I have tried many different things to build a buzz around my name and my websites, since I started online years ago. There are things that failed miserably – and then there were things that really worked. One of them was taking strategic editorial positions at high-traffic online information sites.
I started out at one of the largest magazine sites for women as a home finance editor to get in the door, then I moved over to my specialties when the openings were available – in mental health and depression.
I have gained tremendous exposure and traffic to all of my other sites, because I have written and continue to write for a high-traffic and reputable website. I get the best of both worlds at sites like Bellaonline – which include credibility and visibility. Plus I get to write about a topic I’m very passionate about:) Just make sure you carefully choose the site that you write for — and don’t commit yourself to something that would take a huge amount of time away from your own business.
1. Look for traffic ranking (get an idea over at alexa.com)
2. Look at google pageranking for the site
3. Look at the process for applying to become a writer
4. See if you get to split or keep 100% of the affiliate income made
with your articles
5. Check the forums out at these sites and see if people are visiting
and connecting with each other. Another good “traffic” sign for you.
If you’re ready to take the plunge, take a look at available topics over at the Bellaonline site now and see if any would tie in with your existing business. Other sites you may want to consider include allexperts, about, ivillage, sheknows, and soon I will be accepting writers over at my advice & counseling site – GirlShrink. (I’ll let you know when that happens.)
Thanks for the confirmation Lisa, I started at Bella Online with Unemployment and from there quickly added a Career Training at Bella Online, two sites at Examiner and yet another site. The problem was that I was stretched too thin trying to write articles on schedule, plus work full time. I have been slowly dropping sites so that I can concentrate on quality – not quantity. I am definitely keeping the one Bella Online site – it's an excellent venue to build a following.
Excellent effort – but yes it's hard to keep up the writing
requirements from some of the 3rd party sites as well as your own
writing. So take the niche you are keeping over at Bella and really
focus on quality. It's a great site for traffic and for community
building.
Best,
lisa
Hi Lisa
Thank you so much for all your valuable advice about writing and how to increase our visibility on the Internet. I’ve been learning a lot from you. I’ve found that there are very few people that I will trust to give me good, reliable information, and you are definitely one of them.
I’ve only just started with my first website – it’s on Addiction and I promote it as having only reliable information on i (information you can trust :)). So your tips about checking out the credibility of any sites we get back links from is really valuable for me.
Thanks you again for sharing your wisdom and experience. It’s appreciateed.
Carol.