10 Tips on How To Increase Alexa Rank Of Your Blog

After Google Page Rank the number which is given high importance by webmasters is Alexa Rank.Believe me many of them judge your blog/website by just seeing your Alexa Rank.Even advertisers check your Alexa Rank to advertise on your blog

Well honestly speaking Alexa rank is just rubbish and has nothing to do with your blog traffic.So what is this Alexa Ranking and how to get better Alexa Ranking read on.......

What is Alexa Rank?

Alexa.com defines themself as a "web information company".They rank every website and blog  based on their traffic and some other factors.This Alexa Rank gets updated daily.Lesser the number better.

How Alexa Rank is measured?

You might freak out after reading "How Alexa Ranking is measured?"
Alexa.com is measuring your website’s traffic is one of the most unfair surveys around. Why?
They only record those hits which passes through their systems.That means your visitors either have to Install Alexa Toolbar on their browser or you should put an Alexa widget/plugin installed on your blog.
That means the blogs under the niche Blogging,Technology will have a better Alexa Rank compared with the blogs which are not related to Tech Stuff.

10 Tips to Increase Alexa Ranking:

1.Install Alexa Tool Bar:

Install Alexa Toolbar on your browser and also ask your friends, visitors to install toolbar on their browser.

Download Alexa Toolbar for your browser.

2.Claim your site:

To gain full control over your site.Claim your site on Alexa.com.This will help others to know who owns the site and helps you in ranking better on Alexa.

3.Put Alexa Widget on your blog:

As I already said Alexa counts only those hits which comes under their system.So put an Alexa widget on your blog.

4.Get Traffic From Bloggers and Techy guys:

This is the most important factor that effects your Alexa Rank.If you get more visitors who are bloggers and techy guys then your alexa rank will increase fast because all the Bloggers and Techy people will be installing alexa widget on their browsers.

-----> Also Read: How To Increase Blog Traffic.

5.Write a review about Alexa on your blog:

Write a review about Alexa Ranking and link back to Alexa.com.

6.Ask your visitors to review your blog on Alexa:

Review your blog on Alexa.com and ask your visitors to review your blog.

Write a Review of our Blog on Alexa.

7.Commenting and Backlinking:

Comment on other blogs which are under the niche Blogging and Technology with good traffic and link back to your blog.In this way build more links from blogs with good traffic because backlinks are crucial as you might have noticed that alexa even calculates the number of backlinks you have.

8.Update your blog regularly:

It is strongly recommended to write frequently to increase your alexa rank or else your alexa rank will go down and it becomes hard to bring back your alexa again.

9.Write quality posts:

As I always say quality matters.If you write quality posts then others will automatically link back to you and thereby increasing backlinks and traffic as well which increases your alexa rank.

-----> Also Read: Ultimate Keyword Research Guide.

10.Share your posts on Social Networking sites:

Share your posts on social networks like Facebook,Stumble upon and Digg.These sites not only brings massive traffic but also helps in increasing your Alexa Rank.

Reference Link

Ultimate Keyword Research Guide For Bloggers

What are keywords?

If you are a regular blogger then you might be knowing what I am talking to but if you are a newbie then this word keyword may be a little new for you.Keywords are the words which are used by people while searching on Google, Bing ,Yahoo and other search engines.Keywords play a major role in on page optimization.


Importance of Keywords in Search Engine Ranking:

After Google Panda and Penguin Updates it is said that keyword stuffing and seo is dead but believe me its not. Still Keywords have a great impact in search results.Search Engines especially Google look for the searches which matches the exact keywords searched by Google  However page rank and many other factors has a great impact on search engine ranking(SEO).


Tools to get started with Keywords Research:

The best tool to get started with Keywords Research is Google Adwords Keywords Tool.There are many other advanced paid tools as well but this one is free which is provided by mighty Google  I personally use this tool to do keyword research.This tool shows the number of monthly searches globally and locally for a particular keyword.So, with that information you can come to an estimation on how much traffic you can bring to your website/blog from search engines.

