xRank is Microsoft Bing’s version of Google’s Trends, but xRank focuses on people. You can still search for other items and keywords and phrases.
To use xRank, follow this link: http://www.bing.com/xrank/
Here’s what Microsoft states:
Track search popularity
xRank keeps track of notable people and puts them in order for you. We count Bing web searches for movie stars, musicians, and other famous people. Then, we compile our findings into an insightful ranking formula that tells you who the world is searching for most. The result is a cultural snapshot of who’s hot and who’s not!
Use xRank to:
* Search.
Tell us a name and we’ll tell you who they are and how they rate.
* Learn.
Browse a bio or get the latest news headlines about the person you’re interested in.
* Explore.
Explore a celebrity’s latest videos, images, movies, albums, and more.
* Relate.
Discover relationships among notable people. Thumbnail photos at the bottom of xRank show you the associates, friends, enemies, and romances, of the person you’re interested in.
* Scan.
Look over the rankings for names that interest you. Arrow icons show how their movement is trending. Movement at the top of the list means more than it does near the bottom.
* Track.
View a person’s popularity over the past six months on the xRank History chart. Under the xRank History chart, find the top-moving searches. These are real searches from users on the day the person peaked in popularity on xRank.
Note
We don’t track every type of celebrity in the world yet, but we’re working on it.
http://help.live.com/help.aspx?project=wl_searchv1&querytype=keyword&query=knarx&mkt=en-US
With each website we build, we always integrate SEO. With Wordpress, SEO is a lot easier. So, here are the things we did to help this website become more visible.
We integrated the following things to maximize the configuration of this WordPress site.
Installed the XML-Sitemap: This plugin will generate a sitemaps.org compatible sitemap of your WordPress blog which is supported by Ask.com, Google, MSN Search and YAHOO.
Installed the Google Integration Toolkit: This allowed us to do the following:
- Configure Google Webmaster Tools by placing our verification code in a meta tag.
- Configure Google Analytics with our ID
- Allowed us to set our RSS/Atom Feeds
- Allowed us to configure Adsense Section targeting
- Allowed us to track 404 errors with Google as well.
Configured our Permalink settings. We set ours to /%postname%/ To change this setting, go to Settings/Permalinks.
Installed Global Translator 1.2.6: This allows us to activate Google Translation Services. Not sure if this will help us, but figured it couldn’t hurt.
Made sure our blog post titles are H1’s and not H2’s
Set our privacy settings to public. You can do this by going to Settings/Privacy. Ours was already set to public. I’m assuming this is the norm now.
Installed Full Text feed: This allows the feeds to display our entire link therefore giving users links back to our site.
Installed Yet Another Related Posts Plugin to give references to related plugins.
Installed Meta SEO Pack: This allows us to add meta tags to our site page.
Enjoy! Let us know how this changed your site!
What is Google Insight? Here’s Google’s definition:
With Google Insights for Search, you can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames and properties.
Here’s the link to Google Insight:
http://www.google.com/insights/search/#
So, how do I use Google Insight to help me?
Well, with any keyword, you can see their search trends. So what right? Well, imagine if you are selling 2 different things. If you did a comparison of those two things using Google insight, you may be able to see which product is becoming more popular. And, you can find when people search for it. This can be extremely helpful if you are marketing. You can see the exact time when people are searching and their peak times. This will allow you to focus your marketing during those peak times.
Here are some of the general uses for Google Insight:
- Categories: Narrow data to specific categories, like finance, health, and sports.
- Seasonality: Anticipate demand for your business so you can budget and plan accordingly.
- Geographic Distribution: Know where to find your customers. See how search volume is distributed across regions and cities.
- Properties: See search patterns in other Google properties.
Here is a link for some examples written by Google:
http://www.google.com/support/insights//bin/answer.py?hl=en-US&answer=96693
So, how do we use this? Let’s take an example using webmaster.
I typed in webmaster into the default search. What I found was that the searches in Cote d’Ivoire were the highest. If I were looking for a job or would like to advertise services, I’d probably start there.
Next, I’m going to try locations. Since I’m in the US, I can search for webmaster in the US. It shows me that the highest interest is in California. My state is number 8! It’s also telling me what the breakout searches are as well. Number 1 is Google webmaster tools. So, if I need to get more visitors, I need to talk about that more. In fact, that’s a breakout search in Georgia as well. Because of this, you’ll probably see some slight changes later 
Next I chose time ranges. After choosing the time ranges, I was able to narrow down to my actual city. And, it look like the searches are peaking at this time. Holy cow. Now is the time to advertise.
So, hope you liked the quick example. Keep in mind, you can do this too with any topic!
Ok, this is my opinion only, but it dawned on me one day after reading an article about PlentyofFish. They are making millions each year from ads. Then, I thought, wow, that would be nice, how do I do that. I mean after all, the site runs itself. And, what about facebook and myspace?
Key number one is visitors, you do need a lot of visitors. But, one of the things we’re always taught to get more visitors is to write content for your site. Obvious right. But, it takes a lot of time to write the articles, posts, whatever. Aha, the key to these sites is they really don’t write their own content. Think about it, we do. So, for every post we write, or question we answer, we are giving these companies more visibility and more opportunities to make money for advertising. It’s brilliant.
So, what is the next big thing? My guess is giving the back some of this advertising money to the users, you and I. Give the ability to let us post to these sites and place our ads on there. Why can’t we share in the revenue? This way, I will not only stay on their site, but I’ll write even more!
We’ve attempted to do this, not sure if it will work though. We created Jahbs.com. It’s not the prettiest site now, but it allows you to put your Adsense code into your profile. So, whenever you blog, or add to discussions, your Adsense code will display. Pretty nifty. It’s our way of saying thanks!
So, if you want to place your Adsense ads on someone else’s site, feel free to do it at Jahbs.com. Also, don’t forget to add a link to your site there.
Ok, you have a site, and you want to get noticed. Here are some simple ways to add links and get some immediate results.
Take some time, which social networking sites do you use? Do you use facebook, linkedin, myspace? go ahead and add your link there whether it’s a post or profile. One of your friends may find it and click on it just for fun. Maybe the friends of your friends will find it.
Do you cruise and answer or ask questions on any forums? If not, you should! Put your link in your profile, answer some questions with a link to your site. People in your industry may view your site as well.
My favorite, I know it sounds simple, but put a link to your website in your email signature. It’s often forgotten, but with all of the email addresses we have these days, you have plenty of opportunities. Even if it’s your hotmail account, someone may see your email and click on your site. If you’re lucky, maybe they’ll forward the email.
Submit an article to a free press release site. It may not get the best rankings, but it will get you listed.
