you need to know about the phone in this post. Click here to learn everything about the Samsung Galaxy S IV →

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Google Glass Will Be Able To ID Someone In A Crowd, Based Only On That Person's Clothes

A new technology designed specifically for Google Glass could identify you solely based on your fashion sense. InSight, which is partly funded by Google, recently unveiled an app for analyzing the clothes and accessories people wear to later identify them, Paul Marks of New Scientist reports. Sure, there's already facial recognition, but clothing recognition can help you identify someone even if they have their back to you. The app creates a "fashion fingerprint" of what a person is wearing by taking photos of people as they use their smartphone. It then creates a file called a "spatiogram" to document colors, patterns, and other design elements from a person's outfit. Used in conjunction with Glass, you would easily be able to locate friends in crowded area, like at a music festival, for example. But once someone changes their clothes, Insight can no longer identify that person. That means the fingerprint is only good for a day or so, but at least it protects a person's long-term privacy. The system works 93% time, based on some early test results. InSight was developed by Srihari Nelakuditi at the University of South Carolina, along with fellow professors from Duke University.

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These Computer-Generated Women Look Real

RoartyOver at 3D graphics blog CGTrader, they've rounded up an eclectic collection of computer-generated images of women for International Women's Day.
 
Some are humorous and cartoony, but some are borderline photorealistic.
We've gathered some of the most impressive displays 3D graphics for you here.

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Google Maps Might Be Banned In Germany Over A Patent Dispute

The German courts are on the point of banning Google Maps over a patent dispute with Microsoft.

A judge in Munich has told Google and its subsidiary Motorola Mobility that he is inclined to hold them responsible for infringing a key mapping patent, it has been reported.

The patent refers to “a computer system for identifying local resources”, according to patent expert Florian Mueller.

Google has been unable to convince the court that the patent does not apply to the technology used in its mapping services.

Microsoft is seeking - and very likely to obtain, according to Mr Mueller – an injunction against the Google Maps service.

In order to comply with the likely injunction, Google would have to disable Google Maps from all computers using a German IP address.

It would also have to stop shipping the Google Maps Android app and only distribute web browsers in Germany only if they used internet filters to block access to Google Maps.

Microsoft originally only sued Motorola Mobility and its German subsidiary over the distribution of the Android app. It only engaged Google as a defendant after Motorola executives denied knowledge of how Google Map servers operated.

In order to maintain the service, Google would have to pay royalties to Microsoft for the Microsoft intellectual property that it uses for its maps. Samsung, HTC, LG and other makers of Android devices have already recognised the patent applying to the Microsoft technology and taken out licensing agreement.

The report comes as Google is accused of “arrogance” in the UK after it apparently ignored requests for privacy and published photographs of their homes from its Street View service. 

 

 More than half a dozen homeowners in Surrey asked the web giant not to post images of their properties online after it introduced Street View to Britain in 2009 over fears they could be used by burglars. Google duly blurred the pictures, only to republish fresh, unblurred ones later.

In separate news, it has emerged in a company email that Motorola Mobility is to cut more than 10 per cent of its workforce as Google moves to streamline its mobile phone business.

Google bought the loss-making Motorola for $12.5bn last year, its largest ever acquisition.

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