How to get started with Keywords Research?

• To get started with Keyword research go to Google Adwords Keywords Tool.
• Enter the keyword for which you want to look the monthly search count.

For example I will check the number of searches for "Facebook Tricks" keyword.

Enter the keyword and hit search.As soon as you hit search you will be displayed the list of all similar keywords and their global and local monthly searches.But the search which you get is the broad search which also include other keywords like "Tricks Facebook","Facebook Trick",Tricks of Facebook 2012" etc etc.Many bloggers think that this is the exact traffic for those keywords but its not ,you have to un check the Broad search and check Exact. That will give you the exact number of searches for that particular keyword.

You can also check the number of searches in a particular country and in particular language.

Now which Keyword To Choose?

It is advised to choose keywords with low competition.After you get results of keywords and their monthly searches just go to Google and check the results of keywords in Google search results.

If you find many top blogs/websites with those exact keywords are ranking high in Google then it is recommended to stay away from those keywords if your blog is new or if you don't have much traffic from Google.

Where to use Keywords?

Use Keywords in Post Title:

The title of the post decides how much traffic you are going to get.Include most of the keywords in your title instead of conjunctions and prepositions.Don't use same keywords repeatedly in title.Such cases will be penalized by Google and your blog will be effected very badly.

Use Keywords in the Post:

You have to use as many keywords as you can in the body of the post.Though keywords in title plays the major role ,content also has its own importance.In the body of the post use those keywords which you didn't use in your post title but which are similar to that keywords.Keep the keywords density less than 4%. Up to 4% keyword density would work fine but if you use more than that then it may lead to penalty.To avoid penalty by Google Penguin and Panda Updates write posts with more than 700-1000 words.

Use Keywords in Custom URL structure:

Avoid using prepositions and conjunctions in URL of the post.Use only keywords in the custom URL structure for your post.

Use keywords in Search Description:

Search description is the description shown in Google next to the the title.Use few keywords which you used in the post title for better ranking.

Use Keywords in H2,H3,H4 etc Tags:

Use proper keywords in heading tags in your post. Don't use too many but use reasonably.

Conclusion:

Though keywords play a major role in search engine ranking, do not over optimize your posts with keywords.Keywords should come naturally.To avoid getting penalized by Google write lengthy posts with good number of keywords.Always maintain quality in your posts.

Reference Link

Absolute Center (Vertical & Horizontal) An Image/Photo

Here are some usefull techniques and guidance of CSS and one HTML code for Absolute Center (Vertical & Horizontal) An Image.

Caution:

The problem here is that if you will re-size the browser you cannot scroll to the top. For example: if you have a menu on top you cant view it.

CSS background-image Technique:

html { 

   width:100%; 

   height:100%; 

   background:url(logo.png) center center no-repeat;

}

Table technique:

***---CSS----***

html, body, #wrapper {

   height:100%;

   width: 100%;

   margin: 0;

   padding: 0;

   border: 0;

}

#wrapper td {

   vertical-align: middle;

   text-align: center;

}

***---HTML---***

<html>

<body>

   <table id="wrapper">

      <tr>

         <td><img src="logo.png" alt="" /></td>

      </tr>

   </table>

</body>

</html>

CSS + Inline Image Technique:

img {

   position: absolute;

   top: 50%;

   left: 50%;

   width: 500px;

   height: 500px;

   margin-top: -250px; /* Half the height */

   margin-left: -250px; /* Half the width */

}

It is also possible to do this using div’s and CSS:

<div class="contendor" style="border: 1px solid green; margin: 0; padding: 0; display: table">

<div class="contendor-secundario" style="border: 1px solid yellow; margin: 0; padding: 0; display: table-row">

<div class="columna1" style="border: 1px solid red; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; vertical-align: middle; display: table-cell">columna uno</div>

<div class="columna2" style="border: 1px solid blue; margin: 0; padding: 0; display: table-cell">column two,

which is quite higher than the previous one,

also,  we can make even higher

and column 1 is no longer centered

</div>

</div>

</div>

How to Get Approved by Adsense & Not Wait 6 Months – Adsense Account Not Active Yet ?

