Hello everyone. I am a blogger. I started blogging when I was ……(10 minute story) and I am here today because I need to stop. I can’t take all this posting stress any longer and now I know that ….(sudden life changing realization goes in this spot).

Read Blahg if you need a shoulder to lean on or are under the impression you’re the “only one”.

You’re not.

I just learned I can share the news and join the other gobs of blog owners who will jump all over this news from Text Link Ads.

They have a new toy called Feedvertising. (Almost as impossible to type as my own weird names, like “cre8pc” and “cre8asite”.)

If you have a Wordpress blog, this is way of earning money for ads. Anyone, however, with a website can register with TLA to take advantage of this additional advertising space.

Only one text ad should appear in your RSS feed, and they can be rotated. It costs nothing to offer the ad space in your feed. It sounds like you can advertise your own stuff in your own RSS feeds too, at no charge.

I signed up.

Of the many hurdles surrounding the effort of getting one’s website safely and promptly into search engines, the one skill that is least discussed, is also the most frustrating. This is the one that will make or break trust between an SEO company or consultant, and their clients. It’s the one that hits hardest on DIY (Do-it-yourself) website owners.

This little trouble-maker may creep on you, will keep you up long into the night, and will most likely lead you around and send you on wild goose chases. In simple terms, the one skill that may make you, the SEO, and you, the website owner, the most crazy, is that the rules change often. Without warning.

You may become a researchaholic.

Not everyone is as devoted to reading search engine company patents like, Bill Slawski, of SEObytheSea. It’s what he does, and because he does this, many more people are now kept current or even a few steps ahead of what the next new, cool, mysterious algorithm thingy will be.

Unfortunately, there are a zillion places to get really bad, misguided information. It takes some time to learn who the credible resources and people are. Good luck on that.

I love the challenges of working on corporate websites as the usability support for their designers and SEO’s. However, I’ve never strayed too far from my roots as a single mom teaching myself everything and sifting through the junk to find the tidbits of authentic information. There were no schools for SEO or web design when I was learning. I didn’t bother to tell people what I did for a living because nobody knew what a “webmaster” was (and I hated the weird looks I got. Like I was doing something naughty.)

Today, there are schools that teach and the search engines themselves provide gobs of informational sites that will define terms, present tutorials and showcase articles. There are schools too. The one I’m associated with, The Search Engine College, is experiencing fast growth and preparing for the changes that popularity brings with it.

Kalena Jordan, founder of The Search Engine College, (along with her husband), has put up a well written, easy and fast read that includes links to get you going on tasks right away. It’s called How to Make Search Engines Happy in 3 Easy Steps. It’s perfect for small and medium online businesses, or anyone who has a website that wishes to get it into search engines without fears of doing something incorrectly or wrong.

Look Out For

The search engine marketing industry is beginning to teach the next generation of SEO professionals, while continuing to offer solid resources for those who simply love the challenges of promoting their own websites.

My favorite must-have is the well received Search Engine Marketing Kit by Dan Thies (The link will take you to my review of this huge book.)

There is the newly launched Fresh Egg Search Engine Marketing Internship programs offered in the UK.

I’m aware of more, of course, and there are new educational or learning support opportunties on the way.

For a very affordable online course experience, the search engine marketing courses offered at The Search Engine College are worth checking into. Several offer Certificates of Course Completion. They also offer my one and only Web Site Usability self-study course, because Kalena is one of the first SEO’s who recognized the value of the relationship between search engine marketing design elements and user centered website design.

Which, of course, is the other part of the ongoing saga of learning all about SEO.

Sooner or later you remember that people will visit your website too.

I think building web sites and dating are similar to one another. Both require skills and research. You want to present your best side. A stupid pickup line will not work for the untrusting and experienced person you run into at the bar, dance floor, salad section of the food store, or the homepage of your website. You can try, of course. However, barstool and web page abandonment may hurt until you learn the art of persuasion (and flirting.)

It boils down to credibility. You have something to sell and you must convince people your product is worthy of their time, money and interest. For your website, you might think that cute picture of you is a hot selling device. You may go so far as to put up a video so you can personally address your website visitors, let them hear your voice, and talk about your area of expertise. However, if they’ve never met or heard of you before, this is kind of, like when someone orders a drink for your table that you didn’t ask for. It’s a little awkward.

I decided to rebuild two of my websites into table-less CSS ones. As it happens, whenever I choose self-torture, I’m teaching myself how to do it rather than hire help.

One of the more popular Cre8asiteforums forums is the one on CSS. It’s got beginners there, and gurus who help them, and everyone in between.

In this post, I wanted to point to a thread I started, that’s turned into a goldmine of information. When that happens, I think you might like to know about it too. So here it is:

Tableless Css Best Resource And Pros And Cons, What are they?

Special thanks to Joe Dolson for his instructions on how you do the print thingy on Matt (Bailey’s) blog?