If you are a newbie Blogger or Webmaster and if you are a applying for adsense to monetize your site, then you might have faced the situation where Google asks you to wait for atleast six months to qualify for your adsense account and get approved to show ad slots in your site. 6 Months is too much a long wait and there is no need to lose adsense dollars waiting six months.

How to Get Approved by Google Adsense without for 6 (six) months – Make your Adsense Account Active:

What we found is that Google is not nearly as picky as they make themselves sound to be. The trick is to make your one site or blog in such a way, that you are just providing good content. Don’t worry, once you’re approved you can use that code wherever you want – so put it on other sites. But for the purposes of getting approved, try to limit to just content, content and more content!

There are 3 Main elements that you should focus on when getting Approved by Google Adsense:

1. Site look and feel – Make sure to atleast have a presentable Blog– even if it is just a few tables and a solid background color. Avoid using tacky backgrounds or unprofessional color contrasts.

2. Content – The most important – Google believes in content. If you try to get a website with just a few pages approved, I don’t think you will have any luck. You need to have at least 15-20 pages, preferably, 15-20 pages of Articles/Post Pages, aka content.

3. Traffic – Many experts say that Google Adsense team looks to see what kind of traffic you have and that they do not approve new sites with no traffic. My experience says that these experts are FULL of it. BUT, just to be safe, before you submit your site for approval – try to get your site some traffic.

Here are useful tips you need to make the entire Adsense Approval process Easier and Quicker:

Photo Source: http://techgyo.com

1. Get content from article directories – just put those articles in your site, getting 15-20 is easy.

2. Before you submit your site for approval, post at some forums with your website’s link in the signature file – this will help you get some immediate traffic.

3. Make a very simple website with 15-20 articles, a contact us page, a privacy policy and the typical disclaimer.

Some Must Have Pages in your Blog While Getting Approved By Adsense:

Well there are some must have pages in you blog which Google would necessarily want to see while approving your Blog Site for the Adsense Program. Plus you should have the links to these pages in the Home Page of your Blog. They Are…

• Privacy Policy ( Compulsory for Adsense )
• About Page (This is Optional but effective )
• Contact Us – (No one Likes Anonymous Bloggers – Optional )

That’s it – you are ready to get approved for Google Adsense. I know this sound too easy, but trust me, it is. And remember, if you do not get approved, you can always fix things and try again.

Post Source Link: http://www.snaphow.com/1323/how-to-get-approved-by-adsense-not-wait-6-months-adsense-account-not-active-yet

Image Cropping Application Source Code for iOS

Download Code Link is at the end of the post.


BJ Image Cropper:

BJ Image Cropper is very simple UIVIEW perhaps user friendly that allows user to do cropping, using a cropper which is displayed over an image, and you can drag cropper over image areas and can crop.For this you will need already build .h and .m file which i will provide including whole application. You can get this application by reading above note.

Reference Link

How this application Works ? :

• When this application start running you will need to select a photo from camera roll and then image is loaded into the UIIMAGEVIEW.
• After this You will need to press the button Crop when you Touch, a cropper will appear on subview of image and then you have to select your cropping area by touching the ends of rectangle appearing in that Subview.
• After this You have to touch another button which takes crop image into a Dummy Variable of type UIIMAGE and then you have to put that Dummy variable into the UIIMAGEVIEW.

The Reason for explaining this non-technical part is to let people understand the flow of the program.

Now Again.


Touch Select button => Image loaded into UIIMAGEVIEW

Touch Crop button => Image from UIIMAGEVIEW is loaded into UIVIEW and a Cropper is appeared on that UIVIEW which is able to drag.

Touch Apply Crop Button => Cropped Image from the UIVIEW is Loaded into UIIMAGE *Image and then into UIIMAGEVIEW = image ;

Now here Comes the Code:

•  This is update is Used to update the gui mask or rectangle which is on UIVIEW.
• Size of this Rectangle can also be changed by holding clicks at the ends of rectangle corners.
• In this function if origin is changed then a new origin with same height and width is update
• If height and width is changed then a new height and width is update.
• Both above task can be done simultaneously.
• This function uses BJIMAGECropper.h and BjimageCropper.m which will be provided if you need just comment.

UIVIEW

- (void)updateDisplay {
self.boundsText.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"(%f, %f) (%f, %f)", CGOriginX(self.imageCropper.crop), CGOriginY(self.imageCropper.crop), CGWidth(self.imageCropper.crop), CGHeight(self.imageCropper.crop)];

if (SHOW_PREVIEW) {
self.preview.image = [self.imageCropper getCroppedImage];
self.preview.frame = CGRectMake(10,10,self.imageCropper.crop.size.width * 0.1, self.imageCropper.crop.size.height * 0.1);
}
}



- (void)observeValueForKeyPath:(NSString *)keyPath ofObject:(id)object change:(NSDictionary *)change context:(void *)context {
if ([object isEqual:self.imageCropper] && [keyPath isEqualToString:@"crop"]) {
[self updateDisplay];
}
}

-(void) viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated{
// No need to store… this is 1 use only anyway. Save memory, and release it when done.
self.imgPicker = [[UIImagePickerController alloc] init];
self.imgPicker.allowsEditing = NO;
self.imgPicker.delegate = self;

}

• This function crops the image this function takes coordinates of mask or rectangle from gui and subtract all pixels from that location to end corners.

Crop

-(IBAction)getcorp:(id)sender{

initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10,10,self.imageCropper.crop.size.width * 0.1, self.imageCropper.crop.size.height * 0.1)];
UIImage *im = [self.imageCropper getCroppedImage];
self.image_view.image = im;
for(UIView *sub in [self.view subviews])
{
if([sub isKindOfClass:[imageCropper class]])
[sub removeFromSuperview];
}
}

•  This function creates a subview and extract image from UIImageView and creates a mask or rect on that image which is displayed on UIVIEW.
• Means it creates a cropper on that gui UIVIEW where you image is displayed.

Subview

-(IBAction)corp:(id)sender{

CGFloat height = image_view.bounds.size.height;
CGFloat width = image_view.bounds.size.width;
self.view.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithPatternImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"tactile_noise.png"]];

self.imageCropper = [[BJImageCropper alloc] initWithImage:img andMaxSize:CGSizeMake(height,width) ];
[self.view addSubview:self.imageCropper];
self.imageCropper.center = self.view.center;
self.imageCropper.imageView.layer.shadowColor = [[UIColor blackColor] CGColor];
self.imageCropper.imageView.layer.shadowRadius = 3.0f;
self.imageCropper.imageView.layer.shadowOpacity = 0.8f;
self.imageCropper.imageView.layer.shadowOffset = CGSizeMake(1, 1);

[self.imageCropper addObserver:self forKeyPath:@"crop" options:NSKeyValueObservingOptionNew context:nil];

if (SHOW_PREVIEW) {
self.preview = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10,10,self.imageCropper.crop.size.width * 0.1, self.imageCropper.crop.size.height * 0.1)];
self.preview.image = [self.imageCropper getCroppedImage];
self.preview.clipsToBounds = YES;
self.preview.layer.borderColor = [[UIColor whiteColor] CGColor];
self.preview.layer.borderWidth = 2.0;
[self.view addSubview:self.preview];
}

}

• This function accesses camera roll.

Camera Roll

-(IBAction)next:(id)sender{

if ([UIImagePickerController isSourceTypeAvailable:UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeCamera]) {
self.imgPicker.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypeCamera;
}
[self presentModalViewController:self.imgPicker animated:YES];
}

• When Image is picked picker should be dismissed.

-(void)imagePickerControllerDidCancel  UIImagePickerController *)picker{

[picker dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];
}

• Picks image from from camera roll.

- (void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:(NSDictionary *)info {

[picker dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];

img = [info objectForKey:@"UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage"];

self.image_view.image=img;

}

• This the variable mask which is created on that gui UIView. 

- (UIImage*) maskImage:(UIImage *)image withMask:(UIImage *)maskImage {

CGImageRef maskRef = maskImage.CGImage;

CGImageRef mask = CGImageMaskCreate(CGImageGetWidth(maskRef),

CGImageGetHeight(maskRef),

CGImageGetBitsPerComponent(maskRef),

CGImageGetBitsPerPixel(maskRef),

CGImageGetBytesPerRow(maskRef),

CGImageGetDataProvider(maskRef), NULL, false);

CGImageRef masked = CGImageCreateWithMask([image CGImage], mask);

return [UIImage imageWithCGImage:masked];

}

- (void)viewDidUnload

{

[super viewDidUnload];

[self setImageCropper:nil]; //image croper

[self setBoundsText:nil]; // image croper

[self.imgPicker release]; // Release this here, this will execute when modal view is popped.

}

- (void)viewDidUnload

{

[super viewDidUnload];

[self setImageCropper:nil]; //image croper

[self setBoundsText:nil]; // image croper

[self.imgPicker release]; // Release this here, this will execute when modal view is popped.

// Release any retained subviews of the main view.

// e.g. self.myOutlet = nil;

}

- (BOOL)shouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)interfaceOrientation

{

// Return YES for supported orientations

return (interfaceOrientation == UIInterfaceOrientationPortrait);

}

Download Link: 

Text To Speech Conversion using Espeak Engine for Iphone Application Development

Introduction:

There are some 3rd party libraries and API which are used to convert TTS ( TEXT TO SPEECH ) in iphone

1) Sphinix                        ( Not Efficeint )

2) Open-Ear                    ( Do not Required Internet Connectivity offline  TTS )

3) Google TTS                 ( Requires Internet Connection )

4) Acapela                      (Not Free You Have to pay to get SDK)

5) Objectuve C Speech Synthesizer Speak Engine  (Do Not Required Internet Connectivity One of the Good offline TTS )



What Is Open-Ear ?

Open-Ear is a shared and open source iOS frame Work for iphone text to speech conversion (TTS Synthesis).This Technology is used to convert English Text Into Speech for iphone .

What is the best part in Open-Ear ?

This source is best because there’s no connectivity issue all processing takes place locally in the device mean you don’t need’s to connect to the internet.

Key Basic Concepts and Tips:

1 ) FliteController creates synthesized speech text to speech (TTS).

Now what is Flite Controller ?

Its an class which controls speech Sysnthesis that is text to speech in Open-Ears.

Recommended not to use Open-Ear?

Becuase app using Open-Ear library had not reached to Apple Store yet. Espeak Engine (Text to Speech Combing Its functionality with iOS Av Foundation Frame Work)

 Friends my focus is on Espeak Synthesized speech.

Now What is Espeak Engine ?

Espeak Engine is a Synthesized speech library which allows conversion of text into speech on iOS Device Just Like on Iphone.

Espeak Engine is static library of Objective-C  which is an OPEN SOURCE Synthesizer.

NOTE: Espeak has not been ported to iOS officially and Google has integrated some aspects like Google voice and translated for iPhone and iPad Apps.

Features (Espeak ):

NOTE: You have to study and understand the code to implement all this i will provide you just initial and basic code which will speak text.If you want to use and get application source code just comment and enter your email address i will mail you the whole project of TTS ( For Iphone Xcode Latest Compiler)

• Good Quality Sound and Many Voices are Available like male or female voice.
• This Is Written in C-Language so its very easy to understand.
• Espeak Support many Human Languages.
• You can Change speed of voices by changing inside code.
• You can also enable or disable voice pronunciation .
• Copy and Paste text anywhere in application.
• You can also open mulitiple windows.

Sample Code:
I am Pasting here sample small part of code to get introduced to it.

I will Explain the main basic code

First what you have to do is import libraries that is header file.

#import “EspeakEngine.h”

Now in main a  method is viewDidLoad.Here what you have to do is

• Create a New Instance of speak engine
• And Set All parameter u like to add like speed,volume,gender’s voice weather its male or female depends at you and etc other parameters.

-(Void viewDidLoad)

{[super viewDidLoad];

engine = [[ESpeakEngine alloc] init];

engine.volume=2;

engine setLanguage :@”en”;

}

Now What Happens when you write text in a text box and press speak button.Following Code is Executed now whats happening here.

•  Here SpeakEngine method is call and a string is passed which is written in text box

-(IBAction)speech

{

NSString *text = self.textView.text;

[engine speak:text];

}

Now this main function call functions from implementation .m file and and header .h file contains definition,variables of that fuction

Download Code Link 

Post Source: http://crunchmodo.com/text-to-speech/

New Popular Posts With Thumbnail For Blogger

In this Tutorial i will show, how to create Popular Posts with thumbnail and snipped. Related to this topic i posted a tutorial on How to create Popular Posts with carousel slider. This previous widget can be use at bottom of the posts and on header. But in this tutorial i will show you how to create Popular Posts with thumbnail and snipped on Sidebar. This is common widget but this widget has some features which other widgets doesn't have. These Features include:

• SEO friendly (not javascript)
• Dynamic result based on real statistic
• Easy to custumized

Without wating time, lets start th work to in install this widget.

Steps:

1: Login to Blogger Dashboard and navigate to Design –> Page Elements
2: Click “Add Gadget” and Choose “Popular Posts” and Customize the gadget with more than 4 popular post will show–> “Display Up to” … Posts.
Note: (If you already have this gadget skip this step).


*If you have Popular Post Gadget then :
3: Click on "Add a Gadget" again and Select a HTML/JavaScript Widget just under the header and paste the following code inside it,

<style type="text/css" media="screen">

#PopularPosts1 {
 overflow:hidden;
margin-top:5px;
padding:0px 0px;
height:400px;
    
}

#PopularPosts1 ul {
width:220px;
overflow:hidden;
list-style-type: none;
padding: 0px 0px;
margin:0px 0px;
}




#PopularPosts1 li {
 width:208px;
padding: 5px 5px;
margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;
list-style-type:none;
float:none;
height:80px;
overflow: hidden;
background:#fff url(http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab351/bloggerblogimage/blogger/post.jpg) repeat-x;
border:1px solid #ddd;
}

#PopularPosts1 li .item-title {
    color:#A5A9AB;
    font-size:1em;
    margin-bottom:0.5em;
}

#PopularPosts1 li .item-title a {
 text-decoration:none;
color:#4B545B;
font-size:11px;
height:18px;
overflow:hidden;
margin:0px 0px;
padding:0px 0px 2px 0px;
}

#PopularPosts1 li img {
 float:left;
margin-right:5px;
background:#EFEFEF;
border:0;
}

#PopularPosts1 li .item-snippet {
  overflow:hidden;
font-family:Tahoma,Arial,verdana, sans-serif;
font-size:10px;
color:#262B2F;
padding:0px 0px;
margin:0px 0px;
}

#PopularPosts1 .item-snippet a,
#PopularPosts1 .item-snippet a:visited {
    color:#3E4548;
    text-decoration: none;
}

#PopularPosts1 .spyWrapper {
    height: 100%;
    overflow: hidden;
    position: relative;    
}

#PopularPosts1 {
 -webkit-border-radius: 5px;
 -moz-border-radius: 5px;
}

.tags span,
.tags a {
 -webkit-border-radius: 8px;
 -moz-border-radius: 8px;
}

a img {
    border: 0;
}

-->
</style>
<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.2/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">
$(function () {
    $('.popular-posts ul').simpleSpy();
});
</script>
<script src="http://accordion-for-blogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/simplespy.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

4: Save it. You're done.